Falling Ashes (15 page)

Dagon was right. If I was being accused of creating pro-human organisations, there was no reason I shouldn’t do just that.

‘I thought you said it was best if I vanished?’ I said.

Dagon nodded. ‘That would be best fer yeh, if yeh don’t want any trouble. But I think yer the sort of girl who attracts a lot of trouble.’

‘I have a hard time avoiding it,’ I admitted.

‘So do it,’ he said. ‘I’ll be yer first member.’

I couldn’t help but smile. ‘Avalon and Dagon, pro-human rebels.’

‘Ha!’ Dagon said, pointing a finger at me.

‘What?’ I said, startled.

‘I knew yeh name wasn’t Elizabeth.’

Whoops
. During our moment of intimate honesty I’d forgotten my alias.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, wincing.

Dagon shook his head. ‘Don’t be, Lass. Yeh can’t be sure who yeh can trust. But I reckon yer safe in Port. A lot of people were heartbroken when Oliver was taken. A real decent lad, he was. Half the town is pissed at the Realm, and they reckon yer the answer.’

‘The answer?’ I repeated.

‘To free the humans,’ he said simply. ‘To bring down the Realm. The whole country knews yer face, so it’ll be easy to gain followers. That is what yeh want to do, isn’t it?’

I wanted revenge on the Realm for what they’d done to Helena regardless of what Dagon said. But bringing down the entire Government was not within my power.

‘Of course I want humans to be equals,’ I said. ‘But I don’t think I will make much difference.’

‘Look,’ said Dagon, fixing his eyes on me. ‘Half the damn country wants to get rid of the Realm, but are too afraid. You can unite them, and bring down-’

I held up a hand to silence Dagon. ‘You’re talking about things much bigger than you or I.’

‘But … isn’t that why yer here? Aren’t yeh looking fer other supporters?’

‘I’m trying to
hide
.’

Dagon looked at me as though I had not lived up to his expectations.

The sun was rather high in the sky now, and I guessed it must be nearing eleven o’clock in the morning. Dagon and I had been talking for quite a while.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said to him. ‘I really can’t stay in one place for too long.’

I stood up, the chair grinding against the floor loudly. Dagon followed suit, looking thoroughly displeased.

‘I’m going back to the lodge to get my things,’ I said. ‘Then I’ll be gone.’

‘Wait,’ Dagon said. ‘Will yeh meet me by the cliff's edge, out the front of the lodge before yeh go? I need to run home … I want ter give yeh something.’

‘All right,’ I agreed. ‘I’ll wait for five minutes, that’s all.’

‘Great!’ Dagon stooped and quickly kissed my cheek before rushing for the exit of the café.

‘Dagon!’ I called to him.

He spun around, his eyebrows raised.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

He smiled and vanished through the door.

~

The walk back to the lodge was a lonely one, though my thoughts were filled with what Dagon had said.
Avalon Redding, leader of the human rebellion
. It had a nice ring to it.

When I entered my room, Hawthorne was not there. I supposed I would have to find him after Dagon and I met by the cliff’s edge out in the front of the lodge. I wondered what it was he wanted to give me.

I grabbed my rucksack and repacked the items I had scattered around the room in my haste to leave this morning. Slinging it over my shoulder, I took a quick peek at myself in the mirror. I was awfully dishevelled, but there was no point in brushing my hair because I’d be clambering onto Hawthorne’s back, and we’d take to the skies within the hour.

When I emerged out the front of the lodge, I found that the clouds had passed in front of the sun, casting Port in shadow. The steely grey waves crashed against the rocks, the spray reaching the cliff top.

I walked the few yards to the cliff where an old wooden fence lined the edge. It was so decrepit that a strong gust of wind might blow it down. Nevertheless, I leaned against it and waited for Dagon to reappear like we’d arranged. I would only wait five minutes like I’d promised. I told myself that, anyway.

However, ten minutes passed, and Dagon still had not met me by the cliff’s edge. I was growing restless, and told myself I’d only wait another minute, when a voice spoke behind me.

‘Hey there.’

I turned with a smile on my face. ‘Where have you-’ I stopped when I saw who had spoken.

It wasn’t Dagon at all. It was Finn, the hunter that had detained me at my house a few days ago.

‘Oh, it’s you.’

‘Me,’ said Finn, a smile on his face.

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,’ I said as casually as I could muster.

Finn was holding the same dagger in his hands, twirling the blade between his long fingers.  ‘I thought you might miss me, so I decided to pay a visit.’

‘How nice.’ My voice dripped with sarcasm. ‘How did you find me?’

‘I told you,’ said Finn. ‘I’m a hunter … I specialise in tracking, and well, I already had your scent, so I just followed my nose. And here you are.’

‘You’re very good,’ I said, impressed. ‘Keeping up with me when I travel by air on … well, you met Hawthorne, didn’t you?’

‘How could I forget him?’ he said with a smile. ‘He gave me quite a shock.’

‘Yes, he tends to do that. He’s very protective of me, you see.’

Finn nodded and pursed his lips. ‘So where is he now?’

I pointed to the sky. ‘Overhead somewhere,’ I lied. Finn didn’t need to know that Hawthorne couldn’t fly without me. ‘Probably watching us right now.’

Finn looked skyward at the cloud bank above. He didn’t seem too concerned that a giant, flying monster might drop out of the sky at any moment.

‘I think you’re lying,’ said Finn, taking a step closer. We were only a few yards away. I was cornered against the brittle wooden fence. Beyond it was only rock, and water.

I shrugged. ‘Regardless, why do you think I was waiting here, out in the open? My friend is on his way now. Big bloke, with a bad temper too.’

‘You’re an awful liar,’ Finn smirked.

To my surprise, he pocketed the dagger.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked.

Finn took another step closer. ‘Let’s talk,’ he said.

‘Sorry, I’m not in a chatty mood at the moment.’

‘Hear me out,’ said Finn, burying his hands in his pockets. ‘I have a proposition for you.’

‘What’s that, then?’

‘It’s about your pet.’ He smiled, showing two rows of straight, white teeth. ‘I’ve been doing some calculations, and I reckon your furry friend is worth more than the bounty over your head.’

‘Is that so?’

‘So, I offer you freedom, in return for your flying fox.’

‘And if I refuse?’

‘Well, then I take you to the Realm and come back for him later.’

‘Hmm, an interesting proposal,’ I said. ‘Do you know what happened to the last man who tried to take Hawthorne from me? Or the last woman who
did
take him from me?’

Finn waved a hand dismissively. ‘Look, it’s an easy decision to make. Swap your pet for your life. It’s not that difficult to choose.’

‘Hawthorne is my family. He is part of me. Don’t
you
have a family?’ I asked, trying to stall him.

‘I did, once,’ Finn admitted.

‘Once?’

‘I had a wife, and a daughter. She’d be eight now.’

‘What happened?’

Finn’s eyes bored into mine, and I felt myself blush. ‘My wife left me, and took my daughter with her, three years ago. I haven’t seen them since. But enough about me-’

‘
I’m
someone’s daughter,’ I interrupted. ‘You’ll be taking
me
away from my family.’ Perhaps sympathy would work.

‘What would your daughter think of this?’ I tried. ‘What if she was wanted by the Realm and a hunter tried to take her in?’

‘Well, I’ll never know, will I?’ Finn said. I could see he was becoming agitated.

‘If you can track me, why can’t you track your ex-wife?’

Finn’s jaw clenched. ‘Because I can’t track someone who is untraceable.’

‘Her Power?’

‘She can open portals that will take her anywhere on the planet,’ said Finn. ‘It makes it very hard to find someone.’

‘And why doesn’t she want you to see your daughter?’

‘You ask an awful lot of questions,’ said Finn.

I sighed. ‘Please. You don’t understand my situation-’

‘I don’t have time for your sob story. I need that ten thousand gold, and I intend to get it. So, will you swap your pet, or not?’

‘He is my child, and I’d never swap him for anything. Not for all the gold in the world. Not even my own life.’

Finn sighed. ‘All right then.’ He pulled the dagger back out of his pocket before digging through his shoulder-bag and extracting a length of rope. ‘I do hate hunting women,’ he admitted.

I looked around for a means to escape. There was nothing but the rough ocean behind me, and the roar of the waves.

‘Oh, and don’t think about pulling that whistling trick again,’ Finn warned. ‘I’ll embed this dagger in your throat if you do.’

‘I can defend myself,’ I said, poised to attack.

‘Look, if you struggle, I’m going to have to snap your neck, and I really don’t want to do that, okay? Just come quietly, and I won’t need to hurt you.’

Where are you, Hawthorne? Dagon? Anyone.

I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but Hawthorne seemed to be becoming increasingly more unreliable as time passed. We were meant to be best friends that were in-tune with one another, but he was never there when I needed him. Not since we’d come back from Flamethroat, anyway.

The hunter advanced, rope in one hand, a dagger in the other. I stepped back, bumping into the frail wooden fence, which groaned against my weight.

I produced fireballs in my palms, ready to attack, but Finn moved as quickly as lightning, closing the distance between us, his hand clamping down on my throat. I gasped and pressed my palms to his chest, burning his shirt, the fire seeking his flesh.

He backed off immediately and ripped his shirt open to examine the damage, revealing a rock solid torso. He had not been burned bad enough to cause any lasting damage.

After rubbing my throat, I reignited my hands and positioned myself into a defensive stance. ‘Burns, doesn’t it?’ I asked.

He looked up and smiled. ‘It looks like I won’t be able to get close to you without being burned. Oh well. Never mind.’

Before I had time to move, Finn launched the dagger towards me. I watched it spin as if in slow motion, whirring through the air.

I couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. The dagger plunged into the meaty flesh of my thigh until only the hilt could be seen. My leg crumpled, and I fell backwards, through the aging wooden fence. Finn rushed toward me, his hand outstretched, and his eyes wide with fear. He hadn’t meant to make me fall.

I was slipping through the air as if it were never ending. The roar of the wind rushing past assaulted my ears, but it lasted only a fraction of a second. I hit the water with a deafening crash, and the black waves quickly devoured me and silenced the ocean.

I sank quickly, my rucksack and heavy clothes weighing me down, and the force of the current flipped and turned my body as if I were a rag doll. I didn’t know which way was up. I tried to kick my legs, but the pain was agonising. I cried out in anguish, water filling my mouth.

I was swirling; the black ocean was pressing against me from all sides. I caught a glimpse of light through the water, but it was gone when another wave turned me over. I kicked with my uninjured leg, and flailed my arms, but I didn’t know how to swim. I’d never been taught.

My lungs were beginning to scream in protest, and the pain in my thigh made it hard to stay conscious. Black spots burst in front of my eyes.

The waves forced me against the cliff face and pounded me into the rock, beating every inch of my body and winding me. I choked, coughing and wheezing, which forced the salty water into my lungs. I tried to suck in air that wasn’t there.

Everything burned; my body screamed. The pain was too much. I was suffocating.

Something large dropped into the water beside me. Darkness was closing in. I could feel death’s icy grip on my chest, squeezing my ribcage to bursting point.

And then everything became calm.

A ghostly figure appeared in the water. It swam towards me so elegantly, I thought it might be a mermaid. It became clearer with each passing second.

It was a man. A beautiful man.

He cupped my face in his large palms, and somehow, I knew that he was a friend, not a foe. His features loomed in and out of focus as I slipped away into the darkness.