Dancing with Shadows

by Bridie Henderson

  “You said you wanted to come,” Quinn was saying, a bemused smile on her face.

  “I… Well I wasn’t expecting it to be so bloody,” Shay muttered in reply.

  “No… what does the word ‘hunt’ mean to you?” Quinn asked in bewilderment, clearly suppressing a laugh.

  “I don’t know… maybe next time we can hunt for vegetables… or berries. You can eat berries, right?”

  At that, Quinn lost her composure, a throaty laugh escaped her and even she seemed shocked by it though she couldn’t seem to stop. Slade was struck, and not for the first time, if he was being honest with himself, just how beautiful the immortal was. Her long red hair thrown back in a ponytail, her clear, pale skin and full mouth… she wasn’t anything to sniff at.

  “It’s not that funny,” Shay grumbled, tutting, and Slade could just picture the eye roll that went along with it. Her statement seemed to make Quinn laugh harder and he couldn’t help but chuckle as well. As soon as the sound left his mouth, both of them pinned their eyes on him. Shay was frowning at him for laughing at her and Quinn was frowning for another reason. He realised belatedly he was still brandishing a gun and awkwardly stashed it back in his belt.

  “I heard a scream,” he said by way of explanation and gave a shrug.

  “Yeah, your daughter has an aversion to hunting, apparently.” Quinn offered, picking up several dead fish at her feet before walking past him, her head held high. He got the impression she knew that he had doubted her. Still, staying one night and making his daughter laugh wasn’t exactly a testament of loyalty. But, he admitted he had been wrong… at least for now he had been wrong. Who knew what tomorrow would bring.

  After a breakfast of fresh fish and a wash in the brook, they set out once more but the feeling was different now. Quinn was no longer in chains, Shay was walking beside her and chattering non-stop and even he felt a little lighter on his feet. Hope, he thought, that’s what it is. Hope was a dangerous thing. Hope could break a man faster than anything else… hope built you up just so it could desert you and break you down. It was a cruel thing and yet, now that he had it, he didn’t want to let it go.

  “We need a plan.”

  “Hmm?” Quinn’s voice broke him from his reverie.

  “I said, we need a plan. We can’t just walk into Jackson’s fortress with a smile and a thank you. You’d be killed on sight and I’d… well I don’t know what would happen to me. Point being, we need a plan,” she said, walking beside him now.

  “I’ll draw us up a map. Squidge can help me with that and then we’ll look at our options for sneaking in.”

  “Okay… let’s do that then,” Quinn said pointedly.

  “Need the materials. Unless… have you got paper and pens with you?”

  “Er… no.”

  “Exactly. It’s still a two day walk to Union City. We’ll be stopping in Periton for a night. I have a friend there. He can get me the tools I need and some better weaponry… then we’ll make the plan.”

  “This friend… we can trust him?”

  “Well I can…” he muttered, trying not to smile when she gave him a sideways look, “He lived in my village. We grew up together. He moved to Periton to be a tailor just a few months before the attack.”

  “Oh… okay… erm… are you sure it wasn’t him who-.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. The man who cost me my wife is already dead.” Slade said shortly and made a conscious effort to get further ahead than her. Gods… he didn’t want to talk about this. It was a dark day when he had killed the young man who had gotten too drunk, opened his mouth in a tavern, and signed the death warrants of his entire village, his wife included. When Slade had found him he had wanted to die. He had been ready for it. If Slade had come across him now he may have taken pity on him. May have seen that the young man was in as much pain as any soul could possibly take. Maybe he wouldn’t have murdered him.

  “I’m sorry, Slade,” Quinn’s voice came again, closer than he thought she should have been. Damn, she was quick. “I’m sorry about your wife… and Shay. I… I’ve never lost a partner but I have lost both my parents and my sister’s fate is uncertain. I… I guess I’m just sorry.” Slade slowed his paces until eventually he came to a stop and Quinn stopped with him.

  “She is all I have, Quinn. She is everything.”

  “I understand that. Amira is all I have left as well.” She paused looking him in the eye. “Look, I will swear, on my very life, that I will help you save Shay if you swear to help me free Amira. I have come to the realisation that I can’t free her by myself. I need you… you need me. I think it’s a fair trade. Besides, though she’s squeamish as hell, I like her.”

  Slade considered her words but it was the earnest honesty in her eyes that won him over. “Alright, that does sound fair. You have a deal.”

  “Good.”

  “Doesn’t mean we’re friends though and it certainly doesn’t mean I trust you,” he added, though he wasn’t sure how much of it he meant. Quinn Hunter had earned herself a lot of good will when she hadn’t abandoned his baby girl at the earliest opportunity. Didn’t mean he had to like it.

  “Of course not, the Gods forbid, right?” she snapped, more irritated than he thought she would be. She stormed ahead, her anger showing in every step. He followed behind her, somewhat bemused. She had told him just the night before that she didn’t like him and now her feelings were hurt when he said the same thing back… women. Confusing bunch.

  “Daddy?” Slade turned to see his daughter’s ghostly face a whiter shade of pale.

  “What is it, Squidge?” he asked urgently. His hand gripping his pistol in anticipation.

  “I don’t think we’re alone,” she whispered, her eyes searching the treeline. He nodded once and told her to go ahead and tell Quinn, keeping his voice low. Very few people could see Shay in her current form. He had only met a handful who could. Another immortal gifted in electricity, the reader and Quinn herself. Still, he didn’t want to draw more attention to her than necessary. Turning back in Quinn’s direction as nonchalantly as he could, he kept his hand on his gun and began walking once more. This time, much more aware of the surrounding forest. Later, he would chastise himself for allowing his argument with the fiery redhead to cloud his judgement but for now, he was on the alert. A little way ahead he saw Quinn softly nodding her head, clearly unwilling to risk Shay’s safety also and he felt a pang of guilt for his comments. Before he could explore the feeling though, they were under siege. Three men attacked from his right and another two from his left. He pulled his gun free and attempted to fire but it was kicked from his hand with trained precision by one of his assailants. Growling his lashed out with his fist and hit the chin of a blonde, scruffy looking bastard. The blonde went careening backwards and landed on his ass but Slade didn’t have a chance to revel in his victory as he took a punch to the ribs and another to the base of his spine. Grunting with the pain he lashed out in all directions, kicking and punching out at anything he could hit. One sweep of a leg hitting the back of his knees and it was his turn to hit the floor. He held his hands up over his face, still kicking out with his legs as the men’s fists pummelled his body. He took a booted kick to his chest and the lights started to fade.

  “Daddy!” He heard it, her voice… his baby girl… he wasn’t going to be able to save her… he was going to let her down again. He let lose a roar of anguish as he started fighting back with renewed fervour. He knocked one down and then the other, just three left he told himself, clambering to his feet again. Stalking forward he caught sight of Quinn as she circled an attacker, three lying dead at her feet. She was a force to be reckoned with. No sooner had he had the thought and a large sharp knock sounded in his ears and a thick, hot fluid slid down his cheek. He was able to get one last glimpse of Shay as he hit the floor and everything faded to black.

  Chapter 7

  Quinn watched Slade go down, his weapon laying on the floor and his head bleeding profusely. She heard Sha
y scream out again, an anguished cry of a frightened and impotent little girl. It angered her more than the sight of her ally on the floor. Shay had suffered enough. Crouching low she rolled backwards and pulled her knife from the heart of the corpse she had created. She pulled her arm back, preparing to throw but she was too late. The man stalking her had lunged forward and as she pulled back her arm he threw himself on top of her. One of his hands pinned down her wrists above her head, banging them against the ground so that the knife fell to the floor. His other hand gripped her waist as his knees pinned down her thighs. She looked up in a panic, suddenly realising what he was intending. These men weren’t soldiers, her mind thought belatedly. This one smelled like he hadn’t washed in a month. His eyes were savage and his face was covered in dirt and grime. His long hair, shaggy and filled with silt and sand… Outlanders… She thought them a myth. Horror stories told around camp fires to frighten children. Men lost to the savages of time and the leftover radiation from the Great War… but here was one kneeling over her determined to own her body and flesh. She bucked her hips, her panic returning but it had no effect; in fact he seemed to enjoy it. His tongue snaking out to lick his lips. He was strong, stronger than was possible, except for the gifted… though he hadn’t made any attempts to use any gifts. Come to think of it, neither had she. She could have kicked herself. Maybe it was the fact that her gifts had been rendered useless around Slade but she hadn’t given them a second thought when the fighting began. She pulled on the power inside her but it was reluctant to rise… as though it was annoyed with her for her negligence. The outlander above her pulled up the long shirt she wore and she was exposed. His eyes glistened as he looked down at her, his mouth salivating. He began pulling at the string on his pants and she struggled harder. She silently begged her gifts to hear her, pleaded with them to help her and they finally responded. All at once, a fiery ball emanated from her chest and in one whoosh of power it enveloped both her and her would-be rapist. He began screaming and writhing above her, but not in the twisted ecstasy he was hoping for. Her fear was replaced with anger as full understanding of what he was trying to do dawned on her. Her rage fuelled the fire that was now flowing from her whole body as the man fell off of her, his hands grabbing at his flesh at it melted from his bones. His feral, animalistic screams echoed through her as she fell to her knees, the smell of burning meat and hair singeing her nostrils as she gagged and retched. A few moments later and he finally stopped screaming. She looked up to see the blackened husk of the outlander still smouldering, like coal in a fire. She panted loudly, her mind racing as she attempted to come to terms with what had just happened.

  “Quinn?” She wheeled round, her eyes wide and her flames jumping out in response to her fear. Shay was huddled behind a tree trunk, peering out, her cheeks once again streaked with pearly tears, her hands gripping and twisting her white dress. The sight of the frightened girl snapped Quinn into action. She would ponder the fate that had almost been hers later. She stood, the flames extinguishing themselves as she did. She didn’t even consider them, her main focus was on comforting the girl before her.

  “Hey… its okay. I’m okay,” she whispered, approaching Shay with her hands up as though she was attempting to calm a wild animal. All at once and without warning, Shay leapt from behind the tree and into Quinn’s waiting arms. She sobbed and sobbed, burying her head into Quinn’s chest as Quinn stroked her back patiently. When she eventually calmed down, Shay leaned back. Her pale cheeks glowing and Quinn was sure, had she been in her true form, they would have been red raw.

  “I… I’m so… sorry, Quinn.” Quinn frowned as Shay struggled to get her words out between hiccups and broken sobs.

  “Sorry? Sorry for what?”

  “I… I couldn’t… help… like with my… mother,” Shay finally got out before breaking into another heart wrenching cry.

  “Shay. Listen to me. Stop. Look at me! You have done nothing wrong. This isn’t your fault. Okay. They were outlanders, do you understand? If you had been in your body you might be dead now and then where would we be?”

  “You mean, where would you be?” Shay snapped, her emotions clearly overriding her sense. “Without me you couldn’t save your sister, right?”

  “Hey! That isn’t fair, Shay. I care about you too,” Quinn scolded her, knowing she spoke the truth. The plucky girl with the sad life story had pulled on her heart strings and she generally wanted to save her too.

  “You only care about yourself and Amira.” Shay shouted, her tears falling freely in fat illuminescent drops. Quinn felt a pang of pain at her words but she remained stony faced.

  “You can believe that but it won’t change anything, Shay. I do care about you. Hell, I even care about your grumpy ass father so instead of arguing here let’s go find him.” Shay immediately looked contrite and downcast, chewing on her lip as she nodded. Quinn gave a short nod and turned around. Realising she was naked, yet again, she peered down at the dead around her feet. Obviously the charred corpse of her attacker would not yield anything resembling clothing but the other Outlanders were a bit more fruitful. One of them was a woman with a similar, slightly stockier build and though her clothes looked and smelled as though she had walked through a swamp with them on, she was grateful for the cover they offered. Especially after what had almost happened. She pushed the feelings aside and pulled on a battered pair of pants, a surprisingly clean shirt and much dirtier jacket. It seemed as though the woman never took the jacket off so the shirt had remained fairly free from dirt, though it hadn’t remained unscathed from what was probably months of sweat. She wanted to find the nearest lake and submerge herself in it. But, there were more pressing matters at hand. Outlanders were savage, not just cruel and twisted, but beyond it. They were soulless beings without mercy. If the stories she had heard were true then they hadn’t taken Slade to give him a parade.

  “Can you track, like your Father?” Quinn asked Shay who was still looking sheepish and guilt ridden. Quinn might have comforted her if she hadn’t still been stinging from the verbal slap the girl had given her.

  “A little.”

  “Right, let’s find that jackass then.” Quinn muttered and walked to the spot she had last seen the grumpy bounty hunter. The outlanders didn’t seem to care about covering their tracks so Shay easily followed their movements through the forest. About a half hour later Quinn heard shouting and cheering. Crouching low between the trees and bushes she crept forward, Shay only inches behind her. Quinn saw them first, some shouting and laughing, others brawling, some outright having sex in the middle of a clearing. They were unbridled… limitless and self-gratifying. She had never seen so much debauchery in one place. It beckoned something inside of her. Something dark and forbidden. All of them where in the throes of pleasure in one way or another but they weren’t what she was most concerned about. She caught sight of Slade, awake and alert as he fought against the ropes that bound his wrists and ankles to a long stick. She frowned at the way he was tied, a little confused until she finally made sense of what she was seeing. Some of the outlanders were building a fire and others were mixing strong smelling herbs and water… they were planning to cook him. The stories had been true, they weren’t just savages, they were freaking cannibals… she leant back, pushing Shay’s form away from the sight before the girl could make the same connection she had.

  “What is it? Quinn?” Shay murmured, her voice small and frightened. Quinn didn’t answer as her mind raced with thoughts about what she could do. No matter which way she came at it she only saw one option… and she wasn’t sure whether it would solve their problems or end all of their lives but Slade’s life was in the balance and she didn’t have time to think of a smarter play. If she tried to sneak in, she’d never get him out… he was almost directly in the centre, ready and waiting for his funeral pyre. If she tried to bargain for him… well she was certain that wouldn’t work. No. this was all she had. First things first…

  “Shay, I need you to
listen to me. I need you to go back to the path and hide. I will come back for you and I will have your Father with me… okay?” Shay shook her head vehemently.

  “No. I won’t leave you, Quinn. I won’t leave my Father.”

  “This isn’t a suggestion, Shay. It’s an order. I’m going to use some gifts you haven’t seen yet. Even I don’t know how powerful they are and I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay. I would never forgive myself… please, Shay.”

  “I can’t.” Shay said, shaking her head again. Quinn peered over her shoulder and saw several outlanders hoisting Slade up onto a spit above the unlit pyre… she didn’t have long before he was cooking there. Taking a breath she knew what she had to do but she didn’t relish it.

  “Listen, Shay… your Mother asked you to run and you didn’t… that did not end well, did it? Now I am telling you that I need you to go back to the path. Please for once in your life do as your told.” Quinn snapped, her voice harsh and her eyes hard. Shay looked as though she had been slapped and Quinn almost wavered but she knew the girl’s safety was more important than her feelings right now. Provided she survived the next part she would apologise later… Shay’s eyes began to fill but before a single tear could fall she disappeared, taking her heartbroken face with her. Quinn heaved a sigh of relief when she was gone and turned back to the clearing. There were several small huts and a few benches made from logs placed round in a circle with the pyre and Slade hanging from his wrists and ankles in the centre. She couldn’t use her flames or she risked lighting his ass on fire and doing the outlanders’ dirty work for them. She had to rely on something darker… a power that scared her, always had. She had used smaller amounts of her shadow gift before and she was mildly comfortable with that but a small amount of power wasn’t going to help them here… she just hoped Slade could pull her back from the edge like he had before. If not, she was afraid it would consume her… consume them all. She peered back into the clearing and saw several of the outlanders gathered around Slade, some pulling his clothes off and others rubbing the watery herbs into his skin. She edged closer, but Slade’s shouting and cursing, as his shirt was torn off of his back, with such ferocity that it gave her pause. The skin that covered his back and shoulders bore a map of pain and suffering… scars layered over scars and she could see rivets where ribbons of flesh had been seared and burned from his body. He had suffered horribly, of that she was certain. Shaking herself free of the thoughts that plagued her, she clenched and unclenched her fists, calling on the power she always did her best to avoid. Slowly, sluggishly, it crawled through her veins. Where her flames, though uncontrollable at times offered her some comfort as they flowed through her, the shadow, as she called it, did anything but. Her flames were hot as they flooded through her, warming her muscles and holding her in its warm embrace but the shadow was cold, running like ice through her veins, freezing her from the inside out. Still, right then she welcomed it. She might not like the asshole she was going in to save, she told herself adamantly, but she did care for his daughter. She couldn’t at least do everything in her power to save him… she just couldn’t.