Chapter ~ 1

The Quietus War

Dark grey clouds loomed over Hartland with occasional lightning and thunder strikes yet no rain came down. Something was coming. Something big and terrible.

The Midland warriors sliced their way through corn fields, stomping and crushing mature corn cobs still in their husks. Like ghosts, they creeped up on their prey. Surrounding the entire Hartland kingdom and patiently waiting for their commander's signal to attack their unsuspecting enemies.

In an old wooden two bedroom structure, Adriana lay on a four-poster-bed with a protruding belly, legs wide apart and panting really hard. Her brown skin glistened with sweat as her mother and the midwife encouraged her to push. Despite the unbearable pain, Adriana leaned on her elbows and forced herself to push once more whilst groaning.

"Alright Adriana," Olga, the midwife, spoke. "One more push and the baby will be out." She grabbed a stack of towels next to her.

Adriana let out a whimper of pain and shook her head. "I can't. I can't. The pain is too much." Her voice sounded strained.

Gilda, her mother, took her daughter's hand in hers. "Please don't give up, dear. It's just the final push. Give it your all and it'll soon be over."

More tears welled up in Adriana's eyes but she blinked them away and nodded.

Olga stationed herself in between Adriana's legs with a pad of towels, ready to receive the baby. Adriana propped herself up, clenched her teeth and with a loud groan, she gave one mighty push. Her legs trembled and her hands curled into fists as she felt pain shooting up her abdomen.

Soon, the loud cries of a baby overshadowed Adrian's loud screams. She collapsed on the bed with a wide smile, happy that her job was done. After nine stressful months, she had finally delivered her first child. Gilda wiped the sweat off her daughter's face and brushed her dark hair to the side. "Well done, Addy."

"It's a girl!" Olga squealed. She cleaned the blood off the brownskinned baby girl and wrapped her in blue sheets. The little baby was still crying when Olga placed her in her mother's arms. Adriana smiled at her baby and rocked her gently.

Gilda sat next to Adriana on the bed, admiring her little granddaughter."What are you going to name her?" she asked.

Adriana reached into her pocket and took out a blue pendant with the Hartland emblem on it. The name 'Araknee' was chiseled boldly on the front. She put the pendant around the baby's neck. "Araknee," Adriana replied. "My little princess."

Olga sighed, raking a hand through her dark hair. "Reginald needs to know about her," she said, referring to the baby. "You can't hide the fact that she's a Hartland royal."

Adriana's smile turned into a scowl. "No! This baby will only make his life more complicated than it already is. He's better off not knowing."

"True," Gilda agreed. "But what are you going to do when her powers show up? You can't hide that, everyone will know."

Olga and Gilda's words pondered in Adriana's mind. What they said was true. But she didn't want Araknee's father to know about her. He was currently married to someone else; a princess, who was also expecting his child in a week's time.

All of a sudden, the bedroom doors flew open. Hahn, Adriana's father, burst in. "Gilda! We need to leave," He said in between breaths. 

Gilda jumped up in alarm. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Hartland is under attack!" Hahn growled. "The Midland warriors are coming. Grab a few stuff and let's get out of here." He quickly sped down the hallway to the stables to get their wagon ready.

Olga scrambled around, snatching anything that would come in handy. Adriana grimaced as she tried to stand. "I'm too sore to stand up, Mother," she said to Gilda. "Please, just take Araknee and leave."

"What! I'm not leaving you behind, Addy." She picked up her granddaughter and tried to help Adriana onto her feet. Slowly, they made their way towards the door. With every step, Adriana winced in pain.

Outside, the Midland warriors had finally launched their surprise attack and were ripping the village apart. Dark smoke coloured the air. Warriors set houses, farms and wagons on fire. Children screamed their hearts out as they watched their parents slaughtered right before their eyes. The villagers ran helter skelter trying to get away from them, but the unlucky ones were murdered without a speck of remorse.

The warriors stomped their way through the village with their life-threatening weapons. They raided homes, silos, shops and warehouses, stealing anything that seemed of value to them and burning the rest. A few young men were brave enough to stand against them and protect their wares but since they were just common village folks and not trained warriors, they were cut down in the blink of an eye. Their blood mixed with the fire burning their wares; the very things they were trying to protect. Stepping over the lifeless bodies, the brooding warriors continued their raid and increased their loot.

The screams were ear-piercing. The dead bodies were countless. The fires produced a huge pall of smoke, visible twenty miles away from Hartland. Escaping was nearly impossible. The best thing one could do was hide and pray that he/she never got caught.

"Get in! Get in!" Hahn shouted. His voice radiated with urgency. Both Olga and Gilda helped Adriana into the hooded wagon and joined her in.

Before Hahn could move the wagon out of the stables, a fleet of archers burst through the doors, firing series of sharp pointy-edged arrows. The frightened horses neighed wildly, trying to dodge the numerous arrows but weren't able to. The arrows pierced into their hairy skin. Their frequent movements knocked the wagon into a stack of hay. Hahn was completely taken by surprise when two arrows sunk deep into his stomach, spilling blood. "Gilda..." he croaked, "Run." before his body collapsed on the ground.

A loud sob escaped Gilda's lips but Olga quickly clamped her mouth shut. The archers hadn't discovered them yet so they needed to stay quiet. They listened to their movements, silently praying for them to leave. The archers turned the place upside down, stealing horse gear for their army and anything that seemed useful. 

Two of them approached the wagon. The women could see their silhouette moving closer and closer to the entrance. Gilda whimpered out of fear and Olga's hand pressed harder over Gilda's mouth in an attempt to keep her quiet. 

Adriana's eyes quickly searched for a weapon but the only thing that looked deadly was an old rusty pocket knife that lay in a corner. With trembling hands, she snatched it and held it firmly in front of her. 

A brown gloved hand appeared underneath. Just about to yank the hood off, the archers heard their commander call out for them. Immediately, he withdrew his hand then took off with his comrades. The women heaved out a sigh of relief. As soon as Olga released Gilda's mouth, she burst into tears over the sudden death of her husband.

"We don't have time to shed tears, Gilda!" Olga snapped at her friend. "We have to get out of here or we'll die." She helped Adriana down from the wagon and Gilda followed with her tear-streaked face, still cradling Araknee in her arms.

The sound of glass shattering startled them and Olga pushed both women to move faster.

"I can't take the pain anymore!" Adriana yanked her arm out of Olga's grip. "Just leave me be-" she gasped.

The bloody metal head of an arrow poked out from her stomach. The blood soaked into her clothes, creating a red patch round the arrowhead. Adriana stood wide-eyed before crumbling to her knees.

At a short distance, an archer stepped out from behind a rusty water tank with another arrow ready to shoot. He didn't leave with his fellow comrades earlier. Gilda hadn't noticed him and lunged for her daughter's body. "Addy!"

"Gilda, no!" Olga tried stopping her friend but was too late. The archer let his second arrow fly straight through the base of Gilda's neck. A surprised look graced her features before she coughed out blood and fell to the floor. 

Quickly, Olga grabbed Araknee from Gilda's dying arms and ran out into the chaos as fast as she could. The archer followed with a third arrow, missing Olga. He shot a fourth one which merely grazed Olga's left arm, leaving a cut but she didn't stop running.

Her feet carried her through the chaos, jumping over lifeless bodies and inhaling polluted air. Unfortunately, she tripped over something and hit solid ground. Araknee fell out of her arms, landing in a nearby haystack but Olga was too panicked to see.

"Araknee!" she screamed, as if the baby could yell out her location. Out of nowhere, a warrior grabbed her foot and dragged her across the ground, laughing like a maniac whilst doing so. Olga tried wriggling free from his huge hand but he gripped her foot even tighter.

Panicked, her eyes searched everywhere for something she could use to attack. Nothing seemed suitable to cause enough damage until her eyes landed on one. She quickly reached for a huge rock, turned onto her back and threw it at the warrior's face. 

"Yeeow!" He let go of her foot to cradle his bleeding nose. Olga didn't waste a second. She scrambled to her feet, taking off with the speed of the wind and leaving the newborn baby behind.

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Trina ran for her dear life, trying not to stumble over dead bodies. With a warrior chasing after her, a huge axe dangling from his belt, she could not afford to fall down. "Stop running, filthy bitch!" The manly beast yelled. 

The warrior's voice at her heels made her ran even faster. Her dark curls stuck to her face thanks to the sweat trickling down her brown skin. She gathered up the hem of her dress and weaved her way through series of abandoned houses, trying her best to make the warrior confused. 

Trina's plan worked because soon, she lost him. Quickly, she hid behind a huge haystack to catch her breath, rest her aching muscles and to come up with a new plan. Her first plan was useless now, since she had been separated from her husband when the big oaf of a warrior decided to use her to satisfy his sexual desire.

As she leaned on the prickly straws of hay, letting her heartbeat slow down, she heard the cries of a baby. At first, she thought it was just her imagination, but the cries grew louder and louder.

She crawled quietly in the direction of the sound to find a baby girl wrapped in blue sheets crying.

Trina's heart lurched out. Being a woman who always yearned for the fruit of the womb, she couldn't stand to see the little angel weeping. Slowly, she picked up the bawling baby, rocking her against her chest. 

'Her parents must be dead,' Trina thought. "There, there sweetie. It's alright," she soothed and the cries slowly began to fade. 

Boom! Another loud blast. Frightened, Trina got on her feet, running with the baby in her arms.