Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (5 page)

"What can
I say? I have an awesome big bro. He taught me everything I need to
know. Now look at him, all grown up and in the army."

"So, how
are things at home?" Ash asked, sounding rather
reluctant.

"Oh, you
know, same as always. Dad's not happy unless he's making someone's
life miserable, and Mom's leg has been playing up again. She misses
you."

"Yeah,
well, she made it clear she wanted nothing more to do with me. They
both did." Ash cast his eyes down for a moment, and then looked at
me. "Can you give us a moment alone?"

"Sure," I
replied.

Ash and
Graeme retreated into the corner of the room. From what I could
see, Ash was getting worked up over something, and Graeme was
trying to calm him down. Deciding that it was none of my business,
I turned away. In doing so, I bumped shoulders with someone. A bit
of coffee sloshed over the edge of my cup, landing on the arm of
their jacket.

"Sorry,"
I mumbled, and turned to walk away. A large hand caught my elbow. I
turned back to the man, to see that the hand belonged to Baldie,
who looked down his nose at me.

"You're
one of 'em, aren't you?"

I didn't
answer, instead opting to stare right back at him.

"I'm
looking for Ashley White."

The mere
mention of Ash's name was enough to make me glance in his
direction. Baldie's eyes followed mine. He smiled, pushing me away,
rather than letting go. He turned his back to me, thrusting his
hands inside his jacket pockets. It struck me as odd, that Ash
would have picked him out of the crowd as suspicious if he had
known him. I started to follow, wondering what he was up to, when I
saw the glinting metal being withdrawn from his right
pocket.

My
initial thought was to shout 'knife' and alert everyone to the
danger, but there were too many innocent people around. The last
thing I wanted was to cause a hostage situation. I thought maybe I
could use my ability on him, and make him so afraid he wouldn't go
through with whatever he was planning. But then I couldn't be sure
how he'd react, so I improvised. I tapped him on the shoulder. He
spun around, and I threw my drink in his face. His hands went up to
cover his eyes, but it was too late. He let out a low, guttural
scream as the hot coffee hit. The knife was in plain sight now.
People around us gasped and backed away from him as he rubbed at
his face.

"You
bastard," he yelled. His skin glowed a deep red, matching the
bloodshot whites of his eyes. He swung the knife at me, missing by
some margin. There was a scream from the crowd, and for a split
second my attention was elsewhere. It was enough for Baldie to grab
hold of my jacket with one hand, the other raised to strike again.
Time appeared to slow as the knife came down.

Without
warning, Baldie gave a sudden yelp and dropped the knife to the
floor. He let go of me, and clutched his right hand, blood
beginning to drip through his fingers. The knife clattered against
the tiled floor, before coming to rest. Its hilt was coated in a
thick layer of icy spikes, their tips coated red. I took the
opportunity to push myself away from him.

The crowd
backed further away, leaving the two of us in the centre of the
ever-expanding clearing. Ash was at one edge, walking towards us
with a satisfied smirk on his face. Sometimes, I cursed my lack of
a physical ability and small size. This was one of those
times.

Baldie
set his sights on Ash, who stood there, confident, as the large
brute strode over to him, still clutching his bleeding hand. A loud
bang came out of nowhere, eliciting more than a few shrieks from
the onlookers. Baldie fell to the ground, his knee giving way in an
eruption of blood.

General
Marsten walked over to the collapsed heap on the floor, his gum
aimed directly at him. He looked over at myself and Ash. "You two
are not to go anywhere." Pointing at one of the other graduates, he
said, "You there, report this to the infirmary. I want some medics
and a stretcher here ASAP to sedate this man and take him in. And
bring a mop back with you." The young man saluted and pushed his
way through the crowd.

The
General raised his voice to speak to the whole room. "I apologise
for the inconvenience, but I need this area vacated. If you could
all please head through the double doors at the back of the room,
and we will relocate to the library. I would also advise that
no-one leaves until we are sure of what happened here."

Everyone
began to filter out through the doors. Principal Wilkes was one of
the few who remained. "Get a team together," the General told him.
"Have them find any witnesses and question them." Wilkes nodded,
and hobbled to catch up with the crowd.

Two
medics rushed through the side door not long after, carrying a
stretcher between them, followed by the mop-wielding graduate.
Baldie writhed in agony on the floor as they tried to sedate him.
It took one of them to hold down his arm, while the other injected
him.

"He
should have been here," he grumbled as he drifted off. The medics
managed to roll him onto the stretcher.

"I want
him cuffed to a bed and kept sedated until I say otherwise.
Understood?"

"Yes
Sir," they replied, and Baldie was carried off. That left the
unfortunate graduate to clean up the mess his knee had
made.

The
General finally looked back at us. To say he looked pissed was an
understatement. "Both of you in my office. Now!"

We walked
in silence, out of the lobby and up to the third floor, with
General Marsten trailing behind us. His office was the third on the
left. Ash went inside first, while I waited outside. From the other
side of the door, I could hear their voices, but not what was being
said. It was some minutes before Ash exited the room, indicating
with a tilt of his head that I should go in.

The
office was a large room with deep green walls, lined with neatly
stacked bookshelves and filing cabinets. At the far end, the
General sat behind his ordered desk, his hands clasped. I closed
the door, and then stood to attention in front of the
desk.

"At
ease," he said. I relaxed my stance. "I want you to tell me exactly
what happened."

I did
just that, starting with Ash's suspicions during the presentations,
to our meeting in the lobby, and finally the confrontation that
resulted in Baldie's knee being shot out. He nodded every now and
then as I talked. When I finished explaining, he brought Ash back
in, who stood at my side.

"Your
friend informs me that this man was looking specifically for you,"
he said, his eyes focused on Ash. "Any idea why that might
be?"

"No, Sir.
Never seen him before."

"I'll be
questioning this man myself. I hope for your sake you're telling
the truth."

There was
a knock at the door and the General answered, "Come in." It was one
of the graduates, who reported on the information gathered from the
witnesses downstairs.

"Okay, it
appears your stories check out." I let out a breath I hadn't
realised I was holding. "I want to see written reports on my desk
by tomorrow morning. You are dismissed. Go enjoy the rest of your
graduation." We saluted and turned on our heels.

"Have you
really never seen him before?" I asked as we retraced our steps
back downstairs.

"If I
have, I don't remember him."

I wanted
to believe him, but the attack wasn't random. Baldie had set out
looking for Ash. I supposed it was possible he could have been
hired, or maybe a relative of someone who held a grudge against
Ash, however, the whole ordeal seemed very personal.

"Thanks
for the help," I said. If it hadn't been for Ash making him drop
the weapon, things could have ended very differently. I had let
myself get distracted by my surroundings – a mistake that could
have cost me my life. Alone, it would have been a different story;
I wouldn't have had to worry about his reaction to my ability. I
chuckled to myself at the mental image of Baldie trembling in fear
at the sight of someone half his size.

"Don't
mention it. Besides, I should be thanking you. Who knows what would
have happened if you hadn't spotted the knife?"

He gave
me a quick pat on the back and smiled as we traversed the lobby.
The library was packed with people, though it was clear the crowd
had thinned somewhat since we last saw it. There was a short
silence as the doors opened, and people turned to observe us. A few
wandered up to us, asking if we were all right. One nearby elderly
woman scoffed at us, saying we deserved to be put down. I glared at
her until she huffed and turned her back on us.

We looked
around the room and managed to spot Lucas and Graeme, who were
getting acquainted in our absence. They asked about what happened,
and we found ourselves retelling the events once more.

Lucas
asked Graeme if he had thought about following in his brother's
footsteps and joining the army. He shrugged. Graeme was studying
mechanics at the Engineer's Guild. They were working on designing
and implementing a form of public transport that would run on rails
above the rooftops of Rachat. It would certainly make getting
around the city easier. As it was, transport vehicles were limited
to military operations outside of the city, on account of the city
streets being too narrow.

Ash
yawned, and for the first time that day I noticed how tired he
looked, his shoulders drooping a little, and his eyes not quite
fully open.

"You look
beat, Bro. Rough night?"

Ash shook
his head. "I've been trying to shield myself all day, which is
exhausting enough on its own. Then I had to freeze that knife,
which might not have looked like much, but it takes a lot more
energy to do it that quickly. The hangover this morning didn't
exactly help either." He laughed.

"Well, I
should head back home. Mom and Dad are probably freaking out by
now."

"They'll
be pissed that you came anyway. You should stay a few more hours,"
Ash said. "I hardly get to see you these days."

"Nah, I
got things to take care of for tomorrow." Graeme put an arm around
Ash and gave him a few taps to the back. "I'll tell Mom you said
'hi'. She'll be glad to know you're doing okay."

"Yeah,
whatever," Ash grumbled.

"It was
nice meeting you guys. Take care of my big bro, okay?" We shook
hands again and he left, waving as he passed out of
sight.

Ash left
soon after, saying he needed a nap, leaving Lucas and I to head to
the cafeteria for lunch. I hadn't realised how hungry I was until
Lucas mentioned food. We parted ways afterwards, and I went back to
the dorms, stopping along the way to pick up two copies of the
incident report form, in case Ash had forgotten. He was already
fast asleep, so I changed out of my uniform and sat down at the
desk to fill out my report. Ash stirred a couple of times, mumbling
something I couldn't quite make out. Sleep-talking was common after
exhausting ourselves through the use of our abilities, especially
for Ash. It was as though he reacted to the emotions around him
even in sleep. I felt tired myself, so I decided on having a quick
power nap, and laid down on my bed, looking up at the
ceiling.

*****

When I
awoke, I noticed Ash was up and nowhere to be seen. Only the faint
glow of the street lamps illuminated the room. So much for a power
nap, I thought. The sound of the door opening and closing caught my
attention.

"Look
who's finally up," Ash said. I sat up and wiped the gunk from the
corners of my eyes. Ash was out of breath and I saw the sweat
beading on his forehead. "I went for a jog to clear my head," he
said. "You up for a bit of sparring? I need a chance to really
vent."

I was a
little frustrated too after the day's events, so I nodded and we
gathered up our things to head to the gym. There were only a few
others using the facilities when we arrived. We secured our items
in the locker room, and went out into the open hall. After doing
some stretches and a couple of laps around the place, we grabbed
some head guards from the storeroom. The sparring started off
light, but we quickly got into it. Ash had been kick-boxing since
he joined the academy. It had become more of a way to relieve
stress than an actual hobby. My interest in the sport only begun
after meeting Ash a little over a year ago. Since then, he had
taught me everything he knew.

"That all
you got?" he taunted me, dodging another blow to the head. I
replied with a front kick, catching him off-guard. He let out a
gratifying grunt. His feet continued to dance every which way,
keeping me on my toes, but he was tiring. I could hear it in his
shallow breaths, and see it in his sluggish movements. He was
slowing down. I wasn't in much better condition. My heart beat
against my rib cage, and sweat poured from my brow and everywhere
else imaginable. Every muscle was beginning to ache, begging me to
stop, but my first victory was just within reach. A little more and
I would finally beat him.

I willed
myself to keep going, barely blocking the flurry of punches aimed
at my head. I focused on his movements, biding my time as he wore
himself down, and waiting for an opening. I blocked a kick to my
side, and seeing my chance, lifted my right leg into a front kick.
Ash moved back out of reach, as I hoped he would. At the last
moment I faked out and moved into a roundhouse kick with my back
leg, aiming for his unprotected flank.