Wings of Fate: The Lost Ones

The smoke, which must have billowed from the torched cottages, dissipated by the time they rode into the village. Though the smoke was gone, the overwhelming stench of burned and decayed bodies hit them before they gained sight of the village. Caleb tore ahead, racing into town. His horse leapt over bodies as the village man steered it in circles through the village, glancing at houses and bodies as he went past.

“Looks like whoever did this already left.” Athena suggested, reining her horse in next to Raven’s as Logan rode further into the village.

Lachesis pulled up on Raven’s other side and sat flicking her horses’ reins over one hand. “Why would they stay?” Lachesis asked in a bitter voice, wiping black ash from the hem of her dress. “Everyone is already dead. The sport is gone.”

“The sport?” Raven asked, incredulous.

“I did not say that is how I look at it. I know how these soldiers think. They rape and murder because they like it.”

“So you do not think they were given orders?” Athena asked.

“I think they were definitely given orders, or -- most likely were.” Lachesis replied. “But I do not think they had misgivings about following such orders.”

Logan returned to them. “They’ve been gone less than a day. The embers on the fires,” he said, squinting as he pointed out various camp fires in the village, “are still solid. I stepped in one and it fell apart. The winds whipping through this town should have blown them apart by now -- means they haven’t been gone long.”

Athena glanced at Lachesis, who watched Logan.

“Any idea which direction the soldiers would go?” she asked him.

He nodded. “Straight to the Queen Mother.”

“But can you track them, Logan?” Athena interjected. ’We need to catch up to the group that did this.” She indicated the mess behind him with a long arm. He glanced over his shoulder as though he had not already seen the horrors baking in the heat.

“Yes, I can track them.” He said, turning back.

Again Athena glanced at Lachesis to see which direction they headed -- home or after the soldiers. Her eyes met those of the Moirai sister who looked to have the same question in her eyes.

Lachesis sighed. “Gather Caleb and let’s head after the soldiers.”

Everyone nodded and began moving towards the trees opposite the village.

“Caleb!” Logan bellowed, walking his horse through the center of the massacre. “We are headed out man, let’s go.”

When the village man did not respond, Raven’s head snapped up.

“What is it?” Athena asked, bending toward her.

“I knew there was something wrong with that man.” She said vehemently. “He’s gone.”

“What? Where would he have gone?” Lachesis asked.

“I told Logan the moment I saw Caleb in the kitchen I knew something was wrong with him. My guess is he’s a soldier.”

“If that is true then we have been intentionally drawn out.” Logan snarled, returning fast. Raven stared at his scar -- it shone bright against his reddened face.

“We need to leave now.” Athena replied, turning her horse to barrel away from the village. Before her horse went a dozen feet, heavily armed soldiers ran out of the woods. She turned her horse, kicking its sides hard with her boot heels and rode towards the group, “Come on let’s find another way!” she yelled. But the bellowing men successfully blockaded the group within the village.

So many soldiers appeared out of the woods they were impossible to count. Athena’s instinct was to protect Raven but she worked faster alone. According to her mother, Raven would one day be so great a warrior even the gods would balk at offending her. She glanced to her side where that would-be warrior sat frozen on her horse with her mouth hanging open, staring at the bellowing soldiers.

That day was not this day.

“Raven, just remember what I showed you. Lachesis, stay with her.”

Logan moved in beside Raven, looking at Athena. “It would be best if I rode out to take them down before they get close enough.” he suggested, tilting his head to indicate he meant ‘close enough’ to harm Raven.

Athena nodded. “Go.” The two of them raced towards opposite ends of the village.

Clamping her thighs hard around her horse’s waist, Athena released the reins, crossed her arms over the saddle and gripped the smooth, heavy hilts of her blades in her fists. Staring hard into the angry faces piling out of the trees, she pulled her two long-bladed swords from the holsters on her hips.

The horse galloped through the village, turning on its own to careen through alleys between the cottages. The ring of metal sang through the air as her blades slid free. Holding tight to the horse with her thighs, she raised both swords to her sides and charged into the oncoming soldiers.

It surprised her that the men were on foot instead of attacking on horseback, which was customary for the Queen’s soldiers. Athena shrugged the thought away and focused on the bladed weapons they raised toward her.

Knowing she needed to incapacitate as many soldiers as possible, as quickly as possible, she limited herself to four seconds on each man: a slit throat, a slit stomach, loss of an eye, loss of an arm. She cut each growling man briefly, just enough to debilitate him, never slowing her charge into the oncoming men.

Bodies littered the ground around her but she did not linger to see their blood.

Still they came.

Finding it cumbersome to fight so many from horseback, she threw a leg over the side and slid to the ground. Athena landed in a crouch, blades angled towards men whose eyes glinted. They have no idea who they are messing with, she thought, angry. Give me a weaponless man and a woman holding a sword and I will show you a man who thinkshe still has the upper hand.

Athena leapt towards them. Five soldiers fell on her at once, all with menacing smiles. She spun in a circle, her swords moving unnaturally fast to fend off their blades. Bringing her right arm up to block one man’s sword, she threw her left arm out to slice another soldier in half. Where he fell another man took his place.

Infuriation spurred her to move faster and before long there was a group of armless men writhing on the ground around her. She leapt over their bodies to get at more of the soldiers.

Within moments it was over, there were no more soldiers falling on her. Breathing heavily she glanced around her at the men on the ground; a few were squirming and jeering at her. I should finish them off, she thought.

Deciding to leave them to die a slow death, she stomped around their bodies, pausing with a glance to her hands. Biting tingles shifted over the palm of both hands, sweeping through her arms like ants scaling a hill. The sensation was familiar, one she experienced during other fights. Every fight other than those that occurred since the beginning of the destruction brought on her people.

Power, she thought, afraid even to breathe lest the faint echo, of what used to be constant -- suddenly disappear again. Within a handful of heartbeats the tingling dissipated and, with it, the sense of power.

Grinding her teeth together, she turned to help the others and found Logan standing ten feet away, his sword tip pointed at the ground, his mouth hanging open. Athena leaned to the side to glance over his shoulder and saw Lachesis and Raven waiting several feet behind him.

Blood caked Raven’s hair and there was a cut on her arm but she appeared to be, otherwise, okay. As did Lachesis. Logan sported several cuts on his arms and torso. All three watched her.

“What are you looking at?” She asked.

The man’s mouth worked in silence before he swallowed. Rubbing the back of his neck, Logan looked over his shoulder at the other ladies before returning his gaze to her. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” He said, turning away. He had gone only half a dozen feet before Athena called out to him.

“Halt!” she said angrily. “What is the problem?”

Logan turned to her with annoyance. “Nothing, Athena. I said it was nothing, I was just going to comment on…” he paused and waved a hand at the men behind her. “I have never seen anything like what I just watched you do. Most of the men attacked you and not anyone else. Sure, they tried to get to Raven but as long as I stood in between them and her she was fine.

For the most part that worked, a couple of men got through my line but Lachesis and Raven took care of them. When the rest of the soldiers realized they weren’t getting around me they decided to take it out on you. I killed maybe thirty men. Look,” he said, pointing again at the men, “see how many men you took down.”

Athena glanced over her shoulder at the dying soldiers and quickly added them up in her head. “So?” she asked, sheathing her swords. She whistled one long high pitch sound and walked towards Logan. The pounding of hooves answered her call.

“So?” Logan repeated, incredulous.

“Yeah, Logan, so. Come on, we better get back.”

“Logan let one of the soldiers leave.” Lachesis said.

Athena whipped her head toward Logan. “What?” she demanded.

“I figured it would help, to prove the Queen Mother is involved, if I let one of the soldiers return to her.” He answered, calm.

She immediately relaxed, though annoyed with herself for not having thought of it herself. “Good plan.” She acknowledged. “Do we know which way he is headed?”

“Of course.” He responded with one eyebrow raised at her.

Athena swung onto her horses’ back and leaned over towards him. “Then what are you waiting for?”

They tracked the soldier until it was too dark to continue.

Raven was lost in thought, following the silent figures of Athena and Lachesis as they followed Logan’s indication of direction. Logan moved through the forest on silent feet as he stalked the lone soldier, following so closely at times it was ridiculous the soldier remained unaware of his shadow.

Time and time again Logan returned with an update as to the soldier’s progressive movements, would give his opinion on the expected time of arrival to the Queen’s castle and, on more than one occasion, complained about the soldier’s over-active bladder.

When Logan would go away again, Athena and Lachesis dropped into muted conversation and left Raven alone to mull over things. For most of that time, her mind wandered back to the little village she sat outside while the Queen’s soldiers raped and murdered.

Terror provided imagery to go along with the sounds and smells of that night, while she sat beside Logan -- protected. Sometime between that moment and the one she was currently riding in, Raven realized Logan was protecting her that night. Why he chose to do so was a mystery.

But her imagination on that night was nothing compared to what she witnessed in the village the soldier led them to hours earlier. What gall! She thought, angry on the Moirai sister’s behalf for being fooled by the miscreant. Raven wondered what benefit there was to the deception but was not fool enough to think, even for a moment, the Queen Mother was done with her.

If the soldiers came for her then they had snarled that up, just as they had nearly foiled her original abduction. Likely, the soldiers and the witch did not tell the Queen how close the arrow came to Raven’s kidney, but while lying on the stone cold floor the day of her palm reading, the witch had told her.

Close to death you were, she whispered. Raven recalled the chapped, blistered lips moving over the woman’s blackened teeth, and squeezed her eyes shut against the memory.

Raven glanced at her hands. She pulled gently on the leather reins, though not enough so that the horse responded to it and, pulling all but her fingers away from the reins, examined her palms.

Two people now had commented on her lineage. What did it mean? She wondered. The wavering image of her mother’s face floated in and away from her mind -- too elusive to focus on. Who was her mother? What, in her blood and now mine, was so important?

The black eyes were now an issue. The Queen Mother’s eyes were not solid black as they appeared to be when Raven looked into them. The soldier-slash-villager’s eyes were also not solid black. With a glance at Athena’s back, Raven wondered if she could trust the goddess.

If she told Athena the truth, that she knew who she was and indeed knew who they all were, would Athena keep the secret and give information when she asked for it? It would be nice to confide in someone. But not just anyone.

As if she felt eyes on the back of her head, Athena turned and met Raven’s glance. Raven met her gaze openly without blinking or showing expression -- refusing to look away. Athena simply raised one eyebrow at her and resumed her conversation with Lachesis.

The Moirai sister was surprising, Raven mused, switching her attention to the short-haired goddess. Fate of Life, Birth or Death? Raven wondered, narrowing her eyes. Lachesis was friendly, affable even and if she ever lost her temper it was not in Raven’s presence.

Lachesis was helpful and understanding, with a good sense of humor. It was impossible to imagine her as the Fate of Death, who should be brooding, dark, and argumentative.

Like Atropos, Raven thought, widening her eyes. Of course Atropos was the Fate of Death -- had she not threatened to kill Austin the very first day they met?

Austin…how many weeks had it been since she’d last-

“It will be dark soon so we better camp here, probably another few minutes before we find a clearing big enough for our group.” Lachesis called over her shoulder, glancing at Raven with troubled lavender eyes.

Raven glanced around the forest, having just been recalled to notice how dark it was. Evening descended so fast beneath the canopy of leaves that, in some ways, it was not a gradual thing at all but rather sudden. One moment light, one moment dark, as though a switch was responsible for the end of day.

Logan rode beside Athena, discussing, she was sure, the soldier. Though his voice was low, Raven made out the words dark, camp, and morning.

So they were to camp in the forest again. With a slow glance around the clearing, Raven sighed and admitted to herself that she was actually becoming used to the activity of camping. Never on Earth had she camped. Not once.

“Should be easier than the last clearing we found on our way through these parts. We are down three or four people this time around.” Lachesis said, nudging Raven with half a grin.

Raven nodded in distraction and walked Rohan towards a tree to tie him. “That’s true. Sometimes it is easier to move about in smaller groups.”

“Yeah but I think it’s probably a good idea these days to travel in larger groups. I’m personally looking forward to getting back to your home.” Logan said, muttering under his breath about sweating, mosquitoes and having a run-in with the Queen Mother.

“Me, too.” Lachesis said, addressing his first comment. “I’m off to find some firewood. Logan, can you find a little something to eat. I wasn’t expecting we would be out all night tonight and did not bring enough provisions to last us through so many meals.”

“Sure.” Logan said, moving away into the shadows.

Raven frowned in the direction he moved and watched the slow disappearance of his blue jeans. That wasn’t the first time Logan used an idiom more customary on Earth. She wondered if she’d heard anyone else on DeSolar say ‘sure’ as a response, but could not place having heard it.

With a mental shrug, Raven approached Athena with a hesitant decision to trust her.

“Can I talk to you for aaaaaah!” she screamed when Rohan jerked sharply against her. Raven fell, jamming her elbow and hip on rocks littering the path. Covering her head with her arms in terror, she feared Rohan would back up on top of her. The hoarse bellowing of men caused her to pull her head out from under cover.

Raven stared in surprised stupor at the soldiers charging onto the path. More soldiers?

Athena jumped into the attack, slashing wildly at the soldiers and narrowly missing Logan, who charged into camp and ran his sword through unwary soldiers. Lachesis leapt into the clearing and dove for Raven’s side.

“Get up!” she screamed, snapping Raven back to attention. Jumping to her feet, Raven pulled her sai swords from her boots and raised her arms in defense. Lachesis backed up against her so they could fend off soldiers from both sides.

A soldier ran at her. Raven swiped her right arm down, cutting the man across his face. He roared in anger and renewed his attack. Pulling a long-bladed sword from behind his back he came again. Raven gave him everything she had, screaming as she slipped beneath the wide-arc of his sword, and jammed both of her swords into his chest.

She pulled hard to retrieve her weapons and then reclaimed her position behind Lachesis.

Arrows began to rain down from the trees like magic. They fell like a curtain, taking the men down one at a time. The soldiers did not hit the ground until their bodies were littered with shafts. Raven tried to ignore the reminder twinge in her side as she turned again to fend off another large man with a wicked blade.

After all the hours of training, her arms felt like rubber but she raised them again. Fading sunlight sparkled like fireflies in the forest, catching not only the metal of her swords but a dozen others as well.

And still, the arrows came.

She worried one of them might miss and catch one in her group but the archers never missed. The next soldier was slower than the last. His bulky frame and round head towered over her with glaring blue eyes. He barred blackened, unkempt teeth.

A strange woman appeared out of nowhere and darted behind Raven’s attacker. Her slight frame disappeared behind him and within seconds a small hand with a miniature knife reached around his throat and stole his opportunity to kill.

He sank to the ground, revealing an older woman with cropped, brown hair. Almond-shaped, golden eyes stared up at her without expression. Her clothes were similar to Raven’s and just as brown as the rest of her seemed to be but her lips were thin, pink and grim as she slipped away.

Battle sounds returned to her as the moment shifted. She spun around in anticipation of defense. She spotted Lachesis across the glen battling two soldiers. The woman’s sword shimmered in red blood. Logan was several feet away from the Moirai sister. His sword had fallen somewhere, now hidden by the tall green blades. He engaged another sword-less soldier in hand-to-hand combat. Though the two men were bloodied, Raven could not hear the impact of their fists from where she stood. Athena and the mysterious brown woman slid in-between the other dozen or so soldiers, moving quickly and leaving bodies in their wake.

In her surveillance of the glen Raven’s awareness slipped but it wasn’t until she felt the point of a knife in her back that she realized her mistake. A forceful tug on the back of her shirt indicated backward movement was wanted. Raven stepped backwards while glancing at Logan and Athena -- both occupied. Lachesis was turned away from her.

No one noticed her departure.

A dozen or so steps later the fist in her shirt tugged her sideways until they faced away from the group. “Drop your weapons.” A female voice demanded. Raven clenched the handles of her sai swords in both fists before tossing them to the ground a few feet from where she stood.

She had no choice.

At a short push she began to march forward. Raven tripped over fallen branches scattered around the forest floor, moving clumsily in the lengthening shadows. Leaves rustled over the tops of her boots -- blown by a breeze she could not feel in the heat. Exertion of fighting and the stress from her current situation attributed to the sweat coating her skin. She felt its stickiness everywhere.

The sounds of fighting gradually disappeared behind her -- muffled by both trees and distance. The walk seemed to go on forever but then the woman released her shirt. Silence emanated around them. Seconds passed. Finally a footstep to her right echoed like a blast in the stillness of the forest. A woman with short orange hair and unnatural green eyes stepped into view. She moved slow and easy in what could pass for men’s clothing -- baggy, red pants and a long gray undershirt -- until she stood squarely before her.

She was beautiful -- stunningly so.

“Do you know who I am?” The woman asked, raising thin, orange eyebrows when Raven remained silent. “Do you?” she repeated.

“No.”

The woman laughed a low, sultry laugh. Her round, green eyes widened in a mocking expression of innocence. She fluttered long black eyelashes at Raven. “Oh, I’m positive Logan has mentioned me -- Clarissa?” Expectation shone bright on her face and Raven, still distracted by the glowing quality of the woman’s eyes, knew her answer would be the wrong one.

Keeping her face free of expression, Raven repeated her answer. “No.”

Clarissa glared.

Raven considered her options but found the only thought in her head was ‘run’. The abduction made no sense. The soldiers were there on behalf of the Queen Mother so why was Clarissa involved? Obviously she came for Logan.

Raven decided to address that issue. “What do you want from me? Do you want me to talk to Logan for you? Give him some kind of message?” Raven asked.

The woman’s lips twisted angrily. “You. Are. The. Message.”