Fallen Ashes: Fated & Forbidden

by T. F. Walsh

  Her gaze shifted to Saber, motionless as a statue. And despite her willpower, her attention lingered on his lips. Daydreaming about tasting them wasn’t helping.

  Saber was a mystery wrapped in muscles. Beneath his voice, darkness lingered. The way she caught him taking side glances, studying her apartment, saying all the right things, sent an unsettling shiver through her entire body.

  Okay, priority. Remove the link. The Wart Markets only happened once a month, and one was tonight. That location was the only place her friend appeared in public, and she was the one person who’d know how to remove the bond. Then Fallen would focus on finding her soul mate and trying to convince the numbskull in her apartment to do the same.

  Saber stretched out his legs, slid his back down the cushions, and shut his eyes. “Wake me in a few hours.”

  She ought to char him into a blackened marshmallow, and then she’d fix her little problem in one swoop. Except, her mind sailed to their dragon marks. She couldn’t be responsible for mass extinction.

  “I’m not dressing like a cult leader.” Saber shoved the cloak back into Fallen’s arms. “I’m fine the way I am.”

  “Really? So you, a Queen’s Guardian, will just stroll through the Wart Markets? Everyone hates your kind because each time you go into public searching for strays like me, you destroy the joint. Do you want to cause pandemonium?” She ran a finger along the side of her neck, mirroring the spot of Saber’s ink.

  “If the goblins and trolls let Guardians do their job, there wouldn’t be a problem. It’s only the draes who are breaking the queen’s rules by living outside the realm.”

  “You and your stupid rules. Draes have a right to live wherever they want. Why don’t you go marry the queen?”

  He sighed and cast his gaze onto the floor.

  She pressed the black fabric into his hands. When he didn’t protest but slipped it on, she let herself grin. “When we meet my friend, keep yourself covered the whole time.”

  Creators… give me strength to deal with such an insufferable drae.

  Saber nodded once, trekked to the door, and pulled it open. A cool gust of air rushed inside, along with the smell of fried chicken. The hallway light flickered. Fallen shut the door behind them and hurried downstairs after Saber. Three flights later, they were in the front foyer.

  He inched toward the main door and opened it in slow motion. At least he wasn’t bursting out there all gung-ho.

  At once, he jerked back inside. “Fuck, he’s still outside and saw me.”

  “You’re kidding me.” Iciness gripped her insides. She spun and darted to the rear exit, Saber’s footfalls on her heels. They swung right into a long corridor toward the basement when the front door to the building creaked open.

  Fallen’s pulse hammered in her ears, the hairs on her arms raised. Trolls might be stupid, but they were also damn persistent.

  She bulleted along a hallway cast in fluorescent light, her boots thumped the cement floor. When a growl sounded behind them, she jerked a glance back, and her heart pounded beneath her ribcage.

  A blue haze outlined the troll who still remained in the Tapestry world. Just as she could see him through the veil, he could see their true forms as well.

  She sprinted ahead of Saber, targeting the far exit. From there, they’d escape into the streets and use her city smarts to hide.

  Except Saber snatched her wrist and hauled her sideways into another room. He slammed the door with a boom.

  For a moment, she wasn’t sure which direction to go. Two rows of washing machines and dryers lined the walls. A long table had been squeezed into the center of the room where she’d folded her clothes dozens of times—no windows or exits. Her throat dried.

  “Why’d you come in here?”

  Saber grabbed her elbow and rushed her to the back of the room. “The troll will have to cross the veil to get us, then we attack.” Of course, anyone crossing worlds was weak for those few seconds, but she preferred not to confront a troll in hand-to-hand combat.

  She picked up a nearby chair, her breaths coming in gasps, thoughts accelerating inside her head. The orange soda pop she’d gulped earlier churned in her stomach. “Never get cornered” was her motto whenever she patrolled the city for feasters and goblins, and yet here she was, trapped.

  A snap of energy rippled across her skin, causing her to tremble.

  The troll’s electric outline vibrated as he materialized through the wall. At first, he stood there, frozen.

  “Come on.” She tightened her grip around the chair leg, her muscles twitching. A first time for everything, right? Fighting a troll wasn’t on her bucket list. Neither was the other shit that had happened since waking up in prison. She and Saber would just have to knock the troll out, yet her mind kept filling with useless facts about the nasty beings. How their skulls were twice as thick as a drae’s and were almost impossible to crack. How they ate charcoal with every meal, giving them an iron-strong gut. How they never backed down from a fight.

  A hand became visible through the veil. Then a trunk-like leg, a foot, powdery gray and flaking. Half a head covered in dreadlocks. Geez, even in his human form, the troll would terrify people with his toothy grin.

  Nearby, Saber lifted a washing machine.

  Fallen did a double take.

  Saber grunted as he raised the object above his head. Pipes snapped out of the wall, flinging around like attacking vipers. She ducked as one snapped toward her face, and she dropped the chair.

  Saber smashed the unit into the troll’s chest. The creature recoiled, losing his footing, falling to the ground.

  Her co-conspirator didn’t waste time and raised the machine once again as if it weighed nothing more than an empty cardboard box.

  Fallen broke out into a cold sweat. Saber would kill him. “Stop.” She hated trolls but had never murdered anyone… and didn’t intend to start now.

  Charging for Saber, she threw herself between him and the troll. “Don’t kill him. We’ve hurt him. Now let’s tie him up. I’ll find a mind-wiping spell.” She didn’t pause, and all the while, an inferno bubbled behind her breastbone.

  In those frozen seconds, Saber’s gaze flicked between Fallen and the troll, his face unreadable. No emotion or fear. Just a mission to destroy what stood in his way.

  His arms quivered. “Move. Now!” The dark voice didn’t belong to the Saber who’d been in her apartment minutes earlier, but to a stranger, a killer.

  The troll’s hand grabbed her ankle. She flinched and jerked away just as Saber slammed the machine into the attacker again.

  Eyes bulged. Gurgling gasps. The troll fell silent. Unmoving.

  Did he have a family? Friends? Someone who waited for him to come home?

  Fallen stood there, trying to remember how to breathe, her stomach fighting the need to vomit. All she picked from her jumbled thoughts was, “Dead.”

  Saber wiped splatters of green blood off his cloak. “Worked out well.”

  The impact of what she’d just witnessed left her shuddering as the corners of her vision faded to blackness. Regret washed over her in sadness. She should have done more to stop Saber because no one had a right to take a life. No one!

  A spider web of dread, intricate, yet strong, laced through her. If this was how Saber behaved, what could she expect if someone noticed him at the Wart Market and attacked? He’d defend himself, and she’d get caught up in it, probably ending up dead too.

  6

  The beige laundromat walls seemed to close in around Saber.

  Fallen’s shoulders curled forward as if she was trying to disappear into herself, trying to make herself appear smaller. Her gaze fixed on the troll Saber had squished with the washing machine, and she pressed flat hands to her stomach.

  “You okay?” Saber’s chest flinched at seeing her in discomfort.

  She recoiled from his approach, her eyes glassy and mouth twisted in a scowl. She stared at Saber as if she’d seen him for what he truly was.


  A growing sense of dread tightened around his chest. Except he’d concealed the cracked skin on his hand. So, couldn’t be that.

  “Y… You monster. You killed him.” Her words trembled.

  The troll? Why did she give a shit about a creature who’d force her into a prison to rot for life?

  “Would you have preferred that I invited him to your place for a cup of coffee instead? Anyway, those bastards are close to impossible to kill. I’m sure he’ll be fine in a week’s time.”

  Her nose creased, and she paused for a long moment, her curled posture frozen in time. Her eyes drilled into him. “You didn’t even hesitate. He’s a life form from the Creators.” She lifted her wrist, pointing to her dragon mark. “This is why they want to change us back into humans. Because those like you stomp on anything that moves. The queen’s Guardians are savages.” Fallen spat the words as if they tasted sour on her tongue. He’d heard worse.

  “Still hung up on the Creators’ mark?” He rubbed the side of his face, finding a wet patch of troll blood and wiping it clean with the cape she’d insisted he wear. “Do you want to end up in Noah’s ark? I’d been there for three months and saw what Noah did to other draes and goblin folk. Compared to him, you’d think I was one of the damn Creators.” His voice deepened. This girl lived in a fairy world, not reality. “And yeah, the Guardians have a shit rep, but we don’t murder our own kind. We return them to the kingdom to keep them safe from the outside world, from the enemy realm. Without us, every single drae would be dead at the hands of the Aripi kingdom. Or is that type of killing okay by your standards?”

  Her eyes narrowed, arms stiffened by her side, but he was unstoppable. “The troll knew where your apartment was located. The moment he scurried back to Noah, your little nest would be invaded. Guards would be set up to wait for you. And trust me, Noah rushes nothing. They’d wait for years. Then you’d be his plaything. I did you a favor.”

  She swallowed hard but offered no response. Of course not, because he was right. She should thank him… not reprimand him.

  A loud clunk sounded behind him.

  He jerked around, muscles flexing. The washing machine that had earlier sat on top of the troll now dropped to the ground as the monster slipped into the Tapestry world. Remnants of a silvery hue appeared around the shape of the troll, then faded to nothing.

  A tiny sting curled in the pit of his gut. Nah, that couldn’t be guilt. Just Fallen’s reaction affecting him. He’d done nothing wrong, simply protected her.

  He faced her once again. “What about the other draes this troll had kidnapped for Noah? Their lives were taken without a second thought.”

  “All life is sacred.” Fallen brushed past him, her elbow knocked into his ribs. That single touch sent a familiar trickle of energy through him. The kind that told him he should force her into his arms and inhale the fear out of her body with a kiss. Stupid thoughts, but ever since meeting her, his mind had been a jumble of confusion. Still, with his life sucking at every turn, he’d take the small pleasures where they came.

  “We leave now. I want this damn bond gone.” Her words were blades—threatening and deadly. She stormed out of the laundromat and toward the foyer in her apartment building.

  Fallen didn’t stop. She hiked right through and outside as if the troll still chased her.

  Out on the sidewalk, night cloaked the city. Streetlights dotted the road. Storefronts shone brighter than the sun.

  The ground vibrated with such intensity it snaked up Saber’s legs. Every time a car roared past, the shakes multiplied. Footfalls from the army of people surrounding them added to the mix. Ten more minutes of this, and he’d go ballistic on someone. Though, not in front of Fallen, as that might upset her fragile approach to life. Damn, that girl had been living on the outskirts of the kingdom where things were rough, and everyone fought for survival. Yet she reacted to the troll incident as if she’d never seen anyone die. Could she be that innocent?

  He caught up to her, dodging people who refused to move out of his way.

  Stay away from human civilization, it will drain your energy. The queen’s rule was on replay, drilled into him. The rudeness of these people! Shoving and stuffing their mouths with food, talking on phones as they rushed. Was the world ending? And why did the stores carry so many clothes for one city? He scanned the gray, bleak street. Not a tree or green plant in sight. No wonder the human world relied on Tapestry to survive. They’d run out of resources, and now they siphoned those from Tapestry.

  Fallen’s apartment had been the same… filled with shoes, vases, pots hanging from the kitchen ceiling, figurines. What happened to simplicity? Living off the land?

  “Stop staring.” Fallen’s voice snapped him back to reality. “You’re acting like a hillbilly who’s never left the mountains.”

  “Wow, you’re full of compliments.”

  “Then don’t draw attention. Keep your eyes low and move fast.”

  “Do you think perhaps people are staring at me because I look like a cultist in this stupid cape?”

  She cut him a side glare. “I want to forget today ever happened.”

  That summed up his entire existence. He tucked his chin low and hurried. The quicker Saber got out of the city, the better. Car engines rang in his ears and buzzed through his body, his pulse spiking each time one of them honked.

  Farther ahead, a cluster of humans gathered outside a building. A heavy thumping song belched out, and the bass bounced through his feet, jarring up his legs. His teeth chattered. On his next step, his knee buckled, and the sidewalk rushed toward his face.

  He hit the concrete with hands and knees, and still, the sound engulfed him. The bass swirled around his arms, and his vision blurred.

  “Get up. What are you doing?” Fallen’s voice faded into the reverberation shattering his skull. This had never happened to him before. He felt the heavy sensation of people walking around. Then again, he’d never spent much time in the city.

  Fallen’s arm hooked around his for support, and he staggered to his feet.

  “Damn, your whole body is vibrating. What’s going on? Did someone hit you?”

  “S…ound…sss.” He pointed to the club ahead.

  Fallen glanced in the direction of his outstretched arm, then back at him.

  “I don’t understand. The noise is affecting you? Okay, lean on me.” She threw his arm over her shoulders, supporting some of his weight.

  Relying on anyone wasn’t him. Right now, every step he took resembled walking on needles. He couldn’t tell where his twitching body started and ended.

  Fallen nudged him around a corner and into a side street with fewer lights. The farther they traveled, the quieter his body grew, and the drumming roller-coasting within him softened.

  Several blocks away, Fallen stopped at the edge of a barren park. The moon tossed a silvery glare across the field where trees lined the edges, and beyond that lay darkness.

  Saber studied the lawn that would do wonders to heal his hand. However, healing in the contaminated human ground would take too long, and asking Fallen to wait even for an hour while he healed would raise suspicion.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked, her voice soft without a hint of sarcasm. She truly cared. He must be imagining it.

  “Better.”

  “One minute… you’re walking… next, you’re on your knees. What happened?”

  How could he explain this without terrifying her by divulging his true identity? Considering her reaction with the troll… well, he didn’t want to go there. But she’d been right. Cut the bond and go their separate ways.

  “I have an affinity with the ground. The pulses go right through me, but never this powerful. How do humans live with all that noise?”

  “That’s one strong connection. Never heard of anyone linked to the ground.”

  He cracked his back and rolled his shoulders. “Well, when was the last time you went to the kingdom? All kinds of affinities happen there.�
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  Instead of a smart-ass comeback, she lowered her gaze. So obvious she hadn’t been into the realm for who knew how long.

  What she chose to do with her life was none of his business. Getting himself unbound from her was a priority so he could rescue his stepfather. “Where is this Wart Market?”

  “Through the park, another ten blocks, then across a field. It’s the quiet part of the city. You should be all right.”

  For a moment, he couldn’t work out the tone beneath her voice. Difficult to tell if she was sassing him or showing care. He preferred to believe the latter and ignored the tingling in his gut that said otherwise.

  “Let’s get going.” He pushed ahead, one foot in front of the other. This would be one long night.

  Warm wind whistled around Saber and tugged on his cloak. Yep, even the weather agreed his outfit sucked. Long grass scratched against his knees as they hurried through the field. The constant hum of the city was an annoying mosquito in his ear and set his teeth chattering again. Distance helped. It did the same between him and Fallen. She asked too many questions and seemed the kind to pick at a thread until it unraveled. If he allowed it, what she found wouldn’t make her happy.

  She traipsed alongside him, her hair fluttering in the breeze, strands shining with glitter. With hands in her pockets, she strolled in long steps to keep up with him. For the past half hour, she’d remained silent. Fine by him. What would he say? Discuss the weather? Not when his mind was packed with questions about who Fallen was. Yet to ask meant he’d have to talk about himself. Not happening.

  In the distance, a black mass stood in the center of the open field. Was it a cluster of trees? Or? He squinted. Something glistened in the moonlight. Glass. A window.