Read The Dawn of the Raven Omnibus 1: Episodes 1-5 for Free Online Page B

ready.  Their spirits were resolved to their
task.  They reminded themselves that they had been here, together, before; in
uncertain terrain, under unfavorable circumstances, and yet they had always
pulled through.  The men eyed each other and gave each other confident nods and
grins, yet their trembling sword and bow hands gave evidence to their true
feelings.
    And then, they came.  From all sides.  They were giants. 
They were beasts.  They were inhumanly fast.  They were fearless.  They were
the Gekken.  The captain gave the order and their arrows and their spears
flew.  Many met their mark, and several Gekken fell prey, but most continued
their charge, unfazed, unfrightened, with the thirst for blood emblazoned in
their monstrously black eyes and embodied in their fierce war cries.  The soldiers
stood to meet the challenge.  They met the Gekken head on, and fought
heroically, but it was a one-sided affair.  The Gekken, with their speed,
strength, and reach, and armed with long swords and spears, had little trouble
with the front line of soldiers.  Few Gekken fell to swords, though arrows were
still claiming many as they rushed in.  Captain Vol, standing with the archers,
ordered them to fire as quickly as possible into the throng, even with the
danger of hitting their own men on the front line.   He could see now that
those men were outmatched.  He knew that the front lines, though a few still
stood, were already lost.  But, if the archers could take many Gekken down, and
wound and slow the rest, then he, Feur, and the rest of his best men might
stand a chance against them, and still stand victorious at the end of the day. 
He shouted to the troops huddled around him, his inner circle, those whom he
had fought beside the longest.  Those with whom he had vanquished so many foes
on the battlefield.  This was their greatest challenge yet, he knew, and they
were ready. 
    The beautiful Typhorian screamed at the two soldiers guarding
her to release her, but their ears were deaf to her cries.  Their eyes were
fixed on the carnage in front of them.  They had never seen anything like it. 
Suddenly, they were taken by surprise by two Gekken attacking from the back. 
One guard had his arm torn from his torso and his throat bitten before he could
even react.  The Gekken warrior stood triumphantly over him, bathing in the
blood that gushed from the fallen soldier’s neck, painting his chest and face
with it, just as Raveena had warned.  Kiella watched in horror as she hid
behind the wagon, peeking from below.  She watched as the second guard waved
his sword wildly, trying to fend off the second Gekken.  The one he was engaged
with laughed, though, as the other Gekken, now finished painting himself in the
fallen guard’s blood, circled behind him and took a firm grip on the soldier’s head
in his giant hand.  There was a sickening sound as he squeezed and the
soldier’s head burst open like a pomegranate.  His body fell in a clump on the
ground.  The Gekken rushed to join their comrades in the fray.  Suddenly, the
things that Raveena had told Kiella no longer seemed like ghost stories. 
    “Damn it! 
Kiella, release me!  Get the keys!  Release me!  It’s our only chance” pleaded
the warrior maiden. 
    Kiella, overwhelmed by the horror of what was happening all
around her, was startled out of her stupor by Raveena’s scream.  She looked
Raveena in the eye.  The warrior continued to plead with her.
    “Please. 
Please Kiella.  Release me.  Let me fight.  It’s our only hope.  You see.  You
see now?  Your captain, his men . . . they are overmatched.  You must let me
fight.  We will be butchered too.  It’s our only hope.  For me, for yourself,
for your captain, what men he has left . . .  Let me out.”
    Kiella tried to gather her wits.  Yes.   Of course.  There
was nothing left to lose now.  She looked up and saw Captain Vol.  He was
fending off the Gekken he was