The Night Rider

Chapter 37 - Loyalty

It wasn't the first time Hawkins had awoken to the smell of smoke.

It was the smell of his mother's cooking burnt by her Trait again while his father laughed and hugged him. His jacket held the scent of coal and soot, his smell of smoke now comforting the bad odour of dinner.

He longed to be a child again. Completely oblivious to his mother's grief and drunken beatings. But no matter how much he wished for it, he knew that wherever smoke settled, ash soon followed.

The burning trail of cinders always led to the rotting plants and dead ground. It was the taste of hunger, the nagging pain of forgotten birthdays and burnt books that didn't belong to him. It stained everything he owned including his fallen Agar. After all, ashes only led to suffering.

Hawkins couldn't get the sound of screaming out of his head. The living city of Axis had been turned into a warzone. The old buildings had been decimated and the outer walls had crumbled under the weight of Gizmo's Craft made bombs. The debris had exploded into the sky, raining down on them like shards of glass as the eruptions became louder and the impact sending them colliding into crumbling walls and into the dense fog of unconsciousness. 

But now he had been jolted awake by the pain in his arm, the very same arm the Overtaken had broken so many days ago. Yet the screaming remained. The screaming that made his ears ring wasn't from Rin or Mantis or Odi. It was the heart of Axis itself. He could feel it whimpering in agony like a dog that had been shot, its streets covered in deep blisters and gouges of overturned buildings. It was like a would gaping open, a rift barely staying stable.

"Oh good. You're not dead."

A familiar voice replied into the gloom, Hawkins recognising Hack's gruff tone anywhere. But the jolt of relief soon turned sour as the smoke parted along with the steadily rising flames.

The male Firestep wolf snorted, immediately noticing how Hawkins' face had fallen. Hazard clambered past the debris with ease, the explosions in the background causing his pelt to flare ominously.

"You're better off here than where he is right now, Mediator." He said, as if already reading his mind.

His gruff voice made Hawkins heart plummet, immediately worried by Hazard's smug expression. Before he even knew it he was yelling at the Firestep wolf with all his might.

"Where is he? What've you done with him?"

The Firestep wolf growled low, silencing him with his dragon like glare.

"Enough. You of all people should know that speculation gets you nowhere. Besides, if it weren't for my sister and I patrolling the back entrance we never would've found you."

Hawkins avoided his gaze, wincing as he moved a little too sudden for his injuries, rubbing the back of his head. Strangely, it was warmer than he expected and it made him realise how much the surly Firestep wolf had helped him. He had used his flames to heal.

"You saved me. Why?" Hawkins asked, awkwardly lowering his voice as he realised he jumped to conclusions.

"It's what Rin asked of me. Nothing more, Mediator."

But before Hawkins could thank him, a loud series of gunshots made him duck, flinching at the sound of a loud commotion. The flash of fire warped into his father's face, gaunt and unfocused and then again as the bullet tore through the creature's skull.

A third flash was the familiar scaly sight of a much younger Hack standing over him protectively. Hawkins blinked, the memories slowly fading and bringing him back to his senses, not realising he had crumpled over in fear.