Dahlia: A Novel of Dark Desire Read online

  His abilities had gone undetected as a young man until he wound up in a fight with one of the lieutenants outside the confines of the barracks. From what Dahlia had heard of the story, the lieutenant was lucky to have lived. Ravin had been offered a place in the force immediately, skipping the traditional training, and had accepted.

  She’d heard that after that he’d gained his rank simply by winning every fight he’d ever been in until it became clear that no man on the force was his equal and no captain was willing to try and manage him. An absolutely brutal fighter, he’d proven to be as effective directing others in a fight as being in them himself. So despite his lack of respect or decorum he’d been given command of a barrack.

  He was one of the few people that could make Dahlia feel unsettled and he didn’t seem to think much of her. So despite the fact that his barrack bordered hers, they’d kept their distance.

  His voice was a deep, raspy growl, as though his vocal chords were as scarred as his chest and arms. “Captain Mazaran, why are we making an effort to keep all of this quiet when the killer must know his actions have alerted us to his presence? Wouldn’t it be better to put our men on alert and have the full force watching for the traitor?”

  Captain Mazaran nodded again though Dahlia caught the slightest flicker of wariness in his eyes. She doubted anyone else would have seen it.

  “Captain Ravin, I agree that a thousand eyes are better than sixty-three, but I am hopeful that we can resolve this quickly without sewing seeds of distrust. We may get lucky and the killer may think we concluded that this was done by an outside force.”

  Captain Ravin nodded slowly but a vicious grin spread over his face, “I understand your strategy and I will follow it but I know my soldiers would consider it quite the morale boost to catch a traitor and a backstabber in our midst.”

  Dahlia saw a number of the other captains nod as well. Ravin might be accepted into their ranks for his sheer strength and skill alone but Dahlia had noticed he could be surprisingly astute when he chose. It made him all the more disconcerting.

  Captain Mazaran nodded, acknowledging both the agreement to follow the path he had laid out and the sentiment behind Ravin’s words but said no more. Ravin stepped back and leaned against the wall behind him, clearly having said all he’d planned to.

  No other captains stepped forward so Mazaran dismissed them, “Go back to bed, say only that we may have an outside enemy that broke in but that they encountered our guards and fled. Captain Borreal, Captain DeMorra, please remain.”

  The captains drifted out, moving off in different directions. Dahlia and Borreal remained.

  Mazaran nodded to his lieutenant, the only officer who had attended besides the captains, and the man checked that the doors were closed.

  “Captain DeMorra, Puppet Master,” Mazaran inclined his head towards Dahlia. She acknowledged the formal title with a nod.

  He went on, “Have you heard any murmurs of this? Treachery? The research library?”

  Dahlia shook her head, “No, Captain. I have not had anything like that brush my mind but I will create a trap tonight to watch for such thoughts. If his mind is unguarded for even a moment he will be exposed.”

  “Very well, report anything you find to Captain Borreal.” He waved his hand to show she was dismissed.

  Dahlia bowed and walked out, back into the night.

  Tracing her way back her steps were smooth and unhurried but she covered ground quickly. She planned the trap she would set as she passed by the trees and buildings in the night.

  Distracted, she wandered through her own barrack, past the main area to the section that held her room and those of her first and second lieutenants. Entering her own room she began immediately, first locating her tools. A mirror, a knife made from jet, honey, and a stick of coal were all she needed. At this point she didn’t even really need props to focus her energy. It just made it easier and, since she had them available, why not?

  She lit the beeswax candles that formed a perimeter around her room. She had set a shield in them years ago that allowed her to lower the guard on her own mind and see outside into others’ while still maintaining a barrier for anyone looking for her mind. It was a shield only she could reach out through, the energy set to resonate only with her.

  Once she felt that shield manifest she then lowered the shield she kept tight around her mind. She reached out and allowed the sensations to rush by her. The minds and thoughts blurred together until she focused on one. She could pick out Genji and Nel, still with the other guard at their post. She could pick out Lieutenant Traedon, asleep. She let them go and returned to the quiet of her room as she pulled the hand mirror to her.

  She began drawing a maze on the mirror. It was part of a labyrinth as familiar to her as her own hand. “A place to keep them,” she murmured.

  Finishing the maze, she dripped honey into the middle. “A lure to bring them.”

  Then she took the knife and cut across her forearm. “Will to ensnare them.”

  As her blood dripped onto the mirror Dahlia pushed energy into its reflective surface. She felt energy flowing into the trap and the mirror’s surface pulsed with light. The reflection distorted as ghostly thoughts sped by, flowing into the trap and back out as the mirror searched for the trail of a traitor.

  Chapter Three

  In the late morning sun, Dahlia leaned against the half wall separating her from a short drop into the training grounds near her barrack. She’d had Genji conjure up darkness, a specialty of his that created concealment and muffled sound, so she could drill her soldiers on stealth attacks. She figured this was the best she could do short of telling them to be on the alert for a knife in the back from another member of the force. Watching through specially designed glasses, she could see them moving through the darkness as Genji directed the rest of her ranked members in a ‘stealth force’ against the other soldiers. Her first and second lieutenants watched from above with her to provide feedback.

  “Relax Jo-jo!” her first lieutenant, Sabir, called out. “If you tense up how can you sense anything around you?”

  Jo-jo visibly tried to relax. Then, to his right, Rezzi conjured a ball of fire. Genji immediately shot him in the head with a pad-tipped arrow. Rezzi’s eyes crossed and he dropped the fire.

  “Wrong!” roared Sabir, “a fire only blinds you while your eyes adjust and provides an excellent target.”

  Jo-jo had dropped to the ground when the arrow zipped by him. He rolled forward, putting space between him, Rezzi’s guttering fire, and Genji.

  “Good, Jo-jo!” her second, Lieutenant Arreal called out.

  Dahlia watched as Jo-jo relaxed, hearing Arreal’s voice, and slipped away through the darkness. Now that he had an idea where Genji and the stealth force were he was trying to circle them. Genji, anticipating this, pushed Rent and Fidelity out in either direction from him, a silent gesture for them to spread out.

  Rent was heading towards another member, Raschel, who was crouched down, her hand pressed to the ground, using her ability to sense for vibrations. She picked up Rent’s presence a split second before he picked up on hers and she threw herself to his left, slicing at his achilles tendon with her cloth-wrapped blade. Observing the rules of the drill, Rent went down on one knee and lashed out with his own wrapped blade, catching Raschel in the back. She rolled out of the way and pulled up a cover of rock between them just in time as his thrown knife thudded into the wall. She pushed the wall into him and it collapsed around him, trapping him.

  “Damn!” Rent yelled, “of course I ran into the girl who can manipulate the ground!”

  Raschel grinned and swept her hands, pushing Rent in his trap out of the training area.

  Genji’s next arrow smacked her in the chest.

  “Should have moved! Rent gave your position away. He wasn’t just yelling to shoot his loud mouth off.” Arreal cheerfully called down to the girl.

  While Rent had gone towards Raschel, Fidelity had moved into
Jo-jo’s path as he attempted to circle around Genji and the others. She moved lightly, a padded wooden version of her giant hammer was hoisted over one shoulder. She brazenly walked directly into Jo-jo’s path. As he struck out with his wrapped short sword, she casually batted it away with the hammer then lightly, almost lovingly, bopped him on the head with it.

  “Lighter step next time Jo-jo,” Sabir roared. “She could hear you and get ready.”

  As Genji and Fidelity began stalking the rest of the team, Captain Borreal padded quietly up to Dahlia.

  “I’m impressed Genji manages to keep all this up, let your lieutenants’ voices in, and still shoot down your barrack members.”

  Dahlia smiled, “It’s a gift, he delights in creating situations where people stumble around into each other.”

  They watched as Fidelity stalked Nel. The young man stood absolutely still, barely breathing. He drew his curved blade in around his body and waited. Fidelity could sense him, but she couldn’t pinpoint him. She grew impatient and swung her hammer in his general direction, missing by about two inches. Nel didn’t move a muscle. Dahlia was impressed. The full force of Fidelity’s hammer swings could take a man’s head off. Nel had to be either very sure of himself or very oblivious to his danger.

  Fidelity stalked forward and Nel swung. She brought her hammer up in time to counter but his blade slid down and smacked into her hand. Per the rules of the exercise, she dropped the hand to her side. Nel went in for the kill. Fidelity countered with her hammer then an arrow smacked Nel upside the head.

  “Good work Nel, but don’t forget there’s more than one of them! Fidelity, you let your impatience trip you up and lost a hand for it!” Sabir seemed rather pleased about Fidelity losing a hand to the new recruit.

  Borreal smiled. “She might be impatient but working one-handed doesn’t seem to be impairing her. Looks like your ‘stealth force’ could use a bit more of a challenge, especially Genji. I like this drill. What say I call my ranked members over for another round?” Borreal offered.

  “That would be very helpful,” Dahlia smiled. “Save me stumbling around in Genji’s darkness.”

  “I doubt you ever stumble.”

  “Not often but like I said, Genji has a gift.”

  Borreal waved his barrack members over, Lieutenant Traedon in the lead. Shirtless, with his cardinal-red hair pulled back into a long mane he looked as good as he had last night. Maybe she could find time tonight to see him again...

  Dahlia mentally shook herself. No, she’d promised herself a night to practice and she needed to watch her trap as well. She remained expressionless. A number of the soldiers in both barracks probably suspected he was her lover. Even if Nel hadn’t said anything. But that didn’t mean she should acknowledge it.

  Traedon kept his expression neutral as well, bowing first to his captain then to her, “Captain Borreal, Captain DeMorra.”

  Dahlia politely inclined her head as Borreal nodded to him. “Lieutenant Traedon, once Genji has finished eliminating his barrack, I’d like you and the ranked members to train with them.”

  Traedon looked down into the training ground, “Yes, sir. It seems Fidelity just took out the last member so we’ll head down.”

  Borreal glanced down as the small, pink-haired woman celebrated, swinging her hammer over her head and following it back, cartwheeling over it into an acrobatic flip.

  Genji dropped the darkness and concealment he’d conjured and wiped his forehead before bowing to Dahlia, “Captain, your loyal defenders have been vanquished!”

  Dahlia suppressed a grin, “Luckily we have reinforcements arriving. In fact,” she turned to her lieutenants, “Lieutenant Sabir, Lieutenant Arreal, join Genji’s squad.”

  Sabir nodded and handed his glasses to Borreal.

  Genji looked up to see Traedon and his team descending. “Very well. Reset!”

  The ranked members of her barrack retreated to the opposite side and took up positions facing Borreal’s members.

  The captain wants me to take on her boy toy, fine, bet he’s afraid of the dark.

  She heard the thought in Genji’s voice and had to conceal an eyeroll. He’d dropped his mental shield and knew very well she’d heard that, just like he knew she couldn’t reasonably punish him for thinking something. She knew he didn’t mean it, he adored his captain, he just enjoyed toeing lines. His sense of humor would cause someone to strangle him one day. But Genji was in for a surprise with Traedon; tigers could see in the dark.

  Chapter Four

  The darkness descended and the sounds were muffled as Genji conjured the darkness again. The two opposing forces moved in. Unlike the more junior members, they moved with precision, not as much deterred by losing their sight. Arreal and Sabir moved in first with Genji behind, again flanked by Fidelity and Rent. Traedon crouched down--his long, broad blade leaned over his right shoulder--and black shapes suddenly prowled among his team members. He lifted his head and she saw his eye glowing green: tiny pinpricks of light swallowed in Genji’s darkness.

  Arreal raised his right hand and a swarm of metal fragments appeared around it. Sabir hoisted two heavy hand-blades and stalked out.

  The first encounter was fast. Arreal circled one of Traedon’s men flanked by two of the demon tigers Traedon had summoned. The man and one tiger charged on on his right, the other tiger his left. Arreal released a stream of fragments at the man and tiger as he leapt and spun, avoiding the second tiger. The first tiger took a direct hit and vanished. The man’s arm was cut and he fell back. The second tiger spun to attack again only to be smashed from behind by Fidelity’s hammer as she danced into range. Suddenly the ground beneath Arreal churned and he sunk in. Traedon’s man shot in and dove towards Arreal. Arreal’s fragments swarmed around him, creating a shield between him and the man. Borreal’s soldier dropped a perfectly smooth rock that rolled behind Arreal’s shield and shattered, taking out the shield and bloodying Arreal’s arm. But Fidelity leapt over Arreal and his shield and landed on the other side, bopping the man comically on the head. He dropped dramatically and waved his arms in a gesture of surrender.

  Beside her Borreal chuckled.

  The sinkhole holding Arreal vanished but another tiger appeared and leapt for Arreal. His good hand shot out, holding a reformed long, thin, blade and shoved it into the tiger’s mouth. The beast vanished but Arreal’s wrist turned bloody from the creature’s jaws.

  Dahlia watched as the evenly matched teams silently stalked each other, briefly clashing. Arreal, his arm and wrist injured, was overwhelmed when Traedon and the tigers he led encountered him. Fidelity was kept at bay by some of the pack while Traedon’s sword clashed with Arreal’s. Traedon dodged the swarming fragments illuminated by his night vision and found a hole in Arreal’s defense. Sensing her lieutenant defeated, Fidelity faded back, pursued by the tigers.

  Soon Genji, Sabir, Traedon, and Traedon’s second were the only ones still standing. Sabir and Traedon clashed. Dahlia’s mountainous first lieutenant overwhelming the slighter opponent. Traedon’s second engaged Genji, forcing him to drop his bow for a pair of wickedly long daggers.

  Sabir pursued, keeping close quarters with Traedon and using his rock hard skin to simply absorb the attacks from Traedon’s pack. Dahlia could tell he was weakening though. He could shake the attacks off but they did draw blood. Sabir was being drained by all the tiny cuts. Traedon was wearing down, too. Sabir was using his immense strength to jar Traedon’s arm over and over again. Eventually Traedon would be too tired to block. The question was, which first lieutenant would wear down first.

  Genji dodged his opponent then silently slipped in with his knives. Sensing Genji but unable to pinpoint him, Traedon’s man swept at waist level and countered the first knife, but Genji’s second hit home, stopping pressed against the man’s gut. He obediently dropped down, defeated.

  Genji took off after Traedon and Sabir, running as swiftly and silently as Traedon’s tigers. Dahlia leaned forward in anticipation.
Traedon was already weakening and his tigers had been thinned out, with two on one would he go down?

  Genji curved around, trying to corner Traedon as Sabir pounded away at him. Traedon dropped back on his heels, bracing himself. He swung his arm at Genji who had just come in range then lunged forward out of Genji’s reach, straight at Sabir. The tigers leapt at Genji who had been ready for them but was thrown off balance by Traedon’s fast jab. He fell and was set upon by the remaining tigers. He waved his arms in surrender and they simply sat on him, pinning him down. Dahlia laughed at the undignified sight, hoping Genji heard her.

  Meanwhile, Traedon hurtled himself under Sabir’s arms. His altered eyes allowed him to aim for a cut already opened by a tiger’s claws with his wide blade. Sabir was slightly slower but he brought down his blades as they shifted into clubs. They caught Traedon on the left shoulder and hip. With an awful pop, Traedon’s shoulder came out of it’s socket but the blade in his right hand pressed against an open cut in Sabir’s stomach. Sabir dutifully fell to his knees.

  The tigers vanished, Genji got up and dismissed the conjured darkness.

  “I’m not really sure, Genji,” Dahlia called out, “were those my reinforcements who just defeated your team or are you my squad? It wasn’t clear.”

  Genji grinned up at her, “Captain, I am sure anyone fighting for you would be assured a victory.” He gave her a graceful salute and went to help Traedon and Sabir up.

  Chapter Five

  “Well Captain Borreal, we seem to have put half of our senior members into the infirmary,” Dahlia quipped.

  “Indeed, but I’m sure Dr. Nallia will see to them and they’ll have their bones knit together right as rain by tonight. All we’ll have to do is avoid her wrath.”

  “True. I’ll be hiding in my room if you need anything.” She turned back to the training ground, “If you’re injured head to the infirmary. Everyone else, back to the barrack and get something to eat then you’re done for the day.”