Clone Earth: MELVIN

Chapter Forty: ARI

The pool of red blood mixed in snow and dirt was proof enough that a body, a dead body, had been there. Ari scratched her head, scanning the street for footprints or any obvious hiding spots where she might have been dragged. Footprints and claw marks scattered in every direction. Even an expert tracker would find it impossible to discern where her body had gone.

In the end, Robie and Lutz didn't get a chance to ask Ari about what had happened. The street was swarmed by uniformed officials mere seconds after they arrived. They roped off the corpses and set up blockades. No one questioned who took down the creatures; even if they did, Ari wondered if they would believe her explanation. She decided they wouldn't and allowed herself to be pulled along by Robie and Lutz.

"Let's try and keep you off the radar," Lutz said quietly, ushering her down the sidewalk until they came upon a crowd of civilians.

Ari looked down and realized how much of the girl's blood had coated her own clothing. Robie's sister's coat was ruined. The mud and wet spots muted the crimson color of blood, but the sight was still unsettling. "I guess I don't look very good, huh?"

"I'm positive you've looked better," Robie said, trying to lighten the thick tension. Ari didn't quite laugh, but she did feel a little less distressed. In response, she nodded and sat down on the nearest curb.

"I'll stick here with her. You go," Robie said, and Lutz quickly agreed. Robie quietly sat down beside her, and together they watched as civilians were shuffled from one place to another. Ari recognized a few from the cafe, but none of them seemed to remember her. She noted their looks of distress and confusion, suggesting none of them had experienced these creatures before. They're not of this world, the thought came to her as she sighed. They should not be of any world, but they are.

A faint remnant of a name floated across Ari's memory. It was one she had spoken before. It was strange but familiar, but it was somewhere in her mind, just out of her reach. Frustrated with herself, she ran her fingers through her muddied hair. Trevon would remember it. Trevon would also be out of his mind if he knew what she had just gone through. But she would have to tell him. She swallowed a stressed chuckle. She would have to tell him everything since the horrible was mixed with the amazing. She was on a strange planet. A planet where there were Mages. Mages were people that wielded magic, capable of doing extraordinary things with the colors emanating from their bodies. That girls color had been a brownish-red, like her eyes. Trevon's was green. Ari wondered if that had something to do with what each person could do. Trevon heals skin, and that girl had taken a metal door and easily bent it into her hand, shaping it into a sword, a nice one too.

Ari gasped, "That was transmutation." Ari's eyes rolled back, and she dropped her head into her hands as she remembered why she had come to Melvin in the first place. "Why'd she have to die?"

"The girl you say died, she was a Mage?" Robie asked. Ari shuddered, realizing she'd briefly forgotten he was there.

"Within seconds, she melted metal into a sword." She searched the crowd for the dead girl's face; not expecting to see it, of course, but slightly hopeful. Perhaps she was a usual resident of the town, though something about her made Ari second guess that notion.

Robie nodded, "She must be very talented. That's not easy to do." Ari noted his voice was very gentle as he spoke; he obviously chose his words carefully before speaking, a lot like Trevon did. "Why a sword?"

Having had the same thought, Ari simply shrugged at his question and continued to watch. The crowd itself was nothing special. People were scared and confused. One man did catch Ari's attention. He walked with great posture, a sturdy build but light on his feet. Though he wore light clothing, he didn't shiver or stumble across the obstacles dropped around the open lot. She suspected he'd been conditioned to adapt to any survival conditions. Tough training, certainly, but - though she'd never admit it - he made her face flush slightly. However, his good looks didn't seem to be helping him much. Ari watched him try to strike up a conversation with bystander after bystander; each one immediately treated him like he had some sort of disease and walked away before he could keep talking. After twelve attempts, his frustration was almost palpable. Whatever he was trying to get, he had no luck.