Ascension (5 page)

“You’re not going to leave it with him, are you?” Laura asked.

“If I don’t,” Logan said, “he will just find another one.  And what happened today won’t even make him think twice.  However…”  he took the blade between his fingers, and began to curl it onto itself.  Laura would have expected the metal to snap, but Logan did it with a natural dexterity.  It took him a few minutes, but in the end, the blade was warped beyond recognition.  Logan tossed it to the man’s side.  “Let him try to use
that
against somebody.  It’ll serve as a warning.  If he even so much as
thinks
as robbing someone again, he’ll remember what happened this time.  And how he was lucky I was feeling generous.”

Laura smiled.  Logan had a fascinating way of thinking about things.  She didn’t know how much of a deterrent the blade would be, but she hoped Logan was right.  And she was proud of him at how he handled the situation.

Logan winked at her as if he had read her thoughts.  “Come on.  If we don’t get out of the shadows, Alexander might think something happened to us.”

They went back to the middle of the street, and sure enough, when Laura looked back, she spotted Alexander’s shape in the distance, much closer than he would have been if he wasn’t concerned.  She rose her arm to let him know that everything was okay, and he immediately turned onto a side street.  There was no point in him trailing them if he were visible to their enemies.

They continued the rest of the way without incident.  Logan led her down small, narrow streets that were always behind the main road.  They passed a few more vagrants on the way, but Laura had learned her lesson earlier, and each time shot them such a look of danger that they shied away.

“I hope you never use that look on me,” Logan quipped after the third time it had happened.  Laura laughed.  Despite the hot, dry air and the uncomfortable environment, not to mention the perpetual threat of danger, spending time with Logan like this, one on one, was very enjoyable.  It’s something she hadn’t had nearly enough time to do since getting here.

After another twenty or thirty minutes of walking, Logan slowed down, and pointed to the skyline.  Laura looked up.  There, looming over the two- or three-storey buildings that made up most of the shantytown, was a lone gray tower.  It stood maybe six or seven stories in height, and had a single window peeking out on every level.  Even the ones that Laura could see from where they stood, the ones that were completely out of reach from anybody on the ground, were boarded up and nailed shut. 

“Is that it?” Laura asked.

Logan nodded.  “That’s it.  We have to be careful now – the area may be guarded.”

“Guarded?  By whom?”

“Street gangs run this town,” Logan replied.  “And I think the tower marks one of their key strategic holds.  They’re very territorial.”

“But as far as they know, we’re just tourists walking by,” Laura said.  “They shouldn’t trouble us.”

“A dangerous assumption.  What would tourists be doing here?”

“Well, even if they decide to trouble us, they don’t really pose a threat.”

“No?  Thirty armed men with guns don’t seem like a threat to you?  We’re
Vassiz
, Laura, not invincible.”

“Well, when you say it that way…”

“Trust me,” Logan said.  “It’s best for us to be careful.  That was your mantra this whole trip, wasn’t it?”

Laura nodded.  “You’re right.  What do you think is the best way of getting closer, then?”

“Let’s wait for Alexander first.  “We’ll need to coordinate with him.”

“Sure,” Laura replied.

“Now, I’ve already been there,” Logan continued.  “So I know the area a little bit.  One of the things to watch out for is that the tower stands in front of a five-way intersection.  The streets line up before it to open up somewhat like a town square.  And the tower itself is at the very end of a triangular block, overlooking the juncture.  The only way to get to it without being seen is down either of the two streets that line its block.”

“There’s going to be three of us,” Laura said.  “Does that mean two go together?”

Logan shook his head.  “No.  I think it’s best if we all go separately, and all go down a different route.  One of us is going to have to pass through the square in front of the building.”

“Is that so problematic?”

Logan bit his lip, considering.  “I’m hoping it’s not, but I’m afraid it might be.  Anybody watching the tower will instantly recognize three strangers coming toward it.  Especially when we’re so obviously not from around here.”

“Do you think there would be anyone watching it?”

“One of the gangs, potentially.  We don’t want to cause a stir.  And if we’re unlucky, there might even be… something else.”

“Something else?”

Logan nodded.  “Yea.  I’ve been thinking about what we know of the repository.  The
torrial
were put there because they were too dangerous to be left accessible to anybody who wanted them.  I’m sure the decision to put them away was not taken lightly.  I’m sure, in fact, that there was disagreement between the deciding parties.  It would have been foolish for whoever stowed them away not to put any defenses up.”

“Defenses?” Laura asked.  “Like that?”

“I don’t know.  All I know is that we have to be careful.  Expect the unexpected.  We don’t know what any of the
torrial
can do.  If the repository really is in that tower, who’s to say that there aren’t some sort of
torrial
set up that activate only when a
Vassiz
is near, and not a human?”

“You’re right,” Laura said.  “We’ll have to be very careful.”

Chapter Five

~Watchers~

Once Alexander had caught up to them, Logan explained the plan, as well as the potential danger.  Alexander took it all in stride, and even made the suggestion that he should be first to go since he was not being directly looked for by the elders.  Laura dismissed the idea.  Logan was the one who would go first, since he had already been there, and would see if he could find a way in.  Then he would return, letting both Laura and Alexander know whether or not he’d been successful.  If he had, they would all go on different routes, staggering their times so they would arrive at the tower one after the other.  And if not, well, then they would have to reassess their plans.

When Logan left, Alexander and Laura both agreed to stake out the surroundings for any danger.  If they were careful, Laura thought they could avoid running into trouble, and perhaps prevent it in the future.   Laura set off on a small path to the right, while Alexander went left.

The street Laura was on curved widely, and then straightened into a narrow bend.  Small alleyways and back passages stood behind nearly every building on either side.  Most of them were tight and littered with discarded trash, but Laura thought that in a pinch she could be able to get through.  She kept her eye constantly on the tower, making sure that she circled around it without getting much closer or further away.

She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, exactly – just that anything suspicious needed to be regarded with the right amount of caution.  She kept to the sides of the street, using her speed to zip past any people who may have given her unwanted attention.   

As she was looking around, she noticed one peculiarity about the area.  The buildings everywhere were marked with graffiti, though there was no consistency to any of it.  Except for one thing.  Every three of four buildings, she saw the same marking, repeated over and over again.  Compared to the rest of the tags, it was fresh, and painted with a superior hand.  It was a stylized marking of a fist, clutching two ends of a spear.  Although when looked at from a different perspective, it could have easily been two fangs ensnared by a serpent.  For some reason, that second interpretation made Laura uneasy.

She returned to her starting point to find Alexander already waiting for her.

“Where’s Logan?” she asked.

“Not here yet,” Alexander replied.

“Oh.  Well, did you see anything?”

“A few things,” he answered.  “First, I’m now sure Logan was right about this being gang territory.”

“How come?”

“There was a marking,” he said.  “Over and over.  A snake, wrapped around two fangs.”

“I saw it too,” Laura said.  “What do you think it means?”

“Probably just the signage of a gang,” Alexander replied thoughtfully, “although something about it raised my hackles.”

“You felt it too?” Laura asked.  “I thought it was just my imagination getting the better of me.”

Alexander shook his head.  “Too much of a coincidence to be imagined.  If Logan’s right, and the repository really is in the tower, I’m sure the gang that rules here knows something about it.”

“So what do we do?”

“Try to attract as little attention to ourselves as possible.”

“Do you think… the fangs… have something to with the
Vassiz
?”

Alexander exhaled.  “It could very well be.  Remember, there are
Vassiz
everywhere.  Many of them integrate themselves into normal human society.  Perhaps there are
Vassiz
in this very gang.  Maybe the gang is a pack.  Who knows?  But we best be wary.”

A noise behind her made Laura whip around.  She relaxed when she saw it was just Logan.  But then tensed again when she noticed the strain around his eyes.

“What is it?” she asked, running up to him.  “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” he said, but betrayed himself by looking over his shoulder.  “Come, we need to get away from here.”

“What?  Why?  Did you find an entrance into the tower?”

“I did,” he nodded.  Then he hissed, “Not now.  We need to move, quick.”

“Wha—?” Laura began, but was cut off when Logan grabbed her wrist harshly and pulled her forward.  After stumbling the first step, she caught her feet and went after him. 

“Come, Alexander,” Logan said as he passed him.  “Quickly!”

He released his grip on Laura’s arm and start to jog in the direction opposite the tower.  The jog turned into a run, and soon after he was using his full
Vassiz
speed to move away.  Laura didn’t understand what was going on, but she followed after him, as did Alexander.

They ran full speed through the streets, until they came upon an unremarkable intersection.  Once they crossed it, Logan just stopped.

“What was that?” Laura demanded.  “Logan, what’s going on?”

“That was unprecedented,” Alexander agreed angrily.  “Running like that could have given us away to
Vassiz
nearby.  If they didn’t know we were here before, they do now.  And it doesn’t matter if they know who we are or not – three
Vassiz
from a different pack are bound to raise questions.”

“Laura,” Logan said quickly, “do you trust me?”

“What?  Of course I do, but—”

“And you, Alexander?”

After a bit of a pause, Alexander nodded.  “Yes, I do.  We’re all in this together.”

“Then don’t call me crazy,” Logan said.  “But back there, when I got right to the tower, I felt… someone
watching
me.”

“Watching you?” Laura asked.  “What do you mean?”

Logan shrugged uneasily.  “I… do not know.  I first noticed them on the roofs, out of the corner of my eye.  They were looking down at me.  But every time I looked back, no matter how quickly, they were gone.”

“But what could be faster than your reflexes?” Laura wondered out loud.

“Exactly,” Logan said.  “Which is why it sounds crazy.  Even to me.  But I know what I felt.  It was the most uncanny sensation. 
Somebody
was looking at me, and I felt like... they knew why I was there.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Alexander said, but not unkindly.  “There’s nobody here who knows who we are, much less what we’re after.”

“I know,” Logan said.  “That’s what I thought, too.  But, what I felt…”

“Logan, you didn’t actually
see
anyone, did you?” Laura asked.  “You just thought someone was there?”

“Yes,” Logan nodded.  “I only noticed them out of the corner of my eye.  But my senses don’t play tricks on me.  Even if they were gone when I looked, I’m sure I was being watched.”

“And that’s why we just ran?”

“Yes,” Logan confirmed.  “The feeling stayed with me until we crossed a threshold four blocks back.  I wanted to get farther away before stopping, to be sure it was gone.”

“So you’re positive somebody was there?” Alexander asked.

Logan nodded.  “Somebody was watching me.”

“And they weren’t here last time you came?” Laura asked.

“No,” Logan shook his head.  “It’s crazy, I know.  But you have to believe me.”