Mariyah's heart was in her throat. Her foot stood just at the edge of the tent, her body waiting for her to push itself forward. It's time. She nodded her head after some hesitation and told the slaves to wait for her here.
She shifted into a lioness as she stepped outside into the fit of panicked slavers, Cal quickly moving beside her in his human form. Her eyes locked onto the group of buyers who were still gathered around, trying to figure out what was going on. She prowled towards the men who all turned their attention towards her, their faces twisting in fear. She growled loudly, which soon led to them scrambling away in fear with shrieks spreading all throughout the scattering crowd.
Wasting no time, the buyers left the camp behind them, leaving the soldiers to deal with Mariyah’s group. Behind her, her people emerged from the raided tents in their animal shifts and joined the commotion.
“The beasts! They’re here!” one soldier shouted as backed up from the auction area.
Another called out right after, “Shifters are attacking!”
All of the soldiers began shouting as the fighting ensued.
“Kill them- KILL THEM ALL!” a soldier shouted as he charged at the group with a sword, the group of soldiers behind him. “Don’t back down, men!”
Sylve, as a serpent, quickly moved forward and slipped up a soldier’s body, tightening her arm around his sword before he could swing, then slithering up his neck and tightening her grip. “You should've backed down," she hissed into her ear.
“Now!!” Mariyah shouted, running forward at the soldiers with Cal who was now a bear.
The others all soon joined in combat, each of the Shifters using their own animal form to their advantage. Soldiers swung their swords, but Mariyah's people dodged them and attacked in ways that these men were not trained to counter. Her paws swiped at any man who stepped towards her, and she took each one down without much fight. She did her best not to hurt them beyond what was necessary, but it was difficult to be so careful in the form of a lion...
After taking down another guard, the girl looked to her left where a small group of soldiers charged at Gil alone, barely giving him time to react. Gil! Her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she shifted into a human and quickly chucked two knives at them from her belt, piercing two men in the chest. She stood there for a split second as she watched her knives land into them, her stomach dropping at the sight. But she tore her eyes away from the scene and looked at Gil. “Are you okay?!”
He nodded and thanked her before he took off as a wolf and continued their attack.
Mariyah then took off in the opposite direction, hearing Sylve’s screams. No, no, no! Mariyah’s eyes locked her attention onto a soldier on top of her friend, pressing his knife against her cheek as her snake body struggled against him, shifting back and forth to squirm away to no avail. Mariyah screamed out as she grasped the man by the back of his collar and tore him off of her and into her dagger before throwing him to the ground.
She looked over to Sylve who scrambled to get up and thanked her. Mariyah nodded in return and looked around at the others and their battles. They seemed to be doing fine, but the bodies of dead soldiers were far too many to not bother her.
She looked down at the corpses around her, but forced herself to pull her attention away as the oncoming spear of another soldier crossed her peripheral vision. She ducked down instantly and shifted into a panther, tackling the source to the ground and leaving him with a bleeding neck.
She shuddered as she looked down at the body that now struggled to breathe. The body that was choking and gurgling on its own blood. She forced her head away to stop watching the suffering, but was met with the sight of David leaping onto a soldier and biting him in the neck, blood dripping from his lips now. Behind him, Jorstul tackled men too, mauling them as he did. She shivered at the sight and soon felt herself growing overwhelmed.
Tears tugged at her eyes as the death and pain around her consumed her. Please surrender. “Please stop!” She spun in a circle as violence ensued around her. “Stop this!” Her head flinched to the side at the sight of Sare in her shift as a hyena being approached by a group of soldiers in the distance.
Mariyah shifted into a cheetah and charged over to her, skidding to a stop in front of Sare. She shifted into a human, pulling out her knife. She looked around and clutched her knife tightly in her hands. “Stop!” she shouted loudly. She swung her knife around to keep the oncoming men back as best as she could. “I don’t want to kill you!” she shouted over to them, backing up as they continued to charge forward. Sare snarled beside her, arching her back.
But they would not turn away. And in a desperation to push away any sympathy, she reminded herself of the broken faces of the men and women in the tent. She grunted as she shifted into a lion and sprinted towards them.
The sight of a lioness bounding at them must have said more than her pleas for their surrender because instantly, the small group of men charging towards her stopped in their tracks. She saw the terror smeared all over their faces and slid to a stop as they quickly backed up in fear. They all stayed frozen, their eyes locked on Mariyah as if they were waiting on her next move, deciding whether to flee or face her.
But she remained still, her narrowed lion eyes piercing into their wide and fearful ones. “Why must you do this?” she asked in a low voice.
They remained silent, clutching their swords tightly in their hands.
“I asked you why? Why do you think it is okay to do this?! Answer me!” she shouted with a voice that trembled in anger as horrific images flooded her mind. She could only imagine what they did to these people. Finally being able to speak with her people’s persecutors satisfied something in her heart that had been empty all her life. And she awaited their answer.
“King’s orders,” one finally barked back.
“You lose your morals to a king?” she asked quietly. “A man with a special title?”
One of them was a young boy with golden blonde hair. He looked around her age, maybe even younger. He shouldn’t have been there. Please don’t make me kill you. She looked back into his eyes with her begging ones. “Leave now. You all will die if you fight back, I promise. And do not think we are the monsters. You all are the ones putting these prisoners through suffering, because you believe a false man’s lies!”
They remained silent as more fighting ensued behind her. Her sharp eyes stared into the souls of each one of them.
“You’re all beasts,” one of them said back.
“We are not the ones taking the innocent captive. We are not the ones throwing babies into rivers because it’s doing them a favor. We are not the ones who kill innocents for the smallest excuses...that is you all,” she said coldly. “Tell me who the beasts are?”
But they remained silent. And it truly began to dawn on her if it hadn’t enough already. They truly don’t see that we are humans. They really do think we are monsters..And that thought broke her heart.
The blonde boy stepped back and dropped his sword. He looked at Mariyah with a heavy look of horror before he took off into the thick woods on his own. The other remaining three shared glances with each other and two of them took off while the last one stood firm and let out a loud shout as he ran at Mariyah with his sword in hand.
Her heart fell as she shifted into a human and swiftly dodged his sword, plunging her dagger into his stomach. Though she felt such a rage in her heart at the thought of those poor slaves, her compassionate heart showed itself once more as she saw the bloodshed that was taking place around her and here in her arms. “I’m sorry,” she whispered in his ear as she held him against her dagger. “You really do not know,” she said softly as she gently lowered his bleeding body onto the ground.
The soldier's frantic eyes searched hers as he lay on his back, searching for words to say that would never come out. He stuttered as his eyes begged hers for something that he could not find. She watched as his soul left his body and he took his last breath.
With tears in the young girl’s eyes she brushed her fingers over his eyelids, closing them. She didn’t know what she’d expected when trying to talk to them. The disappointment in her heart when none of them even tried to understand her told her that she must have been expecting them to listen deep down. And she began to feel foolish for thinking such things.
It was now very clear to her that it would take a lot more than conversation to change the lies a man has engraved into their heads. And she realized that undoing such hate may be more difficult than she thought. Undoing hate without wiping out the opposing group, that is. Sending a group out to slaughter all their oppressors wasn't a bad idea to most. But what good is that? Killing those who are victims to Soliath’s lies is not the peace she has dreamed of, and it would not be the peace she fights for.
She knew there was a way to undo it all without killing all of those who believe him, and she knew she must find it. She would fight until she did. For she lived alongside those people, and she knew that their hearts were not fully gone, not fully evil. Their minds have only been invaded with lies. And she wishes to save them from this man’s wickedness, while still saving her own kind. But finding out how to do such things without simply reversing the roles, she realized, may be a challenge in itself.
She stood up and turned around to look at what was left. Dead bodies of soldiers covered the ground, and all of her Shifter friends were covered in blood. But none of them were killed. She smiled to herself as she breathed out a large breath of relief.
Mariyah wasn't sure if she truly realized how powerful her kind was until now, as she looked around at the aftermath. Those men stood no chance. She turned to see a few straggling soldiers taking off from the camp to run away in fear.
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Kindrick and the others were beginning to shoot arrows at them, but Mariyah quickly ran over to them, holding her hands out. “No, no, no! If they are leaving, let them leave!! We only kill to protect!” Her eyes darted over every one of her friend's faces. They all shared the same look.
“Let them go?” Kai cocked a brow.
Mariyah nodded. “They’re fleeing, let it be.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but Marcy and some others interrupted, joining to celebrate their success. “Look at us!” she shouted.
A look of surprise mixed with a look of fulfillment and purpose filled everyone’s eyes which somewhat inspired Mariyah yet scared her. She looked over at Lius who was watching her with a small smile. She quickly moved to see him.
“You did it,” he said with a grin, nodding at the group in front of him.
She exhaled loudly. “We did. And no one was lost.” She lifted her chin proudly with a laugh.
A woman interrupted her. “Thank you, dear- we thought we were dead,” she said quietly, clutching her hands together in thanks.
“Of course,” Mariyah smiled. “I’m happy we weren’t too late.”
She frowned and bit the inside of her cheek as she looked at their appearances. “My group has someone who can help you with any injuries. I’m so sorry you had this happen...” Her voice trailed off as the woman departed, and she continued to observe the shape the other rescued were in.
Lius reached out and thumbed his finger against the back of her hand. “It’s over now.”
She nodded her head silently and returned the smile, looking at his sweet eyes. “You didn’t get hurt?” She scanned his unharmed body.
“Never.”
She smiled with an eye roll and turned to look at her people who were celebrating and the remaining group of those rescued who were still comprehending what happened. She returned her attention to Lius. “I’ll be right back,” she said, before departing from him and taking a few steps away from the commotion.
She looked down at her once pale blue dress that was now splattered with red and dirt, and torn in too many areas for redemption. The blood of those she killed stained her clothing.
She remembered Kai shooting people in the back, and the others tearing apart bodies. She remained silent and her hands trembled slightly beside her. This is what happens, Mariyah. This is what it means to fight.
I must grow less sensitive…
She snapped back to reality as she felt a nudge from someone beside her.
“Are you okay?” Cal’s eyes were on her sharp and close, studying her face.
Her expression relaxed as she looked at him, and she nodded her head. “I’m okay. That was just…” She shook her head. “I’m okay.”
He nodded. “Talk to me about it. But we should get these people back quickly. In case reinforcements come.”
She nodded her head. “I’d imagine the prisoners are confused.” She sighed.
Cal nodded his head towards the platform where auctions were once taking place.
“What?”
“You could tell them what’s going on.”
She sighed with a nervous smile. “Oh, more speaking…”
He smirked and nodded his head again. “Don’t get so excited.” He tilted his head. “It’d be good for them to hear something from you. This was your plan after all.”
“No, I know, I know. Just not my favorite thing…You don’t wanna volunteer?” she asked with a sarcastically eager face before she puffed out at his smile and shakily forced herself to walk up the platform.
Her stomach filled with nerves as she looked nervously at Cal who stood below her and then to the large group in front of her all talking amongst themselves. Broken faces of men and women stared at her with eagerness but some fear.
She took a deep breath. “I-I’m sorry that this happened to you,” she said quietly to the loud and unfocused crowd.
Cal pounded on the platform a few times to get everyone’s attention.
She continued once it quieted down, silently pushing herself to be louder, “I’m sorry this has happened. My name is Mariyah. We’re a group from a nearby shelter. We found two of your villagers and discovered your kidnapping. We’ve…” She looked at Lius in the crowd for a quick moment. “Raided a gladiator arena, and when we heard you’d been taken, we decided to come help you too. But you are all free now. Of course, you can return to your village, but I also offer you shelter at our camp,” she explained. “It will be safer for you all. We can make you homes around our base, and hopefully our numbers will provide some protection.” Her eyes met with some of the young faces who looked at her with wide eyes. “Soliath will not have your lives.”
And the faces of the crowd gleamed. Their screams and shouts filled the air, contrasting their weak and dying bodies as they embraced one another. Marcy and the other Domers listened as well before whooping and hollering along with the prisoners. They each had their taste of saving lives, of saving their people. And it looked like they wanted more.
So did she.
-
It was around midnight when Mariyah was woken up from her short sleep that night. Loud music was heard from the center of the Dome. Mariyah lifted a brow and departed from her cabin to the area under the Dome free of structures. A wide grin spread across her cheeks as she saw what they had done.
A large bonfire had been lit, and Kindrick and Pyle were playing loudly a song that she had never heard. People began to join in the thumping of feet and clapping of hands. The dancing soon grew to be contagious and all who were out of their cabins were dancing along in celebration of their win.
Her smile slowly faded as she watched the enjoyment of their success. And once again...the small feeling of guilt poked at her heart.
“Why’re you looking so down, Mariyah?” Lius called out from the fallen tree he was sitting on, motioning her over. His face lit up from the flames of the fire, and Mariyah felt that it should be impossible for him to look as handsome as he did, for her sake alone.
She turned her head and smiled. “I didn’t see you there.” She sat beside him and watched the fire. “I’m not down,” she answered, clapping her hands to the beat.
“You looked so glum just a moment ago,” he challenged.
“Watching me?” She laughed.
His lips tugged up a bit. “Maybe.”
She slowly stopped clapping, staying quiet for a moment before turning to him. “You won’t think I’ve gone mad, will you?”
He smiled, giving her butterflies, and shook his head.
“I keep having this small feeling of guilt inside me. As if I just ruined more lives by killing those men.”
Lius stayed silent, wanting her to continue.
She inhaled deeply and gathered her thoughts before continuing. “I don’t understand why my heart feels sorrow for them? They brutalized those prisoners...They’re horrible people, but still...their families now have to endure the pain of their loved one being killed by animals. And half of those men don’t truly even realize what they’re doing. They think they’re punishing evil monsters. They don’t know we have our own minds. That we make our own decisions- that we aren’t inherently aggressive and dangerous...They don’t know, Lius. And that makes me wonder. Because if Soliath never spoke these lies, those men might be leading good lives.”
She shook her head. “I feel so weak thinking this way...So sensitive and childish. Why am I questioning killing an evil soldier? Why do I care? It’s justice, it’s what they deserve, right?” She groaned to herself. “I don’t know what I’m saying...I think I just wish I could save a life without taking one in return.”
“And you said nothing’s wrong.” He leaned back slightly, in thought. “You consider yourself weak?”
She nodded her head. “I can’t kill a soldier without feeling bad. Without feeling sorry for the life I’m taking or for the family I’m causing to mourn. I'd like to be able to save someone without worrying about those who I am saving them from.”
“Do you really consider that as weak, Mariyah?”
She grew silent and thought to herself.
He shrugged a bit. “I can’t say I share the same problem you have. But I can say that if compassion made you weak, you wouldn’t be rebelling against the king, that’s for sure.” He gave her a light laugh. “Sounds like everyone stepped up after you. You made the first move. These are your ideas, your orders, that they are following. A person who can make the choice to do what you’ve done is not weak in my book. Whoever told you that having a kind heart is weak, is wrong.”
He continued, watching her carefully, “I’d argue that the fact that you feel towards those who hate us takes a strong kindness, not a weak one. I don’t really understand all of your words, or your thoughts as much as I’d like to-” He tapped her forehead gently with a soft smile on his face that sent more butterflies up her stomach. “But I can tell you that it’s not weak to not enjoy taking lives, and it isn’t weak to wish there was a peaceful way. And don’t ever let anyone tell you it is. Or send them to me.” He gave her a tilted smirk.
She looked at him with appreciative eyes as her heart slowly lifted. “Thank you... I suppose I just thought it might be easier for me to kill.” She sighed a light breath. “It seems easy for me to save, but not to kill. Unfortunately, the two seem to hold hands.” She gave Lius a small, sad smile. “But I will deal with it." Nothing will take away how it felt to rescue those people.
He gave her a smile in return. “Then come celebrate with me. We’re not celebrating the deaths of soldiers. I think it’s more that we no longer feel like we’re being crushed by Soliath’s boot.” He laughed. “Well maybe in some sense since we’re still living in the forest and banished but, you know what I mean. And we’re more than happy for this feeling.” His eyes met with her sad ones, and he sympathized with her sensitive soul. “Hope. That’s why they’re happy. It’s a foreign feeling to those who have grown up in this persecution. And you should join them. It’s like you forget you’re the reason for it?”
Her welled up eyes blinked slowly as she listened. “Thank you, Lius.” She smiled at him sweetly.
His teasing smirk returned to him, with that dangerous look in his eyes. “So you’re gonna dance, hm?”
“Hmm…should I?” She giggled and watched as Rose ran over to Cal around the bonfire.
“Cal, come on!” Rose shouted to him.
He chuckled and shook his head in protest, but she wouldn’t let him say no. Mariyah nibbled on the inside of her cheek as she watched Rose drag him into the dancing circle. She smiled. Cal looked happy.
For a moment, it reminded her of the night with Olly and the villagers. Sadness filled her heart for a brief second as she sat there beside Lius, watching the others.
“You should. There’s no way you’re not going to celebrate after taking on an entire camp.” Lius stood up and held out his hand.
Mariyah’s heart jumped as she looked up at Lius’ hand and then up to his blue eyes. “Oh-with you?” she asked.
“What? I can’t ask a pretty girl to dance?”
She looked at Lius with a nervous smile and gave him her hand slowly.
“Come here,” he said, suddenly pulling her up to him and bringing her closer to everyone else who was dancing. “Hold onto me. I’ll show you how it’s done,” he said to her with a dangerous smirk. He put his arm on her hip and held her hand while she held onto his shoulder and his hand.
“Oh no…” she mumbled to herself through her wide grin as she began to dance with him. She couldn’t hide her bubbling laughter as he spun her around and skipped along with her. Her brown eyes danced with his blue ones as her heart filled with a warm feeling. And she was laughing, harder than she had in a while.
“There you go Mariyah!” Rose shouted as Cal pulled her along, dancing with her.
Mariyah giggled and looked into Lius’s eyes as the scenery around her grew blurry from their spins. “I can’t keep up!” she shouted, laughing. And her end to the night was much brighter thanks to him.