"Come." The voice was cold, hard and fast. It was the moment in the morning when the dawn was just beginning to emerge, the sky just beginning to turn grey and the birds just beginning to wake up, not having started their morning serenade yet. The village was still asleep, the farmers and the geda just beginning to russle for the morning duties. Lexa was curled up with the other seconds, wrapped in her blanket, her hair a mess, eyes still slightly groggy. The voice reached out and shook her shoulder and Lexa shook off her sleep, awake and alert.
"Anya," she said, rising to a crouch.
"The Isagedakru. It's time to strike," Anya said. It was still dim, but Lexa could see her outline.
Lexa nodded. It had been weeks, but the geda never let harm go unrepaid. She was expecting this to happen sooner or later. She just wished she was better at riding.
Next to her the other seconds were beginning to rise. Anya nodded and Lexa grabbed her things and threw on her borrowed riding pants and boots, her knife and her most precious archery set resting on the side of the tent. She followed Anya outside.
The geda rushed about, gathering supplies. Lexa followed Anya in a straight shot over to the stables, and together they got their horses from their stables and roped them to the sides of the stable. The other geda were there gathering the horses, the stable hands were calm but their motions were quick and efficient, the horses themselves were antsy to move, to run, to fight.
Anya helped Lexa saddle up the brown mare, and then saddled her own horse. The two of them followed the stream of other geda, horses prancing, nickering and snorting. The village now was awake as Anya clasped her hands together and helped Lexa into the saddle. This was it. Lexa had only just ridden for the first time yesterday but somehow she wasn't afraid. Her knees gripped the mare tightly, her heels down, her back straight. She rested her hands on the saddle - they would be shooting in a bit, for now they would stand there.
Anya mounted her own stallion and they were off, cantering through the trees. At first Lexa was terrified, gripping the saddle with her hands and closing her eyes. But as they moved through the trees, it started to make more sense. Lexa didn't have to steer too much, her mare was following the other horses, but she felt her hips move as the horse's legs moved. She no longer needed to hold on as much, and she took her bow off her shoulder. Anya looked back at Lexa, and tossed her a jar. Lexa snatched it out of the air. Inside was a mixture of ash and water and mud - warpaint. Anya had already painted her eyes black. Lexa reached into the jar and grabbed a fingerful, smearing it across her eyes and nose, letting it drip down like she had before.
High above the horses the tregedakru moved through the trees, swinging and running. Around her the other geda were screaming and yelling, urging their horses onward even faster, holding up their swords, knives, axes, bows, maces and spears, waving their hands. Far above one of the geda blew a hunting horn and the bellow echoed through the woods. The isagedakru might have been surprised possibly, but no longer.
And then there was fighting. Enemies appeared out of nowhere, some of them on horses but most on foot. Lexa had to give it to them - they might have a disadvantage but they were giving it their all. One after another she drew arrows and shot them into the trees. Most of them missed her targets, and the of the ones that did hit their target, most were held up in the armor of the isagedakru. They ran through the trees with spears, attempting to stab the horses' chests. The tregedakru had hung metal plates attached to the saddles to protect the horses, or wrapped blankets to protect them, but Lexa heard among the noise the screams of the animals that were injured or killed.
The foot tregedakru arrived a few minutes later and the battle renewed with a fury. This wasn't just about revenge. It was about punishment. The isagedakru and picked one of the most powerful clans to turn against, and the tregedakru weren't about to let them forget it.
On the surged, stabbing, swiping, shooting, screaming. Suddenly Lexa saw, once again, an isagedakru lunging for her first. Time slowed down as she drew an arrow, her last, from her quiver and nocked it. She breathed out for just a moment, aiming, and released the string. A small movement, just a straightening of the fingers, and yet it had deadly consequences. The arrow flew straight and fast, piercing the neck of the isagedakru, who fell with a scream. Anya looked up for just a moment, her eyes meeting Lexa's, before turning and swiping with her sword at the next isagedakru.
And just for that moment it seemed like the tregedakru was winning - the isagedakru were retreating back to their village, the tregedakru cheering and yelling - but it was not to last. A new enemy entered the fray. At first Lexa thought these warriors were more isagedakru, reinforcements joining the battle fresh and ready, but these warriors were different. She watched in horror as they appeared in hoards, large, muscled, bloodthirsty. She watched stock still as a group of the warriors surrounded a horse and pull down the geda screaming. The warriors tore him apart, and she realized with a scream that could wake the dead that the geda they had captured was Milo.
Anya appeared at her shoulder. In the chaos and the noise Lexa hadn't heard the retreat horn. The tregedakru disappeared into the trees like they had first appeared. Lexa rode numb. Costia was safe in the trees, thank the earth, but Milo. How could they have captured Milo? What was Costia going to do?
"Don't look," Anya said, her words somehow making it into Lexa's ears. They rode through the trees, Lexa not hearing anything, just staring into the trees numbly. She didn't register when they had made it back to camp, and she blindly dismounted, falling on the ground to her knees, staring at the ground. The grass began to spin around her, and she fell, twisting.
Her world was disrupted by a rough pull of the shoulders. Lexa didn't want to come back. She wanted to stay in the world of confusion. It was easy to understand, she didn't have to think. But this rough touch was shaking her, pulling her back.
The spell was broken when Anya slapped her cheek. Lexa breathed in, gasping. "Get ahold of yourself!" Anya snapped. Lexa looked up.
"You cannot do that," Anya said, and Lexa understood finally that she was angry. More angry that she had ever been. "You can't freeze like that. Do you understand me?"
Lexa didn't know if she did. Anya's words were harsh and rough, and Lexa wanted to return to her spinning, soft world. The world that made sense, where she didn't have to feel anything at all.
"You can't freeze in battle. Even if we've won. You froze when...they took Milo. Even if you don't know who they are. You always have to move. You have to pay attention. You have to listen for the calls. To know when to advance, to retreat. It's too dangerous when you freeze," Anya said, and then it clicked. Anya had been scared. Far more scared that she would like to admit. Lexa emerged from the soft place. Her first's shoulders were tense, her fists balled up. Lexa looked into Anya's eyes, and though they were under a frown, there were tears in her eyes.
"When you freeze like that..." Anya started to say, but trailed off. Lexa knew. She ran forward and Anya opened her arms and enveloped Lexa in them. The sekon hugged the geda for perhaps a few seconds or maybe an hour, or perhaps they stood there for an entire day like that, Lexa's face buried in Anya's shoulder, Anya's forehead resting on the top of Lexa's head, her hand stroking Lexa's hair, messily braided like usual.
Lexa nodded. "I know. I'm sorry, geda."
Anya pulled away and slapped her again. "Always listen to me. Now, let's clean up our horses. And then we can be done for today. No more training after that. I'll need to talk to the heda, along with the other geda."
"Do you want me to come?" Lexa asked.
"Perhaps. But when you're done with your horse, I want you to talk to Costia. I think she is the one who would appreciate your company most at this moment," Anya said. Lexa nodded, and together the geda and the sekon unsaddled their horses and brushed out their sweaty hair, matted with blood and dirt, washing them out with rags soaked in cool water.
Lexa murmured to the mare, who was shaking, just like the sekon. "Shhhhh, girl," Lexa said. She began to sing to the mare, just a made up little song. "Seehanselaya," Lexa sang. "Neerenayasanasaya."
The horse bobbed her head as Lexa sang. "Hm. Maybe that should be your name," Lexa said. "Renaya. Maybe I'll call you Naya for short." The mare seemed to like it, although Lexa wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not after the battle. Every little movement seemed slightly exaggerated.
She put Naya in the stables, locking the door and making sure the blue tag was on it's spot. She looked over at Anya, who was still brushing Levi. Lexa guessed Anya would be brushing Levi for a very long time. Anya looked up and nodded that Lexa could leave.
Lexa wandered through the village, half numb and half focused, one thing on her mind - Costia. She searched high and low, in the seconds' tent, by the log circle where they ate dinner, by the food, in the stables, at the edge of camp. She looked up at the sun, now approaching later in the sky. The battle had made the day fly by. And then Lexa knew where Costia was. She went over and grabbed a canteen of water and a few of the ashcakes they had made in the fire, putting them in a bag and slinging it over her shoulder. As she ran she took off her riding pants and her boots she her toes were on the ground. Milo moved to the back of her head as she started running, flying through the woods, and was replaced by Costia.
She got to the cliff, the same cliff that one, amazing, brilliant, beautiful night she and Costia had looked into the stars. It was the same view, only this time the late afternoon sun was blazing in the sky, creating long shadows and making it so Lexa couldn't quite see.
And there she was, sitting by the tree. Lexa almost couldn't see the sun was so bright, but she walked forward. Costia heard her through the trees and turned around, their eyes meeting. She was silhouetted by the sky, the sun creating a halo around her head. Her eyes were close to blank, too close, but the moment they saw Lexa all of the feeling flooded back into them and Lexa ran forward and she was crying too, the only place she wanted to be right now was Costia's arms.
The two girls collided into one another, equal forces meeting and cancelling. Costia didn't say anything, she didn't need to. They wrapped around each other, arms pulling bodies closer so that you couldn't tell who was who anymore, it was just one of them. And Costia was crying and Lexa was crying and their tears blended together into one storm, and the world was rocking around them but they held steady as the sun moved forward in the sky.
