Falling Ashes (28 page)

‘Sorry. My mother is dead, too. She was a Healer.’

‘How did she die?’

‘Giving birth to me,’ replied Jack.

‘And your father?’ asked Ethel.

‘He is also a Healer.’

‘He couldn’t save her?’ asked Ethel.

Jack shook his head. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed with the desire to admit something he’d never told anyone before – not even Avalon.

‘There were complications with my birth,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t breathing when I was born, so my mother gave her entire life essence so I could live. The effort of saving me was so great that it killed her.’

‘You can die from healing?’ asked Ethel.

‘Under extreme circumstances,’ said Jack. ‘Healing involves sharing your life essence with another person. Most of the time, with small injuries, it does not require too much effort to heal. But if someone is inches from death it requires everything you’ve got to save that person. Often the amount of energy it takes to bring someone back from the brink of death can kill a Healer.’

Ethel stared at Jack with wide eyes. ‘She must have loved you, to give her life to save you.’

Jack swallowed hard. His throat felt tight, and his eyes were burning. ‘It’s what any parent would do, I think. I know I’d do it.’

‘You have children?’ asked Ethel.

Jack shook his head.

‘Would you? With your girlfriend?’ she asked.

Jack imagined a tiny, black-haired toddler running around with fire in his hands, closely followed by a small Healer girl. The thought made him smile.

‘Perhaps one day,’ he said. ‘I can imagine the trouble they’d cause already. I’d have to make everything fire-proof. Lord knows, they’d be trouble makers like Ava.’

Ethel stared at Jack as though he’d just admitted something horrific.

‘I thought you said
Ada
was a Healer like you?’

Suddenly, Jack realised what he’d said. He’d been so consumed with the heart-to-heart he and Ethel had been having, that he’d forgotten his girlfriend ‘Ada’ was a Healer. He wasn’t sure how he was going to talk his way out of this one.

‘Yeah, um, we have distant Fire-Mage relatives. I didn’t mean … I just meant they’d be
clumsy
like me and adventurous like Ada. Things are bound to catch on fire.’ He said it all very fast and laughed in an attempt to shake off the awkwardness.

Ethel crossed her arms and stared at Jack. She didn’t seem impressed with his excuse. ‘You’re hiding something,’ she said.

‘I’m not hiding anything,’ said Jack quickly.

Ethel approached Jack until she stood only a few inches from his face.  For the first time, he noticed how tall she was.

Unlike Avalon, whose head barely reached Jack’s chin, Ethel’s eyes were level with his mouth. He found it very hard to make eye contact with her, so he looked at her forehead instead. Ethel’s black eyes studied Jack’s face, and for a moment, he feared that she might kiss him. He couldn’t help but think how soft her chocolate skin looked. They’d been staring at each other far too long to be considered polite.

Coming to his senses, Jack looked away. He turned to the gate and paced. Ethel watched his every step, unmoving.

Jack heard the crunching of gravel behind him. Coming towards the gate was a guard with whom Jack was not familiar.

‘Miss Jenson?’ said the guard.

Ethel turned to face the man, her eyebrows raised. ‘Yes?’

‘You’re wanted back at the living quarters. There’s a new female recruit, and they want you to show her around and inform her of her duties.’

Ethel exhaled, visibly annoyed. ‘Why me?’ she asked.

The guard was about to answer when he noticed Jack standing there. He leaned in and whispered to Ethel so Jack could not hear. Annoyed, Jack turned his back on the whispering pair and pretended to be somewhere else.

‘All right,’ said Ethel. ‘Who will take over my position here?’

‘I will relieve you of your guard duty, ma’am,’ said the nameless guard.

Ethel nodded and stepped through the gate. Jack turned to watch her leave. Their eyes met for the briefest moment before Ethel turned away and strode up the lawn, leaving Jack with the guard.

At that moment, realisation dawned on Jack. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said, pointing at the guard. ‘Did you call her Miss Jenson?’

The guard, slightly confused, nodded.

‘But that’s Sergeant Jenson’s name!’ said Jack.

‘Yeah. That’s because she’s his daughter.’ It seemed the unknown guard thought Jack was slow.

‘But … he’s not a green grocer!’

‘You’re not the brightest flame, are you?’ asked the guard.

Jack ignored him. Ethel had lied to him about her father, but he wasn’t sure why. Was she ashamed?

You don’t know who I am. Perhaps it’s better I don’t tell you, otherwise you won’t want to be my friend either.
Those were the words Ethel had spoken the night before. Did the other women really dislike Ethel because of her father's rank? Jack couldn’t understand why it would be a problem. Perhaps they were scared of her. Sergeant Jenson had struck Jack as a very strict man, though Ethel did not appear to take after him in that respect.

‘Why would she lie to me?’ Jack wondered aloud.

‘Will you stop asking stupid questions, and pay attention to your job, please?’ asked the guard. ‘There’s a mob heading this way.’

Confused, Jack looked around until he spotted a rather large group of people heading towards the Headquarter's gates. There was at least thirty people, each of which had an expression of utter contempt upon their face. Jack kind of wished Ethel was here; her shield would really come in handy right about now.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Jack. ‘I’m sure we can sort this without resorting to violence.’

The guard scoffed as he pulled out his baton. ‘Your first mob, eh? What’s your Power then, newbie?’

‘I’m a healer,’ said Jack, gulping loudly.

‘Fantastic.’ The guard pinched the bridge of his nose and scrunched up his eyes. ‘They put a healer on guard duty at the front gate. You’re going to be as useful as a trap-door on a lifeboat.’

‘I’m not completely useless,’ said Jack. ‘Perhaps I can help them, rather than clubbing them with my bat.’

The guard twirled his baton. ‘Let me know how that goes, kid. Did they even train you in crowd control?’

‘I got a short briefing,’ Jack replied. ‘I only joined a week ago.’

The guard swore under his breath. ‘All right then. Just do as I do, and we should prevent a riot breaking out.’

‘You really think they’re going to riot?’

‘It wouldn’t be the first time.’

‘What was your name?’ Jack asked quickly. He was ashamed to admit that his legs felt weak at the thought of confrontation.

‘Wulfric,’ the guard replied. ‘And you?’

‘Jack.’

‘Well, Jack, you’re going to learn something today.’

The mob approached, stopping mere meters from the front gates which Jack was helping guard.

‘All right, folks, let’s move along, now,’ said Wulfric, stepping forward to meet them.

‘We aren’t leaving until you let us in!’ piped a small woman at the front of the mob. A chorus of ‘
Yeah
’s' followed her statement.

‘And what do you plan to do if I let you in?’ Wulfric looked back at Jack and winked.

‘I want to see my brother!’ screamed another young woman.

‘And my daughter!’ yelled a large man.

The other members of the mob started yelling too, their cries indistinguishable.

Wulfric sighed. ‘Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but we don’t have your families here. Now, if you don’t sod off within the next few minutes, I’m going to have to force you to leave.’

‘You’re outnumbered,’ said a young man, rubbing his knuckles menacingly. ‘You can’t stop all of us.’

Jack wanted to tell these people that the Realm did not keep humans here – that they were sent to various human markets across the country, yet he could not say such a thing when Wulfric was here.

Jack stepped forward and stood beside Wulfric.

‘Let me try,’ he muttered, nodding towards the gate. Shrugging, Wulfric stepped back and allowed Jack to be the centre of the mob's attention.

‘Look guys, we aren’t going to solve anything with violence,’ he said loudly and clearly.

‘Says you,’ piped the small woman. ‘Let us in or we’ll break that gate down!’

‘I know you’re all really angry at the Realm. You miss your family, and you want to protect them. But your families aren’t here anymore.’ Jack walked up to the small woman so he was mere inches from her face. She looked up at him with utter contempt. Jack lowered his voice so only the woman could hear him. ‘I’ll give you the information you seek tonight if you’ll meet me at the tavern around the corner at midnight. Don’t say anything.’

The tiny woman raised her eyebrows, shocked at what Jack had said, but it seemed she understood that he wanted to help them.

‘Let’s go,’ she said, turning away from the gate. Her mob followed in her wake. They seemed confused by her sudden change of heart.

‘But I thought-’ began the large man.

‘Later, Woodman,’ the woman snapped. ‘Come with me.’

‘Wow,’ said Wulfric, clapping Jack on the shoulder. ‘You got rid of them pretty easily.’

‘I’m good with people,’ said Jack.

‘I’ll say,’ said Wulfric. ‘Thought I was gonna have to go feral on them.’

‘Feral?’ Jack repeated.

‘They don’t call me Wulfric for nothing, you know.’ He grinned, showing pointed yellow teeth.

Jack recoiled slightly. He hadn’t meant his reaction to be so rude – it had been instinct. But Wulfric did not seem insulted, on the contrary, he laughed.

‘Gives most people a fright,’ he chuckled.

‘So, what does the name Wulfric mean?’ asked Jack.

‘It means the ruler of wolves.’

‘And what is your Power exactly?’

‘I change,’ said Wulfric, grinning; his pointed teeth bared.

‘Into?’ Jack pressed.

‘What do you think?’ he said. ‘A badger? No. I turn into a werewolf, I guess you’d call it.’

Jack felt his heart quicken as he recalled the wolf-man that had worked for Martinez – the one who’d had his head bitten off by Hawthorne.

‘Is that … a hereditary Power?’ asked Jack.

Wulfric nodded, his black eyes gleaming. Jack wasn’t sure why, but now that he knew what Wulfric was, he suddenly did not like him. Perhaps Jack was prejudice to judge him for his Power. For all he knew, Wulfric might be a very kind man indeed.

‘Been in my family for generations - a great Power it is, too. My ancestors worked hard to ensure the line stayed pure, and the Power didn’t die out. Of course, with the death of my brother, the line has shrunk.’

‘Your brother?’ asked Jack, feigning an expression of sympathy.

Wulfric nodded. ‘There aren’t many of us left. I am the last male in my family now. Of course, I want to share my Power with my future sons, so I must be careful who I breed with.’

Jack cringed internally. Wulfric spoke as though copulating was nothing more than animalistic instinct, where they chose the strongest of their species to breed with.

‘So … can you only change on the full moon or something?’ asked Jack, feeling foolish.

Wulfric laughed. ‘No, no, nothing like that. The change happens at will, but it is sometimes hard to change back into my human form once I have transitioned.’

‘Why?’

Wulfric considered his answer carefully. ‘When I am in my wolf form, I am not myself. Rational thought is extinguished and replaced by instinct. The animal takes over. I am like a bystander – trapped in my own body, watching the world through the eyes of the creature I’ve become. It’s really quite fascinating.’

In Jack’s opinion, it sounded horrific. What could be worse than the inability to control your actions?

‘The Power,’ Wulfric held his hands in front of his face and studied them, ‘is incredible. You feel strong, and fast.’

‘You aren’t … violent, are you?’

Wulfric roared with laughter. ‘Just don’t get on my bad side, kid, and you’ll be fine.’

It wasn’t himself that Jack was worried about, but the lives of the human empathisers who confronted Wulfric when Jack wasn’t around to defuse the situation.

~

Jack stealthily left the camp at midnight and made his way to the tavern around the corner. He hoped that there were no officials having a drink after work.

He was in luck – no one from the Realm’s guard was at the tavern. In fact, no one was at the tavern at all. Every chair was empty. Jack checked his timepiece and saw that it was a quarter past midnight.

Perhaps they weren’t going to come; they might have thought it a trap. Jack had been foolish to assume they would show up.

Hands clamped down onto Jack’s shoulder, and suddenly, he became very sleepy. His legs gave way, and he crashed to the floor. Someone rolled him over and loomed in and out of sight. Everything was blurry. Jack tried to talk, but his words were slurred. It was as if he’d been drugged. Blurred figures appeared around him, muttering between themselves, but he couldn’t make out everything they were saying.