Fledgling

by Tabatha Palomo

Chapter Forty Seven

  “Is this how it ends?” Austin asked, putting her hands on her hips. She felt the handle of Dustin’s knife brush against the side of her hand, as if reminding her that it was there, “Killed by my best friend?”

  “I always told you that I wouldn’t hesitate if I had to,” Aiden was unsteady, his voice rising and falling as he spoke. His skin was waxy and pale. Was he sick? “You never believed me. And you left, and that ruined everything.”

  “Sorry, I know. But a gun? Really? I thought dragons were classier than this,” Austin slid her hand down, tightening around the smooth handle of the knife. She didn’t want to use it, but she knew that she could. She also knew that she would have to.

  “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare ever quote him again, “ he was shouting now, his hand shaking. He lunged at her, forgetting about the unfair advantage that he held, quite literally, in the palm of his hand. Austin stepped out of his path, as nimble as she could manage, and whipped out the knife twice as fast. Aiden’s knuckles were white as they clutched his weapon, remembering once again that he could kill her with no more than a twitch of his fingers.

  “Aiden Inferno,” she recited the words she had once seen in a book; words that, if he still carried his code of honor, might buy her precious time, “I challenge you to a duel.”

  “A duel? I’m the head of Anathaem’s army,” he reminded her. He was walking a thin line between disbelief and flat out laughing at her.

  Austin shook her head, her smile saddening, “Not anymore. I heard that Derrick replaced you. You’re a soldier now.”

  “I am the general,” he said, not listening to a word she said, “But if you want to fight, fine. You’ll die. You know that, right?”

  A fair match was better than dying in an alley. She wanted their bond to end cleanly. They wouldn’t be able to use the training fields, since she couldn’t be seen, but the rules could still apply here, “It would be nice if no one had to die.”

  Aiden stared at her, squinting as if he couldn’t see her clearly, “You aren’t a chaos.”

  “No, I’m not,” she agreed, keeping her knife level with his bare throat, “You know my name, but I will say it anyway. My name is Austin Smith, and Aid, I challenge you to a match.”

  Again, she had used her teacher’s last name. They were family, chaos or not.

  She would have liked to see Mr. Smith again, one last time. Jess, too.

  “Choose your weapon,” he laughed, warming only slightly. Austin had hoped that they would act like always, but that was impossible. One of them would die here, but maybe, just maybe, they could part on good terms.

  “I choose this,” she glanced at the long knife. Aiden said nothing, but dropped his gun. He had his short sword out before the metal object hit the ground. They each took a step back, then another. The alley didn’t allow for the regular distance between opponents.

  “Three. Two. One,” Aiden counted down slowly, just as he used to, “Fight.”

  He sliced in her direction, and she twirled away, narrowly avoiding the brick wall. Her knife glittered in the spots of light that still shone, and it held its own on the rare occasions that it came head to head with Aiden’s blade.

  “You’ve gotten faster,” he noticed, letting his sword’s tip fall to the ground. She didn’t fall for the easy opening. Dustin had taught her better than to fall for a trap like that.

  “Thanks,” she feigned an attack, falling back as he stabbed at her, “I’ve had a lot of teachers. And I waitressed.”

  . Her arm came up on instinct, and he cursed. She looked at the knife with wide eyes. It was dripping with something red. Blood? Austin felt like both throwing up and laughing; she had actually managed to hit him. Then he staggered back, and she decided to do neither of those options. She balanced on the tip of her toes, waiting.

  He clutched at the arm holding his sword, and she could see blood staining the fabric where she had cut him. That was a lot of blood.

  He smiled, his teeth showing in a scary kind of way, before charging at her. He knocked the knife out of her hands, and she heard it hit the wall a few feet away. He pushed her against the wall and trailed the tip of his sword against her neck before she could process what was happening, “Lucky hit. The chaos taught you well.”

  Two new voices started to shout. The first was familiar—expected, even.

  “Let her go,” Dustin barked, running towards her. Austin squirmed and felt the sting of the sword as it bit into her neck. She stopped moving, not wanting to accidentally kill herself. Still, she didn’t want to put her life in Dustin’s hands. He was always so emotional when it came to her.

  The second voice was haunted, but final, as if its owner has already resigned itself to the fate before him, “Austin? This is not how your story is supposed to end.”

  “Hey Kai,” her blood was hot as it trickled down her neck. Aiden moved so that it rested higher, level with her Adams apple, “Long time no see.”

  “You cut your hair,” he said, “It looks good.”

  Dustin cut in, “I was the one to cut her hair.”

  “Shut up. Kai, you are going to turn around and act like nothing happened,” Aiden ordered. Footsteps followed his commands, but the grew nearer instead of walking away.

  “Am I?” Kai asked, and suddenly the sword was free from her throat. Dustin had Aiden in a chokehold, struggling to keep the man from killing anyone, and Kai dragged Austin away, “Sorry Aiden, but I never did like following your orders, and now I don’t even have to.”

  “Traitor,” Aiden hissed, breaking free from Dustin. He lunged towards Kai, bringing out his sword again. Dustin tensed, but Kai was unaware of the throat. His eyes were glued to her, his hands on her shoulders as he checked to make sure she wasn’t fatally injured. Aiden came closer, his Nike sneakers digging into the crushed rock under his feet.

  Austin’s hand felt along the ground, and she felt the tip of something smooth. Her hand closed around it, and Aiden was on top of them. She looked up, her eyes locking with his emerald green ones, and stuck out what she had in her hand, facing the end towards him. Her fingers closed around it, tightening.

  She did not hold a knife in her hands.

  She wanted to live, and she would do anything to make sure she did. Her mind was icy cold in its resolve.

  Click.

  Bang.

  It jolted in her grip as it unleashed its load, and she dropped it to the ground. This had all happened in a matter of seconds, too slow for Kai to completely comprehend the situation. His arms around her never loosened, but they did freeze.

  Then Aiden fell.

  “Aiden?” she took an uncertain step forwards, pushing Kai out of the way. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dustin put a hand on Kai’s chest, stopping him from coming towards her. She pried her eyes from the safe places, places relatively untouched by blood, and looked directly in front of her.

  Aiden was kneeling, looking at how his shirt was darkening, stained with blood. He put his hand on the small, circular tear. Then his gaze trailed to what had started it all—his gun.

  “Austin,” he blinked, looking at her now. His eyes were sane. Clear. Austin crawled closer, close enough to catch his head before it hit the ground. Her hands ran through his silky, unkempt hair as she laid his head down to the rocky ground—not sure if she was allowed to touch him. She never looked away from his wide eyed stare.

  Her mouth curled into a sad smile, “I won.”

  But she won unfairly. No one in Affelil would ever dare use a gun against someone, and god knows why Aiden had one in the first place.

  “I’m proud,” he promised her, a lie. How could he ever forgive her? Austin had just broken one of the strictest laws in Affelil. His face became stony, emotionless, “Yeah.”

  “I never thought I would,” she told him. It was true. No chaos or Halfling had ever gone face
to face with him and lived. Then again, none had ever pulled a gun on him, either.

  “Neither did I,” he said, “But you know that I can’t let you roam the streets of my city. You’re dangerous, Austin.”

  He raised a hand to touch her cheek, but it rapidly changed course. His hand latched onto the chain that hung from Austin’s neck. The chain tugged into her tender and bleeding skin before it gave way, snapping. Aiden held it in his calloused hand, and the charm fell to the ground. Austin stared at the broken chain the slid down to her lap, knowing all too well that her mind was completely vulnerable. Aiden’s gaze held her, much like a snake’s would.

  “Sleep,” he commanded, his dying word. She tried to fight it. She tried with everything she had. She fought to push away the fog that entered her mind, blurring everything it touched. It filled her mind, glazing over her eyes. She felt hands on her shoulders (Kai’s hands, she could tell) and hands cradling her face (Dustin’s, she guessed). Aiden’s eyes, dragon eyes that swirled in the dying light, still trapped her, becoming all that she could see.

  Her own eyes grew lackluster, blank. She did not sleep, as Aiden had told her to.

  She stopped. Everything just stopped, everything but the most necessary functions to keep her alive.

  Austin Smith fell limply to the ground, just as the man in front of her did the same.