Falling Ashes (14 page)

‘Clever boy,’ I said to Hawthorne, crossing the room and closing the open window. I sat in front of the fire with him, stroking his neck absent-mindedly. At least Hawthorne didn’t smell of garbage anymore. Instead, he smelled fishy, which wasn’t really much better in my opinion.

‘You went for a swim, huh?’ I asked him, noticing how coarse his coat was from the sea salt. Hawthorne rested his chin on my knee and looked at me sadly.

I heaved a sigh. ‘I know. I want to go home, too.’

Chapter Ten

An Army

I woke up to a banging sound.

I’d had the most wonderful sleep and awoke feeling refreshed. It wasn’t until I looked at the clock on the mantelpiece that I’d realised I’d overslept.

It was past nine o’clock in the morning.

I jumped out of bed and rummaged around for clean clothes, of which I did not have many. I needed to find somewhere to wash them very soon.

Bang, bang, bang
.

I realised that someone was knocking on the door.
Crap
! It would be Dagon; I knew it.

‘Just a second!’ I called, pulling off my nightgown and snatching up a dress.

‘Didn’t wake yeh, did I, Lass?’ Dagon’s Irish accent called from behind the door.

‘No!’ I lied.

Hawthorne let out a low growl, eyeing the door fiercely. He was still beside the empty fireplace, curled up on the rug.

‘Stop that,’ I hissed. ‘He’ll hear you.’

I pulled on my boots hurriedly, tripping over my own feet in the process, and landing on my bottom.

‘Yeh all right in there?’

‘I’m fine!’ I said, getting up and rubbing my backside. Hawthorne sulked moodily, watching me get dressed.

‘I’ll only be gone for an hour or two,’ I promised him. ‘Then we’ll get going, okay?’

The look that Hawthorne gave me sent a trickle of guilt down my spine.

‘It’s not what you think. I made that very clear to him last night.’

Hawthorne held my gaze without blinking, his expression condescending.

‘I wouldn’t … I’d never hurt Jack. You know that. Now stop looking at me like that and get out of here.’

I rushed to the window and opened it for him. Hawthorne slunk to the window ledge before jumping out of it and vanishing.

When I answered the door to greet Dagon, I was aware of how dishevelled I looked.

Dagon raised a hand and flattened the top of my hair, which I hadn’t brushed since waking up.

‘So, yeh hungry?’ he asked, swinging his hand by his side like a pendulum.

‘Starving,’ I admitted, stepping out of the room and locking the door behind myself.

‘The diner down the road does a great breakfast-’ Dagon began.

‘Sounds great … but I really can’t spend all day in town. So … why don’t we grab some breakfast and then I’ll be off?’

Dagon exhaled. He quickly looked around to make sure no one could hear him. ‘Look, yeh don’t have to be worried in Port. Everyone who comes here has a secret, an’ it’s no big deal. This is the place men come to escape judgement. It’s just you, me, and the sea. No one here seeks riches, or glory. We all jus’ want a simple life.’

Something about the way Dagon spoke made me think he knew why I was here. It had been the same with Merl.

‘Now, I don’t know why yer travellin’ alone, and I ain’t gonna ask yeh. No one here will. We keep to ourselves, all right?’

I nodded and remained silent.

‘Now, let’s get some food into yeh,’ he said with a smile.

~

Dagon walked me into town; it was a very small community with a tiny marketplace. Women were selling squid, octopi, and crabs in stalls that stank of fish. I held my nose whilst walking past the shops, which earned me a few curious stares.

‘Yeh don’t like the fish, do yeh?’ Dagon laughed as I cringed away from a large octopus a man was offering me.

I shook my head vigorously and kept my mouth shut.

‘It’s all right, Lass. Breakfast is just up ahead.’

‘It’s not a seafood breakfast, is it?’ I asked, pinching my nose.

‘Well, they got kippers,’ he nudged me playfully. ‘But I’ll get yeh somethin’ yeh like.’

Dagon took me to a cute café that overlooked the seaside. It was a bright and sunny morning, so we were able to have breakfast on the pergola of the café. It was a rather romantic meal - too romantic for my liking. Dagon had chosen the location well.

Conversation flowed easily throughout the meal. I’d chosen to have a full English breakfast consisting of bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, and toast.

‘So where yeh headin’ next then?’ Dagon asked through a mouthful of bacon. He’d chosen not to get the kippers, because he knew I couldn’t stand the smell.

I was growing tired of lying. Everything I’d told Dagon had been a lie, and I felt bad about it because he seemed like a decent man.

‘Um,’ I said, chewing my food slowly. ‘I thought about going in-land. North, towards the capital city.’ Another lie.

Dagon wrinkled his nose, his expression one of distaste.

‘What?’ I said, pausing with the fork halfway towards my mouth.

‘Nothin’.’ Dagon forced a smile and shovelled more food into his mouth.

‘No, what is it?’ I pressed. ‘Tell me.’

Dagon chewed his food slowly, contemplating the best way to phrase his dislike of the capital city.

‘Let’s just say I don’t see eye to eye with the Realm and their … erm … policies.’

‘What kind of policies?’ I pressed.

Dagon looked around, worried that someone might overhear. ‘Lass, it’s not something yeh go ‘round shoutin’ about, not with all the Realm officials undercover these days, anyway.’ 

I leaned across the table. ‘You can tell me,’ I said quietly.

Dagon licked his lips nervously and leaned forward too. ‘I’ve never been a fan of the way the Realm’s run things in Concord city. I haven’t been there, and I don’t intend to visit any time soon … not until their views change, anyway.’

‘What views?’ I asked, eager to hear more.

Heaving a dramatic sigh, Dagon looked over his shoulder. ‘Look, yeh hear some strange things when yer out at sea. From what I’ve heard, the Realm is spaying and neutering the ones that are registered in the slave trade.’ Dagon swallowed loudly, his Adam’s apple bobbing noticeably.  ‘But that’s not even the worst of it. People are talking. They say the Realm has issued trackers and hunters, searching for wild humans that are on the run. Rumour is, they’re going on a culling spree.’

I choked on my toast. Coughing, and wheezing, I managed to gasp, ‘Culling Spree?’

Dagon nodded. ‘Now, don’t go thinkin’ bad of me for empathisin’ with-’

‘Not at all!’ I almost shouted. ‘I completely agree with you!’

‘Keep yer voice down, Lass,’ Dagon said with wide eyes. ‘Look, I knew yeh would agree with me, that’s why I brought it up.’

‘How’d you know?’ I asked without thinking, but of course, it was obvious.

‘Why’d yeh think I approached yeh at the lodge, eh? Well … you are mighty attractive; I’ll give yeh that. But that’s not the point. Pa recognised you from a poster he saw in the town over, just two days ago-’

‘I thought you just got back from sea,’ I interrupted.

‘I did,’ Dagon admitted. ‘But Pa’s retired now. He goes into the next town fer supplies every once in a while.’

‘And he saw the wanted poster,’ I said through gritted teeth.

‘Aye,’ Dagon admitted. ‘Port’s only a tiny fishing community so the Realm didn’t bother distributing it here. My Pop recognised yeh as soon as yeh arrived, so he called me down to the lodge. Thought you a right brave lass, he did.’

‘You shouldn’t believe everything you read,’ I said testily.

‘What should I believe?’ said Dagon. ‘That yer going to the Capital city once you leave Port? That yer travellin’ the country on yer own?’

I exhaled heavily through my nostrils. ‘No,’ I said honestly. ‘Of course not.’

‘I didn’t think so,’ Dagon said, crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair. ‘If yeh ask me, best thing for you to do is vanish.’

‘That’s what they said I should do-’

‘They?’ Dagon interrupted.

‘My parents, and Jack-’

‘Ah.’ Dagon smirked. ‘So there
is
a lad involved.’

‘Not as involved as you might think,’ I said, reddening.

‘Why isn’t he with you?’

‘We had to say goodbye rather quickly,’ I said, becoming tense.

‘Touchy subject?’ he asked.

‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘I just miss him, that’s all.’

Dagon folded his arms across his broad chest. ‘I want to help,’ he said.

‘Help?’ I repeated. ‘Why?’

‘I told yeh.’ Dagon leaned forward and grabbed my hand, which was resting on the table. I jumped at the sudden contact. ‘I don’t like what the Realm is doing. I’m against it. But until now, it’s not somethin’ I’ve been able to talk about. Not many people understand, see?’

‘I understand,’ I said, looking down at our hands.

Dagon entwined his fingers with mine and stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. ‘I knew a human once,’ he said.

I looked up. ‘What happened?’

‘We were best friends since I was a kid. Oliver, his name was. Never knew, though.’

‘You never knew he was human?’

‘Yeah … his parents never told anyone. He was raised amongst the Mages, and they kept it a secret.’

‘Parents tend to do that.’

Dagon nodded. ‘It’s obvious now, when I think back on it. Why he never used his Power, I mean. He always said he was an Empath, like his parents.’

‘An Empath?’

‘They can feel … or rather sense emotions.’ Dagon waved a hand dismissively. ‘Pretty hard Power to disprove, I guess, so I never questioned it.’

‘When did you find out that he was human?’

‘Six months ago. I came back from a two week stint at sea, and he was gone. His parents told me everything. The Realm came and took him away during the night.’

‘I’m sorry. Do you know where he is now?’

Dagon shook his head. ‘I don’t even know if he’s alive. I heard what they do to humans at Capital city … it makes me sick.’

I squeezed Dagon’s hand gently. ‘Oliver’s story is not uncommon. I’ve met many Mages who have had their children taken away by the Realm because they are human.’

‘Really?’

I nodded. ‘I once thought it very uncommon for a Mage to give birth to a human child. Even now, the Realm still considers it impossible. They don’t want to accept the fact that we are related to the human race.’

‘That’s bollocks.’ Dagon tightened his grip on my hand.

‘I know,’ I said. ‘But no one seems to be asking the most important questions.’

‘What’s that?’ Dagon asked.

‘
Why
is the Realm collecting Mage-born humans?’ I said.

‘Shh,’ Dagon hissed, looking around nervously.

‘-And
why
are Mages giving birth to human children when
history
-’ I formed air-quotes around the word, ‘-deems it impossible? Are we suddenly losing our Power? Will it become more and more frequent, until all Mages die out?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Dagon nervously.

‘Why is the government so adamant that a Mage can’t give birth to a human?’ I continued my rant. ‘We
evolved
from humans.’

‘It’d be like a human giving birth to an ape,’ Dagon said in an undertone. ‘That just doesn’t happen.’

‘Well, it is happening,’ I said, bringing my fist down upon the table and making it rattle. ‘Mages are having human children, and the Realm is rounding them up.’

‘Maybe they’re trying to find out why it’s happening,’ said Dagon. ‘Maybe they’re asking the same questions as you, Lass.’

I sat back and took a deep breath. ‘I just … I don’t know what to do anymore.’

‘Is it true what the posters say, though? That you’re the leader of a pro-human group?’

I scoffed. ‘Don’t be stupid. I mean … I’ve been part of a group intent on rescuing humans … but I’m not the leader of some rebel organisation.’

‘Why not?’ Dagon said. ‘They’ve got a bounty over yer head for being just that-’

‘It’s a lie,’ I interrupted.

‘It doesn’t have to be.’ A smirk slid across Dagon’s face. ‘Why not be guilty of the thing they’re accusing you of?’

I considered this for a moment. It was utter madness, yet it made sense all at the same time.

‘If the human gene is as common as yeh say it is-’ Dagon looked at me with wide eyes, ‘I reckon you got an army of angry parents, relatives, and friends on yer side.’

Chapter Eleven

Across the Sea