MIWL Book 1: Belligerent

1.1 - UNWANTED VISITORS

"You're not hungry, are you?"

A worried voice from the other side of the throne pulled Eleanor's attention away from the bustling feast. She turned her head to look at her partner, Drew Finn, a beefy stack of a man packed with muscle and a temper too easy to break.

"No, it's alright." she said, shaking her head as she shifted her weight between her feet. "I'm just a little tired, is all."

Drew hummed, glancing back at the guests with pursed lips as his usual stern expression returned. He was the Commander of the army, one step higher than Eleanor herself. The scars that riddled his stubbly face told everyone that he'd been in the numerous wars against Carlythia. He'd seen the brutal nature of their enemy -- the way they would deface corpses just for the likes of it, the way they'd slaughter people as if it was their favorite hobby.

Eleanor was glad that the peace-treaty had been signed; she was glad that she hadn't been in the army when the last wars had occurred. She'd heard stories about them, of course. Everyone had.

Pushing any thoughts of the Carlythians to the back of her mind, Eleanor scanned the brightly-dressed guests in front of her as she stood on the dais. Their cheerful laughter bubbled throughout the hall, bouncing off the walls and filling the air with a sense of homeliness. The smell of roast turkey and smoked potatoes wafted through the room, tickling her senses and making her take a step or two away from the throne.

"You know if you wanted, you could-"

Drew cut himself off almost as soon as he'd begun. Eleanor saw his knuckles turn white around his sword and the colour drained from his face as his eyes locked on the doors. It wasn't until Eleanor heard a scream that she dared to follow his gaze.

A flash of crimson, the glint of silver and the chilling sound of a head being swiped off it's body. Eleanor watched, bile stinging her throat, as a troop of soldiers marched into the hall. They dispersed, attacking, slicing, killing everything that stood in their way. Blood splattered their hair and guts splashed their faces, yet the monsters didn't so much as flinch.

The unforgettable sound of a skull being crushed to shards split through the air. She followed the sound to the sneering face of a soldier, his attention on the hilt of his dagger that was now firmly embedded in the head of a maid. Eleanor stared as blood streamed down the woman's forehead and nose as her lifeless body twitched.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; iron boots smashed against the floor and sent sprays of blood in every direction. Bellows and screams and the laughter of the attackers added a song to the work of death. Swords sliced through flesh with a disgusting sound and Eleanor's knees grew week as the bodies of children, women and men of Lyternia littered the floor. The smell of their blood tainted the smell of food, making her stomach twist as the floor was splashed with red.

"Eleanor, move!" Drew's booming voice rang through her ears and her arms began to work on their own. Her sword was unsheathed, hands shaking and knees threatening to crumble.

"What are they?" she'd meant to say 'who are they', but her mind had already come to the conclusion that these things -- these monsters -- couldn't be human.

"Carlythians."

Metal grated against metal as Drew leaped into the air and began to parry with a Carlythian soldier. His cropped brown hair fell out of the pony-tail it had been in, covering his scarred eye as he roared. Eleanor knew he was trained for this; he'd been through this in the past. But Eleanor... she'd only fought on dummies, or her own fellow Lyternians during her training.

She felt sick.

She felt sick as she watched a Carlythian storm up to her, malice and threats burned on his face as he rose his sword above his head. She felt sick as she drew her own sword to the side, grip wavering and tears of fear stinging her eyes.

With a steely scrape their swords met, the force behind the soldier's blade stronger than her own. Her sword-fighting wasn't her strongest skill; her upper-arm strength was weak, hardly there.

'Fight dirty.' Drew had told her once. 'If you can't fight nice, fight dirty. Hiss, spit, scratch. Do anything to survive.'

"A girl as a General? This is too easy." her opponent's callous tone added fire to her . She couldn't let herself get overwhelmed. She couldn't let him get to her.

With a trembling grip, she swiped forwards. Her sword grazed his chain-mail in a pathetic attempt to subdue him. Another swipe, followed by another. He blocked both, side-stepping her blows with the ease of a professional. Judging by the way he could read her moves so quickly, he'd been in fights before.

Eleanor desperately did her best to remember everything she'd learned. Pick him apart. Read him. Find out how he works.

Leather boots scraped against the stone floor of the dais. She saw some guards ushering the King out of the hall, and while her attention was diverted, the Carlythian striked.

His sword slashed at her neck and she flew back with a yell loud enough to wake the Gods.

"Eleanor!" Drew's voice rose above the chaos in the hall, people's screams half-drowning the cry.

'Pull yourself together.' she told herself, staring her opponent down.

Stepping forwards, she slashed at his face, no longer going for his mail. The blade dug into his cheek, carving an ugly wound and exposing his teeth and the side of his tongue. Blood gushed out of the cut in streams of crimson.

"You!" with a growl, he lunged forwards, sword acting as a spear as he stabbed at her. Eleanor's arms ached as she blocked as many of the blows as she could. Bated breaths left her chest and sweat clung to her forehead. She was growing tired. But the Carlythian was not.

"Keep them alive!"

Eleanor didn't have time to look for the owner of the voice, and she didn't have time to think about why he would spare her life. Too focused on the Carlythian in front of her, and yet too distracted by the blood-bath in the hall, she didn't see the soldier creeping up behind her until he'd thrown her to the floor.

[ a/n ] - Hey there! I hope you enjoyed this small snippet of the first chapter, it's pretty much just to get you all thirsty to read more ;-) This is the second draft of the first chapter, the first didn't seem to fit in too well and gave off too much info than I wanted... so please tell me if you notice any inconsistencies in the rest of the book, as the other chapters haven't been redrafted yet! Anyway, feel free to comment, vote, and add this to your library, I know you wanna!