Chapter 6

Mika stood ankle deep in blood as she looked at the pile of dead bodies laid out in front of her house. She had left home before dawn to collect medicinal herbs and hunt some rabbits for her family. Her younger brother was ill and needed all the nutrition he could have. After finishing her gathering and hunting she walked home quickly.

She saw black smoke rising from her village. In the burning chaos, laid the bodies of her family and friends. Mika screamed, tears ran down her face as the horror of the dead bodies and blood blinded her.

Her horror stricken mind didn't pay attention to her surrounding as a group of soldiers surrounded her. A pair of familiar arms wrapped around her waist pulling her from her family's lifeless corpses bringing her close to his body.

'Mika,' he whispered bringing her back to the present.

'Lu Wei,' Mika cried into his embrace, 'They are all dead.'

Lu Wei carried her out of the burning village.

'My parents,' she cried fighting his hold on her, 'My family! My friends! They are dead! They are all dead! How?'

She cried.

Lu Wei threw her to the ground and she landed with a painful thud. Mika looked around confused,' What going on Lu Wei?'

Lu Wei looked to his fellow soldier, 'Undress her.'

Two soldiers came and started undressing her at his command. Unwilling, Mika bit the hand of one of the soldiers. He grunted and the other soldier slapped her. She fell down, her lips tore and her mouth was filled with blood due to the harsh slap.

'Beat her. Beat her until she is willing,' she heard a soldier shouting.

Blows upon blows landed on her body. Blood seeped out of her wounds, she couldn't even move.

'Why,' she croaked out painfully, 'Why do this? What have we done?'

'Alright,' Lu Wei admitted, 'I will tell you the truth since this will be your last moment alive. We killed them. We are the ones who burned your village down."

'Why?' Mika weakly looked at the man she had once fallen in love with.

'My name is Lu Wei. That part is true. However, everything I told you about me were lies. I am not some poor merchant. I am a captain, a soldier from the Sgari Kingdom. My mission is my business but to accomplish it, I used you as a cover. Every word I told you is a lie. Now that my mission is complete, your death is a means to remove the traces of our presence in your village. Don't blame, it's just my mission.'

'You monster,' she coughed out blood.

Lu Wei slapped her face ripping the rest of her clothes off. Her arms and legs are pried open and held down with the help of other soldiers. She was weak and couldn't even scream for help. What was even the use of screaming. Who would hear her?

She could only watch as he forced himself inside her, ripping her innocence away from her, the soldiers laughing as they watched. Mika's eyes cried for help. She prayed. Her prayers remained unanswered as one man after the other took their turn on top of her. Her eyes gazes into the sky wondering when they would stop. When would the pain stop.

Once they finished, Lu Wei spat on her and stepped on her already battered face. He drives a sword straight into her chest. Her body doesn't even move.

'Let's go. She will die eventually. There is no one to help,' Lu Wei said as he wipes the sword clean.

'She is not dead yet,' another soldier spoke up unwilling to leave until he was sure that Mika was certainly dead.

Lu Wei kicks Mika's limp body, 'See, she will die. And need I remind you that I am your captain. Move out.'

He kicks Mika two more times before leaving. Mika to him was a cover as he investigated the army stationed at the two small border villages. While he lusted, he never loved her. Never had the intention of marrying her. He told her pretty lies to win her heart and trust.

Mika laid on her back in pain. Her mind lost within itself. Her eyes closed, ready to accept the death that fluttered like a butterfly within the edges of her grasps.

Mei Xiang woke up with a gasp. Her body shivering. She felt nauseous and ran to empty her stomach. Tears running down her face at the nightmare. It was a memory she had suppressed in her mind. A memory that still haunted her to this day. She gasped as she heaved the bile that rose up her throat at the memory. She felt hands rubbing her back and the soothing words whispered in her ears to calm her down. She didn't want to feel anymore. She wanted death.

Mei Xiang stared at the darkened sky. She sat on top of the cliff as she remembered the events of that day. Her nose was filled with the stench of death as if it had not been many years that passed.

Gin was sitting beside her, his hands wrapped around her body. Mei Xiang closed her eyes not caring about his presence. Her mind was tired. Her body was tired. She had been struggling with the will to live. She closed her eyes and slept vividly aware of the warm body holding her close

Mei Xiang scoffed as she looked at a family praying to the gods. She herself knew better than to pray to the gods. When they didn't answer her prayers when she was being raped, why would they answer their prayers for the safe return of their child?

Mei Xiang drunk her tea slowly, the stench of rot and death was still in her nose. The putrid smell lingered on her tongue, that she wanted to throw the cup of tea down. Her eyes could still see the bits and pieces of bodies all around, her ears could still hear the laughter of the soldiers as they rammed themselves repeatedly inside her.

The hand holding the cup shook and she had to take a shuddering breath to calm herself down. She wanted to run away, she didn't care where she would go. She had to get away, she had to run away, she had to run and run until when her legs fail her. Innocent men and women were killed that day.

No matter how much she wanted to run, she couldn't. She need to exert her vengeance on Lu Wei and the soldiers who raped her. The ones that killed her family and burnt down her village. Her hands were already stained with blood. She raised her trembling hands and she could still see the dried blood, broken fingers and battered hands. She wanted to scream. Scream until her voice was hoarse.

A pair of hands were gently place on her trembling ones pulling them down until she was met with the face that had been by her side all those years. Gin. His eyes were gentle as he hugged her body . Mei Xiang broke. Her body shook and trembled as she cried. Gin did not speak, he only held her body tighter. Mei Xiang's body shook harder at every sob that she choked out.

Gently rubbing her back, Gin could only whisper to her reassuring words, "I am here. I am here. I will not leave you in your journey to seek vengeance."

Mei Xiang kept quiet as she got lost in her mind once again. She slightly smiled at Gin's word. She closed her eyes and shut the world out. Her mind closing to everything around her. She fell asleep trusting the man holding her tightly. She trusted his warmth and his words. She trusted that he would keep on holding her.