Nightlights: Guardians of the Edge

2.2: Running Away Is A Good Idea

Ten minutes into their patrol, and Natalie and Seth had already lost Jehane. It was a new record. Natalie stalked along the sidewalk, listening for anything that sounded out of place. “We should split up to look for her.”

Seth strolled along beside her, arms behind his head. “Why are you so worked up about it? She always finds her way back to us when she calms down. It’s a lot easier for her to find us than vice versa.”

Natalie set her jaw and didn’t say anything. Seth looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Tell you what. I’ll be kind for a while to make up for the way you rolled your eyes when she broke and ran.”

“I did not roll my eyes!” snapped Natalie. She hadn’t. But maybe there’d been a tiny sigh of exasperation. Tiny! Impossible for anybody to notice. But she knew, and Seth knew her too well. “It’s just—why does she run half the time? We’re not dragging her out here.”

“You’re not,” murmured Seth. Natalie gave him a sharp look and he started whistling as he walked along. Natalie heard something and put her fingers over his mouth as she tilted her head toward running feet. The stride was too long and heavy to be Jehane, though.

“Ajax,” said Seth, a delighted smile curving over his mouth.

Natalie gave Seth a puzzled look, and he pointed. Ajax rounded a corner a block ahead. As soon as he saw them, he dropped to a quick walk. He was holding a bent iron rod, glimmering with anima-light.

“Uh, hi,” he said.

“Naughty, naughty,” said Seth.

“What are you doing here?” Natalie demanded.

Ajax looked at Seth quickly, then back to Natalie. “Just getting some fresh air. Uh, there’s an Awakened back that way.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder and Natalie noticed the abrasion on his inside arm. He looked dirtier than he had only half an hour ago, like he’d been rolling around in the street. “It’s a little… stronger than the one I tangled with at my house.”

“They are sometimes,” said Seth cheerfully. “Especially when they’ve just eaten. No proper weapon or backup? Running away was a smart move.”

Ajax narrowed his eyes, then shrugged. “Had nothing to look after but myself.” He looked around. “Where’s Jehane?”

“We lost her,” Natalie admitted.

“But don’t worry,” said Seth. “She’s really good at running away. I’m sure there’s no chance she’d dash straight into the arms of the Awakened you just left behind.”

“Arms,” said Ajax, in a haunted voice, then shook himself all over.

“Unless,” said Seth thoughtfully, “She was blinded by tears, perfectly aware that by running once again, she’d driven the kindest and most tolerant of mentors to give a tiny sigh.” He held up a thumb and a finger a centimeter apart. “Tiny.”

“Seth!” wailed Natalie.

He relented. “How about Ajax and I go harass this Awakened he found, and you make sure Jehane’s all right?”

“Fine!” Natalie dashed off down the street until she saw a building with a handy balcony she could catch herself on when she jumped up from a brick planter. She hauled herself up, then jumped for another balcony, and so made her way to the roof of the building, four stories up. From there she scanned the late night streets below, searching for a small figure either running or cowering against a wall. She saw neither.

But she did discover, after she leapt to another roof, yet another Awakened skittering down a narrow. This one had long, shadow-dappled pincers and a complex carapace with unpleasant evil light shining out of cracks in the exoskeleton. It crossed the street Natalie was on and headed down a blind alley on the other side, intent on something in the shadows.