Kane

Gray's death didn't surprise him.

He had always been a hard person to get along with, but the manner of his death was what shocked him.

Kane had never known Raven to be capable of killing a fellow survivor.

It didn't matter though, the deed had been done, Gray's tumultuous reign was over. The question was what came after.

Kane's thoughts turned to Wren, Gray's second in command. She would be a better supreme leader than Gray had been, Kane knew this.

Would she be able to hold off their greatest rival though? That was the real question needing to be asked. Wren was strong, fierce, but could she hold back the BloodRiders?

Gray had gotten the best deal possible from the Riders, Raven for the city's freedom. Kane knew Wren would never honor that deal, she had been very outspoken in the discussion the supreme leader had held before the decision to capture Raven and turn her over to the Riders had been made.

Speaking of Raven...

"You need not look at me like that," Kane said, "I won't hurt you."

His gaze turned to Gray's body.

What would the counsel say? Would they press charges?

"WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Raven screamed, rage quivering throughout her body, her hands clenching, hard.

"Excuse me?" Kane demanded, a tad harsher than he had intended.

"You- I killed your partner and you act like you don't give a shit then you have the gall to be mad at me?!" Raven responded, flustered by his harsh tone.

"For your information I do give a shit," Kane said, "you have made an impossible mess of an already impossibly messy situation, forgive me for not meeting your expectations and weeping at your feet."

Raven bit her teeth on her next statement, a wise move considering his current mood.

"What did you want with me?" She asked instead.

The words rolled on his tongue, acidic to the taste.

"Gray wanted to use you to secure an alliance with a neighboring tribe who's land he planned on expanding into." Kane explained.

"Who are they?"

"I don't know... but they asked for you specifically," Kane said, running a hand through his already ruffled hair. "They call themselves the BloodRiders."

Raven snorted, amused.

"That's not ominous at all." She said with a dangerous smile.

"Raven, this isn't a joking matter," He grouched, "you have left us without a leader."

"Bull, Gray had a second," Raven snorted, "I'm not stupid, I know how your bullshit system works."

The thought that crossed his mind was tempting, but considering recent events...

"We could help you, you know..." Kane said, opening his mouth to continue only to snap it shut again.

"After everything you've done?" Raven said, her voice hushed, "you think that after everything this place has done to me that I would stay?!"

"Gray is dead..." Kane said, watching her with a calculated eye.

"No," Raven said, tone sharper than the knife still planted in Gray's chest, "you can go to hell for all I care."

Without another word, Kane's closest friend turned her back on him, walking away down the hall, walking through the pool of blood around Gray's body, leaving a trail of bloodied footprints behind her.

Raven... I'm sorry... I'm a monster, you should know this by now...

"Kane?!"

I know how this looks Wren, I know... I know...

"I don't know where she went, Wren."

I can't protect you from yourself, Raven...

"What the Hell are you blabbering about Kane?"

"I don't know anymore..."

Raven

She didn't look back. She ran.

I'm a killer...

She had known this for some time now, Darian had taught her how to defend herself. This wasn't her first kill but it was the first time she had killed someone she knew.

That fact hurt more than Gray's actual death.

She didn't care that he was dead, it was better like this but still that annoying nagging in the back of her mind wouldn't leave her alone.

He deserved to die...

He's the monster, playing with peoples lives like some kind of puppet master, DAMN HIM!

Stopping, Raven paused to catch her breath, leaning back against the sandstones walls of this place that was her prison.

Kane... you monster... even when I killed him, when I showed you who I am you STILL refused to let me go...

Closing her eyes, Raven slowed her breathing, trying to calm her racing heartbeat.

I have to get out of here...

Taking one final calming breath, Raven made her way to where she hoped the exit would be. She had never really figured out the compounds layout.

A big mistake.

"Raven, stop."

The click of a guns safety being removed had her freezing in place.

A soft hum of amusement was the only response Raven gave before she continued to walk down the hall.

The bullet hit the ceiling above her, chips of sandstone sprinkling around her as she stopped.

"You missed," Raven murmured, turning back to look at her assailant, "Wren."

Kane stood beside her, refusing to meet her hard gaze. Wren's hand was steady as she aimed the weapon lower, at chest level.

"Just walk away," Raven purred, taking a step closer, "I know you don't want to do this."

"I don't, but the riders are here." Wren said, an unhappy look in her eye.

"They've come for me?" Raven questioned.

Wren nodded.

"It was very last minute but they must have found out that we had you." Wren said, keeping the gun trained on her target.

"I guess you have a decision to make," Raven smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes, "shoot me dead... or walk away with your life."

A knife slipped from its hiding place in her sleeve and Raven gave Wren a meaningful look. She would walk away or die fighting.

"Your call Wren." Raven murmured.

Wren

She hadn't even been made Supreme leader yet and people were threatening to take her life. Wren caught Kane's side eyed gaze, a silent question in her eyes.

Do you have it?

Kane nodded, sensing her thoughts better than he ever had with Gray's. Wren lowered her gun, putting it away in its holster before turning and walking away back the way she had come.

She knew that Raven was watching her, analyzing her motives and reasonings, trying to figure her out. She had always been that way. Calculating every move. Always two steps ahead.

Not this time.

This time Wren was in control. This time she would do what it took to secure peace for her people. Even if it meant sacrificing her own morals. That was how they survived in this world. Raven may have lead them to this new world but she wasn't the one who had united the warring tribes who already lived on it.

That had been Wren's doing, loathe as Gray was to admit it. While she hated to admit it, Gray's death was a blessing in disguise. His death opened a great many opportunities for the new Supreme leader.

Wren would be a fool to not jump on these opportunities. She knew that. It was the reason why she didn't flinch when Kane's grenade detonated behind her. It was the reason she turned her back on the scuffle that took place in the aftermath of Kane's assault.

It was the reason she hardened her heart and refused to look back at Raven's unconscious form, lying limp in her seconds arms.

She had a job to do and she couldn't afford to show weakness.

Not even for her closest friend.

Raven

Raven woke to cold air. Very cold air. She twisted, testing the bindings that held her in place. She grimaced as she saw just how far away the ground was.

Better down there than up here. She thought as she pitched herself off the wyvern she was on.

The cold air burned as she descended towards her death. The sound of distant shouts seemed far away. A distant panic that had nothing to do with her. Not anymore. Raven closed her eyes. She didn't want to know the time it would take for her to hit the ground.

A single tear escaped her eye as she fell. Whether it was from the burning cold or her situation she didn't know. All she knew was that it would all be over soon. The pain, the fighting, the uncertainty. It would all be over soon.

She would be free at last.

A cry escaped her as her headlong fall came to a jerking halt. Confused, Raven stared down at the harness connecting her to the wyvern flying high above. Snarling at the unexpected interference, Raven struggled to remove the harness. With her arms bound behind her back it was an impossible task and one that proved fruitless.

A whoosh of cold air signaled the passage of another person and Raven met his gaze, her eyes blazing with hatred.

"How's it hanging?" The boy asked, a teasing light in his eyes.

"Fuck off!" Raven snarled, twisting her arms in their bindings, fighting for her freedom.

"My name is Cole," The boy said, "if you let me help you up, I can introduce you to the others."

"I don't want to go up, I want to go down!" Raven said, an annoyed whine in her voice that she didn't like in the slightest.

"To go down you have to go up," Cole said, a wicked gleam in his eyes as he began kicking his legs to gain momentum.

Swinging, he collided with Raven, wrapping his arms around her in a gentle but firm hold.

Snarling, Raven kicked her legs to try and get him away from her but he only pulled her closer, ignoring her attempts to gain distance. She wasn't sure how but the two were moving upwards with surprising speed, reversing everything that she had done in almost the same amount of time.

"Can't say I expected her to throw away her life like that," One of the three other bloodriders commented, "makes me wonder just what she's gone through."

"Well I for one am thankful we brought a spare harness for her," Cole replied, casting a worried look at the speaker as he helped Raven settle into the saddle of the wyvern she had been riding, "Raven, this is Roan, Jace, and Emrys." Cole introduced.

"Don't recall asking." Raven spat, her tone harsh as she tested her bindings.

They didn't budge.

Emrys flew closer, his wyvern hissing as it approached Raven's wyvern.

"You are not a prisoner," He said, "we have to take precautions however."

Raven smiled, a sarcastic sneer that showed just how much she believed that statement.

"Raven, your safety is important to us," Cole said, "you have the ability and knowledge that we need and we wouldn't have asked Gray to bring you back if it wasn't important."

"I don't know what delusion you all are sharing but all I did when I lived with Gray and the others was tend to the livestock," Raven countered, "I'm not important enough to kidnap, I can promise you that."

Emrys hummed in thought, while Cole, Roan and Jace shared a worried look.

"You don't remember, do you?" Emrys mused, "I'm sure we'll be able to jog your memory once we reach the compound."

What are they talking about? What don't I remember? Raven frowned, no longer testing her restraints as her thoughts turned to the realization that she had a memory buried somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind, blocked, hidden, lost.

What was so important about her missing memory that these people would make a deal with a potential enemy to get ahold of it?

Time would tell, Raven supposed as she flew with the bloodriders, towards an uncertain future, likely far more dangerous than anything she had ever encountered.