The Dead May Rise ✓ (GxG)

Three

       After Epifan had charged off, Aedona and Yulia had exchanged a glance with each other before heading back to the medical tent.

   "So," Yulia began. "That scout... They sure are a mystery..."

     "Yeah," Donnie exhaled, putting her supplies back down. "She was."

     "I mean," Yulia continued on. "They were there one moment... The next... Poof. Gone." Yulia snapped to make her point. "Just like that."

     Silence fell upon the tent.

     Pyotr had already left--most likely when the fighting had started.

     Valeryan had slipped out as well.

      Aedona hoped both Pyotr and Valeryan were okay. Hell, she even hoped Epifan would be even though she barely knew him.

      Aedona wasn't sure how much time past before a soldier by the name of Afiney Akakyov stumbled into the tent, cradling his hurt shoulder.

     Both Yulia and Donnie looked up and over to him.

     "One of the Krauts fuckin' shot me..." Afiney swallowed. "Right in the damn shoulder."

       "I'll handle it," Donnie quickly told Yulia. Donnie then gestured for Afiney to take a seat.

       Afiney did as he was told. He pulled off his jacket, allowing his bullet wound to be more easily seen.

       Donnie kneeled down, examining the extent of the wound. She inhaled. "You're lucky."

       "I am? Why?" Afiney questioned the nurse.

        "The bullet... It barely grazed the skin," Aedona told him. She reached for a pair of sterilized pilers, moved them toward the wound, and gripped them around the exposed part of the bullet. She tugged, which made Afiney wince.

      Finally, the bullet was out.

      Donnie dropped it on the tray beside her. Afterward, she placed a bandage upon the wound.

       Afiney began to pat the bandage on the wound.

     Donnie breathed in. "Akakyov," she called him by the name on his jacket.

     "Da?" The soldier responded.

     "Have you ever heard of the Warmonger?" Aedona asked, curious; the mysterious disappearance of the scout from earlier was still fresh in her mind.

      "Razzhigatel' voyny?" Afiney began to question. "Da. I've heard of him." He paused for a moment before reclining backward a little, placing his hands out behind him. "He used to be human, right? What was his name? ...Kryvichyn?"

     Aedona nodded. "Yeah, that's the rumor."

     Afiney inhaled. "He supposedly had a wife and a daughter back home. He obviously had to leave them behind since... You know... War." He swallowed. "Kryvichyn was a destroyer on the battlefield. He racked up kills left and right. He got wounded during some battle though... Close quarters combat with a Brit... He took a bullet to the throat. I think he took a couple more bullet wounds as well."

    Yulia paced forward toward the two as Afiney continued to explain.

    "As the story goes, the Brit in question pushed Kryvichyn off the ship into the sea. His reporting officer claimed he'd gone missing in action," Afiney explained. "But as the tale goes, he was found by a... What is it called again?" He hummed a little as he tried to remember the word. "Oh yes. A siren. Kryvichyn was found by one and turned into one. After, he was granted the gift of immortality... He became Razzhigatel' voyny or the Warmonger, spending his days fighting in every battle he could."