The Sons of Satrina: A Sons of Satrina Novel (26 page)

She realised that neither of them were going anywhere.

They were cornered.

The Mortuorum knew that they were there and all she could do was shrug back further in to the shadows, hoping that they’d not be able to pin point their exact location.  If only they could stay hidden for a little longer, then help w
ould soon be here.  The Warriors would surely realise that they’d fallen behind and come back to see what was the hold up?  Aisline was sure that they would be able to hear the erratic thudding of her heart, pounding loudly in her own ears.  Fear had her tightly in its grasp and she felt like she was choking on it.

She could have screamed and jumped out of her own skin as Denver grabbed hold of her arm all of a sudden, if there hadn’t been such a dire need for silence.  She could feel him trembling and knew that finally he had realised that he had gotten them both into a situation that they might not be able get out of.  He was a complete asstard for pulling this stunt, but she’d save kicking his ass for when they were both back in the safety of the academy.

Risking a glance at him, Denver was drip white and looked younger than his years, like a scared little boy.  Before this, his cockiness and over confidence had gotten him in trouble at school and at home, but nothing that he couldn’t handle or talk his way out of.  This was way out of his league.  This was life threatening. It was frighteningly real, and all he wanted to do right now was scream out like a little girl for the warriors to come back and rescue them.  He couldn’t even risk doing that, though, as he didn’t know how far they were away from them and if they would get back in time.  They could both be sliced and diced, bleeding out on the floor with life ending injuries before they returned.

He just wished he hadn’t been chosen for this.  He wasn’t ready.
He shouldn’t be there.

And Aisline was frantically assessing the area around them, counting the Mortuorum, trying to find a way out for both of them.  Running through all of her training in her head, she couldn’t think of one
goddamn thing to do but to stay out of sight for as long as possible.  Also, the Mortuorum vastly outnumbered them and the way that they had fanned out in the alley way, there was no escape. 

They were trapped.

Suddenly, one of the Mortuorum spun to stab Aisline with a triumphant grin.   “Well, well, well.  What do we have here?”

The rest of them turned in unison to surround them even more tightly, a variety of expressions on their faces that ranged from direct anger to amusement to downright hunger.  Ash straightened her spine.  There was no way that they were was going to see any weakness in her, and was pleased to feel Denver straighten to his full height.  She was prepared to fight to the death now that
the time was here.  She was a warrior.  She wouldn’t go down without an almighty fight.

“Oh my.  Are my eyes deceiving me?  The rumours are true?  How very extraordinary! I would never have believed it possible.”

The male who was speaking seemed to be their first in command. The rest of the crew filtered around him, awaiting instructions.  It was strange to see them in the flesh.  In all the training she’d had at the academy, she’d had the false belief in her head that the Mortuorum were a rag tag, unorganised bunch, but seeing them here?  They seemed to have a military efficiency about them, deferring to a leader.

He was tall and skin
ny with dirt caked in his beard and the stench emanating off of him suggested that he had forgotten how to bathe a very long time ago. The worst thing about him were his eyes.  They were blank, expressionless pits of nothingness.  No humanity.  No truth.  Only death.

Ash made sure to keep her expression blank and stared defiantly ahead.  Show no fear, show no fear, she repeated in her head.  

“The first female warrior.  What are you doing out here, all alone, in the big bad world, my dear?  I would have thought that they would have wanted to keep one so unique and precious under lock and key.”    He was eyeing her like a prize, his gaze travelling over her body in a way that made her want to squirm.  A sleaze ball Mortuorum.  Great. Just her luck. Could this get any worse?

Denver turned his body slightly, as if to shield her.  Aisline appreciated the sentiment, but this was not the best time for her to appear to be weak.  Anyway, she knew that she was the better fighter between the two of them, so the action was empty. 

Throwing out her senses once again, relief coursed through her when she felt the warriors returning to seek them out, seemingly to be coming from two different directions.  Not that she cared where they came from, as long as they came.  It sure had taken them long enough to realise that they were missing.  They had only been separated from the rest of the team for about four minutes, but it had been four minutes too long.  Long enough to endanger their lives and land them smack dab in the middle of a Mortuorum attack.

“Hmmmmm.  So, you’re not out here all alone.”  The male stated, looking thoughtful, tilting his head to one side, his eyes never leaving Aisline.  Obviously, he had also sensed or heard the approach of the other warriors and his eyes took on an excited, dangerous glint.

With a flick of his wrist, the rest of the Mortuorum spread out to the right and to the left of the group, leaving four of them guarding Aisline and Denver.  They were still outnumbered, but at least at this rate, they could put up some sort of fight.

A war cry rang out at the head of the alley and she felt Denver’s shoulders sag in relief.  But, that relief came too soon.

As the warriors came rushing down the alley, weapons bared and shots ringing out, the Mortuorum leapt forward and lunged at Aisline and Denver.  She was ready for them and braced herself for a bloody fight.

Grabbing a small dagger from the sheath attached to her belt, Ash lunged forward also.  The weapon wasn’t meant to be used, it was more of a security blanket for the trainee to know that they had a defensive weapon, but it sure would come in handy now.  She’d rather have a blade than nothing at all.

A swift kick came from the side, knocking the dagger, her only weapon, to the floor and far out of her reach.  An arm snaked around her waist and lifted her off of her feet, still she kicked out to inflict as much damage as was possible.

Denver jumped into the fray, fists flying, without much direction but plenty of force, aiming for maximum destruction of the e
nemy.  He wanted out of there. He wanted to get away from the Mortuorum and this horrific nightmare as fast as he could.  This wasn’t the way that this was supposed to go down and he now knew that he should have followed orders and stayed with the team.  If he had of done what he was told, they wouldn’t be in danger now.  So, the least he could do was take down as many of them as he could on his way.

The rest of the w
arriors fought with precision. Each lung, kick and punch carefully aimed and executed.  This group of Mortuorum were fairly new on the whole and not much of a match for the Sons of Satrina warriors.  Only a few of them, the first in command who had addressed Aisline being one of them, had any age and strength behind them and gave any sort of fight.

It wasn’t long before body pa
rts littered the floor and the warriors stood panting.  It hadn’t been much of a fight, really. Merion and Dixon had seen far worse, but it was the first real battle of worth for the graduates.  Merion and Dixon had to fight and protect the newly graduated, as well as the trainees.  Both Lydon and Davis were bouncing on their heels, exhilarated from their first victory and they turned to the Master Warriors for further instructions.

Merion holstered his weapons and assessed the damage.  As he glanced over at the graduates, he heard a moan to the right of him and turned to see Denver sitting with his back against the grimy wall, grasping his arm to staunch the flow of blood.  Merion knelt down next to him to roughly examine the wound, which was only a superficial flesh wound and wouldn’t need anything more than a couple of stitches.  

“You’ll be fine.  Well, your arm will be fine.” Master Warrior Merion said.  Dixon popped his head over his shoulder and glared at Denver, “I’m not so sure I’d bet on the rest of your health once your Kelton gets your hands on you.  What the hell were you thinking?  Did you not listen to a single instruction we gave you?  This was your chance to prove yourself and all you managed to do was prove that you are a useless dick who should be kicked out on his ass!”  Dixon was absolutely fuming. He was steaming angry, his eyes darting around wildly.  He knew that he shouldn’t have spoken to a trainee in that manner, but he wasn’t a kid.  He needed to grow a pair and man up.  Honestly, who the hell did the guy think he was?  He put the whole team in danger.  Dixon was going to make sure that he was reprimanded to the fullest extent possible.  And if he had his way, he’d even make up a few new punishments himself. 

Turning, he knew he had to get the guys back to the academy as soon as possible and report to Kelton, so he started to give the sign to move out.  Grabbing his phone from his chest pocket, he typed out a brief text, advising the academy and the council of the attack and that they needed a clean-up crew out here as soon as was physically possible.

Turning for a quick head count as he texted Kelton, Dixon paused and looked again.  That wasn’t right.  There was four of them.  Five including him.

There should have been six.

“Where the fuck is Aisline?” He demanded.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

“What the hell are you talking about?  Where is she?”  Kelton couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

This, unfortunately proved his point. Look what had happened.  Heads were going to roll over this.  Those younger trainees never should have been sent out into the field in their first year. It had been an irresponsible call of the council and he had been powerless to stop their decision. The other trainees had only just been about able to hold their own out here and the experience had scared the living daylights out of them.  Kelton knew that he should have stood his ground and refused to send this first years out in the real world.  That had been pure madness.

And it was his big mistake sending Aisline out.   He should have put his foot down and overruled the council.  Sure, she was a shit hot warrior in training, but as the only female, she should have been better protected.  Kelton was kicking himself.  He should have found a way to stop her from going out there.

Now look where they were - a missing student.  And not just any student.  Aisline.  Their first female warrior in history was now in the hands of the enemy.  This couldn’t get much worse.   Or it could, but Kelton refused to think about that.

As soon as he received the text from Master Warrior Dixon, he’d issued a red alert and the academy was on shut down.  He called the rest of the teams who were out in the field with the trainees and pulled the plug.  He needed everyone back for an
emergency meeting so that the warriors could get a plan together and get out there to get her back.

Right now, he’d had Dixon and Merion report straight back to him as soon as they had stepped foot back in the academy and here they were
, standing stiffly in his office, squirming under his ferocious scrutiny.  They knew that they had screwed up, even unintentionally.  A missing trainee?  Kidnapped right under their very noses?  Unforgivable.

“I
don’t know what to say, Kelton. I really don‘t.”  Dixon was mortified that he’d had to report back to the school with a missing trainee, especially Aisline.  He’d had plenty of casualties out in the field in all his years as a warrior, but never an abduction.  And a trainee?  It was inexcusable.  He’d told Kelton that they should have overruled the council and held her back, but their hands had been tied.  And now they were paying the price.  An extremely high price at that.

“It was a shambles.  Denver was to blame.”  Merion mumbled.

“You were in charge!  He‘s still a goddamn child compared to you! You took the eye off of the ball.” Kelton roared.  Dixon and Merion kept their gazes steady but he could see the guilt in their faces.  It wasn’t fair to totally blame them, but they were the responsible adults of the group, so this was on their heads.

“Kelton, you know I’m not trying to bail here, but I need to get back to HQ to file a report and
start strategies for the rescue mission.  Hopefully, they might have some Intel on the Mortuorum who took trainee Warrior Kellerman.  It‘s still only early.”  Dixon explained.  He really didn’t want to leave, but if sooner they could find out any information as to her whereabouts, the sooner they could go in to get her out.  They hadn’t been out in the field for long before it happened, so they had the rest of the night to plan and execute a full scale rescue mission.

“The council have asked me, too.” Merion said in a quiet tone.

“You.  Get out.  Keep me updated.  Merion, you stay. ” Kelton glared.  Dixon nodded briefly before leaving.  Kelton turned his full attention back to Master Warrior Merion.  He was the senior warrior out there and he had allowed the screw up to happen, in Kelton’s eyes anyway. 

“Run me through what happened.  Minute by minute.  Second by second.  Don’t leave anything out.”  He demanded spearing him with a stony glare.

“I really don’t know what else I can tell you, Dane. I’ve been through it all.  I‘ve really got to go.  They‘re expecting me.”

“There’s a whole lot more you can say.  What the fuck happened?” Kelton roared and started pacing around the small office that was rapidly filling with bodies and didn’t really have any spare room for pacing.  “Shit.  Just go.  Get someone to call me from the council to give me a full update.  Can someone find Kayleigh?  She’s the girls’ goddamn mentor.”

Kayleigh was sitting on the side of Denver’s bed as the poor boy sobbed.  She knew that she should have pushed the door to as she knew that he wouldn’t want witnesses to his break down, but even in a situation like this, it wasn’t exactly appropriate.  Luckily, everyone was showing them due respect and leaving them in peace.  Sure, everyone wanted to see him knocked off of his perch, but not like this.  The boy was falling apart with remorse and grief. No one would have wanted that, not even his worst enemies.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t- I shouldn’t- I didn’t mean-” he stuttered, unable to complete a coherent sentence. 

“Shhhhh. W
e’ll find her.”

She wanted to give him co
mfort, but if he hadn’t had fallen out of line, and acted out of line, then none of this would be happening.  But it had happened and now they had to deal with the consequences.  It was a difficult situation for Kayleigh to deal with.  Sure, it would have been a horrific situation with any trainee missing, but this was Aisline.  They had a special bond, and not just of mentor and student.  Kayleigh felt very maternal when it came to Ash.

“But, what if we don’t?” he croaked into her shoulder which was soaked damp with his tears, emotion thickening his words and making them almost unrecognisable.

“We will.  We have to.”

There was a knock at the door and Kayleigh peered out as it opened up a little wider to reveal Professor Fieldman.

“Kayleigh, Warrior Kelton has requested your presence.” she whispered, casting a sympathetic look towards Denver. Kayleigh raised an eyebrow expectantly, hoping that she was going to be getting some good news on the disappearance, but Jainey gently shook her head.  Kayleigh nodded in confirmation that they were still at a stale mate.  This was a pure nightmare for all involved.

“His office, as quickly as you can?” Professor Fieldman raised an
eyebrow and Kayleigh nodded again, “I’m on my way.”

She turned back to Denver and put a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention.  Thankfully, his sobs were calming down and she knew that he was emotionally drained and would soon fall asleep under the pressure of his feelings.

“I’ll be back to check on you.” she said as she stood up.  There was no response from Denver, as he lay on the bed with his eyes closed and tears streaming a silent river down his face.

Kayleigh sped down the corridor, eager to hear if there were any developments.  Sure, Jainey had made it clear that they hadn’t got any more information about Aisline as of yet, but there had to be something.  There just had to be. Something. Anything.  Even the smallest ray of light would be a welcome relief.  Hope.  That was what they needed.  Faith.

Skidding to a halt outside Kelton’s office, Kayleigh straightened her clothes and took a deep breath to compose herself before reaching out and knocking on the closed door.

“Come.”  Kelton’s dulcet tone beckoned her forth.

Opening up the door, she was shocked to see quite how many people that this small office could hold.  There were Master Warriors, professors and a couple of trainees tucked away in a corner.  And there was Kelton, leaning over his desk, talking animatedly on the phone.  She knew better than to interrupt him, so slid carefully through the crowd to stand by his side.

Gratefully, he looked up at her but didn’t smile.  There was nothing to smile about right now.  But, the look in his eye told her that he was glad she was there with him and that was all she needed from him.

“Yes, Sir…. That is correct….  No….  I’ll do that right away….  Yes, I understand that….  Yes, I’ll do it personally…. That goes without saying…. I’m not sure that is something I can think about right now….  How can I consider that when one
of our own is missing? … That may be, but I have my priorities….  Yes….  Fine…. Thank you.” and he hung up the phone, cracking the plastic casing on the handset as he slammed it back down onto the receiver.

“Fuck!” he shouted and slammed a fist into the wall behind him, crumbling plaster and dislodging an old painting depicting a rural scene from the wall, sending it crashing to the floor, the frame snapping beyond all repair.  He’d always hated the ugly thing anyway. 

Everyone fell silent in the room.

“I need to make a call.  Please c
onvene in conference room seven. I will be in with you shortly.”  Kelton said with his back to the rest of the group, resting his forehead against the wall.  He sounded tired and looked defeated, with his shoulders sagging under the pressure. This was all getting way too much to deal with.

He hated to look like things were getting to him, that they were getting on top of him.  He always like to assume control of any situation that he found himself in, but right now he was drowning.  This was bad.  Really bad.  What the heck was he supposed to do?

Quietly, each of the men in the room filed out and headed down the corridor without a murmur of complaint, only Trey and Jackson pausing in the doorway to look at Kayleigh. 

This was killing them.  She was their friend, one of their best friends.  Jackson was her friend first and foremost, but after the other night, there was something there.  Not knowing where she was, or what was happening to her was pure torture.   This was exactly what he had feared could happen and he was powerless to do anything to help.  It was just pure luck that he and Trey had managed to sneak in with the other warriors, trying to gleam any little bit of information that they could about Ash. 

With their worry over Ash and her whereabouts, it hadn’t even crossed their minds to take their frustration out on Denver.  God help him if they did ever think of it.  It was his fault this was happening. But, Jackson could only focus on one thing - Aisline.  Where was she?  Was she hurt?  Was she -?  No, he couldn’t even bring himself to think that.

Kayleigh shook her head at him, “Go, Jackson.  It’s okay.  If we hear anything, we’ll come and get you all.”  And Jackson had no choice but to leave with Trey and the rest of them.

Once the door had shut, Kelton slumped down in his chair and lowered his head to the desk.  Kayleigh walked over to stand behind him, with her hands softly on his shoulders.  It was all she could do for him right now.

“This is a friggin
’ nightmare.”  Kelton said, his head in his hands.

“What did they say?”

“The Council?  Nothing I didn’t expect.  I have to phone her parents to notify them of her disappearance.”

They were both silent for a moment.  There was nothing that she could say or do to make things any better or easier for him.  She didn’t envy him that task, especially after the way they had treated and disowned Aisline.  Kayleigh couldn’t imagine them being the most understanding people in the world.

Kelton knew that he had to get it over and done with, so he leant forward to pick up the phone with a heavy sigh, regretting in a way that it still worked.

He listened wearily to the three clipped rings of the telephone before-

“Kellerman residence?”  A male voice answered the phone, announcing the name of the household but ending on a higher note, suggesting it was more of a question than a greeting.

“Mr
Kellerman, please.”

“And whom may I say is calling?”  The male sounded bored, like he didn’t really give a shit who was calling.  Kelton was sure that his job sucked.  Working for a bunch of snobby socialites was sure to be demoralising.

“Master Warrior Kelton from the Sons of Satrina Academy of Combat Training.”

Th
ere was silence at the end of the line.  Kelton wasn’t sure whether he was going to get the master of the house or if he’d hung up.  He glanced up at Kayleigh with an infuriated expression.

Suddenly, there was a crackle on the end of the line, like
the handset had been picked up again.

“Yes?” a terse voice bit down the line.

“Mr Kellerman?”  Kelton asked.

“Speaking.”

Kelton took a breath.  “Mr Kellerman, I have some concerning news about your daughter, Aisline.”

“I’m not sure what you are talking about, Mr Kelton, but my daughter is here with me and I can assure you that there is no need for concern.”

Well, that took Kelton by surprise.  “What?  Sorry, what did you say?  Aisline is there with you?”  He looked up at Kayleigh, shocked beyond words.  Kayleigh clapped a hand over her mouth and a tear of relief slipped free from her eye.  Oh, thank god, she thought.

“I think you misunderstand me, Mr Kelton.  I have a daughter.  And Mariette is here at home.”

Silence.  Stone cold silence. And Kelton felt his blood start to boil.

“Mr
Kellerman.  Now is not the time to play games.  Aisline-“

“And I told you, Kelton, that I no longer have a daughter called Aisline!”  Mr
Kellerman roared down the phone.

“Now, wait a minute-”

But, Mr Kellerman cut him off again, “No.  Sir, you wait a minute.  I do not appreciate you calling me at home and wasting my time.  When the girl was deposited into your care, she became your responsibility.  End of story.  Do you have any idea what this situation has done to my reputation?”  He boomed in a self-righteous tone.