“You attacked me!” Fale accused.
“I saved us.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“They weren’t following me,” she reminded him.
“Are you sure? They want you for something.” He raised an eyebrow.
“So, where do we go now?” she asked.
“Don’t know if they’re watching my place or not.”
“I assume they are.”
“If I hoist you through the slats in my balcony, you can get in my bedroom window.” Keron said.
“Um, yeah?”
Keron waited for her to comprehend as he said slowly, “You can get our bags…”
“Where’s your gym bag?”
“You mean this one?” He pulled on the strap across his chest. “I have another one under my bed.”
They made their plan and went to the back of Keron’s building, sticking to the shadows. First, Keron wrapped Fale’s right hand with a rag for padding and taped it, then he gripped her hips. “Remember, punch out the third slat and slide through, that’s where you’ll make the biggest gap to squeeze yourself and the bags. Grab your bag and pack me some denims, t-shirts, and everything in my bathroom. I’m gonna move out of the way. When you come back, I’ll see you. Then I’ll catch the bags and you. ‘Kay?”
“What if somebody’s there?”
“I’ll whistle.”
“But they’ll chase you.” She worried, full of fear for Keron.
“I’ll be back, look for me.”
“What if you drop me?”
“Are you kidding? I’m made of stainless valezsan alloy. You’ll probably break me." He grinned at her. “Don’t worry.”
She took a deep breath. “Here we go." Fale jumped up as he lifted fast with his metal arm and all his strength. Fale barely perched on his shoulders and grasped the balcony floor. She counted over three slats and punched as hard as she could, feeling two of her knuckles split. She pulled back, imagining she was strong like Keron and punching again. This time there was a definite crack in the wood and a pop in her hand. She cringed, but she needed to hurry. This was no game. They were making noise and she had one more shot. Fale pulled back and broke the board and it felt like she broke every bone in her hand. She resisted the urge to cry out loudly, thankful her training helped her cope with intense pain.
“Good girl,” Keron said. He grabbed her feet and pushed up as she wiggled through the wood onto the balcony. She lay there for a second in the dark, seeing stars while she held down vomit and cradled her hand. Get up, Fale. You can do this.
She got through the window on adrenaline alone, packed Keron’s bag in the shadowy apartment, and followed the plan perfectly, right up to the “jump and I’ll catch you” part.
“I can’t.”
“Fale. We don’t have time for this.”
“I don’t like heights.”
“I don’t like turtles. Just jump.”
“I think I broke my hand,” she complained.
“I’ll fix you. First you have to come down here.”
“I can’t do it, Keron.”
“You can fight grown men with a two-foot blade, for goodness’ sake,” he sighed loudly.
“My long sword is twenty-three and a half inches,” she murmured.
“See? I didn’t know that, but I do know we can’t stay here. Let’s jump. We need to go.”
“I’m scared.”
“I’ll catch you, sweetheart. Please."
Call me that again. Please.
“I’ll try.” She swung her legs out.
“I’m ready,” he coaxed.
“Okay. Here I come.” Fale gathered her courage and jumped into Keron’s arms. He wrapped them around her, took a step back and bent at the knees, taking all her weight onto his valezsan metal leg.
“Told you I knew what I was doing.”
“I believe you now,” Fale said between breaths, her face pale, and her skin clammy.
“I think you’re going into shock.”
“Where are we going to go?” she asked. “They are after both of us now. What did you do?”
“Nothing I want to talk about right now. Plus, I’m on the verge of making a connection, but I want to be sure." He set her down gently.
“So where to?” Fale asked as they picked up their bags and started walking behind the building.
“Lisle’s?”
“No,” she said a little too quickly.
Keron narrowed his eyes. “I’ll ask you why not when we get settled. We’ll have to go to a guest house. The worse, the better, maybe they won’t scan us.”
“Why wouldn’t we want to be scanned?”
“I said I didn’t want to talk about this.”
“I haven’t run from Control for ten years. I need to know why. You will tell me when we’re settled.”
Keron shushed her and dropped his bag. “If we make it,” he whispered. “Here comes one.”
“Well idn’t it the metal man we was lookin’ far an’ he’s wit the little miss, what Terrence lost." The stranger rubbed his hands together. “Hey Beck, Leo, over here,” he called.
Crap. Fale wasn’t afraid, but she didn’t want to be running from Control and possibly have witnesses see her leaving bodies behind the building. Her only weapon was the enchanted dagger unless she could dig through her bag for a better option. Not likely.
“My tools,” Keron remembered.
“Look in your duffel,” Fale grinned broadly. She knew she had done well when she had spotted them and thrown them in the bag.
Meanwhile, the men had gathered and were approaching slowly. Fale still had her hand wrapped; she could try to fight with both. She sank into a defensive stance. It was her duty to die as a warrior without reluctance, but she wasn’t about to die today. She was ready to meet all three men until Keron was available.
“Lookit that gents, we got us a pretty girl ready for a fight,” the first man said. “Beck, up ‘ere." Beck stepped up with a wood plank like the one Fale had broken. Leo must have been the other one. He had a piece of pipe. Very little light was behind the building. The sun had set, and people were coming home from work. Small squares of light lay on the ground from occupied apartment windows. Fale tried to stay between them, in the darkness.
The three men stepped toward Fale slowly. She stood where she was, right leg back and her left knee bent; her right arm bent up behind her head pointing the dagger at the men, and her left arm straight out with the palm up. She bent her fingers, beckoning the men to charge her. Keron stood behind her, impressed with her bravery. He watched her begin to battle the first man, but the second man, Beck, stepped up and swung the board at her legs. She flipped backward and went back to fighting when Beck caught her in the head with the board. Her head seemed to pulse with the rhythm of her heartbeat. Keron moved to help her and ran right into the silhouette of Leo, the man with the pipe. “Which is stronger, metal man, iron or… whatever you’re made of?”
“It’s valezsan, you idiot.”
That made Leo irate. “At least iron is stronger than bone and before I pull you apart for scrap, I’m gonna break every bone in your body.”
“So, swing and quit jawwin’,” Keron incited the thug and ducked his first swing, blocking the return momentum with a glancing blow off his knife.
Fale was having difficulty keeping both men in front of her. This was no TacTrac drill exercise. No one was going to wait for her to get this right. She circled, but they circled slower until she was in between them. Blood dripped from her temple where the busted flesh was already swelling from being hit by the board. She pulled one man into herself, favoring her hand, and used his momentum to crash him into the man behind her. Algean Takanori warriors were peacekeepers, so she was trying not to stab anyone, knowing her dagger would kill them instantly. She’d never killed anyone before. If she could knock them out, she could get away; all she needed was a head start. She pulled with her good hand at the wood, as both men collided. Unsuccessful, Fale faced the men again wit
h a series of kicks and jabs aiming for their eyes, noses, throats, knees, and groins. There were ways to seriously disable a man without taking his life.
Beck swung the board at Fale’s shins, but she jumped over the sweep. She punched his solar plexus, right where his ribs fanned out from his chest and knocked the wind out of him. As he fell, she grasped his knee, lifted, and punched the side, making the man scream and roll in pain.
Keron had taken down Leo and saw Fale’s strike as he ran to help. He saw her stumble as the remaining man punched her jaw. Fale’s arm deflected the weight he put behind it, but her head snapped back and she spun around. The man smiled as he watched her.
“Fale,” Keron warned her.
“It’s okay, I’ve got it,” She slurred.
“Let me help you.” He put his back to hers, confronting the enemy. She shrugged him off and faced toothless again.
“Who do you work for? What’s your name?” she asked, leaning slightly on Keron’s shoulder.
“What’s it to ya?” he replied. “I already knowed who you was, since you was a tyke,” he leered.
“You’ve been working for them for a long time then? More than ten years?”
“I be meetin’ yer mother once, a long time ago. I might be the last thing she seen." The man smiled with so many missing teeth, his mouth was a checkerboard.
Fale yelled a battle cry. She saw the red of rushing blood, whose, she didn’t know. She saw it pulsing over her hands, her fault, her fault. Her parents were dead, and it was her- no, it was his fault. This piece of trash standing before her. She raised her dagger in a passion-filled formless move and simply ran at him. She had never been so out of control, her every move in a fight was premeditated. She always knew her opponents and when to strike and where. But this was nothing like that. This was like a blind rage.
The whole scene unfolded in slow motion before it happened. The man gripped her broken hand and twisted, bringing Fale to her knees. Then he spun her around, took her hand with the dagger, and held it to her neck. Fale didn’t fight him then; she knew he had a killing move. She knelt in front of the man panting. She looked up to see Keron’s eyes wide, an expression of shock registering on his flushed face, his weapons at the ready.
“What’cha wan’ know girl? Last chance.”
“Why? Why her?” she asked as Keron’s face fell.
“She gotta choose one. Her life or you.”
“But-” Fale began.
“That be all.”
Keron took a step forward, but the man said, “Not one more move. This one’s comin’ wit’ me, ya see? Or I use dis pretty blade." He pulled Fale up by the shoulder of her torn silk shirt, ripping the neckline further. Fale got up and stood motionless. “You not gonna try nothin’ funny, huh? Or I carve her a nice smile.”
Fale wrapped both his hands inside her own and held the dagger to her chest. “Do it,” she said, angry and panicking, trying to coach herself into bravery. A warrior is not afraid to die. I am not afraid to die. “Both of my parents are gone. I have no family left.” She didn’t want to be taken. Even if they were wizards, no one would ever hear from her again. As far as she was concerned, they were murderers, but she was terrified of the torture they might put her through. Better to end it now.
The man was so distracted by Fale’s declaration, he jumped when he saw Keron attacking with his blade and mallet. Fale watched him charge the assailant with a growl. The man tried to drag Fale backward, and get his hands out of her faltering grip, but she held tight. Come and get him, Keron. He pushed against her and pulled again. With her hands around the attacker’s, Fale pushed the dagger in toward her chest and sank down to give Keron room to attack. She saw her attacker’s panicked eyes scan the scene. Two of his men were down, Fale held his hands immobile with adrenaline strength, and Keron was charging him like a mad bull. Watching Keron’s advance and realizing he was outplayed, he pushed against her with his foot and yanked himself free, then ran away yelling, “It’s not the last time you’ll be seein’ me!” His maniacal burst of laughter followed him around the building.
Fale looked down as she felt wetness on her hands and gently pulled the point of her blade from her chest. “Keron,” she said, looking up at him. “Help.” She let the shock of the evening overwhelm her and crumpled into his hands, losing consciousness.
Keron found them a room at a small disreputable guest house. He had carried her for several blocks, going down less traveled passages before Fale woke up. “Put me down.”
“I’ve got you,” he said confidently.
“I know. Please,” she murmured. “I have my pride, too, you know.”
“Yeah, about that…”
“Can we talk when we get to- wherever we’re going?” Fale wondered if she looked as miserable as she felt.
“If you promise to be a good patient.”
“I’m too tired not to be.”
The owner gave them a lascivious grin and asked if they had credits or trade. Keron offered to do some maintenance work in trade for their room and some medical supplies, instead of swiping their wristbands. No questions asked.
The room was small, barely large enough for a double bed, mismatched side tables and a dresser, with a cracked leather chair in the corner. Everything was brown, except the carpet which was rust in color. Even the picture hung on brown paneling appeared to be a desert sunset. In the adjoining bathroom, Keron began running water in the tub. Fale lay back on the bed to wait for him to take a shower and closed her eyes. She felt a dip on the bed and turned her head to give him some privacy, but her eyes flew open when she felt the neckline of her shirt fall away. Keron touched her chest with his fingertips.
“This is still bleeding. I have to stitch it." He looked pained. “Sorry.”
The water was still running. Keron burned a candle and heated the curved needle from the medical kit, pulling out what looked like fishing line.
Probably is.
“Take your top off,” he said as medically as possible.
“Really?”
“It’s just like a swimsuit, Fale. Nothing I’ve never seen before.”
“Not mine, you haven’t,” she said, feeling peevish.
Why did he have to add that?
Fale removed what was left of her shirt and took down the rest of her hair. Keron was threading the needle. He turned to look at her and picked up a shiny soft curl to let it slip through his fingers. He sighed.
“What?” Her voice was strained.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.
“Just do it.”
“All right." Keron left to turn off the water in the tub and came back. He put one hand on Fale’s chest and pulled the needle with the other. Fale sucked air in through her teeth but made no other sound. When he finished, Keron checked her head wound. “This one’ll hurt, but it’ll heal,” he said. “Anything I don’t know about?”
“No, doctor,” she said. “Only the hand.”
“Okay. You’re gonna soak in the tub while I go do some maintenance. I’ll get you a bottle of vodka, with lemon, right? We’ll numb you up really good before we splint your hand.”
“Are you going to tell me why we’re here? Why we’re hiding?”
“I promised. I’ll tell you in a bit. Go get in the tub. I’ll get you a drink,” he said, packing the needle into the medical kit.
“How will you do it?”
“Go as far away as possible to buy it. I’ll hurry. You soak.”
He left and Fale’s hand began to throb as the adrenaline left her system. Crap. She took off her clothes and knife sheath with one hand. Keron had left the two candles from the med kit glowing in the bathroom. The tub was still steaming. Fale dipped her toes in and sighed, letting her foot fall all the way to the bottom of the tub. She stepped in and lowered her body into the scalding water. She could feel the stress of the evening melting away. Gently, Fale unwrapped and immersed her injured hand. She would heal. Doctor Keron wasn’t so bad, either.
Fale smiled to herself. What she really needed now was a good book.
The water was still nicely warm when Keron knocked on the door.
“Yes.”
An arm came through the door holding a tall glass of clear liquid. “Drink up, that hand’s gonna hurt like hell.”
She leaned over the tub to reach his hand and took the glass. “Thank you.”
“Be back in a while; I don’t know how much work he has.” Keron was about to leave, “Oh, here’s the rest of the bottle. Have a couple- you’ll need it." He reached into the room with one eye shut and set the bottle on the floor.
The room was empty when Keron returned. Alarmed, he called, “Fale?”
“In here,” she slurred heavily. “I. Am. A. Raisin.”
Keron checked the bathroom and laughed. “How come you didn’t get out?”
“I can’t do it.” She pouted with her lip out.
“Your head is still bloody. Do you need help washing your hair?”
“You know what?” she asked. “My hand doesn’t work.” She wiggled it around to show him. “But it doesn’t hurt quite so much anymore.”
“Good. You drank a lot.”
“Yeah, I’m not usta drinkin’ so much.”
Keron took the shower attachment off the tub wall. “Hug your knees, I won’t look." He washed Fale’s hair and got the blood off her scalp, then he pulled a towel off the rack. “Okay, give me your hand and stand up.”
“No peeking,” she said.
“No.”
“You don’t want to?”
“Fale, you’re killing me. Get out of the tub." He wrapped her in the towel. “Be right back.”
Keron returned with her t-shirt and boxers. He put her head through the extra- large shirt. “There. Give me your hands.” She obeyed and dropped the towel. Keron held the shorts, and with one hand leaning on his shoulder, she stepped into them. He twisted her hair in the towel and led her into the bedroom.
“This part sucks, Fale. I’m sorry.”
“Iss okay.” She slid to the headboard and held out her right hand dutifully. “I can hannle pain like a fighter.”
Keron had gathered a few pieces of flat metal hardware from his toolkit that would work as a splint. He worked quickly to realign her middle two fingers with a pop. She cried out briefly, then sighed at the release of so much pain. Her hand was still a swollen, ugly mess, and he felt around each of the bones. “If we’re lucky, then you’ve just dislocated these two in the middle." Using gauze, he splinted Fale’s index and middle fingers together, then her ring finger and pinky together. Then wrapped her whole hand in gauze for the night to keep it stationary. “Need anything before I clean up?”
The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1) Page 10