Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (26 page)

*****

We
ventured out of the woods, and began traversing a barren wasteland,
filled only with death and ruin. It seemed like hours passed as we
navigated around the larger ruins, in case they were home to any
wild vampires. We paused for a short while at a river to restock on
water. I sat down on a small rock, taking in the scenery. Daniel
laid next to me, his head resting on my lap. Across the river from
us, sat on the horizon, jagged spires rose up into the sky, taller
than any building in Rachat. The ruins seemed to stretch for miles
across the landscape.

"What is
that place?" I asked Violet.

"That was
once the city of Orleans," she replied. "Now it is merely a nesting
ground for wild vampires. Because of this, we have to detour
through there." She pointed upstream, towards a set of hills,
blanketed in trees.

"And
after that?" I asked, wondering how much further we had to go. My
feet were already beginning to feel the strain.

"North,
around Paris, and to the port-town of Calais. At this rate it
should only be another week or so before we reach
Aldar."

"That
far?" I sighed. I would be hundred of miles from Rachat. Hundreds
of miles away from Ash.

"Don't
worry. If this glyph from the barriers is the key we need, then
we'll be heading back to Rachat before you know it."

"And if
it isn't?"

"We'll
cross that bridge when we come to it." Violet smiled, nudging my
shoulder with her fist. Translation; it could be a long while
before I got to see Ash again.

Two days
flew by since we passed Orleans. We stopped to rest at yet another
small cluster of ruins, this time taking up camp in an old
warehouse that stood defiantly against the test of time. Rotten
boxes littered the place, adding a damp, musky smell to the place,
but it was definitely preferable to sleeping in one of the more
exposed buildings that offered little protection against the biting
wind and snow.

I slept
for a short while, on the floor of what was probably an office in
its day. The wind whistled through the windows, boarded with sheets
of metal and wood. Flakes of snow drifted in through the gaps. We
were bunched together in the small room to conserve body heat, but
Nate seemed to have edged closer to me since I had fallen asleep.
It felt uncomfortable being that close. I told myself I was being
stupid, and he had just rolled over in his sleep, seeking some
warmth.

In the
end, I crawled out of the sleeping bag, being careful not to wake
anyone, and did some exercises. I had been slacking on my workouts
since Boursac. The thought of it never crossed my mind until then.
Still, I couldn't afford to slack, not if I wanted to stay alive
against vampires, and who knows what else. I was doing some
push-ups when Daniel walked into the room, stretching his arms and
yawning.

"Can't
sleep?"

"Just
restless," I replied, panting and huffing. The exercise felt good.
I would have killed for a sparring match against Ash right
then.

"I've
been meaning to talk to you about something," he said, sitting down
in front of me. He pulled his jacket around him tighter as another
gust of wind blew through the building.

"What
about?" I started to push myself harder, hoping for more of an
adrenaline rush.

"That
thing you said to me... about revenge."

"Oh. So
you do understand in that form."

"I know
you want revenge for what they've done to you, but you can't let
that be your reason for going after them. People become obsessed
with revenge and it's not healthy."

"Don't
tell me you don't want revenge." I stopped my exercises to look him
in the eye. "They killed Sarah, and –"

"Don't
you say her name!" Daniel snapped. He backed off, shaking his head.
"Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." His hands gripped his
knees, fingernails digging into the flesh. "Of course I want
revenge, but that's not all. They killed my parents too. My Dad
went away on an assignment one day, and never came back. His team
said they were ambushed by the Silver Dawn. Mom was so depressed
she wouldn't eat or drink. She just kinda stopped living. The
doctors told me she died of a broken heart."

"So, more
revenge?"

"Shut up
and listen," he scolded me. "I don't want any more kids to have to
go through that. That's why I fight, to protect everyone, and their
future. You should know what I'm on about."

"What do
you mean?"

"Don't
try and deny it. I saw that look in your eyes when I mentioned I
was an orphan. You've felt that pain too, haven't you?"

"I wasn't
going to deny it," I said, looking away. "But it's different for
me. I never knew my parents."

"Then you
still know the pain of not having a family. Think how many people's
lives are at stake because of this fucking war. Think how many
children could end up without parents because of it."

"I know,
but why does it matter why I fight? We fight to take down the
Silver Dawn. At the end of the day, that's all that
matters."

"It
matters because revenge can make you do stupid things in pursuit of
it. Trust me, I've been there." Daniel sighed, his fingers twitched
against his knees, clutching tighter. "After they killed Sarah, I
almost got myself killed trying to hunt the bastards down. I was
reckless, and stupid. I was blind with rage, consumed by my
revenge. But in the end, killing them didn't bring Sarah back. It
just made me into a killer... a monster."

"What's
that gotta do with me?"

"Well,
what are you planning to do when we finally confront the Silver
Dawn?"

"Kill
them." The words passed my lips without so much as a
thought.

"It's
that simple, huh? You just remove them from the equation, and then
you get to go back to the city to be with Ash?"

"Exactly.
You guys are planning on killing them anyway. I just want in on
it."

"And what
will Ash think of you? If you become one of the monsters, will he
want you back?"

My eyes
widened as I absorbed his words. Ash would understand, wouldn't he?
He would learn the truth and see it was something I had to do...
for myself, and for us. Or would he only see the killer that took
down the leaders of Rachat?

"If you
want to be a part of this, then you need to think of a better
reason than revenge." Daniel stood and turned to walk out of the
room.

Didn't I
already have another reason? So I could be with Ash again. But how
far would I go to achieve my goal? Anger and rage bubbled up inside
of me at the thought of everything they had done; lied to us; left
myself and Nate for dead, exiled from the city to protect a secret;
making Ash believe I was under some vampire's spell. It was true, I
didn't want them dead so that I could be with Ash again. I wanted
them dead because they needed to pay. I wanted them to feel a
fraction of the pain they had caused to others.

No. I
shook my head, trying to clear it of the images that bombarded me.
Ash might never forgive me if I gave in to the emotions that
threatened to bubble over. I had to be better than that, for Ash,
and for everyone else in Rachat who might have wanted me back,
which admittedly was only a handful of people. If the Silver Dawn
were allowed to continue their reign, then how many people would
they abandon to the outside world, left without friends or family?
What if that next person was Ash?

"Wait," I
called to Daniel.

He looked
back over his shoulder at me. "Well? Have you thought of a
reason?"

I nodded.
"I want to save my friends, and everyone else in Rachat from those
evil bastards. I want to make sure no-one else has to suffer what
Nate and I have been through."

Daniel
smiled. "Much better. I hope you'll keep that in mind when the time
comes."

"I'll
try. Thanks, Daniel."

"Don't
mention it, kid. We orphans gotta stick together, right?" Daniel
turned back to me and held out his fist in front of him. I
recognised the gesture from my childhood, so I held out my fist and
we bumped them together. I had seen children do it all the time at
school, but never once had anyone done it with me. It filled me
with a strange sense of happiness, realising once again I wasn't
alone.

Daniel
looked back towards the doorway and said, "Are you gonna come in,
or stand there all day?"

Nate
appeared from behind the door frame. Heat crept up to my cheeks and
I looked away, wondering how much he heard of our
conversation.

"Are you
two finished bonding now?" Nate said. "Because, I dunno about you
two, but I could do with something to eat."

Daniel
grinned. "You guys would starve to death if it weren't for
me."

"Don't
remind me," Nate replied, smirking. "So, what's for lunch today,
Mr. Chef?"

"Hmmm, I
think I spotted some horses not far from here," Daniel
said.

"Think
you can manage to catch one, wolf-boy?"

"Maybe,
but you two are gonna help, just in case."

"Why me?"
I asked.

"Well,
would you rather sit here doing nothing?"

"Fine," I
grumbled. I was dying for a bit of action, though honestly, I
wasn't sure how I was going to be of any help catching a horse,
when they already had a werewolf and a powerful Daeva on their
side.

I
borrowed a pair of gloves from Sebastian, which were a little too
big, and a hat from Daniel. We opened the large metal door of the
warehouse and the wind rushed inside, carrying a wave of snow with
it. I followed Daniel and Nate out to a small thicket nearby. The
snow was travelling horizontally, blowing in my face and stinging
my cheeks. I hadn't seen weather like this since I was in school,
watching the snow fall from the window as the teachers told us we
wouldn't be allowed outside during recess. We stumbled through the
thicket, until we came across a small herd of horses. Some were
huddled together, while others grazed on shrubs. We kept as much
distance as possible while Daniel observed them. There were grey
horses with black speckles, brown horses with black manes, and even
some that were white with large brown patches.

"That
one," Daniel said, pointing to one of the smaller grey
horses.

"So, how
are we gonna do this?" Nate asked.

"It'd be easier if we can get
them out into the open, and try to
manoeuvre
the target to me with your ability,"
Daniel replied. "We'll need someone to startle them." Both of their
eyes turned to me.

"No. Just
no," I said. "I could get trampled."

"They'll
run away from you. Trust me," Daniel said.

"Why
can't you trap them with your fire now?"

"Because,
plants, fire and wind don't exactly mix well," Nate said bluntly,
mocking my apparent lack of common sense.

"Fine.
Tell me what I need to do."

"Okay,
you gotta sneak around behind them, and then jump out screaming and
waving your arms." Daniel grinned.

"My
eyebrow twitched and I glared at him. "I'm not doing
that."

"You're
no fun." Daniel pouted. "Just jump out from behind them
then."

I crept
around the horses, wondering what I was about to get myself into,
and jumped out from behind a tree. The horse nearest to me leaped
to its feet, letting out a shrill cry. As planned, the herd ran
away from me and straight towards Daniel and Nate, who were waiting
outside the thicket. I followed as quickly as I could. By the time
I got there, they had managed to separate the young horse from the
pack. Nate was using bursts of fire to try and control the horse's
movement, and Daniel was attempting to tackle the horse. Figuring
my job was done, I sat down on a fallen log under the shade of a
tree, and laughed as Daniel threw himself at the horse, only to end
up face down in the snow.

This went
on for a few minutes. I began to wonder if my ability would work on
horses, so I gave it a try. The horse began bounding straight for
me, with Daniel screaming for us to stop it. And it did stop, right
in front of me. Daniel caught up and blinked at the unmoving horse.
He shook his head and withdrew his knife from its sheath, drawing
it across the horse's throat. It cried out in pain, but soon
collapsed to the floor, its legs giving way beneath it.

"Did you
know you could do that?" Daniel asked.

"Nope."

"Good,
because otherwise I'd have to kick your ass."

As
always, Daniel took charge of skinning and gutting our catch, which
was more difficult this time, given the size of the horse. I stood
guard with Nate, trying not to catch a glimpse of all the guts and
blood. When our meal was secured we dragged the horse back into the
trees, and out of sight.

There was
enough meat from the horse to last for two meals. Half of the meat
was cooked, and we sat around a small fire eating. The rest was
stored in plastic bags with some salt. After our stomachs settled,
we packed up and got ready to head out into the snow. The wind was
calmer and the blizzard had eased up somewhat. A crescent moon hung
in the night sky, bathing the snow-covered land in its silvery
light. Daniel was back in his wolf form again, after complaining
that it was too cold to be a human. We hadn't even gone a hundred
metres when I saw his ears prick. He scented the air and let out a
low growl. His lips curled, flashing his razor sharp
canines.