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Before daoke, the sheets war es A noise had woken er Outside, a screaer It was the lynx froain And I knew, suddenly, that it was right outside le motion, I lifted my amulets over my head, rolled fro stick, steel swishing On bare feet that protested the cold floor, I moved to the back of the loft, pushed aside the drapery, and looked out over the round near the stable, its tail wrapped around its feet, looking for all the world like a prim housecat, was the lynx
It looked up at the twitch of the drape and opened itslike the sedate ht
Scientists had been clai to fit the colder ice-age environer prey, and producing longer claws I was seeing the evidence firsthand The lynx&039;s fangs wereat theI e catain Suddenly it ju arc that took it uphill In three bounds, it was gone
Enclave teachers would call it a portent I shivered in the cold and started back to bed Halfway there, I stopped and returned to the , the sword ina palm by the pane, I looked out Exactly where the lynx had been was a huhtened on the sword as battle instincts blazed A daywalker Just as the predator cat had stared at ht flashed on its own The daywalker gloith Darkness and with Light and I re but the thought flitted away, as insubstantial as an echo The beast held out its hand, the gesture i Its lips moved
"Come Come to my mistress Hurry There isn&039;teyes like labradorite stone, green and translucent blue It blinked and said, "Please"
A screa, evaporating like fog The lynx called fro ain, it wasI dressed quickly and was ready forlow instick in hand, I raced froer, for the lynx, as if the drea Just early risers and the crowd spilling out the kirk doors after dawn service Yet the sensation persisted, like the scent of battle, like the smell of blood To disperse it, I flew into the fore-chi
I was tenthe cluster of lion moves, when my door rammed opened and rebounded off the wall Audric stood in the breach in his black dobok, scarlet sash tied at his waist He had a weighted wooden stave in each hand, the kind used to simulate swords for midlevel practice, when bruises and cracked bones are acceptable but blood loss is not Before I could rise from the floor or speak, he attacked
The rods swished the air in violent arcs, the sound like a warrior&039;s dying breath Placing each foot deliberately, yetwith battle speed, he was on , I ducked under the first two cuts and whirled across the rooe-speed e?" he taunted, following me I spun under one strike and leapt over the next "Why are you unar would have been nice"
"Darkness seldoe of blows at me, any one of which would have shattered my bones had it landed
"I don&039;t have thee leaves Enclave without practice weapons You&039;re sloppy Laziness has made you weak" A serious pronouncement from one of his kind An insult
"I didn&039;t exactly doback to the front "I was drugged and taken to the nearest train station in the dead of night" He stuttered in his steps, an almost certain fatal error had the battle been in earnest instead of play I marked exactly where my blade would have penetrated beneath his arm "When I woke up, I was in Mineral City Whoever packed for me packed my blades but left my staves behind Ask Lolo next time you talk to her I&039; over me and sentabout Lolo Whirling, he sla led a screa, arms around my sides In battle, the scissor strike was used to cleave a foe in twain Even with staves it could kill Fortunately, Audric held back, hitting me with half force In spite of his restraint, the staves cracked sos
"This is true? " When I nodded, not yet able to talk, he said, "I will provide you with two sets of practice staves: a weighted set for strength, and lightweight bamboo for speed Henceforth, ill practice every dawn for an hour" Audric crossed his staves over his thighs and half bowed With a sharp click, he tucked theether beneath his left arm "I am pleased to be your instructor I will attack you whenever and wherever I choose You will defend You ork on forht"
"What if I say no?" II will daer resist You will no longer be sloppy or lazy" When I groaned, Audric laughed Just what I needed, a second-unforeseen using e his battle lust
Because the shop was closed on Mondays, Rupert and I turned on the TV in the corner, made hot tea, and tinkered with some new displays that looked like porcelain hands, one white, six others pure black If he noticed I moved a lot more stiffly than usual, he didn&039;t co itee the visual i the hooky skated and played hockey in the streets El-cars dodged pedestrians intent on errands, all encouraged by the eather A group of sunbathers in thin clothes was lying on wooden chaises, faces, ar up a winter&039;s worth of vitalike warmth
On the TV overhead, an SNN reporter and two "experts" babbled about the war an end to the ice age, and the other insisting that it was an anomaly, soon to be reversed with much colder weather to follow
I was practically upside down behind the emerald display when the SNN news anchor broke in with a seraph update I jerked upright There hadn&039;t been a notable seraph update in ages Eyes dancing with excitement, unable to sound stern and disinterested, Tom Snead said, "In an unusul turn of events, two seraphs were just seen departing fro, and he pressed them on the reporter&039;s desk
"Zadkiel, known as the seraph of solace and gentleness, was one of two chieftains who assisted Michael when the arch-seraph fought in the Last Battle He and another seraph departed before dawn froion on the North American continent, the island once known as Manhattan" Snead ran out of breath and inhaled noisily "Zadkiel is known to guard the powers of invocation, the most powerful for to the south, wearing his usual dark purple but not carrying sword and shield, soone to aid the prayers of soathering in cathedrals and kirks, in synagogues andwith Zadkiel is a lesser-knoarrior of the Light, Raziel, called the revealer of the rock Raziel is the seraph reputed to have given Ada prince and the chief of the supreions"
On the screen, fuzzy video depicted two for into the clouds as the cameraman zoomed in and refocused They could have been out-of-focus birds, except for a blast of light acco their departure
"As soon as we know more about the mission and destination of these twoyou the latest Stay with us" To white The picture broke back into the weather discussion But after that, who cared about te fro The chill that convincedI walked from the display case to the frontand placed lass as I watched the street Kids see clothes, sweaters over T-shirts, jeans, suray dresses of spring
The seraphs who had departed at daere coht plan deviated to the west, they ht fly past Mineral City Even with the o into heat so intense I&039;d attack any ht of his horrified expression h my reflection in the shopappeared wan
And if the seraphs ca could savecould hideFeeling itchy, with a fight-or-flight urge trying to take over, I went back to work, keeping half an eye on the TV
Mid, a customer knocked on the door He wasn&039;t a local, but with the weather warers to town Strangers who could afford to travel in winter always reat custouy was in hisweather in a wool business suit, gloves, hat, and periwinkle blue scarf, but no overcoat He had beautiful eyes, blue-green, like sunlight on water, like labradorite, eyes that seeht for Rupert
"I&039;ift for s?"
My entire body clenched at the question Jewelry created by es and shipped out of Enclave by human traders was fantastically expensive, and Thorn&039;s Gems seldom had access to any Except all those created by uilty, but fortunately neither ht now," Rupert said, turning on his salesman&039;s charm, "but we do have some imported stone from Pre-Ap Africa, and some locally mined emeralds The miner claims that they came from the far face of the Trine, the site of one of the last battles"
I turned away fro discovered Would my friends suffer for my presence? Would they receive the saht to keep what I was froned, which held a stone I had charmed to provide a sense of calm to the wearer It was an unusual tureen shade, set on a sterling band with a wavelike design, and he had the ring gift boxed and wrapped in silver paper
After he left, the itchy feeling returned, this ti was at bay, but noas a burning sensation downSo I could have sworn I heard a cat screa a solitary lunch onthe stables and the Trine, a shadow crossed the sun I looked up and saings Huge wings
Mage-heat sla, sultry lust that drove me off ht fetal ball on the rough planking, and fought to catch my breath The heat washed over me in wave after wave of desire and pleasure
They were here The seraphs had come to Mineral City
One&039;s feathers hite and purple, and the nervure, the veins visible through the soft down of the underwing, was a purple so dark, it looked black The other was pure scarlet, a deeper hue than a cardinal, its nervure a bright teal fading to crimson Beautiful Exquisite I wanted both of them
Icy water hit e-fast, I ca and launchedthe water bucket he carried flying Before it could land, I was on hi a tattoo of blows across his body I heard a bone in his hand crack and snarled when he jumped back
Stavessix strikes, eight, fourteen I backed hi The sound, deep and , heated my blood with battle lust It came from my throat I wanted blood I wanted to see the half-breed dead
Audric laughed "Fight ht!" He advanced onstrikes, moves I had seen as a child on the practice floor but had never tried, let alonebruises on top of bruises Pain slowly clearedhorse
"Are you back in your ownthe horse move into the dolphinpain that brought tears to hted sword-staves,a stave up between his legs He blocked it at the last one," I adone?"
"An hour If we are lucky"
"An hour" I laughed, the sound wretched I blocked a swipe that would have dislocated ht by instinct rather than with your mind Two levels better Do we run, or do we tell Rupert e are?"