Dragon Frost (24 page)

The night
is the time they come out—people had the gall to think Vampires
owned the night. The thought of it makes me want to laugh, even
they, knew when to leave, if threatened. The stagnant atmosphere
doesn’t help the awareness of us being watched.

“
You feel
that?” questions Lifet and I glance at him surprised.

“
Yeah,” I
say. “Something’s watching us.” Knowing it’s not exactly
someone.

“
Let’s
carry on but keep your guard up.” he urges and I scan the clearing
behind us. Nothing unusual seems to spring up at me and I can’t
help but feel the air become cold. My breath slithers out before me
as I exhale. I stop. Since when does the cold air affect me? It’s
the water that is cold in this form. I see the ground slowly become
a shade of blood red and the sky around me is not bright and yellow
but tainted and filtered with a red light. The trees around me are
black and Lifet is gone.

“
Nindo . . . ”
 calls the demons and I frown. Couldn’t I be able to
fight a bunch of demons without them referring to my real name?
They refer to my family’s name? 
It’s difficult to take a break these
days.
 I lift my
blade slowly; a gentle 
zing
 sounds throughout the bloody clearing. I glance at
the ground around me and not sign of the snow. Silhouettes form
slightly as outlines—transparent almost—before they become visible.
I’m surrounded by a bunch of demons that insist on pulling me into
‘Transit.’ Still, it made me question how the demons that abducted
the women were able to survive outside of the fourth
inter-dimensional world of reality the place where demons and the
dead reside in; the other-world if you will the Netherworld. It is
kill—or—be killed survival of the fittest,survival of the coldest.
No warmth will be dealt when you’re gone, especially not when you
have no one to lean on.

The
demons surround me. I stand staring before I take my stance and the
battle begins. I step aside and from the distorted limbs of the
demons before me. I dodge the first sharp bone bent like a machete
and elbow the demon behind me square in the face before thrusting
my blade into its comrade
’s torso from the left of me. I am completely surrounded
but I don’t seem to mind. In amongst all the pain—there are these
moments I live for—there are these moments in which I thrive. The
demons were soon defeated and I find myself in the same clearing I
was in, previously.

“
There
you are!” states Lifet and I regard him with
confusion. 
Where else did he think I was? I literally was here but not
here? Not that I can explain it to him without me thinking I’m
crazy.
 Then again,
demons did abduct some women and my comrades not to mention—Lifet
has seen them. Surprisingly, the demons didn’t seem to notice that
I was a Nefaliem they either were a lower class or their powers
were strongest in Transit. “Where were you? I was looking
everywhere for you.” he admits and I can hear the worry in his tone
and I’m taken back. No one ever cared about me before, why
now?

“
I was
attacked by demons.” I say. He gives me an odd look.

“
If there
were demons I would have seen it.” he retorts. I shake my
head.

“
No you
wouldn’t. Not these ones. Normal beings cannot cross between
dimensional worlds.” I say and turn from his pushing further into
the deadly silent forest. “We have to hurry.” I say and I hear
Lifet slowly stalk after me I don’t mind. His distance gives me
some time to think it gives me some time to find my bearing. I lead
our way through the abandoned and quiet frost stepping over exposed
roots and steadily walking across frozen rivers I know if not
careful will cause me to be close to death once more. During our
search for my comrades Lifet would pester me about questions
regarding Transit and the Nexus. I try not to tell him too much and
I succeed but I had to explain the thing that he wasn’t an angel
nor was he a demon. He doesn’t have the ability to cross worlds
like, us.

We can go
to the Underworld and back untouched. “Is that true?” he asks and I
nod at his response, trying to keep as close to the truth as
possible. I couldn’t risk him turning on me when I needed him. “I
never thought that was possible.” he says and I continue to scan
the horizon of dead trees in the distance—hoping that something
will give me a sign of some sort knowing, I can’t always look to
the stars. I crouch down. “What are you doing?” he asks.

“
Finding
our prey,” I trace my hand over a footprint shaped with three toes.
It appears like a paw rather than a foot and I scan the light trail
it left behind. Someone who didn’t know how to hunt or didn’t spend
time in the woods or bush lands like I often did would miss this
very important detail. 
Bingo!
 ”Follow me.” I say and follow the trail carefully. I
lead Lifet through the thicker part of the forest where dead wooden
thread-like vines block our path. I unsheathe my blade and swing.
The vines drop to the ground and I duck under the remaining vines.
The footprints are more visible, they are the same ones from before
but this time it is, much steeper—they’re fresh. “We’re close.” I
continue on with Lifet not too far behind. If someone told me one
day that I would be working with an Assassin, I would have thought
of them as crazy. I keep my guard up.

I stop as
the sound of barbarous voices, make their way to my ears. “Keep
still!” demands a deep vulgar voice and I slowly but carefully make
my way through the forest.

“
What do
you want with us?” asks a familiar voice. I
freeze. 
Varden!
 I
speed up my pace. I glance through the vines that conceal our
presence from what looks like a Hunter Vex. A large boar like
monster with a build of a man, he stands tall on his hoof feet as
he towers over Varden and Altair who are bound in energy bonds. The
green energy is what keeps Altair restraint but I know it won’t
last long. The annoyance on Altair’s face is evident in my
eyes—that Vex is a good as dead. Lifet drops beside me.

“
Is that
him?” Lifet asks as he nods towards Varden.

“
Yes, I
believe so.”

“
What do
you mean you 
believe
?” he
whispers.

“
He has
been recognized by the Order but needs to be recognized by Midra.”
I say. “That’s why were on this journey to begin with.” I glance at
the Vex one last time before I turn to Lifet. We nod in a silent
agreement. I distract he frees the
prisoners. 
Why am I being the distraction . . .
again?
 I think.
Regardless, I do it anyway . . . again. I step out from behind the
vines and I see Varden’s blue eyes lock onto me. The Vex moves to
turn around before he’s stopped by Varden’s voice.

“
So let
me get this straight you’re here for 
Me
. Isn’t that right, ugly?” teased Varden and I stop in my
tracks, taken back by his actions. Did Varden just help me? The
surprise I felt was over taken by the need to take out that Vex.
Lifet is at the opposite end of the clearing and Altair turns to
me, his blue eyes regard me from over his shoulder. He’s probably
wondering who the assassin was and if he is going to kill us.
Altair can be amusing at times I’ll give him that. I sneak towards
the Vex slowly and relax. His ears perk up and I aim my crossbow at
his head—he turns around—shocked by my presence but not for too
long before I release the arrow and he falls to the ground
lifeless. Varden turns away.

“
I
thought you would be here sooner.” states Altair and I glare at him
before rushing over to them. I kneel down and place my hand on the
energy bonds and absorb it. By the time I’m done, the bond seems to
be non-existent and the two are free. Altair stares at the shadows
of the frozen frost. “I thought I saw?” his voice is soon cut off
by him moving over to the clearing and moving aside the twine of
dead vines. His eyes scan the area; I act casually and help Varden
to his feet.

“
You saw
what?” questions Varden.

“
Nothing.” he says and I know he’s going to question me
later. He gives me a brief glance with a hidden meaning before
Varden turns to Altair.

“
Can we
go now? I’ll like to get back to that 
warm
 compartment.” he says and I roll my eyes. We
make our way back at to the town but I didn’t speak to the boys
during the journey. Varden and Altair instead, told me stuff about
what happened and how they have plans, not that they had any clue
what it was. There was a time when he said: “There is a mole in the
Order”. I wonder if it meant me. I haven’t exactly exposed
information nor would I but I did agree to hand over the most
valuable person in Zylaria to the Order’s adversaries. At most, I
have no idea where I stand; I glance at Varden as he walks behind
Altair who leads us back to the Inn.

There are
men boarding up the windows of the Inn and glance at me with a
smile before waving. “Commander.” says a brown haired and heavily
bearded man whom I believe is a farmer at the edge of town. I
remember seeing him hold out his arms before for Lucinda who didn’t
even acknowledge his presence. At that moment, I felt sorry for
him. He appears as, those kind of guys, who only have eyes for whom
they desire. In this case it was Lucinda and he hasn’t been
noticed. That is a real kick in the ass—I know that feeling all too
well. I nod my head and continue on. When we enter our room, a fire
is going and I’m surprised to see Lucinda and another woman whose
name I believe was Mary. She was another woman who was abducted.
She also was the other woman who tended to me as well while Lucinda
couldn’t.

“
Commander.” says Mary.

“
Good to
see you’re back.” said Lucinda. I enter the room first. Their eyes
turn to the men and they smile at me. “I see you’ve found your
friends. How excellent!” she beams and I can’t help but smile at
her enthusiasm. The room appears to have been swept and attended
to. The windows were open to let a small amount of fresh air into
the room. It definitely was not how I left it.

“
What’s
with all the boards?” asks Varden as he refers to the boards
strapped up around the Inn and several other houses, business and
buildings we had passed.

“
The
Mayor has ordered we take the necessary precaution to ensure we are
prepared for future incidents.” says Lucinda slowly stressing out
the word ‘incidents’ adding the effect of a double meaning and Mary
shudders a little at the word. Not too much that Varden noticed but
Altair and I most definitely did. We were trained to.

“
We’ll
try not to let that happen, next time.” says Altair as he makes his
way over to them trying to comfort them with his words and I can
tell they don’t feel all 
that
 secure.

“
We
won’t.” I add and they smile at me nodding their heads they take
their leave. Altair moves to stretch out on the couch and I move to
the other couch, that’s directly opposite the one Altair lays on
while a small circular coffee table is placed between the two
lounges. Varden hurries past the coffee table, I move my legs to
the side to allow him to pass and he slides down onto the fur
carpet and places his hands before the fire. His clothes are thick
for winter but he’s probably been exposed for the cold for a long
amount of time. “I’m sorry.”

Varden
and Altair turn to me and I don’t meet their gazes instead, I stare
at the table before me where a wooden vase stands with flowers. I
know that wasn’t there before and figured the women put it there as
their way of saying “thank you” not that they needed to. There was
no thank you necessary I was just doing my job. “It’s not your
fault.” says Varden and I’m surprised he knew what I was thinking.
I turn to him.

“
He’s
right.” says Altair. “We were surprised by the enemy. These things
happen.”

“
No. I
mean I’m sorry not for 
what
 happened but for what 
will
 happen in the future.” The air is silent. I
stand from where I am and remove my cloak. I drape it around Varden
knowing that it will keep him warm and whisper to him. “I’m sorry
Varden; I hope you’ll forgive me.” I rise from where I am and move
to my room. I open the door and close it behind me only to have it
open again with Altair entering my room his face his grim and I
move to sit on my bed. I’m tired and I’m not in the mood for a
lecture. He was always good at that. He doesn’t say anything and
sits down beside me. I rise a brow. What does he think he’s
doing?

“
So you
want to explain to me what you’ve done this time.” he says after a
long pause. I’m not surprised by him knowing I’m not as innocent as
I once was. He seems to notice these things which I find odd. I
turn my gaze from him and stare at the white plastered walls before
me. These houses are made with new material that has been traded
around for now twenty years; it is a supplement to wood which only
adds to the Inn’s cost and overall income. I find it peculiar that
they still haven’t considered painting the doors but insist on
lining the whole place in plaster walls. Then again they aren’t
human. They don’t think like them.