Demon in the Snow by Heather Fledderus (cat reading book .TXT) 📖

were they doing here in a public place? What was Sora doing with them?

Anger beginning to boil to the surface, Hannah marched over and swung the door open. As the light from the sun brightened the room, some of the red jackets turned to see who had joined the party. Hannah's eyes were transfixed on three individuals in particular, grouped together in the middle of it all. The head of white would have stood out anywhere, being even more highlighted when contrasted with his brand new jacket. She watched as he turned to see who had arrived, a black cup filled with Wassassa partially raised to his lips.

Nate's eyes, already ablaze with enjoyment, brightened even further when they sighted her. “Hannah, come on in,” he called, “This place is great!”

His last few words seemed extremely loud, despite his not raising his voice. All the other leather jackets openly gaped at her, including Cain right beside him. The open silence was like the aftermath of a gunshot, the world seeming frozen as the Pyros all made it absolutely clear that a Caster wasn't welcome. She felt Sora's presence fade, and realized that he had been watching through a portal.

“Guys?” Nate began uncertainly, looking around him, “What's wrong?”

Cain chose to speak. “Their kind,” he said in a sneering tone, “Isn't allowed here.”

Hannah felt more than one presence suddenly grow in strength. The sheer weight in number should have tipped her off. This wasn't just the advanced first year class, there were at least three different levels. She had just walked in on an initiation ceremony.

“Sorry,” she began, words stumbling out of her mouth of their own will, “I didn't realize that you guys were hosting it here. I was just looking for Nathan, to see if he needed a permanent place to crash for the term.”

“Yeah?” Another first year spoke up, and it took Hannah a moment to realize who it was. Abel, Cain's twin brother. “Don't think about it too hard. He's already got a place to stay, and not just for term, but for however long he chooses to stay. In fact,” he extrapolated, gesturing the room, “He has his pick of where to stay, and is free to move around. A lot more than he'd get from you and yours.” Murmurs of ascent greeted this statement, and the red jackets all moved a little closer together.

“O... okay.” Hannah swallowed, “It's just that if he wanted-”

“-Nate don't want nothing. And you just interrupted our rite of passage,” a burly third year growled.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“-Get out!” the group hollered. Hannah backed away quickly. Nate just watched her, stunned, unsure of what was going on. Before she knew what was happening, the door slammed shut in her face. Hannah swallowed once, and stared at the door. No sounds came from behind.

Hannah.

Not now.

The Family is holding a meeting. Where are you?

Right where you left me She bit out.

I'd hurry if I were you.

As if she needed her brother to tell her what to do. Screw the fact that someday he would be boss of the entire House, he was still her kid brother.

I'm not kidding.

Hannah took one last look at the door, unsure whether to barge back in there and rescue Nathan or leave.

Her feet decided for her. Hannah raced back up the hill, traveling along the rooftops to avoid the crowded streets as she passed through the busier sections.

Nathan was on his own now.

18. You Jinxed It!

Nate twirled the pencil in his hand, bored, as the class walked towards their destination, leaving the hovercraft behind. Cain, beside him, was the opposite, bouncing off of metaphorical walls in his excitement, taking in everything as he spun around.

“We're here, we're really here,” he kept on saying, over and over again to himself and anyone that would listen.

Finally enough was enough. “Would you shut up?” Nate hissed at him. “You're making me start to think that you guys never go on field trips ever. Let me spell it out for you. Class trips are only good to get you out of class, but the teachers expect even more from you in terms of other things, like behaviour, and taking notes. It's not all it's cracked up to be.”

“It's not all it's cracked up to be,” Cain mimicked, “Come on, Nate, live a little. We're out of school with a bunch of other Crimson Dragons- and a few nobles,” he added darkly upon sighting Hannah and several other Casters. “And we're headed to the most awesome battlefield ever.”

“Is that what it is?” Nate asked, not really caring.

His comment drew shocked looks from several 'Slayers close by, including Cain. “You mean you signed up and you didn't know?”

“You asshole, you're the one who signed me up in the first place.”

“Because I thought you would have come across passages that talked about the Moonless Rock, seeing as how you spend all your spare time at the library.”

So he had noticed after-all. Nate decided to steer them away from his night trips. He glanced around, making sure that his assumption was correct. “Why aren't the Dragons wearing their jackets?”

Cain glanced around suspiciously before leaning close to confide, “Because first years aren't technically allowed to be members.”

“Then why are we?”

“Because they know talent when they see it. Plus, it's easier to train Crimson Dragons to their full capacity when they're Dragoned right from the start. Most Crimson are chosen the moment they're born. You're the exception to the rule.”

“What do the Crimson Dragons even do? They sound like a motorcycle gang.”

“Motorcycle?” Cain looked confused, but the expression quickly disappeared, “Right, those two-wheel things. No, we're not like that. The Crimson Dragons are tasked with everything from  carrying out dangerous missions to tracking and apprehending criminals. We're the police of Ko-ha, I guess you could think of us like a merge between CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security. We protect the residents of Ko-ha from threats appearing both inside and out.”

“Sweet.”

They started falling behind the others, but neither really cared. “Did you know,” Cain started, “That there's a top secret organization within the Crimson Dragons? They take care of the really delicate issues, even though they technically don't exist. Some believe that the Crimson Dragons itself is just a front for the entire operation.”

“Really?”

Cain nodded, warming up to his theme, delighted to have a slightly interested audience for a change, “Yeah, it's so secret that the members only recognize each other by a closely guarded code word. It could be anything as simple as 'banana', something they could work into a conversation.”

“Sounds very cloak-and-dagger-like.”

“I know, right? I've seen the signs, but I still have no clue what the code word is. With it, you gain access to all sorts of information. You get to be in on it all. They don't work for any one House, or even for the Council. They make up their own rules, and follow one leader, and-”

“Sounds great,” Nate interrupted, bored again, “What's the organization called?”

“No clue. But it's probably something bad-ass like 'Order Shade'.”

“'Order Shade', eh?” Nate scoffed, “Have you ever run into one of the members?”

“Any Crimson is a potential member.”

“So no. Just how much of this is speculation?”

Cain's shoulders drooped. “Mostly all of it.”

They walked a little faster after realizing that they had fallen too far behind. Ms. Sparks was already talking. “The Moonless Rock is an anomaly that was discovered accidentally when a fight against a particularly strong Double B-class demon moved from its original appearing point here. The demon had isolated Katarina Aken of the third House-”

Nate felt Cain beside him flinch, distracting him for a moment as he gave him a sharp look. Cain seemed to hate anything that had to deal with noble-borns.

“-and realized that the demon couldn't see her. They successfully defeated the demon, and science teams were sent out to investigate, collecting samples that are now placed around each major city and our Academy to mask them from the demons. Each centimeter cubed gives off a protective field with a radius of several kilometers, blocking the area from the demons' 976 different senses.”

982. The thought rose unbidden, and Nate quickly silenced the flight demon who had managed to find a hole in his Cache.

“However, this same sphere also carries some sort of attractant, causing demons to flock to the Rock more than anywhere else. Which is why the location of each sample is carefully mapped out and guarded by a team. This location has several deeply embedded large Moonless Rocks, and as such, is the biggest hotspot for demons of high energy to appear. We still don't know what aspect of the Rock attracts them here, but this field is placed under heavy guard.

“We were able to take this trip here because of several factors. One is that we have a hundred 'Slayers positioned along the perimeter. Also, all of you working in concert, have the capability of defeating any sort of demon that may appear within. And, it appears that recently the number of demonic apparitions has declined rapidly. We aren't sure about the cause, but we believe that some sort of blight has hit Ampoulles, and the amount of energy being expounded is enough to keep the bigger demons home.”

Nate took a moment to look around. None of the demons inside of him were even the least bit interested in their location, making him start to believe that maybe the 'Slayers were imagining things. They had stirred slightly at the mention of home, but the rest of her lecture had been met with indifference. A few trees were sporadically placed amongst the tall grass, and clumps of flowers of varying colours dotted the landscape. It seemed unscathed, despite being a “hotspot” for the demons to attack.

“Today, you will battle your partners, full out. To give the Summoners a handicap, we came to this spot so that their opponents have a chance of disappearing in the middle of the fight.”

Cain shot Nate a grin. “This is it. Now we finally find out who we're partnered with.”

Sparks began reading off a list.

“Arnold Weeks, Justin Fletcher.

“Hannah Saitou, Dale Barnes.

“Sora Saitou, Lionel Himanachi.” Cain chuckled at that pairing.

“Potts, Mayer.

“Matthew Clay, Clayton Dumphries.

“Abel, Richard Hilton.

“Seth, Saul.”

“Second cousins,” Cain quickly added for Nate's benefit.

“Erin Rivas, Erin Rivers.

“Nathan Hitagashi, Cain-”

“Yes!” Cain exclaimed, pumping fist into the air.

Sparks shot him a look, “I'm glad to see you approve. Let's see you actually behave for a change, shall we?”

Cain snapped to attention and saluted her, “Thank you for this prestigious honor, sir.”

Sparks just shook her head as she went back to the roster. Cain gave Nate a high-five. “This is actually so sweet.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because to make the four-man teams, they take two of the two-man teams, which are made in the very first year of school. This means that you and me get to go on missions together, live together, all that stuff.”

“You do realize that I might go back to Misd, right?'

“What for? Besides, we can totally stretch out some of the juicier missions so that we stay in Misd for weeks at a time. You could visit really distant, non-existent relatives that the Information Corps won't bother to try to track down.”

Nate shook his head, “You're messed in the head, you know that, right?”

Cain nodded proudly,