James Islington - The Shadow Of What Was Lost

"Fates," breathed Erran, with almost the same horrified intonation Fessi had used. "Are you okay?"

"It looks worse than it is," said Asha weakly, her voice hoarse. It was probably true; her clothing was torn and bloodied, her hair matted with the dried blood that was also caked across her face. "I could use something to drink though."

Erran scrambled around in a bag he’d obviously brought for the occasion, passing her a flask. Asha drank, sighing as the cool liquid slid down her throat.

She handed the flask back, then noticed Kol’s expression for the first time. He was still silent but his eyes were hard, cold with fury.

"It’s okay, Kol," she said gently. "I’m fine."

"It’s not okay. If the men who took you treated you like that, they’re not going to back off just because you escaped. We need to send a message." Kol spoke through gritted teeth, then turned to the other two. "I’ll be back in a few minutes."

Fessi shook her head in alarm. "You don’t want them to see your face, Kol."

"Then I’ll just have to make sure they don’t want to remember it," he said.

He stalked towards the door they’d exited through, little more than a massive shadow in the darkened street, his stride determined.

"Pyl’s big," said Asha, concerned. "I know Kol is too, but two against one -"

Kol reached the door and drew back his fist.

There was a ripple in the air around his arm; it wasn’t quite Essence, but the energy was palpable. When his fist connected, the door didn’t just break or swing open. It splintered , sending shards of wood flying into the room beyond. There was a cry of surprised pain as Pyl was evidently struck by at least one of the pieces.

"We’d better make sure he doesn’t kill anyone," muttered Fessi.

The three of them made their way to the doorway, Asha peering in nervously.

Kol already had Pyl pinned to the ground, face-down; the big man was struggling, but it made no difference against Kol. The Augur grabbed Pyl’s arm and gave it one strong jerk backward; Asha winced as there was a cracking, popping sound, ligaments and bones snapping. Pyl began to scream, but Kol silenced him by grabbing a handful of hair at the base of his skull and smashing his face into the ground.

The door to the bedroom opened and a dishevelled Teran emerged, a knife in his hand. He took in the scene with a surprisingly calm expression.

"I’ll kill you if you come any closer," he told Kol.

As if he hadn’t heard, Kol walked towards him with ground-eating strides; Teran’s eyes widened as he realised his threat had had no effect. He swiped at Kol with the knife, but Kol came in under the swing, grabbing Teran’s wrist and twisting. There was a sharp snap, and Teran shrieked in pain as the blade fell to the ground.

Kol spun the portly Shadow around as if he were a rag-doll, shoving him against the wall so that the entire building shook. Asha gave a nervous glance around the street, but the racket didn’t seem to have raised any alarms. They were in the Lower District, not a wealthy neighbourhood from the looks of it. There wouldn’t be many of the Watch down here to call upon anyway.

Kol leaned forward against the struggling Teran. "If you touch her again. If I see you again. If anything untoward happens to her again, regardless of who’s responsible. I. Will. Kill. You," said Kol, the fury in his voice unmistakable. "I would kill you right now if I didn’t have to worry about the body."

Teran’s face twisted into a sneer. "The Shadraehin -"

"I’m not afraid of the Shadraehin." Kol grabbed the man’s arm and pulled backward; again, there was a popping sound as ligaments snapped. Teran’s face went white. "Do you understand?"

There was silence; Kol snarled, giving Teran’s arm another tug. " Do you understand? "

"Yes," gasped Teran.

Kol drew back Teran’s head and smashed it against the wall; Asha flinched, wondering how many teeth Teran had lost to the impact.

Her would-be captor slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Kol stared at the man in disgust, motionless for several seconds. Finally Fessi stepped over to him, putting a hand on his arm.

"We need to go, Kol," she said softly.

Kol nodded, and the four of them left the dingy building. Fessi gave Kol and Erran a meaningful glance as they began to walk, and the two boys hurriedly moved so that Asha would be able to lean on them if she needed to.

"Thank-you," she said quietly, her gaze including all three of her rescuers. Kol and Erran gave solemn nods in response, and Fessi just smiled, giving Asha’s good arm a light squeeze of reassurance.

They navigated the sleeping city, all the way back to the palace, in silence.

It was late morning, three days after the Augurs had rescued her, when Kol knocked on her open door.

"Kol!" She smiled at him, rising from her desk. "Come in."

Kol entered hesitantly. "How are you feeling?"

"Michal healed me the morning after we got back, so… much better." Asha rotated her shoulder to prove the point.

Kol smiled. "That’s good." Asha gestured to a chair and the big man sat, looking awkward. "I wanted to come and check on you earlier, but Elocien said it was best to let you rest."

Asha nodded. "I needed it," she admitted. Though her body had been healed, today was the first day she’d felt ready to face other people again. Even after all she had already been through over the past few months, this last week had been hard.

"Representative Alac didn’t mind?"

Asha shook her head. "He says I should take as much time as I need." She gave a slight smile, gesturing to a thick tome sitting on her bedside table. "That isn’t to say he didn’t leave me anything to do if I felt so inclined, though."

Kol snorted. "Sounds about right." He glanced around the room, noting several arrangements of flowers. "Seems you’re suddenly rather popular."

Asha rolled her eyes. "You could call it that, I suppose." The Houses hated to be outdone by each other, even when it came to false sympathy. Bouquets and gifts had been arriving in a steady stream almost since she had returned.

She sighed. It had been impossible to get her back into the palace without her battered state being noticed, and though Elocien had tried to be discreet about ordering the arrest of two other Shadows straight after her arrival, someone had still made the connection. The rumours had been everywhere within a day - the Shadraehin had attacked one of his own, kidnapped the only Shadow in the city who held a position of relative power. Proof positive that he had no intention of ever trying diplomatic means to help the Shadows.

To make matters worse, Elocien’s men had arrived at the house in the Lower District to find it empty. Teran and Pyl were still out there, somewhere.

"Even si’Bandin sent me something," she eventually continued in a wry tone, shaking off the unpleasant train of thought. "And that man looks at me like I’m a diseased dog that’s in need of putting down."

Kol grinned. "Don’t be such a cynic, Ashalia. I’m sure every one of the Houses' gifts came from a place of love and concern." Then his smile faded and he took a deep breath, suddenly awkward again as he stared at the ground. "Look, before we go any further… I wanted to apologise. Apologise for my behaviour towards you since you got here. You’ve been through so much these past few months, and I’ve been acting like…." He trailed off.

Asha studied him. "I understand why, though. I don’t blame you," she said quietly. She gave him a friendly smile. "And anyway, I suspect I can find it in my heart to forgive you. You helped rescue me, probably saved my life - and you certainly made sure Teran and Pyl won’t come after me again. You didn’t have to do any of that."