Author's note
Following chapter depicts violence
The following week , River sweated everyday at a small work shop by the sea side , perfecting his compass for the Alistairs.
The task was far more exhausting than he had originally expected. The complicated inner mechanisms required long hours of hunching behind the desk and undevided attention.
River woke up before dawn , went straight to the work room,and toiled until it was well past midnight. Sleeping was out of equation, any way. Spending all day with his nose squished against the gold meant nightmares, paranoia,stomach issues, headaches and crippling exhaustion.
Aithan would come three times a day to bring him food and anything else he would need. He would cast a worried look at the amount of leftover food and dark circles under his eyes and reminded him to rest.
Raven never showed up. River did not asked about him either.
On the seventh night, the compass was finally completed. River checked the time and realized in few hours it would be morning.
He turned the compass on his hand, feeling quite satisfied . It was entirely made of the cursed gold , pointer and all . River put it away in a drawer and sighed deeply.
Then he heard something.
River ceased all movement and listened, holding his breath. But only the sound of waves crashing broke the silence of the night.
He was probably hearing things. River folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them ,hoping to catch a wink. Soon he fell in to a shallow and troubled sleep.
It was hard to say how much time passed. River jolted awake .
Before he could even register his surroundings, he felt the coldness of a razor sharp blade on his throat.
"Dont move "
He wasn't planning to. River clenched his sore hands to tight fists under the table.
"Dont make a sound, come with me"
River scanned the mess on the table top, looking for anything he could use as an improvised weapon.
The blade nudged closer to the delicate skin on his throat ,drawing blood. River put his palms up in surrender.
"Get up . I dont have all night" The deep voice growled against his ear in a way that made his skin crawl.
River slowly raised from his sit as not to provoke his captor.
"Good , no-"
In a blink of an eye, River grabbed a hammer from top of the table and swung it at the mysterious figure. But he caught River's wrist before it landed on his face.
The first thing that grabbed River's attention was his black eyes . The narrow, slightly upturned eyes were unnervingly familiar to him . The lower half of his face was covered with a black mask.
The man twisted his wrist, threatening to snap it like a dry twig but River refused to let the hammer go. His mind was whirling , who was this ? What does he wants?
"You are not fast enough ,kiddo" he jeered.
River scowled. Where had he seen him before?
The rascal put the blade at his throat again. " I would not struggle pointlessly if I were-"
River kicked him , as hard as he could manage , in the family jewels. The man doubled over groaning in pain. River grabbed the chance and slammed the hammer down on his skull.
Try to forgive me if you wake up dumb and impotent.
He made a run for the door. He was only a step away from it when he was pulled back by his long braid with such brute force that he was sure his hair got cleanly ripped off his skull. The world titled and his head was slammed on to the door with bang!
"Little bitch" man spat.
River tried to stay focused through blinding pain. Warm blood flowed down his face and very inconviently got in to his left eye, making his vision go red.
River wiped his face and staggered back on his feet.
"You can come with me or I can drag your corpse along " man threatened.
River wasnt listening. The gears in his head was turning , trying to come up with a way out. His body was barely holding out and he kept himself conscious through sheer will alone. If he collapsed now, it's a game over.
The man kneed him in the stomach, a move too fast for the naked eye. It made River retch and his knees gave out from under him. As he fell the man grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
DO. NOT.FUCKING. COLLAPSE.
He kicked his legs in resistence but the man didnt seem to feel it at all . He walked towards and out of the door, stepping in to the dark of the night.
"I would put him down if I were you"
Man halted. Riven could not see who came,but he doubled down on kicking and punching. His captor tightened his grip around his waist to keep him in place.
" Put.Him .Down"
Raven? Was it Raven? It sounded like him. River turned despite the screaming pain in his abdomen to see that it was indeed the King of South.
He stood few feet away blocking the perpetrator's path. Wind whipped his lose hair around his face and bellowed his clothes.
"They say he acts like a demon when he is crossed"
Raven held a sword ,one River had never previosly seen. It glinted murderously under moon light like a bloodthirsty beast. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, lines of his body tense like a pulled bowstring.
The man abruptly dropped him on the floor and River fell down with a loud Thud!
Thats not what he meant by putting me down!
He kicked, whacking River's ribs with his boot so hard that it knocked him out of breath. He then drew his own sword.
Two men circled , waiting for a chance to strike. Masked man leapt forward first ,bringing down his sword on southern king.
Raven blocked the strike with the blade of his own sword , sending sparks fly on impact. They stood ,pushing each other for a while , trying to gain upperhand. The man struck again.
The man was a skilled swordsman. He was swift with his blows, with almost no holes in his defense. But Raven was going full on offense, landing blow after blow on him.
River crawled up to his feet and took cover behind a thicket. Last thing he wanted was to get in Raven's way. The wise move was to run, but guilt of leaving Raven in danger made him stay behind.
He watched the intense fight from his hiding place . There was an obvious difference in the way two men fought, that even a complete amateur like River could see it. The masked man was methodical and calculated while Raven's fighting style was more of a deliberate mess. He ran,ducked and even did a backflip mid fight to dodge a blow. He was insanely agile and fast.
Raven brought down a deluge of attacks on him, while making it seem effortlessly done .
The only disadvantage he had was the gap in strength. But he suddenly saw an opening and plunged his sword , sinking it in to the man's abdomen.
At his faltering ,Raven ripped away his mask. He was a middle aged man with a whitening short black hair. He was clean shaven , making his sharp features stand out . Despite him looking hauntingly familiar River had the feeling he had never seen him before.
"Well ,well" Raven huffed, his voice devoid of its usual light heartedness. "If it's not our darling General Huxley"
Oh ,shit!
So this was North's reputed first general, Shu Huxley, the only brother of Mireya Huxley, the Nothern queen.
Author has something to say
We ending this chapter on a cliff hanger!
As usual let me know your valued ideas .
Im still working on creating the map for the kingdoms ,since its kind of important to know their geography. When it' s done ill post it too.
Thankkkk youuu
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