Authors Note: I own nothing except for the character OC Irina.
Fates Intertwined Prologue
Hudson Valley, New York
1781
Destruction, chaos, death…the once peaceful Hudson Valley had been transformed into a battle ground coated red in blood.
The firing of canons and the thunder of muskets from both the Americans along with the British roared through the air. There was nowhere to run nowhere to hide no matter which way you turned. Both sides were refusing to give way not allowing the enemy to advance another step bringing down any within their path.
The Americans were fighting for their lives behind the protection of a short stone wall. As soon as they would strike one British soldier down in death another would instantly kill one of their own. But among the numbers of the American soldiers there were two in particular who absolutely refused to go down. Two soldiers who had a particular mission to finish by order of General George Washington.
Taking shelter behind a thin tree pistol in hand Ichabod Crane fired his gun as quickly as he did so pulled back to re-load before he managed to get himself shot. Beside him his partner Irina Brunt was doing the same.
Re-loading her own pistol, teeth gritted, Irina said "The lobster backs are getting way too close. Where are those reinforcements we were promised? They all should've arrived by now!"
"Other British soldiers must've delayed them," said Ichabod, ducking from a number of bullets aimed in their direction. "It's the only logical explanation I can think of."
"Well they'd better get here soon or we'll all end up dead," shouted Irina, taking aim at the wall. Firing her pistol the shot was true hitting an enemy soldier just as he was trying to climb over the wall getting him right in the back.
Ichabod then went to fire one of his own shots when an intervention was put in his way. As his eyes scanned the enemy lines they found him. Aiming their muskets British soldiers fired in their general direction. One of the bullets slammed against the tree the two were taking shelter behind leaving Ichabod unable to initiate his for fear of getting hit himself. The British were moving in fast and Ichabod knew it too.
Irina went to fire another, but just like Ichabod was stopped by the British, but unlike him she lost her pistol from a well-aimed bullet caused it to fly from her very hand. Gripping her wrist, Irina cursed "Damn! That was my Father's pistol!"
"This is getting us nowhere," said Ichabod, gazing in every angle for anymore enemy fire aimed at the two of them. "Irina you must flee it is much too dangerous for you to be here any longer. It makes no sense for both of us to die here in flames."
"Absolutely not," shouted Irina, "I won't leave you here to face this alone. General Washington gave us our orders and I intent to fulfill them to the very last end. Besides you and I are far too stubborn to die here!"
Ichabod knew Irina was right their orders were given for the same mission and for even one to abandon it would be desertion from the army a capital crime. Both Ichabod and Irina were deep followers of the law. Ichabod smiled nodding in agreement though he still seemed skeptical of the situation they found themselves in.
Ichabod now reminded of their mission spotted all of the dead British soldiers already lying on the ground on their side of the wall. Keeping low, having his pistol ready in hand, he ran over to the nearest one, saying "Check the bodies one of these may already carry the brand we're looking for!"
Nodding, demeanor serious, Irina drew her saber running over to the nearest corpse where she was while at the same time remaining close to her partner. Neither one wished to somehow be separated from the other in a dire situation such as this. As quickly as they could they checked the hands of as many British soldiers as possible for the brand, but none of the chosen subjects had any sign of one. They were getting uneasy if their target wasn't among the dead then that meant…
"Crane," shouted a fellow American soldier, pointing somewhere behind the two.
Spinning on the spot looking back toward the dividing wall dread and fear filled their hearts for the sight which taken their eyes was enough to fill anyone with fright. Riding from the enemy lines on a powerful white cavalry horse was a huge soldier, a black metal mask covering his face leaving only the eyes visible, holding a broad battle axe…and he was heading straight for them. Waves of bravado coming off his form the Horseman jumped over the wall meeting no resistance in his path as he came as those nearby scattered out of the way. It was time to put a stop to that.
As the Horseman was coming ever closer Crane and Irina knew his intent was to kill. They knew they couldn't allow the Hessian to get close if they did they knew they'd be done for. Ichabod was the one to take action first to do something about it. Among the two of them Ichabod still had a loaded pistol at the ready. The Horseman was now only feet away.
"Ichabod, do it now," shouted Irina, not knowing why Crane was holding back.
Irina's words snapped him out of the daze he'd gotten in on seeing the Horseman freezing him. The bullet fortunately hit the Horseman on the right shoulder with the impact knocking the Horsemen off of his charger. The Horseman rolled on the ground ending up spread eagled on his back. Relieved expressions appeared on their faces because for a second it looked like the Hessian was dead…but that didn't last long.
No sooner had the Horseman fallen that her proved Ichabod and Irina wrong. Suddenly the Horseman rose into a sitting position apparently quite unharmed with no sign of being wounded. Ichabod and Irina looked on in horror and disbelief as the Horseman rose up to his feet battle axe in hand continuing his approach. Neither really knew what to do having not come up against anything like this before. Thinking fast Ichabod grabbed a nearby musket aiming it at the Horseman and was about to take another shot, but the Horseman wasn't about to get hit with another one. Swinging the battle axe forward the Horseman pinned the barrel of the musket to the ground leaving Ichabod unable to complete his attack. Coming in from the side Irina brought down her saber to kill the Horseman while he was distracted by Ichabod. Unfortunately, the Horseman was far more aware of his surroundings than she first thought.
Halfway the Horseman's hand snapped to grab the blade of her saber while having the axe remain firmly in place on Ichabod's musket. The strength behind his hands was frightening no matter how hard Irina tried to pull her sword from the Horseman's grip it wouldn't budge not one inch. The blade dug into his skin yet no blood seeped from the wound.
Suddenly Ichabod spotted something at the corner of his eye gasping in shock when he saw what it was the same as Irina. There on the back of the Horseman's hand was the mark they were searching for in the shape of a bow on the right appendage. Recognition surged through them both at what this very discovery meant this Hessian was the man they'd been searching so thoroughly for.
Eyes wide Ichabod looked up from the brand meeting the menacing hostile gaze of the Horseman's. To Ichabod it was like looking into a pit of everlasting darkness empty of all light.
With an amount of physical strength almost no normal human could possess the Horseman flung Irina a great distance causing her to end up dropping her saber after she lost her grip. Hitting against the solid bark of a tree Irina screamed as she snapped her hand to her shoulder a large wave of pain moving from that very spot. A second later Irina ducked bringing up her arms to protectively cover her head as a cannon fired near her position spraying dirt over her body.
With Irina out of the Horseman's way he now focused completely on destroying Ichabod. Distracted by Irina Crane gave the Horseman an opening he needed to strike. Twirling the battle axe with agile flexible fingers the Horseman raised it over his head taking it in a powerful double handed grip. Ichabod was no way in a position to dodge in time. He'd be dead in a matter of seconds once the blade of the axe pierced his chest. His heart was pounding with unconditional fear as he realized the Horseman was going to take his life right then and there. Ichabod wasn't the only one who came to the exact same conclusion.
Irina recovered fast from the near miss from the enemies' cannons locating her partner instantly afterwards. Horrified she watched as the Horseman made way to murder her dear friend.
"Oh no," she breathed, "Ichabod!" Stumbling to her feet Irina ran as fast as her legs could carry her in his direction almost forgetting there was a war going on around her as her mind was only focused on saving her friend. She didn't know what she was going to do she just knew she had to reach him in time.
Unknowingly so focused were they on each other neither the Horseman or Ichabod spotted the frantic Irina rapidly approaching until the deed was already done. As the Horseman brought down his battle axe Ichabod felt himself being shoved backwards out of the way of harm.
"No," screamed Irina, shoving Ichabod behind her, arms spread wide to protect him. No sooner had she done so that a stabbing pain suddenly filled her chest. She hadn't yet realized what had happened. Slowly looking down her eyes was met with an axe in her chest blood staining around the blade, on the shirts fabric, and coat.
Shock and disbelief reigned across her face as she brought her head back up meeting the cold gaze of the Horseman as he tugged the head of the battle axe from her chest. As soon as he did the full effects of the Horseman's attack hit her in full force pain drenching absolutely her entire body. Coughing blood sprayed from her mouth with more dripping from the corners of the lips. Her eyes lost their life as the same occurred with the rest. Legs loss of strength Irina collapsed dead already onto the blood drenched earth.
"No, Irina," screamed Ichabod, eyes wide with horror. Immediately he began to kneel arms outstretched forward to pick her up, but he never made it.
Not even halfway there Ichabod saw the Horseman coming after him again from above. As the battle axe came Ichabod leapt backwards, but, unfortunately it was neither quick nor far enough. This time around the Horseman succeeded in landing a true fatal blow. The blade of the axe sliced through the fabric of his overcoat piercing deep into the chest drawing blood. The pain was great, but the shock of the blow pushed it back along with the rush of adrenaline. He had only seconds remaining before losing his conscious state of mind and soon after his life. There was nothing within his power to stop either of those things as he knew all too well the attack of the Horseman had decided his fate, but there was one thing he could do. If he and Irina were destined to die here he was going to make sure the Horseman was dragged along with them. Ichabod dropped to his knees for his legs had lost all feeling and strength. The rest of his body would follow in moments, but not before he had the chance to do one final act. The mission he and Irina had been sent out to do needed to be completed.
Taking advantage of Ichabod's vulnerability the Horseman moved in to finish the job only instead of killing Ichabod…
Irina's fallen saber had been inches away from Ichabod's fingers. He'd known it was there since he saw it drop when the Horseman had thrown her. When the Horseman got within range Ichabod finally fulfilled his orders. He killed the Horseman…by decapitation. The sword had done its job.
His head severed the Horseman was dead instantly. Like Ichabod the rest of the Horseman's body collapsed on its knees the same position as Ichabod with nothing to hold him. The deed done Ichabod lost the remainder of his strength in that one final act of defiance. His vision blurred out leaving him. Quick to locate Irina's corpse with his eyes he reached out a hand towards her.
"Irina," coughed Ichabod, devastated, "I'm so sorry." His body couldn't take it any longer. Completely numb his vision going dark he fell forward not even feeling his severely damaged body hit the earth. Before his consciousness left him his thoughts were of his wife and how he'd broken his promise to return to her that very night. "Katrina…" He then knew no more as death took its hold.
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