Too late…she’s too late. Blood pools on the back of Rayu’s uniform and he slowly drops to his knees, clutching his chest. Before him, a soldier yanks his blade free, painting the ground red with her friend’s blood. Rayu falls back, coughing up blood.
Arya can’t breathe, she can only watch, suspended in heartache as Rayu reaches for his fallen lover, dragging himself over to Dom’s body and curling himself in his arms. Pain slowly sets in as she watches her best friend struggle to breathe. Blood fills his lungs, causing gurgling sounds to escape from his lips. Her heart breaks for him as he gently caresses the face of his dead lover with pain in his eyes.
Tears fall from his eyes, his chest rising and falling with the shudder of his sobs. He meets Arya’s gaze, suddenly aware of her presence, and smoothes his features into a small smile. He wants her to know he’s at peace and would have it no other way. He wants her to know it isn’t her fault. Hechose this.
Arya gives a slight nod and slowly Rayu’s eyes slip into vacancy. His chest no longer rises and the spark behind his eyes dies out. Her heart clenches as he goes still. Her lifelong friend…someone she considers to be a member of her makeshift family isdead.
His murderer shifts his stance readying to strike. Slowly Arya lifts her cold, murderous eyes to meet his. She tried to do the right thing in sparing her Red brother’s and sisters and now her friend…her brotheris dead. She won’t lose another part of her, not today. Unsheathing her twin scimitars with lightening speed, she makes a silent vow that Kahlem will pay for her friend’s life and strikes.
Anan help them all…
Arya tries not to let the pain affect her, but how can it not? Pain gives way to fury and she buries one of her scimitars into the neck of the closest soldier. She thrusts her second scimitar into the throat of the second soldier, kicking her first scimitar at the same time and causing it to decapitate the soldier whose neck she’d buried it in…the soldier who took Rayu’s life.
For you Rayu…
A third soldier runs up and Arya retrieves her first scimitar from the ground at her feet. She runs at the soldier, jumps in the air clamping her legs around his neck like a pair of scissors and winds herself around in the air until he falls flat on his back. She impales him through the mouth imbedding her scimitar into the ground. Yanking her second scimitar free from the second soldier’s throat, she practically decapitates him.
All but one soldier lies in a pool of blood and limbs around her. She approaches the remaining soldier but he makes no move against her. Instantly she recognizes him. Zahn. Arya narrows her eyes at him.
“My orders were to stop them, not to help,” Zahn tells her, taking in her bloody clothes and the vengeful look in her eyes. “I wasn’t fast enough. The failure is mine so do as you wish.”
Arya looks beyond Zahn to the gold tent where Kahlem is sure to be waiting. Her eyes scan the battlefield around her. So many of her soldiers are dead. So many have given their life for her to defeat Kahlem. There’s so much bloodshedand for what?
“The fault is not yours friend. Kahlem is the source of this wickedness. He shall pay with his life.”
Arya nods. He willpay with his life, but first she needs to tip the scales. She reaches down her bond and calls Drakor to her. He lands a few feet away and lowers his head for her to mount. They take off into the sky and she studies the battlefield from above. They have the numbers, or so she thought until she sees the Autumn and Fall Courts fighting one another. The Autumn Court is being slaughtered. Her first instinct is to help, but then she catches a glimpse of Ihsan amongst the soldiers who were in the front line. He’s injured. Blood pools from his left shoulder, and his speed has diminished greatly. He won’t be able to hold out much longer. She has Drakor swoop down for a closer look and realizes Red soldiers aren’t attacking the Fall Court. They fight withthem. King Volc and Queen Aoki have betrayed her.
Pointing her sword at the army protecting Kahlem she commands Drakor to regroup his friends and attack. He snorts a ring of smoke in acknowledgement and takes her as close to the ground as he can, burning Red soldiers along the way. She leaps off his back and he soars back up into the sky.
In order to face the threat before her Arya needs to remove the threat at her back. Her feet hit the ground and she drops into a roll that brings her back to her feet. Drakor dropped her right into the middle of the Volc’s army and she’s quickly surrounded.
Both the Volc King and Queen make their way to Arya, amused smiles spreading across their faces. Raising his sword to her, King Volc orders, “Drop your weapons.”
Of course King Volc and Queen Aoki would be the ones to defect. They’re both snakes. They have more to gain from Arya’s demise than Queen Boleyn. The Volc’s want nothing more than to conquer the Winter Court, and Malich can give them that. He probably has in order to secure their loyalty.
Curious, Arya asks, “What has he promised you?”
“The Winter Court of course. The Unseelie Court he offered for good measure, and you…but that was mostly for my pleasure.” Queen Aoki’s smile deepens.
King Volc speaks next. “Once we’re done here, both the Unseelie King and Autumn Queen will be executed. You…you we will keep as a slave.”
All her life she’s been forced to adhere to authority until she became Queen. Now that she’s gotten a taste of it, she can never live in subjection to someone else’s rule ever again. Growing a small sphere of fire in the palm of her hand, Arya’s steel gaze meets King Volc’s and then that of his wife. “I am no onesslave,” she speaks through clenched teeth, “I am Arya Litri, a descendant of the Litri dynasty, and I will answer to no one.”
The Volc’s were so focused on the orb of fire growing in the palm of her hand that they missed her grasping every weapon in reach with her powers until its too late. Arya turns the weapons on King and Queen Volc and their army.
Soldiers raise their hands, pleading for their lives, but King Volc attempts to retreat throwing Queen Aoki directly in the path of an approaching sword. It does him no good. Arya sends three swords slicing through him and he falls to the ground, dead. She spares the queen, tossing a hushstone collar around her neck. She has other plans for Queen Aoki.
“Either you fight for me or you fall with your King!” Arya announces to the Fall Court soldiers. Without hesitation they all drop to one knee, right fist over their hearts, pledging their allegiance to the Seelie Court. “General Brandt of the Fall Court, see to it that her Majesty is placed in a cell. I do not wish to rule the Fall Court but we will sort out the politics of the Queens capture when I am not surrounded by enemies on all sides.”
General Brandt nods and drags Queen Aoki away, kicking and screaming. Arya will deal with her later. She heads for Evander, Queen Boleyn and Penki who have taken up a protective stance against the Fall Court soldiers. The soldiers clear a path for Arya and Evander sighs with relief when he sees her emerge from the sea of soldiers dressed in their pale gray uniforms bearing the Fall Court Crest. Queen Boleyn and General Penki also sighs with relief, but this war isn’t over and Arya needs to get to Ihsan before she loses him too.
Turning to Evander Arya explains, “These soldiers have pledged their allegiance to me. They will answer to General Brandt, but you will command them.”
Evander nods and pleads, “Please your Majesty…allow us to take it from here. You’ve done enough.”
Arya turns her gaze to Ihsan. He’s down to fighting with one arm and a new wound has been opened up in his abdomen. She doesn’t have time to argue or explain. Closing her eyes she winnows away from Evander to Ihsan’s side. To his credit, Ihsan has finally stopped flinching whenever Arya appears besides him. He’s hurt badly.
“Perhaps now would be a good time for you to see a Magus,” Arya suggests.
Smiling, but not taking his eyes off the soldiers before him Ihsan replies, “Ladies first.”
Arya turns to him showing no regard for her life. “Fall back…please. If you don’t you’ll bleed out and you’ll be bested by the most novice of soldiers.” With a wave of her hand she sends an approaching group of soldiers flying backwards. She steps in front of Ihsan and squares up against him. “Go. Now.”
She can hear soldiers approaching from behind. They don’t have time for this. Leaving no room for argument, Arya cups her hand to his cheek, climbs onto her toes, and kisses him on the lips, winnowing him back to the palace. He can curse her later for removing him from battle, but she can’t focus with him fighting in the condition he’s in.
With him gone she turns to face the soldiers approaching. Winnow. Strike. Winnow. Parry. Winnow. Strike. She’s moving faster than she’s ever moved before with the fire in her veins increasing both her speed and precision. Soon the world seems to be whipping by in a blur of limbs, blood, and screams.
Arya slowly approaches the gold tent. A group of soldiers charge towards her only to be met with fury and cold, sharp steel. She drives her sword through one soldier only to yank it free and bury it into another, leaving nothing but blood and carnage in her wake. She can see Kahlem now. His eyes betray him, showing his fear as she manages to come closer and closer to him one body at a time. He saves the best soldiers for last.
Twenty of Malich’s Alumni soldiers walk into her path, blocking her from getting to Kahlem. They’re dressed from head to toe in red leather, with masks covering their faces, obscuring their identities. Arya has never seen these soldiers before but she can feel their abilities. They’re strong and armed to the teeth with more steel and power than she’s ever faced. She’ll have to rely on both her skill and power combined in order to defeat them.
Sheathing her scimitars, she pulls out two long swords instead and adapts her fighting stance. The soldiers don’t move. Instead, preceptor Mekhi steps between them and approaches holding his hands in the air.
“We do not wish to shed the blood of a Red Daughter,” Mekhi tells her. “Lay down your weapons and surrender peacefully Queen Arya so we can put an end to this useless bloodshed.”
“I surrender to no one,” Arya replies.
Preceptor Mekhi dares another step towards her, but his tone isn’t threatening. He pleads with her to reconsider with both his words and his eyes. They have their orders and Kahlem still holds Malich’s leash.
“If I die, let it be with honor. I will notsurrender.”
Mekhi stares at her as if he believes he will never see her again. “These soldiers are not just regular soldiers Arya. Surely you can sense them. They are gifted in many art forms that together outweigh any form of attack you might launch.” He waits for her to back down. She won’t. Realizing this, his eyes glaze over with what look like tears and then he reluctantly nods. “We will honor you in death Red Daughter.”
Arya nods and Mekhi raises his hand in the air. The Alumni soldiers withdraw their weapons in unison. The level of discipline they have can only be acquired by many cycles of practice. There are twenty of them and they all move as one. This won’t be an easy battle.
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