Blood Soldiers: The Second Army - Grishaverse Prequel

1 - Yelena

Yelena ducked behind a nearby tree as the boy–Ilya–turned around to check behind him. She'd followed him from their small village, wondering why on earth he was out at this late hour. She supposed she shouldn't really have been up either, but when else would she get the chance to practice freezing and unfreezing the snow as it fell?

Thinking of snow, she pulled her kefta tighter around her neck. Her mother had made it for her early last year as a birthday present. It was a beautiful coat, made of light grey cloth interwoven with her mother's hardened steel. The fur-lined coat made for an excellent source of warmth as well as providing her a little extra protection from any potential Fjerdan witch-hunters that might be patrolling their mountain.

Her favourite part of the kefta though, was the blood-red embroidery detailing the cuffs and neckline. Yelena had done it herself, practising using an old book she'd found on the subject. While the designs may not have been completely straight in all areas, Yelena loved the contrast. Colour was hard to come by this far north, but she'd found a way to transfer the colour from one item and transfer it to something else. It was how she'd created such vibrant red thread.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she noticed the boy had stopped in the clearing and was taking off his gloves, tucking them into his pockets. It had been strange when he and his mother had shown up at their tiny village, asking for a place to stay. The people had instantly been afraid, worried that the location of their little Grisha haven had gotten out.

Ilya and his mother Galina had said that they'd simply heard rumours from the last Grisha town they'd been to. It had been attacked and they had fled here. Yelena remembered hearing their story with her father in their small-town square. Their tidemaker leader Rurik had allowed them to stay, but Yelena had felt their hearts race and their bodies relax when they'd been permitted to stay. She supposed it could have simply been their relief, but she felt that there was more to it than that. They hadn't said what their abilities were, and they'd seemed so quiet and tired that no one had bothered to ask.

Her suspicion had only increased when Ilya had been invited to collect firewood with some of the other young men. He'd agreed to go, and Dima had clapped him on the back. In an instant, Ilya had smacked his hand away and was in a defensive position. The boys had backed off and told him to relax, but Yelena had felt the rush of adrenaline that had gone through his body. Ilya had been scared.

He had his back to her, so she couldn't really see what he was doing with his hands, but she felt his arms moving through her power.

Yelena was a healer. Or so people thought. She could feel people's bodies, their heartbeats, their lungs expanding, their muscles shifting, bones moving. But...it was more than that.

She felt the little cells that made up those things, alive as they worked to keep the body going. It wasn't just the human body either, she felt the cells in the tree she now clung to, different to the body but alike in many ways. She felt the tiny parts that made up her mothers' metals too, and the glass vials, and the threads of her kefta.

Everything was connected, all the same in some way but different in another.

Ilya was moving more now, but she couldn't see what he was doing, everything around him seemed to have grown darker. Perhaps he was a squaller, moving the winds in ways she couldn't see. Or maybe he was a tidemaker, able to manipulate water and he was doing so now, changing the snow from a solid to a liquid.

She considered getting closer when she felt something strange. When feeling another human through her power, Yelena had always likened the feeling of life to a kind of warmth. Right now, she felt that sense again, from Ilya, yes, but also from further away. To the north of where he stood.