Free The Dawn of the Raven episode 17 by J.L. Blackthorne Page B

to slip out of its bonds, though this was completely impossible.  
                  Kiella examined the weapons that Shyrea had brought her now that she could see better in the morning light.  The swords were nice, but very heavy since they were made for Gekken.  Besides, if a Gekken came in, by the time they were close enough for her to try and cut them it would probably be a foregone conclusion as to her fate.  The bow, however, interested her.  She lifted the bow, and loaded an arrow from the quiver into it.  She tried to pull it back, but it was no use.  Not in her current state.  Her cracked ribs screamed out in pain with any strain.  She quickly abandoned her interest in it, and tossed the bow aside.  She went back to listening, hoping that she had already seen all of the Gekken she would encounter.
     
     
                  As she flew above what was left of the forest, seeing that the fire was finally dying down, Shyrea did her best to examine what was left of the Gekken forces.  She’d spent the rest of the night fighting them, swapping into the largest, the strongest, the ones with the greatest weapons or who were poised to do the most damage to those around them.  She’d done all that she could to weaken them.  But there were still many left.  She feared for those she cared for.  Those who waited on the grounds where the great palace of the Typhorians once stood.  She flew down towards them, and inhabited the body of a soldier near her beautiful Typhorian friend.
    “It’s almost time.  The fire is almost out.  They will be upon you soon” stated the young soldier.  He was barely a man, but his eyes held a deep somber concern.  Raveena knew that it wasn’t his gaze that she felt, but Shyrea’s.  Raveena nodded.  The young soldier, like so many that were left now, wasn’t really a soldier at all.  He was forced, like any of the able bodied that were left there now, to take up a sword and fight.  And against the greatest of foes.  Raveena knew so many of them had no hope of surviving the conflict.  But without them, there was no chance.  They needed every body that they could gather to help.  The young man’s eyes suddenly grew confused, and he looked about as if he were disoriented.  Raveena knew her friend had left him just as quickly as she had taken him over.  Raveena turned back and looked over her troops, and then addressed them.
    “Dawn has come, and the battle will soon begin again.  We caught them by surprise with our might and with the fire, but this time they will be ready.  This e nemy will not be easily beaten.” She paused for a moment, but felt, suddenly, how tenuous the sense of confidence was that had swept over them following their initial success.  She didn’t want them unprepared, overconfident, but she didn’t want them to lose their courage.  She realized instantly, as she felt it waver ever so slightly as she spoke, that it was more important to ensure that their morale did not diminish than to be sure they were wary enough of the ferocity and might of their foes.  She stopped and looked around at them.  They stood in silence, all waiting patiently for her words.  “Yes, they will not be easily defeated.  It will be the greatest battle we’ll ever fight.  The toughest victory we’ll ever earn.  But it will be victory.  We will win.  We will crush them.”  The soldiers began to smile and pound their swords and shields into the ground.  “Yes, we will win.  We will hack their limbs from their torsos, separate their heads from their necks, cleave their flesh from their bone.  We have seen them in action.  They are mighty, they are savage.  But we will be mightier.  We will be even more savage.  When they look at us, stare in our eyes, they will be the ones who will shudder.  They will be the ones who will think they are looking in the eyes of monsters.  We will be merciless.  We will be cold.  We will be