Ruins of Darkness and Dragons Read online

  Hashkeh sighed again. He’d never had to report to anyone but his superiors before. He had never been in love, and never had anyone but his brother and parents care. He had lost all three of them in a matter of months. He was certain that his parents died of heartache after Yeitso’s death. They couldn’t cope with the loss of a son.

  But no, never a lover, never a friend, and no family for a while now.

  “I’ll try my best,” he said and grinned at her.

  She smiled, nodded, and dug into her backpack. “It’s time for a snack and some water. That makes everything better.”

  “I was wondering what that smell was!”

  “Freshly baked bread with my mother’s famous, homemade jam?”

  “That very thing!”

  The tigers sat on a log, gnawing on a slice of bread with thick, cranberry jam spread over it. It leaked from the side, dripping on the dirt at their feet. It was nothing like the cheap junk one found in towns. This was made with love. It was not made for selling, but instead, it was made to put a smile on a face. Hasaya’s mother was notorious for her delicious baking and confectionaries. She loved to bake all kinds of things, and the clan didn’t really complain. In fact, the only complaining was done when she did not provide her delicacies.

  Hashkeh wiped the sticky jam off the fur that surrounded his mouth, leaving a bright red stain. He didn’t care too much around Hasaya. She was like a sister to him. She was married to his brother, after all. But he’d have to get cleaned up before continuing on his adventure. He was already late and the fact that he still needed to scrub his face was an annoyance. Still, he did not rush Hasaya. He loved talking to her and he loved to listen to her talking. She was, in all regards, his best friend. As she had been for years.

  “What is this top-secret mission that you are sent on? They wouldn’t tell me where you went when I asked and said that it was no one’s place to know.” Hasaya huffed and crossed her arms, looking about as annoyed as the time when Yeitso put a frog in her sandwich.

  “If that is what you were told, then why ask? If you’re not allowed to know, then accept that.”

  Another huff came from Hasaya. “I hate not knowing things.”

  “That’s why you became an educator,” Hashkeh said, rolling his eyes. “We always knew that you can’t leave something be. You always had to know more than what you were told.”

  “There is always more to a story. I hate to be misled by someone. That is why I do my own research.”

  “You are teaching the children dangerous habits,” Hashkeh warned. He raised his eyebrows.

  “The clan encourages us to think for ourselves. We are allowed to do as we please as long as we abide by their rules. Nowhere in the laws does it state that we cannot learn about things on our own. Nowhere does it state that we are not allowed to do some digging.”

  “It should go without saying.”

  “I’d rather apologize than ask permission. Besides, no one has ever stopped me before and they sure as hell aren’t going to stop me now.”

  “So, you’re sure about hell?”

  Hasaya raised an eyebrow. “We are in it, don’t you know? The humans are the demons, and the High Regime is the ruler.”

  “What is it about the humans that gives you this intense dislike?”

  Hashkeh was truly curious. Hasaya was the kind of soul that didn’t judge anyone by their past. She never judged anything without finding out the truth for herself. She was not the sort of person to just hate something because the clan told her so.

  Hasaya shrugged. “They are a vile species and taste awful.”

  “The closest thing to a human you have come to eating was that vest we found in the wood once.”

  “If the smell is any indication, then they taste like garbage … that’s been out in the sun for a couple of days.”

  “It wasn’t that bad!”

  “The flies were attacking us for taking away their nest! Who knows how many eggs there were!” Hasaya stuck her tongue out and gagged, pinching her eyes closed in exaggerated disgust.

  Hashkeh couldn’t fight his grin. “I don’t think all humans are drenched in blood like that vest was. He must have been attacked by something and tore it off while they were running. The old blood explains the smell.”

  “Have you ever met a human? How do you know that they are not what I think they are?”

  Rolling his eyes, Hashkeh turned to Hasaya. “Yes, I have met many humans in the past. I am a scout for the clan, after all. I meet a lot of folk on the road. And I must tell you, dogs smell much worse than humans.” Hasaya laughed and Hashkeh added under his breath, “I hate dogs.”

  “Well, I’ll take your word for it. I hope that I never have to experience that myself.”

  Hashkeh winked at her. “I am here to do things, so the rest of the clan doesn’t have to. It’s just a part of my job.” He looked up at the sky, and then saw the angle of the sun. It was almost midday. It was perhaps an hour away. “I have to get going.”

  Hasaya smiled sadly when he looked back at her. She nodded. “Go on. I’ll head back. Do what you have to do. Just come back in one piece, yes? Would hate to find a new scout to tell me all about the outside world when no one else will.”

  “I’ll see you soon. Tell your mom that I loved the bread and jam!”

  Hasaya was already putting her rucksack on her back and tightened the straps. She smiled over her shoulder at Hashkeh, and then disappeared into the forest with one last “Be safe.”

  Hashkeh watched the spot where she had disappeared until her scent was nothing but a lingering memory. Only then did he turn on his heels and continue on his path toward a water source where he could wash his face. The ruins should be close. He hoped they were. He was already so damned late.

  It didn’t take him long to find a trickling stream. It was small, but it was just enough to gather in his paws and splash it on his face.

  It was with the second splash that he smelled it—a human.

  A human who was upstream, not too far from where Hashkeh was kneeling.

  His lip curled with a soft growl and he ran into the trees, leaping over fallen logs as he went.

  He came to a stop when a giant building came into view.

  No, not a building. They were large walls enclosing the buildings inside them.

  The ruins. He was here.

  His relief was overshadowed by the smell of the human. It was strong here.

  He looked around the area, scanning his surroundings for a sign. Any sign. Hashkeh felt like an idiot when only then he saw the little makeshift lean-to and the sword that was tucked under a blanket of leaves. The hilt was ornate. It was definitely something that only a very rich or a very sneaky human would own. Something told Hashkeh that this belonged to the latter. No rich man would construct a shelter and be happy to live like this. He seemed settled in quite nicely. He’d been here for a couple of days.

  Hashkeh just assumed that it was a male. The scent didn’t have the delicacy of a woman. Oh no, this was all sweat and iron. This was all rough leather and filthy tunics.

  Hashkeh’s upper lip curled when he realized what had happened.

  This man wasn’t a traveler. He wasn’t just a homeless person who made this place his home for a couple of nights. No, this man was waiting for someone. Hashkeh could tell by the footprints going up and down in a straight line. A man who has nothing to wait for does not pace.

  He was waiting for his partner.

  He was waiting for Hashkeh.

  Aldred of Tamworth. That was the name of the person he was meeting. The human. He knew that he was meeting a human, but for some reason, he was expecting something else.

  Hashkeh followed the scent. It got stronger and stronger the closer he got to the trickling river.

  The predator in Hashkeh stalked closer, careful not to
make a single sound.

  There was a 50/50 chance that this man was Aldred. The other half was a chance that he was indeed only a traveler. In that case, he was trespassing on beast lands. Either way, Hashkeh was not going to take a chance. He was not going to let this human, whoever he was, have the upper hand in any way. As Hasaya had said, it was better to apologize than to ask permission.

  The birds went quiet as Hashkeh approached, making every noise his boots made on the ground sound like an echoing, thunderous clap of thunder. It was inconvenient, to say the least. He spotted the human at the stream, kneeling down to fill something.

  He saw that the human had realized something was amiss, and in a flash, before the human could run, Hashkeh was on top of him, ready to rip his throat out.

  CHAPTER 3

  MUTUAL RESPECT

  The human looked at Hashkeh with wide eyes. It seemed as though the human Regime was as secretive about the human’s partner as the Council was about his. It was smart, Hashkeh thought, as he studied the human. Neither of them would have taken the job if they had known who their partner was.

  With knowledge the only treasure in these ruins, the tiger supposed it was only logical that they shared the spoils. Hashkeh didn’t like it, though. He didn’t like it one bit. It was wrong in every way, shape, and form. The humans and the Tash had never seen eye to eye since the Great Dragon War. It was unnatural.

  The knowledge, it called to him. He could feel it in the soil that he was standing on. This place held something that no one in the world had ever seen before, something that could change everything. It could change history. It could change the way they looked at the entire world.

  That could also have been Hashkeh’s thirst for knowledge speaking, though.

  Either way, he did not want to work with the human.

  To Hashkeh’s surprise, the human stepped closer and gingerly, very softly, as if Hashkeh wouldn’t notice it, touched the fur on his arm.

  Hashkeh pulled away, growling at the human. He could feel every nerve on his skin come to life at the touch of his fur. It was such an intimate thing, such a personal intrusion. The tiger wanted to snarl at the human, but one look at his companion said that he had no idea what was going on. To him, it was nothing but interest, nothing but pure curiosity.

  Instead of yelling at the human, Hashkeh shook his head. “Best keep your hands to yourself, Aldred of Tamworth. Not many Tash would allow you to walk away with your hand still intact.”

  Aldred looked at his hand, frowned, and then looked back at Hashkeh. “Why is mine still attached to my arm, then?”

  The tiger shrugged. “Humans are foolish and do foolish things. I am one of the few that don’t hold it against you. A tiger does not choose the color of its fur and neither does a human choose his lack of wit.”

  The human smiled. “I like you, Hashkeh Naabah. You’re as brash as I am foolish. We make a great pair.”

  Hashkeh felt a twitch at his lips but fought against it. A human that stood his ground. A foolish man indeed, but a brave one, nonetheless.

  Aldred looked at him again. “Am I going to lose a hand if I try to touch you again? I am quite fond of my hands.” Then the human grinned a devilish grin, a grin that made Hashkeh feel filthy just by looking at it. “As are many others.”

  “After that comment, I wouldn’t ever want those hands near my fur—or my mouth.”

  “Fair enough,” the human said and stepped forward, leaning in to get a closer look at the tiger’s fur.

  Hashkeh wanted to flinch away again, to backhand the human and watch him stumble backward onto his ass. But there was no malice to be found in the human’s body. Nothing but awe and admiration. No hint of fear either. Hashkeh relaxed, knowing that, for the sake of keeping the peace, he had to let small things like this slide. At least until he’d figured out why the Tash were working with humans.

  “Fascinating,” the human said, one finger on his chin.

  “What is?”

  “The pattern of fur,” he said with a far-off look in his eye. The human didn’t say another word before walking toward what Hashkeh assumed was his campsite. He’d passed it earlier when he was following the human’s scent. It was small but tidy. The remnants of the campfire told the tiger that he was a frequent traveler. The sticks were perfectly placed for the fire to burn only a few minutes, maybe an hour. In this heat, anything more would have been a stupid move.

  With a sigh, Hashkeh followed the trail of his companion.

  He found the human sitting under a leafy roof, half-hidden from the sun. He had a book on his lap and a quill in his hand. The quill was moving furiously, as if he was noting something down. Hashkeh frowned. What on earth led him to believe that making notes was a good idea at this moment in time?

  “What are you doing?” the tiger asked.

  The human, Aldred, pointed at Hashkeh with the quill. “The encyclopedias in our libraries, the ones listing the races and known facts about them, state that the Tash are black and ginger. Not ginger and black.”

  Hashkeh’s frown deepened. “What’s the difference?”

  “It means that you are not black with ginger stripes, you are ginger with black stripes. There’s a big difference. Who knows what other mistakes have been noted in those journals? Tell me ...” Aldred’s head shot up. “How well acquainted are you with the wolf-people of the South?”

  Hashkeh’s lip curled at the thought of the Ma’iítsoh.

  “Interesting,” Aldred said, noting something else down without waiting for an answer from Hashkeh.

  He had no time for this. They didn’t have time for this. They had to make as much progress as they could before the sun set too low over the canopy. With an annoyed sigh and a roll of his eyes, Hashkeh made his way to the giant gates that led into the ruins. This seemed to catch the human off guard and he leaped to his feet to rush over to Hashkeh’s side. The human wasn’t like a puppy, waiting by his master’s side faithfully, never caring about his own well-being.

  No, the human was like a cat in that regard. He was nosy, agile, and smart. Hashkeh knew better than to underestimate an opponent—even though they were not opponents—just yet. Soon, perhaps. But not yet. Aldred was only interested in fending for himself and no one else. He was not afraid, nor was he desperate for a companion. No, Aldred was sneaky. He was curious, and he was highly intelligent. A tad bit of a coward, perhaps, but it was too soon to tell. Hashkeh knew from experience that there was a little bit of a coward in everyone. No matter their race.

  Hashkeh looked at the human. He was very quick on his feet and silent as a predator too. He hated to admit it, but as fascinated as Aldred was by Hashkeh, Hashkeh was by the human as well.

  He was a strange being, but he had an underlying power, skill, and mind that …

  Well, Hashkeh knew he shouldn’t underestimate this human. He didn’t even struggle when Hashkeh attacked him earlier. Why?

  A second thought told Hashkeh exactly why.

  He was a man with nothing to lose, and that made him more dangerous than any predators in this jungle. It made him unpredictable. It made him brave. Both were assets that Hashkeh respected. But the differences between a brave man and a stupid man are slim, so the Tash decided to reserve his judgment for now.

  “How far do you think it goes?” the human asked, looking past the gate. There was a small path that led into an abyss of blackness. It wasn’t the sort of shade that was created by a canopy of leaves. Darkness like that shouldn’t have existed at the same time the sun did.

  It was unsettling and yet …

  And yet he was drawn to it, like a moth to a flame.

  “I don’t know,” he answered aloofly, not taking his eyes off the abyss of darkness in the distance. He waited for something, anything to crawl out of there. He had heard rumors about man eating spiders and rats so large they could be mistaken for war
hounds. Some part of his mind liked to think that one of those creatures would emerge. At least then he would know what kind of horrors awaited them when entering those tunnels.

  Or, even better, gave them enough reasons to stay out of it.

  This place … Nothing felt right about it. Something was off. Something was very off, and Hashkeh, for the life of him, couldn’t put his finger on it. All he knew was that it wasn’t good and that his gut feelings were hardly ever wrong. He could count on one paw the times he was actually wrong about something. This was not one of those cases. This was something completely different.

  He could feel the evil in the air, and it smelled a lot like his own kind.

  CHAPTER 4

  MATES

  To both of their discontent, they decided that it was better to wait until dawn to travel into the ruins. They had already missed half a day’s light, and neither of them knew how far the ruins stretched out. They didn’t want to risk having to find shelter at night in a place that gave them both the creeps. The last part went unsaid, but Aldred was certain they could both agree on that.

  It was a silent agreement that the companions had. They would not talk about how their stomachs turned, about how fast their hearts beat. No, they would discuss none of that. Talking about things made it too real. As soon as they admitted their fear, they would accept it. And that would have been catastrophic. Walking around with fear in one’s heart, in a place that felt as if the gates of oblivion had opened and unleashed its spawn, was not a good thing at all. They’d jump at every sound. They’d wince at every, single sound.

  The ruins had that sort of feel to them. It was the same otherworldly presence one could find in a graveyard. Where the dead were put to rest but there was a rest that never came. Aldred had experienced it for days while he was waiting for his companion. The eeriness radiated off the ruins and leaked from the giant walls surrounding it. If it felt like this on the outskirts, Aldred didn’t want to experience its full wrath in the middle of the night.