From Ashes and Snow

Abeth.

Chapter Thirteen: Abeth

There room was silent for a long moment.

There was such agony, such guilt on the man's expression that my gut wound tighter in worry. The hands that moved to rest on the table were not a rich man's hand. They were tanned and worn, but there was blood crusted under his finger-nails; it was dried in and looked as if he hadn't even tried to wash it away.

Outside, the storm was growing worse. Wind howled, rattling the windows and it rushed through the open hole in the roof. I couldn't look away from the mayor's haggard face. The revelation had stunned the four of us but I half-expected the Captain to burst, but the explosion came from the tiniest of us all.

Magister Fyr Lockley had gone red, her small hands braced on the table as she stood. "You are hiding in here while they are taking your children. I have not seen a single armed man in this village ready to defend it."

"We are not fighters!" The mayor's eyes flashed. "We cannot fight."

"They are taking your children." Teeth bared, the Magister looked ready to strike. Kohen lay a hand on her arm, his fingers tightening as if in warning. "You should fight with everything you have. Pitchforks, knives- anything."

"Fighting would result in more deaths." He said simply.

Any pity I felt for the man vanished in an instant. Maybe it was because I would fight even if it meant my death, but I couldn't understand a man who was a leader just letting these creatures steal their children. These were young, vulnerable children who didn't deserve what would happen when the Nirani caught them. The adults should have protected them.

The mayor continued with a petulant tone. "I asked for your assistance, not your judgement."

"Oh. I would think they came hand in hand in a situation like this. We will help you but when we leave, you will be defenceless again. Will you refuse to fight again when there is another attack?"

I wanted the mayor to look me in the eye and grab the problem as a leader should. Instead, he just stewed in his own anger and pride as his home and life fell apart around him. Anger twisted in my gut – I just couldn't understand this. His home was still here, his people were still alive. Why wouldn't he fight.

Fyr was biting her tongue, but her rage was palpable. Kohen kept a hand on her arm, but his lips were tight as he stared at the mayor. Captain Bryant began to talk then, casting me a long look before he stepped in with authority.

I leaned back in my chair, staring up at the smoke-hole in the ceiling. If the Nirani were only attacking at night, then we needed to find the most vulnerable parts of the village. Worry clenched in my gut as I imagined sickly talons reaching in through the bedroom windows of children and parents crying for their lost little ones.

I quashed the feeling. 'Do not worry about people who do not worry about you'. Even as I thought that, I felt sick. Kendon would have been so disappointed if I had said that to him.

The Captain's eyes flickered to me as I stood, saying, "I will be back."

Kohen looked up to me and his eyes gleamed like burnt gold in the firelight. No one made a move to stop me as I left the house. The snow had turned to sleet, but it still whipped around me as I stood under the porch. The hounds were waiting for me, crowding me when they spotted me.

I was torn – I was trained to defend and protect Dratlan. Dratlan no longer existed, but I had the skills and the knowledge to help these people. Only, I did not want to let myself even care about others when I was already so hollow. There was a certain horror about seeing children hurt – they were so innocent that even considering hurting them was foreign to many.