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"Raven!" A familiar voice called out to him through the bars of his cell.
"Seris!" Raven ran to the steel door, reaching through the small slot. He couldn't see her, but her soft hands held his. He caressed them, feeling the silver engagement ring on her finger. Heer faith to him, her faith in him never faltered, not even after the fact that they haven't interacted with each other in months. Raven felt his heart melt. Even with him labelled as a traitor, she still loved him-- oh, how many months has it been since he saw her beautiful face? He longed to see her. Would she be there for his execution, to see him off one last time? If her face was the last thing he saw, then just maybe he could be at peace.
There was a cough from the other side of the door; and Raven was forced to come back to reality. Seris was not alone.
"Raven we're going to get you out of here." Seris placed her hands on top of Raven's. "I promise."
"Are you insane?!" Raven snapped.
"It'll be okay; I have the rest of the Crow Mercenaries here to back me up!"
"If they don't kill you, you'll all be labelled as traitors! Just like me!"
"Raven," Seris sighed. "I would gladly be labelled a traitor if I could spend the rest of my life with you."
Seris stood up before Raven could respond, letting go of Raven's lingering, shaking hands. "Now! Move out of the way, so we can get the battering ram!"
Raven stood to the side of the cell. With each blow of the battering ram, the room violently shook. Dirt sprinkled down from the ceiling, and Raven briefly wondered if the room would collapse with all of them in it (would it save them from a complicated future?)
As the door burst open, he was handed a sword and a quick kiss from Seris. It was too short for him, but they couldn't stay there. He briefly wondered why there hasn't been an alarm with all the commotion the missing soldiers were causing. The thoughts quickly evaporated, and he grabbed Seris' hand and ran. If there was anything he wanted right now, it was to live.
They ran, and ran. Through grassy and rocky terrain, led only by torchlight. His legs screamed at him. Raven looked over his shoulder, the jail now a speck in the distance. Raven felt a pit open in his stomach. There was no alarm and no soldiers. It was simply too easy, and too good to be true.
The group came to the top of a hill, and what they saw below them made Raven's heart stop and his blood turn to ice.
Below them, Velder soldiers stood ready for battle. At the forefront was the familiar face of Owen with a sly, knowing smile. Owen raised his sword.
"CHARGE!"
Chaos erupted from everywhere around him. A swarm of bodies and flying swords. Hooves trampling all around from the Velder horses. Raven barely had time to register what was going on. He swung his sword, careful to incapacitate but not kill. In the mayhem, he lost sight of Seris. All he could do was hope she was okay. She could hold her own, he thought (and prayed.)
He felt a blunt force to the back of his head, collapsing.
Raven slammed against the ground, his head bouncing off the rocky terrain, with a crack that echoed through his skull. He could taste blood, as the world around him spun with such a vicious disorientation that he thought he was going to vomit. He coughed, a sad sputter of blood droplets sprayed from his mouth. Black dots danced across his vision from the effort. Vaguely, he could make out the other soldiers scrambling about around him.
He didn't need to see who was behind the blow.
"You're vile."
"Watch your tone, now." Owen mused, gently pressing the tip of his blade ever so slightly under Raven's lips, barely touching his gums before receding. "Wouldn't want that pretty face of yours to say something you'll regret."
Raven struggled to get up, it took every ounce of effort to move even his limbs to clutch his sword, his grip unsteady. He felt helpless and weak. The nausea wasn't subsiding.
"I would stay down if I were you."
"And if I don't?" Raven grunted, using his sword to heave himself up from the ground. His head was pounding, and he stumbled, but he got up. Yet, Owen stood before him doing nothing but watch Raven with a cold gaze. Raven gripped his sword with both hands, steadying himself despite his vision going in and out of focus. He could focus his anger enough to keep Owen in view, and that was enough.
"Then I'll kill her."
"Raven!" Seris screamed. Raven's heart dropped. Two Velder knights brought her into view, each one heaving her around by her arms off the ground. Blood poured down her face, stickied into her blonde hair. Her weapon was gone, and her clothes tattered and torn.
"Let me go!"
"Seris!" Raven charged forwards, ready to save her, ready to kill but in his impulsivity, he left himself open. Another Velder soldier slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. His body was already seared with so much pain and agony, both physical and mental, that he didn't even notice his arm a few yards away, cleanly lopped off in the assault.
"Raven!"
"Such a shame. You two could have been sohappy. Too bad you'll be forced to watch her die." Owen walked to Raven, swiftly bringing his sword down on Raven's heels, severing the tendons. Raven screamed from the pain, writhing on the ground and unable to run. This was too much, everything was just too much. Finally, Raven emptied the contents of his stomach onto the grass, the final blows to his body knocking him over his pain threshold. How could he let Seris see him like this? So weak, so helpless and feeble... so powerless. He let her down. He let all of his friends down.
Owen turned to face the soldiers.
"Do it."
Seeing a sword pierce through Seris filled Raven with such an onslaught of emotions. Her blood spilling on the grass, his violent sobbing filling the air until his voice was hoarse, the sight of his friends falling all around him. He could no longer fight, just wail in agony. He weakly reached for Seris with his remaining arm. They lost.
"This is my farewell." With a swift stab, Raven felt his world go dark.
Sunlight filtered through the trees as a group of Nasod scouts traversed the battle field, scanning each body for life. Their white robotic limbs were tainted with red flecks of blood that hadn't quite dried yet. They stopped at Raven, and beeped, notifying someone on the other side of the camera. Somehow, despite the hell he had gone through, he was the only one still breathing. His end wasn't brought to him mercifully; if he somehow managed to survive and regain consciousness, the guilt he would live with would be unbearable, but right in this moment, Raven was at peace.
"He's alive. Bring him in."