Ky had always dreamt of Gears. Nightmares. Gears never came as pleasant things. Sometimes people had visions, sensed the wild in themselves, talked to their ancestors, but he dreamt of Gears and the war. Now when he closed his eyes there were no longer seven-foot beasts with shark-like teeth stuffed in every inch inside its mouth or claws that could rip a man in half . There was only Dizzy. There wasn't blood and he saw evil in her. He couldn't get the truth of her existence out of his mind. He couldn't get her out of his mind, period. It was unstoppable. It was like a drug.
It was by the time he was heading back to the ruins he realized he was falling for her. Falling for the girl, not the Gear. At first, he thought it was just a sudden assumption, a stupid incoming out of nowhere, but it was a dead hit the more he thought about it. The way he acted, the strange things he felt . . .
He tried to prove himself wrong but it only came back that yes, he was falling for her. Had been.
No. No good. He couldn't be doing this. He was on duty. And besides, he wouldn't know how to start courting the girl if he ever considered it. He never experienced or thought about such relationships. He was more of a warrior than a romantic. But maybe he could let it in. He wasn't a mindless brute.
After leaving Thunderseal behind and trying to kick these thoughts aside, he returned to the ruins, carrying what may be suitable for the night. Perhaps two. His work with the IPF was always unpredictable.
As he neared the spot where he last left her, he set down the supplies: a blanket, a small bag full of food and the first book his hand grabbed from his home. He would make his report of the Gear tomorrow morning. A false report.
There was guilt in him for doing such a thing, but love was stronger than guilt. He needn't be in love to know that.
He looked around but didn't see her.
"Dizzy," he called. "You can come out now. It's just me. Dizzy?"
He listened to the silence around him and waited for her. He looked around the ruins to see her hiding behind the rubble or lying in the tall grasses but saw nothing. He let his eyes wander over to the main structure of the training grounds. Perhaps she had wandered there like she desired.
He walked towards it, and the closer he got, he noticed something sitting on top of a hunk of rubble. But he soon realized it wasn't something but someone.
He took a few more steps, then stopped. The face of the figure was one he didn't want to see. Certainly not in this situation. He frowned at the sight of him.
"Sol," he muttered as he stood across from him.
The man lifted his eyes up to him. Ky noticed Fireseal, in his hand.
No good. There was no sighting of Dizzy, and Sol was here—
"Sol," he said, "Where is she?"
"The Gear?" Sol gestured around him. "You see any Gear around here?"
A flash of rage went through him. "What did you do to her?"
Sol was silent for a few moments, then said, "I guess you heard about the bounty." He pulled something from his pocket and threw it at him. It landed by his feet. Ky looked at him, then at what Sol threw at him. It turned out to be a wad of paper. Keeping a few glances at him, Ky reached down and picked it up. Now was a bad time to leave himself open to the man. He was without Thunderseal. He felt naked without it.
When he unraveled the paper, it turned out to be the bounty for Dizzy. The unidentified Gear, it said. It still remained that outrageous reward but he knew Sol wasn't out for the money. He had other objectives.
Then, Sol rose with the two standing face to face in arm's length. Ky stared at him with hate. Once a warm ocean of blue, his eyes were icy. He was all knives.
Sol watched him. "What?" he muttered. "You wanna say something?"
There was lots to say but he didn't know how to start. So he let his fist translate.
He punched Sol across the cheek. The punch was so sudden, it made him stumble back and hold his cheek. After he removed his hand where he hit him, there was a cut, a fresh one. But it wasn't from him.
"Fucker," Sol said. "You wanna play hero?" He raised a hand and pointed towards the woods. He pointed to the opening to a old trail.
Ky then understood. He looked back at Sol, narrowed his eyes, and took off running towards the woods.
* * *
It had been years since he had been in these woods. There was a part of him that was pleased to see it again and the other utterly despised it—despised it because it was the way Sol had taken Dizzy.
He wanted the details of what happened here. He wanted the truth. But with Sol there was no chance of getting that. He wasn't going to waste his time with Sol. He had to find Dizzy first.
He followed the trail, now more broken than last time he set foot on it. Once in a while the knights tended the trail, but now it was free to go on its own way.
So much was becoming more and more forgotten. What was next? The knights themselves?
But Ky couldn't forget it. These woods, the training grounds, the war . . . None of it. He and these woods had its history, too, although small. He didn't kill Gears or save lives here. It was a place for training.
In time of training, his partition would break into groups before going into the woods. Most of them would form their groups based on their skills or powers. Archers would join other archers or distance fighters. Ky normally found himself teamed with other swordsmen but gained others as they went further into the woods.
He wound up leading his group after he gained their trust when their original leader was tagged out. Sometimes he became the only survivor and went on to find other opposing knights. The more he played these hunting games, ambushing, avoiding the archer's fake arrows and leading groups, he was listened to. And the head of the Sacred Orders watched.
Now the games were over. This wasn't practice. He couldn't fail this mission. This time a life was in danger in these woods.
He called her name as he walked the trail and looked through the woods. He looked for any sign of her. If Sol had hurt her, of course he wouldn't leave her in the middle of the trail; he would have dropped her somewhere further into the woods.
He tried not to think of the worst case scenarios, but sometimes the worst was the truth. He had seen it in the war. Lives were lost. Villages and towns went down . . . The truth hurt. It hurt an optimist most of all.
He looked for anything disturbed, something out of place. Bushes or grass pushed aside or broken logs. He watched the ground under his feet for indentations and unnatural marks. He looked for the signs, but there was nothing. When it came down to tracking and making a get away, Sol knew what to do. He had no doubt that he had already left the ruins and it was too late to catch up. But for once, Ky wasn't going to play cat and mouse. Love was stronger than hate.
What else would it do to him?
He saw marks here and there. Light marks, but not enough to make assumptions of a serious struggle. They were consistent and followed by another down the trail.
Sol.
He followed them and soon he knew where he had taken her. There was a village at the end of the trail. The knights in training used to walk the path to the village to help them or even socialize. But why would Sol bring her there?
He followed the trail to the end where a flowing stream blocked his path. There was a small and rotting bridge nearby that allowed a passage, although. On it, stood two figures looking into it. Ky watched them a moment before he walked towards them. As he came closer, they quickly came to attention. One was dressed in blue and white. Female. She wore what looked like an altered nun's outfit with blonde hair falling out of her habit. The other was an older boy, plainly dressed in tan hide pants and jacket. His pants were stitched in pieces.
"A knight," the girl said as she stared in wonderment at him. "Wow, this is some day. Are you here for the Gear?"
Ky jumped a little but drew no attention. "Yes. What happened?"
The older one pointed down the stream. "We found it lying in the stream while we were heading back to the village. The men took it."
Ky cast his gaze down the stream then wandered on the rail of the bridge. When he looked at the rail in front of him, he saw the brass compass he had given Dizzy lying on top of it. He quickly snatched it up and held it. He then held it out so the two boys could see it.
"Where did you get this?" he quickly said.
"The Gear had it," the girl said.
"Show me."
"This way," the girl said and made an about-face.
"Thank you, miss," Ky said and began to follow.
Suddenly the girl stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. She glowered at him. "I'm a guy."
The other boy laughed. "Don't worry. Bridget gets a little sensitive about that."
"Oh." He lowered his head and looked away, averting his eyes to the stream.
He said to himself, Now I've seen everything.
* * *
Ky said nothing much to the two boys as they led him to the small village. Most of the houses were made of wood, neat and secure. Many sat side by side. It was so simple and bland. These people, no doubt, lived simple lives. Not much had changed since his days of training.
The boys led him to one of the buildings and stopped. It was a simple building, someone's home, he supposed. Nothing in particular. It was guarded by a man standing in front door. He had a stone look on his face.
"Let me see the Gear," Ky immediately said.
"He's a cop," the younger boy said, defending him.
"And a knight," the one named Bridget added.
There was a long moment of silence, then the man guarding the door opened it slowly. Ky nodded to the two boys who led him in silent thanks and went inside. The room was empty and smelled of dust. The only thing in the room was a single wooden table and three men who looked back at him.
"A knight," the man who escorted him in said and grinned. "He'll kill the Gear, I bet."
"Just let me see it," he said.
One of them approached him, looking into his eyes. He nodded his head to the side and said, "Follow me." He walked away. Ky looked around himself before following. So did the others. It felt like they were right on his back.
He led him down a short hallway and on the right stood another man standing next to a door. He was armed with an axe.
An axe? Were they really expecting an axe would protect them from a Gear, even if she was half?
The axe-wielder eyed him up. He was a big man, square-jawed and broad shouldered. Ky concentrated on this man before he prepared himself for what he may see behind the door.
"Let him in, Alester," one of the men said. "He's going to deal with the Gear."
The man sized him up again, then stepped aside and opened the door slowly. As he did, Ky peeked through and the more the door opened, he saw a figure across the room.
He saw her.
In front of a window, on display on top of a wooden box was Dizzy. Her legs were folded under her and her arms and hands were tied behind her. Her wings were pinned under the ropes. And worst of all, she was blindfolded.
Ky's heart jumped.
"Dizzy," he whispered as he stared at her plight.
Then, one of the men clasped a hand on his shoulder. It was cold.
"All for you," the man said. "Go at it." He said it in his ear sickly.
The side of Ky's lips ticked. The instant the man touched him Ky wheeled around and punched him. The man stumbled back and fell against the others. They all bristled in surprise and backed up as if he was a wolf set loose.
"What the hell is he doing?" one of them shouted.
"Stop him!"
"Dizzy!" he cried and ran towards her but a man grabbed him by the shoulder once he got halfway across the room. More grabbed for him, trying to pull him back. They managed to stop him from getting any closer. He reached for him, but the men kept him at bay.
"Ky! Ky!"
He turned and elbowed one man in the face then punched another. And another.
They all let go.
Once freed, Ky looked at Dizzy and when he did, one of the men threw a punch in return. The man knocked him to the floor face-down, a bit dazed at first. When he looked up and at Dizzy, she screamed. She moved and slid off her mount like a beautiful doll coming to life. She stood then dropped to her knees. He watched as he saw a few of her green feathers fall and drift to the floor as if she were a dying flower.
As he laid there, locked in fascination of Dizzy's presence, one of the men dropped a knee on the back of his neck and pinned him. He struggled but he couldn't break free. He snapped at the air.
Dizzy was trying to free herself, too. She was wiggling in her bonds.
Ky narrowed his eyes, then cried to her, "Dizzy! You've got to do it! You've got to release them!"
He heard her sobbing, wiggled more, then the entities did what he expected. They burst from her wings, breaking the bonds around her. The two beings looked around and focused on the men in the room. Ky stayed down to save himself. While they did, Dizzy removed the blindfold. She and Ky made eye contact.
"Ky!" She ran towards him and as she did, her green wing reached out and grabbed the man on top of him. It threw him. He heard his body slam against the wall and hit the floor in a dull thud.
Ky stood and looked at the rest of the men in the room. Some showed wounds made by him. They were shocked but not completely off their guard. One took a final charge, raising a fist but before he could strike, Ky swung his own lightning-fast strike and punched him, sending him to the floor.
After the man fell, Ky grabbed Dizzy by the wrist and ran to the door. They raced down the short hallway with Ky nearly dragging her but she was able to keep up with him. He shouldered the front door and charged out. It hit one of the boys.
He looked over his shoulder at Bridget as they ran off with icy eyes that seemed to say, Don't follow.