|The Red Raven|

Chapter Four

"I'm not training for anything" I said slowly, "I'm doing everything I can do to find my sister"
Wilican nodded at this but followed on with a shrug, "Cephenrene told you to"
"I don't care"
"You should"
"Why?"
"Because she's going to be the next queen"
"How is she going to do that?"
"That's her business"
"So why are you here?"
"That's my business"
"Right" I breathed, "I'm leaving. If you don't have Anya then I need to try somewhere else" I walked away, Marco had run off when a fight broke out down the hall and left me with this strange man.
"That's not an option" Wilican took my shoulder as I walked past, I pushed his hand off me.
"And why not?" I felt my voice rising, I was running out of time and Anya was still out there.
"Drea, does it not occur to you that this is a secret organisation?" Wilican hissed, "You now know exactly where we are and you've seen Cephenrene and know she's planning to overthrow the king"
"Who am I going to tell?" I laughed, but Wilican looked serious and raked a hand through his black hair, it was longer than Marco's and incredibly curly. I stared up into his hazel eyes, not looking away until he did.
"Anyone. We don't know you" Wilican grumbled, "Don't make this difficult, we will find your sister but it will take time and I can't imagine there is much for you in DireHill"
"How do you know?" I demanded, hiding my lack of social life from this stranger.
"Because I feel like I know you already" He muttered, I felt myself blush a little, he noticed and laughed.
"Marco and I work together, seems you and your sister are his only friends"
"Well he thinks we're friends" It was my turn to grumble.
"Come on. Let's get you ready for war" Wilican laughed then gestured for me to follow him into a large gymnasium with mats through the centre. I gazed around curiously, the walls were layered with weapons, some I had never even seen before. I noticed a few simple throwing knives, suddenly the ones in my pockets felt too heavy. My attention was snagged by a collection of swords that were balanced on individual shelves. Wilican noticed my interest and lifted one of the smaller ones of the wall and brought it over.
"It's too small" I turned my nose up at the small sword, "What about those ones?" I pointed at the larger swords with intricate designs on the handles.
"If you hadn't noticed, you aren't the largest of people" Wilican smirked, I expected him to give me the sword but he slipped it into a scabbard that he'd strapped on, I frowned. "Not yet" He said in response.
"Oh do we have to warm up? Or do some theory on how to hold it?" I said sarcastically, Wilican rolled his eyes.
"I think you would have more friends than your sister if you were nicer"
"Why would I need more friends?" I pulled the elastic out my hair and ran my fingers through it, then replaced the elastic neatly.
"It's nice to have people around" Wilican suggested, he'd slipped into a cupboard and began rifling through a box.
"More people means you have more to lose" I reminded him, he nodded at that and tossed a leather jumpsuit at me, like the ones I saw the others wearing.
"Go change" He demanded.
"Seems my rudeness is rubbing off on you, Wilican" I laughed, snatching the suit and swapping places with him, sliding the cupboard door shut.
"Will. I prefer Will" He told me, "And I'm just matching your speed"
"Ok then Will. If you're matching my speed, if I decided to kill the next person I see, would you kill the next?" I asked while trying to shimmy into the suit, it barely fitted me and dragged along the floor.
"Murder is murder unless the person you kill is a murderer" Will explained, it took me several seconds to understand what he said, so I busied myself with the zips.
"Sounds exhausting" I laughed, grabbing Anya's jacket and slipping back out the cupboard. "Also, it's too big"
"There's an excuse to eat more dinner" Will ignored my first statement and pointed at the clothes on the floor in the cupboard, "Don't forget your knives." I turned around to collect them and then it hit me.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"How could I not? I've been a fighter since I was a kid, I can see someone who knows how to fight and I saw one stick out when you turned around" Will explained, he pulled out the sword as I collected my knives, flipping them in my hands.
"And to think I was being careful" I smirked, Will pointed the sharp end of the sword at the targets across the room. We went over and stood a few feet away.
"Let's see what I'm working with" Will said, "Strike the first target"
I tried to hide my excitement, learning to fight with my father at six and throwing knives at a wall were nothing. This was proper training, like a soldier and I had been ready for it for years. I lifted Volux and threw him with a simple flick of my wrist and it landed a few centimetres from the centre.
"A fluke" Will announced, "bad technique, too much flourish and the knives are too heavy"
"A fluke?" I repeated, "I don't think so"
"Ok then, show me" Will took a step back. I grinned at the challenge, Drin sat in my left hand and Ieli in my right. I took a deep breath, the next two targets were only inches away from each other. My hands itched in anticipation and I squeezed the knives gently. With one quick movement I launched Drin then Ieli followed suit. Both burying themselves in the centre of the targets, a satisfying thud echoed across the room.
"Now the sword?" I asked in as sweet a voice I could muster.
"Impressive" He murmured, "How did a techie learn to throw knives?"
"My father and then myself" I replied, collecting the knives and holding them in my hand.
"Here" He handed me a knife belt that I clipped around my waist and slotted the knives into. "Ever used a sword before?"
"What do you think?"
"Well you can throw knives so I wanted to check" Will smirked, "The first time I gave a sword to my sister she almost chopped her hand off"
"I assure you I won't do that" I stuck my hand out, "Let me hold it"
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you" He raised his eyebrows and handed me the sword, I held it up. It was perfectly balanced, I sliced the air and grinned.
"I love it"
"They always do" Will snorted, "Now" He lifted a slightly larger sword from the other shelf and I followed him to the middle mat. "Strike me"
So I did. I made the first move but he blocked it immediately.
"Try again" He smirked.
This time he struck first, I fumbled and managed to defend myself.
We continued on like that for the next hour, I was so excited to finally train like a soldier that my sister wasn't on my mind. Only Will and his hazel eyes, his bravery and teaching echoing around my head.
Just as Will was about to strike, an arrow flew past his head and lodged in the target behind him. I jumped, dropping my sword but Will just stepped back with a scowl. The arrow had come from a girl at the door, her hair was similar to Will's, black and unruly but it was cropped at her shoulders.
"Striking a woman, brother?" The girl asked kindly, she was dressed casually as well in a skirt and hoodie but accessorised with black knee socks.
"If you speak to her, you'll see she's not very feminine" Will laughed, tossing his sword down and pointing at the girl, "Drea, this is my sister Jezzine"
She waved excitedly and bound over with her bow, she was far shorter than me which greatly surprised me. Her smile was infectious and I couldn't help but smile when she threw her arms around me for a hug. She reminded me of Anya.
"Call me Zina, you must be what that distress call was about!" She grinned, I frowned and Will shrugged.
"Distress call?" Will repeated, his hazel eyes failed to hide his worry and concern. I had the same feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I was dreading what Zina was going to say.
"About two minutes ago? Some of the guys ran off to deal with it but here you are so i'm sure it's fine!" She fiddled with the feather on the end of her arrow absent mindedly, my heart went out to Will for having a sister this sweet yet so stupid.
"I've been here far longer than two minutes" I informed her, Will cursed and I could've sworn I could hear Anya tutting in my head but instead my heart just ached, he snatched up his sword and whipped out a strange device from his back pocket. I watched his every move as he pressed a couple buttons then scowled.
"Z, the call wasn't about Drea" He said despite both of us realising that, well at least I had, it took Zina another few seconds before her eyes widened and she gasped. Both her and Will exchanged a look before taking off towards the entrance. "Stay here"
"Not likely" I replied.
It was very unlikely actually, I had to see this.
"I'm serious Drea, distress calls aren't for nothing" Will told me, the same look flickering into his eyes that I saw earlier and I tried to hold back a laugh. Zina had already disappeared around the corner while Will was getting more and more frustrated.
"And I can help, if this weird underground monarchy destroying organisation can find my sister then i'm going to make sure it doesn't get taken down before it can" I announced, picking up my sword and following the route Zina had taken and surprisingly Will didn't stop me, instead he jogged along until he was walking beside me.
"We're not destroying the monarchy" He reassured me but I scoffed.
"How does Cephenrene expect to become queen then? I'm pretty sure there are three other heirs" I counted it out on my fingers for special effect but Will looked disappointed.
"It's not my place to say" Was all he could say, I rolled my eyes. This place seemed like the world's strangest cult with Cephenrene being the creepy witch like leader, the cynical part of me was convinced they were all under her spell. Will seemed far too invested in a cause that wouldn't benefit him at all. It seemed that the only person who would come out on top was Cephenrene and only because she would have the title of queen.
"Of course it isn't" I grumbled, "I'd like to know whether or not i'm fighting for the right cause"
"Trust Ceph, she's got it all planned out" Will said bluntly, I couldn't help but not believe that the girl lounging around in her bed had a plan to overthrow the king of Bakos.
"Right ok. Where are we going?" I asked, looking around at the empty whitewashed hallway, I could've sworn I heard voices shouting but I could pinpoint where they were coming from.
"I have no idea" Will said, he had his device in his hand again and tapped away, I peered over his shoulder but he danced away. "Stock room. A raid"
"Who would know to raid you?" I wondered, "I wouldn't think anyone knew about this place"
"It's an abandoned army base, Ceph and Bristan found it a couple months ago and it's perfect." Will explained, leading me down a similar hallway, we passed a young man with dirty blonde hair pushed back neatly and a pair of thick glasses, he was scribbling down symbols on a clipboard. I gazed around me in wonder, as uncomfortable I was at being in a place i didn't know anything about and could be killed in a couple minutes.
Optimism is not my best skill.
So instead I imagined all the ways I could be killed: Cephenrene is a cult leader and they sacrifice me to their gods. I die in whatever this raid is. Will and Zina kill me while trying to train me. My mind continued to wander until Will poked me in the shoulder.
"Wake up. You need to focus" He grumbled, I nodded quickly. The shouts had gotten louder as well as the sound of swords clanging against each other, how on earth was this a raid? Sounded like a full blown battle.
Will pushed me behind him, I rolled my eyes again and stepped away from him. I did not need this stranger trying to be my hero.
I instantly regretted it.
The stock room was not what I expected, instead of a cupboard with a few boxes and maybe a step ladder, it was a whole aircraft hanger. I tried to keep my mouth from hanging open, what lay before me was an enormous army grade storage department filled with more than a few boxes and multiple massive aircrafts. The hanger opened up into a vast green space which was occupied by several motors and men with swords drawn.
Any free space was taken up by Cephenrene's men (clearly labelled by their black suits except for Zina who had climbed onto an aircraft and was knocking men out with arrows) and raiders fighting to the death. I paused in the hallway, Will smirked at me and almost dove into the fighting. I stepped forward shakily, unsure what I was doing until a man came charging towards me, I jumped and raised my sword, watching it wobble in my hands. I was highly embarrassed by that, I was never nervous yet this huge fight was terrifying me.
The sword clanged against mine and it went soaring out my hands, I stood frozen.
I thought it would've held up for longer but I guess not.
The man snarled at me and came closer, his hair was like oily black rat tails sticking to his scarred face. I took a step back but he cracked his neck in preparation and I jumped at the noise.
"Hello beautiful" He drawled, "I think you came into the wrong room, sweetheart". I could see the teeth he didn't have and his foul smelling breath wafted towards me and I cringed.
As he got closer, I held my breath and stepped back again until I came back to back with the wall, my heart pumping in my ears.
"What a pretty neck" He drew a line across my neck with his dirty finger, I shuddered. He brought his sword towards me and I swallowed hard.
When I remembered the knives in my belt, I snapped out of it and drew Drin out and took a deep breath.
"I'll make it quick" He whispered into my ear, I wanted to ask him why he was taking so long but I decided that might just cost me my life.
I lifted Drin, settling it into my hand.
"I can't wait to see what colour your blood is" He breathed and I shivered at his breath in my ear.
I felt for his stomach gently while he pushed my hair back, I couldn't hear anything over my pounding heart and his sneering voice and the cold tip of the sword at my throat.
In one quick motion, I pushed the knife up and into his stomach. He paused and glared at me, blood appearing at his mouth.
"I won't make it quick" I hissed, twisting the knife and he groaned at the movement.
"Bitch" He muttered, falling against me.
I struggled against his weight, trying to push the corpse off me, the stench had become unbearable. Grabbing at his clothes, I shoved him away but he didn't move and I slid down the wall, suddenly painfully aware of my lack of strength.
As I hit the ground I felt the weight lessen, the corpse flew off me and I drew in a deep breath and leaned my head back against the wall.
Everything in me told me to get up and run away, go back to my little house and hide under the thin sheet of my bed. Everything told me to abandon Anya and move on but I wanted to stab myself with Drin the minute I thought of leaving Anya.
The fighting was still raging on around me but my vision was blurred, the man's breath on my face had made my eyes water uncontrollably. I was in a state of nerves and fear, I hated how I felt but I couldn't get away from it, I needed Anya to help me, I wished I was some witch and I could channel her optimism. Then I could jump up and continue fighting but then it him me.
I wasn't Anya.
I was never going to be her, but I had to find her before I lost her completely.
A familiar face and head of thick curls appeared in front of me, a look of concern plastered across his face.
"Drea?" Will shouted, "Come on, this was a bad idea get up.", for once I did what he said and let him pull me to my feet, let him take Drin from me and let him put his arm around me. I let him control me.
He used his sword to get us through the thick of the fighting, it didn't take long for me to realise that Cephenrene's men were laughing, they were enjoying this.
"That's three, I'm winning right?" One chuckled, plunging his sword into a raider while his friend shook his head violently.
"No I have four! Remember the ginger one?" The other replied, kicking a body away with his foot.
It pained me to realise how simple this situation was for them yet I stood there, a shaking and nervous wreck.
"Drea!" A voice that sounded like home tore through my senses, I paused and but Will used his strength to pull me along.
"Wait" I called out but Will ignored me, soon we were trudging through the hallway, my ears ringing and my eyes burning.
"Drea, we're out, you're fine" Will was murmuring as his warmth enveloped me, he was embracing me tightly. I sank into his warmth until my senses returned and I shoved him away, startled by my ability to let him get that close to me.
"Stop." I demanded, he stepped back and held his hands up in surrender. I was finally able to get a good look at him, his dark hair messy and his suit torn, blood was splattered across his stomach and arms that made me wretch.
"Let me get you somewhere to sit down" He explained, I shook my head but only succeeded in making the world spin around me, my legs losing balance.
"No. I need to find Anya" I told him, trying to get my bearings but I hated to admit that I was hopelessly lost. "I messed up back there, it won't happen again"
"I'm sure it won't but that was intense for a first fight, just sit down for a little while" Will asked, his eyes full of worry, something I was almost entirely unused to.
"No, I'm fine." I announced. However, he looked completely unconvinced, I felt his fingers graze the point where the man's sword had split my skin, a shiver raked through me.
"You're not" Will told me and I glared at him, how could this stranger know anything about me? How could this stranger care about my well-being at all? My head was spinning and I felt dangerously sick, Will's face wobbled in my vision. His hand took mine gently, I wanted to pull away and push him away from me but I couldn't.
I let him.
Will pulled me towards him, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and steering me further down the hallway. I willed myself to step back and run away, run anywhere but here but I couldn't.
I let him.
When he took me into a simple room with white washed walls, tile flooring and a small medical bed that he lowered me down onto, I didn't fight back.
I let him because I couldn't deny the overwhelming feeling of safety that Will gave me and I hated how much I loved that feeling.