by S. E. Duncan
Ella and Burke continued their discussion in the comfort of the living room. “I need to tell you that while you were ill the Demon took its second victim. I had called to check in at work with Carl, and became suspicious when he told me of a young man who had been brought in. I went down to the office and laid my hands on him. He had been killed by the Demon. Like Jill, the second victim was young and athletic.”
“How are we going to find him?” Ella asked.
“If we don’t find him soon, I don’t think locating him is going to be much of a problem. I’m guessing he has a plan. He’s going for the strongest, healthiest victims he can find, and he’s sticking to this general area. Eventually I think he’s going to come after you and me. I think he wants to move on, maybe to a world with more rewarding prey or maybe to return to his own world. Either way, he’s not getting the strength he needs from the humans to open a portal and leave. It appears that right now he’s just as trapped here as your father and I were.”
Trapped; Burke did feel trapped here. Ella could understand that he and her father had risked everything to follow the Demon through the portal. Then after her father’s death, Burke had been left here alone to try to finish the job that he and her father had undertaken together. She wondered how quickly Burke would jump at the chance to return to Quintar, and would he ask her to go with him? If she went she’d be leaving her family and her world just as he had once left his.
“So what do we do?” she asked
“I’m not entirely sure; these last few days you have been my priority. I was surprised to discover how fast the Demon took his second victim. I’ve witnessed two cycles, and he didn’t move this fast before. I can only guess at the reasoning. Maybe he hoped to have the strength to face you before you’d gone through your awakening. I really don’t know, Ella. I’m kind of making this up as I go along.”
“This is pretty frustrating. What are we supposed to do, go on some kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer patrols at night?”
“No, we’re not going looking for him. Not yet anyway. You need to train first and get completely comfortable with the sai. But you’re not exactly going to be able to run around in broad daylight with the sai strapped to your back. You need to become comfortable with throwing a knife. Knives are quiet weapons; effective and easily concealed. We also need to explore your other gifts, like tracking. We can work on that some tomorrow.”
“Speaking of gifts, you said you could tell how someone died by touching them. How can you tell? Do you just know, or do you get some kind of vision?”
“The brain records everything. When someone passes and I lay my hands on their head, I’m actually reading the recorded images from just before their death. I see it like I’m watching a movie, but I also feel it as if I’m that person. It’s like a dream. I’m actually there, but the dream can’t physically hurt me. But just like when you have a dream, it seems so real. Have you ever woke up suddenly during a nightmare a little panicked, then you think, Thank God it was only a dream? When I let go and the connection is broken it sometimes takes a second to realize I’m fine. It’s not something healers like to go around doing all the time. The images become a memory for us. Every death I’ve seen and experienced is a part of me, and I’ll never be able to forget them. It’s not the same as witnessing a murder, though that would be bad enough. In addition to witnessing each death, I’ve lived through them. Sometimes it must be done, like when the cause of death is in question; it’s a sure way to find out what actually happened. It has been quite beneficial to my job at the medical examiners. Even though I can’t let on what or how I know, it often points me in a certain direction or leads me to something legitimately useful in court, like a small puncture where a drug was administered that might have gone unnoticed or the exact weapon used in a murder.”
Ella couldn’t help it; she had to ask the question. “Did you lay your hands on my parents after they died?”
Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, and every muscle in her body seemed tense. Burke reached over and took both of her hands in his. “No Ella, I did not. The body must be intact for me to be able to get a reading.” He thought it was best to just be honest with her. He knew she still greatly grieved their loss.
“I understand,” she said. She was looking at his hands wrapped around hers. They had known each other less than a week, but they had been through so much together already. Was it possible to live a lifetime in such a short time?
Burke untangled one of his hands from Ella’s and reaching over, gently lifted her face so that her eyes met his. “They didn’t suffer Ella.”
Ella moved closer to Burke and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “What do you say we clean up and get some rest? Tomorrow’s a big day. I need to go into the office and let Carl know we’re taking on an intern. We also need to come up with some kind of training plan for you to get more comfortable with your abilities. You must still be tired from the awakening, not to mention you ran more than a marathon today. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”
“You’re right, I am tired.”
“You go ahead and have a shower first.”
While Ella was in the bathroom, Burke got his things out of the bedroom and made up the sofa for himself.
~~
Ella woke early the next morning to the smell of coffee and breakfast. She sat up in bed and stretched, then got up and made her way to the kitchen. Burke was just setting two plates on the table. “Good morning, did you sleep well?” he asked, turning to smile at her.
“Yes, but I’m feeling a little guilty about stealing your bed.”
“Nonsense, I slept great.”
“This looks amazing,” Ella said as she sat down. “So what’s on the agenda for today?”
“Well, I’ve rigged up a dummy in the back yard. I thought you could work out and practice some more with the sai this morning while I go into work. I have some throwing knives for you to work with, too. I’ll tell Carl we’re taking on an intern from the college and work out the details on that end. Hopefully nothing will be going on at work today, and I’ll cut out for an early lunch. This afternoon I’d like to work on your tracking skills. Does that sound okay to you?”
“Sounds great. You know, I was thinking; you and my dad dove through this portal after the Demon so quickly, how is it that you have all of these things from your home?”
“What things?”
“Well, you said you had some seeds with you that you planted, and that makes sense, I guess. But, what about your sister’s necklace and the case with the sai?”
“That necklace was Willow’s most prized possession. Its value to her could be compared to an engagement ring in this world. Her love, Barret, had made it for her on her fifteenth birthday. He came from a long line of craftsmen. I never saw her without it on. Barret told me later that they had promised themselves to each other one night on the cliffs as the moons were rising over the ocean. After she was killed, and I laid my hands on her and experienced her last moments, I vowed to avenge her. Barret gave me the necklace, and I wore it on a leather cord to remind me of my vow. As for the sai, your father was wearing them. They are worn across the back in something called a chone. I have your father’s chone; we can fit it to you sometime. When we came through the portal we had only what we were carrying with us. Healers carry a bolsay, which is a leather pouch worn at the hip. It hangs from the shoulder across the chest from a long leather strap. I’ll show you mine sometime; it’s hanging in the greenhouse. We used them to carry herbs, seeds, mushrooms, moss, or anything else we might gather for medicinal purposes. That’s it; that’s all I have other than the clothes we were wearing. You already have your father’s black diamond. I sold a ring and the two broaches your dad and I had been wearing to secure our cloaks. Jewelry is cherished in my culture, but stones that are rare and extremely valuable on this planet are found in abundance on Quintar.”
“What abou
t the chest the sai are in?”
“I made the case for the sai a few years after your father died. It’s very similar to the one he had at home, and I thought it appropriate. I grew up working with wood; my father was a carpenter. As a matter of fact, my father made the original case your sai were presented to your dad in. The picture on the front is traditional, almost like a warrior coat of arms if you will. Falconry is almost as important to the history of the warrior as the sai. Had you been born and raised on Quintar you would have been presented with a Kinah after your awakening. Or rather, a Kinah would have chosen you. The Kinah are the birds that warriors hunt with.”
Burke was interrupted by the beep of the coffee pot shutting itself off. He’d been lost in memories of home, and Ella had been rapt with attention listening to him talk.
“I haven’t thought about these things in so long, but I had better get going to work,” he said as he stood up from the table. “Make yourself at home Ella, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Chapter 6: Come And Find Me
Later that afternoon, Burke stood at the kitchen window watching Ella throw knives at the dummy he had set up for her in the backyard. She hit the target over half the time, but was inconsistent with her strikes. He wasn’t sure if she meant to hit the target all over the place or had little control. Suddenly, Ella looked up at him and shrugged. Burke went through the back door to meet her.
“You seem a little frustrated,” he said.
“I’m aiming center mass, but I’m hitting all over the place. I guess I just assumed this would be as instinctual as the sai.” Ella had sensed that Burke was watching her, and it made her even more frustrated than she’d already been. Wasn’t this stuff supposed to be as easy as breathing? She was a warrior for crying out loud!
“Okay, first of all the sai are from Quintar. There’s something almost magical about them. If we went downtown to a martial arts store and bought you sai, you wouldn’t bond with them the way you did with your father’s. Remember how the stones glowed when you touched the weapons? You’ll get this, Ella. How long have you been practicing?”
“I guess about an hour. After you left this morning I went for a run, then worked with the sai for a couple of hours.”
“Ella,” Burke couldn’t help but laugh a little, “you picked up a throwing knife for the first time about an hour ago, and you’re hitting the target. You’ve already forgotten what it was like to be human. Many humans practice years and don’t throw on the level you are right now. Don’t over think it. You just need to adjust both how you’re holding the knife and the rotation of your wrist to control the spin a little more. Most importantly, modify the angle when you release the knife. Once you’ve mastered the mechanics of it you’ll be able to hit a moving target while you’re running. You’ll even be able to throw around a corner.”
“I guess,” Ella said. “Maybe I need to take a little break then pick it up again. Are you any good at this?”
Burke picked up one of the knives and threw it, hitting the dummy directly where its heart would be. “I’ve had a little practice,” he said. “I brought home lunch; are you hungry?”
“Starved.”
They went into the kitchen together and sat down to the sub sandwiches Burke had brought. Ella noticed two short leather belts on the table. “What’s this?” she asked, picking one up.
“They’re holsters for the throwing knives. I stopped in town and bought them. I have one, but I figured it would be too big for you. The smaller one you wear on your calf and the larger one on your thigh, like under a skirt or dress. Here, let me show you.” Burke held his hand out, and Ella handed him the larger of the two holsters. “Give me your leg,” he said.
Ella put her foot on the edge of Burke’s chair, and he leaned forward to wrap the holster around her thigh. She had on running shorts, and as his hands brushed across her silky skin, he tried to keep them from trembling. He had an even harder time controlling the catch in his breathing.
“Like this,” he said hurriedly, not even bothering to buckle the holster. “You get the idea, although you’ll probably want something under it. That’s what this is for,” he quickly placed the holster back on the table and held up a tube of cloth while he still had an ounce of composure left.
Ella’s cheeks were a little red as she sat back down and took a bite of her sandwich.
“I thought after lunch we’d work on your tracking skills,” Burke said. He was trying with some difficulty to move the focus away from Ella’s legs.
“Sounds good; what did you have in mind?”
“How about you give me a twenty minute head start then find me.”
“Okay, and how am I supposed to find you?” Ella asked. Then she added under her breath, “hope you don’t mind being out there for a while.”
“Just wait until you try. Ella, you’re going to be fascinated by your own instincts.”
“Right… let me get this straight; you want a twenty minute head start, then I’m supposed to track you?”
“Yes,” Burke just sat there across from her grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
“How…am…I…supposed…to…track…you?” Ella said the words slowly, separating each one like she was talking to a child. He just didn’t seem to get that she had absolutely no clue how to track anything.
“Have faith in yourself, Ella. You have instincts now that you haven’t even begun to explore. Take your time; take in every detail around you. It’s called ‘cutting for sign’. To ‘cut’ is to search for and then analyze the ‘sign’, which is the physical evidence. Trackers pick up on an amazing wealth of evidence that anyone else would walk right by. Look for bent or broken twigs. You can tell how old the break is by the condition of the wood at the break. If it’s moist, soft, or green the break is fresh. If it’s brittle and all dried out it’s been broken for a long time. When you find a break, look around for fibers of cloth that may have snagged. If a bush is broken because someone stepped on it, you push it in the direction of the break. The branches will point like an arrow in the direction the person was going. Nature provides patterns; leaves fall or are blown uniformly. Look for a disruption in the patterns. A depression or stirring in the forest floor or in a grassy field indicates that someone or something was there. It’s even easier to see things on paths and trails. People and animals alike almost instinctively follow paths. You’ve heard at one time or another someone mention a deer path, right? There may be a footprint in the dust. You’ll be able to tell how old it is by the crumbling of the walls of the print. You can also tell if the print has been there awhile if leaves, pine needles, or other debris have fallen across it. Is there another animal print above or below the footprint, or are there shuffle marks where a bug has crawled across it? If there are prints indicating someone stopped to rest, are those prints in the sun or shade? If it’s a hot day the person would have rested in the shade if possible. Look around yourself and at the sun; the time that’s passed since the resting point was in the shade is an indication of how far ahead of you the person you’re tracking is. If you see shuffle marks, your quarry may know they’re being followed. The shuffles indicate they’ve stopped and turned to look around and behind them. In such a case you should step off the path and follow alongside it. Soon you’ll be able to tell from a footprint how tall someone is, how much they weigh, if they were carrying something, when the print was made and where they were coming from. Even an overturned pebble will draw your attention. When tracking, your sight, hearing, and sense of smell give you a great advantage. Your senses since your awakening would put a wolf to shame. You just have to concentrate, Ella.”
Ella noticed that when Burke got excited he started talking with his hands. “Wow, I never thought about any of this before. How did you learn all of this?” she asked.
“Most of it I learned from your dad. We were always in the woods. Tracking was both a game and a sport to us. I’ve mentioned to you before that life was much simpler back home. There were
no theaters, clubs, malls, or even television. We found other ways to entertain ourselves. Several years ago I spent some time in a small village of the Karen Hill Tribes. In some ways I felt an incredible kinship toward them.”
“I’m actually getting excited to try this,” Ella said.
“Let’s do it then,” Burke stood up, “give me twenty minutes. I’m heading out back toward the wildlife reservation, that’s all I’m saying. Oh, don’t forget your cell phone,” Burke turned toward the back door.
“Wait a second,” Ella stopped him. She walked over to him, and for a second Burke thought she was going to give him a hug. She leaned into him and inhaled deeply. “You can go now,” Ella said smiling.
“Cheater,” Burke replied and smiled to himself as he went out the door and jogged across the back yard.
~~
Ella busied herself cleaning up the kitchen. While she wiped down the table she thought about all the things Burke had told her about tracking. She knew, in theory, she had all of these new abilities, but it was still so hard to wrap her mind around it sometimes. Must be how someone feels when they win the lottery.
Checking the clock she saw that it had been twenty minutes. Ella went to the backdoor and through the yard. She stopped at the edge of the woods. Sure enough, there was a path leading in. When she’d gone for her run yesterday (my lord, was it only yesterday?) after her awakening, this was the path she’d taken without even thinking about it. Burke was right; if there was a path you just followed it. This is where she’d start. Ella started jogging slowly along the path. She didn’t want to miss anything.
Mostly the earth of the path was packed tight, but here and there Ella saw a partial print where someone had stepped to the side into the softer ground to avoid a root… or possibly just to make sure she had something to follow. Ella smiled as she knelt down to examine a print. Bless his heart; he was trying to make this easier for her. It was a deep full print in soft earth. She could even make out the “Oboz” in the center of the tread, which was the brand of hiking boot Burke had been wearing when he’d left the house.