SAGE (under edit)

Chapter Three

Sage hated writing reports.

It was, of course, something she had to do after every mission she led as a captain in order to record everything that occurred on the mission or even a standard patrol of the region's borders. Even if nothing of significance occurred, the information recorded was still important to track, like the changing of the landscape, oddities in Soldier behaviour that might seem normal to the Soldiers on duty, and the frequency of rogue encounters.

Sage hadn't captained the most recent mission, but Leon had only been able to report up until a certain point before he had been struck by the disorientating gas. It was, therefore, Sage's responsibility to fill the gaps.

Another requirement after every mission was to report in for a medical check, which Sage had done first thing this morning. The medic had passed her after conducting the standard tests, allowing Sage the chance to return home – where Leon had told her to finish the report he couldn't.

Leon had left shortly after, and although he also needed to have a medical check Sage doubted he would do it. He loathed going to the hospital for any reason, even just to visit someone, but thankfully Sage had qualified as a field medic so the Renark let Sage conduct Leon's basic medical assessments when it was absolutely needed. Sage wasn't sure what it was that had made Leon hate hospitals so much, but if the Renark allowed him to skip regular check-ups when no other Soldier could then surely it was significant, and something the Renark had sympathised with.

Sage was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a knocking on the front door. She turned in her chair at the kitchen bench, habitually reaching with her Kyra into the space between to feel for a Kyra marker. The person's Kyra reached back, touching like two separate ripples on a lake interlacing, and Sage's brow lifted with recognition.

She went to the door and pulled it open, not hiding her surprise. 'Chase,' she said in greeting, a small smile forming.

Chase Suragi resembled his older brother so much, it was uncanny. His near-black hair and defined, handsome features had all the girls fawning over Raidan when he was younger and now Chase garnered the same reactions. Well he might have, if his expression wasn't so unfriendly.

The difference between Chase and Raidan, however, were their eyes. Chase's eyes were the colour of midnight, a deep blue darkened by emotion, whereas Raidan's were pale like ice, and just as cold.

'I came to check on you,' said Chase, his brow creasing with a faint frown.

Sage stepped away from the door to allow him inside. Closing the door behind them, she said, 'What have you heard?'

'You encountered Shadow Soldiers,' Chase replied, frown deepening. 'That was the only piece of information that leaked.'

By Rhun, probably, Sage thought. Keeping things confidential had never been his strong point. But if Chase hadn't brought up the parting words of the Shadow Soldiers then, thankfully, Rhun had managed to keep that to himself otherwise it would have been the first thing Chase asked about.

'I think they were more concerned with killing the rogues we had captured than dealing with us,' Sage told him, turning back to the kitchen.

Chase grabbed her wrist, his grip firm but gentle. She turned back to him and saw the open concern in his furrowed brow and troubled expression; that was the other difference between him and Raidan. Chase didn't, or couldn't, hide his feelings with impassivity like Raidan had and Sage had found that a comfort, knowing how he was feeling or thinking simply by the line of his mouth and the look in his eyes.

He wasn't at all like the boisterous, temperamental boy he had been before Raidan's betrayal, but that wasn't surprising. Tragedy and trauma changed people, and for a while Chase had been like Raidan; he had shut down, closed off all emotion, until an argument between them two years ago had brought him back, if only a little. Sage recalled yelling at him, hating how he acted so cold because it made him look and sound exactly like Raidan, and neither she nor he wanted such a blatant reminder of the one who had ruined their lives. Her comparison had shocked him.