Kai Drakon's Arc

Chapter 4 of 30

Kai went back to the tavern before the sun climbed. Kael was still on the step. Ire was still in the doorway. He told them what he needed. "Silver," Kai said. "Point or edge. I don't care which. My fire won't touch it, and my hands aren't enough." Ire uncrossed her arms. "Wait here." She went inside. Kael watched her go, then looked back at Kai. "She keeps things," he said. "Don't ask where." Ire came back with a spear across both palms. The shaft was dark wood, worn smooth. The head was pale metal, longer than Kai's hand, edges sharpened recently. She held it out. "Silver on the point," she said. "Silver down the collar. It's old but it bites." Kai took it. The weight sat right in his grip. Kael passed him a short wooden stake and a small pouch. "Salt. If it runs, salt the ground where it stood. Slows them." "Thank you," Kai said. Kael's voice dropped. "Don't let it speak first. Don't look at its eyes long. Strike, step, strike again." Kai nodded. He left through the back and crossed the road to the pasture. He waited by the fence until the light went blue, then black. The goats had been moved into the shed. The grass smelled of night damp. His tail dragged a slow line behind him in the dirt. He kept the spear low and level. He heard her before he saw her. A dry catch of breath, close, wrong for any animal. He turned. She stood ten paces off. Orange hair, curled and wild. A black top. Dark leggings. Her arms hung at her sides. She did not crouch. She did not bare teeth. Her red eyes held on his and slid away. "Please," she said. Scottish, quiet. "I don't want trouble." Kai's grip tightened on the shaft. Every warning Kael gave him said strike now. He struck. He stepped in and drove the point at her chest. She twisted. The silver caught her upper arm and opened a thin red line above the elbow. She gasped and stumbled back, one hand clapped over the cut. She did not attack. She did not vanish. She stared at him, breathing hard, eyes wet. "I didn't," she said. "The goat. That wasn't me." Kai kept the spear up. His arm shook. He had expected fangs and speed. He had expected to be knocked flat. He had a woman bleeding on Azure's fence line, and she was afraid of him. "Stay there," he said. "My name is Scarlett," she quickly said. "I-I’m sorry about your goats. I don’t kill innocents. I swear-!” “Shut up!” Kai cut her off and huffed in irritation. He didn’t know what the right choice was anymore.