War Everlasting

-The Beginning-

As long as she could remember Raven had been alone on the streets of Casilon the capitol city in the kingdom of Risovia. She survived like anyone else in her situation would, or so she told herself. She lifted food, jewelry, money, or pretty much anything else she thought she could sell or eat. She gained a bit of protection by giving most of her takings to Divin, leader of the Shadow Wolves, a gang of werewolves that called the central market and surrounding area their home. Although she was a great thief she suffered in the hunger area as often as not. Of course all the local scuffs paid some gang to protect them so that gang wouldn’t leave them broken and unable to find food.

The really unfortunate ones paid two or three.

It had been this way for as long as anyone could remember, apparently her people had been at war for 127 years with the neighboring kingdom of Entralis. Because of this, the King’s presence in the city was severely lacking. For the most part, guards bearing the royal crest were found in the area right around the inner keep or on their way in or out. As a result, the populace of Casilon had to fend for themselves on it’s dangerous streets, and only those who could afford guards, or had attached themselves to someone strong, were safe from the gangs.

Raven was smarter then that; she had put herself in Divin’s way because he ran the strongest gang, and while she had to pay more, she also got better protection.

Until today, at least.

She had been following a rather fat purse attached to a very fat man. She crept up as he was buying a cake from a food vender and neatly cut his purse strings and ducked into an alley. She felt the purse’s weight as she tucked it into her shirt. Feeling very proud of herself, she paused to glance around at the dingy buildings. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she realized that she had, in her single-minded determination to part the purse from its owner, accidentally wandered all the way out to the seediest part of town near the east gate. And if memory served her correctly she was in the Brotherhood of Pain’s territory, which happened to be the last place any scuff would want to find themselves near dusk. The Brotherhood were not like the gangs closer to the castle, who would ruff someone up, steal anything they could get there hands on, and weren’t overly bothered by a death here or there. The Brotherhood were the gang people went to when they needed something particularly nasty done. They gained their name by the wicked curved daggers they all wore. It was said that if you crossed them they would cut off parts of your anatomy, or sever your tendons or nerves, until you eventually died, horribly disfigured and in agonizing pain. You could tell a Brother by the fact that they wore the skulls of anything they killed in their hair and attached to their cloths or belts. With visions of torment running through her head, she turned around to get back to busier streets, only to come face to face with a bleached skull, it’s empty sockets staring back at her. There was a filthy leather cord attached to it, and she followed it with her eyes to the belt holding it and the wickedly curved dagger hanging there.

“That was pretty smooth, boy.” came a gravely voice from the shadows of the alley as four brothers circled around her.

“Unfortunately for you we had our eyes set on the same fat purse that you have there in your shirt.” said the voice from the shadows as the men circling her began to laugh.

It happened so suddenly it took her senses a second to catch up with her body as it hit the ground. She lay there on her left side, dust puffing in front of her, listening to a ringing in her ears that seemed to be getting louder and staring at a trail of blood seeping into the dirt. Her blood?

She had never been in such a blind panic before in all her life, not even the time she’d almost been caught by the guard. Dimly, on the edge of her hearing, as the ringing in her ears began to lessen she heard someone screaming.

Then someone kicked her in the back. The pain awakened her mind and she realized that it was she who had been screaming. The voice from the shadows had been talking all the while, though in her haze of pain she‘d missed it.

“….can help you, no one cares about your screams little one, and no one will help you when we leave you here to die. There are unspoken rules about poaching someone else’s territory.” someone said roughly, and then to her horror she heard the unmistakable sound of a dagger being drawn, a flash in the shadows.

She knew it was over, that she couldn’t escape this situation, but she wasn’t going down without fighting. Such a thing was not in her nature. As surreptitiously as possible, she drew her own dagger from the sheath hanging down her back under her shirt. All in one motion she came up to one knee and let her dagger fly into the shadows above where she had seen the flash, at the same moment a yell sounded close by in some language she had never heard before and the two brothers on her left went sailing over her head to crash into those on the other side. Turning to face the newcomer she was swept aside by a very large hand over to the wall as her rescuer faced the four Brothers who were getting to their feet.

“ I am afraid my companion is in a rather bad mood right now. He has never smelt something so foul as your fair city here, so I would advise walking the other way before he is forced to draw that big lump of steel on his back he calls a sword.” said a cultured, smooth voice. Turning around, she looked up into a pair of purple eyes framed by an angular face over the kindest smile she had ever seen. Long dark hair fell past his shoulders, slim pointed ears protruding through the dark locks. He was very tall, his imposing height making him seem even more awe-inspiring in the half-light.

“Dembak methrono elicsines, Faeric?“ said her rescuer. He growled as he spoke, and Raven had the distinct impression that it was no human or elf that made those words.

“In common please.” said the violet-eyed man gently.

“Am I to handle this by myself then, Faeric?” Her rescuer was shorter then his companion, but far wider in the shoulders. He had the bluest eyes she had ever seen, and as she looked closer she noticed they where slitted. He shifted slightly, moving out of the shadows, and Raven couldn’t hide her shock at what she saw. He was covered in smooth black scales from the tip of his reptilian snout to the end of his crocodile-like tail. A pure golden blaze forked down his brow like a thunderbolt, drawing further attention to the delicate sky-colored eyes. Her first impression was, oddly enough, not one of horror. She found him beautiful in the way that storms and fire were beautiful…strange and charmed and awe-inspiring without losing their loveliness. Raven felt an urge to run to him like a small child hiding behind a beloved brother, but she fought the desire down.

“Very well. Perhaps dealing with this on your own will teach you to listen next time and not just rush in. You must always think before you act, Thanatos.“ lectured his companion with an air of infinite patience.

“Yes, Lord Faeric.” the big creature replied, and with no further prompting he leapt into action. He was fast for such a large beast, a great deal faster than any natural creature had a right to be. Raven found herself shrinking against the wall behind her, unable to tear her eyes away from the spectacle that was unfolding before her in the darkness of the alley. The Brothers who had been doing their cowardly best to creep up on him while he spoke to the dark-haired fellow suddenly found themselves facing a very large, very angry nightmare come to life. The beast launched at them like a bull from the pen, his boulder-sized right fist connecting with the first Brother in his path, sending the man crashing, face first, into his neighbor. They both tumbled to the ground in a heap. With a graceful sweep of his long tail, he brought the metal spike strapped to the tip into the face of another advancing Brother. There was a sickening thud as he gored the man through the temple in a spurt of blood and brain matter. A split second later, still in the same easy maneuver, the monster swung around and aimed a viscous strike at the largest and most fierce-looking of his attackers. His knuckles, still streaked with slippery blood from the first victim, connected with an audible crack as the man’s entire face gave way under the huge fist.

Then, faster than a striking cobra, the creature dove to the left and rained punches on the remaining two Brothers foolish enough to continue the attack. They shrieked in pure terror, falling over one another in their haste to get clear of the reach of those terrible hands, that tail, those icy blue eyes. Slowly rising to his full height, the massive warrior looked back over his shoulder at Raven, favoring her with a conspiratorial wink, as the men fled away down the alley, yowling like a pack of whipped dogs.

“That was a good shot. The throat is a hard target to hit.” He said approvingly as he turned and reentered the shadows.

“Wh…what?“ Raven asked, a bit breathless with fear at being directly addressed by the huge black figure. Then it dawned on her that she had thrown her dagger right before he’d attacked. Her hands began to shake and she sat down hard on the road, all the emotions of the last few minutes breaking over her like a tidal wave. She closed her eyes, feeling sick.

“Oh Chaos…” she whimpered, reaching up to cover her face with her hands.

Someone touched her gently on the shoulder, and she glanced up. It was the purple-eyed companion to the monster. He was looking at her with great concern andunderstanding, and kindness. It was not a look she could remember anyone having ever given her before, and she suddenly found herself trusting him completely.

He was even more handsome close up, she thought somewhere in the back of her mind. The gently curving lips, the proud straight nose, the high cheekbones. He was beyond attractive, and Raven couldn’t help but stare.

“First kill, love?” he asked gently, “Those feelings that we force away in the heat of the moment have to come back sometime. I know it sounds awful, but eventually all of this carnage does become easier to bear. Here, eat some of these and you’ll be fine. It always works for me.” He handed her something bright and red that she took at first to be an apple. Upon closer inspection she realized that it was a strawberry, the largest and brightest strawberry she‘d ever seen. She took an experimental bite, overwhelmed by the sweet flavor and melting texture. It was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted in her life.

A shadow moved, black on black, and a moment later her rescuer came into the light, cleaned her knife on a bit of cloth and handed it back to her. As she looked up into his eyes she noticed that they looked like those of a young boy, full of excitement and wonder, while on the outside he was massive.

“Now young Thanatos, tell me what you did wrong here.” said the slim warrior encouragingly.

“Wrong? I beat them, they didn’t hurt the girl anymore, what was wrong?” asked Thanatos, looking like any young boy would who thought he’d done a good job.

“Besides rushing in blindly? Our plan was to keep a low profile until we had established ourselves, you on the other hand have killed two men in our first five minuets in this city, and done it in front of an audience.” said purple eyes gesturing to the small crowd staring at the creature who had just fought off four members of the toughest gang in the city like it was nothing.

“So I shouldn’t have killed them, just sent them running. Correct, Lord Faeric?”

“Yes. That would have worked, or we could have lured them further down the alley out of site. By the first leaf, Thanatos, we could have just snatched the girl and run away.” said Faeric, smiling to ease the sting.

“Dracs don’t run away, Lord Faeric.”

“A Drac with sense knows that retreat is sometimes a very useful strategy. This little posse of fools most likely would have followed us and we could have chosen a more secluded site in which to battle. And do stop calling me Lord. Honestly, what do the words ‘low profile‘ really mean to you? Dracs...” Faeric watched the growing crowd, relieved that they were too far away to hear his conversation.

“Well, as you are the master and I the student…for now… I bow to your wisdom.” Thanatos still looked a bit self-righteous.

“You’re as headstrong as your father is, Thanatos. And you have his ego as well, though perhaps not as pronounced. Still, you did rather well for your first time out, and no harm done.” Faeric turned to look down at Raven, the light shining gently across his face, illuminating those strange violet eyes. “My dear young woman, would you be so kind as to tell me why these crowds are getting larger?”

There was no response.

“Young lady?”

“ I’m a boy! And they are waiting, for your information, to see what’s left when you’re done with the bodies.” said Raven sullenly, ashamed of the people with whom she shared this city. She was irritated that Faeric had told all and sundry of her true gender, if anyone was close enough to hear him properly. If she wanted to stay out of the pleasure houses and slave markets the best way was to be a boy. It was not that they didn’t want boys…the slavers and sellers of flesh were not terribly picky… but young girls fetched the highest prices. Especially pretty young girls, and no one gifted with sight would have ever claimed Raven wasn’t among that particular group.

“Are they waiting to loot the corpses?” asked Thanatos innocently.

“That, yes.” Raven said slowly. “But also…well…meat is something of a scarcity here, so -”

“They mean to eat them?”

“Well, yes. Yes they do.”

Thanatos glanced down at the bodies, running a forked tongue across his teeth in thought.

Raven had been forced to eat humanoid meat before when there just wasn’t anything else, and the memory of the greasy taste was not a pleasurable one.

“Oh. I see. Very well, lets be on our way then, shall we? I don’t think it wise to draw any more attention to ourselves. We should let these poor people fight for their meal.” Faeric looked sadly at the hollow-eyed crowd pressing closer around them by degrees. Raven had expected that one of such nobility and gentleness would be put off by the idea of a species eating its own. She shuddered a little to think of the things those purple eyes must have seen to so easily pass off cannibalism. It had taken her two weeks of starvation before she’d been able to force down a few strips of the dried meat, and then she had found it extremely difficult to keep the meat down.

Then she noticed the predatory look in the eyes of the beautiful demon, a look that caused the crowd to take a visible step back, a look like a lion guarding its kill from any who would try to take it.

As he turned his gaze in her direction she involuntarily tried to move further back against the wall and somehow disappear, her heartbeat increasing. She felt a fear like she had never felt before. Sure, she had been in danger before, but never had she felt so small and helpless, so very prey-like.

Then, as he looked at her, the intense gaze softened and the edges of his mouth curved up to reveal razor sharp teeth.

“Thanatos, stop smiling at the poor boy! With the look you just gave this crowd he’ll think you’re going to eat him!” Faeric said loudly, giving Raven a small, secret wink.

“ Don’t worry, I won’t eat you.” Thanatos rumbled softly, the laughter in his eyes implying that it was the silliest thing he had every heard.

“Lets get walking, shall we? Young sir, we are in need of a guide to introduce us to the ins and outs of your city. Might you be interested in the job?” Faeric asked in a business-like manner.

Raven stared blankly at him for a few seconds. A job?

She had never had a job before. But that black creature would be better protection then Divins whole gang. The thought made her mind up rather quick.

“What’s the pay?” Raven asked, a shrewd look coming into her eyes.

Faeric stroked his smooth chin with one hand, contemplating her through narrowed eyes.

“Well, we will be walking a lot and I need a guide who can keep up, so…, perhaps we should make it room and board plus a silver a day. Doesn’t that sound fair, Thanatos?” he asked, looking over at his companion.

“I don’t know Faeric. It’s not like we are here on holiday. Won’t it be dangerous for her?” Thanatos looked slightly concerned.

“You don’t think her life up to this point has been dangerous?”

“We have a map.”

“Infandibulous teaches us that…”

“Who?”

“Hmm I thought you would have heard Valankar mention him before. But if you only know him from your readings you would know him as Bakur.”

“The God of Balance. Why haven’t I heard the other name before?”

“Well, the name Infandibulous is the Efeylarin name for him. It can’t be written down except in the Serafis, one of the few items ever shaped from Methuselah, the first tree. It is something that can only be done by Balance itself, and Balance is the only one that can write in the Serfais, so essentially Infandibulous is the only one who can write his own name. But as I was saying, Bakur teaches us that when you save the life of another creature you are responsible for that life until it is better off then when you found it.”

“I don’t need any charity.” said Raven, feeling a bit lost by the exchange.

“Of course you don’t. I intend to get from you all that I pay for. You know information about the undersides of this city that we would have a hard time finding out, among other things. Now, do you accept?” he asked again, smiling.

“I accept.” She said, feeling closer to this stranger with the laughing eyes then she had ever felt to anyone before.

“Good, first of all, introductions. My gallant friend here is called Thanatos. And I am Faeric Silvearre.” he said sweeping his right arm out and bowing to her as though introducing himself to royalty.

“My name is Raven,” she said bowing clumsily to Faeric and Thanatos. The latter bared his fangs at her again in what she realized now was a smile.

“Now, our first order of business is to find lodgings for the night. Might you direct us to a good Inn, Raven?”

Hearing him say her name for the first time was breathtaking, she had never heard her name said in such a manner. It made her surroundings fade into the distance as she fell into his eyes and knew that at that moment in time when he said her name she was the most important person in the world to him.

“W…what price range?” she managed to get out, finding it hard to breath.

“Nothing too fancy now, but not in the slums either. Maybe somewhere near the market?” said Faeric speculatively.

“The Lone Wolf is by the market, and they’re a merchant class Inn. Would that do?” she asked, looking away so she could get the words out.

“Faeric?” Said Thanatos, glancing surreptitiously behind them.

“I know, what more could you expect? Information is a high commodity in a big city, Thanatos. It would be funny to see the race that will be on when we reach our destination.” Said Faeric laughing.

“I think the little one with the curly hair staying behind the rest will win, he seems cunning.” said Thanatos, giving a low chuckle.

They must be talking about the people following them. Of course the Brotherhood would pay highly to know where the creature that killed two of there number was staying, and for that matter where she was staying, she thought as she quickened her pace.

“Never show your hand too quickly, Raven. Act like you’re in a park at all times and no one will ever know what you’re thinking.” Faeric said gently, smiling down at her.

Before long, but not as fast as she would like, they came to the Lone Wolf. A squat looking two story building that seems squished in between the shops beside it. A faded sign hung above the door picturing a wolf running.

While it was cleaner in the market section of the city, people were still poor, and the Inn was slightly scruffy-looking in the fading light of evening as they entered.

Raven hesitated only slightly before following them into the inn for she knew down deep inside where the truth resides that they were her only hope of survival now. Plus she had never been inside of an inn before.