The Wounded Boy

Panic began to sink in as I bolted passed Lyon. "Galen! Watch the front!" I demanded.

"Sure thing boss," his voice remained as gruff and monotonous as ever though surprise sparked in his brown eyes.

I startled Zierra as I sprinted by and grabbed her by the hand to drag her along, Lyon and Kari only a few feet behind. Down in the basement Jayde was unconscious on the floor and Shade was laying next to him with his head across his chest, a low whine escaping his throat every few seconds. I quickly skid to a halt next to him, dropped to my knees, and checked for a pulse.

"Is he...?" Zierra was knelt beside me, a hand rested on my shoulder, and her voice was weak with worry.

"He's alive," I sighed in relief. Observing him I could see that he had several cuts and bruises and that someone had placed a cloth over his chest, which Shade was applying pressure to with his head. I scratched behind his ears. "You did good. I need to look at it though."

Shade slowly lifted his head and I carefully peeked under the cloth, taking in a sharp breath at the sight. His chest was in shreds, like something had tried to claw it's way to his heart, but thankfully it looked like it didn't get very far. Unfortunately I knew those marks, even had a few of them myself.

"Lyon," I spoke slowly, afraid that if I let my growing anger rise any higher I would lose control over my human form, "how in the seven hells did a Soulless get inside this tavern?"

Zierra and Kari gasped in sync but before Lyon could give me answer, Malcolm cleared his throat from against a wall. I had completely forgotten he was here and looking at him I could tell that he had sustained a few injuries himself, namely a long gash down his arm that was already bleeding through the fabric he had wrapped around it. Instead of asking him questions I felt my anger slip a little more and charged him with speed that could not have looked human, pinning him to the wall by his throat.

"You brought it here didn't you?" I accused. He choked against my grip and tapped at my arm to try and get me to let go so he could talk. "I thought you came with a us a little too willingly. It was a set up wasn't it!"

"Saph let him go!" Lyon and Kari called from behind me but their shouts fell on deaf ears as I slowly started to lift Malcolm a few inches from the ground.

"Answer me!"

"Sapphyre," Zierra's voice was calm and even though her touch on my arm that held Malcolm wasn't forceful it felt like an anchor that slowly brought my arm down, "look at me."

My eyes were black, I knew they were, but still I looked at her and she didn't look scared or shocked to see it. She softly touched my cheek and gave me a gentle smile. "Please let him go and listen to what he has to say."

How is she able to calm me so quickly? I kept my eyes on her and released him as my rage ebbed. "Thank you," I whispered to her and leaned into her hand for a small second before turning my attention back to Malcolm. "Tell me what happened and it better be a convincing story."

He rubbed his neck for a moment and nodded. "Jayde had come down to check on us, said upstairs was pretty slow, and Lyon was giving him a few pointers with a small wooden dagger when the thing came in from one of those windows" he pointed to the basement windows high up on the walls. "It came right for me but Lyon tackled it. We told Jayde to get help but the kid seemed frozen in place, at least until the fight started to turn against Lyon. The Soulless had pinned him and I tried to rip it off him which is how I got this injury when out of nowhere the wooden dagger flew by and hit it dead in the eye," he glanced at Jayde and gave a sad smile. "Kid's got killer aim and his quick thinking saved us but he caught it's attention. It lunged at him at the same time Lyon moved to intercept it. I just saw blood go everywhere. Lyon pierced it's heart with a dagger he pulled from Goddess knows where but it had managed to sink it's claws in."

I clenched and unclenched my fists in rapid succession as I took in what he told me. "You said it came right for you?" He nodded. "Where you the closest to the window?"

"No, Lyon was. I'm sure that's the only reason he was able to tackle it before it got to me."

I glanced at Lyon. "Was there anything else I should know?"

He nodded. "It was one of Hart's men."

"How do you know that?" Kari knelt next to the black dust that had collected near where Jayde was laying. "Soulless turn to ash when you kill them. It's not like you could check the thing for Hart's tattoo."

"I saw it in our tumble," his expression was a mixture of worry and anger and something akin to guilt. "I know it seems impossible Saph, but I swear it was someone in Hart's circle."

"Unfortunately that would sort of line up with my thoughts. But first we need to get Jayde patched up, I'll fill you guys in afterwards," I glanced at Malcolm. "You follow us too, kid."

He sort of perked up at that but I could tell he tried to hide it while I knelt down to picked Jayde up, he was lighter than I would have liked and I made a mental note to make sure he ate more. Zierra stayed glued to my side so she could keep pressure on the cloth that was covering his wound while Shade walked protectively a few feet in front of me like someone could jump out at any second. Kari and Lyon split off from us at the top of the stairs to gather medical supplies, both muttering to each other about what they would need, and Malcolm jogged ahead of me to hold the door to Jayde's room open.

"His room is still so bare," Zierra sadly noted. "I know he's only been here for a couple of weeks but I figured he would have put something in it."

I set him down, causing him to groan in pain, and pulled his desk chair up. "He hasn't had a real home in a couple years, he's probably not used to owning more than he can carry in a small bag. I should get him some things to fill this place with."

"He likes to read," Zierra added and I looked at her in surprise. "We spent some time together while you were hurt. He'd come to my room with Shade often and he would sit on my bed and read one of my books. He really seems to like heroic fairytales and lore books."

"My sister liked when I'd read those books to her," Malcolm noted from his spot in the corner.

"I wish I knew he liked books," I frowned. "I have plenty in my office I could have let him read. I was supposed to start teaching him how to get out of being grappled tomorrow, we made a training plan before Soren's party, he was so excited for it."

Zierra placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, he's still excited for it. He's not dead Sapphyre, why are you talking like he is?"

"This is what I was afraid of when I brought him here. I knew he'd get hurt, I have too many enemies for him not to have been. I should have found him a better home. I should've-"

I stopped in shock as Zierra wiped something from my face. I was crying? She pulled the sleeve of her shirt over her wrist and continued to wipe the wetness from my face as she spoke. "He loves it here, I know he does with how he talks about you and this place. In the few weeks he's been here you guys have become the closest thing to family he has. And you can't deny that you don't think of him as family as well, not with these tears."

"He was unprepared this time," I looked up to see Kari and Lyon in the doorway. "So we'll just make sure that he's prepared for the next time and pray that he never needs to be."

I opened my mouth to thank them but any sound I made was drowned out as Jayde startled awake and began to scream.