Ashes of Revenge

Chapter 1: Land of War

Not even darkness could hide the blood that had engraved itself into the Monstro Kingdom.

Raven watched as the black silhouette of a bird circled over the little farm village. Though its four wings were decrepit and its red eyes glowed against the dark graphite-colored sky, she knew it was a raven. She also knew it was circling because it could smell death, and in this Kingdom, there was no shortage of it.

The bird suddenly dove towards the ground, parting its beak and finally exposing its sharpened teeth. It disappeared behind a building, but Raven heard a new scream fill the air.

She stared at the building for a few seconds before her hand naturally moved a small player up one space on her board game. The crudely cut wooden circle had two sides – one black and the other a light brown with parts scratched out to resemble spaces. The players scattered around it were of various shapes; the weakest being a half-dome and the most potent a tall tower. The smaller the player, the weaker it was – only being able to move one space in any direction while the biggest could move four.

Looking away from the game known as Zahler, she stared out the dirty, barred window, watching as the sun began to rise across the village. Only a few more minutes and the dangerous Monstros would return to their hiding places. Daylight was the only safe time in this wretched Kingdom. The Monstro Kingdom.

She hated this place.

Raven stood and moved a player of the opposing side, effectively killing the biggest piece. She swept the set up into one of her bags and slid her dark brown leather gloves on, concealing her rings beneath it.

She had been doing this for hours because today was the day that decided their fates. Not only their fates but the fates of the other Kingdoms. The game helped to calm her and take her mind off the real game at play – a game of life and death and war and peace and Queens and Kings and heirs and competitors.

A boy sitting on a small, stiff bed looked at her, his sun-kissed hair shifting with the movement but his features barely visible without the glow of candlelight.

She faintly smiled at Colt and he back to her, still trying to wake up fully. They never got a full night's sleep.

Slowly, he stood and began to pack his things.

The movements awoke another figure lying on the ground. The man groaned and his wings slid off him. His tiredness only lasted a second before his black wings lifted him onto his feet with one flap. With his wings and onyx hair, he blended into the shadows of the room.

Colt shoved recently sharpened arrows into his bag, swung it over his shoulder, and walked out the room with Raven behind him. Both knew the man needed to finish packing and check the room to make sure they hadn't left anything despite everyone only bringing in one or two pouches worth of possessions.

Raven and Colt walked out of the dingy, rundown Tavern, and to barred stables that held their horses next to the building. Instead of crisp, clean air like they had wished for every day for the past month or so, it remained dense and rotten.

She began to tie her bag onto her horse's saddle, feeling Herbert still so she would have an easier time.

The horse next to Herbert huffed and backed up, shaking its head side to side. Colt grumbled and used the reins to pull it closer, attaching his bag to the saddle. "I hate yeh too," he said to the animal, his voice scratchier than normal as he adjusted his shin-length black cloak so his right arm was more visible.

Once done, he turned and leaned against his horse, allowing some of his dirty blond loose curls to fall against his forehead. Even with his slanted posture, his tall, lean frame towered over Raven's short slender one by about a foot. The warm color of his skin and hair made the dark circles under his eyes sink deeper.