CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Acknowledgements

  About the author

  Through Smoke & Ashes

  Book 2

  M. L. Adams

  Look to this day

  for it is life

  the very life of life.

  In its brief course lie all

  the realities and truths of existence

  the joy of growth

  the splendor of action

  the glory of power.

  For yesterday is but a memory.

  And tomorrow is only a vision.

  But today well lived

  makes every yesterday a momory of happiness

  and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

  Look well, therefore, to this day.

  - ancient Sanskrit poem

  Chapter 1

  ∞∞∞

  I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

  —Michelangelo

  Eden scrambled from the tree. ‘Follow me!’ she shouted to Mokoto, the hapless painted dog pup struggling to keep up with her. He had chosen to leave his family behind to follow her, and she could sense he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight just yet. She cut through the ready-made path, ignoring the sharp shafts of golden barley that still managed to catch at her skin. Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead, she chanted in her head. The narrow pathway suddenly opened out into a broader area that had been laid flat by heavy feet. Eden ground to a halt suddenly, but not before Mokoto came crashing into her. Eden almost trampled over the giant body of a sprawled creature, before Mokoto sent her toppling forwards, landing inches above a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth, her hands braced on either side of its head. Dull avian eyes glared at her, almost as if it were accusing her of causing its death. For a moment she forgot why she was there. Why it had been so important for her to charge head first into the wall of barley that seemed to sap the very life from her bones.

  A small whimper escaped Eden. Her body seemed to be caught between running away and freezing in place. She couldn’t move, and her heart began to pulse at an odd rhythm, but her ears rang too loudly to catch its beat. Mercifully, Mokoto took a mouthful of her shirt and began tugging her away from the cooling body. Eden let him guide her until she fell onto her back, panting on the flattened stalks. She tried to blink back tears—though whether they were of fear or relief she couldn’t tell. When had her life taken such a wrong turn? A few days ago her hardest task had been preparing the evening meal for her parents and picky younger twin brothers. That was before the stampede. Before hell rained down on Revelry bringing death and despair. Before Luca almost died.

  Eden realised her body was quivering uncontrollably, like it had that day in the forest. She remembered the feeling had then eventually passed, and knew she just had to wait. She rolled her head to look at the creature once more, but her vision wavered, morphing the body into the grey leathery hide of a mother figure she had once shared the forest with. Eden held up her hands, half expecting them to be bright with sticky elephant blood. Her shoulders caved in on themselves, finally letting loose the feelings she’d denied herself all this time.

  It was clear that her self-professed guardian angel, Delilah, had been wrong.

  She wasn’t equipped to save Luca. Not even close.

  ‘Thank you, Moko. I froze for a moment.’ She peered at the pup through her fingers. His dark eyes gazed down at her with a look she couldn’t decipher. ‘Are you okay?’ She rolled onto her elbow to get a better look at him. Was she imagining it, or had he somehow grown a foot since breakfast?

  ‘We shouldn’t be here’, he whispered while looking through Eden. Something ghosted across his skin, but he shook it off and blinked several times. He looked across at the giant’s body. ‘I don’t know what that is, Eed, but it smells of divinity and corruption. It smells of death.’

  It was Eden’s turn to feel the fingertips of unease caress her skin. Pretending this was a little trip away from home was good and fine, but totally foolish. Had she really thought it would be so easy to find a tree, pick its fruit and save Luca? She never realised how ignorant she had been. If more of these giant creatures were out there . . . they didn’t stand a chance.

  Eden’s mind sobered suddenly. She had brought them here for a reason. She pushed herself to her feet, wiped the hot tears away and offered a worried Mokoto a smile, but she could tell he wasn’t fooled.

  They’d watched Micah crash to the ground moments ago—and yet she thought she was the one with problems!

  Eden studiously ignored the huge dead body, wiped her palms on her skirt and inspected her surroundings. She’d lost her bearings in the mountain of grain. It made her feel like she and Mokoto were completely cut off from the outside world. Claustrophobia itched its way beneath Eden’s skin, but she cast it aside; she had no time for it now. She skirted around the Keeper’s first leg and hopped over the other, careful not to come into contact with its skin or clothing. She sensed Mokoto watching her carefully, following her every move as she scoured the ground with her eyes. She needed something to protect them with. It had to be around here somewhere . . .

  A flash of light suddenly caught her eye. Not believing her luck, she knelt down to retrieve it, but hesitated for a moment. Random images of those she loved rose to the forefront of her mind. Her beautiful little brothers playing while their parents laughed . . . The familiar way she would catch Luca looking at her . . . The confusion she saw on Micah’s face when he had reached out to stroke her cheek . . . And then there was Mokoto. He had come to mean much more to her than a mere friend. She was fast realising his young body possessed the bravest and most selfless soul she had ever known.

  Eden let love and hope guide her fearful fingers as they closed around the gleaming hilt. Immediately shards of fire splintered up her arms in a flash of ice blue, driving Eden to her knees. With a shout of pure agony, she gritted her teeth and fought through the pain to raise the beast’s sword skywards. It thrummed in her palms like a kaleidoscope of light before shattering, embedding itself deep within her veins. The pain was excruciating, but swift, leaving her gasping for breath.

  ‘No, no, no!’ Eden cried. She searched around wildly for the sword. Where had it gone? What if there were more of those creatures? How was she going to protect them now?

  ‘Eden’, Mokoto cried. ‘Are you hurt? Are you okay?’

  As the shock wore off she found herself still kneeling on the flattened barley, cradling her right arm to her chest, Mokoto’s cold nose inspecting every inch of her. She touched at a trickle of warmth dripping from her earlobe and then wiped in earnest when her fingers came back with blood.

  ‘I’m fine. I’m fine, Moko!’ she insisted when he wouldn’t back away. The blood had stemmed as well as the shock. She was now too transfixed on her hand to concentrate on anything else. ‘Ah!’ She held her right hand out. ‘What is this?’ Panic flared in her chest as she and Mokoto stared in disbelief. Vines, the colour of blood, had branded themselves into her flesh from cuticles to elbow, yet she felt no pain, just a mild awareness waiting beneath her skin. The longer she stared, the more she imagined that they moved, ever so minutely.

  Mokoto cautiously sniffed, frowned, then sniffed again.

  ‘I don’t know, Eed’, Mokoto said in a small voice. ‘I am sure there is nothing to be afraid of. I can’t smell anything . . . different’, he struggled for the right word.

  She tried rubbing at a spot with her finger, but the markings didn’t budge. If the leafy pattern had been anywhere other than claiming her skin, she’d have thought it pretty. But the unwelcome imagery of choking vines, slowly squeezing the life from their hosts, came to her mind. She turned to Mokoto, who was looking at her worriedly. ‘I think the sword did this to me—’

  Eden barely had a moment for the thought to register before Mokoto froze suddenly, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention. He whipped his head from side to side, ears twitching in all directions.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked urgently just as she heard a soft moan sound from the wall of barley behind them. Mokoto turned to race towards it. ‘Wait, Moko! Be careful, please!’ She pushed her sweaty fringe away from her eyes, stood up and chased after him, vines forgotten.

  ‘Eed! Quick, it’s Micah!’

  Eden picked up her speed and broke through to a second, smaller clearing. At first all she could see were splashes of red amongst a carpet of gold, but then her eyes adjusted to take in the scene properly. Mokoto whined.

  ‘Oh, Micah! What happened to you?’ Eden whispered, caught off guard by the sight before her. Micah was lying in a pool of blood and appeared to be caught in a restless sleep, not the death-like stillness that had held Luca captive. His head lolled from side to side, smearing the pooled blood across his cheek. Eden fell to her knees beside him and brushed a shaking hand across his brow. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to their Adonai: he was alive. She noticed his hands reaching spasmodically towards the two knives that lay beside him.

  ‘It’s okay, Micah, I have them’, she whispered, hooking the blades back onto his belt loop. She hoped her words offered him some comfort. ‘What are you doing here? You were supposed to be watching over Luca, not following me!’ A thought struck her. Did this mean that Luca was awake? Had Micah guessed where she was headed and decided to fetch them home?

  ‘Eden . . .’ Micah moaned.

  ‘Shhhh . . .’ Eden said soothingly. Her heart was hammering wildly in her chest, but she knew she had to stay calm for Mokoto. She leaned over Micah’s head and ran her fingers through his hair, sweeping it away from his face. No amount of blood could mask the beauty of his sharp cheekbones or the slender slope of his nose. She pulled his hair tie loose, allowing the shining black strands to fall free. Her fingers slipped easily through their length. ‘It’s okay. Everything is going to be alright, Micah. We’re here now.’ She breathed a sigh of relief as his movements gradually became less erratic. She didn’t know if Micah could hear her, but she was sure he knew she was there. She glanced over his body. Micah’s tendency to wear darker clothing made it hard for Eden to see where all the blood was coming from. ‘Moko, could you do me a favour? I need you to find all the places where Micah is bleeding from, and tell me. We need to bandage him, but we’ll have to act quickly. I don’t think we can stay here for long—it’s not safe.’

  ‘I can do that!’ Mokoto panted at he bounded over Micah’s body to begin his thorough inspection.

  Eden didn’t want to worry Moko, but she had absolutely no idea how to tend to a wounded man. Fear gripped her. Lord, please let him be okay.

  A hand reached out and grasped Eden’s forearm in a weak hold. Her eyes shot to Micah’s face and caught the fluttering of his black eyelashes before they flashed open.

  ‘Eden?’ Micah’s voice was coarse, like he hadn’t used it in a while. ‘What are you doing? It is not safe for you here. You must . . . leave me!’ His voice was barely above a whisper, but his glaring eyes conveyed all the disapproval he meant to get across.

  Swallowing nervously, Eden gently but firmly twisted her arm free. Now that he’d awoken, eyes flashing up at her, she realised just how close their bodies were, but she couldn’t stop herself from brushing another lock of blue-black hair from his eyes. Her stomach clenched at the odd familiarity of the gesture.

  Eden straightened in an effort to hide the blush stinging her cheeks. ‘I have already found the body of that . . . thing, Micah. My apologies, but you seemed in need of our help right now.’ She gave him a wane smile. ‘Believe me, this is not a place either of us would choose to linger, but we couldn’t just leave you here. Now, do us both a favour and stop fussing so Moko can finish assessing you.’

  Micah closed his eyes and sighed as her hands took up their exploration of his scalp once more. Eden was searching for injuries or signs of swelling, though she couldn’t deny she enjoyed the way his hair slipped through her fingers. Just then her fingers caught on a ridge of broken skin hiding just above the hairline of his left temple, but the wound wasn’t bleeding too profusely. Micah let out a throaty moan that sent shooting sensations to Eden’s lower pelvis. She drew in a breath confused by the strangely pleasant feeling. Blinking rapidly, her fingers continued their exploration and discovered an impressive egg-sized lump taking shape at the base of his skull, but her trepidation had eased somewhat now that Micah was talking.

  ‘Micah, what was that creature back there? Do you know if there are more of them?’

  Micah drew in a breath to reply, but whatever he was going to say was lost to a sudden coughing fit. His body curled in on itself, creating a protective ball. He fought for air as blood splattered from his mouth. His eyes were wide with panic.

  For a brief moment, Eden didn’t know what to do. ‘It’s okay! Try and breathe, Micah!’ She took hold of his head and turned it to the side. His lungs filled with a ragged breath. Next, she set about wiping away the stream of foamy blood that oozed from his mouth. She didn’t stop until his body stilled once more. ‘Micah? Micah, can you hear me?’ She shook his shoulders. There was no reaction. His breathing was shallow, but otherwise constant.

  Eden’s eyes met Mokoto’s. He was standing motionless over Micah’s body with blood smeared across his muzzle and neck. What made the sight even more horrifying was the look of shock reflected in his young eyes. It had never occurred to Eden before that Mokoto could have witnessed the full horror of the stampede; a young pup, separated from his family, seeing bodies mangled by hoof and claw. Had he also watched as Luca planted the stake that impaled Old Mother? Her heart wrung for him.

  ‘Hey, Moko’, she called softly, trying to appear calm. ‘Did you find all the places where Micah is bleeding?’

  The pup shook his head as if dislodging a thought and jumped over to where Eden was sitting. ‘Ah, yes! He has a big cut on his leg and a white thing sticking out from his chest. You have already noticed his head injury.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She hugged Mokoto one-handedly. ‘A white thing from his chest, you say?’ Eden racked her brains, but she couldn’t think of anything white that should be sticking out of anywhere. ‘Well, that doesn’t sound good.’ She eased Micah’s right arm back down to his side and peeled the blood-soaked shirt from his chest. ‘Oh, Lord Adonai!’ she exclaimed. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined bones to be so . . . amazing! She’d never seen one before. Eden stared at the thumb-length protrusion with sick fascination. ‘How did it—? How do I—? I don’t know how I’m supposed to fix this . . .’ Eden’s mind was in turmoil trying to come up with a multitude of solutions. Should she try to push the rib back in, and hope for the best; or should she try cutting as much of it off as she could, then stitch the wound up?

  ‘Eden . . .’

  Something in Mokoto’s voice turned her muscles to granite. Slowly she pivoted her head around to look his way. He too stood perfectly still, his head tilted upwards, scenting the air. Adrenaline dragged its thistle-like fingers up her spine. She watched on silently as his ears twitched, clearly picking up more than just the skylarks, who had fallen silent.

  ‘We need to go. We need to go right now!’ Mokoto said. He bit into Micah’s shirt and pulled with all his might. His canines ripped through the already torn fabric.

  ‘Let me.’ Without hesitation, Eden gripped Micah under the arms and pulled him backwards, towards the direction Mokoto had bounded off in, deeper into the barley. ‘Micah, you weigh more than a rhino!’ She readjusted her grip, gritted her teeth and pulled again, now digging her heels deep into the soil for traction. She definitely did not have the right shoes for this. She wasn’t sure how long her back and arms could keep the gruelling task up; the only positive was the even ground and firm soil on which to drag him. The shafts of barley bent to her will, giving way to a new path. She tried to ignore Micah’s mumbled cries of protest and used his moans of pain to fuel her struggling muscles.

  ‘Hurry!’ Mokoto urged frantically.

  Eden dug her heels and heaved again and again until the pain morphed into one constant cry.

  Eden didn’t know how long she’d been dragging Micah, nor had she noticed that they had broken through to the other side of the barley, when Mokoto finally announced it was safe to stop. She dropped to the floor in a heap beside Micah; her mind couldn’t focus on anything but the pain, and her eyes closed to darkness.

  Mokoto studied the air once more before lowering his eyes to Eden. He couldn’t believe she possessed the strength to drag Micah’s large body for so long. Each time he’d thought they were safe he heard it on the wind—a strange cackling of creatures he couldn’t decide were man or beast, giving him little choice but to ask Eden to struggle on once more. He was pretty sure they had lost their pursuers, but he wouldn’t take that chance just yet. He sniffed the air again before trotting over to Eden. She was still lying beside Micah in the position she’d collapsed in. He shook his head. What was he supposed to do with two unconscious humans? Luckily, they had broken free from those horrible yellow plants and the grass was thick beneath his paws.

  His ears twitched. It was too quiet here, he noticed. There were no bugs, no birds, no life in this place—just the rhythmic breathing of the two lost in sleep. With that thought, Micah trotted over to the barrier of barley, which was only a few feet away, and stuck his head into it. Instantly he heard the subtle sounds of life, the things you’d miss unless you experienced a time without them: the chirping of insects, a whisper of leaves, the birds singing in the sky. He pulled his head out and . . . nothing, not a sound. He wasn’t fool enough to do it a second time; he had learnt already that dark things could hide in plain sight.

 

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