Aiden didn’t really want to test the resolve of the man so decided to stay quiet. It didn’t help matters that when he’d spoken, it had felt like he was swallowing razor blades, so the thought of screaming anything was right out. Whoever had kidnapped him was safe from that.
Finally, the man slowed and then stopped, depositing him on the ground in an uncomfortable heap. He wasn’t tied up, but as weak as he was it really didn’t matter. The figure didn’t seem overly concerned about it either when he squatted down and turned his fierce gaze on Aiden as he held a rather dangerous looking dagger about two centimeters from his face.
“Okay kid, just keep your cool and we’ll be fine. We’re waiting for someone, so if you can keep your mouth closed, no one needs to get creative about giving you nicknames for missing body parts or scars. Nod your head if you understand.”
Aiden’s muscles felt like wet rags, and he knew he was in no condition to try to escape so just nodded, not wanting to antagonize the dangerous figure. The sharp blade didn’t waver while the man studied him for a long moment, but the next he’d stood and with a flicker sheathed the dagger. Aiden watched warily as the kidnapper stepped back to lean against the far wall of the alley, settling in to wait for whoever was expected.
He tried to study the figure in the dimness, but he was in too much pain, and there just wasn’t a lot of detail not covered by black leather armor and dark clothing. Even his dagger had been black, stealthy in the darkness except for the glint of the blade. His pain began to intrude, clouding his judgment enough to risk the man’s wrath with a question.
“Who are you? Why did you kidnap me?” Aiden finally whispered, watching as a gloved hand tightened on his dagger. Aiden was beginning to fear he would carry through on his threat when instead he shifted and growled out in his low voice. “Listen, kid; I don't know anything about why they want you; just that they’re paying well. And before you ask, who’s they? Don’t be stupid. I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew. You’re just a job.”
The kidnapper shifted, letting his eyes scan around him before returning them to Aiden. “So, why the hell did you run into that burning building? You almost cost me a lot of money. That fire was supposed to bring you out of the school, not kill you.
Aiden growled softly, shifting so he could get more comfortable and failing miserably. “You set the fire? You almost killed a child, and I almost died.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah…well, that happens in war, kid. People die.”
“War? We’re not at war with anyone, are we?” Aiden felt confused, but the menacing figure went quiet, refusing to answer. Terek hadn’t seen war for a generation, the last time being well before he was ever born. Could he mean the war between Noropol and Caiterel? He wanted to push for answers, but the threat of that knife was still sharp in his mind. Feeling sullen, Aiden just went quiet as his thoughts churned furiously try to think of some way to escape, but every time he moved a muscle his whole body just screamed at him.
Several more minutes passed until they heard a soft sound coming from one of the dark alleys around them. The man turned, facing the gloom and peering into it when a lithe, graceful form detached itself from the darkness, grinning a very familiar roguish smile.
Ashrak.
Aiden cursed under his breath. Of course it was him. No wonder he didn’t do anything to him in the baths, knowing he was going to have him kidnapped not more than a few hours later. How could he have been so foolish? Aiden glared, trying for his most lethal stare which both men totally ignored.
“Personally,” Ashrak smirked, flicking a stray strand of his hair over his shoulders. “I have an already appropriate nickname for him. One that doesn’t involve cutting or chopping. Not yet anyway.” He drawled, looking at Aiden speculatively. “I far prefer Orphan Boy. Easier to say and has a certain comfortable flow to it, don’t you think? Nicknames that flow badly are just a shame.”
“Ashrak, you bastard…” Aiden tried to croak out, but the pain was too great, and he had to stop. If it were the last thing he’d do he would get revenge. If he lived.
Ashrak chuckled as if he were in a bar telling stories to friends. “Now, Aiden, watch your language. I’m afraid that’s another tick on the list.” Ashrak made a mark in the air with his finger, as if making a checkmark. “I am fairly sure that orphans aren’t allowed to swear. Tsk tsk. Besides, running into a burning building is a phenomenally stupid thing to do. Don’t you live at a school?”
The man wrapped in black just watched Ashrak with narrowed, alert eyes. He had re-pulled his dagger but held it down with his body turned sideways while the boy spoke. It wasn’t long before his patience wore through. “Are you the contact for the mark? Got my gold? If you don’t have it, you’re not getting the kid.”
Ashrak paused, his eyes considering. Aiden wasn’t sure what was going on but just wanted to spit he was so mad. Surprisingly, Ashrak just shook his head and chuckled. “You know, for just a second I thought about lying to you. You might even have been stupid enough to believe it, but frankly, I don’t want to spend my allowance or miss out on a little fun. Really, I haven’t killed or maimed someone in ages. They are so dreary about that here, screaming and carrying on about a little blood. But no, sorry to disappoint, but I am not your contact.”
Ashrak smiled. A brilliant thing that showed lots of teeth which quickly turned feral as he drew his long curved sword and sprang at the man.
For a glorious moment, Aiden had a vision of Ashrak launching into a beautiful and very quick end to the kidnapper before wiping his blade off on the kidnappers’ tunic. He probably wouldn’t even muss his hair or get a spot of blood on him. Gods, he hated Ashrak.
But that didn’t happen. Not at all.
It was clear that Ashrak had some skill. He handled his blade well and pressed his opponent backward almost immediately, but the man was a professional with the dagger and knew how to move and dodge. The only thing that kept Ashrak from dying shortly into the confrontation was his speed and the fact that Ashrak’s blade was considerably longer than the dagger.
Aiden watched several times as the kidnapper was able to get his blade on Ashrak’s and almost step in close enough for a strike on the white-haired boy. Each time, Ashrak would leap far enough away to reset their confrontation and keep himself alive. The kidnapper was too patient, though, and Aiden watched as Ashrak become more and more frustrated. Aiden wished he had the strength to do something. Anything. He thought back to the burning building, how it had felt when the glimmer steel had come into being and held up the roof. Could he do that again? Do something to help Ashrak? He raised his head slightly, reaching his hand out towards the two combatants and tried.
In answer, his head just flared and pounded, causing him to slump once more to the ground. The attempt to summon glimmer steel to aid Ashrak had resulted in only a distant, failed echo which did nothing but cause him pain. It took a few moments for his eyes to refocus, settling back on the two battling figures. It was only a matter of time before he had to watch Ashrak, a boy who up until a few moments ago he’d despised, be killed with that black blade sunk deep into his body.
Glowby suddenly darted into his tunic. He thought for a moment his friend was trying to hide from the soon-to-be grisly site of Ashrak stabbed, but instead, he felt something squirm. Something fuzzy and small. The garkit! Slowly the little animal crawled up and out of the neck hole of his tunic before turning to give him a far-too-intelligent look. Aiden could swear that its four small eyes were actually glowing dimly in the darkness of the alley, but before he could look closer, the small animal had turned and was bounding towards the fight.
Aiden raised his head just in time to see Ashrak slip on something. Falling back with a cry of dismay, the exhausted boy tried to catch his balance and failed. The eyes of the kidnapper crinkled with a smile even as he lunged forward to take advantage of the slip. He’d just raised the dagger, ready to plunge it into Ashrak’s chest when the garkit leaped up and caught h
im full in the face, slashing the man’s cheek before jumping away.
The man yelled in alarm, jerking at the sudden surprise attack and hesitating just long enough for Ashrak to scream back in defiance, his arm moving wildly from the floor of the alley as it slashed upwards in a move of desperation. The curved sword cut into the dark figure’s dagger hand with a sickening, wet sound and blood exploded outwards, following the man’s body in a backward arch of pain. Before Ashrak could do anything further, the man leaped up, screaming and howling before darting into an alley and disappearing into the darkness.
The fading sounds of the man’s furious cries echoed, and then finally died leaving the alley quiet except for Ashrak’s labored breathing. Aiden watched him lying there, wondering if somehow he’d been injured in the fight. He hadn’t seen a strike land home, but he was far from an expert and something could have happened that he didn’t see.
Ashrak’s laughter made Aiden scowl. The exhausted sound rose up, echoing in the dim light of the alley before he held his hand up into the air, three fingers extended. Aiden was baffled for a moment, but then his frown deepened.
“I am not taking three checkmarks for that,” he rasped quietly, glaring at the prone figure. The laughing only increased before Ashrak finally sat up, grinning at him.
“Orphan Boy, I almost died for you. You are totally getting three more checks on the list.” Slowly he stood, walking over to Aiden and reaching down, helping him up. Aiden didn’t bother to answer, realizing that the best way to avoid getting sucked into Ashrak’s weird game was just not to say anything but having a sinking feeling he was already too late. As they began to hobble out of the alley, Aiden saw the glint of green eyes and reached down, scooping up the garkit before depositing it in his tunic. The glow in its eyes was long gone, and the poor thing was mewling softly in fear at the strange place it found itself. Aiden intended to get it back to the little boy if he could, whoever he was.
It was extremely painful for Aiden’s tired body, but they slowly made their way back to the school and infirmary. There were a number of people inside receiving care from the fire, so it was easy to slip in unnoticed. Ashrak leaned in, staring at Aiden intently for a long moment.
“Okay, Orphan Boy, don’t tell anyone I helped you.”
Aiden blinked, shaking his head. “What?” He croaked. “Why not?”
Ashrak only flashed his roguish smile. “And ruin my hard earned reputation? No, I far prefer not to have people think well of me. It’s far more convenient to be despised. That way when I disappoint them, they aren’t surprised. Best just to say you were dropped somewhere when they learned you had no coin and someone you didn’t know helped you. Maybe some townsmen rescued you? Trust me; they wouldn’t believe it was me anyway.”
Ashrak held his look until Aiden reluctantly nodded. “Okay, but I know, and whether you like it or not, I’m thankful you were there.”
Ashrak laughed, patting his head before turning away. “Of course, you should be. Trust me; I’ll collect on that sometime in the future, too. I suspect I’ll need it, just see that you don’t forget when the time comes.” He winked, turning before sauntering out of the door and into the night, leaving Aiden to limp his way further into the building.
Nurse Bandari, the woman that had taken care of him earlier in the day, was bustling about the wounded along with other healers. Aiden grimaced at some of the injuries, realizing that something had happened after he’d gone unconscious. All he remembered after stumbling out of the building was wracking, terrible pain and then darkness.
He shuffled toward Nurse Bandari who was busy fitting sheets on one of the beds and didn’t see him as he walked up. He hurt so much all over but really only wanted a nice glass of cool water and then he’d be on his way. The dining hall was just down the campus a ways, but it was so far and walking into the school from town had already been terribly painful.
“Excuse me, Nurse?” Aiden rasped. “Can…do you have some water I could have?”
Nurse Bandari turned and immediately fell back on the bed she had been making, her elderly body tumbling as she cried out in alarm. Aiden felt bad that he’d startled her, unsure of what could have made her jump but began to wonder what he looked like when some of the other nurses came over with alarm clearly etched on their faces.
“By the circle, how are you standing?” One of the staff asked, taking his arm and shepherding him over to one of the beds. “Why didn’t you come with one of the carts, boy? They were transporting the injured here.” Aiden would have tried to wave her off, but the room above him was reeling a bit, turning in a strange way and he felt so exhausted.
He decided to surrender, watching in detachment when Nurse Bandari began to cut his shirt off. The thought crossed his mind that he was going to miss that shirt. He had no idea where he’d get another sturdy one to replace it since orphans didn’t get very many good things. He seemed to remember Professor Reivus presenting it to him at one time or another. Wasn’t he wearing a hat, too? Green or something.
When they pulled it away, he was startled at the number of holes that had been burnt into it. Maybe that explained some of the pain he felt? At least he didn’t feel so badly about the shirt now since it was no longer sturdy or nice. And he wouldn’t need to clean it. Maybe he was finally going mad. One of the younger nurses held up a cup, tilting his head and asking him if he could drink. He did, and it was the most beautiful cup of whatever it was he’d ever had. A warm, tingling sensation began to blossom in his stomach that made him smile. He was pretty sure he wanted to drink that all day.
He realized that his eyes had settled on a mole just to the left of Nurse Bandari’s nose and wondered for a brief moment why it was so fascinating. Why was he concentrating so intently on a mole? He was sure that was odd behavior, but thankfully the mole was starting to fade. Actually, her whole face was getting a bit blurry. Finally, he got it. It wasn’t her; it was his eyes closing in exhaustion. Probably, he thought, also from whatever had been in that drink. They were sneaky like that, giving you good drinks that also did other things. Either way, he was thankful and let his eyes drift close, sinking into a deep healing sleep.
Chapter 9
Aiden could feel the tugging, though at first it was so light it was like a mouse climbing on his pants leg. Gods, he thought, couldn’t he just rest? What was going to happen now? He tried to ignore it, desperately even imagining swatting at it with his hands, but that only gave him a few moments. Moments that were just long enough for him to recognize the fading.
Ugh…
He opened his eyes, looking around and recognizing immediately that he was not in the waking world but was also not dreaming. This felt too familiar like it had when he’d gone to do whatever it was he’d done with the breeder stone.
This time he resolved to pay more attention to what was happening around him. Wherever he was, it didn’t feel quite complete yet. It felt like he was standing in a fast-moving stream which was trying to carry him along, but something else was pulling him in the other direction. It got stronger as he studied it, the upstream tugging becoming more insistent with each passing moment. Just as he realized it felt like his friend Glowby, the pressure that was trying to sweep him downstream disappeared, leaving him to stand in an eerily empty infirmary with Glowby bobbing happily by his head.
Aiden gave his friend an obstinate look. It wasn’t quite a glare, but he was becoming a little irate at all of these weird things Glowby was getting him into. Even as he watched, Glowby happily headed for the door, missing completely that Aiden had planted his feet and crossed his arms.
It actually took a minute or so before Glowby peeked back into the infirmary and bobbed a few times as if to ask what he was doing. In response, Aiden just shook his head and refused to budge. “No, not until you tell me what we’re doing. I don’t care if you can’t talk. Figure something out.”
Glowby hovered in disbelief, shocked at Aiden’s resistance before bobbing up and down aggressi
vely, clearly agitated at Aiden’s resistance.
“I said, No. I’m not going to just traipse after you again until I know what we’re doing. The last time I did, you took me into a burning building and then I was kidnapped.”
Glowby spun in place for a few moments, glowing a dark red before darting towards Aiden and then back toward the door. He repeated this a few times and when it resulted in Aiden not moving, finally traveled all the way back towards him and vibrated angrily in front of his face.
“No!” Aiden stated flatly. “I am not going to just follow you without knowing what is going on, Glowby. I need to know what we’re doing. You know, you’ve been awfully suspicious lately. Why didn’t you stop me from making that plate?” He poked his finger at Glowby. “You seemed almost excited!”
Glowby floated back in shock, his red color quickly turning into a pale blue. He shook himself a few times before turning away and gently floating down towards the floor. Aiden watched as his friend’s color deepened, becoming first a deep sea-blue before continuing to fade towards a bluish-black.
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4 Page 10