The Blade of Dawn

Chapter 24

The streets become less and less crowded as we venture deeper into the city. Soon, there is scarcely anyone in sight.

"How much further?" Easton says, his fists clenched.

"We're here." The girl calls out, a bit too loudly.

We are in front of an abandoned building on a dead end street.

My confusion is quickly replaced by fear as figures emerge from the shadows. Three boys and two girls, all covered in dirt and grime. All heavily armed.

"A fresh catch." The tallest boy says, grinning. "What have you brought us today, Skiv?"

"They was lost. Tryin' ta find Ryker, they say." The girl smirks as she lazily picks dirt from her fingernails.

"Not from around here, eh?" the boy asks. He saunters around us, looking us up and down as he moves.

A tall, pale girl with hungry eyes lurches forward. "Dex, that girl, she's got magic on her. I'm sure of it." Her eyes narrow and she stares at me, biting her lip. "I can almost taste it."

The boy, Dex, turns his attention to me. His eyes widen. "You're right." He smiles and nods. "Well done, Skiv. We'll be celebrating tonight!"

Dex pulls a black chain out from under his shirt. Hanging from the chain is a rust red piece of rock. The others surrounding Dex pull out weapons. I count two sharpened pipes, a blackened knife, and a warped club.

Dex steps towards me with the rock. "Don't do anything foolish now. Hold still. This won't hurt a bit."

Easton silently slips a knife to Sarah and readies his own. I brace myself, hoping my magic will not fail me.

Sarah strikes first, swinging at the girl with the pipe and knocking her unconscious. Easton follows next, striking the boy with the knife.

Dex lunges at me with the rock. I call upon my magic. When I do, I am overcome by a wave of nausea. The closer the rock comes towards me, the sicker I feel. The energy from the rock is parasitic. It is evil. Diseased.

Dex lurches towards me, intent on pressing the rock against my chest.

Easton sees me standing paralyzed in front of Dex and he throws himself in front of me seconds before the rock touches my skin.

The rock smashes into Easton's neck. Easton gasps and falls to his hands and knees. A thick plume of red smoke bursts around Easton.

Dex curses and his gang falls back.

"Easton!" I shout. I drop to the ground next to Easton. A thin trickle of blood drips down towards his collar bone. The same sickly energy that pulsed from the rock now pulses from Easton. His veins bulge from his skin. He springs to his feet and releases a deep guttural sound.

Dex and the others flee, disappearing into the shadows they came from.

"Let's get out of here." Sarah pulls me to my feet.

"What is happening to me." Easton breathes. "I feel stronger than I ever have in my life. I can hear every noise for miles. I can see further than I ever thought possible."

"There was magic in that stone." I say. There is a wild, almost feral, look in Easton's eyes.

"Follow me." Easton says. "I have an idea of where we can go."

Easton winds through the streets like a hound on a scent, before finally stopping at an old clock tower.

"It is silent here. There is no one here. I don't think anyone has been here in a long time." Easton says. He wraps his fingers around the rusty padlock on the clock tower door and pulls. His muscles flex and the metal snaps.

Easton pushes the wooden door open. Inside there is nothing but abandoned tools, spiderwebs, and dust. We climb a creaky, broken staircase until we reach a small loft near the top of the tower.

"Home sweet home." Sarah sighs as she sits and begins to inspect the cuts she got from the fight.

"We need food and water." Easton says. "I sense there is food nearby. Stay here. I will be back soon."

"Easton," I protest.

"I listened to you last time and look where that got us." Easton argues, cutting me off. "That rock made me stronger. I might as well take advantage of it. We can't survive here without food and water."

I turn to Sarah for backup.

"It's a terrible plan, but I can't think of a better one." Sarah's shoulders drop. We are all tired and hungry.

I look away and Easton descends down the stairs.

I close my eyes and think about Dex, Skiv, his gang, and the beggars on the street. Their bodies are deteriorating as if they are being eaten alive from the inside by something.

"I think magic here is like a drug." I say. I picture Dex's desperate, haunted eyes. "The people here are like drug-addicts. They must be trapping magic in enchanted rocks and artifacts and drawing on it somehow to get their fix."

My stomach churns as I recall the leech-like, grasping tendrils of the rock Dex held towards me.

"What happened to you during the fight? Why did you freeze up like that." Sarah snaps. Her words sound like an accusation.

"The rock, it paralyzed me. The magic inside it is poisonous." I say. I can't defend myself. Sarah has a right to be mad. Easton has been poisoned because of me. I froze at the wrong moment.

"And now poisonous magic is coursing through Easton's veins." Sarah folds her arms across her chest. "So what happens when the high he is on ends?"

"I don't know." I lean against the old brick wall and wait for Easton to return. I have no way to know how much time has passed. The rusted metal gears that once powered the clock tower taunt me as they sit still, frozen in time.

The sun has set and the sky is dark when I finally hear the door swing open.

I rush to the base of the tower. Sarah follows closely on my heels.

Easton stands at the doorway. He enters, heaves a sack onto the floor, and collapses.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, his eyes roll back in his head and his body begins to convulse.

"Help." He rasps. "Help me."