Put That Kid Down

Chapter Seventeen

"It's a nice day out; too bad about the grizzly," Daniel mused, hand edging towards his side. The counselor he might not have entirely duped smiled tensely in response, and Daniel let his fingers rest on the hilt of his dagger, out of the other man's sight.

"Unseasonably nice," David agreed, feeling like the words were something he'd said before, but focused more on the surreptitious movement of Daniel's hand. When the blonde's muscles tensed, David was ready, grabbing Daniel's wrist and stopping the knife in its tracks, "So you are one of them."

"You've heard of us?" Daniel asked with a strained grin, trying to tug his arm free but unable to budge it an inch, "My, but you're stronger than you look."

"You sound saner than the others, too." David gave him a razor-edged smile, lips tight, "Shame, we could have used the help. As it is, I'll have to settle for getting some answers." Daniel's other hand shot up in a fist and David dodged, releasing his knife arm to avoid taking a punch to the gut. He was already swinging his clasped hands as if he were serving a volleyball before Daniel could recover from the change in balance. A solid smack to the side of the face had Daniel stumbling back, but not downed.

The return slash was faster than David expected, and a shallow line of red opened up across his chest even as he leaped back. His fingers itched for his own knife at the sight, but he couldn't kill Daniel just yet. Not when he was lucid enough to get more information. As long as it wasn't just a repeat of the rambling Derek had given him.

Ignoring the stinging pain, he redoubled his efforts, leaving the knife in its sheath. Instead, David took a page from Max's book and ducked down, headbutting the man in the throat and turning the momentum into a charge that brought them up against a tree trunk with a loud crack.

"Ow," Daniel gasped with a laugh, bringing his knee up into David's gut and smacking an elbow into the side of his head from above, sending him reeling away. His dagger followed the action, but David wasn't quite dazed enough to let that land again.

"I've never understood the vehemence," Daniel slashed at him again, trying to follow up before David could regain his balance, "with which you good folks resist ascending. Don't you know it's better to be with Xeemuug?"

"Xeemuug?" David grabbed the blonde's arm and twisted, making him release his hold on the dagger. "Is that what you think the kids will let in?"

There was a brief pause, and Daniel began to laugh, even through the pain evident in his voice, "Let... in? You think I'm one of those peons? As long as I'm here, they'll never succeed in unleashing Xeemuug's rivals." A second knife buried itself in David's side, revealing exactly why Daniel had been stalling for time. "So you can ascend to Xeemuug's side without any worry about that."

"D- dangit." The world was a little dark around the edges as David scrabbled at the knife embedded in his side. More than the shadows of the forest could account for. The hilt was familiar.

"Shouldn't carry a knife you're not about to use," Daniel tisked, confirming the counselor's suspicions. David felt his knees hit the ground, but all he could see was the bright white figure of Daniel leaning over him with a grin.

"That's interesting information though," he gripped David's hair, tilting his head up to meet Daniel's cold gaze and thin smile. "I never thought I'd stumble across the next Marked Ones so easily. Good thing they've already been cleansed."

"Cleansed?" David fought through the darkness to grip Daniel's arm with an iron hold, "They aren't marked... anymore?"

A peel of laughter, "Oh, no, they're still Marked." Daniel shook David once and released him, turning the counselor's knife around in his hand, "But killing them while they're cleansed won't break the seal tonight. As long as I get to them before your peons."