The Dawn of the Raven episode 17

by J. L. Blackthorne

  As she struggled with the bow, still trying to figure out how best to use it, she looked up and saw that he was already there, standing twenty meters away, staring at her with a sick grin.

  “What is it you plan to accomplish there?” he asked in his gravelly voice. He started laughing. “You think you can load a Gekken bow? I’m surprised you had the strength to pick it up. Here, let me show you.” He started walking towards her, licking his lips and brandishing his blade. As he approached slowly, confidently, he turned his attention to Shyrea’s body, hidden under the cloak and hood, writhing around. “What’s this? What sort of creature have you got in there? Is that your prisoner?”

  Kiella fumbled with the bow frantically. The Gekken was so confident, he was giving her time. She knew he was right, she had no real chance to kill him, but she had to try. She aimed as well as she could and fired. For a moment, she thought it would hit. She thought she’d aimed true. It whisked by so close to his head that it may have taken a piece of his ear with it, but it missed. He turned to her and smiled. He reached to his ear and found that it was bleeding.

  “Well” he snarled in his dark growl, “it looks like I underestimated you. I’m impressed. Drop your clothes, bend over, and let me fuck you in the ass and I might decide to let you live before I go and finish killing off the rest of your people. Maybe I’ll let you live, keep you as a pet, a little sex slave. I like you, you’ve got a little fight in you. But first, I need to know what that is. I need to know what’s under those robes.”

  He walked over towards Shyrea and crouched down next to her. He started to unbind her so he could remove the cloak. He could feel that the flesh under the cloak was soft.

  “Another woman? I’ve never fucked a human. I’ve always wanted to. I don’t know if it will work. My cock might be too big for you. Maybe I should fuck her first, see how it goes, then fuck you? But hell, I’ve got a war to go fight. I’ll just tie you both up and come fuck you both later. If you want, I’ll fuck her first so we can see if she survives it.”

  Suddenly, Gekken speech began to emanate from Shyrea’s body. Wrathe stopped and talked back to it. It was a Gekken soldier, telling him he was lost in darkness, to please free him immediately. Wrathe suddenly realized that this was the source of the dark magic. His eyes grew stern, he gripped his blade but hesitated for an instant. He warned his comrade that he was about to gut him, and the Gekken in Shyrea, confused and panicked, begged him to stay his blade. This only made Wrathe hesitate for a split moment, however. He would complete his task and go about his mission so he could join his others in the fray.

  Kiella lunged at Wrathe, and shoved the tip of an arrow into his neck. Wrathe screamed. He turned, burning with anger, and threw her against the cavern wall. The arrow had broken off, the tip still lodged in his throat, with dark black blood oozing out. The shaft of the arrow was sharp where it had broken, and Kiella rushed back at him to stab him with it again as he reached to try to dislodge the tip from his neck. She stabbed him in the side with it, and again he screamed out. He slammed her down again and this time Kiella hit her head against the stone floor. It was not enough to knock her out, but she was dazed, and she couldn’t get up quickly.

  Wrathe looked at the little human who had wounded him so, and saw that she wouldn’t be rising soon. He laughed at how much fight she’d had in her. She’d wounded him fairly severely. He felt the blood that gushed out from both wounds, and he could feel that his strength was fading. He wondered if he would even see the battle. He turned back towards the body on the floor. He stabbed his blade into the center of the being. There was a scream. The body was writhing so much that he knew he hadn’t wounded it severely, the blade had barely gone in before it had moved and it was not a deep wound. He looked for a better spot to stab it, but as he reached to steady it, the being burst from its bindings and grabbed his wrist to stop his blow. He’d loosened the bindings enough that the Gekken inside Shyrea’s body, knowing that he was about to be murdered by his fellow soldier, had been able to break free of them while Wrathe was busy with Kiella. He took Wrathe by surprise and struck him in the temple hard enough to knock him down. The Gekken inside Shyrea’s body removed the cloak so he could see, and Wrathe was shocked to see such a beautiful young creature coming at him with such ferocity. The Gekken soldier picked up a rock from the cavern floor and bashed Wrathe’s skull with it. Shyrea’s body didn’t give the Gekken the normal strength he was accustomed to, so it took many more strikes with the rock to finish him than he would have expected, but he continued to rain them down on him until his face and skull were pummeled beyond recognition. As soon as Wrathe stopped moving completely, aside from the odd twitch of a finger or toe, the Gekken in Shyrea turned towards the opening of the cavern and tried to rush out. He had not realized that his feet were still loosely bound, however, and he tripped instantly and knocked his head on the cavern floor. Shyrea’s body was knocked out. It wouldn’t matter who or what inhabited her being now for quite a while, as they would be unable to move or do anything as long as her body was unconscious.

  Kiella was in disbelief. She’d gathered her senses again just in time to see Shyrea finish crushing the Gekken’s skull into pulp. When she saw her turn and fall and hit the cavern floor so hard, she rushed to her side. She turned Shyrea over and saw blood streaming down from her scalp. It was thick in her gorgeous hair and pooling on the cavern floor. Kiella checked to make sure she was still breathing, and then did her best to care for her friend’s wound. She applied pressure to it, and soon it began to clot. It was not as bad a wound as the blood had at first made it appear. The blood stopped flowing within minutes. It was now clotted and clumped all through her gorgeous friend’s hair. She found the other wound, where Wrathe had stabbed at her, but it was a very slight wound. A long cut across her side, but one that was so shallow that it had little chance of harming her other than if it were to become infected. Kiella did her best to clean it, and then kissed her on the forehead and the top of her head and held her tightly in her arms. She sat on the cold cavern floor cradling her, rocking her, telling her of her love for her, words that she hadn’t yet dared to speak while her friend was conscious, but that she wished so much she could hear now.

  Tears flowed down her cheeks, but Kiella shook off her fears. She covered her beautiful friend’s face again with her hood, though being extremely careful to make sure she could breathe properly. She meticulously bound her hands and feet again. She laid her friend back in the center of the cavern, and then sat. She was overwhelmed. She knew it. But she also knew that this wasn’t the time to let her emotions run free. It was only a matter of minutes before she heard footsteps at the top of the ravine again.

  Raveena fought her way towards Prince Treyan. They’d been separated in the battle, but now she cut her way back to his side. Gekken approached from all sides, as she’d strayed too far into their midst. She knew she wouldn’t last long with no one to protect her flank, and she needed to confer with him about directing his troops. She narrowly evaded blow after blow from the Gekken, as she slashed her way through the sea of blades to return to her lover’s side. Once she’d reached him, and as soon as there was a momentary break in the Gekken onslaught, she told him of the urgency in quelling the Gekken archers. Treyan ordered his platoon to retake the hill, though he stayed with Raveena. They fought again, as before, front to back and side by side, protecting each other so that they were impervious from all sides. The waves of Gekken who approached them were crushed. Raveena’s blade was too swift. Deathraken severed their heads from their shoulders, their hands from their wrists, and their feet from their ankles. Prince Treyan’s blade was equally adept at severing life from limb, and at cleaving through their ribs and sternums and decimating the organs inside. The difference was that Prince Treyan’s blade was less efficient. Raveena’s blade was so quick and so precise, she could slice death blows by the second. Prince Treyan was often forced, with his big heavy blade, to ward off on-comers with his shield wh
ile he fought to free his sword from the carcass of his previous foe.

  Prince Treyan’s platoon rushed up the hill towards the archers. Half were felled as they made the ascent, but they were stout, strong, fierce soldiers, the greatest the Kraulian army could boast, and the ones who reached the top over-powered most of the archers. All but one were killed. Mathren, the fiercest of all the Gekken archers, the one whose bow stood the tallest and whose aim was the truest, killed the last of them with an arrow that hit with such force that it split right through his helm, skewering through his brain. The warrior fell lifeless, and Mathren turned his attention back down to the battle. It had become clear to him who the greatest threat on the battlefield was. He’d seen a female warrior cutting through his men like they were nothing. His eye scanned carefully for her. He saw her, and he drew his bow. He hooked the leather strap at its bottom around his foot and anchored it on the ground. He bent his giant bow back, and loaded his giant arrow. He smiled as he lined up the shot. She was so small. A female so brave, so cunning, so lethal. He was impressed, but he knew in an instant she would be obliterated. His massive arrow would cut her in half. He released the shot, and watched as it flew towards its destiny.

  Prince Treyan was watching as the last of his men fell. Uerin, his greatest soldier. He saw the last Gekken archer aim his bow and fire it. He knew it was headed for Raveena. He shoved her aside with his shield. Raveena was shocked and stunned as she was blindsided, and fell hard to the ground. As she fell, she heard the sound. It was a massive, sickening sound as the arrow struck the metal armor with such speed and power. It pierced him from front to back. Its momentum was so great that it shredded through his breastplate, his bones, his organs, and still had enough momentum left to break through the back of his armor and lodge into the ground behind him. Raveena stared at the blood oozing out from the massive hole in his breastplate. She saw the arrow behind him, with blood and guts streaming down its shaft. He didn’t scream. He didn’t make a sound. His eyes still held a bit of focus and smiled at her. Then, they went vacant, and he fell. Raveena screamed. She screamed loud enough for the whole battlefield to hear her this time. Those around her were unnerved by it. A scream like they’d never heard. Raveena rushed to his side and held him, but all of him was gone now. There was no chance to say goodbye, no chance to say anything at all. He was gone. The last of the Kraulian soldiers gathered around her to protect her as quickly as they could, as it was clear she had lost her focus on the battle. They too were stunned and shaken to see their leader fall.

  Shyrea was in a Gekken soldier who was near Raveena. She saw what happened. She looked up at the hill, and saw Mathren loading another arrow into his giant bow, taking aim at the Kraulian soldiers who protected Raveena, cutting them down one by one with his arrows. Shyrea abandoned the body she was in and flew to Mathren. She entered him just before he could fire his next shot. She aimed the massive bow towards the Gekken soldiers who approached Raveena’s position and began firing upon them. The Gekken were taken completely by surprise, and she killed many quickly. Any who turned back and looked and realized it was their own archer firing upon them were greeted with an arrow in the forehead, throat, or chest. When Mathren’s quiver was empty, Shyrea rushed to the body of a fallen Gekken archer, and pillaged his arrows so that she could continue her barrage. The battle had been at the point of teetering hopelessly in the Gekken’s favor, but now as Shyrea unleashed arrow after arrow upon them it began to sway back to even.

  Kiella loaded an arrow into the bow. She knew now what she was doing. She’d barely missed with her first shot. She knew how to make the necessary adjustments. She wouldn’t miss again. Wrathe’s man who had gone south had been close enough to hear Wrathe’s screams. He rushed down the edge of the ravine quickly, and Kiella took aim as soon as he was in sight. He hadn’t even had time to grasp what he was coming upon when the arrow caught him in the throat. He clutched at it, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. He bled out in less than a minute. Kiella checked on Shyrea. She still lay completely still, but her diaphragm was moving. She was still breathing. Kiella got ready to fire again, in case there were more coming.

  Raveena finally lifted her head. It had been bowed, her forehead resting against her lovers’ as his eyes peered blankly and lifelessly straight up into the ether. Tears ran down her cheeks, but now her eyes no longer told of her mourning. Now, they were completely and utterly consumed by fury. She rushed out from behind the Kraulian soldiers who protected her. She attacked the Gekken head-on. At this moment, it felt that nothing remained. She had no home anymore. She had failed them. Her lover lay dead on the ground. Was there any reason left to win the battle? They had been so decimated, their casualties so high, their kingdoms all ruined, did any potential for victory remain? What would victory even mean, when there were so few left to celebrate? She no longer fought for victory. She no longer fought for her life. She didn’t care about it anymore. She fought because of rage. She fought just to try and quell the sadness inside of her with blood. But as she hacked ferociously through them, a cold ruthless killer the likes of which they’d never encountered or seen before, the blood she spilled didn’t quench the sadness at all. Each slice, each fatal or devastating strike she unleashed only made her feel more empty, and so she struck with even greater fury with each blow, in a desperate attempt to right a wrong that could no longer be righted, to regain something that could no longer be regained.

  It didn’t seem to matter how many of them she faced. It didn’t matter how overwhelming the odds. When a Gekken would come near hitting her from behind, Shyrea would pierce them with an arrow. She wouldn’t let any come close enough to blind-side her friend. And those in front of Raveena fell like wheat to a scythe. Each kill made her lust for three more. Her rage grew to a frenzy where she was barely even conscious. She watched in heated anger as her hands worked in front of her, butchering them, as her instincts and her reflexes took over, allowing her to dodge their blows and cut quickly through them with astounding ease.

  Finally, she had gone too far. Moved too daringly into their midst. She was surrounded, and they began to close in on her. Raveena knew death was coming. She wanted to live. Not because of any love of life. No, she didn’t want to die because then she would have to stop killing them.

  Shyrea could tell that the arrows wouldn’t be enough to protect her now. She threw herself, in Mathren’s body, onto a spear, and then rushed into the largest Gekken body she could find near Raveena. He held a giant mace, and she swung it fiercely to fend them away from her. Raveena instinctively knew this giant ally was her friend, and she stood up and used him to fight alongside as she had with her Prince, using one another to protect each other’s flanks. A sizeable portion of what was left of the Gekken army was becoming preoccupied with them, and it was allowing what was left of the humans to gain the upper hand elsewhere on the battlefield. The tide began to turn. It began to be clear to even General Krex that this day may not yield the victory his people had waited so long and so patiently to claim.

  Kiella listened intently, bent over the bow, ready to load it again in an instant. She heard the footsteps approaching from the north. She knew one was coming down the slope. He was trying to move quietly, but she was so attuned to every sound now that each footstep was crystal clear to her. He moved carefully because the Gekken could see his fallen comrade, his body still laid out in the sunlight, bled out from the arrow wound to his neck. Kiella fired as soon as she saw him, and the arrow struck him in the thigh and pierced deep into his bone. He screamed out in agony. He tried to limp to cover, but Kiella reloaded the bow and fired again before he could get away. The second arrow struck him in the lower back. The sound it made as it lodged deep inside him was grotesque, but it didn’t bother Kiella at all. With cold determination she left the cover of the cavern. She walked to him, bent over him as he lay face down quivering in agony, and slit his throat.

  It was obvious now that the tide had turned irrevocably against
them. The scattered Gekken that were left began to flee the battlefield. They disappeared into the scorched woods that surrounded them. General Krex watched in disbelief as they ran away. Never could he have imagined this. Gekken looking like cowards. Vanquished by the weak humans. Their plans had been so carefully laid over such a great long time. How could they have failed? How could he have failed? He would not run. He would not flee. He would die here today. But, perhaps, he could achieve one last victory. Perhaps he could kill her.

  General Krex approached Raveena with cold quiet purpose. There were few human soldiers left to greet him, but those that remained close by rushed towards him to protect her. Raveena called them off. Her bloodlust remained unquenched. Perhaps another kill would satiate the terrible appetite for revenge she felt deep in her gut. She wielded Deathraken in one hand effortlessly, spinning it with a circular motion of her wrist. She would not underestimate him. Not like the first Gekken leader she had faced on the field of combat so long ago. No, she would focus. She would not be careless.

  General Krex moved towards her swiftly. He swung his blade at her throat. She barely evaded it, throwing her head backwards, contorting her back at a nearly impossible angle to do so. She was off balance, and his next swing came even closer to its mark. It grazed her leg, slicing through the tip of her boot, but barely scratching the skin. It was meant to take her legs off just below the knees, but again she narrowly evaded it. He took one more swing, but again she was too quick. She ducked under it and rolled beneath the blade. Deathraken pierced his chest plate. The blade went completely through him. She twisted it inside of him. The pain was immeasurable, but he didn’t scream. He reached for her throat, but she twisted it again, and he gave way to the pain. His arms fell limp. His body slipped to the ground. His sad eyes closed slowly, and he gave in, allowing himself to pass on into the unknown.