Aventina One

“Indivisible and unable to be toppled, the brightest son of Eteria marched onwards to the depths of every underworld for a thousand and a half years. But not everything is permissible. When the Walled Basileus fell upon the arrows of a Sula, his forlorn first filius vowed to stagnation. Filled with discontent and growing indignation, the enemies of Basilyarhemain increased in enumeration.”

Torov Dajiv, a Sulan king with Eterian mother.

“What do you mean I can’t?” a young female voice asked.

“Aventina, I already told you that you can’t come with us,” an older male voice said. “Durog, Torov, and I aren’t going to be in a singsong place.”

“B-But Renov--” Aventina began.

“No buts,” Renov stated. “Now go with Lasha and play with your dolls.”

Aventina stomped her small shoes on the dewed grass as she pouted at Renov. The small bubbles of water darkened her brown moccasin. Aventina turned around towards Lasha’s house, shoes still stamping on the grass.

The air around room was still. Several dozen people were only breathing in anticipation. The youngest person in the room, Aventina, had her eyes expectant. “Renov, Aven will come with you during your raid tomorrow.”

“But father,” Renov said. “She’s just a young girl.”

The fist of an old man hit the arms of a wooden throne. “She’s fourteen,” the old man sitting at the throne stated. “Durog and Torov are both fifteen. And you’re just sixteen. How can you call her a child when the difference between you is a mere two years?”

“Father, I’m telling you--” Renov started.

“Enough, Renov,” the father of Renov interrupted. “If she wants to come kill with you, she will. I’ve seen her spear, she’ll be better than Durog or Torov.”  

Renov bowed.

“So you are a good spearer, huh,” Renov said.

“No, you guys are just horrible,” Aventina said as she looked across the horizon.

Aventina and her three brothers, along with two dozen other men, were headed towards Sapor in order to counter-raid. The Sapors had crossed with their father’s lands and with their father bedridden, they had no choice but to go in his stead for retaliation.

The wind howled as if it was a wolf. The blue sky blimped into a green before turning orange. The water flickered and mirrored like silverfish. The overall temperature was that of anticipation.

“Any moment now,” Renov stated. He stood at the back of the ship, beside Aventina.

“What makes you say they’ll come now?” Aventina asked.

“Sapors always attack at night,” Renov replied.

Aventina raised her eyebrows. “And how do you know this?”

“I had a Sapor tortured before leaving,” Renov revealed. “He said they like to come out at night because it’s unexpected. Like a whale when it lunges for a seagull.”

“Huh,” Aventina said.

The wind continued its howling and the sails of the ship Aventina and her brothers were on soon fluttered with increasing intensity.

“You ever wondered why the moon has holes in it?” Renov asked as he put his right hand over his eyebrows. He peered into the distance. Aventina shook her head. “I think it’s because the Sapor and their cousins angered the Hole God.”

“Who’s the Hole God again?” Aventina asked.

Renov grinned. “And that’s how I know you don’t follow Auntie Pez,” he stated. “What did you do with her anyway?”

“Nothing,” Aventina said. “She understands. I have no time for learning about religion when I have some military training to do.”

Renov clicked his tongue. “Who gave you the idea to try and become like a man?”

“Aren’t the Maidens what I’m trying to be?” Aventina asked.

“But Maidens are only from the sagas,” Renov stated.

“So then Dira is also not real?” Aventina asked.

“Hey, you do know--”

An arrow pierced Renov’s neck. Aventina widened her eyes then gazed at the men at the front. Several had been pierced with arrows in parts of their body. A warcry came. Aventina turned around and grabbed her spear from behind. Another boat had come close to theirs, onto the right side. While the coat of the boarding men were a strong silver, Aventina’s fellow crewmembers bore the brown fur of the largest bears from the north, into the realm of their Rosa cousins.

Another warcry emerged and it came from the left. Aventina turned around to see that a short man was over her head, ready to bring down his axe. She tightened her grip on her spear and aimed it up. The enemy who had jumped remained between the air and the ship for several moments before Aventina pulled her spear down and caused for the skewered man to secure his death.

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As the loud thud trailed Aventina’s behind, she unsheathed her iron dagger and headed towards the front where most of the fight was happening. She saw that someone was about to stab Durog in the back, and so she sheathed her dagger and sprinted with her spear to impale.

“Durog, are you okay?” Aventina asked as the silver fur-wearing man coughed up blood at the tip of Aventina’s spear.

Before Durog could reply, a horn was sounded. Aventina looked around her. Only six of the ship’s crew remained. Aside from her, it was her remaining two brothers and the three warriors they brought along. The rest were down on the floor, soaking the wooden material in red. The enemy had their axes and spears pointed at the remainders of Aventina’s fellow crewmembers. Aventina positioned her spear between her and a man raising an axe at her.

“Azo, come here,” a voice said. Aventina felt the voice’s accent. She looked at source of the voice and found a young man that had the left side of his hair shaved. “We’ve got a pretty redhead here, I want her on her knees after you.”

A towering man jumped from the enemy boat to the left and almost tipped the boat filled with dead bodies. “Genzo, you’re retarded,” the towering man said as he walked forwards. Aventina did not detect any accent on the man’s use of her language. Aventina and her fellow men were surrounded closer as the tall man approached. She looked up and saw that the giant-like man’s head shone off the moon’s light brighter than the water below them. He looked a few years older than the one with an accent. “Ah, ah, ah. Nobody will kill these six. They’ll be slaves for back home.”

“But brother, we already have a lot of slaves at the moment,” the accented young man from before said.    

“Genzo, you already revealed that we speak their language,” Azo said. “Now I’ve ought to spare them out of possible kin kindness.”

“Who cares if they know we’re kin, our men aren’t their kin,” Genzo said.

“But I’m the leader of this party,” Azo stated. “Am I not?” Genzo lowered his head. Azo walked forwards towards Aventina. She kept her spear raised. “Now now, do we have twins here? How come one is fat and the other is a little bit muscular?” Aventina looked to her right and found her brothers restraining themselves. “Now now, it doesn’t matter. We have you six surrounded, so lower your weapons before I change my mind.”

“We don’t surrender, Sapor fuck,” Aventina spat. She did not dare move against the enemy. There were two dozen in her vision. Two dozen against six. It was not feasible.

“Alright, I had enough of that warrior woman,” Azo said. “Take her and give her one of our one-man boats.”

Genzo had spoken in another language. Aventina determined it was his first as he did not make the same blunders as he did with her language. Although she was not versed in the languages of the Sapor, she still knew how to discern the differences in the nuances of speech. Aunt Pez had told her it was important in the matters of being a lord’s wife. “Hey, lower your weapons before I rape your warrior girl here,” Genzo said as he motioned for two Sapor to take Aventina. She looked at her brothers and found them conceding. She lowered her spear. “Just take her spear, don’t bother with the dagger. She might encounter a wolf or a large antlered deer in her lands.”

Azo laughed. “You already know how this goes, eh brother?” he said with a grin. "You only needed one raid with me to understand."

“I am your second brother,” Genzo said. “It is my duty to follow your orders.”

Azo laughed again. “Okay, okay, get the warrior woman out before I have a taste for her,” he ordered. “Young woman, if you don’t leave this place in an instant and forget about what’s happened, I’ll have you dragged to my homeland and fed to the crows, you understand?”

Aventina had not resisted as she was brought to a small wooden boat. Her crewmembers did not move, as concordance. She thought about slitting the throats of the two men who motioned for her to get in the boat, but they had already cut the rope.

The boat had two paddles. As soon as she was on the boat, the voices on her previous ship became silent. Just before her ears would not hear more, a loud cheering emanated from the three ships on the horizon.      

Aventina buckled and looked behind her. The brown boat had hit grains of tan. She covered her face with her hands and cried.