Book 2, Chapter 43 - Food For Oddball (1/2)

Chapter 43 - Food For Oddball

Cloudhawk was a godless heathen from the wastelands, without morality or respect for laws. He lived by his own code – don’t kill if you don’t have to, and don’t take someone else’s food. In his eyes he didn’t live an evil life, and taking a dagger that was slated for destruction was no big deal. Certainly nothing to feel guilty about.

Not so for Dawn.

She was a bit of a rebel, but regardless she’d grown up under the rigorous demands of religion. Sure she’d bullied people now and again, but never anything that crossed the line into egregious sin. At worst she’d gotten disapproving looks, but because of her family background there was nothing anyone could do.

This was different. This was taboo.

She liked the dagger, that was undeniable, but it was a relic of the ancient past dug up from the ruins. Collecting things like this was expressly forbidden and if word got out it would cause a scandal for their family. For this reason even holding it made her nervous, but once she took a couple swipes she was convinced.

It was the first time something like this was added to her collection. The excitement was delicious.

So she followed Cloudhawk’s example, cutting a few coins in half to test it for herself. The more she saw what the dagger could do the happier she became. “This thing definitely isn’t a relic, how can I cut metal like it was mud?”

Currency in the elysian lands were called gold, silver and copper. Although they resembled those materials in texture and color, in fact they were made from a special material given to them by the gods. No typical artisan could work with it and the coins were exceptionally resilient. Typical steel weapons – even if honed to a fine edge – couldn’t mar the surface.

“Look at the blade.” Cloudhawk pointed out the almost imperceptible black line along the edge. “I don’t understand it well myself, I’ve only seen one other like it in the wasteland. The secret is that black line. They say it’s only a few atoms thick that vibrate very quickly. When it comes in contact with normal materials it slices right through them, that’s how it does it.”

With nothing beneath her thin robes the curve of Dawn’s breasts could be glimpsed from time to time. She wasn’t a particularly voluptuous woman, but she wasn’t thin either. Her body was covered in finely toned muscle and though her breasts weren’t large, they were well proportioned for her figure.

They were close enough that Dawn could feel the heat from Cloudhawk. They were very different, but she didn’t find him detestable much to her curiosity. This young man was a filthy wasteland heathen, just coming near her was reason enough to break several of his bones!

The young guy had a peculiar, innate temperament.

Cloudhawk didn’t respect her because of her background, nor did he fear her because of her strength or attitude. It seemed that in Cloudhawk’s eyes humans weren’t separated by class. It didn’t matter if you were a noble denizen of the elysian lands or a scavenger eking out a miserable existence in the wasteland. Underneath all that everyone was the same.

Low birth wasn’t something to pity. It was no reason to feel inferior. The assertion made Cloudhawk special.

When she looked at him Dawn saw that he was young, but much more was written on his face. She saw a turbulent past, his wild nature, and loneliness. A lone wolf who crossed many leagues of inhospitable desert.

He was a man with a story.

He didn’t look special, not outstanding in any way, or even very handsome. Compared with Frost de Winter he couldn’t match either, either in appearance or temperament. But he had delicate good looks, pleasing enough to the eye.

It was about then Cloudhawk noticed Dawn staring at him and returned her gaze. He was a plain sort, in not so many words, but if there was one thing that made the wastelander stand out it was his dark eyes.

“You don’t understand much of anything.” [1] When their eyes met Dawn suddenly felt nervous, she wasn’t used to standing so close to other people. She pushed the dagger into its special sheath and backed off a few steps. “How could the wastelands have such curious things? You’re from there, is it fun?”

For a second Cloudhawk didn’t know how to respond. He frowned and dropped his eyes a little, looking off into space. He said before giving his answer. “It’s not someplace you ever want to visit.”

“Why?”

“Too dangerous.”

“Doesn’t that bitch live fine out there?” Her irritation with him was renewed. “Why can she go and I can’t? What does she have that I don’t?!”

There was clearly a lot of bad blood between these two women.

Dawn, a woman who grew up in the lap of luxury, a halo over her head and a silver spoon in her mouth, only understood the wasteland based on stories and rumors from other people. She never experienced it for herself, so how could she understand? Selene Cloude had also been cut down several times in their journeys, and even now he couldn’t know whether she was alive or dead.

Dawn was older than Selene, but it was clear to everyone she was much more impulsive. This clueless, dangerous, blindly arrogant woman wouldn’t last a day in the wastes without her family’s help.

“I brought you the dagger you wanted,” Cloudhawk said, looking at her. “My debt has been paid.”

“I keep my promises, no one has ever said otherwise. However…” She lifted the sheathed dagger and, with a harsh light in her eyes, drew it illustratively across her throat. “You and I are the only people who know about what happened today. If a third hears about it, you can bet I’ll…”

Threats like these didn’t frighten Cloudhawk, so he didn’t give it much thought. He’d got what he wanted, to keep his strange little pet safe. And his collusion with Dawn had been established.

That was important. Cloudhawk knew that out here no man could stand alone.

Commander Polaris saved Cloudhawk just so he could use him, and there wasn’t anywhere else Cloudhawk could go. That narrow-minded shitkicker Frost de Winter had a hard-on for making his life hell, and Cloudhawk had no other friends in the city. Dawn was the only one he could turn to.