Young Writers Society

[Ember]

Ember clenched her jaw as Cassius and Artemesa took off down the road. She turned to Enoch. “Did you have to be so hard on him? He hates this. Mishal never worked Alanna or I this hard, and we were pretty all right at fighting. I don’t even think Mishal got worked this hard, and he’s much better than all of us combined.”

Enoch peered down at her with a stern expression. “He’s not going to learn anything by whinging about how hard his life is.”

She rolled her eyes and grunted. “He’s not going to learn anything if you train him to death either.” She picked Cassius’ stick up and twirled it in her hands. “All I’m asking is for you to reign in for him. Gods, Enoch, that’s not a hard ask. He’s fourteen and good at pranks and precision work.”

“Pranks and precision work won’t save his life.”

She stomped her foot. “Enough of the ‘saving our lives’ bullshit! We’re kids! And I know what you’re going to say about the Grey Masks, yeah they’re terrible and they don’t care or whatever, but they don’t want to hurt us. We’re not getting into gladiatorial combat or fisticuffs with them!”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I’m supposed to allow you to be swearing.”

“Then you’re a shitty example.”

“How do you know they don’t want to hurt you?”

She opened her mouth to rebuff him, expecting him to further protest her filthy mouth despite the hypocrisy of the situation, but stopped when she realised he hadn’t said that at all. She shut her mouth. Opened it again. “Well, what they said, back at Glacier’s Keep. They only need one, one of us. Why would anyone need a dead kid?”

He dropped his arms back to his side and sheathed his blade. “Why do they need the four of you at all?” Enoch shook his head and turned away from her. “So, they’re enemies from the past, but what do any of them get from capturing the lot of you?”

She looked over her shoulder. Cassius and Artemesa were both out of view now. She took a few steps backwards, still twirling the branch in her hand. “Revenge. Our Guildmaster kicked the other one out of his post, and the guy who Jax knows was one of his most vocal supporters or whatever. You heard him. I don’t remember, I was like, five or six.”

“Seems odd to take revenge on someone by stealing a child that isn’t even theirs,” Enoch said, and squinted over his shoulder. “You realise I know you’re hiding shit from me, don’t you?”

She shrugged, though her pulse fluttered. “Yeah, just like you?” She raised an eyebrow. “Mr. I Killed My Knight Mentor and That’s A Story For Another Day.”

Enoch turned away, but she could see his lip curl. He inhaled sharply. “You have no fucking filter,” he snarled. “Do you ever care what you’re going to say, or do you always say the first thing that comes to mind?”

“It depends.” She scowled. “You can’t be mean to me about the things I don’t want to tell you and be whiny about me calling out something you told me.”

“I should have realised it would come back to bite me like this.” His back was turned to her, but she could see the tense line of his shoulders. “I don’t know why the hell I’m even doing this. Cassius was right, I was putting on an act for Danica. Why didn’t I just find some back-alley trader after that?”

She broke the branch over her knee, and it cracked like distant thunder. She revelled in the way Enoch flinched and jerked his chin back around to look at her.

“Because as much of an ass as you are, you were a knight for a reason. And I doubt that reason was because of how good at bullying children.” She threw one side of the stick to the ground, hard, her chest burning. “You’re such a coward.”

He turned back around fully now. “Excuse me?”

“I said, you are a coward.” She bared her teeth as though she could grow fangs and leaned forward, wrinkling her lip as far back as it would go. “You want to pretend you can just throw us around, and you hate that you can’t, so you’re taking it out on my best friend instead. If you’re going to be such a coward, why don’t you tuck tail and run right back to Glacier’s Keep, and we’ll make our way to Chromium on our own, just as you please!”

He crossed the distance between them before she could do so much as blink and jut out his finger into her face. For a moment, she wondered if he would strike her, but he didn’t even open his balled fist as he got into her face.

“You have no idea what cowardice is, and you have no idea how this world works. You can be stubborn and frustrating and witty and all clever words as much as you want, but you’re still a child.” He crouched down in front of her. “You don’t know what lines you have to cross to survive yet, you haven’t experienced the worst this life has to throw at you. You think you own the world, think you’re better than everyone else.” He pointed down the eastern path. “I could walk away. I could walk away from you and your friend and your pet and those Grey Masks would have you in their clutches before the next dawn. And cold stars help me, spitfire, I’m not getting anything from this. I’m not getting compensation or gain or assurances for myself. You’d be food for the crows if I left, and I’ve got half a mind to, since I know what’s good for me. So you do just that, you make your own way to Chromium, and you tell me just how far you make it.”

Tears welled in her eyes, so hot that they burned and blurred her vision. “Why are you so cruel?” Her throat was tight and choked. “Is that what you want? You want money? You want something cushy and nice so you can go sit alone somewhere, cold and heartless and full of gold? Is that what makes someone like you happy?”

Enoch pulled away from her, his expression dimming to something that looked defeated. He didn’t respond for a long moment, as tears dripped down her cheeks. He shut his eyes. “No.”

“THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” She kicked at him, rage burning through her veins. “WHAT THE FUCK WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY?! CAN YOU EVEN COMPREHEND HAPPINESS?” She threw punches at him that, at first, he was so surprised he didn’t not dodge. But soon he was catching her fists, and then grabbing onto her wrists, and soon she was restrained and fighting against him, but he held her firm. She tried to kick at him again. “You’re so miserable and you take it out on us and you’re the worst!”

“Ember—”

“I should never have vouched for you! If Danica knew what you had done, she’d have run you through herself and I could have been halfway south by now back to my family! I wouldn’t even think of Chromium, and I wouldn’t even think of you—”

“Ember—”

“I could burn you! I’ve done it before, I set a man on fire right in front of me and didn’t even think twice! I could burn you right to ash—”

“Eugenia!”

She went limp in his grasp, stopping mid-breath, and stared at him. “What did you just call me?”

Enoch met her gaze, though he was somewhat fuzzy through her tears, and he sighed. He looked… very tired. Defeated. He opened his mouth.

“EMBER! ENOCH!”

She held her breath. Enoch’s grip loosened as he looked past her, eyes widening and focusing in on the noise, mouth still open. And, sure enough, a moment later, the scream came again, this time cut off partway through.

Ember stared at Enoch and they locked eyes for a moment. The tears faded in her eyes until he came into focus. She heard a faint cry. Artemesa.

“Cassius,” Enoch said.

“Cassius,” she repeated, and pulled from his grasp. She turned and took off in a full sprint towards the noise, adrenaline pulsing through her and turning her blood to fire. She heard the thunder of bootsteps behind her and the shing! of a blade being freed some its sheathe.

Enoch overtook her in speed rapidly. Cassius had gone farther than she thought he had, because he didn’t come into view for several minutes. And as the treeline receded and they came into view, she faltered a moment.

There were three horses, one riderless. There was a figure on the ground and over them stood Artemesa. But she was swaying, as though caught in a strong breeze. Behind her, much farther behind her, were the other two riders. Astride a black horse was a figure she could barely discern, horse turned in their direction. The other, astride a paint, was holding a squirming form. Cassius.

Her breath caught in her chest.

She tripped and barely caught herself, still so far away. But she didn’t look away, saw a scuffle break out and Cassius fall from the horse. The rider was screaming in horrible pain, and Artemesa had collapsed now and lie still on the road.

The sound of a fire crackling began to drown out the noise around her. She pushed herself after Enoch, trying to go faster.

But the figure astride the black horse charged forward, and with the hilt of a sword drawn as they cantered forward, clocked Cassius on the back of the head as he stood.

“CASSIUS!” The scream was distant but familiar and full of heat. The edges of her visions grew red and orange as a terrible, intense heat filled her up. All she could hear was the hiss of flames, like she was back in the Citadel.

The rider astride the black horse leaned down before Cassius could hit the ground and, in a feat of strength, hoisted him up onto the saddle in front of them. They turned in the direction of the other rider, in a fit nearby, and with whatever shared decision they had between them, they both turned at the same time, and spurred their horses hard.

“CASSIUS, NO!” She pushed herself, feeling like if she tried hard enough, she could spread wings out behind her and fly. Her vision was almost completely overtaken.

And suddenly, she was no longer moving. Something was restraining her. She clawed at it and fought it, trying to escape, never looking away from the disappearing outlines of the horses and their riders and her best friend.

She struck backwards, finally turning, at whatever was holding her. She saw the glint of metal and a hand, a hand that was gripping her arm. She thought of it crumbling to ash, thought of settling it ablaze, thought of setting herself ablaze. She was fury incarnate, and she could fly if she bent her will to it.

“Ember.”

She was screaming. Her throat hurt and still she screamed. She turned back towards the road and could yet see the horses. But they were so small now, so small and distant.

“Ember.”

The noise of the fire began to fade. The haze intruding on her vision began to fade. She howled though, and fought, and eventually as her senses came back, realised that it was Enoch holding her and calling her name.

“Ember, we’ve no horses. It’s no use.”

She stared at the road as the riders crested the horizon, fading the black dust. She gave a last, futile tug to try to escape Enoch’s grip. She panted, no longer screaming, but tried once more a cry of, “CASSIUS!”

As if it would do any good.

“Ember, Ember, stop, enough. I’m sorry.” Enoch’s grip loosened on her arm.

She ripped her arm from his grasp and took off again, the fire gone now but her veins still burning. She ran until she came to the limp form of Artemesa, and it halted her so abruptly she fell to her hands and knees. Her hands were glowing orange but starting to dim, as she kneeled several feet away from the fallen dragonling and the now-clear corpse beside her.

Ember gasped for breath as a sob rose in her throat. “Oh, gods, oh, Artemesa, no.” She crawled towards her and, when she was close enough, put her head on Artemesa’s chest, next to an arrow protruding from her wing socket.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

She shuddered as she gasped out and rose again. Artemesa was alive, eyes shut but breathing. A bright, glowing gold blood trickled out from where the arrowhead was buried in her flesh. Another gash ran up her neck and down her chest close by, and now that Ember was in control again of bodily sensations, she could feel the warm drip of blood down the side of her face.

“Ember,” Enoch said quietly, beside her.

She sniffled, wiping her face with her now-normal hands as tears leaked from her eyes. “We—we have to—to sa—save her.” She hiccupped. “We ha—have to— she—” Another bout of sobs rose in her throat and cut her off.

As a golden-orange streak split through the sky to mark the beginning of sun set, she turned and collapsed into Enoch’s arm, and wept.

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