Creatures of Snow (11 page)

He reacted on instinct
alone and was somehow able to dodge it. It was only after he threw
a punch of his own and received a direct kick into his hip that he
realized they were fighting. Right there. On a ledge. Thirty
stories up.

Con came around with
another punch, blocking it hurt as much as getting hit, but at
least he could absorb it and keep his balance.

As Sky narrowly avoided
the hits and kicks, he noticed that when throwing a punch, Con left
his chest completely open. That might be his only
opportunity.

Con kicked, and then
pulled his arm back. He would be guarded until his fist came
forward, so there was no use trying to be faster, Sky’s only chance
would be to take the hit and counter at the same time.

He braced for the hit. It
was just his bad luck that this time it was coming straight for his
face. Sky tilted his head down just slightly and pushed himself
into the punch, jabbing his arm forward as he did. His vision went
black as Cons blow connected with the side of his face, but he had
felt it – he had landed his hit into Con’s ribs.

Con jumped back and Sky
crouched down, intent on keeping his feet planted firmly in place
while he waited for the world to stop spinning.

“You got me.” Con brushed
his hands together then held them up before jumping down off the
ledge and back onto the gravel of the roof. “Didn’t even take you
thirty seconds.”

“It was just one hit.” Sky
blinked hard and decided he was seeing straight. “And not even a
good one.” He mumbled and clumsily jumped down as well.

“You are only the fourth
person to ever land a punch. The other three are all part of my
squad. And that’s what I came here to show you.”

“What? That I can hit
you?”

“That you are good enough
to be one of us.”

The hairs on the back of
Sky’s neck stood up. Maybe it was the slight chill in the thinning
air, but most likely it was the sudden swell of pride.

Con laughed a good, loud
laugh. “And none of them had to chase me over three buildings and
up who knows how high to fight on a two foot wide strip of
cement.”

“Yeah, was that really
necessary if all I needed to do was hit you?”

“Not at all, I just wanted
to see if you could do it.” Con slapped him hard enough on the back
to make him stumble forward.

“You’re insane.” Sky
laughed. He had loved it though. The rush. The excitement. He
hadn’t felt that way in so long. “But…thank you.” He said honestly.
He felt alive. He felt good.

Con gave him a nod of
understanding. “Anytime, kid. Now, we should probably get back and
pretend we went to class.”

“Right.” He sighed. Maybe
this wasn’t going to be so bad. Maybe he had finally found a place
to belong.

Chapter Eight

It was evening by the time
Sara finally left the library. School had been out for hours, but
she was one of many students still trickling out of the
buildings.

With a long overdue sigh
she pulled a book out of her bag and began to read as she continued
down the road, hoping the dull text would distract her racing
mind.

A flash of red caught her
eye, and she found herself staring at the same military-like
student she had noticed earlier at orientation. He was sitting
rigidly on a transport bench, nervously clutching his
bag.

Sara stopped a few steps
past him. “You missed the last transport, you know.”

The young man looked over
at her, his face straight and stoic. “No, I did not know. Thank
you.” He said, standing slowly.

Sara backed up a step –
most people considered
her
tall, but this guy towered over her. “There’s a
shuttle on the other end of campus that can take you to the dorms.
I can show you if you’d like.” She offered, trying not to gawk the
way people gawked at her.

“I do not reside in the
dorms, I have lodgings elsewhere.” He replied, apparently to the
ground, since he had yet to look up at her.

“Fine.” She shrugged.
“Good luck.” The street lights started to turn on and illuminated
the sidewalk beneath her feet as they walked away from
him.

“Are you walking alone?”
the boy asked, and matched her stride.

“Apparently
not.”

“May I walk with you? This
would be the direction I would need to go.” He gestured stiffly
down the walk.

“
Whatever,
man.”

“My name is Liam, but most
just call me Lee.” The boy said while holding out a giant
hand.

Sara looked at it, but
didn’t shake it. “You’re not fooling anyone, you know. You’re an
Agonian.” She turned her attention back to her book. “I shake your
hand, you steal my thoughts. I think I’d rather be rude,
thanks.”

Lee allowed his hand to
drop, his eyes still intent on staring at the ground. “I would have
thought that you of all people would understand not to judge others
by stereotypes.” He said quietly.

“Why should I understand?
Aren’t you judging me by thinking that I wouldn’t judge you?” Sara
snapped back, her book slapping to her side. “All Agonians are
telepaths, right? So it’s a logical assumption, not a stereotype,
that you could touch my hand and read my thoughts.”

“I am an echelon second
level; which means I could read them from here if I wanted. Why
would you assume that such a thing was my intention?” He asked with
a mild annoyance, his gaze finally lifting to meet hers.

Sara immediately broke eye
contact, pulled her book back up to reading level, and jutted her
hips to the side. “I’m a product of my environment. It’s apparently
just my nature.”

“I am sorry for your
misfortune.” He said earnestly.

Did he just really take her seriously? This
guy was certainly a strange one, but not all together bad company,
so she didn’t fight it as he matched her pace when she tried to
walk away.

“
I would still like to
walk with you though, if you do not mind.”

“Whatever.” She let out a
long sigh and made a point out of not looking up from her book. “My
name’s Sara.”

They walked in an uneasy
silence for a bit. The night was calm and warm, with only an
occasional breeze that rippled down through the buildings. It was
surprising that so few pedestrians joined them on the yellow lit
streets of downtown Delphos – she just expected that a city of its
size to be bustling, no matter the time of day.

“
So, how did you get
away?” She asked, unable to bear the silence any longer. “I mean,
you know, I didn’t think Agonians could study anywhere else except
on Agon.”

Lee’s face turned away for
an instant, “They can not.” He simply said.

She knew better than to
pry.

“I ran away, so to speak.”
Lee looked down at her, “Because of my abilities and rank I was
expected to join a particular guild of elite assassins. It was a
destiny I could not face.”

From what she knew of
Agonian’s, that sounded about right. They were once a mighty race
of noble warriors that in recent times had been reduced to nothing
more than mercenaries and assassins for hire. It’s just what
happened when cultures, such as theirs, refused to change with the
tides.

“
I know it may be rude for
me to ask, but,” His face reddened slightly, “why are you still
here? On Archaios?”

“That is rude.” She let
her voice bleed aggravation - just for the satisfaction of watching
his eyes go wide and his color deepen to a deeper shade of
scarlet.

“I apologize, I am-” He
stuttered out his words, stopping in his long tracks.

“Shut up. I’m just
joking.” She laughed, punching his shoulder. “Geeze, you’re a
serious guy. Hey, look, the Silverlight!” Diverting his attention
across the street to a small squat building nestled comfortably
amongst its colossal neighbors. The restaurant was featured in all
her literature on Delphos – it was
the
hot spot for tourists and
Academy folk.

Lee’s gaze followed her
arm over, “Oh, yes. I have heard of that establishment.” He nodded
pleasantly.

“
Let’s go get a bite, eh?
What do you say?” Because she had never been in a restaurant, and
she would never go alone.

His slight hesitation was overpowered by her
pleading smile.

“
I suppose I am hungry,
and a real meal might be a welcome change.” He laughed for the
first time, giving up his rigid posture slightly for one more
suited for social interaction.

She led the way across the
street and under the small arch that marked the entrance into
Silverlight’s outdoor dining area. Lights and lanterns illuminated
the small courtyard, strung up by an unseen source and seemingly
floating above their heads, while tiny sparkles of iridescence
twisted in and around the plasticized foliage. Sara breathed in a
lungful of the rich aromas that hung heavy in the air, caught up in
the beauty of the moment.

“
How does this work?” She
whispered over to Lee, “I want that table over there.” She pointed
over to a small round stone table that sat under a drooping tree.
The strings of lights that surrounded the sagging branches gave the
appearance of a twinkling waterfall.

“Go and sit.” Lee nudged
her gently towards the table, “I will tell them.”

She knew she stared after
him a bit too long once he walked away towards the building.Lee was
back before she was even settled into the perfect spot. “The
waitress should be out shortly.” He tried an uncomfortable smile as
he carefully sat down across from her.

She smiled back. It was
the strangest thing. The whole situation was so unlike anything she
had ever done. Not that she ever really had the opportunity
before.

“
That pin on your jacket –
is that a symbol from your clan?”

She absently looked down below the crest of
REALM. One thing none of them had thought to ask is what to tell
other students. Was Axis public knowledge, or need-to-know
information?

“No, nothing like that.
It’s a club I’m in.” That had to be safe to say.

Lee seemed to have good
intuition and proved to never press an issue. In fact, as they
began to talk, he seemed to know just what to say to keep the
conversation flowing – it was if they had known each other forever
and their little chat rolled and moved and took on a life of its
own.

“…
and what about that last
one? What did you have to do to get that one?” Sara asked with
curiosity, pointing to the bar type piercing above his left
eyebrow.

“
This I received for the
completion of the third level of defense military training. Since I
graduated at the top of my class I was able to place it anywhere
above my eyes.”

“
That’s so awesome.” Sara
grabbed her drink as soon as the waitress set it down and gestured
to her own lip ring. “I never knew that these things could actually
mean anything. What about your tattoos? Do they have meaning as
well?”

“
Mostly they are more of a
rite of passage, once your parents or guardians decide you are of
age you can get them. Different patterns and symbols mean different
things.” Lee said with a shrug. “But, really, when you are young
you basically just choose what looks...cool.” Lee leaned forward
across the table. “I have got these too…” He pointed to his face as
two small lines appeared under each eye. “I use an easy mental
trick to block them from view.”

“
You really have no idea
what I am, do you?” Sara asked with a shake of her head.

“What do you mean?” He sat
back in his seat.

Sara pointed to her own
eyes. “These are the eyes of the Children of Chaos from the Blue
Star clan. We see with eyes unclouded. Illusions and tricks of the
mind don’t work on us. We can see through anything.”

Lee’s face turned as red
as his hair. “I did not realize.”

“It’s cool that you would
openly show me though. Those marks, they mean you’re royalty,
right?”

Lee put up his hands and shushed her.
“Please, not so loud. I hide them for a reason. I only told you
because if we become friends it would be awkward later on to
explain why I hid something from you.”

Sara laughed and sipped her drink with a
shake of her head. “You really do think ahead, eh?”

Lee smiled back at her awkwardly. He let his
gaze drift out over the street. “This is a nice place. It is
very…quiet.”

Sara leaned her head back
and looked up at the spattering of stars that illuminated the
darkened sky. “It’s quiet because we’re in the middle of nowhere.
The only thing this planet has going for it is REALM, everything
else is just a dead end.”

“I could say the same
thing about Agon. If you do not want to be a warrior, there is no
purpose to your life. That is why I wanted to come here. I knew
there must be something else to life besides war and
fighting.”

Sara smiled up at the stars and closed her
eyes. “You’re quite the stoic hero aren’t you?”

Lee blushed and turned his
eyes away. When his posture perked up and a look of recognition
crossed his face she followed his gaze only to have her stomach
sink in dread. Over on the other side of the street was Sky, hands
in his pockets, strolling lazily down the walk.