Blood Soldiers: The Second Army - Grishaverse Prequel

9 - Yelena

Her little town was buzzing with excitement, and a little sadness. Today the Grisha Second Army would begin their journey through Ravka. Yelena had her bag packed for the trip with a few spare clothes, socks and some sanitary items, as well as a bed roll and as much food and water as she could carry.

Her kefta had been cleaned and her mother had reinforced all the metal threads to ensure nothing would get through it. She also had another light grey overcoat, little more than a thin layer of fabric that she could use to disguise her bright red kefta if needed.

The townspeople milled around, congratulating the Grisha, giving them last minute advice or little gifts. Icons for different saints, weapons, food, and other little trinkets. Ilya and his mother spoke in hushed tones away from the horde and Yelena searched for her parents among the assembled crowd.

"Looking for someone?" her father said from behind her. She spun and a smile broke out onto her face.

She didn't say anything as she hugged them. Yelena had spent almost twenty years of her life with them, and now she would be leaving them behind. She hoped that it wouldn't be forever, but Ilya had certainly warned her that this trip may not go completely as planned, and they had all agreed to take on such risk.

Still, she could be with them right now.

"Just think, a year from now, we might be living in a whole new kind of world," Yelena said to them.

They shared a look and she knew what they were thinking. Unlike her, they'd grown up in Ravkan trading towns, forced to hide their abilities for fear of death. They'd fled here to try and find some form of recluse. Now, their only daughter would be returning to face that awful world.

Her mother kissed her forehead, "Please be safe my darling, there is no shame in returning home if things don't work out the way you hope."

But there would be. Even if the townspeople would let her forget her failure, Yelena would never forget. No, she would succeed, or she would die trying. She would not return without an army.

***

After saying their final goodbyes, the Grisha set off down the hidden mountain pathway to the small sheep herding town that lay at the mountain's base. They knew there would not be any Grisha there, so they would try to trade for a cart of some sort, so they didn't have to carry so much gear.

At first their pace was brisk, and they spoke little as they focussed on navigating the rough path. Dima led the way, with Sonya close behind. Dima was one of the older members of their group, and he'd navigated the path a few times before to come pick up supplies from the merchants as they passed through. As a Tidemaker, Sonya helped melt icy parts of the path, or solidify the snow into handholds for them to use.

They made good pace and reached the base of the mountain that evening. This far north, it snowed well into spring, but their kefta's kept them warm as they set up camp behind a rocky outcrop.

The Materialki, Dima and Elitza had been working with Yelena's mother and a few other Materialki from town to create a large tent that would fit all of them and then some. It too was woven with pliable but near indestructible Grisha steel and would protect them from most attacks. The group assisted them in putting it up, following the barked instructions of the harried Fabrikators.

Once it was in place, Yelena set about preparing the food, a metal canister of stew they'd been gifted that morning. She had Marko, their young Inferni practise heating it until the soup was bubbling.

Huddled inside the tent, they ate greedily, tired after a long day of travel. Their only lunch had been some dried meat strips and crackers, and it had not been very filling for the ten Grisha, but the food had to last, so they would have a filling breakfast and then snack for lunch and dinner.

Despite their months of intensive training together, Yelena certainly wouldn't say they were very good friends. They worked together excellently, like a well-oiled machine, the movements and sequences drilled into their brains. Yet, looking around at them, Yelena suspected a little friendly bonding wouldn't have been without its place.

She'd known these people her entire life, their town was small enough that it was the case. When they were younger, she'd completed her lessons with Yeva, Eryk and Irina, all four of them around the same age, but that had been years ago, and they'd stopped talking as much when Yelena had started her healer training. She'd just been too busy.

Marko and Pavel were a few years younger than them while Sonya, Dima and Elitza were much older. This would be interesting.

The silence that fell over them stretched out, and Yelena opened her mouth to ask who wanted to take the first watch when Irina laughed.

"If you'd told me that I would become a 'soldier' for some Grisha army when I grew up, I think I would have laughed myself hoarse. I can't believe we're actually here. Actually doing this," she grinned.

Yelena nodded, "I suppose it is rather–"

"Crazy?" Dima cut in, raising his brows.

"Ambitious," Yelena corrected him. "But you've all seen how strong Grisha can become once given the time and space to grow their power,"

Dima had always been a pain in everyone's ass, and it seemed he'd be no different now. At least he's here. He's already braver than everyone else back home. The thought caught her off guard and she shoved it away. They had every right to be afraid, but Yelena had begun to learn that to succeed, you had to feel the fear and do it anyway.

The others began chatting about how many Grisha they thought they'd recruit.

"No way! We could do way better than that. I say 200," Marko challenged Irina's estimate of 100 Grisha.

"Only 200? That's barely a company, and hardly an army. Besides, I doubt Yelena would settle for only 200," Pavel laughed.

"Oh?" Yelena raised an eyebrow at him.

Yeva rolled her eyes, "Come on Yelena, you've always been intense, but I've never seen you like this, so focused. It's scary. But in a good way."

Eryk snorted, "How can you be scary in a good way?"

"Fear is a useful ally," Ilya cut in, silencing them all instantly. His handsome face becoming weary for a moment, the same way an old man or woman might look while reminiscing on the darkest parts of their life. "It is the most reliable too. People who are afraid will react in very predictable ways once you know what they fear. You can use it to your advantage."

Yelena tilted her head, "When did you learn that?"

Ilya shrugged, the spell broken, "Is it not the tactic the world uses against us? We are afraid of being discovered and killed. So, we are forced to hide our abilities and live amongst them in constant dread. Or, we flee to small safe-havens and when they find us, they can kill a community of us all at once. The cycle goes on."

"But not for much longer," Sonya said, her eyes determined.

"No, not for much longer," Ilya agreed.

They chatted for a little while longer before setting up a watch, two people at a time. Irina and Eryk volunteered to go first, with Dima and Pavel offering to take the second watch.

As Yelena settled onto her bedroll, she felt her chest swell. The reality of it all hadn't truly sunk in yet, but this was certainly helping. She pulled the thick wool blanket over her, her kefta laying on top of it for a little extra warmth during the chill night. The others had all settled in and she felt their hearts slowing as they relaxed and began to doze.

The Second Army. A dream she and Ilya had talked about for so long. It was finally here, finally happening. She rolled over, falling asleep with a silly grin on her face. 

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