A Song of Snow and Ashes

when one came back and looked down the alleyway. Then he just stood there, looking impatient.

  "What in darkness is wrong with him?" Donnan muttered in Blake's ear.

  "What?" he whispered.

  "That's Reese. I think he followed us, and is tryin' to figure out where we went."

  "Gods, and I thought some of my superiors could hold a grudge," Blake murmured back. "You can tell who it is?"

  "Can't you?"

  He shook his head. "Too dark."

  Suddenly Alain started to snore.

  Reese made frantic arm motions.

  "Oh, perfect time to pass out," Donnan muttered.

  "What are you going to do?" Blake asked.

  "I don't know. But you'd better stay down. This could get real ugly," he replied, standing up.

  The other two guards joined Reese and one lit up a hooded lamp. Light streamed through the narrow street, clearly illuminating the group.

  "Ooo, poor Alain. Public drunkenness is going to look bad on his record. And on graduation day too," Reese sneered.

  "Judgin' by that slur in your voice, I'd say my brother isn't the only one guilty of that," Donnan retorted. The wind started to pick up.

  Blake looked up at him, surprised, but then smiled. Alain continued to snore.

  "You again. Little no nothing dishwasher. I see you didn't learn any manners."

  The other two snickered and wavered a little on their feet, a sign that they had imbibed more heavily than Reese.

  "What in darkness is wrong with you?" Donnan snapped, crossing his arms. "Why are you followin' us? Don't you have somethin' better to do?"

  "You can't talk to me like that," he retorted.

  "I just did. You goin' to answer the question? What is wrong with you? Pickin' on a drunk man 'cause you know he's a better fighter than you. Gods."

  "Hey, I'm a guard, dammit. You can't talk to me like that," he repeated. "I'm better than you. You're just a servant."

  "Better my foot, you brayin' jackass. The only reason you're still a guard is because the commander is your father. I'll bet that's the only reason you got in the first place."

  "Shut up," Reese snarled. He advanced rapidly. "You don't know a godsdamn thing about me or my father. You're a nobody. And this time you're going to learn some manners. You're going to learn to respect your betters." Then he threw a hard punch.

  Donnan caught his wrist in his hand, and held it there.

  Reese was so surprised he didn't follow up his attack. "What in darkness?" he stuttered.

  "It seems I found a sore spot," he commented calmly, with a black look on his face.

  "When did you get so strong?"

  The other two guards were just staring at the scene with blank looks on their faces. Through their alcohol haze they recognized that something was not right, but weren't thinking clearly enough to do anything useful. Blake was still smiling. Alain was still snoring. The wind was getting stronger and turned cold.

  "Does this mean you're not goin' to fight me?"

  With an angry look, he aimed another punch with his free arm.

  Donnan caught that one too, then swung the larger man around, slammed him against the wall, grabbed his throat, and held him there.

  This jolted the guards out of their stupor, and they started to move forward.

  "Don't move," Donnan commanded.

  The two suddenly stopped dead in their tracks and resumed looking blank. Blake's smile turned into a thoughtful expression.

  Reese gasped and tried to loosen Donnan's grip on his neck. "You're going to get in real trouble for this," he wheezed.

  "I don't think so. Those two don't look bright enough or sober enough to remember happened here. Are you goin' to tell anyone? You goin' to run to your father and tell him some skinny little nobody picked a fight with you?" he demanded savagely.

  "I'll get you for this, wretch," he retorted. "You're going to get beat to within an inch of your life."

  His tightened his grip. "You already did that, you black-hearted bastard. You and your two lackeys almost killed me. I haven't forgotten that, and I'm goin' to be the one to get you back for that," he hissed. "Or maybe I'll do that right now." His eyes turned black, and he soul the hapless guard's soul. Unsurprisingly, the Darkness was greater than the Light.

  He was starting to look a little blue and very frightened, but couldn't speak.

  "Donnan, I suggest you probably don't want to go through with this," came Blake's voice.

  He hesitated, feeling the power swell with his anger.

  "Donnan, I strongly suggest you don't want to go through this right now," the acolyte insisted, a touch of nervousness evident.

  He pushed the power back and dropped the guard, his eyes returning to normal. "You're probably right."

  Reese clutched his throat, breathing heavily.

  He took a few steps back, and the guard scrambled away.

  "You idiots," he snapped at other two. "Why didn't you help me?"

  "Don't know," one answered slowly.

  "You're in trouble, dishwasher."

  "Shut up, Reese. You can't hurt me now. And by gods, if I find out you're messin' with my brother, I'll make sure you learn some respect." Lightning ripped through the clouds, followed immediately by a sharp crack of thunder. "Go away. Now." The sky opened and the rain started to pour down.

  The bewildered and frightened guards turned and ran.

  Alain snorted a few times and woke up. "Wha' happened?" he murmured. "Why am I all wet?"

  "It's rainin'," Donnan answered absently. His mind was occupied on how he had suddenly gotten stronger, and how he had called in the storm.

  "You need to come to temple tomorrow," Blake said softly, but urgently.

  He nodded, then helped Alain stand up.

  "I should get back," he said muzzily.

  He put his brother's arm around his shoulder and started to lead him forward. They were thoroughly soaked by the time they reached the guardhouse. The gates were locked, but there were two miserable looking guards on duty.

  "Halt," called one. Then he sneezed. "Who goes there?"

  "I'm returning my brother Alain," Donnan answered.

  The gate opened was opened by a fresh-faced, red-headed guard.

  "Will he get in trouble?" he asked worriedly.

  The young man smiled. "Nah. I'll take care of him. It's the least I can do."

  Bits of information clicked into place in Donnan's mind. "You're Kennet?"

  "Yes. You're Donnan?"

  He nodded.

  "Yeah, Alain's talked about you. About me too, I guess. Don't worry, we look out for each other. He's not the first to be dropped off this evening, and he won't be the last. Besides, most of our superiors will forgive graduation day transgressions."

  "That's good to know," he replied. "Thanks."

  Kennet nodded again, and the other guard took Alain into the compound. "Be careful out. It's a nasty night."

  "Will do." Then they turned and left.

  The gate closed behind them.

  "Are you going to your place?" Blake asked.

  "No. I think I'll go to yours."

  "I thought you might. What about Alain?"

  "I don't expect to see him until evenin'. He thinks I'll be at work anyway."

  "Good. Then we can talk about this evening and what you did."

  "I figured as much."

  Eliora awoke the next morning feeling terrible. "Gods, I didn't know I had this many muscles," she thought, crawling out of bed. "I'm awake," she called at the door. The knocked stopped. She got dressed and went to the meeting hall. Aidan was no where to be found. She was vaguely disappointed. It was clear he didn't like her, but at least he was someone she could talk to, and she hoped that he might come around and begin to like her once she settled in. He was in the meeting hall with what appeared to be his group of friends. She ate breakfast alone, then went to Jomei's cotta
ge.

  The afternoon passed in almost the same fashion as it did the previous day, only she hurt a lot more. Aidan taught her a few more types of kicks.

  "Alright, now it's time to teach you blocking."

  "Blocking?" she repeated, as she walked to the well to get a drink. "This place isn't as hot as the desert, but I never worked this much before. Good thing there's so much water here," she thought.

  "Now, I'm not going to try to hurt you, but just let me know if I'm hitting too hard," he said. He showed her how to hold up her hands. "Now, I'm going to take a jab at you. You need to push my arm out to the side. Got that?"

  She nodded and took a defensive stance. He took a punch and she easily deflected it.

  A flicker of confusion crossed his face. "That was good. I'm going to try a little harder."

  The same thing happened.

  Now confusion was set on his face. "Alright. Is this at all difficult for you?"

  "Difficult how?"

  "Well, I'm a strong guy. You should really have to throw your strength into a block to try to deflect my punches."

  "I don't follow."

  He sighed. "You seem to have good reflexes. I'm going to go with a right cross now. I want you to try to grab my wrist with your left arm. If you can't do that, just push my arm away from your face."

  She nodded.

  He punched, and like lightning she grabbed his wrist, stopping his arm completely. He winced as it jarred his muscles. "Didn't that hurt?" he asked, clearly surprised.

  "Should it have?"

  "Follow me," he barked.

  "Have I done something wrong?"

  He didn't answer, just walked briskly forward to the small gym. It was larger than a cottage, but smaller than the dining hall. All the windows were about a foot and a half tall, three feet long, and near the twelve foot high ceiling. The floor was wooden, and there were two doors: one was the main entrance, and another side door lead to