The Dawn of the Raven Omnibus 1: Episodes 1-5 by J.L. Blackthorne Read Free Book Online

engaged with now, with Feur and two of his other
top men still by his side, but there were still more Gekken coming in.  Orders
or no orders, she knew there was no reason left to keep the Typhorian locked up. 
She scampered out to the bodies of the fallen guards, trying frantically to
search their bodies for the keys, while still watching for Gekken that might be
coming to part her from life and limb.  Luckily, the Gekken’s focus was on the remaining
soldiers.  She fumbled the keys twice before she was able to secure them, and
then rushed back to the cage and began trying to find the one that matched the
lock.  Once the door was open, the Typhorian waited patiently as Kiella tried
to determine which was the key to Raveena’s shackles.
    Captain Vol and his men were standing up to the assault.  The
Gekken’s numbers were thinning now.  The odds were close to even.  Three of
Vol’s men remained, including Feur, and they were the strongest fighters he
had.  They were engaged with five Gekken, though a sixth was just now
approaching.  This Gekken was slightly older than the others, with battle scars
all over his body and face.  He wore a metal helmet, unlike any of the others,
and he approached slowly, savoring his entry into the battle, unlike the other
Gekken who had stormed in like rabid wolves, unable to contain their anxious
thirst for combat.  No, this one was different.  Captain Vol knew this was his
counterpart.  This was the leader.  Captain Vol pushed back the Gekken warrior
he was currently engaged with and, while it was off balance, he rammed the edge
of his blade through its gut.  The beast continued to try and get up and fight,
so Captain Vol twisted his blade, and the horrible creature shrieked with
pain.  He stepped on the dying Gekken’s torso and freed his blade of its
disgusting flesh.  The incoming Gekken leader barked out orders in a strange
tongue to his soldiers, and they left the captain alone, and focused instead on
the other men. 
    The captain and the Gekken leader sized each other up.  The
Gekken smiled and sneered.  The captain scoffed at his foe’s arrogance.  He
raised his blade and attacked.  The Gekken leader stood still as the blade came
for him.  The captain was sure it would meet its mark, and was shocked that the
fight would end so quickly, but at the last instant the Gekken moved faster
than he imagined possible.  Instead of cleaving the Gekken’s flesh with his
blade, Captain Vol found his own hand stopped in mid-air, with the Gekken
leader’s hand fastened about his wrist, having stopped it in mid-swing, and now
squeezing with unfathomable strength.  Captain Vol screamed as he felt the
bones in his forearm crack and splinter as the Gekken leader tightened his grip. 
The captain’s scream was cut short, however, as the Gekken leader’s sword found
its mark, cleaving with such force that it effortlessly split the good
captain’s armor and his chest in one sharp thrust.  The captain became silent,
and fell to the ground.
      
    “Relax” said
the Typhorian beauty, an impossible task under the circumstances.  “You can do
this” she assured Kiella.  Finally, Kiella found the key that fit, and the
warrior was free.
    Raveena wasted no time, gathering a sword off the ground from
a fallen guard.  As she approached the battle she shook the blade gently in her
hand, an unconscious move that allowed her to get a feel for its weight and
balance.  She took two Gekken by surprise as they finished off poor Feur and
the last of Captain Vol’s men.  With precise, lightning fast strikes, her blade
severed one Gekken’s leg and the other’s arm.  While the former fell to the
ground writhing and screaming in pain, the latter turned to her and attempted
to strike with his remaining arm.  Raveena ducked the blow, and thrust her blade
into the Gekken’s gut.  A third Gekken warrior attacked brashly, seeing that
her blade was caught in the belly of his