by J Gaines
*
As the van rumbled onwards, Amias was still watching the motionless body of Max. They’d been travelling for almost an hour, and soon they’d reach their destination. He’d only spoken a few words on the journey despite the best efforts of his team members who had soon given up and sat silently. His body ached, and his forehead was sore.
“That’s amazing, Amias.”
He turned to see Sophia staring at him. “What is?”
“Your cut, it’s beginning to heal already. The wound on your head has already entered the proliferation stage of healing. I can see new tissue forming over it.”
Amias frowned and placed his fingers protectively over his cut. It didn’t feel any different to him. “Prolifer-what?”
Sophia smiled at him affectionately. “There are different stages of healing for a wound. The stage you’re at now shouldn’t really be taking place with a wound like yours for at least a couple of days.”
“Oh, okay,” he replied, and returned to watching Max.
“How long have you been healing like that?” Sophia persisted, sounding excited and almost jovial.
Amias looked at her. Even in the gloom of the van her beauty shone out. Her blonde hair was tied back, and he could see her bright blue eyes as she looked at him. Her high cheekbones were perfect, and he looked at her lips as she held her mouth slightly open, waiting for his response. She was only a little younger than he was but somehow he felt ancient as his eyes fixed on hers. Nothing was hidden from him as she stared back and blushed. He sighed and returned to his vigil over Max.
“There’s something I need to ask you, Amias.”
He looked back at her, waiting for the question he knew would come.
“Would you…?”
Amias didn’t reply and waited for her to continue.
“I mean… would you have killed him?”
Amias looked at her as he searched for the answer himself, and then dropped his eyes again to focus on Max.
“It’s not the altéré way, you know that, Amias. We try our best not to kill if we don’t have to.”
Amias clenched his jaw. “And who decided it wasn’t the altéré way?”
Sophia looked at him in a way he was sure she thought was sympathetic. “People wiser and more in need than we are. This isn’t the first time that our kind have been hunted and persecuted. The word altéré itself was used as a derogatory term for people with abilities like ours; it means altered. Our ancestors adopted the name as a symbol to themselves that differences can be great, and together we’re strong. We can’t act like Kaden to beat Kaden.”
Amias didn’t reply.
*
The van stopped and he heard voices. They’d were at the gates. The complex was as heavily guarded as they could make it, but much of their defence depended on secrecy. They started moving again and Amias readied himself for the debriefing he knew was coming. John would want to hear about what had happened, and there was no avoiding it. He sighed. It was the last thing he felt like doing and if it were anyone but John, he’d tell them where to go. The sound of the engine rumbled as they waited for the loading doors to open so they could enter the facility. He could hear the doors being electronically drawn upwards as the van moved slowly forwards before the engine stopped, and the others, who were already up, opened the van doors. They picked up Max, who was still unconscious, and carefully carried him out. Amias remained seated as artificial light flooded into the van, and Sophia lingered with him. He knew she was attempting to support him in her own way, and he felt his fondness for her resurface suddenly.
“Where’s Amias?” He heard John’s voice before he saw him, and he felt Sophia stiffen a little.
He turned to her and smiled. “Come on.” They rose as the stocky figure of John appeared at the back of the van. His eyes met Amias’s and there was silence as they looked at each other.
Sophia laughed nervously. “I would swear you two were communicating telepathically, if I didn’t know better.”
John turned to her as if it were the first time he’d seen her and smiled through his beard. His wolfish grey eyes brightened a little as he held out his hand to help her down. She took it and jumped out, and then turned and waited for Amias. John looked at her warmly. “Thanks, Sophia. You go on to the debriefing room and Amias and I will join you shortly.” Sophia glanced at Amias before turning and walking away slowly. Amias remained standing in the van, watching John carefully.
“You want to do this now?” Amias asked, making his annoyance obvious.
“Would you prefer we did it in the debriefing in front of the others?” John’s smile was now gone but his eyes still held warmth.
Amias jumped out of the van. “I don’t care.”
“I do,” John replied. “Now tell me what happened out there.”
“I got the job you wanted done. And now Reuben’s dead.”
“I’m sorry Reuben’s dead. I know he was your friend, but he made his choice. You and I both offered him our protection, but he didn’t want to be here.”
Amias walked in the same direction as Sophia and then stopped with his back to John as if waiting for something. When nothing came, he carried on and left John standing alone.
*
As he entered the room they used for debriefing, all conversation stopped. It wasn’t just his team in the room; there were two other teams who’d also had missions that night, and the room was full. Men and women of varying ages were sitting at tables or standing, and they all turned to stare at him as he looked for a seat. He was used to the unwanted attention now, and he’d stopped feeling uncomfortable months ago. But this time, he knew it was due to his actions that night, and not because of what he considered the unwarranted and unwanted hope that they seemed to have in him. When he’d first noticed it happening, he’d sought out John to find out why. In typical John fashion, he’d asked Amias why he thought people were so interested in him – as if he already knew. After painfully convincing John that he didn’t, John had divulged the information. “They want you to be what they need, Amias. Leader, saviour, protector. They want to believe in you, and believe that you can be the most powerful of the altéré.” Amias didn’t want to be any of those things and John knew it. Amias felt John wouldn’t have as much faith in him if he knew his true feelings.
Ignoring the uncomfortable silence, he made his way to a chair at the back of the room and sat down, awaiting John’s arrival. He didn’t have to wait long as within seconds John entered the room to a hustle of movement as people found chairs and readied themselves for the debrief. Sophia walked over and sat in one of the few empty seats in the room, all of which surrounded Amias. He looked at the people sitting around him. There were around forty of them, and some were visibly upset. Amias guessed it was because of the news of Reuben’s death and he wondered if they’d even known him. Since Kaden had started the assassination of his own kind, it had sent fear and shockwaves throughout the altéré. Amias had learned from John that it had been almost a century since there had been a threat as dangerous as Kaden. So far, Kaden and his people had killed fifty-nine of their people, and Reuben made it sixty. This had gained the attention of the most powerful men and women who shared their abilities. John seemed to know most of these people and he had called for them to meet and unite against Kaden. Those who’d agreed would be meeting here at the base in two days.
“Right! Where do we start?” John said loudly to the room.
Amias saw an arm shoot up directly in front of John and instinctively clenched his jaw. He felt Sophia glance at him and sigh. John seated himself on the desk at the front of the room. “Okay, Lucas. Tell me what happened.”
Lucas stood up and walked to the front of the room and Amias moved uncomfortably in his chair and clenched his jaw again. “We arrived at the festival,” began Lucas, “and we positioned ourselves in the agreed places around the s
ite.”
“What time did you enter the festival?” John asked.
“Fourteen hundred hours, sir.”
Amias noticed that John ignored being referred to as “sir” and nodded to Lucas to continue.
“Amias split us into teams and we kept radio contact at all times. It was almost nine hours before we made our mark and identified Max.” Lucas’s confidence stood out clearly, and he addressed the room with a strong authority that was only hindered by his obvious air of self-importance. As much as Amias tried not to, he couldn’t help but dislike Lucas. At first, he’d put Lucas’s arrogance down to a competitive nature, and to the fact that he viewed Amias as a threat to his leadership ambitions. But soon Amias realised it was more than that; they were very different people with very different ideals and motivations. Lucas’s self-righteousness grated on him as much as his obvious attempts to discredit and disrespect Amias.
“Amias was the first to lay eyes on Max and he let us know his position.”
Amias knew what was coming next.
“His position… Who was with Amias?” John interjected.
Lucas hesitated for a moment before turning to John directly. “Nobody, Amias was alone.” John remained focussed on Lucas, but Amias still somehow felt his grey eyes boring into him.
“That wasn’t the plan. You were to remain in pairs at all times.”
This time Lucas didn’t hesitate. “That’s right, but Amias told us the plan had changed.”
John didn’t reply but nodded again.
Lucas cleared his throat and looked directly at Amias before continuing. “After Amias’s first communication we lost contact with him. We did our best to move, to help him and regain contact, but for some reason we were unable to. The next we knew, we became aware of a fight amid the crowd in the main arena. When we arrived, the fight had stopped, and the police and site security were involved. From the information we could obtain from the crowd, we found out that there had been a fight between one man and lots of people attacking him. A gun had been discharged and the man had left the scene.”
John still refrained from looking in Amias’s direction. “And this man was Amias?”
“Yes. We then did our best to learn the direction Amias had taken and followed as best we could.”
“What happened then?”
“We lost him and Max, and still couldn’t regain contact.”
“Until…?”
Lucas hesitated. “Sorry?”
“You found them again?”
“Ah yes. Harrison used the police scanner to locate them at a pub. Apparently, Max took a girl hostage, and Amias was there with him. When we got to the pub they’d already left but there was another report of people fighting in the multi-storey carpark. Luckily we were closer than the police and got there first.”
“What happened when you got there?”
With each question that John asked, Amias found himself becoming angrier. He knew John’s questions were more than him wanting to know the events of the night; it was likely that he already knew what had happened. These questions were for a different purpose.
Lucas glanced in Amias’s direction before answering. “Amias had detained Max and he was already unconscious.”
John frowned for the first time. “And that was it?”
Lucas smirked. “No. Amias was on top of Max. He was hitting him and had to be forcefully restrained.”
“Thanks, Lucas.” For the first time since he’d entered the room John looked at Amias. “Time to fill in the gaps, Amias?”
The whole of the room came alive with the noise of almost forty people shifting in their seats to look at Amias. He remained still and kept his eyes focussed on John.
“As Lucas has said, I identified Max, and I followed him. Whilst in pursuit I was attacked and forced to defend myself. One of my attackers managed to offload two shots and I disarmed him. Nobody was hurt. I then lost visual on Max before regaining it when I was confronted by him…” He paused, and then lied. “I asked him to come quietly, and told him he wouldn’t be harmed, but he ran.” John’s keen eyes never left his, and he felt him scrutinising every word. “I followed him out of the festival. He was heading for a busy area in an obvious attempt to use people to help with his escape. This was confirmed when he took the girl captive and I rescued her. I then followed him to the carpark where he attacked me. I defended myself and again asked him to come quietly. He didn’t.”
John turned to Lucas. “What do you think could have gone better, Lucas?”
“Lots,” replied Lucas.
“Please elaborate.”
“I don’t think Amias should have been leading the mission.”
Amias felt the tension in the room heighten; even he was surprised by Lucas’s brutal honesty. Before John could reply, Amias stood up and headed through the chairs towards the door.
“Where are you going, Amias? The debrief isn’t finished.”
“It is for me,” he replied, almost to himself.
“Amias!” John raised his voice slightly and the hidden power stopped Amias in his tracks and forced him to turn around.
He used all the self-control he had left in him to reply. “The mission was a success. We’ve captured Max and he’s alive.”
John was still seated. Somehow it felt as if it were only the two of them in the room. “But would he have been alive,” said John, “if the team hadn’t reached you when they did?”
Amias didn’t hesitate. “I don’t know.”
John watched thoughtfully as Amias turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Chapter 4
Amias stopped on the other side of the closed door and listened. There was a moment of silence before an eruption of conversation as everyone began discussing what had just taken place. Nobody had shown John such disrespect in public before, and already Amias regretted it. But it was too late to return now; his pride wouldn’t allow it. His hand slipped off the handle and he strode down the corridor, wanting to put as much space as possible between him and the people inside. He was halfway down the corridor when he heard the door open.
“Amias, wait.” It was the familiar voice of Sophia, and he stopped with his back to her.
“Are you okay?”
He took a silent breath and turned to her with his best effort at a smile. “I’m fine, Sophia. Go back in.”
“Why don’t you come with me? It will really help things if you do.”
He knew what she was referring to and it wasn’t just one thing. John would be angry; Lucas would be pleased, and everyone else would be doubting his leadership and commitment. The only person he cared about was John, and he couldn’t change what had happened or what he’d said. He was beginning to feel ashamed of his behaviour; he owed John more.
“Not now, Sophia.” He was still smiling, but he added a finality to his words. She looked at him; clearly she was thinking carefully about her next words. She moved her lips to speak and he felt the same sudden twinge of sadness he’d felt earlier.
“I’ll be fine, Sophia. I need some time on my own, that’s all. I’ll search John out later and apologise for what happened. He’ll understand, I know he will. Let me know what other news there is from the debriefing later.”
He watched as her mouth closed and her eyes fell to the floor. “Okay. I’ll see you later.” She walked quickly away, and he watched her re-enter the room, throwing one last look in his direction before she closed the door.
*
The first light of morning shone through the windows in the makeshift gym and fell onto Amias’s hands. He moved them in and out of the light. There were the faintest red marks across his knuckles, evidence of his fight with Max last night, but they were already fading. If only his memories of what had happened would do the same. He had made his way through the facility and somehow found himself in
the last place he wanted to be.
The gym was in one of the smaller warehouses, but it was still bigger than any gym Amias had ever seen. There was a makeshift boxing ring with a padded floor and ropes, and in a corner close by were some boxing bags of various shapes and sizes. In another corner, there were weights and gymnastic equipment. The place was empty, and he sat in the ring with his back against one of the four posts. Absentmindedly he followed the light from the windows across the gym and towards one of the high walls. It fell at the feet of a large wooden weapons rack, which held a vast array of martial arts weapons. There were Sai, Nunchakus, wooden Tonfa and Bokken. His eyes fell on one of the Bokkens, a wooden Katana sword they used for training purposes. He looked at it and felt something inside him stir; he wanted to hold it. It was a yearning he hadn’t felt before. He used the ropes to pull himself to his feet and ducked through them. Slowly he approached the rack. He and John had spent many hours in the gym practising with these weapons. They would fight against each other, and as they did, John would pass on the knowledge he’d obtained from his trainer, whom he described as the most skilled fighter he had known. They were lessons that Virgil had not lived long enough to pass on.
The Bokken was the weapon they practised with the most. They both knew the sword was Kaden’s preferred weapon, and John had kept his promise to train Amias to be able to use the sword Kaden had killed his brother with. John had told him it was an Itaru Mashima sword, forged by a legendary sword-maker and warrior, and it was one of the greatest swords in the world. Now Amias slid the black Bokken carefully out of its hole in the thick wood and held it in one hand, gripping it tightly as he felt a familiar anger flow through him. He saw his brother Blaise’s face, innocent and atoned, the sword which had been meant for Amias protruding from his stomach. Then he saw Jasmine’s face, scarred and bloody but still beautiful. He gripped the sword with both hands and lowered his head so that it was resting on the blade.
