Abattoir-by Revans Rubber Duckie, Chapter 6, Young Adult/Fantasy

(Click for full view if interested--it seems to of have cut off the side a little)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethessa is a human experiment, along with hundreds of other children, given the ability to destroy and create her cells in exchange for sacrificing her memories. Put through brutal tests and unrelenting experiments, she has learned her only purpose in life is to kill and be the perfect soldier.

Her abilities and morals are put the test when she's put on an assignment--something that has never happened before with any child experiment. Tasked with escorting a noble girl, Ethessa soon finds that she is about to be thrust into the middle of a war that may very well bring everything she believes crashing down on her.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dra'schon had once been known for its enormous amount of forestry. According to history texts, the entire country had once been covered completely by floral and fauna. The first civilization was said to be from what was now the Abandoned Country, creating a primitive sort of system. However, just as was done in other countries, Dra'schon was forced to grow up and advance it's own technology.

The trees that had once been their homes were cut down without consideration and traded for metals, plastics, glasses, and finer clothing materials. Some rebelled against such acts, refusing to open trade to such an extent, refusing to live in homes made of steel and iron. Refusing to let go of their history. They were left behind, their pleas and cries long forgotten and long gone.

Eventually Dra'schon came to the realization that such steel could be used for weaponry and armour, replacing the leather and stone they had once used. Dra'schon spent many years in quiet isolation, save for it's exchanges for metals. When it reemerged it was no longer primitive—and no longer peaceful.

Depending on which text one finds, some will say Dra'schon had learned to forge their own metal, with their magi being the base for their forgery, and that was how they managed to grow even when trade was cut off. Others will say it was because they had saved all the metals for that moment where they would attack their neighbours, and then sustain their dominance by confiscating all resources of countries they had conquered.

By the end of their conquest, every village, city, hideout, and some homes had a forge or blacksmith shop located near. The cities would have many such buildings, up to fifty, towns twenty, and villages five. They had also nearly depleted their wood supply, killing their greatest trade supply. It only helped to prove the theory of their magi creating their own metals.

It also helped with making staying hidden incredibly difficult.

Alida, Ethi, Koir, and Xan all hated it. It meant that to get to the city, they would have to make an incredibly large loop, and hope that they would end up in the right direction. Between factory smoke, smog, and the rainy season, it would be incredibly difficult to tell where they were, let alone where the capital was. True, it did help with staying hidden, but it was useless when they couldn't tell where they were.

They knew they were between two cliffs. The had continued downward from the ditch they had fallen into when the carriage had flipped, and decided to follow what must have once been a river. There was an odd dead tree every once in awhile, caverns were common, but for the most part it was only loose dirt and sand. Everything seemed to have a grayish tinge to it, but nothing smelled dead. If one were to ask them, they would say smelled like the country side with smoke.

"Didn't we already come by here?" Ethi asked, trying to use her cloak to the best of it's ability to keep her warm. Needless to say, it did not work out too well.

"No, just like we didn't the last eight times," Xan replied irritably.

"Nine," Alida corrected under her breath, making sure Xan did not hear.

"But, I have proof this time. This glass looks exactly the same as the last piece."

Xan faltered, but not long enough that anyone would notice, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. The cut is exactly the same."

"You remember that?" Koir joined in.

"Yup. It's like a trade off. Since I can't get my memories back once I use them no matter what, I can remember everything perfectly. Like a film, except in colour and sound that I can rewind and stop."

"So, you could remember what someone looked like perfectly even if you only saw them once?"

"Depends on where they were standing. It's literally exactly as I saw it. If they're a blur, then they're a blur when I replay it. If it was someone I knew really well, like Xan, then I could make out the blur and replace it with a clear image of him."

"Huh. So that means our amazing leader got lost?"

"Shut up. It just means we're curving somewhere," Xan pulled his coat up higher so it covered his nose, "We'll rest. If we're going around in a circle, we'll just have to wait until morning to get a good sense of where we are."

"But-"

"Look, kid," Xan turned on his heel making everyone either stumble in an attempt not to run over each other, or run into him, namely Koir, "You're not bright enough for this. You may have battlefield experience, but that does not mean you have survival skills, not with how pampered and spoiled you are."

Silence followed. Ethi because she had never seen Xan be so strict, and Alida because of how blunt. She knew it also applied to her to some degree, but she couldn't quite find in her to take it personally. Koir had gritted his teeth, trying hard not to take the words to heart. Xan, of course could have cared less. That was until dirt flew up in an explosion, blinding them, followed by a child-like war cry. The two were forced to work back-to-back.

Xan heard Koir unsheathe his sword, his shoulder blade pushing out as he raised his arm into a defensive position that would allow him to attack quickly if needed. Xan only had the knife he had confiscated from earlier, but he knew it would be enough.

Neither knew what the little disfigured beings were, but it was obvious they were not human. They were maybe two feet tall, anorexic looking, with bone and vein visibly showing, making it seem like their pale white skin would crack and break at any given second. Their faces, and most of their body, was covered in unnatural bumps and bulges, like someone had continuously beat them to the point where bruises would be permanent. The bones and veins were still visible under the bumps. There were at least three dozen of them, all armed with sticks, stones, or both.

"What the hell are those?"

"If you live, supper," Xan replied in a monotone.

"And if I don't?"

"You're supper."

Koir didn't have a chance to reply. One of the little deformations had charged, teeth ground to sharp, fine points—or were they naturally like that?-flashing, followed by several other 'suppers.' Koir lowered his blade slightly to accommodate for their height, feeling it grind against bone, cut against arteries, and finally slash through the thin layer of skin, sending a bloody rain to the ground. This display was reenacted with the rest.

Xan on the other hand was trying to dodge both Koir's movements and the suppers'. Unfortunately, the little knife could get only them through extensive means. The bumps and bulges acted as a type of armour. Though low-end, it was more than enough to stop the little knife. The only place to hit them in a way that would result in a killing blow was the neck, which was conveniently hidden behind a bulge. Xan considered feeding the young noble boy to them as a distraction and hope the boy didn't hold a grudge. Then again, being ate by supper would be a little too cruel. Even for Xan.

"Fifteen!" Koir reported triumphantly.

"Thirty-eight."

Koir's arrogant grin turned into a scowl, building his resolve to make sure he won this self-proclaimed tournament. He moves out more, allowing him to make more elaborate moves and creating a gap between him and Xan in the process. It was a mistake. Xan's back was exposed, and one of the Supper's managed to stick its weapon into his shoulder. He let out a grunt and his face constricted into something between pain and a scowl, ignoring it as much as he could.

"Kill the damn thing!"

Xan growled. It was pointless trying to command an idiot. Especially when that idiot knew this would happen and was too caught up in his own little vision of glory. But, Xan could not die. Not yet. So, he decided to return the favour and moves out as well, allowing for a large gap between him and Koir. He sliced away, trying to move the stick out of his shoulder at the same time, the Supper flying around trying to hang on for its' dear life.

Koir however had long forgotten about Xan. His mind was completely focused on killing the rest of these beasts. Thrust, dodge, parry, dodge, slash. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. This was like a training exercise for him. The bodies were holograms (a gift from the Easterners) being projected over a mechanical scarecrow, the blood gushing out was only chicken blood. The sounds were all just cheers of fans, the yells commands to try harder. The silence, his father's disapproval.

But, there was something different about this exercise. He heard no silence, and when his foe fell there was another to replace it. That never happened. Usually there would only be twenty foes at the most, and none of them would be replaced. None of them came back to laugh in his face. None of them made sounds. Was it a test to make the silence go away? He didn't know, he didn't care, he only could fight until they were all gone.

There were too many. He could not take them all. They were getting too close, too fast. He was under threat of being struck. He had to resort to kicking a few, allowing his legs to be jabbed at. Then there was another explosion of dirt, blinding him completely, bringing him out of his childish mindset, and making him realize the danger they were in.

Or perhaps not. He felt nothing besides many gusts of air, and heard nothing. For a second, Koir thought he was dead. But then the white noise was gone, replaced with far off sound of Xan's yelling slowly coming into focus. Koir held his hand to his head, trying to steady himself.

"Ethi! Ethessa! Alida?" Xan hollered, trying to find the two missing girls. He hoped to whatever almighty being existed they weren't dead. Something bounced off his head. It felt like a rubber ball, but it was impossible to tell. He turned toward the general direction of where the ball would have came from, finding a small band of what seemed to be mercenaries standing at the top of a ledge.

"Are you looking for these two?" a female asked, her lightly accented voice raised slightly so it could be heard from their distance, dressed in old Dra'schonian armour. Her slightly shorter than shoulder-length light brown hair covered one eye with a side bang, curving into stylish spikes at the ends. She had one foot on a rock, leaning over onto her knee. Her head nudged toward the direction of what was unmistakably Ethi and Alida.

They were being held by two boys who seemed to look exactly like each other, save for differences in clothing and weaponry. They shared Xan's hairstyle of "cut later, push out of way for now"from this angle, only theirs looked more ragged and unkempt.

"Yes," he replied cautiously.

"We saved their lives. Why should we give them back? Their lives belong to us now."

"Because one belongs to me and the other-"

"The other belongs to me," Koir jumped in.

"Oh?" the woman smirked, "Really? Slaves? Concubines? Tsk, little young for that aren't they? Or, the girl is anyways. Twelve, is she?"

Xan growled, knowing Ethi was biting back a "I'm fourteen!" remark. His voice went dangerously low,"The girl is my charge. If you don't let her go I'll-"

"You'll what? Throw yourself at us in a heroic attempt to free her? Ha. You could try, but I think arrow beats little man, don't you? Tell you what." she straightened up, looking at him with a playful, considering smirk, her one eye sizing him up for his worth,"We'll give them back, but, first you have to do something for us."

Xan looked indifferent, putting a hand on Koir's arm to keep the boy from jumping to any rash conclusions. He knew the noble had the idea he could take on anything. Xan was annoyed, there was no doubt that. He'd even go as far as to say he mirrored Koir's feelings on the matter. This was a huge setback, after all. But, they could not go on without the two. It was truly a one-sided deal.

"Fine. What do you want?"

She grinned triumphantly, "There's a Dra'schonian supply caravan coming soon. You're going to help hijack it."