Aaaaaand the second part. Emjoy.


Chapter 12: Raven part 2

The battle started on the farmlands outside of the kingdom walls, the royal army struggled to push them back and slowly they were pushed closer to the walls. The scout came back with incorrect information, the enemy’s army was bigger than what anyone had anticipated but they were still hardly a match for the royal army as reinforcements from surrounding villages all came to lend their power. The kingdom was great in power and even greater in morale; the wolves would give up their lives for their kingdom as many had already in the battle since dawn.
Aeya and the queen stood on a balcony of the castle as they stared into the distance where the battle was; they were saddened as they could see the luscious fields became stained with death.
“The loss is inevitable, sister. Your kingdom fights for you”
“No. My kingdom dies for me. This shouldn’t be happening, Aeya. I can’t let this happen” the queen whispered sadly. Aeya dropped her head as she couldn’t do anything to help in the battle – her duty as a Protector was to stay by the queen’s side no matter what.
“There is nothing we can do at this stage. If we lose you we lose the kingdom, they know that and that is why they fight for you”
“All we can do is pray” the queen said and smiled faintly.
“What good will praying do?” Assyria hissed behind them. Aeya looked back and gave her a dark stare. The queen dropped her head.
“We need to put our faith in the kingdom. If we don’t they are as good as dead” Raven said without thinking and everybody stared at him, he noticed and felt nervous.
“I just wish I could have done more. I know you feel the same Assyria” he continued.
“You’re too weak to do anything” she scorned and looked away “but so am I”
“One day both of you will be the strongest Protectors the kingdom has ever seen” Aeya interrupted, she didn’t want to hear her children take themselves so lightly.

“Do you remember the song father sang to us when we were pups, Aeya?” the queen smiled dimly and walked to the pups.
“How can I forget? He used to sing it daily, and still hums it on a regular basis. Assyria and Raven already knows it, it’s necessary to pass it down”
“Indeed, for them it is”
“What song?” Ezra chimed in, feeling left out and in darkness of the conversation.
“It’s just a stupid song that doesn’t mean anything” Assyria said.
“Actually this song is the key to your spirit” Aeya said and started to hum the tune.
“Please don’t” Assyria said dryly. Aeya closed her eyes and started humming.
Raven and Ezra listened mesmerized and looked at her as she began to sway with the tune, then she took a breath and opened her muzzle.

The flow of a spirit will waver between the moon and sun,
Seeking nourishment they both expose to the land of the undone.
The moon greets the night with the strength of vast waves,
The sun brings forth the depth of aridity,
The water has been shunned.
Night and day, darkness and light, moon and sun,
They came together since time begun.
New blood shall come forth when opposite forces meet,
The desolate will set off in radiance - no more shall it be obsolete

“Bloodline Hymn” the queen whispered.
“That was beautiful” Ezra said greatly impressed.
“It still doesn’t mean anything” Assyria said.
“Oh it will, someday” Aeya said and snuggled Assyria cheek with her cold nose “do you know why your grandfather and I are the Protectors? And why the two of you are going to be as well?”
“Because we are special” Raven said.
“Yes, Raven, we are different than other wolves. We have a power within us that set us apart from the rest, though yours is still asleep. It is the legacy of our bloodline”
“Do I have that power?” Ezra asked with his head slightly tilted.
“No. Even though we share the same blood, you weren’t born with it. You were born to lead the kingdom, not protect it”
“But how do you know who has it?”
“It can be seen in your eyes like a burning will”
“Oh ok. When will this power be awaked within Assyria and Raven?”
“We don’t know. Apparently it can wake up at any time throughout our lifecycle, or so we’ve been told” Assyria said “I don’t need it though, I will become strong on my own accord”
“Your determination is something to be admired, Assyria. But this power isn’t just a blessing; there is a great risk in taming this power. You already need to be strong to receive it’s strength” Aeya said seriously. Raven always wondered what the risk was when she brought up the bloodline power, but she would never tell them.

“We are pushing them back. They won’t last much longer!” one of the water elders barked as he rushed into the throne room.
“That is good news” the queen said relieved
“We just need to stay strong until they retreat or die. But we will be the victors here” The fire elder said as he stood next to the water elder.
“Yes. We shouldn’t let our guards down just yet” Aeya said.

The battle continued as the queen and her protectors watched from the balcony, their hopes lifted as the battle got pushed further and further. The enemy’s frontlines grew weaker and their number withered to a few hundred. The sounds of the battle could no longer be heard from the castle. When the sun was in the middle of the heavens, and a slight peace fell over the land once again, the queen set out the order for the kingdoms guards and medics to retrieve the bodies of the fallen and hurt. Though, her spirit was too exhausted to hear the count of those that fell.
The queen called for all the elders to gather in the throne room, they had to make the necessary preparations for the kingdom’s recovery after the battle right away.
“You all know why you are here” Aeya said with a strict tone followed by a smile “We are the victors of the battle”
“The Kingdom of the Wind was taught a valuable lesson to day; they should stay on the soil we generously granted them. But it saddens me that they have to make this same mistake over and over. That foolish Orion...” the queen said, Aeya noticed a weight dropped on her sister’s shoulders when she mentioned the king’s name and stepped forward.
“There is no need to celebrate just yet; we all need to tend to the families that lost loved ones today and we need to treat the wounded. Give all of your subordinates the order” Aeya said.
“Drain the bathing house and run fresh water. Make sure all the springs are overflowing with water. A lot of healing will take place soon” the queen said “we will do all we can to help” she continued.
“You all are dismissed” Aeya said and bowed her head, Raven mimicked her action.

The elders bowed back, got up and walked out of the corridor when a strong wind blew them in the air, back into the throne room and against the far side of the wall.
“What is the meaning of this!” Aeya barked out and got into a defensive stance with the queen behind.
The wind elder walked back into the room with a blank look on his face “I wonder where that came from” he said and smiled darkly.
“What are your intentions, elder?” the queen asked, moving away from Aeya’s protection. The few guards that were in the room surrounded the wind elder.
“My intentions? Nothing worth mentioning” he said and a wind current picked up around him, it blew faster after each rotation and soon he was surrounded by a wind barrier. Aeya ran to the other elders as they got up without taking her eyes off the whistling wind tornado. Everybody in the room had their guards up. Ezra, Assyria and Raven hid behind a large potted plant in the corner of the room close to the balcony.
“I can’t believe you blew me away too, you bastard” A red and black wolf said as he got up.
“You too, fire elder? What’s going on?” Aeya asked surprised as she turned around to face him.
“I always hated being called an elder. Please my dear, I’m nearly the same age as you” he said as his two front paws caught fire, Aeya’s body froze as he stepped towards her. He lifted his paw and hit her across the muzzled, propelling her towards the queen with jet-like burst of force. She missed the queen with an inch and hit the wall by the pups, unconscious. Raven looked down horrified at his mother with a scorch mark across her face.
“Mother...” Assyria whined.
“I never really liked any of you. Especially you water wolves. Please die” the fire elder said and his whole body caught fire, the flames grew bigger with every passing second. The queen rushed towards Aeya to get her conscious again, she knew her sister was the only one present that could stop the fire elder while the guards were getting their ass handed to them by the wind elder’s defensive tornado shield as they tried to penetrate it. They weren’t even going to attempt to approach the fire elder.
Suddenly the flames that scorched the ceiling drew back towards his person and his eyes glowed a bright red “Boom” he growled and the flames exploded out of him into blazing whirlwind quickly swallowing the room in its flaming hell. The flames settled and he stared displeased into the corner.
“Typical of you water wolves, you just refuse to die” he growled.
Aeya dropped the water barrier and the queen stared horrified at the scene. Her throne room, guards and elder counsel was reduced to burning ashes. Aeya noticed the queen’s lip twitch as she was about to release a snarl.
“Stay calm” Aeya coughed “Don’t get involved or you will die. I will take care of him” she continued and shook of the blood dripping from below her eye.
The fire elder lifted his head proudly and smirked “Oh?”
The wind elder dropped his defence and looked around amazed “You fire elementals will never cease to amaze me with destruction you can summon, though I appreciate it less when I was nearly killed too!” he barked out.
“Take it as payback for knocking me against the wall” the fire elder said dryly and the wind elder smiled as he walked towards him.
“Why are the two of you betraying us?” Aeya demanded.
“Yeah the thing is we were never nearly part of this kingdom”
“Who sent you?”
“That will be made clear if you live long enough” the fire elder said as all four of his paws caught fire that time, he rushed towards Aeya and she ran to the side to get the queen and pups out of the danger zone. Suddenly she stopped and closed her eyes, the air around her grew heavier and as he pounced at her with his sharp canines, she lifted her muzzle upwards and he hit the ceiling with a monstrous thud. He fell the ground with a splatter of water. The wind elder growled and sent a large wind blade towards her, leaving a devastating path in the concrete floor. She slightly lifted her right paw from the ground and wiped it sideways. Along with her movement a water blade formed in the air and cancelled out the wind blade. The wind elder eyes widened at his surprise.
“A water blade that came to par with a wind blade. You truly are fit to be called a Protector. But that isn’t enough to match me”
“You haven’t seen anything yet” she growled.
He sent one blade after another as she sprinted towards him, cancelling out each blade with her own. The elder panicked, he knew he would die if she reached it. And in a whim he blew and repelled her through the air with a tornado that came from his muzzle, getting his desired distance. She planted with all fours against the wall and swiftly jumped to the floor, she saw the fire elder getting to his feet and he rushed and knocked his jaw into the ground with her weight pushing down on him. Then she circled around his head with her paw and quickly pulled up. A dome of water formed around his head and trapped it. Bubbles escaped his muzzle as he squirmed on the ground trying to get the water off his head, but his paws phased through the water and it didn’t budge.
Raven and Assyria watched in awe at their mother’s incredible water manipulation abilities.
Aeya’s eyes closed in on the wind elder yet again and she walked towards him with a snarl, he couldn’t help but to panic, for he didn’t expect her to be that strong. He stumbled backwards with the doorway in the corner of his eye. Aeya saw his intention of trying to escape and quickly ran towards him as he headed towards the door with all the speed he could gather in his paws. But suddenly Aeya froze in her tracks as an eerie wind howled into the room, followed by a splatter of blood coming from the doorway the elder ran to. Another wolf stepped into the room.
“It is so hard to get good help these days, don’t you agree, Protector?” the male wolf said.
“Orion!?” the queen barked from the corner.
He shifted his head more to the side to look at the queen past Aeya “Oh good day to you, I thought you would be dead by now”
“I am sorry to disappoint you” She growled “Why are you here? We just defeated your army!”
“You did? I don’t know about that, I wasn’t really paying attention”
“How did you get into the castle?” she asked and he started laughing.
“I literally came through your back door, it’s quite funny. All I had to do was divert your attention and forces towards the battle, then a huge, and I mean HUGE blind spot opened on the opposite side of your kingdom. Not very clever from your side, and here I am” he said and the queen growled furiously.
“You’re lying” Aeya hissed.
“Yeah... I am, sort of. I just walked through your guards and killed every single one of them that blocked my path; I nearly got my fur dirty in the process. It’s amazing what you can achieve on your own; I’ve relied on my useless followers for far too long”
“You sacrificed your own wolves, just to create a diversion! You disgust me, how can you call yourself a king??” Aeya barked.
“I’ve never called myself a king, not with the pitiful land your queen granted me!” he snarled suddenly, then cooled down and sighed “I want your kingdom”
“What you will get is death” Aeya said bluntly and charged at him. A strong wind blew over her and he passed her with a blur. She quickly swung around and saw how he towered over the queen as she cowered to the ground.
He arched his neck and lowered his muzzle to her ear “All I need to do is kill you and every single wolf that shares your blood” he whispered, then peered up and saw Ezra standing between Raven and Assyria. He slowly walked towards them and as he did Assyria lowered her head and growled offensively. He swatted her away with his paw and she slid across the floor with a loud yip. He looked down at Raven and Ezra and hesitated “Now which one could the young prince be?” He sniffed at them and picked Ezra up by his scruff, he turned his head to face the queen and saw the horror in her eyes. Ezra growled and squirmed as he tried to escape his grip “Let me go!” he barked.
Orion threw him into the air and caught him around the throat and threw him down into the ground with great force. Everybody watched in horror as Ezra’s body lay motionless on the floor being engulfed in blood.
“Ezra, no...” the queen whimpered. Aeya tried to calm her spirit and closed her eyes; she knew she had to unleash her full strength to protect the rest.
Assyria charged at him from behind with a furious growl, Aeya heard her and opened her eyes “Don’t Assyria!!” Aeya cried out.
Orion didn’t hesitate to kick her away effortlessly with his back paw along with a jet of wind. She flew out onto the balcony and slid between the protective pillars. She tried hold on but her effort went to vain. Raven ran to the balcony and looked for her, he feared the worst when he saw droplets of water on the edge of the balcony, he ran to the edge and looked down. He saw her broken body laying on the stone floor five stories below. His eyes were blinded as it flooded with tears.
“Assyria!” he yelled out and collapsed.
With the sound of her son’s voice and the thought of her daughter’s death, Aeya’s rage exploded into water that suddenly surrounded her and formed giant wings with n angelic blue glow on her back.
Orion’s mouth hung open as he gaped at its beauty “So this is the bloodline I’ve heard so much about?”
The room’s floor started to flood with a shallow layer of water, Orion tried to figure out where it was coming from and as he let his guard down Aeya was standing right in front of him with a sudden burst of speed as she slid across the water. Without hesitation she directed both wings towards his body and sliced right down to the ground. His blood spewed from his shoulders and he recoiled back panting in shock.
“You should have been laying on the floor in three pieces. You have quick reflexes” Aeya said blankly, not letting emotion run over her. She needed all of her concentration to keep her bloodline powers active.
“Wow! I nearly died there!” He laughed and stumbled forward as his left arm’s nerve was severely damaged, it was completely paralyzed “You are a dangerous one” he hissed.
She grunted and walked forward, her wings slicing at him from both sides. He had trouble evading them and received quite a lot of damage. He knew he had to get serious as well, then he set his sight and attention towards the queen standing horrified against the wall. Aeya rushed to her sister and covered her.
“How heroic” he sneered “Let’s see how long you can protect your precious queen!” he barked out and shot a large wind blade towards them. Aeya lowered her wing to defend them from the blade. Orion saw it hardly had an effect on the water and growled. He quickened his breathing and changed his stance, Aeya watched him intently.
“He killed my son” The queen cried.
“Be quiet” Aeya said with no emotion attached to her voice.
Orion suddenly started laughing from the pits of his stomach; he was losing his mind as his shoulder bled profusely. Aeya didn’t like his reaction, she knew something big was coming and she couldn’t move or her sister will die. She closed the wings over them again and feared the worst, suddenly she thought of Raven. Orion sent high frequency wind blade, one after another with hardly a second’s delay between each of them at Aeya’s wing defence. The forced pushed them against the wall and she could feel the blades starting to penetrate her wings. With each hit she was more fatigued as the wings drained her energy faster than what her water manipulation ever would.
The water collapsed on top of her as she fell to the ground - her body was frozen, she couldn’t move a muscle. Her limit was reached. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she watched the wind blades smash through the wall above her sister’s head. Orion stopped sending blades and panted heavily out of exertion. He managed a cynical laugh as he saw Aeya crying on the floor, unable to move. All her sadness and anger flooded over her all at once and she felt like the atmosphere around her was going to crush her.
“Pitiful water wolf. You never stood a chance against me, now watch me as I tear your sister’s life from her throat”
He walked towards the queen that passed out from fear. He gently gripped her around her neck and snapped her jaw “Painless death, my queen” he said and fixed his gaze onto Aeya “And now you” he smiled. Aeya looked at Raven laying on the balcony. Orion saw him too and hissed “Ah I almost forgot about him. I will tend to him after I’m done with you” he said as he lowered his muzzle towards her throat. She laughed mysteriously just as he nearly had a grip, then she suddenly disappeared into the shallow water.
Orion’s eyes widened as he couldn’t believe what he just witnessed “Where did you go?!” he growled furiously as he scoped the room. Suddenly a wave of water rushed towards Raven. Raven heard the commotion and turned around to see the wave crash into him. Everything went dark and a falling sensation came over him. He passed out as he anticipated the earthly impact.

Orion slowly limped towards the balcony and saw no sign of Raven or his mother. All he could see was Assyria’s broken body lying in the courtyard when he looked down.
“You won’t escape, I will hunt you down!” his barked echoed in the courtyard.