2024 Story Collection

The Marked V

Cedar was readying himself alongside the other warriors. The cold bit into his uncovered skin, but he didn't mind. It felt nice against the heat of the fresh marks on his back.

Unlike most days, the men were all silent. Their bodies wound tight with anxiety. It was palpable.

But surprisingly, Cedar felt no worry. Maybe that was another side effect of the marks. He thought.

Word had spread that the foe they would face today was a different type of monster. They weren't just the usual beasts, no, they were once warriors just like themselves, only they'd been far more desperate and far more foolish.

"They're here!" A man screamed from his perch on the tower.

Suddenly Cedar wasn't fine.

His knuckles turn white at how tight he grips his axes. Deep breath. The memories begin to flood his mind and he's suddenly back there, watching his parents being torn apart and eaten by the same beasts he'd spent his life hunting.

He feels a hand on his cheek and the memory dissipates.

"River," he asks her, confused.

"I'm here, it's okay." He leans into her touch, closing his eyes. He believed her. He realizes then that since the moment he'd met her, his nightmares had gone.

"Are you doing this?" He whispers the question. He doesn't specify what he means, but he doesn't need to.

"I'll explain after the battle," she pulls his face down and places a feather of a touch of her lips on his cheek.

His eyes snap open, and he flushes bright red.

"Now, let's kill those beasts." She smiles, and he nods.

He watches as she turns, unsheathing her swords, and runs straight into the hoard. She slices through them easily, ripping out their hearts with ease.

The other men did not find it so easy.

He takes one last deep breath before running straight into his nightmares, as he always did. The only difference was that now he wasn't alone. Now he had River.

---

They aren't doing well. The hoard is never-ending and the warriors are getting worn down. At this rate, they'll be dead before they finish them.

River runs up to him and sends a sword flying over his head. He turns to see a beast who'd managed to sneak up on him with her swords embedded right between its eyes.

She slows her stride as she approaches the beast and pulls the sword free, slashing its chest and ripping out its heart. It still beats in her hand as she turns to him.

"Thank you," he says through pants.

"You should be more careful." She replies, her voice even.

"What do we do?" He asks suddenly as he looks around at the worn-out men around them.

She looks around for a moment, pondering her words.

"Tell all the men to retreat and dump all the hearts they have. Have the weaker ones do runs picking up hearts and burning them. Have the stronger ones fight, only stopping to hand over the hearts for the others to burn."

"Send the men to me," Elder Violet says as she slices a beast in two. "I will give them fresh marks so they can have an edge."

River glares at her. She doesn't like that idea. With her history, I can see why.

"I will only give them their rightful marks. Only the ones they've earned in the battle. I am no fool." Elder Violet stares at River, words being exchanged without having to be spoken.

River just nods and continues fighting.

---

Cedar wears his fresh marks as he returns to the battle. Rivers' strategy seems to be working well. The men are finally making a dent in the hoard-able to push them back farther away from the main settlement.

He throws a few hearts to a runner and looks around for his next target, but isn't ready for what he finds standing before him.

It was a monster like no other. It stands 5 times as high as the others, the tallest pine barely touches its chest. Its body wiry muscle wound tight over misshapen bones. The skin worn away by who knows what.

Then he smells it like a decomposing body left out in the hot summer sun. He gags.

He looks over at River, but she was just standing there frozen, staring up at the monster.

"He leads the hoard here." She'd said. Her brother, he realizes. That must be her brother. "He lived on as a monster to kill and do everything he'd always wished to prevent."

He walks up to her, pulling her into his chest so that she is facing away from the monster that used to be her brother.

"Go, take your marks." He tells her.

"I can't-" she speaks, but a sob cuts her off. He feels her shake in his arms.

"You must." and to his surprise, she listens.

He lets go of her and she runs off and returns only moments later. Her back left uncovered.

But she does not come alone. Beside her is Elder Violet, holding her large sickle. It was her late husband's weapon, the previous chief of the clan. It was a legendary weapon. He couldn't take his eyes off it.

He's so distracted that he doesn't notice the behemoth behind him, but River does.

She jumps forward, but Elder Violet stops her with a wrinkled hand tp the chest. She says something as she runs forward. The normally slow limping old woman is suddenly quick as lightning and solid footed, not a hint of a limp.

She races forward and slices through the beast's legs with the sickle. Her blade slices cleanly through. She turns back to Cedar and River with a wide grin, but the beast falls directly at her.

It crushes her.

River screams.

Cedar runs over, but as he gets closer, all he sees is the bulk of the monster. That is until he notices a blade stick through the beast's back. It slices through in such a way that it cuts a hole in the beast. Out from the hole climbs the Elder Violet Covered in the beast's black slimy blood.

She throws down the blade and in her arms is the largest glowing heart he'd ever seen. It's half the woman's size. She tossed the heart at a young, wide-eyed warrior and limps back over to Cedar and River.

"River, you know what you have to do," her voice is rough and he notices now the bleeding from her nose.

"A deal's a deal." River replies. The older woman nods and faces Cedar.

"Cedar, you are to be the next Chief of this clan," she hands him the legendary sickle.

His eyes widen at her words. "I can't-"

"It is my final request." Her voice is quiet and her words slurred. She seems to be slowly slouching.

An Elders final request was as good as law.

"I'm sure my successor will make sure it happens," she looks to River. River nods.

He takes the sickle from her hand, his mind spinning. Wait, she agreed to take her place as Elder? She wants me to be the Chief? That means-

"Yes, Cedar, you have my blessing." Elder Violet says as her eyes roll back. Her smiles fell as her body falls to the ground, a mess of limbs.

Elder Violet is dead.

To be continued...

January 14, 2024