Inheritance of Despair

They had been on the stormy road for a couple of hours now.

The rain didn't seem to stop. In fact, it was only getting worse. Raindrop after raindrop — they were becoming heavier and denser for anyone to bear.

The storm covered the sounds of anything that could be along the roadside and hidden in the trees, bushes and ditches, with loud thunder and falling rain. On top of that, the sound of heavy stomping of the horses and mud splatter did not help in any way. Therefore, the group projected a simple formation to keep Eivör and Masuda safe from any surprise attack.

Four guards would surround Eivör and Masuda and each one of them would shield a certain side (ahead/in front, behind/back, left and right). Eventually, Masuda would glance above them from time to time.

Even a child could understand the formation's simplicity.

Having that in mind, Eivör's skeptic subconscious started pinching her, but while realizing for how long she knew Masuda and how much she put her trust in him, she went along with not one revolt.

There were two things that crossed Eivör's mind. One were the fragile thoughts from last night, the other was how much she hated the appearance of a storm — she despised the rain and the angry rumbling of an agitated thunderbolt.

She would recall the times when she was just a small girl in a wooden house, trembling under a silky blanket, trying to keep away from the terrifying sounds of the storm and of the thunder. When she was really scared, she would sing lullabies to herself and make up stories about bees. Her favorite story was, and still is, the one about the two bees who loved each other desperately.

One day, a pesky wasp would join the party. The wasp would usually misbehave, but it was a crucial companion to the two. They would fight most of the time, but in the end, the three crossed miles and miles like no one else did!

That very story would put her to slumber and keep her occupied from the scary sounds of the storm. She tried remembering the story and telling it to herself in detail, but the yelling orders of Masuda to the other guards would interrupt her from time to time.

Everything was so dynamic and uneasy, yet the time passed slowly.

The scent of the storm was changing every couple of minutes, however this time, the scent became more intense. This was not just the storm. It resided in Eivör's nostrils for a couple of minute. It didn't seem like any guard noticed it. But it was there. And it was persistent. It wasn't getting stronger, but it stood its ground.

After a couple of minutes, it was still present. Eivör was looking around in suspicion, throwing her head in all directions, until she turned to the left and saw the guard moving his lips.

It seemed like he had just started praying to the Lord and God. She blinked, only to find his head absent from his body.

All of the noises suddenly became louder. They had started sealing inside of her.

"BREAK THE FORMATION! BREAK THE FORMATION!!"

With knuckles pressured immensely, Masuda started whipping the horse stronger than usual.

A few moments after where adrenaline dominated, splatters of mud were all over the sky. The filthy, wet ground started flying. Something was raising the ground. They were blasts and explosions out of nowhere.

Thin air made them.

"EXPLOSIONS AHEAD!"

"BREAK THE FORMATION, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!

EVERYONE SCATTER ROUND, KEEP THE BEE SAFE! SCATTER THE" —

What hit Masuda and stopped him from yelling was sir Jonna's decapitated head.

Eivör's eyes were wide open. It was safe to say she was in rising shock. More than two things were now crossing her mind, all in swift transitions. What was happening? Who unveiled their route? Who could be attacking them?

And why?

However, the answers were far away from being unraveled.

Masuda and she were left by themselves — the other guards have either scattered by command or died in the explosions trying.

Another explosion appeared right in front of their horse, leaving it without its frontal legs, making it go off road and roll down the hill full of prickles, mud, branches and bushes.

Mid roll, Masuda pushed his body to the side in order to try to protect Eivör while they were both falling, since it was almost impossible to grab anything or hold onto something.

They were heavily rolling down the unmerciful hill, hitting every tree and rock on the way, passing through the barricades of prickles and branches, all while covered in dirt, rain, mud and blood.

Eivör caught a moment of consciousness and used her abilities in mid air.

Bees started forming around the two falling figures, however they were fairly weak, since this was not their terrain. The bees formed a weird shape weakened by the rain, but it still managed to catch the two and slowly give them less impact. Then, by Eivör's command, the bees started covering them and forming a shield to protect them from another hit or explosion.

Just as the bees were covering Masuda, something faster than a bullet went through his head, beheading him that easily, followed by another ruthless explosion.

"MASUDA!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no… I can't believe it I can't believe it I can't… No other choice!"

With Eivör's rushed command in full tact, the bees started warping and forming giant uncontrollable shapes all while holding and protecting her. Then in one unexpected moment, the bees dropped Eivör and marched at all directions except where she was dropped.

Their joust was grand, but their death was most certain. As she was falling, she heard dozens of explosions behind her.

Everything further on became blurry.

Dreams started attacking her. Was this the first time in a while she was actually sleeping?

No, throw it away. This was no sleep. It was a person trapped in a state of stabbing unconsciousness. There was absolutely nothing peaceful about it.

Maybe because of the traumatizing uneasiness the fact that she was mumbling was completely coherent and not so absent. She kept whispering through chapped lips, a couple of words familiar to all of us, the other nowhere to be found recorded in the dictionary.

"When did it all happen?" She would ask.

Then she would throw blame at herself.

Then she would remember the times when she was a lot shorter. Masuda would go, she would follow. All of the history led her to this moment. Oh, what cruel times he had lived in.

This meant war.

2

It had been eight hours from the attack.

The rain stopped a long while ago and modest sheds of sunlight were crawling through the small gaps of the dark grey clouds. Eivör was still unconscious, but it was as if she had felt something. It was wet, but it wasn't the rain, neither the puddles or the mud.

She felt it on her scratched, yet beautifully soft cheek. It was moving up, then down, then up, then down. It was a repetitive action. She gently started opening her eyes, slowly feeling the pain of the bruises starting to kick in.

She saw a small figure in front of her, almost standing on her "sleeping beauty" mannered face. In fact, the figure was carefully licking her cheek.

It was a small black cat by the name of Ryohu.