Ashes (The Firebird Trilogy Book 1)

by Stephanie Harbon

  The girls looked astounded, frozen in disbelief. I nodded in satisfaction. Good, at least they’re finally listening to me.

  Jayson wasn’t late. When I arrived at the surprisingly large training courtyard with my stupid ignorant Protector, Jayson was already there, smiling brilliantly.

  “Ruby,” Jayson greeted. “I’m glad to see you’re dressed more sensibly today.” Then he saw my face properly and gasped. “What happened?” he asked; his amber eyes wide with shock.

  I didn’t realise that I needed an excuse. I stammered under pressure, trying to think of a reason to have a bruised face. “Umm, I fell,” I lied lamely.

  “You fell,” he repeated doubtingly.

  “Um, yes, on a door knob.” Did I really just say that? God, cliché or what?

  “Ruby, you don’t have to lie to me,” he assured me, stepping closer and examining my face more carefully. He noticed my arm, cut by my attackers arrow; now neatly stitched up. He frowned in genuine concern, “Did Lynk do this to you?”

  I stared at his soft amber eyes uncertainly. Could I trust him? I’d felt before that we’d had an immediate connection, but after what happened at the party…

  “You can trust me,” he said honestly, speaking low so my Protector couldn’t hear, not that he was noticeably paying any attention anyway. “I know we had a bad start, but I am a good guy really. I am sorry.”

  He seemed so earnest and I went with my heart and said, “Lynk did part of it,” I surrendered eventually. “Someone with an arrow did that to my arm yesterday.”

  Jayson withdrew a shaky breath, then went deadly serious, “Okay, tell me what happened with Lynk first.”

  “Nothing,” I shrugged. “He just wants to assert his control over me I guess.”

  “He’s like that,” Jayson muttered. “I mean, I’m fairly well known here, hence why I was the one to escort you to your First Flight. But even when he asked me to do that, it was scary. Almost like if I said no, he’d cut my head off.” Then he smirked unexpectedly, “If he could.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, staring down at the floor feeling weak and shaken, not only from my problems with Lynk but also what I’d seen last night. Was it all my imagination? I didn’t really want to tell Jayson in case I was wrong, but who else did I have to talk to? It’s not like I could just stroll out of here and go and see my friends.

  “What about your arm?” Jayson asked gently.

  “No idea,” I answered, feeling deflated. “It’s just this guy; he’s out to get me. He nearly killed me in the street the other day and then yesterday he shot arrows at me on my way back from being with you.”

  Jayson frowned, biting his bottom lip. “What does he look like?”

  I shook my head, “I only saw his eyes. They were red.”

  His face lit up in comprehension suddenly, “Red? There’s a guy on our hit-list with red eyes. And it’s quite rare.”

  “Where did the hit-list come from?” I asked sceptically. Who would want to kill the guy trying to kill me? (Unless they want him dead for another reason.) Could it be Lynk? If my attacker had really known information on Lynk and is trying to get more through me, then surely Lynk would be the one to want him dead? Maybe.

  Jayson pursed his lips, shaking his head slightly so the golden tendrils of his hair fell over his eyes, “We’re never told the source. Most of us don’t want to know. It’s our job. We don’t want to make it more complicated. But the Boss will know, I could ask.”

  I nodded gratefully. Actually, his words were the first helpful things I’d heard for days. Maybe I really could trust him. “Please. Are you coming tomorrow morning?”

  “Yeah,” he smiled suddenly, “For the rest of the week too.” He glanced over to my Protector and whispered, “We probably ought to start, don’t want your friend getting all suspicious.” He winked. I smiled, feeling my body physically relaxing.

  I dropped the bag I was carrying, hesitating to remove the small blade that Kieran had left for me. Kian walked to the other end of the courtyard, instantly resuming his usual hands-at-sides-stick-up-arse position. He watched silently.

  “You want to learn how to use that?” Jayson asked, gesturing towards the blade which I was still eyeing uncertainly from its position in the top of my open bag. “Yesterday you didn’t even want to look at those on the wall.”

  I glanced at the longer scarier blades hung up high on the wall of this training courtyard. Yes, they looked daunting, but having survived last night I wanted to know exactly how to defend myself in case something happened again. There is no way I am ever going to let that horrible, vindictive man strangle me again.

  “Change of perspective,” I answered eventually.

  Jayson smiled that good-natured smile and said, “Well, first let’s warm up.”

  We did a series of cardio exercises to begin with, to get my heart pumping. I realised just how unfit I was. I was doubled-over gasping after twenty minutes of sprinting, jumping and sit-ups. Despite the new exciting transformation of my body, making it leaner and more developed after my death; it still didn’t tolerate exercise.

  Apparently Jayson was going to ask Lynk if he could take me flying properly, teaching me techniques in the air. The only problem was that I’d probably be forced to have a guard with me. And that was even more humiliating.

  “I’ll send a message to Lynk,” Jayson offered. “After all, he must want you fit and trained otherwise he wouldn’t have sent for me today.”

  I never thought of it like that, “But why would he want me trained?” I wondered, more to myself than Jayson.

  Jayson shrugged. “Maybe it’s just for practical reasons; I mean what use are you if you’ve been butchered alive by some idiot you wouldn’t let buy you a drink?”

  I laughed, “I doubt anyone would kill me for that.”

  “You never know,” he grinned then grew thoughtful. “Is it very different here from where you’re from?”

  “Very,” I nodded unnecessarily, “at home all you need to walk outside with, weapon-wise, is an umbrella.”

  His laugh was light and pleasant, “Does it rain a lot there?”

  “Jayson,” I informed him seriously, “in England, it never stops.”

  We practiced a few of the blocks and attacks he’d showed me yesterday, and then finally I was allowed to get my blade out. Using some of the strikes and defences I’d already been taught, Jayson transferred the basic techniques into weapon-combat moves. Most were pretty similar only you had a knife in your hand. He was extremely helpful, explaining everything in acute detail.

  Thirty minutes before the double-lesson was finished he passed me another blade and said, “Now let’s apply it in a real circumstance. These blades are specifically blunted for sparring, but they will still hurt if you swing them about hard enough. Just warning you,” he smiled, “if you hit me, I’ll hit you back.”

  “Okay,” I agreed warily, taking what he’d called a Gaborah blade; a type I’d seen Kieran using. It was longer, thinner and curved at the end, unlike a normal blade.

  He swung forwards with his blade and automatically my reflexes kicked in. I blocked it high and swung over the top, he grinned excitedly, bashing the blunted sword to the side. He swung forwards again, this time low, and with a flick of my wrist I knocked it away. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of it, I had a blade at my throat.

  “That was actually really good,” Jayson sounded surprised, releasing me.

  “Is that a compliment?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” he returned the friendly smile, “if you can do it again. You never know, it could just have been beginner’s luck.”

  “I hope not.”

  We sparred for a long time, while my reactions slowed in exhaustion and I continued ending up on the floor. I didn’t win, but did corner him a few times and I was getting better…slowly. When the lesson eventually ended I threw myself dramatically to the floor and chucked down a whole bottle of water to try and replace that which I’d swea
ted out. He agreed that I was probably too shattered to practice sparking any fires today. Thank God.

  “Well,” Jayson said, “I guess I better get going.”

  “Wait,” I said suddenly, standing up and leading him over to the other side of the courtyard, away from Kian, who now had his back to us at the entrance but was probably still listening. Once I decided he was out of earshot I looked at Jayson. “I can trust you, can’t I?” I said slowly, glazing sternly and seriously at his angelic face.

  He hesitated for a moment, thinking what to say. Then carefully spoke in low hushed tones, “I can’t make you trust me, Ruby. But I hope you can.”

  I took a deep breath and made a quick instinctive decision that came from my gut.

  “Alright,” I said, “I saw something last night.”

  Jayson listened curiously, leaning closer. “Go on,” he urged.

  “Right, this is going to sound crazy, but I was out in the woods last night, behind the Palace, when I saw something strange. I’m not even sure if it was just my imagination or what, but,” I took another steadying breath, “it didn’t look normal. I only saw the back of it, but it had wings like a bat; all leathery and crooked.”

  Jayson stared at me apathetically and I prayed in that moment for him to do anything but laugh. Fortunately he didn’t. He was incredibly serious; more so than I’d ever seen him before, “Are you certain?”

  I nodded, “I am. I wasn’t supposed to be outside but I couldn’t sleep and wanted to fly. Then I saw it. I’m sorry,” I apologised, feeling I’d inflicted all my potential craziness onto him, “but I’m trapped here. I had no one else to tell.”

  “No,” Jayson’s voice was darker now, saturated with a serious intensity. “I’m glad you did. And you’re not crazy. It might be the Barlayic. But if it is, then that’s not good. Not good at all.”

  “The Barlayic?” Why did that word keep coming up?

  “Daemons,” Jayson answered, his amber eyes glancing at me. “In the ancient times that’s what they called them. Back when people thought we were Angels.”

  I withdrew a shaky breath, so it hadn’t just been my fatigue-induced imagination. Daemons! Could that be possible? I battered myself internally, snubbing myself: You’re a bloody Phoenix, you idiot. You Change into a massive red bird and have a siren’s voice and you’re questioning the existence of other creatures, Biblical, mythical or whatever? I felt so overwhelmed. Is anything impossible anymore?

  “Okay,” Jayson had steadied himself. “This is serious. If you’re telling the truth, then I have no idea what that means. A stray Daemon in the City just doesn’t happen.” He took a deep breath, “I’ll meet you tonight, at the same time and place as last night. Don’t say another word to anyone until we know for certain.”

  I nodded, suddenly terrified.

  “Look, I have to go. What time and where?”

  I explained as much as I could then he left. I stumbled back to my room, confused and utterly terrified. Daemons, Barlayic; whatever they were. What were they doing in the Palace grounds? I knew I needed to tell my friends but I had no way of leaving the Palace. There were too many guards during the day and Kian would certainly not let me go. I spent the rest of the day thinking it over and trying to look it up in the library. Nothing was ever of any use.

  Lynk didn’t find me when he arrived back. I was glad. I went to bed early in the afternoon then stayed up until it was time to once again sneak out. I put on the same outfit I wore for training, even wearing a weapons belt; containing the only small blade I had.

  I edged towards the door, singing my sweet sedative lullaby in the darkness. My voice was quite scary to behold. It was like I wasn’t even there. It was a ghost of a voice, so quiet but deadly; childlike in a creepy horror movie kind of way. It did the trick though.

  I followed the shadows through the building, tracing them with my fingers and hiding at heart-pounding intervals. When I finally made it outside, into the camouflage of the trees, I waited anxiously for Jayson. My heart drummed in my chest, surely people could hear it? Then all of a sudden, I spotted him in the darkness.

  “Jayson,” I whispered my heart thumping.

  He was crouched down behind some thick brambles and when he heard me he put a finger to his lips, immediately gesturing me over. Nodding understandingly I crept over with cautious steps. I kneeled down on the damp earth next to him, he pointed forwards instantly. I glanced in the direction and my whole body froze in horror.

  Jayson leaned closer to me with a worried expression and deeply disturbed amber eyes. He whispered so quietly I had to strain to listen. “That’s not a Daemon,” he shivered visibly, “I don’t know what it is.”

  There were two of the things tonight, scarily not that far away. I lowered myself down, deeper into the concealing thorns, a cold sheen of sweat developing on my forehead.

  The things seemed larger tonight, taller than a full grown man, maybe seven foot tall? All I saw was those strange mutilated wings and shivered, a freeze descending to my core. You could see the crooked bones through the diaphanous membrane of their wings. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I noticed something else.

  Though the membrane appeared to be like wet leather draped over the deformed skeletal frame, a thick skin like the webbing of a frogs feet, the wings also had the occasional underdeveloped feather piercing up through the flesh. These intermittent feathers were a dirty black/brown and looked like insulating down feathers, except there was only ever one or two together; like they were falling out.

  One of the creatures hesitated abruptly, I stopped breathing. It paused, seemingly sniffing the air. It turned around and I cringed, swallowing a petrified breath.

  It was all sharp edges. It had long jagged claws on its bare feet and hands. Those ugly bat-like wings sprouted from its crooked back. Its skin had a waxy yellow tinge that barely stretched over its flattened skull. Jutting from that skull were two massive curling horns approximately thirty inches long, nearly catching its wings. Its eyeballs were purple with yellow slits instead of irises.

  One stepped closer, its lipless mouth expanding all the way to its pointed ears, revealing rows of needle thin teeth. I swear I could see something squirming between the gaps, like trapped insects. I felt a swift overpowering urge to be sick churning in my stomach.

  It glanced upwards suspiciously, into the branching rafters of the trees, sticking out a long forked tongue like that of a snake. Its body was wrong, coated in blackened scar-like marks. It seemed to be crouched down but actually was stood with an arched spine sticking up through its flesh. It looked starved, the way its ribcage jutted out of position, but I could guarantee it was well fed.

  The thing’s hideous eyes scanned the environment one more time before it continued forwards. Jayson glanced at me, hinting that we should follow them. I nodded a reluctant agreement, my hands shaking violently. We carefully stood up, following surreptitiously from a distance for a long time, through the forest and up the steady decline of the southern valley wall. I followed Jayson’s silent, assuring lead; you could tell he was used to this kind of thing, though perhaps not following these kinds of things.

  The trees eventually broke away to reveal a steep rock incline. We waited in silence behind a large cluster of boulders. The creatures entered what looked like a huge cavity in the rocky wall above us.

  I turned to Jayson, my breath coming in shallow rapid rasps now that the things were out of sight. “Do you see what I mean?” I said in hushed, panic tones.

  “Yeah,” he said back, his eyes constantly flickering around for danger. “But those things aren’t Daemons, at least not fully.” His face was pulled taught with strain and fear, “This is weird, really weird.”

  “What do you mean when you say they’re not fully Daemons,” I asked anxiously.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. But I’ve seen Daemons, they’re smaller stupider creatures. They’ve got scales and tails and live alone with lesser Daemons which they eat on o
ccasion. These things,” he shivered involuntary, “look almost intelligent. They look, I can’t believe I’m saying this; like half breeds.”

  My mind clicked on immediately, “You mean…” I trailed off, choking back my words, “They’re part, what…us?”

  Jayson shrugged. “I don’t know. But that would mean someone would have to have sex with a Daemon, surely nobody’s that disgusting?” he cringed, pulling a disgusted face. He stilled, glancing back at the rocky cave.

  The creatures were emerging again. I watched silently, my stomach churning, my muscles clenching with unreleased adrenalin. The creatures stalked off, back into the woods in the direction we were hiding. We shuffled around carefully, adopting a better position. They walked straight by us in the darkness, disappearing into the forest as a chill ran over me.

  “Right,” Jayson whispered, “We need to go inside.”

  I gulped, my voice shaky but serious, “Okay, let’s go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  As we quickly climbed the sloping ascent, our eyes flickered nervously around, sceptical of danger. As we entered the huge rocky cavity in the valley wall a trapping darkness descending upon us. Our feet were slow, hesitant on the icy surface. Obviously it had not snowed inside, but the ice had still wriggled its way in, lacing the entrance with hazardous patterns invisible in the blackness. The darkness was like fog; a thick suffocating mass that surrounded you so tightly it was like drowning. Even my sensitive eyes were finding it difficult to adjust.

  The freezing air burnt my lungs. I had a seriously bad feeling about this. My anxiety showed in my clumsy footsteps as I slipped intermittently on the ice. Jayson grabbed my arm when I tripped badly. He caught me instantly, whispering that it was okay. My heart was pounding erratically, sweat drenching my clothes.

  I ran my hand down Jayson’s arm, firmly grasping his hand not just for physical support. He squeezed it reassuringly then I felt him lifting his other hand. I heard a distinct snap echo against the walls, amplifying the snap of Jayson’s fingers as he sparked a light. Pulling his fingers apart like retracting magnets the small flicker of flame expanded, casting a weak but warm glow on the rocks around me. We glanced around, scanning for anything of significance, my vision concentrating on some stone steps at the other end of the cave.