Fragments of Ash Vol. 1 (Urban Fantasy)

Chapter Ten: A Deal

Eleanor sat by Ada as she lay in bed. It was a cold evening as usual, nothing like dinner in bed. Ada looked out of the window and noticed that it was once again a profoundly misty day.

"Ciel saved your life you know," said Eleanor, "if he hadn't called me, who knows what would have happened."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't know. That said, I hope that taught you a lesson, in the slums of Melchiezedek, being able to use some 'amazing mythical power' means nothing. There are countless Hunters out there that can kill you if you get on their bad side."

"But Malphas, he's a completely different creature. I've never seen-"

"Let's not dwell on who or what Malphas is." Eleanor snapped, somehow Ada had touched a nerve, Ada couldn't help but wonder what sort of history the two had, after all, they sounded pretty familiar with each other when they talked to each other in the alley. "Hey come now, you're not touching your dinner!" Porridge. Badly made porridge on a tray. It wasn't tasty. And it wasn't what people usually ate for dinner.

"Oh, right." Ada started to eat. It was thoughtful of Eleanor to try and cook,

"So... You took Ciel on a date on the first night you met? You naughty girl," Eleanor teased,

"Hey!" Ada frowned, "don't put it like that. You're the one who said I should make friends."

"And taking him to the Hunter's Hangout, you're definitely a novice at this dating thing huh?"

"Man. Stop it already." Ada glared at Eleanor,

Eleanor poked Ada's nose in response, "You're too easy," she chuckled,

"Tch," Ada frowned, "I would've thought Ciel would've visited me though."

"Ciel still has to work you know. He'll most likely come over in the afternoon," Eleanor said, "aren't you worried about the Malphas situation? I hope you're aware that you've no chance of beating him how you are now."

Ada groaned, "Don't remind me."

"You don't seem very upset about it."

"It's been a while since I've been in a life or death situation, guess I'm just savouring it," Ada laughed, "but you're right, I'm just gonna have to prepare."

Eleanor stood up, "That's fine, I'll make sure you have enough time."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it," Eleanor slowly stood up and headed for the door, it was only then when Ada realised that Eleanor was wearing her Hunter garb under her nightgown, the standard black skintight armour that she so often wore. "Call Francoise if you need any help, I'll be out all day."

***

Eleanor jumped across the roofs of the grim and decrepit houses that lined the city. She knew exactly where she was going, and the most direct route meant she'd have to soar through the air, avoiding the roads and being as precise and acrobatic as always. A hidden destination, lost in the outskirts. It was now close to sunrise, usually she'd have come back from hunting around this time, but her prey was a little different.

She jumped from building to building until she approached an old abandoned warehouse that lay at the edge of the city. It was massive, but completely dead, the place had been left alone after a nearby factory became occupied by local outlanders who had travelled in via the sewers. There was only one thing stirring in the building now. The reason that Eleanor had come to visit.

She confidently kicked the front doors open and walked in. The interior was a massive open space, the roof towered above her and the bland, desolate grounds were dead and stale as could be. Malphas was sitting on his own near a concrete pillar on the floor. He had a makeshift fire keeping him warm. He noticed Eleanor the moment the door was opened,

"Faris! How did you find me!?" he exclaimed,

"There's only one place in the city that shares your odour of toxic waste and urine Malphas." Faris replied in a deadpan manner, she looked around, "Pretty bland décor though. You spot more kills than I do, don't you feel like you should redecorate at some point?"

"Don't tease me Faris."

"Where does all your money go? Why haven't you spent it on anything?" she paused, "or more importantly. Why are you a Hunter? It certainly doesn't seem like it's for the money."

"Why do you ask?"

"These days I've been wondering, does the fact that you can actually speak coherently really set you apart from other outlanders...? Their primary function is to kill and mate. And same goes for you. I thought your lucid nature set you apart. But maybe I should've killed you for being an outlander a long time ago, perhaps my sympathy was misplaced."

"I'm not a rapist. I don't kidnap women and try to reproduce with them. I fight for the same reasons as you. Not because I'm a monster. But because it's the only thing I can do."

"That's not why I fight," said Eleanor, a cold spit of venom in her voice, "who said I wasn't a monster?"

"Is that why you're here? To fulfil your monstrous tendencies?"

"I'm not here to kill you, no. Actually I'm here to offer you a deal."

"Oh?"

"Yes. A rematch with Ada."

"She doesn't stand a chance against me," Malphas snarled,

"I know. Here's the catch. You have to promise me you won't touch her for the next year. The rematch will be exactly one year from now. If you win, I won't blame you, I won't kill you, we'll call it quits."

"Why do I feel like I don't have any choice in whether I accept this deal or not?"

"That's all I'm going to say. Are you in or not?"

"...Fine."

"Good. Be a good boy and train up then."

***

Ada pulled her satchel out from underneath her bed and took out her book. It was thick, musty, heavy as usual; what page was she on? 1179, that's right. As she looked through the patterns and runes, she wondered what the point was, she knew all these spells and incantations but when in a jam, she couldn't use them. She had studied these texts for most of her life but she wasn't sure why. She only used the same three spells, and that's because they were easy casts, one word, one state of mind. The first spells she had learned because they were the easiest. She smiled, it was actually quite funny, and lightning was a fairly powerful spell for something that was so easy to cast, but still... Why did she feel so weak?

She'd spent her whole life fending for herself, using her magic to blast through every obstacle in her way, she felt like she was a real renegade, a mysterious powerful mage who had the world by the balls, but Eleanor and the world of Melchiezedek had taken that away from her. She felt weak and useless. She wasn't as special as she thought she was.

Why did she fight Malphas? What was she thinking? He hadn't done anything to her, and in her heart of hearts she knew that Malphas was going to calm down eventually, she didn't need to butt in. What an idiot.

She touched her chest, there was still the seal, still a burn on her heart with an undiscovered meaning. She opened up the last book she had marked, the one that was closest to uncovering the meanings of the runes on her seal. It said, Devour.

Ada shivered. A part of her she wasn't aware of, knew exactly what it meant.