Falling Ashes (4 page)

‘I can think of a few people,’ said Jack, looking over his shoulder to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. ‘Sebastian Forsythe? Or perhaps Korra Waterson and Alastor Newman in Concord City? Maybe Martinez? You’ve made a lot of enemies over the last year.’

My heart raced. ‘No …
              Sebastian’s got nothing on me. I only broke his nose. As for Korra and Martinez, well … they lost their memories, didn’t they? I made sure of that. And Alastor … well, you let him go.’

Jack’s expression became hard, like stone. All the colour had drained from him.

‘But we made him write his own farewell,’ said Jack, trying to keep his voice steady.

‘There’s no time to worry about who or why,’ my father snapped. ‘The Realm has issued a warrant for your arrest, and labeled you leader of the human-alliance. That is treason, and it is punishable by death. Avalon, you have to
go
before they find you. With a ten-thousand gold bounty over your head, every man, woman, and child in the country will be on the lookout for you. That kind of money is to die for. Do you understand? People will be breaking our door down within the next ten minutes.’

The panic was beginning to seep its way into my veins. My legs felt like lead, and my knees were locked in place.

‘But I’m not the leader of the human-alliance!’ I said, looking to Jack for support.

‘Do you think that matters? They know you have some involvement with the Realm, or Martinez, or whoever. Please, just go. Grab a bag, get Hawthorne, and
fly
out of here.’

‘Where will I go?’ I asked, panicked.

‘My dad's house?’ Jack suggested.

My father shook his head. ‘No, it’s too obvious. They’ll know you two are connected by now.’

‘Then why isn’t my face on that poster, too?’

‘That isn’t important right now!’ my father yelled, making Jack jump. ‘Sweetheart, please.
Go
.’

‘You want me to … to
leave
?’ I asked.

My father nodded, so I looked to Jack for support.

‘Jack?’

He too nodded.

‘Isn’t it better to stay and … and fight?’

‘Listen to yourself.’ My father squeezed my shoulders. ‘You can’t fight your way out of every situation.’

I looked around for something,
anything
to make the situation better. I didn’t want to go. I’d only been home for two months. It would ruin all the progress Helena had made.

‘Hey!’ A few meters away, a little boy was holding his father’s hand. In his other hand he held one of the posters. ‘Daddy, it’s that lady form the poster that fell on us!’

The father of the child squinted at us before grabbing the poster from the child, in order to inspect it.

‘Time to go,’ Jack said, grabbing my arm and steering me in the direction of our house.

‘Hey! You there! Stop!’ the stranger called to us, beginning to run in our direction, his son tottering along behind him.

My father held out a hand. ‘Stop right there, my friend, if you know what’s good for you.’

‘Get out of the way, Fire-Mage. That girl is a wanted criminal. We just saw the poster.’

‘C’mon,’ Jack tugged, forcing me to break into a run as we left my father behind.

‘Dad!’ I called back.

‘Go!’ my father yelled back.

‘You heard him,’ Jack urged, his vice-like grip cutting off the circulation to my fingers.

I obeyed and allowed myself to be dragged away by him. We rounded a corner before any signs of a scuffle broke out.

‘Come on, Ava,’ he urged.

His legs were much longer than mine. I tripped and struggled to keep up, as Jack dragged me along the street.

Dusk was falling around us as my home loomed within sight.

‘We’ve got to get you out of Mortlock,’ said Jack. ‘It’s too small a town. Everyone knows everyone. They’ll know where you live immediately.’

‘But we just got back-’ I began.

‘Weren’t you listening? They’ve plastered your face all over town. We can’t hold off the entire village.’

‘I can’t leave Helena-’ I tried again.

‘Please, Ava. For once, do as you are told.’

The gravity of the situation had not yet dawned upon me. It felt as though I were running in slow motion through a dream.

‘Pack a bag,’ Jack continued. ‘I’ll get Hawthorne.’

But there was no need because Hawthorne was already waiting for me on the front porch. He had sensed my urgency from a mile away, and he had come to make sure everything was all right.

‘Where are we going to go?’ I asked as Jack threw the front door open and shoved me inside.

‘Don’t think, just pack,’ he said.

I flew through the house, grabbing my rucksack and filling it with clothes and necessities. Jack helped, throwing miscellaneous items into the bag.

‘When will we come back?’ I questioned.

‘What’s going on?’ My mother’s head appeared in the doorway. ‘Where are you going?’

‘No time to explain, Mrs. Redding,’ said Jack, thrusting the Wanted Poster into her hands.

My mother scanned the poster quickly, her eyes becoming rounder each second.

‘My goodness.’ She clutched her chest.

‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ I said, squeezing past her and rushing into the kitchen.

I opened the pantry and shoved random food items into my bag, before pulling the drawstring and throwing it over my shoulder.

In the distance, a small explosion sounded, rattling the windows in their frames.

‘What was that?’ my mother asked, peering out of the window. ‘I can’t see anything.’

‘Dad,’ I muttered, peering out too.

‘Where is your father?’

I bit my lip. ‘He was heading off one of the villagers who recognised me.’

‘Oh, dear.’

‘Avalon, hurry,’ said Jack, grabbing my wrist and dragging me towards the front door, where Hawthorne waited.

Standing on the porch, Jack gave me a leg up, and I clambered onto Hawthorne’s back.

I was just about to offer Jack a hand up, when another explosion sounded. I saw a lick of flames appear over the rooftops of the other cottages.

‘We’ve got to help Dad,’ I said to Jack.

‘No,’ he replied firmly.

I was about to protest when I saw several people running towards the house, my father in the lead.

‘GO!’ my father bellowed, waving his hands at me. ‘GO NOW!’

‘Avalon,’ Jack turned to me with wide eyes. ‘Please, fly
now
.’

I reached down, ready to pull Jack onto Hawthorne, but he shook his head.

‘I will slow you down,’ he said, glancing over his shoulder. Five or six villagers were running to catch up with my father. I did not recognise any of them.

‘Fly!’ my father bellowed, only a hundred meters away now. ‘They have a teleporter!’

‘Avalon!’ yelled Jack, scaring me into reality. ‘We can’t fight all of them! You have to go, before the teleporter-’

‘You have to come with me!’ I begged, brandishing my outstretched hand in front of him.

‘Hawthorne can’t carry my weight far,’ said Jack. ‘You have to go without me!’

‘How will I know what to do?’ I said, my panic rising with each passing second.

Jack gripped my hand between both of his, and squeezed hard. ‘I’ll find you, I promise,’ he said. There was no trace of a lie on his face.

‘How?’ I could not stop the tears from welling in my eyes. I was terrified of being alone. Jack was the anchor that held me to the ground.

The villagers were closing in. My father was bolting up the garden path.

‘
What are you waiting for
?’ said my father, sweat dripping from his brow, and his clothes singed.

‘NOW!’ Jack yelled, slapping Hawthorne on the rear-end, as though he were a horse. ‘Hawthorne, get her out of here!’

Hawthorne obeyed Jack, and readied himself, as though he were about to pounce.

‘No!’ I cried, gripping Jack’s hand. But it was too late. I tried to hold his grip, but my fingers slipped through his.

‘I’ll find you!’ he yelled to me. ‘I swear it!’

The villagers had reached our doorstep and faltered at the sight of Hawthorne. Was ten thousand gold worth the risk of getting mutilated by a monster?

Absolutely.

They lunged for Hawthorne in an attempt to keep him earth-bound, but they were too late.

Hawthorne leapt into the air before any of the men could weigh him down, and within seconds, we were rising above the houses with each beat of his wings.

The villagers looked up at us disappearing into the night sky, cursing and shouting.

I briefly saw my parents and Jack, struggling to restrain the men who had taken to using their Powers to bring us down. I watched as a man’s fist made contact with Jack’s face, sending him to the ground. My father jumped onto the man’s back, and they fell into the grass, wrestling. My mother sent jets of fire amongst the villagers, forcing them to scatter.

Jack was getting to his feet, shaking his head. He looked up at me, his eyes wide with fear.

‘Jack!’ I bellowed. If we swooped, I was sure I could grab him. Hawthorne could take the lot of them on.

A bolt of electricity, sent by one of the Mages below, shot past my ear, narrowly missing us.

Hawthorne growled and snarled, wanting to attack those who had tried to hurt us.

Crack.

The teleporter, an extremely vast man, had materialized right onto Hawthorne’s back. We spiraled and veered out of control as Hawthorne struggled to stay in the air with the added weight on his back. He beat his wings as hard as he could, but the sheer vastness of this man was too great to bear. We were losing height fast.

The fat teleporter tried to grab me, and I knew that I was done for if he managed to touch me. He could teleport me to the ground within a second. But I was too quick for him.

The fire that spilled from me sent him flying, as though a small bomb had erupted. I watched as the fat man fell to the ground, a large, burning ball.

Looking down, I saw my mother, father, and Jack struggling against the many villagers. And the mob was growing. Other people had seen the fray and joined the fight to capture me. There was no telling what someone might do for a small fortune.

But one thing caught my eye in particular, and it was the window of my house.

Helena was staring up at me, through her bedroom window. She raised one hand, and waved goodbye.

It was time to go.

‘Go, Hawthorne!’ I cried, jamming my heels into his side. We shot upwards, into the night sky. Where were we going to go?

I didn’t have a clue.

Chapter Five

The Hunter

We flew for an hour, at least. It was too dark to see the ground, but every once in a while we would pass over a cluster of lights, indicating a town below. I didn’t know how much distance I needed to put between myself and Mortlock. One thing was for sure; in the morning, I would go back home to make sure my family was all right.

But there was something I needed to take care of first, and that was somewhere to sleep for the night.

‘Find a clearing, Hawthorne,’ I yelled over the deafening sound of the wind. ‘We need to land.’

Obediently, Hawthorne scoured the trees below, searching for a suitable place to land. He circled a small opening and prepared for descent. A moment later, we landed on the forest floor with a soft thump. Hawthorne slowed to a trot and let me slide off his back.

I stretched my legs and looked around the clearing. I had no idea where we were, or what the time was. Hawthorne began sniffing around the mossy forest floor, searching for worms and other bugs that he could eat. This brought my own hunger to my attention. Stomach grumbling loudly, I began foraging dead wood and piling it into the middle of the clearing, so I could make a fire. It was a matter of minutes before I’d managed to illuminate the forest with the flickering flames of my campfire.

The firelight cast long, dark shadows between the trees, which seemed to twist and distort in my peripheral vision, giving the illusion that something dark was looming beyond sight. I sat next to the fire and wrapped my arms around my body, shivering; not from the cold, but fear. Fear of being alone for the first time in months.

At least I had Hawthorne for company and protection. My companion circled the clearing, his ears perking up whenever he heard a sound in the distance. He paced while I listened to the sound of my own stomach grumbling.

What a way to end my birthday
, I thought miserably. I now had time to absorb what had happened within the last few hours. Somehow, the Realm had gotten wind of the things I had done. Who had dobbed me in? Korra Waterson? Alastor Newman? Perhaps Nicholo Martinez?