The Raiden

by Shelley Cass

  I pushed my face nearer to his.

  “I don’t trust or respect you,” I said quietly. “You may have been ‘healed’, but you have in no way made up for all you have done.”

  I felt him swallow beneath my arm across his throat.

  “If you hurt any of my friends again, you will have me to face,” I told him, releasing his throat and shoving him savagely so that he slammed back against the tree again. “Understand?”

  He nodded.

  I turned to walk away as he coughed and leant back against the tree, and I saw Kiana standing just beyond the scene.

  She stared at me with startled eyes as I strode darkly past her. But the stony glare I gave her left no room for challenges, and she let me pass her without a word.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Dalin

  I was sheathing my sword as I exited my tower early the next morning.

  Noal had woken me and told me to meet him outside, but now I cursed inwardly when I saw Thorin standing and conversing quietly with Kiana and a group of armed Elves near our door.

  Noal approached and was studying my face almost worriedly when Kiana gestured for everyone to gather in close.

  I drew in a deep breath and released it, refraining from glaring at Thorin as he stood beside Kiana, though neither of them gave any sign of memory of what had passed between us the night before.

  “We are going to catch the rest of Thorin’s men,” Kiana announced bluntly. “I am going to lead four Elves in a search and there will also be another party of four. Nova and Naira will bring messages between the groups. This time we are certain the Elves will not have to go where harm may come to them, as the Krall warriors have simply been circling the City in confusion. And on this occasion we will not take so many Nymphs in case they struggle to contain their joy for battle.”

  I recognised a lot of the Elves as strong warriors who had come along to help us in our fixes so far. Alvar, Astor and Quidel were amongst them, and Vidar too.

  I said nothing, but regarded each of them as I waited for Kiana to finish speaking.

  “We are going to find the warriors in the hopes that they can be cured of Darziates’ hold too, rather than just leaving them to wander in search of the One for the rest of their lives,” Vidar explained.

  “Most likely there will be fighting involved, but we want only to stop and bind them so that they are not hurt and can be brought safely back here,” Kiana continued. “Bringing more Elves could mean a real battle. Bringing Nymphs could end in too much death. And Nova and Naira have sworn not to get involved.”

  “It’s hard to keep your magic blasts on ‘stun’ when there’s a battle on,” Nova admitted sweetly, stroking Noal’s cheek.

  “Especially when we really do get a little blood thirsty at the sight of a fight,” Naira agreed, somersaulting happily above our heads. “But we sure will try to refrain from violence.”

  “Thorin is not coming because his comrades would not yet understand his change of sides,” Kiana added, and then she addressed me directly. “Are you in?”

  I looked up at her to see all of those around me waiting expectantly for my reply.

  “Of course I am. We’re in this together,” I told her adamantly, glancing from her to Noal with a frown.

  Noal clapped me on the back and the Elves smiled in appreciation.

  “Good,” Kiana answered. “You’ll lead the second party. Noal and Nova will be with you, as will Quidel, Alvar and Rond,” she told me. “The rest will be with me.”

  There were nods of affirmation and the small crowd dispersed to complete any final preparations before leaving, and Vidar handed each member enough rope to suit the wrists of a few captives each.

  “Cheer up!” Noal said, slinging a comforting arm around Thorin’s shoulders as the warrior watched the preparations glumly. “You can fight your friends when we bring them back if you like.”

  Thorin laughed, and I tried not to stare after them, instead turning to Kiana, who was silently fastening a loose buckle on her belt.

  “Are you sure you want to fight again so soon?” I asked her quietly when the others had begun to move out of earshot.

  “I’m fine,” Kiana replied shortly. Then her face softened when she saw my expression become blank and angry once more. “Really, I am,” she told me.

  Vidar came back then and she turned from me. “We’re all ready to go,” he informed her, and she signalled for everyone to get moving.

  Kiana and I led the party out of the City and at the top of the cliffs we split into two groups. We would both head in the direction that the Krall men had fled towards after our last encounter, but would both search in different areas to cover more of the Forest.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Noal

  My stomach was grumbling as the day passed into noon.

  “I’m sure someone brought an apple or something,” Dalin told me, even his joke coming out somewhat grimly when I complained of my starvation.

  I grimaced with distaste. “I’ve done very well avoiding those things for a while now,” I informed him disdainfully. “I choose to continue to starve.”

  “Suit yourself,” he answered distractedly, and fell back to silent watchfulness. “But stay forward with me. Our eyes need to be ahead.”

  Dalin had placed Quidel and Alvar at the party’s sides, and had instructed Rond to follow at rear while Nova was to sweep ahead, scanning all surrounding areas.

  The Elves he led, who were doubly experienced, more than three times his age, and incredibly powerful, all never hesitated to follow his requests. In fact they looked to him respectfully for direction, though he didn’t seem to think twice about assuming the automatic command of ‘the Raiden’.

  I, on the other hand, was patting my stomach wistfully when Dalin held his hand up to stop us, and we heard voices ahead.

  Dalin lightly tapped Nova’s foot, hovering by his side now, and she nodded, suddenly all seriousness, and silently flew ahead in the direction of the sound.

  She was out of sight for barely a moment before she darted back to report to Dalin.

  “All fifteen of them,” she whispered, “armoured up. But not prepared for us.” She grinned with delight. “They’re resting, out of formation, with their focus on their water flasks and their weapons put aside for a moment. I wouldn’t wait, and miss such an opportunity when they stand and regroup.”

  Dalin considered this and nodded. “The best way is to do this quickly, quietly, and with the element of surprise,” he said softly. “There are five of us to face the fifteen of them until the others get here, so we must all engage simultaneously to utilize our very few numbers. Remember we are not fighting to harm, but to hold them until we can safely catch and get them back to the City.” He looked to our group calmly. “While I feel that nobody is ever outnumbered when they have Elves on their side, try not to be injured yourselves while focusing on not hurting them.” The listening Elves gave returning grins and Dalin drew his sword from its sheath with a soft shing.

  “You have to the count of sixty to spread out evenly in a ring around them. After that count, wait for a further count of ten to make sure we are all ready. Upon ten, everyone plunge in,” he turned to Nova. “You should tell Kiana’s party where we are.”

  She saluted with an: “Aye Raiden,” and whizzed off through the air.

  He eyed each of us, saw that we had understood and were ready, and he started counting down. We all nodded when we got the count, and he became silent and gestured that we should go to our places.

  I took up my position a distance away to Dalin’s side.

  The fifteen warriors seated and spread out in the clearing didn’t sense us watching as we counted down.

  They went on talking and sipping from their water flasks.

  Until we all swept out from the trees in synchronicity – and charged.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Dalin

  I easily stunned the nearest soldier before he
could even turn where he sat. I tapped him on his curl covered head with the hilt of my sword and he simply fell backward to lie upon the grass.

  I saw Noal move to do the same with his first soldier, but as the surprise wore off the next men we encountered had quickly drawn their sabres and were ready.

  I saw a massive soldier with a beard going for Noal before he had finished knocking out his first man, and I swung myself into the lunging soldier so that he tumbled at Noal’s feet.

  Noal shook his head at how close he’d been to being dismembered before he pushed past me and lunged at a man who had crept up on me as well.

  The bearded soldier I’d sent sprawling didn’t rise properly, but instead snarled and pounced forward to tackle me to the grass, immediately thrusting his fist into my ribs while I tried to lever his armoured bulk upward.

  It was difficult to manoeuvre around the spikes lining his armour without impaling myself on one of them and as he felt me moving he changed tactics and clubbed me in the face with a huge hand.

  In return I aimed a bone cracking punch into his temple and he cried out at the shock of the blow, rolling off me as I shook my throbbing hand and scrambled nimbly to my feet.

  Cursing, he threw himself upright and lobbed his sabre towards my face while I skipped to the side and deflected it so that he stumbled around.

  Out of the corner of my eye I was aware that Noal was pinning his opponent while he bound the struggling warrior’s hands. The Elves were also each handling a few warriors at a time, simply keeping the soldiers busy until Kiana’s group arrived.

  I instinctively caught my soldier’s sabre against my sword as he rushed forward once more, but felt myself stagger back under the sheer power of his arm.

  He thundered after me and threw himself into a series of attacks that were each aimed at taking my head off as I strove only to deflect his blade in return.

  “Too scared to attack me properly boy?” he growled. “Or do you only know how to defend?”

  I smiled politely, spinning his arm into the air when he jabbed at my belly in a flash blow. I circled his blade with my own and pushed it upwards so that he had to scramble to keep his grip on it. Training with the Elves had given my old skills some stunning finesse.

  “Perhaps I’m just playing with you,” I answered as he stared at my sudden show of ability.

  “Fight me!” he spat. “You know how!” he lunged viciously forward with his blade, aiming straight for my chest, and I quickly dropped to the ground to avoid having to meet the blow with a killing stroke of my own.

  He laughed, joking. “You don’t want to hurt me? Is that it?”

  We were both puffing for air and sweat poured from his brow to drip from his beard.

  “Perhaps I like you,” I said in a tone that suggested otherwise as I ducked another swing of his sabre, and stayed low to the grass.

  He aimed a kick at my head and his steel covered boot crunched into the already aching side of my face while I rolled quickly away from him, just escaping his sabre as he chopped up the ground after me.

  “I doubt that!” he grunted, pulling his blade from the grass. A piece of my shirt fluttered away from where it had been pinned to the ground by the point.

  “You’re right. I do dislike you,” I said sourly as I bounced to my feet and raised my sword again, ready for his next attack. “That was a good shirt.” My face was throbbing and felt slick where the skin had split.

  He threw himself at me, aiming shattering blow after shattering blow so that all I could do was defend and deflect, feeling my arms weakening under the strain of stopping his incredible strength.

  He aimed to drive me down and to batter me into exhaustion so that he could finish me off, and I was so busy focusing on keeping us both alive, that I didn’t notice him pull a short, curved dagger from a sheath at his hip.

  With one arm he lunged with his sabre for my stomach again, and while I was deflecting his sabre he raised the dagger to try to pierce my chest.

  Automatically I circled his sabre upward again so that this time the hilt was torn from his fingers completely, and he watched with surprise as his blade flew away and as he was carried forward with the motion of the dagger – stepping straight toward the angled point of my sword.

  “Frarshk!” I swore, and quickly pointed my sword down and to the side so that it slid harmlessly against the side of his armour rather than getting buried in his throat.

  I felt him topple into me instead of onto my blade and I felt cold bite into my flesh as his dagger sank horribly into my right bicep.

  Dropping my sword, I held him up for a moment before he realised he was alive. Then he pulled back and stepped away from me as if he’d seen a ghost.

  “Frarshk.” Warm blood was oozing from the open skin around the jagged dagger, trickling in a fast stream down along my arm.

  “You really didn’t want to kill me?” the big man’s face was covered in confusion.

  I squinted up at him with a frown, half hoping he would just pass out as Thorin had when he’d been confronted with the truth.

  “I still really don’t like you.” Now it was both my head and my arm that was pounding.

  He sank down with shock.

  “You dropped your sword and took my dagger so that … I wouldn’t die?”

  He looked at his dagger in my arm.

  I was sure it had missed the bone, only just scraping along it, because it had gone right through to the other side of my bicep, having sunken in up to the hilt. I could see the jagged tip of the hooked blade protruding from the other side of my arm.

  I took a deep breath and brought my good hand up to the dagger’s hilt.

  “You really didn’t want to harm me?” the soldier muttered again.

  I growled savagely as I felt the steel scrape its way back along the bone and out of me before I tossed the blade aside while the big warrior watched in utter turmoil.

  Then I saw Vidar sweep behind the bearded warrior, quickly binding the man’s hands securely. The warrior didn’t even protest.

  “You made it,” I greeted Vidar glibly.

  “Are you alright Raiden?” the tall Elf asked when he saw my bloodied shirt.

  “I am now,” I smiled at him, feeling light headed. “I just need to bind my arm. Go help the others.” I gestured to the fights that were still going on, and Vidar nodded before dashing off to pull a shouting warrior away from Alvar’s back.

  I began to reach to tear a strip of cloth from my shirt, because blood loss was already having its effect.

  “Watch out!” I heard the bearded warrior suddenly yell in warning, before I felt a massive pair of hands grab me under the arms.

  I was abruptly dragged backward and tossed roughly across the grass.

  I blinked up at my new opponent, and he saw that I’d left my weapon beside the bearded soldier.

  “Frarshk,” I swore before a fist slammed into my already radiating cheek, and a sabre was raised.

  I desperately rolled away from the new soldier so that he stabbed into the ground instead impaling me. Then I turned back the way I’d come, rolling over the flat of his lodged blade so that it was torn from the man’s hand to be safely pinned flat beneath me.

  I aimed a kick at his legs that sent him toppling and quickly manoeuvred his blade away from us before I felt his hands come from behind to drag me down and pin my arms.

  I swore again.

  But then we both became aware of a hoarse voice desperately yelling at us.

  It was my previous opponent, lying on his side in a heap of tied bonds and armour.

  “Stop!” he growled. “Stop it Nikon!”

  Nikon, still on my stomach, stared at the bearded soldier as if he’d gone mad and I took this moment to wriggle my good arm free.

  “Don’t worry Thale!” Nikon shouted back to his bearded comrade. “I will free you once I’ve slit this one’s throat!” He drew his curved, jagged dagger – just like the one I’d recently dragged free of my ri
ght arm.

  “No!” bellowed the leader.

  But Nikon ignored him and turned back to face me – and my fist.

  I clipped his eye with my knuckles and then quickly caught his hand with the dagger, stopping it in the air.

  He growled, instead lifting his free, armoured wrist to my face and scraping the spike lined cuff of his armour down my already ruined cheek.

  I nearly threw him off with a furious lurch, but his eyes jumped to the hole in my other arm, still pinned beneath him, and I moaned in agony as Nikon savagely thumped a fist into the wound.

  He thumped the stab wound again, ignoring Thale, the bearded soldier busily bellowing for him to stop. And I felt the rip in my skin tear wider.

  With a burst of anger and adrenaline I thrust both of our dagger filled fists up into Nikon’s face with a mighty punch that drew a yelp from the soldier.

  I shoved him, keeping a hold on his dagger as he sagged, and before he could recover I delivered another huge blow into his temple with its hilt. Finally he laid prone upon the grass, stunned by the impact – but also unfortunately weighing down my still pinned arm.

  I groaned as I dragged my injured arm out from under his heavy body, and I felt the spikes along the spine of his armour raking my skin as I did so.

  “Frarshk, Frarshk, Frarshk, Frarshk, Frarshk!” I swore darkly, cradling my arm where a series of new gashes had opened around the fast bleeding dagger hole.

  I peered around blearily to find my team and Kiana’s team finishing up with their opponents after scuffles that had been drawn out by our need to catch rather than kill the enemy.

  Elves were closing in on soldiers who were still loose, approaching them with ropes. But out of the corner of my eye I saw a flurry of movement and heard a curse come from a familiar voice.

  I saw Noal being driven to the ground by a warrior twice his size and a furious cry exploded from my mouth. I sprang to my feet with rage as I saw the warrior raise his sabre high to deliver a death stroke.

  I sprinted back to Thale and snatched up my blade from where it was still lying beside him.