Reaper - Fault Lines

12. Aura

Az told Zandar how she'd ended up at the docks on Cinnabar, how her own father had tried to murder her after years of abuse. She left out the part where she'd gotten her best friend killed, too ashamed to utter his name.

"That's awful!" Therak whispered. Azraela turned around and lifted the back of her shirt to show them the scars from her father's whip, along with the most recent wounds which were almost healed. Zandar's gaze softened. He could see why the girl was so frightened of the outside world at times, and why she was so desperate to find a friend out here.

When his expectant eyes fell on Therak, the lad sighed uncomfortably. He told them more about Samuel's cruel training regiments. His old master would make him stand on one leg for days on end with no food and beat him into unconsciousness when he was displeased, blaming his bruises on the contract training he had implemented. "And he barricaded me in the cave at the top of the mountain. I don't remember much about that aside from the weird symbol on the walls." He mused.

"What symbol?" Zandar questioned him.

"Hmm..." Therak tore the last piece of meat from his skewer with his teeth and used the stick to draw in the gravel. Ballor gave an audible hiss. The symbol he'd drawn was familiar to him. He nudged Zandar's legs.

"Yeah, I see it. So it was true." Zandar sighed.

Zandar told them he'd been training with the Emerald Isles Navy since he was eleven. He was made a captain quite early on and Samuel was part of his team. On their last mission, they were attacked by creatures bearing that same symbol. He was the lone survivor, or so he thought until he saw Samuel alive and well. "There's no doubt about it, that asshole betrayed us." He snarled. "And apparently he joined another cult in the process. Stupid bastard."

"Another cult?" Az raised an eyebrow.

"The Navy was bad enough." Zandar chuckled darkly. "They used torture and medical testing to teach their men to be strong. The more you could endure, the more they'd put you through." He murmured. Azraela's heart ached for him. He pushed his hair to one side, revealing a strange black mark on his neck and telling her that that was one of the things they'd given to him. He had more scars from his so called allies than he did his enemies.

When it was time to retire for the night, Zandar made Azraela turn out her bag to make sure she wasn't going to hide a knife under her pillow again. He'd meant what he said, if she tried to stab him again he'd make her pay for it. And he refused to let her handle a weapon until he knew she could control it safely. Therak knocked on her door as she settled.

"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot." He started. "But Zandar is the reason I'm free, so that makes us allies, right?"

"Sure, I guess so." She mumbled.

"Good. You know if you guys stick around, you could stay here. The council don't have much to do with this place and the students likely won't be returning."

Az sat up, tilting her head thoughtfully. "I don't know. A couple of them didn't seem afraid at all. The girl who helped me might come back."

"Girl? Samuel didn't allow female students." Therak told her with a confused stare. Az shrugged, explaining the young woman to him. "She had long pink hair and bright blue eyes. She was so calm, it was strange. Maybe Zandar would know? She was watching him." She suggested.

Az was lucky not to dream that night. She and Therak questioned Zandar about the pink haired girl the next morning.

"Pink hair? Did she tell you her name?" He questioned. Az shook her head.

"I've only ever met one person who fits that description, back when I first went on the run a few years ago." He murmured. "She claimed some pretty inane things. If she's following me I'm going to-"

"Ah, there you are!" A bell like voice echoed through the mess hall, interrupting him. Zandar's jaw tensed. Oh for goodness sake, not her!

A beautiful young woman with long auburn hair and a dark green uniform waltzed into the mess hall. She shot Zandar a playful grin. "Did you miss me?" She asked sweetly.

"Like a gunshot to the head." Zandar growled. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

"Aww I missed you too!" She giggled. Azraela's jaw dropped as the woman had the audacity to throw herself down into Zandar's lap. He swiftly shoved her off him, warning her that he wasn't afraid to put his sword through her.

"Easy big guy, at least take me to dinner first." She quipped, causing Therak to choke on his breakfast.

The woman calmly told him to relax. "Aranemon asked me to check up on you, make sure you haven't jumped ship." She explained. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get involved." Her eyes settled on his young companions. "Oh, you're not travelling alone for once. How refreshing!"

"Not by choice. This one lives here." Zandar grumbled, gesturing to Therak as he returned to his breakfast. "And this one is insistent on following me around like a lost puppy." He pointed to Azraela without looking back up.

"Mm-hmm." The woman hummed with a twinkle in her eye. "You sure you're not just going soft?" She shook Therak and Azraela's hands, introducing herself as Aura.

Aura didn't hesitate to help herself to breakfast, sitting opposite Zandar and asking him how the mission was going.

"It'd be going a lot better if I wasn't babysitting." He complained. He began packing up what was left of his food to eat on the road. The faster he could escape her the better.

"Five minutes or I'm leaving without you and you'll be stuck with chicken boy and the slag." He growled to Azraela. Therak's eyes turned wide. "Wait, no! I'm coming too." He protested. Zandar was beginning to consider putting his pistol to his head. How did he get himself in this situation?

While Zandar packed his satchel, Aura questioned Azraela about how she wound up in her moody friend's care.

"He doesn't seem to think you're friends." Az mumbled.

"Oh, don't worry. He loves me really." Aura assured her with a tenacious smirk. "If he didn't, I wouldn't be able to get away with teasing him so." She explained that she was a captain in the Emerald Isles Navy and an old colleague of Zandar's. She was one of the few people who knew that the man wasn't a traitor like they claimed and had a lot of respect for her old friend.

Zandar was pleasantly surprised when both Azraela and Therak were ready at the temple entrance in four minutes. Azraela had shrugged on her chain mail and Aura had tied the girl's hair back from her face. Knowing that Zandar would be far more focused without her teasing, Aura agreed to meet them back at the temple when they were done. "Good luck." She called to Zandar cheerily as she waved them off. "Don't let those bandits kill you, that's my job!"

The peak of the Mountain wasn't much farther. As they approached, they happened across a small encampment. Sturdy wooden huts had been erected and a burned out campfire was smouldering in the centre of the space. A chill ran down their spines. Something felt... off.