Mariyah stood in the newly built meeting room, a large rectangular table in front of her with most of her friends sitting there. She held her hands together nervously as she spoke up, “I won’t force anyone to be a part of what I'm about to explain. Just because you live here doesn’t mean you need to help. I need you all to know that. But I’m asking.”
Marcy rolled out a large piece of paper onto the table that she and Mariyah had marked up. “There’s a few tents here, and some here too.” She pointed to the scribbles. “Mariyah and I counted almost thirty guards.”
“Beautiful artwork,” Kai mumbled at their poor drawing attempt.
“We’re gifted,” Marcy said with a very snarky expression.
“Yes. We are.” Mariyah held in her laugh before continuing. “We can take them if we have enough people. Each of us can take one- maybe two, if we move in stealth. We’ll have to do this differently than the arena. At night, definitely. And slow.” She pointed to the outskirts of the camp. “We start out here, and work our way in. By the time people notice guards dead, we’ll have killed enough to…” She sighed. “Killed enough to take on the others without an issue.”
Gil looked at Mariyah and Marcy. “So we sneak in, pick off a few, and then take out the others.”
The girls nodded.
Kai shrugged. “Doesn’t sound too bad. Are we bringing bows?”
Mariyah answered, “Whatever you are best with, bring. I’ll stick to a knife, but you’d be best with a bow.”
He grinned. “I know.”
She rolled her eyes and looked at the others.
Rose rubbed her arm as she sat down. “I don’t know…I’ve never really thought about fighting.”
Cal looked over at her, sitting across from her. “That’s okay. Would you be okay with staying on the outskirts? Healing wounded?"
Rose nodded her head. "I can do that."
Mariyah smiled. "We could use you helping out with teaching others how to eventually as well. We can form a small group of healers. If you’re okay with that, Rose.”
Her face lit up and she smiled. “I’d love to.”
Mariyah nodded and turned her attention to the others. “It will not be pretty, I know you all know that but. I just want to remind you that it was a bit violent at the arena, but it may be worse here. And none of you are allowed to get killed. So...”
Kai laughed. “I’m sure the soldiers will kindly respect your request.”
They all agreed to come, the total being Gil, David, Huntro, Cal,...Kindrick, Kai, Bray, Sylve, Sare, Jos, Steph, Marcy, Rose, Fossil, Lius, and Mariyah.
Cal shook his head. “I worry we aren’t enough.”
Gil shrugged. “Well. We can always ask the gladiators.”
Mariyah nodded. “Good idea, a few of them already agreed to come, actually. Our numbers will be strong. Hopefully more than enough.” She looked around for a moment before snickering. “Plus, with Marcy on our side, I think we’ll be fine.”
“Why’s that?” Kindrick lifted a brow.
“She has an interesting tactic for disarming her male opponents.”
Kai’s mouth fell slightly open as he side eyed Marcy with a look of horror, while Fossil and Lius simultaneously buried their hands in their faces.
“Oh, dear God,” Kindrick muttered under his breath while David and Gil burst out into quiet laughter. Cal sat there silently, squinting at Marcy in disgust.
Marcy smiled widely next to Mariyah. “Well! I’ll go let the gladiators know!”
That evening, the day before the raid, Lius approached Mariyah as she was walking around the Dome, checking on the progress of things.
“Hey there,” he said, walking beside her.
She looked at him. “Hi,” she said sweetly, setting down a basket of crops. “You need anything?”
“Just wanted to see what you were up to.”
“Oh, I’m running around a bit. Lots of people to tend to.” She let out a small laugh and looked at him curiously. He is rather handsome…Have I said that already? I think I blame those eyes. They aren’t fair.
“Sounds like… you need a break.”
She gave him a look before looking around, holding back a grin. “A break?”
He nodded his head towards the Dome door. “Yeah. Sounds like it.”
She shook her head, just about to pick back up the basket, but Marcy slid up beside her and lifted it up herself, giving Mariyah a smile. “Oh, I think I’m on the way to the outer tents anyway, I’ll just drop this off on my way!”
But Mariyah could read that face. She glared a bit at Marcy walking away, her cheeks going red at the obvious intentions, until she pulled away and turned back to Lius. “I guess I could use a break," she said with a defeated smile.
He smirked a bit with a soft chuckle and headed outside, Mariyah following behind. “Kinda just wanted an excuse to talk to you if that wasn’t as obvious as it felt.”
She tilted her head, beginning to walk along the village outskirts and into the forest. “Talk to me about…?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I wanna know your story.”
She looked at him for a moment. “My story?”
“Yeah. All of it though. Not just the summaries you give to everyone.” He nudged her with his arm gently.
“Well summaries are easiest…my friend was taken, and we got him back...along with a few others, which I've told you...And the shelter? The Dome? It was a gift. My father made this for me.” She looked at the ground as they walked.
He remained quiet for some time as they walked. “It’s brave of you to have done what you did, and what you’re planning on doing.” He nodded at her hand. “What about that mark on your hand? And how you met a Shifter boy when you’re supposed to be hiding as a Natural…and ended up saving his entire village?” He smiled. “See, summaries don’t cut it.”
“You know about that? How did you hear?”
“I asked around. Some of these people could go on and on about how they’d be dead if it weren't for you.”
Her heart lifted as she thought of how kind the villagers were. “That’s kind of them to say…Well, it’s a bit of a difficult story,” she said to him.
“I’ve got time,” he replied, watching her as they walked side by side.
Mariyah took a deep breath in, explaining the entire story. Tears began to tug at her eyes as she explained and she soon turned her head towards the trees to hide and compress her pain. She sighed as she finished.
After a long silence, Cornelius responded, “All that and you’re still here? Not only that but...you seem so...calm. So peaceful. Wouldn’t have thought that only a few weeks ago your parents were…” His voice trailed off, not finishing his sentence.
Peaceful? I seem peaceful? "Well...I’m glad I put off a calm feeling,” she said with a quiet laugh. “It doesn’t feel like that.” She tugged her thoughts away before they could pull her into a downward spiral about her past moments with Oliver and her parents. Before the emptiness of their lack of presence could touch her.
“I’m sure it does...but it seems like you’re able to remain kind. That’s something I haven’t seen much of. Not in these years of Shifter persecution. Everyone’s always miserable...or humourous in a sorrowful way. Never do they truly seem so...so good.”
She brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled slightly. That flattered her. “Thank you. You’ll see that among a lot of my villagers. They’re all quite positive,” she said. She looked ahead of her and squinted her eyes as she saw an opening ahead of them. A small meadow appeared. Her mouth fell open as she saw the field covered in violets and all sorts of other kinds. “Oh my…” she whispered as she quickly ran ahead.
Cornelius watched her and walked after her, smiling at her excitement.
“This is so beautiful,” she said, filled with awe as she bent down to observe all of the flowers. The sun above her shone down, lighting up the meadow as if it was a bright dream. “I can’t believe I never knew about this place,” she said softly.
He stood, his hand in the pockets of his rugged trousers as he watched her lean down and smell each flower. “It is pretty,” he said, nodding his head.
She sat down, the flowers serving as a cushion for her underneath.
His eyes stared at her as she stood surrounded by flowers. Her brown eyes were mesmerized by the scene around her. His heart warmed with a foreign happiness as he walked and sat beside her. “You like flowers, huh?”
“I love them,” she whispered. “They’re so beautiful.” She began to pick some around her, and fiddled with them in her fingers. She then started to relay to him what the names of each flower were if she could remember. He listened intently to each explanation as she went on, despite his lack of understanding.
After enough flower talk, she looked at him. “What about you? Your story?”
“Mine?” he shrugged his shoulders and leaned back into the flowers, his hands behind his head. “You don’t wanna know mine. Not as exciting,” he let out a soft laugh.
“I do. Plus, that’s not fair. I told you mine, so you tell me yours,” she persisted, with an eager look upon her face.
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He inhaled deeply and stared into the sky as the clouds moved above him. “I don’t have much of one. I was abandoned when I was born, so I never knew my parents. I’m not even sure how I got to where I am. I guess I just relied on the kindness of others. When one person got tired of caring for me as a child, the next stepped up. I was passed on from sorry family to sorry family, until finally, I was old enough to go on my own. I met Fossil, and he and I have been wandering ever since,” he said to her, watching the moving clouds as she watched him.
Her eyes observed his face as he spoke. “I’m so sorry…” she said quietly, feeling a deep sympathy for him. She could feel the heaviness around him as he spoke on this.
“Don’t feel sorry. I don’t mind it,” he answered.
But she knew he was lying by looking at his eyes.
“It’s easier since I don’t gotta worry about friends or family getting hurt. The only one I care about is Fossil, and we usually manage to stay out of trouble.” He turned to her and smiled a small bit. “But that’s all there is to me.”
“Hm…” she said. “Well. I feel like you’re the one summarizing now, but I’ll let it slide.” She giggled. “Thanks for telling me, Cornelius.”
“I said you can call me Lius,” he said with a small chuckle.
“Excuse me.” She cleared her throat with a smile. “Lius.”
The Raid
The darkness of the night hid Mariyah and her group while the camp behind them was illuminated by the torches in the far background.
“I counted just under thirty today,” Marcy said as she shifted into a human after scouting the area out as a mouse. “But there’s a large crowd...it looks like they’re going to start an auction soon.”
“An auction?” Mariyah asked with a worried look. She tied her hair in a low ponytail behind her neck. The darkness around them barely gave them enough vision to look at one another.
“To sell the slaves,” David answered.
“With all of the buyers, Mariyah...that’s so many extra people to fight…” Marcy frowned, anxiously.
“Do we head back?” Gil asked.
Mariyah’s heartbeat quickened as tension built. She bit her lip, shaking her head. “Those slaves will be taken and spread out, and we won’t be able to save them. It’ll be too late then.” She looked at Cal and the others as they stood hidden in the forest. “I don’t think the buyers will join the fight. Those are civilians buying slaves. Not trained guards. We can still take on thirty like we planned, that's not too many. I’d only worry if the crowd began to help the soldiers...but I don’t think they will. Naturals are afraid of us.” Mariyah continued, her stomach beginning to fill even more with nerves and anxiety, “But please. If any of you wish to change your mind, please feel free to.”
She looked into the eyes of every Shifter that accompanied her. Gil, David, Kai, Rose, Marcy, Cal, David, Lius, Sylve, Kindrick, Sare, Fossil, Jos, Bray, and Steph. The others were the small group of gladiator fighters that the man from earlier had offered to fight. His name turned out to be Jorstul, the grizzly bear. His friends were Eyote who was a puma, Hurvtin who was a rhino, and Pildun who was a leopard.
No one moved.
Finally, Sare stepped forward. “These are our people. I’m sick of sitting in my tent. I’m not changing my mind, Mariyah.” She turned to the others. “I don’t think any of us are.”
Mariyah’s eyes softened as she listened to Sare. She held her hands by her side, clutching her dress. “Thank you. I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. “ She glanced at Cal and back at the others. “I’m terrified of something happening. I don’t know if I can promise your safety...no, I know I can’t. And I don’t know what will happen. But I’m doing this for those people in that camp. I want this to be your decision. You come with me if you wish, but please don’t if you truly don’t want to.” Her face showed the worry she tried to hide in her heart. But just the same, it showed the care she felt towards every friend that stood in front of her. And they could all see it.
Gil spoke up, “We will go, Mariyah. Trust us. We wouldn’t be here if we wanted to continue sitting in tents and watching our people get ruined.”
Cal put a hand on her shoulder, sensing her worry. “Breathe.”
“Thank you,” was all she could get out before a deep breath. The thought of anyone in front of her getting hurt was a crippling feeling, and she wondered if saving her people was a dream meant to stay as one. The gladiator attack was lucky. This is a slave camp with posted soldiers. How could she ensure their safety again? She shook her head.“If anything goes south…”
Cal cut her off. “It won’t.”
“But if it does-”
“Then don’t let it.”
She stared at him, expressionless. “Thank you, Cal. That was really helpful,” she said, her words drenched with sarcasm. She looked away from him and then at the others, her gaze moving over each of their faces as they stared at her. Her eyes softened as she looked at each one. Losing anyone here is an unbearable thought. And that isn’t something she wants to allow.
It isn’t something she can allow.
They want to fight with her. They want to be here. And people are suffering in the camp behind them. They need to do this. And she needs to ensure none of them are killed. They can’t be. She can shift into almost any animal she desires. She will not let a life be taken.
Cal smiled faintly at her comment. “But...if things do go south...it was our choice to take that risk.”
No friend of mine will die tonight. “Nothing will go south. I won’t let it.” She blinked quickly at her sudden sense of determination and looked at Marcy. “What else did you find?”
Mariyah listened as Marcy relayed all she had seen to her. There was a large tent pulled away from the others which held the majority of the prisoners and only had one guard watching it. In addition, there were seven other small tents encircling a large platform in the middle of the camp. Most of these tents only had a guard or two inside, some with no prisoners and others with just a handful.
Marcy thinks the auction will be taking place in the area of the platform, a crowd has gathered there. That’s where the majority of the guards are, along with a small campfire to the side of the camp where a handful of them sat.
“Thank you,” Mariyah nodded. She looked at the eighteen fighters that she had rounded up and thought for a few moments as she analyzed the situation in her head. Gosh, I wish I read war books over flower ones. “This is what we’re going to do,” she began as she looked towards the camp and pointed at the one holding the captives. “Cal and I will approach the large one...we’ll take care of the two guards and release the captives inside this tent- silently...we all have to rely on silence. The hostages we free might be able to help us take out the rest, like in the arena.”
She looked at the other seven tents. “Sylve, you and Sare attack the far left tent, and then the one beside it right after. Bray and Kindrick, the far right. Gil and David, you two get the far back one.” She pointed at each one as she spoke. “We only have three tents left…so Fossil and Lius, I will leave one of those to you.” She bit her lip as she thought quickly. “Eyote and Hurvtin, you guys get the small one all the way over there.” She pointed to the one diagonal to the far left. “Then Steph and Jos, you two can get the opposite one,” she said. “Make sure you are all as quiet as possible...It’s important. We’re going to pick them off before attacking the auction area altogether. Quick and quiet deaths.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat that formed immediately after thinking of killing someone. She forced the feeling away and continued, “I’ll give ten minutes for us all from when we leave here. After taking out the few guards in each of your tents, wait there for the rest of the time until you hear a signal or hear commotion outside. That means Cal and I have begun the attack on the auction with the prisoners we rescue.”
She looked at Kai. “You take out the guards by the campfire with your bow when before your tent. Be careful please…”
He nodded his head and pulled out his bow to prepare.
“Jorstul, you wait here with Pildun until you hear us begin the fight at the auction...then come in and help, for the final blow,” she finished. She looked at Rose and Marcy. “I’ll send someone to fetch you two if we get any wounded-”
“What?” Marcy interrupted. “ I’m coming!”
“Marcy, I’m getting nervous about letting you out there-”
“Remember my technique, Mariyah? They won’t see me.” Marcy's eyes looked desperate to help, and who was Mariyah to stop her?
“Oh God, I didn’t need the reminder.” She rubbed her face with a laugh. “Fine,” she said with a small smile. “Go with David and Gil. But please be safe.” She looked at the others again. “Just like the arena…kind of. This time...our goal isn’t to only save the prisoners. We need to take out a large number of their guards...we can’t let them chase us. There’s way too many slaves to rush away with and we have no terrain providing us any sort of hidden escape like last time. We take out the soldiers and regroup at the auction area. Any soldiers who surrender, please tie them up and we will deal with them later.”
Sylve lifted a brow. “We’re sparing soldiers?”
“If they surrender.” Mariyah looked at her. “I’m not arguing this right now.”
Sylve tightened he lips and looked away.
Gil cleared his throat. “In a sense, we’re attacking the king, no?”
Marcy tilted her head. “Basically.”
Mariyah winced at his comment, because she knew it was true, but it took nothing away from her desire to rescue this village. “We are...in a way…yes, we are. I want these people rescued. Are you still with me?”
“We’ve answered you already,” Sare said with a gentle look.
Kai laughed. “You want us to change our mind or something?”
“No, no, stop.” Mariyah shot him a worried smile and looked at them. “Just wanna make sure.” She nodded and looked at everyone once more before motioning with her hand to disperse. They quickly did, beginning to commence with their plan.
Mariyah and Cal crept towards their assigned tent in their shifts, hidden by the dark night atmosphere. A torch lit up a figure standing behind the back of their tent. Cal studied the hesitance on Mariyah’s face and looked at the figure. “I’ll do it,” Cal whispered to Mairyah. He shifted into a human and slowly approached the guard from behind. He swiftly put a hand over his mouth, pulling him into the darkness of the forest and pushing a knife into his throat before any noises were made, catching the soldier’s body as it fell. A silent death.
Mariyah watched from the side as he did so, some guilt filling her as she watched the soldier die. “Thank you," she whispered. She forced away her sensitive emotions and moved into the tent as a lioness, Cal behind her as a human. Her heart collapsed as she saw a large group of captives tied up in the back of the tent. A torch in the center of the tent illuminated the hollow, starving faces of the slaves. She winced as she looked at the shape the prisoners were in. “Oh, my…” she whispered to herself in disbelief, her eyes wandering over their skeleton bodies.
She shifted back and quickly cut the ties of their hands, watching their expressions turn from fear to confusion and shock as they realized they were being rescued.
“Who are you?” a small, frail, woman asked.
“I’m Mariyah,” she responded in a soft voice, cutting the rope off of her hands. Her eyes ran over some of the others...there were a few whose eyes were slanted and shaped differently than her own. She admired their unique faces for a quick moment and continued cutting the ties.
A woman with a deep skin color Mariyah had never seen, looked up at her. “Mahadsanid,” she said.
Mariyah looked at her dark brown and almost charcoal skin, mesmerized at the beauty of her complexion. Seenparay had many shades of skin, but none this dark. She squinted as she heard the unfamiliar word, and just smiled and nodded her head as she cut her ties.
Cal stood by the entrance of the tent, keeping watch. She looked at him and walked up to him. “They’re in much worse condition than I had expected,” she whispered. “I don’t think they can fight with us. They have to do labor. You’d think they’d take better care of them.” He looked around listening to the bidding going off. “It’s almost time for the attack.”
“You're right. These people can’t fight.” Mariyah’s concerned eyes watched him as he began towards the exit.
“Then we should hope the rest found others capable of helping. If not, we need to be enough,” he said sternly.
Mariyah turned back around and walked over to the group of men and women who were hugging each other, free from their ties. She frowned at the appearance, shaking her head in sympathy at the state they were in. “We will get you all to a safe place,” she said to them before she went after Cal who was hidden in the darkness beside the tent opening.
“Fifty?! Come on men, you can do better than that!” a loud gruff voice was heard, coming outside from the platform where the auctions were taking place.
“Aye!” a man called out.
“Fifty to the man with the beard!”
Mariayh and Cal watched through the crack of the tent as the young boy who was on the platform was suddenly dragged by his bound hands, off the platform. His almond eyes looked frantically to the woman screaming in protest-his mother. She was held back by two soldiers, her arms and legs thrashing about as she tried to grab her son.
She was shouting in a language that Mariyah did not know. “Cal- some of these people are foreigners,” she said to him. That explained the unique faces and skin tones of the prisoners.
Phewt.
The man who was pulling the boy fell lifelessly to the ground, an arrow poking through his neck. The two men who were restraining the mother did the same, their backs pierced with arrows. She looked at the two dead bodies in confusion and sprinted to her son, embracing him in her arms.
Mariyah’s eyes shot to the source of the arrows and saw Kai in the trees, shooting soldiers instantly. “They’re starting now?!” Mariyah said to Cal, her face panicked. “These people can’t fight!”
Cal lowered his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Our group has to be enough. We have no other choice.” He pulled open the tent and quickly chucked a knife at a soldier in the distance.
Mariyah nodded her head. He was right. They would have to be enough.