Proofreader: BrokenOlive

Lost Chapter - Our fate

Events before the hunt.

Theadis' POV

“Tomorrow is the day of the hunt, it will mark us as true warriors of our tribe… While I, like all her children, wish to serve our lady, I don't see the merit in the hunt. It is nothing but an outdated ritual from the first age were the demons roamed the lands and the aspiring young went out to prove themselves in combat. So, how does killing a pack of Shadow Hounds compare to the young of that time?”

“H-hey! What are you t-talking about at a time like this!?”

“Hmm?”

Ah, I guess it's considered rude talking about something unrelated during sex…

“At least pretend that you are looking at me!”

“Got it.”

“Ahhh!”

Ivani's POV

I feel the desperate feeling behind the blow as it lands, forcing my body to bend over, yet being unable to as my arms are tied up. I let out a groan as the pain shoots up my body. I hold back the scream that threatens to burst out as the whip sweeps along my back, I feel the burning it leaves as its own personal mark. Fist after fist and kick after kick hits my body, the last more desperate to be felt then the one before. Each burning mark left by the whip screams out to me one thing and one thing only, ‘don't leave us, don't abandon us!’. I want to answer them but the rag in my mouth leaves me unable to.

My body is left bruised and beaten on the cellar floor, nothing I haven't felt or tried before, it’s just this time there is a lingering feeling in the air that says we were here, remember us. And I do, I really do. Not by the marks you left on my body but the feeling in which you so desperately tried to brand yourselves into my skin. And how could I forget my own father and mother?

Shagi's POV

Ah, there is nothing better than sex, it's just the best relief for stress there is… If my partner would at least look at me during it!

“H-hey! What are you t-talking about at a time like this!?”

“Hmm?”

!! Hmm!? Is that al- Ah, yeah that's the spot. No, no focus on the problem at hand, Shagi!

“At least pretend that you are looking at me!”

“Got it.”

“Ahhh!”

Yeah that's it, more right there, deeper, ahh, I will forgive him for today.

Ashko's POV

The great hunt is tomorrow, I'm so nervous that even just thinking about it makes me shake. If I can slay just one Shadow Hound I will be accepted by the clan and I will be able to marry someone and move out of here. I don't hate living in the orphanage but I strongly wish to create my own place in the clan. Tomorrow I will become a warrior! A proud member of our village! But for now I just need a good night's rest so I'm ready.

“Ahhh!”

… A good night's rest… That is so much easier said than done…

Events during the hunt.

Theadis' POV

Seven… Ten… Fifteen… Nineteen Shadow Hounds, an over average pack but not uncommon, I just need to survive the fight. And while doing that I better keep an eye on those two… Ashko is frozen in fear it seems and that girl is not moving at all. Shagi seems to be bored and might be thinking of sex again, if the smile that is on his face is anything to go by…

Ivani's POV

Ah, mother… Father, I think you might have been a bit too violent yesterday. My body wouldn’t move as well as I would have like it too, I think that I will be killed today. I'm sorry for leaving you both. Oh, that boy from the orphanage seems to be aware that I'm not at my best, maybe I wouldn't die today after all.

Shagi's POV

… My ass is killing me… can someone remind me again why I'm in the middle of the forest surrounded by snarling hounds and a bunch of kids who is throwing themselves to their own death? Ah, seems like there is only two,- well, three I guess,- other people that have their mind set straight. That girl who has not move much since we got here and Theadis who thinks the whole hunt is pointless. Ah, and of course there is Ashko but… Hmm, how to say this… I think he might have passed out standing up… Ah, no he moved a bit, guess he is just scared.

Ashko's POV

I'm scared! I'm scared! Someone just got bit in half! I don't want to be here! I'm scared! My body won’t move!

Theadis' POV

Four hounds has been killed but at the cost of three lives. This is such a pointless and wasteful battle, why can't we prove ourselves at the border? Why must lifes be lost at the hands of mindless beasts? Wait… Something is nothing right… Three… Ten… Twenty… Twenty-four! Why is there more Hounds then before! Where did they come from!? My question is answered as a shadow figure joins the battle.

“A… Human?”

“Hm? Oh! Sure is!”

Ashko's POV

There is so much blood! Why did it end up like this!? Why must we fight here? This is not a battle! This is a massacre! A slaughter!

“A… Human?”

Huh? A human? What does he mean, a human? I force myself to look where Theadis and Shagi are looking… What is a human doing here? This is wrong! Why must he end up in this meaningless slaughter as well! I can't look at this anymore!

Shagi's POV

What I would not give for a bed and Theadis naked over me…

“A… Human?”

A human naked over m- wait what?

“Hm? Oh! Sure is!”

Messing up my daydream… But what is a human doing out here? We are far away from any major city and even further away from Gloomwrought…

“Oh, is it me or are there more Shadow Hounds than before…”

“More… Twenty-four, by my count.”

Leave it to Theadis to sound so calm and composed in the middle of total destruction and annihilation… But leaving that aside, man can he fight!

Ivani's POV

“A… Human?”

What? Ah, that sure is a human boy. He gives of the same feeling as Father and Mother does… He seems to like being on the battlefield as well. Ah, he is strong.

Theadis' POV

He is moving swiftly between his kills… Seven Shadow Hounds has been slain by his swords alone. But he is not unharmed by the battle, yet he keeps on smiling… He enjoys fighting… He enjoys the thrill of the battle. Ah, that must have hurt… He might lose his eye… Ah, he is down… Is this his end?

Ashko's POV

There is so much death, so much blood, yet… Yet I can't tear my eyes of the fight in front of me, the way he moves as he strikes down the Hound in front of him. Even hunt and clearly out of breath he still fights! Truly amazing! Ah! No, don't die! He is down! So much blood is coming from the right side of his head, did the hounds claws hit his eye? No! That is a shadow rift! What! Is that massive bones!? It looks the same as his swords!

Events after the hunt.

Ivani's POV

Ah, I knew that failing the great hunt was very bad, but to see the hateful looks on Mother and Father's faces as we returned was the worst. I'm sorry! But they still love me, I know! Even if no one likes me, mother and father loves me! I can feel it! They still show me their love. I know father, I love you too, hit me with all your might, show me your love. Mother, mother I can feel the love behind each of your blows as the whips cracks down on my tender skin, I know you love me. And I know that we soon will part, like all the others who have failed the great hunt. I wonder how life in the city will be?

Theadis' POV

Ah, as I had guessed choosing not to participate in the hunt gained me the wrath of the tribes warriors and everyone else, for that matter. Well, not like I didn't know this would happen… For now we are waiting in a cell. Who knew one could miss a real bed so much?

“Your head is in the wrong place again!”

“Ah, my bad.”

Shagi's POV

The hunt has ended, and let me just say that not killing anything proved to really piss off the elders. But what would you have me do? Stand and watch as my partner is sold off to the mines? No way I'm letting him go that easily! I took me years just to make him have the slightest interest in me at all and even then just getting him to have sex… Like hell I'm letting him go! Who cares where we go as long as I can stay with him and have his hot body and look into his eyes as we make lo-

“Your head is in the wrong place again!”

“Ah, my bad.”

Each and every fucking time I tell you! That brain of his hold no interest in anything related to me! Grrr!

Ashko's POV

I failed… I'm a failure… A weakling… A spineless coward, I hate my weak self. I hate this weak and cowardly body. I wish I could have fought like that human…

“Ah, you feel so good!”

Ignore them, ignore them. If this body had been strong, I would not be here, pressed underneath warrior after warrior. I don't blame them nor do I hate them, this is my punishment for being this weak.

“Use your tongue more!”

Ah! Don't rip my hair so hard! It hurts!

“Ah, your awake!”

Hmm? Ah, I'm back in the holding cell. Ah… They had sex again… No surprise there really. Wait… He is fiddling with his clothing…

“Why are you looking so nervous Shagi?”

“Huh? Oh, erm… Well while you were out for the count…”

It's not like Shagi to be this silent, what's going on?

“Yes…?”

It's Theadis who answers me.

“We are being given as a gift or something to that human.”

Huh?