Blood and Ash ▸ The Grisha Trilogy

introduction

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BLOOD AND ASH

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Summoner. Soldier. Survivors.

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          Summoner. Before her Grisha examination, Shreya Batra had never felt like she truly belonged anywhere. In the world of otkazat'sya, she had been nothing at all, just another mouth for the orphanage to feed. But in the world of Grisha, her world, she was something special. An Inferni, a gifted student, a prodigy warrior. A favorite of the Darkling, slowly beginning to work her way up into the ranks of his most prized soldiers. She had power, she had purpose, she was no longer the defenseless little girl she had once been. The Darkling made certain of that and for that, she was grateful, loyal to the Second Army of Ravka, ready to do whatever was needed to ensure the future of her people.

          Soldier. Getting drafted into the First Army was a death sentence, Natalya Novikov knew that. Most would argue that being put into a unit of trackers was better than being an outright soldier, but the military issue weapon she'd been given on her first day said otherwise. Regardless of her position, she was still property of the Ravkan monarchy, property of an army that had to drag her in. The First Army was Ravka's first line of defense against threats to their sovereignty and if the situation arose, Natalya knew that she'd be expected to be a good little soldier and die for a country that cared all too little.

          Shreya Batra. Natalya Novikov. Two girls who, despite all differences, had led lives that would presumably finish with the same ending: dying for their country. Ravka was war-torn, weakened, filled with destruction. A stage set for a finale that should have been nothing but bloodshed. Two girls, both underestimated. Both raised like lambs for slaughter, trained to be the perfect soldiers for Ravka's two armies, for a war that was never meant to be their burden to bear. But the thing about stories is that they always have the power to change and this one changed with the discovery of the Sun Summoner. It was that burst of sunlight in the Shadow Fold that set a new path into motion, one that could have the potential to destroy Ravka more than ever before but one that also offered a semblance of hope.

          Summoner. Soldier. Survivors.

          They would not allow themselves to become casualties of this war.

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anya chalotra shreya batra

danielle rose russell natalya novikov

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author's note: hi friends! so i recently fell down the grishaverse hole as i was prepping myself for the show by reading the various series and as per usual, i decided that this would be a great time to make more ocs. just a heads up, this story will mostly follow the books. there will be concepts/scenes from the tv series that i might intertwine (especially content regarding what mal does during his tracking) as well as use of show content for aesthetic/gif edit/manip purposes, but for the most part, storyline-wise, i'm going by the books (basically, the crows are not involved in this — i love them dearly, but here we are lol).

this will also include alternating povs depending on the chapter! for reference, shreya is paired with alina starkov while natalya is paired with mal oretsev. also please keep in mind that shreya is a lesbian, so if you want to be homophobic or god forbid make comments about her and the darkling, you can leave!

(also also as a disclaimer i have only read the grisha trilogy and the soc duology. i haven't started king of scars or rule of wolves yet, so if any of you guys put spoilers in the comments ... i will in fact come for your kneecaps.)