Age of Anarchy: Dawn in Blood

“What aren’t you telling me?” Commander Arlavin demanded. “First the killer attacks you, and now this cousin of yours? And you just happen to be the one to find her?”

It wasn’t the best lie Keith Grayson had ever told, but it was all he could think of in such short notice. Nasera had been in dire condition. She needed medical attention, and she needed it fast. In the end, Keith did the only thing he could do. He turned to the city watch. After all, the identity of the killer was known only to him and Mat. The irony was not lost on Keith that the watch thought the killer herself was her latest victim.

Keith stared ahead at the wall, doing his best to look distraught over the attack on his “cousin.”

“I know as much as you do at this point. You . . . you don’t think the killer has a grudge against me do you?”

Arlavin rubbed his hands together for warmth. The patients’ room of the hospital may have been well heated, but the corridor outside was freezing. His features softened. “This whole mess must have you rattled.”

Keith smiled weakly. Arlavin had the reputation of a hard ass, but anyone who worked under him knew he had a big heart. If he could feign being distraught, it would delay the questioning for the time being at least.

“Look,” Arlavin said, “Go back to the academy and get some rest like you were ordered to. This has been a trying time for all of us, but we’ll get to the bottom of it. The killer can’t escape our grasp forever.”

“I appreciate the concern sir, but I’d like to be here when my cousin wakes up. I think it’d be best if she were greeted by a familiar face.”

Arlavin sighed. “Suit yourself. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about my questions though. I’ll be back later, and you better have some answers by then. Every hour wasted may bring more victims.”

Keith nodded. “Sorry to disappoint you sir. I need time to collect my thoughts. It’s been a busy day.”

Arlavin strolled away, but the other watchmen didn’t. The one thing Keith hadn’t anticipated was that the commander would post guards to keep an eye on Nasera. It was another complication he didn’t need.

Keith walked back into the sick room. It was packed this time of year. Occasional coughs and groans broke the somber ambiance of it, but Keith paid them no mind. He grabbed an empty chair and moved it to Nasera’s bed. Her chest heaved up and down with the regularity of someone in deep sleep. Her face bore a tranquil expression, a stark contrast to her usual demeanor.

He thought back to the fight the other night and shivered. Never before had he faced an opponent with such ferocity. Both with a sword and when she kissed him. He watched her, disgusted and enthralled at the same time. A nurse had washed most of the grime away that normally covered her. Keith realized that he was gazing at her in a way he hadn’t quite done before.

He shook his head. What was he doing? Fantasizing about bedding a woman who tried to kill him?

Wouldn’t be the first time.

“What are you?” Keith wondered aloud.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The response startled Keith. Nasera’s eyes opened. She took in her surroundings. She stopped at her dagger tucked away at Keith’s belt.

“Give it back,” she said.

“I’ll hold on to it for now.”

“I’m asking nicely. Give. It. Back.”

Keith wasn’t about to acquiesce. He knew damn well how dangerous she was, even injured. “I don’t have a lot of trust in you at the moment, if you can believe it.”

“Should have killed you.”

“I should have killed you. I’m no saint, but I dare say the world would be a better place without you.”

She showed no anger at his words. As a matter of fact, she appeared to be genuinely hurt by them. Keith wondered for not the first time what her deal was. Why did she care so much about his opinion of her? It made no sense, unless . . . she had feelings for him. Keith wanted to laugh out loud at the thought, but he suppressed it.

“Several days ago when you attacked me, you said something about us being even. What did you mean by that?”

“You deserved nothing less for betraying me,” she snarled. “I thought we understood each other. You were the first person to talk to me like a normal human being in years. No questions about what I do, no disgust at who I am. When I was with you, you made me forget about why I’m here and the voice in my head.”

Her face grew red with exertion. There was a part of Keith that pitied her. He knew what it was like to be an outcast from everyone else. But that didn’t change the things she’d done.

“You’re mad. Are you trying to say a voice in your head told you to kill all those people?”

She laughed. “You’ve got it backwards. The voice wanted me to come here and take part in its plans.”

“What plans?” Keith asked. He might as well humor her and see what he could get out her.

“For the time being, I was to lie in wait. It told me however that there would come a time when it would call upon me to carve up this city ripe for a slaughter. Naturally, I wasn’t about to take orders from it. So I came here like it asked. Found someone who could track down others like me and got to work.”

Even at the end, she sounded so serious about it. Then again, wasn’t that what made people mad? The ones that couldn’t tell the difference between reality and their own made up stories?

But what if she’s telling the truth? a small voice whispered in the back of his head. As unlikely as it was, if it was true, it meant Velvidyne had a lot more to worry about than one killer running around. This was also beginning to sound like Keith was getting in way over his head. That way he saw it though, once you start something, you finish it.

“This guy who tracked them down,” Keith said, “Who is he?” If she really was telling the truth, this was the only part he could confirm.

“A man called Brink Lowe.” Her voice dripped with malicious.

“No one I’ve ever heard of.”

“He’s an information broker. He works out of a tavern near King Street.”

“I’ll check him out later. What about the voice you mentioned?”

Nasera’s expression grew distant. For a moment it looked as though she would say no more. “I lived in a village near the border before the war broke out. Agaron’s army was upon us before we knew it. The night they attacked us, I killed my first man.” Her lips twitched into a crooked smile. “I should have died along with everyone else, but a . . . demon saved my life for some reason. The last thing I remembered was a sword plunging through my gut. When I woke up, the voice was with me.”

“Is that also when your strange Energy started appearing?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Some normal users’ Energy doesn’t show itself until there’s a need for it.”

“Like facing certain death?”

“That would do it. I’m no scholar, but your Energy isn’t the same as mine. I can’t see it when you use it. That shouldn’t be possible.”

She shrugged. “I can’t see yours either. I could see the Energy of the people I’ve killed just fine though.”

Keith nodded. “That would make sense if they’ve all been touched by the voice.” He couldn’t bring himself to say demon like she had. “The guy who almost killed you . . . is that him? The one whose voice you here, I mean.”

“I don’t know, but I’ll carve him up all the same when I find him.” Had she told him that the other day, he’d have believed her. He wasn’t so sure now after today’s turn of events. He shuddered to think of the man who was capable of defeating Nasera so soundly. He didn’t dare voice any of the doubts he had of her boast though.

Keith had heard enough. He stood up to leave.

“My dagger,” she said.

This woman continued to confuse him. There was nothing special about the dagger, but it seemed to hold a lot of value to her. “I think I’ll hold onto it for now as insurance.”

“I will get it back, even if I have to pry it from your cold, dead hands.”

He had no doubt on that account. “Consider this. The only other person who knows who you really are is Mat. Do you think the city watch would leave you lying here if they even suspected you’re the killer they’ve been searching for? Creator knows you’re in no condition to fight back. I could end you with one word.” He paused. “But I’m not.”

Her cheeks reddened and this time, it didn’t look like it was from anger. “Where are you going?”

“First I’m going to get drunk. Then I’m going to do a little digging. Before I go first, there is one more question I have. Why did you kiss me?”

“I thought I was going to die. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Her answer was disappointing. Keith didn’t trust himself to speak. He turned and left, but he seriously doubted this would be the last he ever saw of Nasera.

They elected to bury Luther at the cemetery in the middle of the West District as opposed to the much nicer Glory’s End outside the city. It wasn’t about money. The Creator knew Ryxor had enough from his severance for his service to the crown.

Despite everything that Luther was or aspired to be, he was a simple man. He lived his life comfortably but not extravagantly. It followed reason that his burial should be the same.

As for Jon Durmont, they handed his body over to the officials and collected the bounty placed on his head. It was a nice sum, but as Ryxor walked away coin purse in hand, he couldn’t help but feel disgusted with it. He should have turned it down. He wanted to, but he had let Drex persuade him otherwise.

Ryxor stood before the window of their tavern room. Repairs on the house had yet to begin. Besides, it felt strange without Luther around. He was one of those people you thought would be around forever, like a rock.

He hefted the purse containing the bounty. Tossing it out the window and into the alley below would be as simple as that. When Drex or Alice asked after it, he could shrug, say he had no idea. Creator willing, they’d leave it at that.

“That’d be such a waste.”

Ryxor spun, calling on his Energy. The man before him had somehow entered the room without making a noise.

“Relax. I come on behalf of a mutual friend,” the stranger said. He returned Ryxor’s stare. Despite his words, the stranger exuded his own Energy. “Don’t give me that look. I’m no fool. I’ll lower mine if you lower yours.”

Ryxor had no reason to trust him. “Where’s Drex?”

“In the common room where you left him. He’s going a tad heavy on the liquor, but it’s not my place to stop him.”

“Who sent you?”

“As I said, a friend. Vanen Travis.”

The mention of the name gave Ryxor pause. It wasn’t what he was expecting. Vanen would send a lackey to do his own work though, and he had the influence to hire a man of this caliber. His Energy wavered, but he refused to let it go.

“What does he want?”

“Your assistance. Travis has plans that he wants you to be a part of.”

“And if I refuse?”

The stranger patted a wooden case sitting on table. He had brought it in with him. “Consider this a wager that you won’t.”

“Open it.”

The stranger did so without hesitation. He inserted a key, and the lock snapped open. He lifted the lid up. Sunlight gleamed off the contents of the case and reflected onto Ryxor’s face. It wasn’t gold or precious gems. All the same, what lay in side had to be worth a small fortune.

“I was instructed to leave this here. If you accept Travis’ offer, you are to leave for Rizuke at once.”

The stranger left as mysteriously as he had appeared. Another time and Ryxor would have wondered how he managed to move so quietly, if Energy was involved or not. Instead, Ryxor locked eyes with the case and its contents, unable to look away.

---

When Alice Redding said she wanted to go for a walk, she didn’t mention it would take her back to the house. She hadn’t known herself until she was stepping through the empty doorway.

The signs of the fight were everywhere. A wall with gaping hole in it, furniture reduced to splinters. In the backyard, one wall had nearly collapsed. The others were marred by missing chunks and wicked slices. Here and there a burn mark dotted the ground for variety.

There was surprisingly little blood. The largest stain, where Jon and Luther had died, would surely be washed away before the season was over. In time, the wall could be rebuilt, the holes patched up, new furniture purchased. All would be good as new. Except for the dead. Luther wouldn’t come back. The thought brought a tear to the corner of Alice’s eye. She wiped it away.

She walked up to the wall and put her hand to it. Flames leapt out from her hand and licked hungrily at the wood. At a thought, an extension of her will, they were extinguished.

“It’s simple when you think about it,” Drex had said in the aftermath of the fight. “You’re not like me and Ryxor. Your Energy isn’t yours. It’s a gift. You couldn’t control it because you didn’t think you deserved to. It all comes back to the basics. Mind and body and all that stuff.”

Alice wasn’t entirely sure Drex knew what he was talking about, but there was sense in what he said.

She let the flames flow again. She didn’t stop them this time. They grew in no time at all to a pyre that engulfed the whole house. Standing back in the street watching it all go up, others around her desperately trying to fight it, she knew she had made the right choice.

When Luther died, there was an agreement between the three of them. It wasn’t spoken, but it was there nonetheless. Their guardian was dead. They had to find their own path, something he had encouraged for a long time. There was no turning back.

Wood groaned as fire-eaten supports gave way. The roof collapsed in a shower of embers. Alice made sure the blaze didn’t spread to nearby buildings.

---

Epilogue

“Brant.”

“No one’s called me that in--“

“Twenty years?”

“While I’d like to know how you know that name, I’m more interested in what you hope to gain by calling me by it, or why you’re even here for that matter. You don’t belong in the world of the living any more than I do, Niles.”

“So even after everything that’s happened, you still aren’t a believer?”

“Hah!”

“How you can you remain so blind after everything you’ve seen, you of all people?”
“It’s about what you want to believe in, not what you have to believe in. It’s a founding principle of religions, wouldn’t you say so my dear Vanguard? But you didn’t come to talk theology with me.”

“No, and you know what this is about.”

“Hah!”

“Brant, listen to me. I urge you. This is your true calling, your destiny. Drop this †˜broker’ crap and come with me. The people need their true king, now, before it’s too late.”

“Don’t get preachy with me, religion boy. Why don’t you run back to House Travis? You wanna put someone on the throne so bad? I hear their young lord is quite ambitious. I on the other hand am quite contempt with my life.”

“Running won’t solve anything. Things will only get worse. They’re coming and He’s with them. Brant? Brant Lalerano!”

END