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The Chronicles of White Raven (Part 3 of Chapter 3)

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 10:50:19 +0000

The first flash was black: Aomidori had moved first.

Ic'enix barely dodged the blow, moving expertly out of the way. She spun on her right foot, swinging her own sword at Aomidori's head: a thin stream of blood came away from the latter's hand, as she had brought it up to block the sharp blade.

Anwil watched with bated breath as he and Wryx stood back, mesmerized. The small lobby, its wooden floorboards creaking under the constant shifting and removing of weight from the women, could barely contain the two fiery spirits.

"MOVE!" shouted Ic'enix at Wryx as she flipped backwards toward the back room. Aomidori slammed herself into Ic'enix, using one hand to block her sword and the other to slash a dagger into Ic'enix's arm. She staggered backwards, the blood falling in thick pools, but didn't break stride otherwise. She unsheathed another sword from her hip and leaped forward at Aomidori.

"USA!" Aomidori yelled at the young man, "Find Shii, now!"

Usa grinned, and stepped skillfully past the ongoing battle.

Wryx and Anwil were his only obstacle to the cellar.

"I won't slit your throat," he said lazily, "If you kindly let me pass."

Wryx took on an extremely determined face, the one Anwil had seen when the boy had been working on some big project to benefit the orphanage, or the children he helped care for. Anwil had always taken Wryx to be weak combat-wise, so he stepped forward to help him as Usa waited for an answer,

"No," said Wryx simply.

Usa's face contorted, and Wryx stepped forward, holding his fingers up. With a boom, a controlled flash shook the lobby, momentarily distracting Usa as Anwil swung a dagger into his chest. Usa didn't flinch: he only smiled, grabbed Wryx's shoulders, and swung him out of the way, and proceeded to do the same to Anwil.

Anwil caught Wryx, and said to him, "Go to Shii, now. I'll try and hold this guy back until you can get outside the city!"

Wryx sighed. "Is it just me, or are you somewhat nicer?" He retreated before Anwil could reply.

Anwil grabbed a chair and heaved it into Usa, but the man dodged and grabbed a short katana from his back. With a few swings, Anwil had been backed all the way back to the cellar. He heard children in adjoining rooms off the lobby, and realized that Wryx had locked all the doors to keep them safe. He had a moment of indigitation, still hating the kid, but his mind snapped back to the task at hand when Usa's blade cut him square across the face.

"Quar!" said a voice behind him. Jinokusa lunged from the back room: Anwil could see Wryx and Shi retreating out of the secret passage that Anwil used to smuggle weapons for his proteges during training. The hefty man grabbed his battlemace and whipped it across the way, and Usa fell in a heap of bloody black rags.

The axe had knocked him out, a shallow cut extending from his forehead to his chin.

"He must have thick skin," said Jinokusa. "Let's go, Quar."

"Wait," said Anwil. He could still hear the clanging of blades in the lobby. He raced forward, signaling to Ic'enix they were leaving. She saw him, but made no inclination she had heard. After a moment, he retreated as Aomidori thrust her dagger into Ic'enix, but she dodged and swung her own at the Liyau, who also managed to avoid it.

"At that rate," said Jinokusa, "It's just a matter of who will collapse from exhaustion first. Don't worry," he said to Anwil, "Ic'enix can take care of herself. She won't be able to kill Snowyl, but she'll be able to get away without being hurt too bad."

"I'm not worried," said Anwil curtly, "Let's go, before that psycho sees us."

Annoucement!: This story will have, at most, 10 chapters. (so, 30 parts)., and at least, 6 chapters (18 parts). I completed an illo for it of the characters so far so I will post that Saturday/Sunday. I won't post the first part of Chapter 4 until tomorrow or the next day.

The Chronicles of White Raven (Part 2 of Chapter 3) + Author's Note

Fri, 02 Aug 2019 14:39:36 +0000

Thanks for reading and shout-out to Lunalovegoodmolly!!! Thanks for your kind words and hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger from last time. If you guys enjoy it, recommend it to others and give it an upvote or comment! Also, if you are reading this before reading Part 1 of Chapter 3, you're about to get a spoiler so PLEASE read the rest of the start of the story first!!!

Rating: PG for mild blood and some violence.

"She's the White Raven?" said Shii, after she had received some clothes from the orphanage's stock. She sat with Anwil in the back room with the hearth, where Ic'enix and Wryx had requested them to meet.

"Yes," said Anwil, still stunned.

"Hello," said Wryx, smiling as he greeted Shii. Shii blushed red as he commented on her old clothes. "You may want to put the new ones on. People may wonder if you're a little adventurer with those you currently have."

Anwil sneered. Wryx was everything he wasn't, his foil. He was nice, kind, honest, pure, and a hit with kids, probably cause he looked a bit like one. Anwil, on the other hand, was conniving and mean: he didn't like describing himself this way, but he realized how unlikable he was.

"Ic'enix," said Wryx. "This is Shii Eyu."

Ic'enix bowed and offered the girl her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Ic'enix wore a pair of stretchy pants and a form-fitting sleeved top that encased her full hands like a glove, her outfit all white. She was very athletic, bending every which way like a contortionist, and moving like a graceful gymnast. Her movements captured Anwil's imagination.

Shii looked innocently at Wryx. "Are you two together?"

Wryx shook his head. "No," he said. "She's a thief, and I'm a law-aiding citizen. But she's a fascinating individual." he smiled.

"Are you coming?" asked Anwil disgruntledly. The flames played off his features, his face a valley of dark grey and orange flittering across it.

Wryx nodded. "I know exactly where the Ash Country is, and where in it we have to go. Ic'enix is coming, and Jinokusa." Anwil spluttered as the boy continued. "I believe that's everyone, unless Ic'enix brings someone from her gang along."

Anwil paused. "Where am I in this plan?"

"You... aren't coming." said Wryx.

"What?!" Anwil said, outraged. He felt cheated. He had brought Shii here, been through all of this violence caused by Aomidori during the last few days, and he would just be left in the dust?! Aomidori was sure to target him first off, since he was the last person with Shii, and they were going to just leave him like a lamb for the slaughter?!

The lamb for the wolf's slaughter. That's all he was.

"You aren't fit for the journey." said Ic'enix. "Elves aren't cut out for traveling long distances, you know. They have to train, and you look like you need to hit a self defense class."

"He can hunt," offered Shii helpfully. "He's the best hunter in the kingdoms."

"Then why haven't I heard of him?" asked Ic'enix. "I've heard of the world's greatest killer, the Liyau; I've heard of the world's strongest man, Jinokusa; I'm the supposed world's greatest thief." she paused. "What does 'best hunter' do to hold a light to any of those titles?"

Anwil knew she wasn't being mean, just trying to teach him a lesson.

He sighed, and made to get up. But Shii grabbed his arm.

"I won't go without him," she said. "He has to come!"

Wryx and Ic'enix sighed. "I knew it," said Wryx. He smiled. "That settles it. Tomorrow, we'll get the team together and set off."

"But Aomidori's already on our tails," said Anwil. "She'll kill us all if she catches us."

"Let her try," said Ic'enix bitterly. "No one can catch a thief that's made off a billionaire by pick-pocketing even the most weary of assassins. What do you think I can do with this hands and a sword? How do you think I robbed the King in the far east?"

"But you saved the Emperor." said Anwil.

"Oh, he offered me a reward even more than I was going to get away," said Ic'enix. "But I would never kill. Death is wrong, and if you had the money in the first place, of course you can get it back if you work honestly. I only thieve from those who take it illegally."

"So you're more a hero than a villain." said Anwil, stretching back on the couch.

Ic'enix's eyes flashed, offended. "Of course I'm not a villain." she said. "That's what Snowyl is. If I have to, I'll take her down. She's a danger to us all, and she needs to be taught the error of her ways."

Aomidori stood outside the Ein gate, Usa at her side.

"We gonna sneak in?" he asked placidly.

"We could," said Aomidori, the night sky stretching over her and the moon shining dimly on her face, making her eyes milky white. "But wouldn't it be much more fun to get all the guards in the back, and then walk through their blood into their city?"

Usa grinned.

A siren went up from outside the city.

Anwil, Ic'enix, Shii, and Wryx all leapt to their feet. "She's here," said Anwil.

"Let's go, then." said Ic'enix. "I really wanna meet this chick." she smiled, and Anwil saw a flash of anger in her eyes, as if these two women shared a complicated and painful history.

A powerful boom echoed outside the front door of the orphanage.

"She's at the door!" shouted Jinokusa from the lobby. They all heard the clatter of metal against a iron sheath as he drew his greatsword.

"Get back here, Jino!" yelled Wryx. "She'll cut your head off-"

Jinokusa stumbled backwards, narrowly avoiding a swing of sword aimed at his neck, into the room. "You were almost right," he panted, and Shii pulled him up. Wryx turned to them.

"Jinokusa, Shii. You two go to the cellar. Jino, protect her, you got me?" Wryx said.

Jinokusa nodded, and retreated backwards as the door fell inward. The slam of the cellar door seemed to ease Wryx, because the boy got a determined look on his face and stepped behind Ic'enix and Anwil.

"You'll get yourself killed," yelled Anwil. "You can't fight!"

"What's it to you?!" said Wryx, "You've never seen me fight!"

A dark figure was the first inside the lobby, screaming echoing behind him. He was a young man, slightly older than Anwil but definitely younger than Jinokusa, with dark hair covering one eye. He had the mark of the Blood Moon on his arm, and seemed rather bored, despite being covered with blood that wasn't his.

"Yep," he said lazily. "There're in here, Snowyl."

"Thanks, Usa." said Aomidori, stepping into the room. Anwil noticed her blood red eyes, and something clicked within his brain. She smiled at Ic'enix and said, "But who is this?"

Ic'enix grinned back. "Like I would tell you," she said. "That's what gives me an edge." Aomidori's face contorted with anger. Anwil watched the two women in their brief standoff, waiting for one to leap into action.

The White Raven and the Liyau stood motionless.

The thief and the killer should have been no match for each other. But it was, in reality, a battle orchestrated in hell: both women were the best enemy for each other.

Anwil knew this. They looked at each other like they had know each other forever, a lifelong relationship of hatred, even if Aomidori had no idea who she was looking at. Anwil held his breath in, as the first blade swung up and caught the light.

The Chronicles of White Raven (Part 1 of Chapter 3)

Fri, 02 Aug 2019 12:55:16 +0000

Rage is quite a strong emotion. The feeling of being cheated, being angry about it, is so powerful it could rip apart someone like a ship in a storm. But no one feels it more powerfully than Snowyl Aomidori.

She stood in the middle of the camp, panting hard. Something invisible was gripping at her throat, something with clammy hands. It hissed in her ear like a snake, venom bubbling on it's tongue, chastening her.

"You failed. You're a failure. The best assassin? Don't make me laugh." it jeered. "If you were, you would not have let that child save the Elf. If he had died, she'd be here." it paused a moment. "You've gone soft. Where did the notorious Blood Moon assassin go? You've gone soft for a CHILD!"

Aomidori stood completely still. "I'll get her back," she hissed. "Then you'll resort me to my former place as one of the Council, right?"

The voice seemed to laugh. "The Council do need you," it said, "But if you let the Eyu go, she'll complete her real mission. What do you say about that, Liyau?" it shook Aomidori slightly.

Aomidori's eyes glazed over red.

"Yes," said the voice. "Become a Blood Moon again. Use all your abilities to get her back. Now, what do you say?"

"I say I do." she said haphazardly. She slurred her words, like she was drunk.

"Then riddle me this. What is the river of all great kingdoms?"

"Blood. Blood is the river all stand on." Aomidori smiled her creepy smile, limp like a puppet. Only the invisible, cold hands of the voice held her upright, held her to life.

The voice chuckled. "Go make that river run red once again."

The horse carried them almost 30 miles toward Ein that afternoon.

"Why isn't the pony tired?" asked Shii, interested. It was like she was seeing the world through different eyes as they traveled along the countryside. Of course, she didn't know that a crazed assassin was going to be on their trail soon, ready to reclaim her.

"It's a special breed," said Anwil, enjoying her company despite the heavy lump in his stomach. "The Shaolinai horse breed. As strong as tigers and as fast as cheetahs. Or, that's what they're marketed as." he patted the horse's side. "Good boy."

Shii pointed at something in a nearby tree as they trotted along the well-traveled sandy horse trail.

Anwil looked at it. "That's a yule bird." he said, pulling on the reins. Pulling out his arrow and bow, he leveled it with the bird's head. "They are big, easy marks, and taste pretty good, even raw." He shot it and directed the horse over to the limp creature to collect it. After he swung down to get it and clambered back onto the steed, he tore off some skin with his knife and offered it to Shii.

"Wanna taste?"

Shii curled up her nose in distaste. "Ew!"

Anwil chucked and took a mouthful. The horse whinnied and turned back onto the trail, slowing to a walk to sniff at some grass. After the horse ate some, Anwil coaxed him back into a canter, and he took off up the steep incline toward the towering city of Ein.

"Hey! You can't be here-"

Aomidori glanced at the stablemaster with a sadistic smile. "Open to all costumers," she said, taking a sweeping step around. "Even to Blood Moon killers. At least during store hours, eh?"

"You're oddly open about your choice of allegiance," said the stablemaster's wife. She was curt-looking and older than him: you could almost mistake her for being his mother.

Aomidori smiled at her, teeth bared. "Wouldn't you be?"

"No, I wouldn't--" said the wife, but Aomidori raised her sword. She shut up, and said in a stutter, "W-what do you n-n-need?" she was oddly cooperative now, the risk of her life being taken hanging in the balance.

"Don't flash your sword at my wife!" said the stablemaster loudly. "I'll call the guards!"

"Please do," said Aomidori, bored. "Haven't been on a killing spree in a while."

"You-" hissed the man, but she was at his throat now, and she asked him,

"Where's your son?"

"Upstairs! Why do you want him?"

"I need a partner. Didn't you know he joined the Blood Moon guild?"

The man's eyes went wide. "Not Usa! Usa would never do that!"

"But he did." said Aomidori, and turned to face the tall man in the doorway upstairs. "Usa."

"Snowyl," he said. "I heard you killed some of your Moon brethren yesterday."

"They had it coming," she said sweetly, tapping the side of her head. Her eyes were still a potent shade of red. "I lost who I was, anyway. Would you mind helping me reclaim the last Eyu?"

"Does it involve a death?" Usa asked. He had the same look of sadistic pleasure on his face, his eyes covered slightly on one side by black hair that reached his neck.

Aomidori nodded. "One, or maybe two. Maybe more."

Usa grinned. "Consider me signed. What do you need?"

"A horse," she said. "Your fastest one."

They slid off the steed onto the cobblestone ground and walked him to the tall gate. One of the guards welcomed them jovially and offered to hitch the horse up to the guard's watchtower down the road. Anwil accepted, and Shii walked off with him into the capital city.

The turrets of the glass castle in the distance rose up in the sky. It was the highlight of the city, nestled among the several village houses, vendors, and large stone buildings. Shii was awestruck: everything was so different compared to the ocean town Aomidori and her had been hiding in.

"Have you been here before?" asked Shii, before remembering he had been the orphanage bodyguard.

Anwil nodded dejectedly. The city seemed to bring back some bad memories for him, or that could've been the fact that he had stolen Shii from her guardian and he was fearful of the consequences... but he quickly smiled again. He felt different around Shii. She was among the first people to be nice to him, beside Gredar. That changed him, somehow.

They walked through the alleyway that lead straight through the usual traffic of people. Anwil shoved people aside while Shii clutched his shirt to avoid getting lost. After a moment, Anwil stopped. He smiled, and pointed up to the tall rafters of the wide, stone structure. A sign read in big plain letters:

EIN ORPHANAGE.

A paper under it said:

If you are here to drop off a child, please see our second in command, Wyrx. if you are here to adopt a child, please see one of our representatives. If you are here to pick up a child, please make sure you have all your papers and wait in the lobby until called.

"Okay," said Anwil, opening the tall wooden Dutch-style door. "They'll make you feel right at home here, okay?" Shii nodded, nervous, and they stepped through into the warm lobby, away from the nipping cold of the autumn day.

The first person they saw was an average-height older man with a stone-hard face. He glanced at Anwil, and his serious expression broke into one of taunting pitifulness. "Aw," he said. "Our former bodyguard shows his face after what he did, eh? Want your job back? Your hunting gig didn't work out?"

Anwil shot him a look. "Shut up," he said evenly. "I'm just here to deliver this girl."

"Hmmm," said the man. He extended his hand to Shii. "I'm Jinokusa. You?"

"Shii," she said, shaking his large hand with her little fingers uncertainly. "Um," she said. "What do I do now?"

Jinokusa smiled at her. "We just have to ask you a few questions," he said, "And we'll find you a room. Elf," he said to Anwil, refusing to use his actual name like he always did while in training under him. They had always had a rather bitter relationship. "Would you mind talking to Wyrx? He'd like a word with you, as well as the headmistress."

Anwil nodded, preventing the bile bubbling in his throat to rise and spit at Jinokusa. Turning, he took several strides across the stone floor toward one of the halls, and turned down it into an office.

Wyrx was an odd character, He was honest and kind, but he had hair the color of lavender. He also had small pointed wolf ears that extended from where his ears should be, but otherwise he looked like a good-looking teenage boy, which puzzled Anwil even more.

"They let a minor take the job of second?" Anwil asked snottily, as he always did when he had to meet with Wryx.

Wryx smiled. "You never did like me," he said softly.

"Yeah, you look like you haven't aged a day." spat Anwil. "You're too pure for your own good, too. You could be a priest, if they didn't consider your kind heathens." he scoffed.

Wryx shrugged. "Beside the point, Mr. Quar. We heard about your involvement in the Heykla Inn murder." he shifted himself forward, narrowing his soft yellow eyes at Anwil. "You were with Liyau, right?'

"Whose asking and why?" Anwil said, avoiding the question.

"Let's not play games," said Wryx. "You always ask me endless questions when I'm just trying to get one answer out of you. Please answer me."

"Yes," said Anwil.

"You weren't involved, right? In the killings?"

"No! They tried to kill me, but it was the Liyau who got any killing blows," said Anwil hastily. "After all, she's after me, I think."

Wryx looked up in interest. "Yes?"

"I took the girl from her," he babbled. "The girl, Shii. Shii Eyu."

"Eyu?" said Wryx, rubbing his forehead, twitching his ears. "Didn't know you were that stupid. You don't take an Eyu away from a Liyau. But it may have been for the best."

Anwil stared at him. "What?"

"Your comment about me being a priest? Well, I do something similar on my downtime." Wryx smiled. "Apparently, Eyu is the supposed hero of our world. The family has been locked away by the Liyau for centuries, trying to keep them from preforming their only purpose."

"That is?" Anwil said, captured by the young boy's words.

He laughed and said, "And that's to make the journey to the Ash Country and restore the balance to our world by becoming the Dragon." He tapped his desk lightly. "If an Eyu gets there, he or she can become the Dragon, which is the creature that keeps our balance, well, in balance. Right now it's very distorted, and the world is on the edge of collapse."

"You're not kidding?"

"Oh, no. You've got an angry Liyau on your tail now, but you've got a head start to get Shii to the Ash Country." Wyrx paused. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I don't think s-"

"Wryx!" a girl swung open the door behind Anwil, a girl with short brown hair and green eyes the color of sunlit grass. "Wryx, I just heard of the news! I got some of the best hired warriors back here if you need them-"

"Ic'enix!" said Wryx under his breath. "You're not going, so don't-"

Ic'enix shot an angry look at him.

"This is Ic'enix," said Wryx to Anwil. "She's my friend. She really wants to go to the Ash Country for some wacko reason."

"Um, what can she do?" asked Anwil, looking at the plain looking girl and sniggering. "Doesn't look like she could even pick a bug off a tree without help, eh?"

In a minute, Ic'enix was on the other side of the room, swinging Anwil's sword.

"Give it back!" shouted Anwil.

Wryx smirked. "She's the White Raven," he said.

Anwil gaped.

"Isn't it odd how you all assume that the world's great thief is a man?" Ic'enix smirked, tossing Anwil's sword up and down.