Blood Soldiers: The Second Army - Grishaverse Prequel

10 - Yelena

Unfortunately, they'd been unable to find any sheep-herders generous enough to give them a cart, so they continued with their gear, vowing to find one at the next town they came to.

Yelena had them all practise as they walked, feeling the air around them, sensing for attackers, having them quickly move into a defensive position. The exercises were rare and random, as she hoped to catch them off guard. Still, each time they responded as they needed too, perfectly readying themselves for an attack.

She found that she rather liked being in charge, and it was a welcome rush each time they asked her for help or directions. Yelena could get used to leading the Grisha army.

Ilya taught them to look for signs of disturbance on the ground and lower brush. Prints in the snow, their direction, snapped twigs, bent branches, eaten berries. All of it was a map of what had gone on around them just before.

They travelled for five days heading south-west, aiming for a small town named Sosozyl. It was a small trading town, along the large trading route that snaked from Fjerda through Ravka to Shu Han. It had a considerable population, but it had long been thought of as a debauched town where people could live how they wished, mostly without judgement. Ilya and his mother had stayed there before, and a few people from their own little village had found refuge there earlier in their lives. Yelena figured it was as good a place to start as any.

After five long days of travel, Yelena and the other Corporalki slowed, sensing a mass of bodies a little way ahead of them. Sosozyl was little over a mile away, so Yelena could be sure that they weren't sensing that. She decided to scout ahead taking Eryk and Sonya with her. They pulled their light grey overcoats on, to help disguise the vibrant colours of their keftas against the snow.

As they crept up to the camp Yelena had Eryk direct the wind towards them, so that the sounds of their arrival would not be heard as easily. She knew she'd made the right choice as soon as they caught sight of the group of men sitting in a small clearing, two enormous wolves prowling the space. Witch-hunters...

Yelena signalled to them to slowly-back away and return to where the other Grisha were waiting. She knew they could take them all on together.

After retreating to the group, Yelena filled them in, 12 men, two enormous wolves, lots of weapons.

"I doubt they'd be much of a match for all of us combined, even those stupid dogs," Yelena said as she shrugged off the grey overcoat.

"All right, what's our plan?" Marko asked, eager to put his power to the test.

"No plan. We leave them alone." Ilya turned and began walking towards Sosozyl.

Yelena blinked, "What? What happened to showing no mercy to our enemies?"

Ilya turned back to them, a wicked glint in his eye, "Patience, little commander. They'll get their punishment, but there are other things we must do first. Like get to Sosozyl and have a hot drink."

Yelena wasn't happy about it, but she supposed he had a point. She certainly didn't mind being called 'commander' either. And the way he'd spoken about the witch-killers and their punishment? She knew it would not be kind, so yes, she could be patient.

They arrived at Sosozyl not long after that and split off into smaller groups to scout the town to search for other Grisha and supplies. Yelena found herself with Ilya, Marko and Elitza. They certainly looked rather striking in their red, purple, blue and black keftas, and many of the townspeople gawked as they walked by.

Yelena kept half her mind focused on feeling the people around her, practising extending her reach. She studied the faces of the people around her, watching for any with the sallow skin and sunken eyes of Grisha suppressing their powers. It occurred to her to look for anyone good-looking too, who may be using their power in other subtle ways.

As an amplifier, Ilya had told her she could touch people and call their power forth too, and she'd practised it on some of the Second Army to varying degrees of success.

Unfortunately, most of the people in Sosozyl looked poor and sallow, and the Grisha didn't find anything noteworthy. They met at a small inn for dinner, discussing their day.

"We saw a couple of kids playing near the houses in the outer edge of town, perhaps you could try testing them?" Pavel suggested.

Yelena gave him a sharp look, "I won't recruit children to an army."

Pavel looked down, "Of course."

"Marko's a child," Yeva mused, sipping from her cup of kvas.

"I am not!" Marko's eyes went wide, "Anyway, Pavel's only a few months older than me, and he's a Heartrender!"

"Keep your voice down," Dima hissed.

Yelena rolled her eyes skyward. Saints give me patience...

"Did anyone see anything else of note?" Ilya asked, seated to her left.

"Well," Sonya started, waving a hand over her glass, and causing the kvas to roll in a little wave, "Dima and I visited a healer today. She was rather experienced, and supposedly very good. She looked young, too young, if you know what I mean."

Of course. Grisha power didn't take away from them, it strengthened and empowered them. Many Grisha could live very long lives if they weren't hunted and killed.

"You think she would join us?" Yeva asked, seemingly excited about having another healer on board.

Yelena wasn't too thrilled by the prospect though. They didn't need healers, they needed fighters. Perhaps she could train the woman to become a Heartrender too?

Dima seemed to agree, "We don't need healers, and besides, she seemed happy here. They pay her a fine buck to keep them healthy."

That gave Yelena an idea about how to make money, but still wasn't helpful.

Ilya had gone silent beside her as the others argued about whether healers were important or not.

"What do you think?" Yelena turned to him.

He blinked, woken from his stupor, "I think I have an idea."

Yelena slumped in her seat, "Excellent because I am all out. Let's hear it then."

He only grinned at her. 

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