Falling Ashes (22 page)

‘What does he want?’ she asked, pulling a face. ‘Go on, shoo.’

‘He likes you,’ I said, picking up Willow and Rue and tucking them under my arms. Blood was now pooling from Finn’s head, and I didn’t want them to tread in it.

‘Tell him to stop,’ she nudged Shadow with the toe of her boot. Shadow ignored the dismissal and grabbed her shoelace, tugging on it and growling playfully.

I couldn’t help but laugh as the pup aggravated such a stern looking woman. She bent down and picked Shadow up, holding him in front of her face. ‘Do not test me, fur ball,’ she glared. I held my breath, expecting Emilija to become defensive over her young. However, Shadow licked the woman on her nose.

‘I guess he is kind of nice,’ she said, begrudgingly, putting Shadow back on the ground. ‘What is he called?’

‘His name is Shadow, and this is Willow, Rue, Hawthorne and Emilija. And I’m Ava.’ I pointed to myself.

She did not look pleased to meet me.

‘I have to go,’ she said, turning on her heel and marching in the opposite direction.

‘Wait!’ I said, quickly placing the two pups on the ground. ‘Won’t you at least tell me your name?’

She ignored me and continued to walk away.

‘Won’t you let me repay you for saving me?’ I called, running to catch up.

‘You have nothing I want,’ she said, twigs crunching under her boots as she marched away.

‘But I’m in your debt,’ I said. ‘Anything. I have supplies back at the windmill … another dagger. Oh, and I have water… and food-’

This caught her attention. She stopped walking and turned to face me. ‘Food?’ she repeated.

I nodded fervently. ‘Let me cook you something.’

‘Cook?’ she repeated skeptically.

‘I’m a Fire-Mage,’ I said. I had no issue revealing my Power to the woman who had saved me. ‘Hawthorne can catch us something to eat, and I’ll cook it for you.’

The woman looked at me for several seconds before grabbing an arrow from her quiver, fitting it into her bow, and taking aim. At first, I thought she was going to shoot me, but a second later, she released the arrow, shooting a pheasant through its head.

‘Wow!’ I exclaimed, slightly shaken. ‘That was amazing!’

She marched over to the dead bird and picked up the arrow, the pheasant hanging limply from the end. ‘We can eat this,’ she said.

I nodded. ‘Absolutely.’

I took my savior back to the windmill, the Vulmessian family remaining in the woods to catch their own food.

Once inside the windmill, the woman looked around, rather unimpressed. ‘You live here?’ she asked.

I shook my head. ‘No, of course not. It’s just … temporary until the pups are old enough to travel.’

‘Where are you travelling to?’ she asked.

I had no answer for this. ‘Uh … I’m not sure.’

‘Your accent,’ she said. ‘It is British.’

I nodded. ‘Yes. And yours is … German?’

She nodded too. 

I took the dead bird from her and proceeded to pluck and gut the animal; I’d gotten quite good at it over the last few days.

Next, I set up the wood I had begun to store in the windmill. Crouching beside the pile, I prepared to set it alight, but nothing happened.

‘What the-?’

I tried again. No flames appeared. I could feel the fire, yet it would not expel.

‘Sorry,’ I muttered, rubbing my palms together. ‘This doesn’t usually happen.’

‘It is my fault,’ said my savior. She looked slightly amused.

‘What? No, don’t be silly.’

She smirked. ‘No, really. I’ll step outside and show you.’

She quickly left the windmill and walked several paces away. I tried again, but the fire did not appear.

‘Anything?’ she called.

‘Not yet!’ I called back.

‘I’ll go further,’ she said. I could hear her marching down the hill. ‘Try now!’ she bellowed several seconds later.

I tried again, and this time the fire shot from my hands, igniting the wood, as well as my rucksack in the far corner.

‘Crap!’ I hurried over to my bag and quickly extinguished the flames. I’d been trying too hard to use my Power, and I’d overdone it.

‘Did it work?’ she called.

‘Yes!’ I replied, sticking my head out of the windmill door. ‘It worked!’

She ran back up the hill and smiled when she saw the blazing hot campfire.

‘It always takes me hours to kindle the fire,’ she said, crouching beside the flames sulkily.

‘It doesn’t usually take me so long,’ I said. ‘What happened? Why did you have to leave?’

She wrapped her arms around her knees, appearing quite small and frail; nothing like the girl I’d seen in the forest.

‘I dampen the Power of those around me,’ she said, poking the fire with a stick. ‘So your fire will not work around me.’

I raised my eyebrows and sat across from her. ‘That’s really strange,’ I said. ‘I’ve never heard of that before.’

She shrugged. ‘It is nothing special. Though it is quite funny when people do not know it. I once went to a circus as a little girl, and the performer was meant to contort his body into strange positions. Needless to say, he ended up at the Healer’s tent.’

I smiled. ‘Ever play practical jokes on people?’

She too, smiled. ‘In school, my friend would often try to impress the girls by showing off his Power. He was telekinetic. I’d hide somewhere nearby … so it never went very well for him.’

I laughed, and she blushed sheepishly.

‘So, are you going to tell me your name?’ I pressed.

She poked the fire for a few seconds before responding. ‘My name is Fae,’ she said.

‘Fae,’ I repeated. ‘And what are you doing in Belgium, Fae? With a weapon, no less. You don’t look very old.’

It was true. Now that I saw Fae in a softer light, she looked much younger than I’d first thought.

She shook her head. ‘I’m sixteen.’

‘Where are your parents?’ I asked.

‘You are awfully nosy,’ she said, brow furrowed.

‘Sorry,’ I muttered.

Shoving the pheasant on a stick, I proceeded to cook it on the fire. Fae watched it hungrily. It looked as though she hadn’t had a decent meal for days.

‘So how long have you been on your own?’ I asked, forgetting that she’d accused me of being nosy.

‘A year,’ she said. 

I raised my eyebrows, surprised. However, I could see that Fae did not wish to talk about it, so I dropped the matter.

Soon the pheasant was cooked through, its delicious smell filling the windmill. Fae licked her lips anxiously as she waited eagerly to sink her teeth into its plump breast. I took the pheasant off the fire and divided it into two using Finn’s dagger, and handed Fae her half.

She ate it greedily, the grease from the pheasant smeared across her mouth. She didn’t seem to care that it was extremely hot either.

‘Whoa, slow down,’ I said. ‘You’ll get a stomachache.’

Fae ignored me and continued to wolf down the meal until the bones were picked clean.

‘Huh. I guess you were hungry,’ I said looking down at my own meal, which I’d barely touched. ‘Here.’

I handed Fae my half of the pheasant, and she looked down at it, unsure.

‘Aren’t you hungry?’ she asked.

I shook my head. ‘I’m fine,’ I lied. It was the least I could do after she had saved me from Finn.

Fae took the pheasant and began to eat it quickly. 

While she ate, I asked, ‘What should we do with Finn’s body?’

Fae shrugged and said through a full mouth, ‘Just leave him there. Nature will take care of it.’

I worried about Fae. She had just killed a fully-grown man without batting an eyelid. Surely that would send any normal sixteen-year-old girl into a state of shock?

I tried broaching the subject. ‘So … uh … you’re pretty good with that bow,’ I said as casually as I could.

Fae shrugged. ‘It was a hobby, at first. But it comes in useful.’

I nodded. ‘I’ll say. I mean … you killed Finn so … quickly.’

Fae nodded. ‘What else was I supposed to do?’

I chewed on the inside of my lip. ‘Have you ever … done that before?’

‘Done what before?’

‘Killed a person?’

‘Just one other,’ Fae admitted. ‘He deserved it, too.’

I was beginning to become nervous. I liked Fae. She’d rescued me, after all. But the ease with which she killed a man, and admitted to shooting another, was unsettling. Even the way she talked about it was far too calm for my liking.

‘So how did you know him?’ Fae asked.

‘Finn? Oh … I didn’t know him. He was hunting-’

‘Those animals?’ Fae finished my sentence. ‘He was hunting your pets?’

I nodded. She didn’t need to know that Finn had originally been hunting me.

‘It makes me sick,’ she scowled. ‘Men are pigs.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Not all of them,’ I said. ‘Some are okay.’

‘You’ll learn,’ she said, pointing one of the pheasant’s bones in my direction. ‘You can’t trust men. None of them. They’re all scumbags.’

‘Aren’t you a little young to have such a prejudice against men?’ I asked without thinking.

Fae threw the cleaned bone into the fire and stared at me. ‘What does age have to do with it?’

‘Nothing,’ I said quickly.

‘How old are you, then?’ she asked

‘Nineteen,’ I replied.

‘Boyfriend?’

‘Yes, actually.’ I admitted.

‘Uh huh,’ said Fae, plucking a piece of meat from the bird. ‘And where is this boyfriend, then?’

‘I … I don’t know,’ I admitted.

Fae pursed her lips. ‘How convenient.’

‘Hey, Jack is a really great guy,’ I said, slightly annoyed. ‘He’s looking for me right now, I know it.’

‘Let me guess. He gave you that necklace you’re wearing,’ said Fae.

I touched the locket around my throat, turning it between my thumb and forefinger. ‘Yes. So?’

Fae smiled. ‘How many other women has he given the same locket to?’

I was becoming quite miffed. ‘None,’ I said defensively. ‘It belonged to his mother.’

Fae smirked. ‘Sure, that’s what he told you.’

‘And I believe him,’ I said angrily, standing up. ‘Jack is a great guy who has done so much for me. How can you sit there and judge someone you don’t even know?’

Fae held up a hand. ‘You’re right. I guess it’s hard for me to understand why some women tolerate men. Perhaps it is just bad luck.’

‘What about your father?’

Fae’s eyes narrowed. ‘I never met my father. He left before I was born. No good scumbag-’

‘Is that why you hate men so much? Because of your dad?’

Fae shook her head.

‘What is it then?’ I pressed.

She looked into the fire, a glazed look coming over her eyes. ‘I once had a … a friend,’ Fae began, swallowing hard. ‘Something terrible happened to her. A man … he did it - he broke her … ruined her. Afterward, she was an empty shell. She barely spoke … barely moved. And then, one day she got up and left. I haven’t seen her since. So I blamed him for taking away the only good thing in my life.’

‘How long ago was this?’ I asked.

‘Three years ago,’ said Fae. ‘We were thirteen.’

‘This man … is he the other one you-’ I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

‘The one I killed?’ Fae finished my sentence. ‘Yes. And he deserved it for abusing my girlfriend Ræven.’

Chapter Seventeen

Camp

JACK GREENWOOD

The shears passed over Jack’s head with ease, and the last of his hair fell into his lap. He picked up the locks and looked at them sadly. He’d always been rather fond of his hair, and now that it was gone, he felt a chill he’d never experienced before.

Once the ritual was complete, Jack was handed a small mirror to look at himself. Staring at his closely cropped head, he couldn’t help but think that his ears looked even larger now that he had no hair to cover them.

‘It suits you,’ said the woman who had done the honors. She was a pretty lady in her mid-twenties with dark skin.

‘Yeah … right,’ he replied, rather sullen.

‘Don’t worry. It’ll grow back,’ she reassured as a group of guards walked past. They looked over at Jack, pointing and laughing, never mind the fact that they all had shaved heads too.

‘Oi, mate. Look! Reckon those ears will be a big enough target for the rebels?’ one of the men elbowed his comrade. They laughed and sauntered off.

‘Ignore them,’ said the woman, packing her shears away and taking the mirror from Jack. ‘You look fine.’

‘I bet you say that to all the guards,’ said Jack without smiling. He stood up and shook the hair from his clothes. It had fallen down his shirt and was making him itchy.