The Dawn of the Raven Omnibus 1: Episodes 1-5 (6 page)

Kiella stared in disbelief.  Was she the only survivor?  The
carnage, the horrors she had seen . . . it was beyond any nightmare.  Beyond
anything she ever could have imagined.  And yet, she was alive, when all the
others had perished.  She looked to the gorgeous Typhorian, the one who had
finished off the Gekken.  The other soldiers had looked so outmatched, yet she
alone had killed four, including the one who appeared to be the leader, the one
who had so easily relieved the great Captain Vol of his life.  Yet, she had not
survived.  Kiella had seen the Gekken’s blade go deep into the Typhorian’s
stomach.  Such a wound could mean a long and painful death.  Perhaps the
Typhorian was lucky that she appeared to succumb quickly, but now, what would
Kiella do?  Alone.  Were there more?  Had they really killed them all?  Sunset
was only a few hours away.  Soon, it would be nightfall.  The Gekken had
slaughtered the horses or severed their reigns, and those that lived were long
gone.  Even if the Gekken were really gone, she wouldn’t make it out of the
woods before night fell and the wolves prowled the forest.  Perhaps she wasn’t
the fortunate one after all.

And yet, something stirred.  The Typhorian.  Astonishingly,
she stood.  Blood oozing from her belly, Kiella watched as the beautiful
warrior matter-of-factly tore the fabric from a fallen soldier’s garments and
used it to wrap tightly around her wound.  She then turned and faced Kiella.

“You.  If
you had freed me earlier, many of them wouldn’t have needed to die.”

Kiella was still in shock that Raveena was standing, or
breathing at all.  She stared at her for a moment, bewildered, as if she
thought she was an apparition.  Then, she gathered herself and responded.

“It wasn’t
my decision.  I was following orders.  I couldn’t have freed you anyway, do you
forget, I didn’t have the key.”

“Your
people.  Idiots.  Fools.  Worse than I ever believed.  I’ve known your people
were senseless morons, but this . . .  And now look, look at the price they
paid?  And my people . . . my people . . . I am the biggest fool of all, to
have trusted you.  To have put any faith in you.  To have thought you would
listen.  That you might hear reason . . .  I am such a fool.  I’ve got to warn
them.  I’ve got to get to my people . . . immediately.  They must know what is
coming.”

Kiella held her tongue.  Yes, she wanted to defend her
people, but now hardly seemed the time.  She couldn’t believe her eyes as she
watched Raveena begin to walk towards the west.  Did she really think she would
make it all the way to her kingdom?  She would be lucky to make it to the edge
of the clearing.  She thought of the chickens whose bodies continue to move
even after their heads were cleaved, and their death had already been
determined.  She didn’t see much difference between that and the beautiful
warrior, as she limped across the field, acting as if she had no idea or
awareness that her insides had been severed and that her death was imminent. 
Yet, she continued on, and soon Kiella realized she’d better rush to catch up,
or be left truly alone there, in the wilderness, with no hope at all.

“Please, let
me tend your wound.  I told you, I’m a trained medic” implored Kiella.

“You and
your people have done enough.  Leave me alone.”

“Surely, we
are better off together than apart.  You must let me tend that wound.”

“Don’t touch
me.”  Raveena stopped and looked Kiella over.  “You may come, but don’t slow me
down.  And don’t question me.  You do what I say, when I say it.  If you make
yourself a nuisance, if you piss me off, I’ll kill you without a thought.”

Kiella could tell that the beauty was not in the most sober
of spirits.  Whether she was hiding it from herself or not, Raveena’s eyes
showed the wear.  The dark, gorgeous eyes that could be so striking and vibrant
were now fading.  Kiella knew it was even more important that she go along for
Raveena’s sake than for her own.  She put up no argument and followed along.

Raveena kept a pace that seemed unimaginable in her
condition.  They made good ground quickly, and had passed through nearly all of
the Merken Woods, which were to the west of the Raganean Forest, by late
afternoon.  Kiella had been wishing to ask for a short rest for quite a while,
when they came upon a quickly running stream and Raveena finally paused. 
Kiella took advantage of the moment to soak her aching feet and drink her fill
of the fresh water.  Raveena drank, and then carefully undressed and set her
clothes aside, so that she could wash her wound without soaking them.  Kiella
thought it was strange that she took such care not to get the clothes wet when
she would likely perish within hours anyway, such was the severity of the
wound.  Yet, it made sense.  With a wound like that, if the clothes were left
soaked and moist over it, it would probably only increase the likelihood of
infection.  She watched carefully as she undressed, soaking in each part of the
beauty’s body.  As Raveena stood in the stream up to her waist, leaning over to
splash water gently over her wound, which had begun to close, Kiella was both
distraught to see the warrior maiden so injured, and exhilarated by her
gorgeous form.  Her breasts were beyond perfect: beyond perfect in that no
sculptor or painter could have ever captured the way that they moved, the way that
their shape subtly changed with each shifting of her weight.  Yes, it wasn’t
just their exquisite form, it was the way they seemed to hang and be buoyed up
at all moments.  The way that their form was constantly shifting, both
succumbing to and defying gravity’s pull at the same time.  They were larger
than they had appeared within her clothes, now freed from their restrictive
confines.  Raveena was so focused on what she was doing that she was oblivious
to Kiella’s stare.  Kiella soaked in each moment, again feeling her pussy’s
lips becoming flushed, and moistening.  She found herself wishing, so much, to
give in to what she had so long desired but suppressed.

As Raveena finished cleaning the wound, she stepped back up
onto the shore.  As she attempted to brush the water off of her legs, she bent
forward.  From behind her, Kiella watched between Raveena’s legs as water
dripped from her gorgeous dark fur.  She could make out the soft mound of her
sweet, beautiful pussy.  And, above it, that beautiful ass.  It was so
gorgeous, Kiella longed to reach down and rub herself, but she was able to
fight the urge for fear of getting caught. 

Raveena turned, and Kiella’s attention fell back on her
wound.  She felt a great sense of sadness to see such an incredible warrior
bear such an injury.  Yes, it had begun to clot, but it already didn’t look
well.  The flesh around it was a strange color.

“Please”
Kiella implored, “let me examine it.  I have medicine I carry with me to all
battles.  Tending wounds such as yours is part of my job.”

For a moment, as she came to grips with the severity of her
injury, Raveena looked as though she would relent, but then rage filled her
blood again, made all the more potent by the pain and festering of the wound. 

“No” the
beauty snapped.  “I won’t take aid from a Raganean.  Your people have taught me
well: you can’t be trusted, you can’t be reasoned with.  Because I made that
mistake once, my people may all pay the price.  I won’t make that mistake
again.”

By the fire in the warrior’s eyes, Kiella could see that
there was no reasoning with her.  Though Kiella knew that the wound needed
urgent tending, there was nothing she could do.  The warrior maiden rewrapped
it, dressed, and insisted they continue on immediately.

Remarkably, they covered significant ground by nightfall. 
They made their way all the way to the fork to the Thorian Hills.  Kiella knew
that there was no chance for them to make it across the pass all the way back
to the Typhorian kingdom.  It was a difficult task and arduous journey at full
strength with good health and horses.  In their current condition, it would not
be possible.  Still, she had promised not to question or complain, so she
humored Raveena, following along in step.  She was shocked, though, when Raveena,
instead of following to the north to reach the pass through the hills, turned
south at the fork instead.

“My lady, I
think you are mistaken.  Your way is north.”

“No.  The
pass will take too long.  We must get there sooner.  I must warn my people as quickly
as possible about the Gekken.  I have wasted too much time already.” 

The warrior’s skin was losing its color.  She was pale, and
she was starting to tremble.  She had lost too much blood.  She must have been
disoriented, thought Kiella.

“No my lady. 
That is the way back to your kingdom.  If you want to return, we must go that
way.”

“No.”
Raveena was resolute.  “We will pass through the forest.  It’s much faster.”

Kiella was shocked.

“The
Forbidden Forest?  We are not allowed.  We will violate the truce.  We will be
murdered before dawn.  We may reignite the old feud.  We can’t.  First, the
Gekken return, and now you want to piss on the peace that has lasted for one
hundred years with the exiles?  You are not in your right mind, my lady.”

“It is the
only way.  Besides, I’ve been there before.  It’s the way I came.  It’s where I
first saw the Gekken.  I followed them to the clearing from there.”

Kiella was astonished.

“You’ve been
there?  Why?  What for?  How could it have been worth the risk?  We all could
have paid the price.  Your kingdom, my kingdom, the entire realm.  Peace with
the exiles has lasted for over a century.  What could possibly have been worth
risking that?”

Raveena’s gaze grew stern.  She regained a bit of her old
focus.

“My business
is my own.  I warned you, do not argue.  Do not tempt me.  I am not asking you
to go with me.  I am not asking you to break the truce.  You may do as you
please.  I never wanted your company anyway.”

Kiella knew this was all insane.  They had no hope of reaching
Typhoria.  It would be a miracle if Raveena survived till dawn.  There was no
way this was worth violating the truce, but she could tell that there was no
reasoning with her.  And Raveena’s will was such that Kiella knew she couldn’t
stop her.  Short of attacking the wounded warrior herself, Kiella knew there
was no choice but to allow her to continue, and that she would eventually
collapse, and that then, if Kiella were not with her, she would surely die. 
Yes, they were sworn enemies, but after all that had transpired, Kiella couldn’t
just leave Raveena to die alone of blood loss, infection, or to be torn apart
by the savage lower wolves of the Forbidden Forest.  And the exiles, if they
caught her . . .  No, she had seen too much of Raveena now, knew too much of
her courage and felt indebted to her for the treatment she had received from
her people, when she now knew that Raveena’s motives had indeed been noble. 
She owed it to her to accompany her, to be with her at her end.  Raveena had
earned the right not to die alone.

They crossed the line of demarcation just as night came. 
Kiella hoped that the cover of darkness would be enough to allow them to move
unnoticed.  If the exiles were to find them now, it may not only be disastrous
for them, but for the peace that had existed for over a century.  Kiella held
her breath with every noise she heard, or with any movement about them, no
matter how small or unassuming, sure that at any moment they would be affronted
and assaulted for having broken the truce and stepped foot on forbidden soil. 
Despite her wound, Raveena continued to press onward with a remarkable pace,
sheer will-power propelling her body, even though she should have collapsed
long before.  Yet, Kiella knew that Raveena’s fortune was dire.  Soon, she
would fall, and she would never stand back up again.

The Forbidden Forest was the habitat of many wildlife that
was seldom seen in the Raganean woods.  The Raganean Forest was the domain of
the High Wolves, for one, while the Forbidden Forest was the territory of the
infamous Low Wolves.  High Wolves were the prize trophy of hunters, with their
gorgeous white fur and beautiful features.  Low Wolves were ugly as sin, with
mangy grey fur, curved, mangled teeth that stuck many inches out of their snouts,
more like a warthog’s teeth than what one expected from a wolf.  They were
double the size of High Wolves, and their claws reached at least six inches
when extended from their paws.  They were vicious killers and notoriously
territorial.  Occasionally, a Low Wolf pack would try to extend its territory
into the Raganean woods, so they were not completely unknown to the Raganeans,
and whenever they were encountered they were always extremely dangerous.

As Kiella looked about her, she always saw eyes.  Eyes
glowing in the moonlight.  Mostly, they would turn away quickly, the eyes of
rodents and other small creatures scavenging for their wares under the cover of
darkness, but she was always scanning for the eyes of the wolves, though she
knew that, in their current predicament, whether she were to see them coming or
not, the result would probably be the same. 

With incredible luck, however, the wolves did not come. 
Eventually, even Raveena agreed that they must take shelter.  Under the light
of the moon, they discovered a shallow, vacant cave.  Once inside, Raveena
agreed to allow Kiella to make a small fire.  The temperature was dropping
fast, and if they were to survive it was necessary.  Kiella urged Raveena to
allow her to examine her wound now, and Raveena finally, on the doorstep of
delirium, consented.  The wound had begun to fester, and Raveena had lost a
great deal of blood.  Kiella did what she could with the liniments she carried
with her, but it was likely too late.  There was probably infection deep within
the wound that she could not reach.  Raveena lost consciousness soon after she
laid down, and Kiella took the opportunity to do whatever she could to treat
her.  She cut deep into the wound to clean it, and then, using the blade
Raveena had taken from the battlefield, she cauterized the wound.  Raveena was
so lost to blood-loss, fever, and exhaustion that she never even flinched in
pain or fussed.  When the operation was completed, and Kiella was confident
that she had done all that she could for her, Kiella finally laid down to get
some rest for herself.