Her Blood On Your Hands: Part 9

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*This story is from Old Age Canon. Some of the lore may have changed. Author: WinterAnswer

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Previous: Her Blood On Your Hands: Part 8, Continued: Her Blood On Your Hands: Part 10

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The squads on the right front flank collapsed with the sound of ricochet and gurgled cries.  A second barrage of shots was released and more lines fell.  The entire precession might had fallen into panic if Silves did not have such control over her subordinates.  It must not have been the first time the Shigu army had encountered enemies armed with firearms.

Rain's howl chimed strong with her lance thrust forward at the opposition and the entire army ran in unison with her.  They disregarded themselves and the probability of death, the moment of battle the only thing coursing through their minds.  Only a handful was lost to the Nevrean's cowardly tactics, but there were still many more of them.  Retreat was not only prohibited, but out of the question.  Unigeta's territory was many rekusus away and the Shigu army was now in the heart of neutral territory.

Nuly could feel a rare kind of fear boil up in her: the fear of certain death.  She had been taught and refined to face multiple opponents with a variety of weaponry which excluded guns.  The hypothetical musing of coming to face an enemy with such weapons hadn't frighten her at first.  It's a ranged weapon and it's efficiency is cut severely when in close quarters.  But today she was here, many spaces between her and the enemy with only her armor and the flesh of allies as protection.

The Nevrean clan was taking their time, theirs ranks standing stagnant as their guns fired.  The males were already flying high overhead, shooting arrows whilst in flight.  Their bodies would toss and tumble through the air after taking a single shot before they would glide away out of range.  Then they would pitch and turn towards the sergals to attack once more.

The mounted Nevreans were the first to charge, the riders armed with long-bladed spears.  Their armor was a dark green that contrasted well with the shades of their feathers.  When on their strange and muscular mounts, the riders were as high as one and a half sergals.  While the mounts ran forward at the Shigus, the company of gunners split and shifted, taking positions to attack the sides of the army.  The Shigus countered with the left and right flanks taking off towards them, leaving the center squads to assail against the riders.

Nuly had the privilege of running with the left flank.  The Shigu charge soon slowed with the soldiers ducking and clustering while holding their armor close to the unshielded portions of their bodies.  Their armor did very well against the bullets which bounced hard off the metal or simply absorbed their impact.  But the more primed gunners aimed for their exposed faces and legs.  Nuly felt the hot splatter of a fellow soldier's blood come over her face and she wiped it away from her eyes.

Her instincts demanded she disregard the slow but protective formation the squads were molded into.  However her training told her to stay with the group and keep one arm closed over to her belly and the other over her muzzle.  The gunners quickly reloaded, their hands becoming more hurried as Nuly and her comrades approached them little by little.  A large blue-feathered male then quickly unsheathed his blade and gave out a howling shriek.

The gunners let their firearms hang by their leather straps around their torsos and presented their swords.  The shape of their blades differed well when compared to their sergal counterparts, but Nuly thought she couldn't be the only one who thought they looked very similar to the General's own weapon.  Many of the Nevrean's had also customized their weaponry with serrated backs and hooks.  Most were painted with the same tone of green as their uniforms, but others showed ruby red and bare black.

With both sides equalized in weaponry, the two races came against one another. Many of the Nevreans were only two-thirds an average sergal's height, but Nuly didn't want to make the same mistake she made when she faced that small Nevrean at the camp who had slammed her flat on her back before pressing her foot claws down on her throat.  She could now respect the Nevrean's inborn agility and indeed, the ones she now faced had the same attribute as they easily dodged the Shigus powerful swipes and slashes.

Sergal eyes widened in disbelief as their spears and swords were effortlessly split and beheaded by the Nevreans' weapons.  The same could be said about their armor, and even more so about their hides.  Nuly could hear their blades sing with a deep droning buzz like an insect caught in flight.  Nuly slapped her opponent's sword away, avoiding the blade's supreme sharpness, but the black-feathered female was hell-bent on disarming her.  The blade nicked at her armor, cutting through it with very minor spaces from slicing Nuly's hide.  The blade found a open spot in Nuly's defense and purged inward through her chest plate near her heart, a cry of pain jumping from her mouth.  Nuly retreated back to have the blade exit her body, blood leaking from the hole in her armor.  Nuly found her feet retreating as the Nevrean kept up her attack.  She was relentless, letting her long gray sword twist in her hand as she sliced Nuly's blade in half.

Nuly abandoned her dehorned hilt and drew herself closer to the Nevrean.  She grabbed after her forearm that held her sword.  Nuly then found it easy to twist and snap the Nevrean's appendage, a satisfying scream resonating from her beaked maw.  Nuly's free hand then clasped around the female's throat, squeezing with all the muscles there to crush her windpipe.

The Nevrean's claws dug into Nuly's arm, but she didn't notice any pain.  All she focused on was killing this one challenger.  The female's eyes squeezed closed and her hand released her sword to thump against the grass.  Nuly threw the Nevrean to the ground with a push and took her fallen blade.  The sword vibrated in Nuly's hand as she sank the blade deep into the fallen foe's chest.  With her new weapon now glossed with red, Nuly saw another Nevrean to mutilate.

The blade was heavier than her previous one, but it had no trouble at all cutting through armor and flesh alike.  Even so, Nuly found it could not break a similar sword.  Several of Nuly's allies had fallen prey to the Nevreans' weapons, but she was sure to redeem them with the act of disfiguring all their foes.  By the end of it all, Nuly found she was not the only one who had the bright idea of using the enemies' weapons against them.

Three Nevreans retreated, but Nuly let the few that volunteered to chase them down.  Several bodies of both races littered the ground, some scattered in pieces.  She attempted to help a male up, but he had already risen to his feet before she could assist him, seeing his chest piece covered in crimson.  Nuly then noticed her new sword was still singing.  She could feel this small and easily moveable numb along the hilt.  When switched left, the blade ceased it's noise, and when turned right, the weapon hummed to life.

Singing swords, a weapon Nuly had only heard talk of.  Just another example of the Nevrean's fluency with technology.  One soldier was also curious about their strange arsenal, picking up a rifle and holding it cautiously, and incorrectly, in her two hands.  Obliviously enough when she squeezed the small trigger, the gun discharged, producing a blast that made everyone's ears ring.  "Bitch!" another female spat at the soldier, who was picking up the weapon again after dropping it from fright.  "Put that down, you don't know how to use it!"

"I could learn to use it," she retorted, looking the device over again.

"It's a coward's weapon, idiot.  So maybe it will suit you."  The two soldiers hissed at one another, but the one with the gun simply tossed the weapon down after one more look over.  Nuly decided for herself it was best to just take the sword since she didn't know how to properly use firearms.  She didn't even know how to accurately aim with the damned things. "Coward's weapon."  That stuck with her.  One could take that opinion, but it could also hint that the days of the spear and sword were coming to an end.

A spark of excitement bubbled up in Nuly's stomach as she caught sight of another, larger Nevrean blade.  A good find since the one she was using was a bit small in her hands.  Nuly would rather have the range, and she swung just as well with the larger one either way.  None of soldiers had a quarrel about taking those at least.

The howl for the lines to regroup rang out through the fields, the soldiers running to reform and go elsewhere.  "Hurry up!" leader Reinado barked at them, "we have to move!  Now!"  The Nevreans were quick to leave them, most likely testing their vigor before they would attack again with a bolder force.

   The air was very tense as the precession increased it's speed and traveled deeper within the plains.  Heads were turning, scanning the fields for more groups and garrisons ready for an assault.  The skies were searched as well, and from time to time, Nuly would spot a male flowing across the blue.  Many others took notice, the archers very well out of range to launch an arrow.  Then, it started happening.

An echoing boom would sound somewhere far off like a subtle burst of thunder, and a Shigu would fall to the soil.  The first occurrence was taken with much alarm, but no time was given to the unmoving soldier.  The captains ordered them to keep with their stride.  Boom, another one fell.  Boom, one more gone.  Boom, another dead with the sound of a high pitched whistle.  It happened like clockwork, the soldiers becoming more and more restless with each body that was taken out.  Sometimes there would just be the boom, every Shigu holding their breath to see who would be chosen next.  There were many more troopers to kill and the cowards out in the grassland were patient.

A group was seen off on the right flank and not long after that another was spotted eastward to the left.  For this round, the Nevreans didn't wait as they immediately fired while the aerials took flight.  The Shigus drew inward to protect themselves and their comrades from the bullets, and for the moment it appeared to be a viable tactic.  Soon after, the charge order was given, Rain thrusting her lance at the right most and closest group of gunners.  "Stay as one!" she screamed out.  "Stay as one!" all the captains repeated.  Indeed, they did so.  The lines were disregarded, the squads once again combining themselves together as one massive horde.  Nuly was packed close to her allies, the call of the Nevreans' guns a frightful sound in her ears.  Those that were hit, stumbled and were trampled by their own people.

It appeared the Nevreans didn't expect the Shigus to come at them all at once as many began to retreat back.  The perceived numbers of the Nevrean company were small, but as the army rushed to their position, more sprouted from the ground like plants.  A surprise tactic:  Several Nevreans lying on their belly's to hide their numbers.  It was well planned out, but their people were still to small to take on the furious wave of Shigus.  Their blazing guns and sharp blades did little to help secure their lives before they were overtaken and devoured by their bloodlust.

What came Nuly's way was already scurried, slashed, and beaten to a mush.  Feathers floated softly in the air, males diving downward to take a more direct approach to fighting for once.  Those that did were easily plunked from the air by their wings and feet.  Riders were thrown from their mounts and both were gutted.  One such animal had it's side deeply cut when Nuly burrowed her new blade into it.  The entrails spilled out nicely, her comrades tearing them out before it ultimately collapsed.  Again, they would run, but their lives were spared for the moment as the Shigus looked to the south-east for the other company whom was taking aim at them.
"Stay as one," was once again chanted throughout the ranks as they charged forward.  The group to the south-east took it upon themselves to do the same, their own war cry mixing with the Shigus' whilst their guns fired.  Nuly nearly lost her footing when she felt something bury deep within her left shoulder.  She cursed heavily as the wound burned painfully.

The sergals' and Nevrean's cries were of one lethal chorus as their blades clashed and their arsenal flared.  Nuly found herself staring at the back of a Nevrean soldier who was keeping Shigus at bay with her sword.  Nuly took the chance and gripped the Nevrean's arm that held her blade and wrapped her jaws around her neck.  Before the soldier could react, Nuly's teeth dug past her feathered hide and into flesh, blood pouring over her gums and tongue.  The body lightly spasm on the ground, Nuly finding her taste quite pleasant.

Nuly was still astounded at the efficiency of the sword when she activated it.  The blade hardly protested as it went through limbs, torsos, and necks.  She slashed upwards across a Nevrean's sternum and a cascade of blood came shooting out.  A lime-green one scarcely grimaced as his left arm was severed, his eyes immediately coming back into concentration to swing his sword.  Nuly naturally dodged his strike and inserted her sword through his chest.

The concussion of gunfire rang close to Nuly and she turned to find a soldier firing off her pistol towards the encroaching Shigus.  When she turned the weapon towards her, the moment crawlingly passed for Nuly.  The gunpowder ignited, the barrel flashing with the projectile piercing Nuly's armor to hit her upper chest.

Nuly's pain and fear were quickly thrown out of her mind as her anger burned fiercely within.  After the Nevrean took another shoot at a different Shigu, Nuly swung her sword violently.  The blade cut smoothly across the Nevrean's face, doing away with her eyes.  She didn't stop when the soldier twisted and fell, taking one more downward chop against her back.  Again, the blade had no trouble hacking past her tissue.

Riders were forcefully demounted, the bodies torn by multiple claws, teeth, swords, and spears.  A sergal's muzzle was blasted to chunks before the offender was gutted with a spear to her stomach.  Gunfire became more and more rare as the Shigu army consumed the Nevrean's numbers.  Their offense then halted when a few sergals cried out at a Nevrean female holding her sword to a sergal cub's neck.  Those that brought their children along during a campaign, carrying them in sacks, believed their cubs would grow into great warriors.  The soldiers barked at the Nevrean, the cub crying and twisting in the female's grip.  "You want it?!" the Nevrean yelled out while backing away from them.  Many Shigus ceased their feet, the cub shivering with fear in the Nevrean's hold.  "The mother is dead, so do you want it?!"

"Give us the child!" someone demanded, the rest becoming more agitated with each second.  The Nevrean saw they were beginning to approach and brought the child closer to the sword.  Then her eyes narrowed with a malicious smile, teething showing.

The Nevrean quickly switched her grip from the cub's neck to it's tail and flung it upward.  The child's limbs flailed helplessly about while it spun in the air.  They were too far away to do anything, everyone out of range to catch the child.  "You can't have him!" the female screamed as the cub began to fall downward.  Before the child could hit the ground, the Nevrean lifted her black blade and slashed sideways, cutting the cub swiftly in two.

Nothing held the Shigus back any longer, their rage now at it's highest.  The cruel Nevrean could only hold off a few before they overwhelmed her, multiple soldiers working together to shred into her.  Nuly quickly looked away from the child's divided remains, eyeing the soldiers as they took their revenge.   The battle was won, but it was more costly than usual.  Many Shigu bodies laid quiet and still on the soiled grass.  Some flyers still took shots at them from afar before eventually leaving out of sight.

Rain had decided there was no use in marching any further with the sun low in the sky.  Nuly searched and found Akuna, the large soldier easily distinguished from the many.  Rupland, Budio, and Niyi were with her as well.  Nuly's heart skipped when she didn't spot Unkli with them and her legs sped foward.  "Where's Unkli?" she anxiously asked.

Their heads turned about before Niyi said with a pointed finger, "Over there."  Nuly's head whipped in the direction she designated and found Unkli walking towards the group, a bandage wrapped around her left bicep while her hand held her helmet.  After the initial relief, Nuly realized the panic she had just experienced and it alarmed her.  Her emotions were leaking inward now, the roots of her attachment growing too deeply.  Yet, her realization didn't stop her from walking forward and embracing Unkli intensely, Nuly's bullet wounds aching.

"I see that I wasn't the only one thinking the worst," Unkli spoke in her ear while they hugged.  Nuly looked down at the bandages when they parted.

"Got shot like me."  Nuly stated and Unkli eyed the injury, stretching her arm with a sign of discomfort on her face.

"Shot right through my arm.  Where did you get shot?"  Nuly lifted her chest plate, blood staining her chest and belly.

"Here," she pointed at one hole on her upper right chest, "and here," with the next near her shoulder.  The one on her chest was irritating her greatly.  Nuly then widened the wound with a hand while probing it with a careful claw.  Unkli watched as she extracted a pebble sized object from the hole, the projectile being partially oblong and smooth with the color of bronze.  "I'm agreeing Akuna on this one," she told her, still looking at the bloody bullet in her padded palm.  "These Nevreans aren't playing fair."

"No shit," Akuna remarked, looking excessively weary with a bandage circled around her abdomen.  Rupland fostered her with nurturing licks on her neck, his body presenting it's own patches.  Nuly glanced at everyone, each having at least one wound either stitched, patched, or bandaged.

Nuly attempted to remove the bullet from the hole in her shoulder, but the pain was too much and the projectile too deep.  "You might as well get a medic for that," Unkli recommended and Nuly agreed with her, leaving the group for just a moment to search for one.

The medic this time was a female, fur a very little blue and eyes baring gray.  She pulled out the pellet with a pair of metal tweezers.  Nuly groaned and gritted her teeth as the tool dug in and twisted inside.  Nuly sighed a deep breath while the usual gel and bandages were applied.  She now felt she fitted in with her friends and their own grievances.

A protective barrier of soldiers stood watchful around where they camped.  The plains still rang with the occasional spit of gunfire while the sun was still present.  Squads would be dispatched, but as Nuly watched them head out into the fields, most would fall and not rise again.  The darkness of the night would have been some assistance shielding them from the enemies' sight, but the moon was out and bright.  The whistle of projectiles originated somewhere in the shadows, and everyone was sure to spread themselves wide and far to lessen the chance of becoming a victim.

Bodies were cut and feed on, their taste quite different from sergal meat, Nuly noticed.  In fact, she would prefer eating a Nevrean over her own kind any day after tasting them.  She couldn't feel much guilt in their slaughter or the consumption of their flesh.  She knew not if they were an ally to Clan Reono or just a new enemy against Clan Shigu.  Nuly was careful not to shallow any feathers.

While they sat on the ground, the captains started rounding up the Nevreans' guns and allowed a select few to utilize them.  The few demonstrated their limited knowledge of such weapons with awkward aims and jitteriness at the loud blasts they produced.  Black shapes flew dauntingly through the starry sky, soldiers shooting off rounds at the very sight of them.  The nighttime defense had an effect on the troopers, eyes becoming tired and frustrated at the endless barrage while others pressed their hands down on their ears.  Unkli and the group remained quiet, ears twitching after each discharge.

The usual morale of the soldiers was dejected and depressed, their expressions blank with a far off stare.  "You know, I would like to know something," Nuly decided to break the silence, Unkli grooming her lower stomach.  "I would like to know more about all of you."  She glances at everyone with their empty gazes.  "You know me some and I know Unkli's story, but I hardly know any of yours'.  What is your story, Akuna?"

The female Shigu grumbled lightly, her wounds likely suppressing her mind with a painful haze.  But regardless, "I was raised on a farm."

"Farm?" Unkli interrupted.

"What?" Akuna looked at her.

"I was thinking more of a street child."

"Is that suppose to offend me?"

"Not intended," Unkli replied playfully.

"Then do you want to hear the story or not?"  Unkli was silent when she continued.  "I was raised by my mother on a farm with my two brothers.  I was the biggest of them all and for it, I had to do most of the work, but I didn't mind.  It made me strong.  Made it easier to keep my siblings in line too.  But I wanted to use my strength for something more than castrating farm animals and harvesting.  And in the first battle I fought with the army, I killed six people.  There's not much difference between a spear, a shovel, or a rake I used back home."

Nuly nodded silently, satisfied by the female's story.  "And you, Rupland?"  The male lifted his mouth off of Akuna's shoulder to look at Nuly like he expected to be called upon.

"My mother was a former warrior," he began while leaning against Akuna, fingers playing with the fur on her crossed legs.  "She liked to tell me and my sister she was a former assassin.  I stopped believing her when I became older.  She was a gracious fighter though and taught us well.  When I decided I didn't want to scavenge for food like my mother anymore, I signed for the army while my sister stayed with her.  I haven't seen them for some time now."  His eyes were deep with thought, unfocused.

Next was Niyi and Budio, whom chose to tell each others' stories.  "She was born to a family of expert hunters," Budio started as Niyi enclosed her arms around him, "sellers of leather and furs.  Her mother's name was...Kenso, and her father's name was...Hanol?"  He craned his neck back to look at Niyi.

"Good," she commented and he continued.

"She hated selling the furs and leathers, but she was drifted.  Her parents didn't want her to go, but she felt it was what she wanted.  She greatly misses them now.  She fights without mercy and loves with all her being."  Once again, he looked up at her.

"Very good," she remarked before taking the time to do her part.  "He was born to a servant, a hardworking servant.  A kind servant.  She told him to find another life, a life away from the dullness of her work and find a future somewhere else.  So he unwillingly left her to look for that future and he has found it here with me."

"But what was her name?" Budio asked, waiting for her answer.

"Kunewta?"

"Close, but it's Kunewva."

"Ah."  Regardless, they touched muzzles with faces cast in grins.

"Now you, Luka," Akuna pointed at Nuly.

Nuly briefly nodded.  "My mother was Muna and my father was Brask.  She was a hunter and he was a merchant.  She tracked and killed, he bought and sold.  I usually hunted with my mother, but at times I would help my father with his stall."  Nuly was cautious to not allow her own past to leak into her fabricated one.  "I was then drifted, but I craved more than a future of hunting silnoxes and selling meats anyway.  So I felt blessed."

"My parents were guards," Unkli automatically began, "and they raised me to be one as well.  The way they trained me was rigorous to say the least, but it has allowed me to see another day after every battle.  They were so happy when I was drifted they couldn't shut their mouths about it.  They gave me this gold trinket as luck, but I lost it in the first few days of my induction."  And from there, other conversations grew and flourished.  The constant gunfire was eventually ignored before the soldiers enviably ran empty on ammunition.

Unkli's grooming soon turned to adoring licks across Nuly's neck, gentle hands touching her chest.  She slowly repositioned herself to have her head between Nuly's legs.  No one had taken off their armor for discretion towards the falling arrows.  Even so, it was easy for Unkli to lift Nuly's skirt and have at her wet loins.  Both of them disregarded the presence of their comrades, and surprisingly they too fell into the same mood with Niyi pounding down on Budio and Rupland nurturing Akuna's tender spots.  The scene grew silent albeit the shuffling of their armor and each other's purring groans.

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Morning greeted the sleepers with more gunfire and arrows, and the captains immediately called for the soldiers to move into formation.  Rain lead the army at the speed of a hasty jog and she expected her subordinates to keep up with her.  Indeed, they did considering they didn't want to fall prey to the ever present volley of projectiles.  There were still a few soldiers taking their own shots with bows and firearms at the males in the sky, but their aim was even more cumbersome when they were in motion.

Nuly was still bothered by her regard towards Unkli.  It pained her to think about the probability of her death during these hours, and it also pained her to know it had such an effect on her.  She found her to be both an unnecessary complication in this urgent undertaking and a valued acquaintance.  Nuly reflected over the plausible ways she could help lead Unkli away from all this.  She couldn't reveal her alias, an act that would definitely compromise the entire endeavor.  How dedicated was Unkli to the Shigu cause?  Another question Nuly could not answer herself.

As they ran south, the grass of the plains grew taller and thicker.  The green gradually turned to a light golden brown, but it had no real effect on the army's progress, although the General did order the squads to widen and spread themselves to not cluster around each other.  Then the lines immobilized at the General's command, but before another order could be instated, brown cloaked bodies sprung from the grass and attacked.

Crossbows and guns spat furiously at them, but the Shigus were very quick to launch a counterassault, captains loudly informing the troopers to keep low to the grass as the enemy did.  Nuly half-bent her legs towards the ground, but didn't allow her pace to slow as she activated her sword.  Long grains brushed against her face and limbs as she scanned the tall grass for any hostiles.  Instead one found her,  rushing as a keen snarl exited his throat, a steel blade in his left hand.  She had expected a Nevrean as she now looked at his aged southern face partially hidden by the hood of his cloak.

Nuly leg's were still bent when the enemy came at her, but she had jumped out of the range of his slash which resulted in her falling backwards.  The southerner saw the chance to finish her there, dashing forward with another swipe.  Nuly blocked it with her weapon, pushing the swordsman away with a kick at his stomach.  In a fluid motion, she rose off the grass with blade still in hand.

She struck forward with a furious swing and missed as the southerner ducked out of it's way.  He countered with a gash near Nuly's ribs.  Nuly backed away from the opponent, but he didn't give her the chance to recover.  Nuly commendably blocked his strikes, all her wounds aching in accord with her movements.

His attacks were rapid and persistent, the technique purely southern.  Nuly worked to find a hole in his offense, but she felt herself losing ground.  She blocked again with blade against blade and his weapon was then severed into two portions by her razor edge.  His face held no surprise as his hand immediately dropped the now pointless blade before reaching for another weapon on his side.  But it was too late for the southerner to defend or attack with Nuly sweeping her blade low at his pelvis.  The blade implanted itself into his body with a grizzled scream, but had only made it halfway through him.  The final strike was a stab through his leather-covered middle when he fell to the soil.

Nuly didn't pay any mind to her new cut with many more to kill on that field.  A female talyxian challenged her, holding twin blades in both hands and Nuly asked herself if she was actually serious about facing her with both of them.  Indeed she was as she whirled the swords around with her wrists and hurtled at her.  The female had a great amount of stamina, the blades dancing while Nuly defended herself.  She stabbed Nuly through her armor plates, piercing the hide at her shoulder.  When the female nicked the left side of her muzzle, Nuly's rage instantaneously ignited.  Even though it was a superficial wound, Nuly couldn't stand the thought of having her face lacerated.

"Embrace that anger!" Aduli echoed from memory.  "Let it enhance you!"  Nuly couldn't hold herself back from opening a flurry of strikes and swings towards the female while her breathes hurryingly left her mouth.  The female evaded the attacks well and her swords held strongly too.  Nuly backed away, seeing her opponent's defense was well refined.  When the now drained female came at her again, Nuly sidestepped out of the way of the attack and let her blade's edge carve clean through her neck.  The feline's head rolled to the ground just before her body dropped.

The Shigus lost very little compared to what they had previously confronted.  These sergals weren't Reono, but maybe mercenaries bought off by whatever clan they were now in conflict with.  They were experienced, but that mattered little when put against Shigu soldiers.  No more time was given as they move onward.

The precession had turned suddenly eastward towards the shore.  No direction was safe with the plains stretching out for many rekusus, but Nuly believed the commanders had a strategy in their change of course.  She didn't know how far the plains went for, but it was no doubt that if the army kept bearing south with occasional groups of Nevreans to burden them there would not be many Shigus left.  Already the squads were becoming thin, bodies of comrades slamming to the grass to disappear as everyone ran forward.

They approached a wide river and by the direction they were going, it needed to be crossed.  Again, most sergals weren't adapted for swimming.  They ran along the river's edge, searching for a shallow enough path to provide passage.  When one was found, they hastily hurried through the cold water as it splashed all about them.  The water's depth went to Nuly's chin even when she stood on her toes and she saw others with just their muzzles pocking out of the water's surface.

Nuly peered behind her to see a soldier struggling to not drown.  With no one else taking it upon themselves, she turned and grabbed the soldier by his hide to hold his head up.  "Thank you, sister," he said after several breaths and a few coughs.  "Thank you."

"Would you not do the same for me if you were taller and I was shorter?" she asked him as her feet slowly pressed for the shore.

"For you, sister?  Of course."  A small smile was given at his answer.

"Don't try to flatter me.  I've already got someone."

"My gratefulness isn't lessened for knowing that.  Thank you, sister."  Such manners for a Shigu.

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Rekusus upon rekusus were traveled throughout that day, the hot air helping to dry everyone's fur after their little dip.  It may have even helped wash out a few of Nuly's wounds.  Even so, it haunted Nuly to watch the few that didn't make it across, wet armor glittering while they were taken away by the current.  She could even hear a few still fighting the water, hysterical cries becoming even more quiet as they ventured downstream.

Stitches were used, even on the one carved on Nuly's nose.  "Unkli," she asked her, sniffing at her clean smelling fur with a cheek against her neck and arms enclosed.  "Do you still find me attractive after getting this scar?"  She looked at Unkli, touching the streak with the pad of her finger.

"Who said you were attractive in the first place?" she replied.  "I just like the ugly ones."  That earned her a twist of the ear and Nuly giggled when she yelped.  Unkli retaliated by turning around and pinning Nuly to the ground.  From there, it turned to a light and playful wrestling match which then changed to affectionate cuddling, their tails intertwining.  The mood of the night was quite lighthearted compared to the dread of the previous evening.  The air was devoid of any gunfire or arrows, just the talk and laughs of soldiers.  Nuly wanted to initiate the nightly pleasures this time, pushing her pelvis against Unkli's.

"Again?" Akuna whined.  "Can't you two rest for a night?"  She was ignored.

The morning was quiet, but the captains desired not to waste any time.  It was near the afternoon when the guns returned, but it wasn't too long after that another force could be seen in the distance.  Tall figures marched towards the Shigus, and the General let out a howl towards them.  The force echoed a similar, although higher pitched, howl back at them.  They were not only friendly, but a two hundred strong battalion of Shigu reinforcements originating from the shore.

Silves must have planned all these support landings beforehand, Nuly thought.  The two regiments stayed on their paths and when the General gave the order, they both turned south and become one as they marched side by side.  With a few more numbers with them, Nuly felt some relief.  But the war birds would be waiting for them several rekusus ahead.

Riders, flyers, gunners, sergals, and talyxians stood in unification before the Shigu army and their increased ranks.  Nuly couldn't be for sure who possessed the larger numbers, but it was certain this would be an interesting battle.  The flyers were upon them first, Rain giving out the order for her troopers to kneel and safeguard their bodies.

Barrages of arrows dinged against body armor while they waited for the General to give the order to charge, but even she was waiting for one thing: the gunfire.  None would come as the flyers pitched, dipped, and taunted them while the archers took what shots they could make.  Even then, the guns wouldn't sound as a few arrows pierced their defenses.  Nuly saw one stick into an ally's back, and the female simply reached back and jerked it out.  Could they be poison-tipped?  The question didn't help calm Nuly's nerves.  The aerials flowed in a vortex flight above them like a twister.  There was only the noise of their jeering calls, the wind under their wings, and the breathes of the Shigu soldiers.  Finally, the General held her weapon high with a frustrated howl and the entire army rose with her to rush at the cowards.

Of course, only then did the blasts ring out, handfuls tumbling to the ground while in sprint.  Then the riders, sergals, and talyxians took to the charge, proud and loud with their own chorus of war.  "Stay as one," Nuly heard the captains repeat from the heavy thunder of their advance.  The collision between the two groups was a storm of irate cries, blood, fur, feathers, and ruptured flesh.

Nuly had already done away with two fierce opponents, one Nevrean and one sergal.  She didn't know which one she would rather fight more.  A fountain of red sprung forth from another Nevrean's mortal wound and it was sight Nuly could appreciate.  There would be those that were more difficult, their steps and strikes more precisely placed.  Then there was the green and unrefined fighters that had no chance against them.  The blood of three races now painted Nuly's armor and her sword, and the same was true for the battleground.

For Nuly, it was like being trapped in a dream-like state, her instincts taking over her mind as her heart quickened and her limbs shook with fever.  She realized she was slipping, her mind becoming consumed by the raw emotion that was the fury of battle.  The chaos was so palpable and inescapable, the smell of flesh becoming slit open was everywhere.  The sounds of the carnage meld into one vibrating and overwhelming ambience.  If a warrior was not careful, they could be swept away by this haze.  It's often fatal for the fighter, the enemy, and their allies.

A quota of victims had to be adhered to, and Nuly's eyes couldn't cease their movement to search for them.  Nuly could find no victim more enticing that the General with her back turned to her.  There were only a few soldiers in combat blocking her path to the beast.  Nuly's toes dug into the dirt with each promoting step, taking her time and not attracting any attention to herself while she pushed her way towards her.  Nuly's blade would have no trouble puncturing clean through her abdomen.  Would she have enough time to extract a golden eyeball for evidence of her deed for when she returned home?  It would be recommended, she told herself as the space closed between them.

Nuly was ready to strike and charge forward at the General who was too enthralled in battle to take notice to her.  Nuly's sword was posed upward and horizontal, aimed directly for Rain's back.  She would penetrate her first, and then unsheathe it.  She had to assume the General was a hardy creature and that one blow would not take her down completely.  After the first strike, a second one would be christened to the back of her neck and decapitate her.  Nuly prayed she had enough time to escape the conflict before either side knew what had transpired.

Nuly had only a few spaces to close between her and the Animal, but a male Nevrean suddenly swooped down from the sky before the General's sights.  The male attempted a direct strike on Silves, but she quickly leaned out of his path and lifted her weapon to scrap against the male's belly.  With the Nevrean still in flight and with much momentum in him, his body crashed into Nuly with a heavy slam.  Nuly couldn't feel anything at that point, hitting the ground hard, arms and legs limp and unmoving.

###### ====================================================

Nuly slowly regained herself from the darkness of her blackout.  The battleground was more tamed and quiet now, very few noises entering her ears.  She pushed the now dead Nevrean that was laying atop of her.  She almost couldn't lift herself from the ground, her head throbbing and stomach persuading her to vomit.  She was so unfocused that she almost forgot to locate her blade and helmet which were not far from where she had lost consciousness.  They were unneeded now for the battle was over.

The flyers had vanished, the clashing of spears and blades gone, and the slaughter ceased with the Shigus as victors.  As Nuly attempted to recollect herself and prevent her legs from buckling under her weight, the soldiers gathered up the bodies and the captains did the same to the swords, spears, and guns.  She shortly found a wandering medic, the same one from her first night with Clan Shigu, and told him about her hurting joints.  He examined her, turning and lifting her wrists and arms to see if they caused any pain, but none of it was severe enough to warrant a brace.  When Nuly mentioned her crippling headache, the medic reached into his shack of supplies and came out with a small piece of bark.  With a knife, he cut a few slivers of it into Nuly's open palm.  "Eat it," he advised and Nuly had thought he was joking.  "It helps.  Swallow it."  Indeed as Nuly chewed and gulped the slices, the pain started to dull itself and recede.

"What's your name again?" Nuly asked him who gave her an odd expression.

"Hoonas.  Why do you ask?"

"No reason really.  You're a good medic."

"I don't get many soldiers to thank me.  They're either bleeding all over me or cursing at me to back off and saying that they don't need my help.  So you're compliment is much appreciated."  He showed a satisfied expression before leaving her, Nuly picking bark from between her teeth.

Finding everyone in tact after the onslaught provided Nuly with more motive to relax.  There were new wounds all around with Rupland having the most noticeable one: a bandage over his left eye.  It was Akuna's turn to nurture him.  For the evening, the entire group conducted tired and drained conversations with one another.

"Luka?" someone spoke behind Nuly.  The entire group turned their heads to look at a weathered soldier standing before them.

"Yes?" Nuly responded.

"The General wishes to see you."  The fear was like a punch in the gut and she could still feel it as she followed the unknown trooper to where the General resided.  Rain sat with two female soldiers nibbling and licking away the red stains in her fur, only giving half-second glances at Nuly as she approached them.

"Can you believe it, Luka?" the General laughingly asked her after she saluted.

"Ma'am?"

"Luta.  I said it wrong again," she giggled once more.  Nuly watched as she chewed at the skin of a severed and defeathered Nevrean head, it's eye sockets empty and dark.  Silves caught her looking and held the head closer to let her get a better view.  Bone could be seen on the left cheek, but the smell oddly made Nuly's stomach grumble.  "This is the one," Silves told her.  "This was the clan leader of...what was the clan name's again, Kuvo?"

"Sugio, my General," said another soldier.

"Yes, Clan Sugio.  Gutless Nevreans."  She took another strip of meat from the head.  "Luka," just the statement of her alias made Nuly's legs stiffen, "you've told me before that you knew how to read.  How well can you?"

"I can read, my General, but I'm not the fastest."

"I don't require speed.  All I want is someone who can.  Kuvo.  Give me an old document for her to read."  Her advisor fumbled through a large pouch, it's contents sounding full of papery material.  He retrieved a rolled up brown parchment that he handed off to the General who then gave it to Nuly.  Nuly unfurled the paper and reviewed the black, legible, and slightly sloppy penmanship.

"General Rain," she sounded out the lettering, remembering her additional lessons at the camp she had retrieved.  "We bare northwest and it has been three days since our landing.  Contact with the enemy is sparse and conflict is low."  She looked up at the General.

"Good.  Keep on reading."

"The towns of Litalo and Bunoka have been offered the honorary opportunity to allow your troopers to move through their towns, but have refused.  Our communications runner had also noticed a high Reono presence in Litalo.  By the time she had left the town, she esti...esti..."

"Estimate," Kuvo assisted with the pronunciation.

"Estimate that she saw at least fifty soldiers during her short time there.  We wait for night to attack.  We eagerly await to add our forces with our Mother General.  Our hearts will fill with joy the moment we catch sight of you.  Captain Suvin Daca."  Nuly lowered the document and connected her eyes with Rain's.  She nodded lightly, her groomers still working their way through her blue hair.

"My advisors that read for me didn't survive the last wave.  Regrettable, there aren't many people in my army that can read.  Kuvo," she pointed with a thumb at the red-furred sergal behind and to her left, "is a map reader, but is not the best with words.  Would you like to repay me for your rescue by becoming one of my advisors?"

"I would be tremendously honored, my General."  Nuly felt as if the statement just slipped out of her mouth, the words flowing out like cold water in a river.  She smiled as the opportunity was upon her and there was no need to imitate any excitement in her being.  It was already there.