Chapter Fifteen
Quint
It had been two weeks of sheer agony and torture for me. To be so close to Astrid, to see her, to catch her scent on the breeze – but to not be able to talk to her or touch her. To not be able to be in her presence – it was killing me.
But, she'd asked for me to stay away from her, so I respected her wishes – for the most part.
I knew the Shongtal would take another shot at her. Especially after meeting with the Keeper, I was positive that it was only a matter of time. They would likely try to let things cool down, put some distance between the last attack and the present. Then when everybody's guard seemed to be down, that's when they would strike. That was how they operated.
I knew it wouldn't be long before they tried to snatch her up again. Which was why I was keeping an eye on her. I followed her every day. She didn't see me and I'd managed to keep myself well hidden so she wouldn't know I was there, but I was never that far away from her.
I watched her from a distance as she left her shop. She was walking quickly with her head down, but I could tell that she was alert. She was watching everything around her, which was good. She needed to be vigilant with the Shongtal hunting her.
Astrid cut through the park – the same park we'd been attacked in – and was moving quickly. It was as if with the coming of night, she wanted to be off the street. Not that I blamed her. The night belonged to the monsters.
She was halfway through the park when I heard a high pitched keening sound. It took a moment for it to register, but when it did, I felt my heart speed up and adrenaline start pouring through me. I knew that sound and knew that nothing good was going to follow it.
As I watched her, Turo's words echoed in my head. Kill Astrid to deny the Shongtal a chance to destroy two worlds. One life balanced against billions. My blades weighed heavily on me. In my heart, I knew I couldn't do what Turo thought I should. What he wanted me to do. But in my head, it was a different story. In my head, I saw the logic. I saw that I had but two choices – the smart one, and the selfish one.
Which was I going to choose?
The high pitched keening sounded again and sure enough, up ahead, I saw half a dozen Shongtal in their human husks step onto the path, blocking Astrid's way. She stopped and even from where I was standing, I could see her tense and stiffen. I knew I needed to get to her quickly. Not just to protect her from the Shongtal, but to protect her from herself.
She was of the Lightning Clan, meaning she could summon lightning on a whim. Although, that wasn't without its drawbacks as well. She wasn't able to control her powers. That first night in the park was a prime example of that. She'd built up that store of energy within her, but rather than releasing it normally, she'd just let it all burst out of her at once.
She didn't realize it, but she'd almost killed herself by releasing that much energy all at once. As it was, she'd gone off like a nuclear bomb. She'd pretty well evaporated those unfortunate enough to be close to her – thankfully, it was only the Shongtal and not me. I was ten yards away, engaged with one of the husks when she blew and the force of that blast had hit me so hard, it had knocked me to the ground. Hard.
I needed to tell her to avoid doing that again. For her own sake. The last thing I wanted to see was Astrid exploding.
When the Shongtal fighters started advancing on her, Astrid began to walk backwards, trying to maintain the distance between them. I entered the park and was sliding my daggers out of their sheaths when they finally noticed me.
“Warden,” the woman who appeared to be the leader called to me. “Our quarrel is not with you. Leave now.”
“Not a chance,” I called back.
Astrid turned her head, her face was terrified, but when her eyes locked onto mine, I saw absolute relief flooding them. I moved quickly to her side and looked at her, trying to let her see just how serious what I was about to say was.
“Astrid,” I said. “Do not build up the energy within you. Don't let it build. And if it does anyway, don't release it. Hold on to it and let it dissipate within you.”
“H – how am I supposed to do that.”
“Sing a song,” I said. “Do something to distract yourself. Try to keep from getting excessively emotional. That's what triggers the energy build up. Stay as calm as you can.”
“Yeah, that's an easy assignment.”
“Try, Astrid,” I said. “You have to try or you could kill us both. Just stay calm and focused.”
She nodded, though I could see her body trembling. She was scared and would likely only grow more terrified. Which meant that I needed to end this fight quickly. And that meant breaking a couple of rules.
The six Shongtal were nearly upon us, so I turned, brandishing my long, curved daggers. I darted forward and swung my first blade, which the man deflected with his sword. He didn't see the second blade coming until it was too late. It bit deep into his chest and I sunk it hilt-deep. His eyes flared red and the husk fell limply to the ground.
I felt the next two coming up behind me before I ever saw them. I built up a small dose of my power within me and turned to face them, opening my mouth and launching a stream of fire that engulfed the both of them. They screamed and ran around, trying to beat the flames off themselves. I turned quickly and got my blade up just in time to deflect a blow from a sword that would have taken my head clean off my shoulders.
The man was big, strong, and he had leverage on me. I grunted with the effort of trying to keep his blade from cutting into my neck. He grinned, showing me a mouthful of rotten teeth. I opened my own mouth and spit a fireball straight into his face. He dropped his sword, the steel ringing out against the stone path as he clutched his face, screaming in agony.
Four down, two to go. The fifth man rushed me with a sword in each hand. He had a maniacal look in his eyes as he just started hacking and slashing with his blades. He'd obviously had no training and was just hoping to overwhelm me with the amount of times he swung at me. I easily deflected his swings and waited for him to tire, to slow. Waiting for my opening.
It didn't take long. With his breathing labored, he got sloppy with his swing, opening up a huge gap in his defenses. I moved quickly to exploit it, driving the point of my blade into his throat. His eyes grew wide and a wet, gurgling sound escaped his lips. The husk's eyes flared red and I pushed the corpse backward, where it hit the ground with a meaty thump.
I turned to face the last one – the woman who acted as if she was bored with the whole thing. She just shook her head and smirked at me.
“You're not going to be able to protect her forever, Warden.”
“Watch me.”
The woman turned and loped off into the darkness, not willing to roll the dice on her own life in a straight up fight with me. I turned back to Astrid. She was trembling, with tears streaming down her face, but overall, she was holding herself together pretty well. Which was a good thing.
She threw herself into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck and embracing me tightly. She sobbed into my shoulder, her body spasming with the release of all that fear and tension. I stroked her hair.
“It's okay,” I said. “You're okay, Astrid. I've got you. You're safe now.”
She clung to me tightly and I hugged her back just as fiercely. After a moment, she peered up at me through her tears. She looked positively terrified.
“Quint – I saw fire,” she whispered. “You spit fire.”
I pulled her close to me again, relishing the feel of her body pressed to mine. I was in a sticky situation. She'd seen my true nature. She'd seen what she was never supposed to see. And there was no real way to explain it away. I was going to have to tell her something. But what?
“It's okay, Astrid,” I said. “It's been a tough evening. We'll talk about everything later. I'll explain it all to you. I swear it.”
Her grip on me tightened and she rested her head against my shoulder, her body still trembling.
“You saved me,” she said softly. “Again. After I treated you so horribly.”
“Always,” I said. “I want to take you someplace safe. Will you come with me?”
She looked into my eyes, relief and gratitude etched upon her face.
“Yes,” she said. “I will.”