@Reblod flag
I've been working on my story and here's what I have so far (chapter 2 isn't finished yet). Also Ignavess's dialogue is meant to be in italics but I've just put it into single quotations here. Anyway I'd like to hear people's thoughts…
Chapter 1
Louise’s muscles ached and quivered. Metal screeched against metal as she struggled against the sword pinning her down. The elf brandishing the sword bared his teeth in a grim smile. He knew he would win. He relented against Louise’s meek defense only to bring the sword down over and over. Louise groaned under the assault, her metal clad hands crossed over her chest to take the blows. She stumbled and fell to her knees, her wings falling limply to her sides. Blood from a wound she couldn’t feel dripped into her eyes. The grimacing face of her assailant blurred into redness. Louise grit her teeth and tensed, waiting for a final blow. It never came. The sudden nauseating warmth of the elf’s blood spraying onto her face made her gag. The now lifeless body crumpled into the dirt. Louise fell forward, drawing breath like it was her last. It nearly had been. She shakily wiped the blood away and squinted upwards. The figure of a human soldier came into focus. He reached forward and pulled her onto her feet.
“Aaryan. I never thought I’d be glad to see you but here I am, glad to see you,” Louise panted.
“Same ‘ere. Thought ye ‘ad gone to the Void.” He sounded distracted.
Louise gazed around at the battle. The heavy stench of blood and sweat tainted the salty air. Steel clashing sang through the tiny glade, nullifying the distant noise of waves breaking on the shore. Blood pooled on the ground and slashed crimson stains on the trees. Corpses lay strewn across the ground. They were mostly humans.
“Orders, Commander?”
Louise’s eyes snapped to Aaryan’s cool brown ones. How he always remained so calm was beyond her.
“Retreat…we have to retreat. We don’t stand a chance.”
"Good t'e see ye 'ave grown sense over t'e years," Aaryan grinned and dashed away, no doubt to save more lives. Louise watched him go for a moment before steeling herself and slowly, painfully, lifting her bloodied wings over her head.
“Fall back! Retreat! Everyone, retreat!” Her call rose above the sounds of battle.
The human army backed up, slowly at first then faster. The formidable assortment of elves and ravens shouted their victory, some even chasing Louise’s soldiers as they fled. She managed a sneer, her blue eyes flickering to red. They would suffer for their arrogance. As she turned away reluctantly, an eagle wailed overhead. Her gaze snapped up. It was Ignavess. He swooped down and landed on the ground next to Louise. He clacked his beak, bobbing his head westward. Louise flinched. Another angel was coming.
“I’ll handle the angel, you distract the phoenix,” Louise said to him in Fletan.
She winced as she worked her wing muscles. She never thought she would ever have any difficulty getting off the ground before the war.
A stray raven’s long ears twitched in response to the flurry of wingbeats. He turned to face her with a tooth-filled snarl. Louise nearly abandoned her ascent to engage but she resisted. She needed to save her strength. She glared at him as he approached but she was well in the air before he got too close. The raven growled with frustration, his narrowed stare filling Louise with a sense of dread. It nearly made her freeze and fall back to the earth. She shrieked in fury and tore a knife from its sheath. She flung it down at the raven and it hit its mark with a resounding thud. The raven stumbled, groping at the blade embedded in his chest. Louise watched on as his blood fed the grass. She turned her back on him.
Without the tree-line obscuring her view she could see two figures rapidly approaching. She drew in a deep breath. At least she didn’t recognise them. Ignavess surged past her, changing from an eagle into a giant firebird. He bellowed out a bone-shuddering cry as he bore down on the other phoenix. Louise could feel the breath leaving Ignavess’s lungs as he collided with his enemy. She drew in air sharply and pushed down her concern. He could hold his own just as easily as she could. Her attention was dragged back to the other angel who was now diving towards her with rage twisting his face. Louise grimaced and hesitated before moving into a battle stance. He was so young. His wings were dark brown, that could have passed as black, speckled with bright orange. His honey-coloured eyes burned with hate. Louise understood why.
“Traitor!” He screeched as his body hit hers.
Their metallic talons locked together and Louise was quick to react, wrenching herself around and spinning the angel away from her. She kicked off him and let herself fall. He followed, plunging straight down, talons outstretched. Louise caught herself and arced up, using her magic to shoot skyward. She glanced down at the other angel as he followed furiously. Louise waited until his shoulders were level with her boots and locked her wings to her body. She landed on the young angel’s shoulders and jumped. He lost balance and fell, desperately flailing his wings. Louise went with him, snatching one of his arms and yanking him towards her. Louise saw a flash of fear in his eyes as her hand closed around his throat. She resisted shutting her eyes as she tore through the tender flesh of his neck and crunched through the bone. Blood gurgled up into his mouth as the light in his rich brown eyes faded. Louise shoved him into the open air. His feathers flickered, changing from brown to white, closely followed by his hair and then his eyes. Ignavess called from behind her. Louise peered around to see the other phoenix turning to ash in Ignavess’s claws. Louise swallowed and beckoned for Ignavess to follow as she left the battlefield to find her army.
Chapter 2
The sun fell like lead through water and the dimming sky of dusk wrapped the world in shadows. Every nick and bruise Louise had sustained thrummed with pain as the heat of battle faded and the freezing winds of a dying summer took over. She glided slowly along, scanning the rugged terrain for familiar figures. She let Ignavess search the coast, praying to Diu that they didn’t corner themselves there. At the least, they could have gotten over themselves and hidden in the mountains somewhere but Louise knew they weren’t so reasonable. Ignavess appeared over the forest, still in his phoenix form.
'You will find them wrapping wounds on the sands of the bay,' his warm voice echoed in Louise’s mind.
“Of course they are.” Louise threw her hands up in exasperation. “They’re lucky they weren’t followed,” Louise spat as her companion came to hover beside her.
'You are too hard on them, Louise. The crashing of waves will cover their cries of pain.'
“And yet their scent will carry straight into the ravens’ blood-hungry nostrils.”
'If you have a problem with their choice then lead them as you are meant to.'
Louise threw Ignavess a dirty look before winging away towards the coast. The breeze from the south whistled past her ears making it impossible to hear anything but it wasn’t long before she spotted movement. She circled out wide, soaring over the dark blue-green waters of the Golden Harbour. Her soldiers spotted her, a few raising their hands in greeting. A rough headcount suggested over half had lost their lives. The bitterness of failure filled Louise’s chest enough to push down what sorrow she might have felt.
Weapons, armour, clothing, and bodies were strewn haphazardly across the beach. There was an obvious attempt made to organise everything but it was left unfinished. Louise landed, the weight of her armour making her sink. A high-ranking soldier approached. Short cropped hair, scars littered across his skin, and the hard eyes of someone who had seen things that shouldn’t be retold. Myles.
“Good. You aren’t dead,” he said in greeting.
“A pleasure to see you too. Care to explain why we’re positioned between the Harbour and the enemy?”
He snorted, “Where else were we meant to go?”
Louise looked up at him blankly. To the west was enemy territory, to the north was where the battle had just taken place, and to the east were the foothills of the Divided Ranges. It was a given that these Dumorons would choose being trapped by an expanse of water over going anywhere near those damned mountains. They even gave Louise the chills. Either way rumours and ghosts were no reason to endanger everyone.
“Practicality over superstition, Captain.”
“I’m not superstitious. It’s common knowledge,” he responded coolly. Louise almost rolled her eyes but instead sighed and crossed her arms.
“Irrelevant. Report.”
“We don’t know exactly but we can safely assume that most of our soldiers’ blood is watering the grass. To state the obvious, we weren’t prepared for this attack. Many of our way-beasts are missing and there are maybe two or three horses left. Our supplies are scattered to the four winds and we have more dead and wounded than people breathing." Myles’ eyes darted away for a moment, a look of weariness and frustration passing over his features briefly.
Louise dipped her head, staring at the sand where her boots should have been. She hadn't hoped for anything better. She shook the sand off and straightened herself.
"Alright Captain. Gather the men. We need to hurry and get back to Auras as quickly as we can."
He turned away in response, calling to the remaining soldiers. Louise took in a deep breath and turned to gaze over the serene waters. The tip of the bay wasn't as wide as the rest of it but she still couldn't make out the land on the other side. A few seabirds drawn to the smell of blood squawked overhead, dipping and diving through the air. She looked further east towards Dumoros and its capital city Auras. The coast eventually disappeared into where the water touched the sky. She liked to image fishing boats floating on the surface and she was certain it would have looked before the war. She let her thoughts wander, picturing herself as a Dumoron living off the sea. Such a plain, insignificant life in such a chaotic world. So…normal. A pang of longing overcame Louise and she forced herself to look away. The Harbour was far too dangerous now anyway and dreaming got nothing done. Turning back, there was a small crowd gathered. Many were shivering with their arms wrapped around themselves, their torn clothes doing little to protect them. The cold wind was biting now and whipped Louise's already unruly hair into her face. She couldn't see anyone without blood staining their clothes. It had gotten into everything, including the sand.
Louise cleared her throat and tried to look taller since her height was being sabotaged by the sand.
"I need a party to search for the lost supplies. Anything you can find. Carts, lost animals, food. Volunteers will go to…" Louise hesitated, scanning the fatigued faces before her. Myles was there. So were Aaryan and Toril. She wasn't surprised by the slight sinking feeling that came with seeing Bevan's face among them. "…Captain Bevan. Bring all the wounded under the shelter of the trees out of the wind. Gather what you can to keep them warm. Captain Aaryan and Captain Toril will see to the rest of you to sort through all of this," she gestured to the litter on the beach.
'Commander, I shall assist in the search,' Ignavess spoke up, his words heard in the minds of everyone.
“Very well.” The angel nodded in dismissal and strode over to where Toril and Aaryan were standing.
"So all of our captains are alive it seems," Louise stated, turning to eye Bevan coldly.
"Try not t'e sound so disappointed, Commander," Aaryan said, a faint smile quirking his lips. Toril attempted to restrain a smirk and failed.
"Any specific instructions, ma'am?" Toril questioned.
"No. I trust you can use your own heads." Louise glanced down at her talons still caked with red. "See to it that everything is cleaned. The less blood there is the less likely they'll be able to find us."
"Certainly," Aaryan smiled warmly before gesturing to a group of unoccupied soldiers.
Louise left them and knelt down beside the water's edge. It lapped unassumingly at the sand, turning it dark. She braced herself and dipped her hands into the water. The icy cold flooded the cracks in the metal. Gritting her teeth, Louise slipped the reinforcements off, revealing her natural claws beneath. Slowly, she washed the angel's blood from them as well as the others that she had felled. The memories of the battle began resurfacing, stained red. Louise shoved them to the back of her mind and focused on the sharp chill of the water and the hot pain that still radiated through her body. When she was done and the ripples had stilled she could see her reflection clearly in the glassy surface. Blood streaked her features and her face was dotted with mud and bruises. She looked as she had imagined the heroes to appear in her stories as a child. Shaking her head, she quickly checked her injuries. Nothing too alarming. Her face was slashed by an attack she couldn’t quite dodge and there were many wounds on her arms where she failed to deflect a sword. Louise’s hand moved down to her stomach where there was a puncture wound from a spear thrust. Her spear. She had been disarmed and the bastard had turned her own weapon against her, not that she wouldn’t have done the same. Shame writhed in her chest as she let her hand fall, now bloody again. She would leave it and let it be a reminder of her failure no matter how much blood she lost. Rinsing her hands again and brushing the rest of the water away, Louise stood and scanned the beach. Things were starting to look somewhat orderly. Everyone was exhausted though and they simply wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. Louise clenched her jaw and stooped to pick up her reinforcements. She couldn't stand around all day. Slipping the metal talons into a pocket in her tunic, she headed to the treeline. The trees were tightly packed but there were small open spaces where bodies were laid. The slight rise and fall of their chests was the only indication of life. Healers were hunched over some, shaking their heads or working with stone-faced determination. Only three of them were there. The other two were either dead or captured or too wounded to move. Louise approached Althia – the most experienced healer – who didn’t acknowledge her. She never had in the two years Louise had known her unless she was spoken to directly. The healer was covered in blood and the man beneath her was gripping her arm weakly.
"May Mortessorem guide you safely," Althia muttered too quietly for the human to hear but not for Louise. Only a moment after the words left her mouth, the man went limp and his dark eyes lost their light.
"Another one. This is unbelievable," the healer growled.
"You’d better start believing," Louise replied.
Althia just scoffed and moved to tend to another patient.
"Do you have anything to report?" Louise asked.
"Not in particular. The blood is real, the death is real, my Vaitassien is dwindling. Also real. Herbs can't give the dead life."
"Neither can magic."
"I don't have time for idle chatter. With all due respect, if there's nothing else you need then go back to your soldier business."
The angel narrowed her gaze, a red ring forming in her eyes. She drew in a breath and it quickly faded back to blue.
"Very well. I'll get out of your way."
Althia grunted in reply as Louise left. Usually, Louise didn’t favour people like Althia but she was the one exception. She truly had earned that exception, too.
She hummed to herself as she walked back to the shoreline and stood to watch the ripples appear and fade in a silent rhythm. She closed her eyes and listened to the activity around her. Soldiers sorting through supplies, talking in low voices thinking they couldn't be heard. The rush of water and the shifting of sand. The hush of wind through leaves. Louise opened her eyes, letting a calmer blank feeling fill her being. With a clear mind, she let herself zone in on what her army needed. At least they could move a little further east away from the war to the west. It would mean being near the Divided Ranges but there was no other way back to Dumoros except by sea which was out of the question. The rugged, unforgiving terrain of Medeis's sprawling mountain range was their best and only bet.
By the time the patrol returned, the supplies were cleared up and in order, the wounded were either seen to or dead, and the soldiers were resting in wait. The light had dimmed to dusky blue and one or two stars began glowing overhead. Louise was practically pacing, wondering if they would return at all. The first she saw of them was Ignavess chirping happily. Then they came into view through the trees, materialising from the shadows like prowlers. They were leading a horse and two way-beasts dragging carts with cargo piled on the back. Louise felt some tension go from her shoulders. Ignavess landed beside her, the heat of his feathers a welcome relief from the plummeting temperature. Others also edged closer but still seemed to fearful of the giant bird to get too close even after two years. The glow from him was enough to light the beach and see clearly.
Louise approached Bevan who looked as tired as the rest of the patrol. "What did you find?"
"A horse, two way-beasts, some food, a crate of weapons, tents, wine. I think we'll survive for now."
"Any trouble?"
Bevan started to roll his eyes but grew some sense before he finished. "No. The pointy-ears seemed to have pissed off."
Louise fixed him with a heated glare before she shouldered past him to scan over the carts. He was right. There was a lot left that the elves hadn't destroyed or taken. Perhaps they couldn't find it all either.
Louise nodded slowly. "This is good. We can get a few hours rest before moving to the mountains."
Bevan stilled for a moment and gave Louise an incredulous look.
"So we're really going to trek over the mountains? Can't we just build a raft or something?"
"No."
"Well, why in the Void not?"
Louise turned on him, stepping close enough so their chests were nearly touching. "I am your commander. You don't question my authority, Captain," she hissed.
Bevan looked down at her. The corners of his mouth twitched as if he was holding back a smirk. Louise felt her eyes turn red and her claws itched to tear his face in two.
"We've started t'e set up camp, Commander," a voice spoke up.
Louise heard footsteps approaching but kept her eyes locked with Bevan. He glanced up to see Aaryan and nodded to him, moving away to do whatever it was that Bevan did aside from irritating Louise. She threw her wings back and muttered curses in Fletan.
"Ye know…I could slit his throat while he sleeps. Mine father was an assassin, taught me a few things."
"Dishonour,” Louise snarled. “Never bring it up again." She stormed off, deciding to watch over the camp while the soldiers slept. There would be general shifts but she knew she would be up all night anyway.
She found a boulder where the sand began to break off into the ship-killing cliffs that encircled Medeis. She drew her legs up and rested her chin on them, letting the bitter wind rustle her mahogany feathers. Her wounds still stung – especially the one from her spear, which still trickled blood – but most feeling was numbed by the cold. Not the fatigue though. It hit her like an enraged algren as soon as she settled down. Louise shivered at the thought. She could remember the time she was actually hit by an algren but it was no accident.
Ignavess swooped down next to the boulder.
'It is time for mortals to slip into dream.'
"Nightmare," Louise corrected. "There will only be nightmares tonight."
'You are being pessimistic as you usually are. Sleep, sister. I will lend you my fire.'
"Let's make a deal. I take the first half, lend you my wind. Then I'll wake you and you can lend me your fire for the rest."
'I have known you for many seasons passed. You will not wake me and you will not sleep.'
Louise just redirected her gaze to the crisp white of the stars that had increased in number. Ignavess huffed, a puff of smoke escaping his beak. The silence stretched on until he also tilted his head upwards.
"Crepula dances tonight," Louise breathed.
Ignavess sighed aloud but it came out more like a chirrup.
'Indeed. And Mortessorem is occupied. I shall fly among them, both the stars and the departing spirits. I will cry out as a scout to danger.'
Louise nodded and wrapped her arms around herself tighter as the phoenix left, the sweeps of warmer air fading swiftly into the night. The light had died, the sun slipping beyond the southern horizon. Solum, the darkest moon, could still be seen, though. It rested above the south-lands but it too would disappear soon until morning, following the sun as it always had. There would be no fires that night and the men would sleep cold and blind. Louise just wanted to get back behind fortified walls where the stress of keeping everyone alive wasn’t so severe.
