3. City of Crows

Rebecca was forced to straddle a motorcycle. It was difficult as her legs were still tied together. The Crow mercenary didn’t care at all if she was comfortable or not. He shoved her forward so that he could straddle the motorcycle behind her. She recoiled at his touch, but she had to deal with it if she didn’t want to fall right off.

The engine started. It revved up in the air. It was a guttural sound that made her heart race. She’d never been on one of these machines before though she’d seen many of the Crows’ soldiers on them.

She couldn’t put her hands anywhere to stabilize herself as the motorcycle started forward. She fell over the body of the machine. She screamed against the cloth in her mouth as she saw her life flash before her eyes.

She was grabbed at the last second. The mercenary grunted something that sounded like a silent order, but she couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be.

The mercenary yanked her back up and placed one hand on her stomach so that she didn’t go flying again. She wiggled in the seat as the motorcycle sped up. She had to squint as the wind whipped in her face, drying her eyes in a matter of second. The open road surrounded by desert blurred behind them.

It seemed though that the mercenary had no ulterior motive with the placement of his hand. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be at all interested in doing anything sexual to her. At the moment at least. She wasn’t going to completely trust this man not to do anything sneaky.

She stayed awake the entire drive. Hours went by and it didn’t seem like the mercenary was stopping for anything, not even to take a piss.

Her mouth had gone dry. She’d already been thirsty back at the caravan and she was now parched. Her lips were peeling with how dry they were. She was to the point she thought she might do anything for a drop of water. Thirst was the first thing she found that made her desperate.

The hours passed much slower than when she was riding in the back of the caravan. So slow that she was starting to lose her mind. All she could focus on was the touch of the mercenaries hand on her stomach and the itchiness in her eyes—not counting her thirst that had increasingly gotten worse.

Still, she didn’t try anything. She was the best captive she could be when she was at wits end. When she stopped focusing on how uncomfortable she was, she imagined what she was going to do when she got her hands free. The mercenary still had her knife. He’d been interested in it for some reason and thankfully his interest had saved it from being destroyed by George.

Ugh. She didn’t want to think about that ogre of a man. She was glad his hand was broken. She hoped he never got his money. She didn’t care if the Crows’ ripped him off. He deserved it for selling her out. She really couldn’t trust anybody anymore.

Why she trusted George to begin with was beyond her comprehension. She was known for making mistakes but that one had been one of her worst.

She almost dozed off. The long road to the West didn’t have many turns so it felt like it went on forever. She tried to keep herself awake but remembering the reason why she was doing this.

Revenge. It seemed like a futile thing when she got herself roped into these situations. Her words to Cody months ago echoed in her mind. It wasn’t the same. Cody had been going for no reason at all—risking his life for a cause that would never come true.

She was doing it for a reason. May and April were in the slave trade. She needed to find them. The only way that she knew was to get to the heart of the slave trade. Getting roped into it herself hadn’t been part of the plan, but she supposed it would make it easier to find them. Being on the inside wouldn’t be helpful entirely, but she was counting on moving up the ranks.

Then she thought about what the mercenary had said to the others back at the caravan. She was being taken to the King for some reason. She couldn’t think of a reason though her first conclusion was that the King of Crows had found out she was a survivor of her small town.

But that didn’t make since. The King didn’t give a fuck about that small town nor did he care about Cody. Rebecca was nothing but another body he could taken control of.

She roused again when the motorcycle started slowing down.

She blinked rapidly as bright lights shined on her face. Her brows furrowed as she looked around, slightly turning her neck that had grown a kink in it from the horrible ride.

The lights that were blinding her were coming from a large wall that was almost ten stories high. She had to crane her neck back to even see the top of it. It was the middle of the night. The sky was permanently cloudy from pollution so there were no starts to be seen. The pale moon was all she could see if she was searching for it, however, even that was hidden by the bright lights.

There were men on top of the wall. They control the beams of light, rotating them toward her and the mercenary.

From below, a speaker turned on, filling the air with static.

“State your name and business!”

She didn’t see guns, but she felt like they were on her. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. She tensed as the mercenary leaned back. She hadn’t noticed how cold she was until his unintentional body heat was removed.

“The Raven. I’ve returned with a gift for the King’s harem.”

There was a beat of silence. Rebecca thought for sure she’d misunderstood what the mercenary—Raven?—had said. She was a gift for the King? How much had she been sold for?

After a period of silence, the large gates started to open. The bright lights were removed from them. The gates imbedded in the large walls were made of heavy metal that looked two feet thick. Four Crow soldiers who were large in size pushed the large doors open. That were strapped with large guns that seemed tiny compared to their large frames. They didn’t even break a sweat when they were pushing the doors open. When they were done, they stepped to the side and waited for Raven to go ahead.

Raven started his motorcycle and rode through the gate. Rebecca didn’t even try to hide her amazement of what she saw on the other side of the wall.

There were large buildings everywhere and lots of lights. She hadn’t seen so many lights in her life. The streets were lit up with street-lamps, every corner had a neon sign advertising something, and there were people walking around with sticks that glowed. She curiously looked at everything as they slowly drove through the narrow streets of this large city.

The large buildings were like the skyscrapers she’d heard about before the fall, but they were leaning to one side or the other. Some of them even leaned against each other as if they’d collided when the world fell apart and had miraculously stayed like that for the next millennium.

There were many people walking down the street. The city was more lively than any she’d seen before. It was known throughout the wasteland that being out at night was an invitation for bad company and bad things to happen. However, it seemed like people were less worried about that. Perhaps it was a side-effect of the large wall that encased the city.

They turned down a road. There were even more people on the street. The buildings were lit up with red-hued lights. The large glass windows were lit up with these lights. Dozens of scantily clad women and men danced behind the glass windows. Many more women and men were on the street, talking to passerby, tempting them with their goods.

Rebecca was more intrigued than she was repulsed. She didn’t know how the King let this kind of thing happen when it was in direct competition with his slave trade. Unless these people were slaves? Perhaps what money they got from their services weren’t their own.

She frowned at the thought. That did repulse her.

The city passed by as they went up the hill toward the largest of buildings. It was the King’s hide-out, his castle—his domain. The structure was as daunting as the wall had been. The closer they came to it the more she felt sick. She tried to close her jaw, but she could barely move it with the cloth still stuck in her mouth. The ours of having her mouth forced open had turned most of her face numb. She started to worry that it was going to leave her with permanent damage.

They finally made it to the top of the mountain where the King’s castle was. There was another gate that blocked entry to it as well as more Crow soldiers. They recognized Raven right away and opened the gate for him. He rode through it and straight up to the door.

The engine turned off and Raven kicked out the kick-stand. He climbed off the motorcycle.

Rebecca almost toppled over when she was forced to keep herself upright for a moment while Even got up. He grabbed her tied hands and pulled her off the bike like she was just an annoyance he had to deal with.

She was too awe-struck to really care about what Raven thought about her. She was here. She was in the fucking Crows’ nest!

Her eyes widened as the doors opened, spilling golden light around them.

Raven knelt down, pulling out a knife and cut the ropes that tied her legs. He stood back up. “If you try to run, they’ll shoot you.”

He gestured upward. Rebecca looked up and had to hold back a gasp. There were soldiers on top of the building and the gate, perched like birds with their guns ready.

She didn’t need to nod. Raven grunted, understanding that she wasn’t going to do anything.

He shoved her forward. She started walking. It was strange at first, her legs aching from being forced into an awkward position for so long. However, it was nice to be able to stretch her legs again. She was dying to have her arms free and the rag out of her mouth, but she wasn’t going to complain in the prospect Raven tied her back up again.

The grand hall to the castle was almost enchanted. The floors were black and white ceramic tile, the walls were a dark wood that had been patched up, and the ceiling wasn’t even caving in. Raven steered her quickly through it though she wanted to have a better look at the place. There were paintings—some sceneries, some women, and some of ships. There were sculptures and vases! So many things of the old world were collected here!

She was so distracted by all these wondrous things that she didn’t notice that they’d turned into a bigger room where many Crow soldiers were lined up in.

It was only when she noticed a large throne made up of skulls and bones that she snap out of her stupor.

Lounging in the throne like he was bored and had better places to be was the King of Crows himself.

His fair skin stood out against his pitch-black hair. His dark eyes barely glanced over Rebecca before he waved his hand.

“This is what you’ve disturbed my sleep for?”