Disclaimer: I don't own TMI or TDA! I only own the characters and places I've made out of my brainpower!
Chapter 3: Morning Birds
Daf sat by a fire. His whole body ached. His fingers even ached. But he couldn't imagine how sore the girl must be feeling. She had her back turned to him during the whole night but he still saw her little shoulders shake as she sobbed. She also walked with a bit of a limp and the bruises intensified as time went by.
Daf got up, his weapons clanking. The two children bolted awake, their eyes wide as he stepped over them.
"Just takin' a piss. Go back to sleep," he murmured.
The boy watched him for a minute his strange eyes scanning for something then he laid back down, curling in on himself. The girl didn't. Instead she watched Daf as he walked over to a nearby try and relieved himself.
"Why didn't you stop him?" came a small voice.
Daf put himself away and walked back over to the girl.
"Sorry about that but my hands were tied. Yunnio was a bit of a dick and I didn't wanna get meself into a row with him," he answered.
"Yet you killed him afterwards," the girls voice said, tonelessly.
Daf sat down on an old log and nodded.
"Yet I killed 'im afterwards."
The girl turned away from him and curled in on herself. Daf watched silently, his gaze never leaving her. He whistled and grabbed a near by stick and threw it at her. The girl turned around, her face reddening with anger.
"But, just so you know, it really wasn't me fault. If your little friend here had made his striking offer as soon as you were dragged away, I could have killed him and you'd be laying there with your virtue in tact," he informed her.
She stood up, her eyes flashing. She stormed over to him and slapped him. Daf scowled at the little girl. The boy swiftly stood and grabbed the girl, whispering into her ear. The little girl calmed and went back to her spot to sleep or cry or both. The boy turned to Daf.
"You're a dick," he said.
Daf smirked.
"I know. Its why I took the job," he said, pointing at the symbol that was etched into his jacket.
The boy turned to leave but Daf pulled the chain that was still attached to him. The boy turned back around, his cat eyes boring into him.
"So which one are you? I know of Janis and Iwan, are you a recent addition to the family?" he asked.
The boy tensed at the mention of the names. Daf knew it would make him uncomfortable.
"I guess," the boy answered slowly.
Daf smiled and motioned for the boy to go on.
"I'm Damien," the boy finally said.
"And the girl?" he asked.
"No. She's a Blackthorn," Damien said.
Daf nodded. A Blackthorn and a Lightwood. What were the chances?
"I better get good money for you two," was all he said.
The boy nodded and walked back to his spot. But before he could lay down, Daf stood up his body protesting once again. He stretched his tired body and yanked the chains again.
"Up! We have a long way to go," he said cheerfully.
Damien glared at him before turning to help the girl up. She winced as she dusted herself off.
"Still sore?" Daf asked.
The girl nodded, her eyes watering. Sighing, Daf walked over to her. He pulled out his flask and handed it to her.
"Drink, girl, it'll help," he said softly.
The girl took it and drank, her little face scrunching up at the horrid taste. She spluttered and handed it back to her. He pushed it back to her.
"Keep it. Whenever you feel the pain creeping in, drink. It won't go away but it'll dull it."
He turned on his heel and began to walk, yanking the two children behind him. They limped along, not used to walking this much. He knew that most Rebels traveled completely by portals but he never trusted it. The one time he'd actually done it was to get to a pair of Rebel warlocks. He'd been able to capture them, but the dizzying state of passing through the portal still made him feel sick.
Daf stopped, tilting his head to the side. The two children kept walking but he stopped them. Hearing…something. Horses. He looked around, trying to find where they came from but all he saw was the scattered trees and dirt road they traveled on. Gulping he realized that it must be high ranking Hunters. They usually had force field that kept them hidden. Daf turned to the children.
"I'm going to take the chains off," he told them, shrugging his jacket off," don't run and please don't do anything stupid."
He grit his teeth and chucked his jacket into the tall grass. He thanked the gods that it hid well. He quickly took the chains off and put them into his bag. It bulged terribly but no one would think anything of it. Hopefully. The children looked up at him, the girl's eyes wary. Daf silently cursed, seeing the boy's cat-like eyes.
"Glamour them," he urged.
The boy nodded and mumbled something. His eyes turned to normal human ones. Daf noted that the boy could perform warlock magic. As soon as the glamour was put in place, the horses came to a stop by them, fully visible. Daf eyed the riders. They were Hunters. He continued walking, ignoring the looks he received, the two children following sullenly.
"Hold up," one of the Hunters said.
They stopped and turned to look at the group of men. One of them, presumably the leader, stepped toward them. Daf held his head high, eyeing the men down. They each held numerous weapons, which meant they were looking for someone specifically.
"Wrists up," the man said.
Daf gave the children a look before stepping forward, knowing they didn't have chips. He himself had scanned them beforehand. He held his wrist up to the scanner that the leader held. He passed it over Daf's wrist, a small blinking light pulsing as it worked. After a second, the scanner beeped. The leader stepped around Daf toward the children. Daf watched the other three riders. They weren't really paying attention. How they made it to a high ranker and he didn't would forever be a mystery.
Daf moved quickly and let three daggers fly, each hitting their mark. As the leader turned to see what had happened, Daf grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head back and slit the delicate skin that was left exposed.
The children stared as he went to retrieve his daggers, wiping the leaders blood away on his already filthy pants. The horses shuffled a bit as he pulled out his three daggers from their riders. He wiped the blood away on their clothes and walked back to the children, putting each of the daggers back into their rightful spots.
"Lets go," he mumbled, walking ahead of the children.
The leader gurgled blood as he laid on the dirt road, blood pooling out of his wound. Not quite dead.
They walked in the rain, their clothes plastering to their skin. They'd passed three villages so far.
Oh how it rains
But we march on
For the man has much to gain
Sadly the day has gone
Slipped away
With wary reins
The children follow
For they have no where to go
But home
Daf sang, his deep voice rumbling over the empty road. The children walked behind him, the boy huffing every once in a while in irritation. The girl drank his wine, her lips red from it. She stared ahead, her eyes empty.
"Stop singing, for heavens sake," Damien finally snapped.
Daf turned a little, his ratty hair falling in his eyes.
"Its very rude to stop someone from having a bit of fun. I wouldn't have to entertain myself if you two weren't so hard on conversation," he retorted.
"Maybe if you would just let us go on our own," Damien shot back.
"Nope. I really am a greedy bastard and I want all the money in the world," he yelled, throwing his arms into the air for dramatic effect.
Daf heard Damien grumble something under his breath. Daf glanced at the girl and noticed her pale skin was red. So red it looked like she'd been slapped.
"Are you alright child?" he asked.
Damien turned to her, eyebrows furrowing. She said nothing but kept one walking, her gait a bit robotic. Her eyes were staring straight, the beautiful color a bit hard to see from the pouring rain.
Daf stopped and watched as she passed by him. Her eyes were glazed.
"She's just drunk?" Daf said but it came out more like a question.
But her eyes weren't right. Damien stayed back, shaking his head.
"No, she isn't," the boy said.
Daf turned to look at the still walking girl. Horror dawned on him. With a couple strides, he caught the girl and turned her around. Her small face was still red but that's not what worried him. The distant look was familiar. He'd seen it before in many at Jocelyn, the worse of the two labor camps. With steady hands, he lifted the girl's shirt. He sucked in a breath, recognizing the large black boils. He counted four on her stomach and who knew however many she had elsewhere.
He backed away slowly and looked over at Damien. The boy's look was grave.
"She's infected, isn't she?" he asked.
Daf nodded and watched as the girl walked straight. She kept walking, each step no longer painful to her, since she was gone. Her mind had probably gone hours ago, but the outer signs hadn't caught up yet. Daf watched as the boy raised his hands and pressed them into his eyes. Holding back tears probably.
Daf stalked after the girl again. With careful hands he turned her again. Her beautiful eyes stared at his chest, no longer seeing. He could see the crust in the corners of her eyes, the third stage of the disease beginning.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
He pulled out the special dagger all Hunters had. It was specially blessed and could kill all Downworlders but most importantly, it was able to kill the Infected with out the hassle of building a fire. But no one knew this except the Hunters themselves. The Emperor himself probably didn't know. He couldn't let the boy know. It would make the blades valuable and Daf knew that wouldn't be good. The pure fact that the special blades were hideous made the Rebels overlook them. Damien was looking at him with careful eyes, suspicion lacing his fey-like features.
"Oh, fuck it," Daf mumbled and drove the blade into the girl.
Her skin crackled into black lines that spread quickly. In a matter of seconds, the lines covered her from head to toe and black puss oozed from said cracks. Daf pulled out the blade and turned, running quickly for his remaining hostage and covered the boy with his body. The girl's body would either explode or dissolve. After a minute, Daf turned and saw the body start to dissolve into nothing.
Damien's fingers dug into Daf's shirt, thin fingers white from the strong grip. Daf lightly ruffled the boy's hair.
"Lets walk a little more. Then we can rest, I promise," he said, making his tone soft.
Damien nodded, his eyes on the ground.
"But you have to promise me something," Daf said.
The boy stopped in his tracks and looked up at him.
"You tell no one of the blade and what it can do," Daf said.
The boy looked away.
"What, those Hunter blades? They don't even bother to make them look nice," Damien murmured.
Daf smiled.
As they passed the girls slowly dissolving body, Damien spoke the shadowhunters words of farewell.
"Ave atque vale."
Hail and farewell indeed.
Hejda!
