The Pain of The Soldier and The Raven

by The Mysterious Masked Hunter

Short one-shot. Takes place after the Araluens ambush the Scotti in One Raven Pass. The soldier is alone and mourning his comrades, all life in the pass is gone. Except for the single raven, his shriek reflecting the soldier's hurt.

Disclaimer- I do not own any of this. All rights go to John Flanagan.

The young soldier wound his way around the rocks and bodies of the mountain pass. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. A large band of Scotti had been on their way to raid a few Araluen farms on the border, they had made their way through the mountain pass it was all going well- until the Araluen soldiers had made their own attack. The Scotti was marching in a tight group through the pass when suddenly the Araluens popped up from behind the rocks high on the ledges above. They were suddenly trying to defend themselves from a rain of arrows, spears and rocks.

The soldier had watched horrified as his friends dropped all around him. Some moaning in pain, others ominously still. Then as they were cowering behind rocks and shields the Araluen cavalry rode around the corner to finish them off, and that was exactly what had happened. The Scotti themselves had only managed to take a few Araluens with them.

Now the soldier stood there alone. The only one to survive. He piled any rocks he could lift in a pile by the wall of the pass as a memorial to the fallen soldiers. He then took out his knife and carved the story of the battle into the wall. Normally he would cringe at the sound of the knife grating against the rock, now he could barely hear it through the buzzing in his ears. He looked at the carvings once then turned to bury the bodies of his dead comrades. There was no shovel for him, so he dug, with a somewhat spoon shaped rock, one big, but shallow grave at the bottom of the memorial and laid his friends inside. He then covered it again with rocks and dirt. It took him a few hours but he was determined to finish what he started.

As he finished everything was silent. There was no rustling of small animals, no cawing of birds above him. Not even the sound of wind whispering in his ears as though everything was mourning the dead soldiers.

As the soldier turned to leave he heard a croaking, yet still piercing cry that sent shivers down his back. He looked around and saw one single raven fly from a small bush. It shrieked it's piercing cry again.

"Yes," murmured the soldier, "This place shall be called One Raven Pass from now on." He declared, half to himself.

"In honour of the single raven who stayed to mourn our loss."

A/N How was it? Please review and tell me what you think!