[Moonshadow]

When they closed the door, Desirée finally let herself cry.



Elder Isaac snuffed the candle before he went. "We leave you now, child," he said softly, as though he were the one suffering. "You have been granted this precious time alone to make your peace with God. Offer up the pain of your penance. He is the only light you need." And then he left Desirée alone in the dark, grinding her teeth as the agony in her leg shrieked and howled.



It was all Carolyn's idea.



"We'll go tonight," Carolyn had said. "We'll be gone before anyone misses us. I've got some food I stole. Don't talk to me about sin."



Growing up, Carolyn seemed as devout as anyone else. The prayers, the worship services, the routine of daily life…and then one day Elder Ezra had beaten her for looking across the hall at the boys. Beaten her hard. And something in her had snapped.



She'd convinced Desirée they could make it. Made her believe it.



And they did make it, for nearly a mile, long enough and far enough to think they were free. But then came the shouts, the pounding feet, the scuffle, and Carolyn shouting, "Run!" But Desirée couldn't run, couldn't stand, her leg suddenly burning with pain.



She didn't know what happened to Carolyn.



They brought Desirée back and put her in a cell and told her to think on her sins. Then Elder Isaac came, him with his stick and the crushing, burning welts and slashes across her back, and—and the bone in her leg snapped again.



More pain.



More pain…

# # #

Time went by. How much? She wasn't sure. She could hear the worship service, faintly, from far above—which one? Eleven o'clock? Three? Eight?



Elder Ezra knew how to make his voice carry. "And now, in this darkest of hours, we are set upon by yet another plague, a plague of devil-worshipers who would undo our sacred work! The Christians once called their enemy in hell Lucifer, the Bringer of Light, and the Christians were not without wisdom! For these devils call themselves bearers of light, but the light they bear is false! It shows the way only to sin, to defiance of God, to corruption that will consume them in the end days!"



The door creaked open, weak lantern light spilling into the room, and she heard Elder Isaac's sad, flat voice in the darkness.



"Have you used this time wisely, to contemplate your sins? Have you seen the light of truth?"



Desirée didn't know how to answer…or if she even could answer. She feared her voice might come out as a sob if she tried to speak, and she'd be damned if she gave him that satisfaction, so she held her tongue, even though she knew Elder Isaac would take that as a sign of disrespect. He punished disrespect.



She heard the Elder draw breath to speak, but instead of saying anything, he made an odd, small hitching sound in the back of his throat. The lantern clunked to the floor, the light flickering crazily, and without another word Elder Isaac fell to his knees and toppled forward. His head bounced on the stone.



Desirée stared, wide-eyed, wondering what could possibly have just happened, and then gasped when she saw the dark pool spreading out from the Elder's neck. She scrambled backwards on her pallet, clenching her teeth hard against the pain in her leg, and then almost screamed.



Two people she'd never seen before stepped into the room at the same moment that the lantern's flame shuddered and died, as though they brought darkness with them.



Through the blackness someone whispered, "Quiet." A woman's voice.



The door closed softly, and Desirée struggled not to make a sound.



A spark flashed out like a tiny star, another, and then the candle's wick caught and Desirée saw who had come for her. Their dark clothes seemed to soak up the candlelight, their features partly hidden by folds of black cloth across the lower halves of their faces. Desirée spotted the hilts of several bladed weapons at their waists and on their backs.



Desirée closed her eyes. She was going to die. She'd been hurt by the godly and now someone worse had come for her. She wondered why. She couldn't remember doing anything in her life bad enough to earn her this last day. She hadn't done anything important enough to bring all this on her.



One of the strangers pulled the cloth from his face. He was young, dark-skinned, and he didn't look like a murderer or a torturer. More than anything else, he just looked worried.



"Are you Desirée?" He kept his voice low. "Your friend – Carolyn. She told us. We're going to get you out if we can. How bad are you hurt?"



Desirée swallowed hard, and when the words finally came they came in a rush. "Yes, I mean, yes, I'm Desirée. My leg—it's broken. Elder Isaac did it. Who are you?"



"My name is Ajay – this is Tara. I know we're strangers, but trust us, please. We'll get you out of here."



Tara hadn't moved far from the door. A note of impatience in her voice, she said, "Can we explain later? Ajay, how bad is her leg?"



"May I?" Ajay leaned forward and touched the leg, very gently, in several places. "Okay. Whoever did this – God – you've got three breaks there." He began to rummage in a small satchel he carried.



"Can you fix it?" asked Tara.



Ajay's eyebrows twitched together. "Of course I can. But it'll take a little time. I've got to set the bones first." He kept rummaging. "Candlelight, God, all that training and you never get to do this in a nice clean clinic. It's always someplace like this, with a candle."



Tara made a sound that might have been a snort. "It's better than cursing the darkness."



He ignored her. "Okay, Desirée? Here. Take this." He handed her a small white pill and a canteen of water. Past wondering about anything, Desirée swallowed the pill and laid back on the pallet. The pain in her leg began to fade. She felt a bit floaty.



Ajay watched her closely. "Is that better? I can't put you under – no time. Bite on this." He handed her a small, rolled-up towel. "Tear it apart with your teeth if you have to, but don't scream. I'm so sorry. This is going to hurt. It'll be easier if you don't look."



Desirée closed her eyes. He was right. It was very bad. She did her best, chewing hard on the twisted towel. When he set the second break she fainted anyway…



…but she was out for only a second. When she came to she heard Ajay muttering. "Smashed all to hell. Why do they do this?" He tossed things around in his satchel, his words soft but saturated with anger. "Everything wrong with the world and these *******s decide it's not enough, got to smash up a young girl's leg . . ."



Ajay saw Desirée looking at him and drew a long, measured breath. When he spoke again, the anger was mostly gone. "Don't move yet – we're almost there." He took a swallow of water and laid his hands gently on her leg.



His hands were warm, and the warmth began to spread. At first Desirée was sure she was imagining things, but within seconds she couldn't deny it: inside her leg she felt movement. The bones shifted, wrapped in a heat both delicious and terrifying, and as Ajay glided his hands slowly across her skin, they grew back together.



The pain faded away completely. Ajay sat back and took another long drink of water. When his eyes focused again, he asked her, "Can you walk?"



And she said yes. Hardly believing it, Desirée stood. A moment later Ajay got to his feet and looked at Tara. "Well?"



"That's it, then." Tara's eyes glittered over her mask. "Desirée, listen. We've got to move fast. Just do what I say, when I say it. If I tell you to run, run. Ajay, remember – guns are loud." She eased the door open and slipped through. Ajay followed and beckoned to Desirée.



They were nearly to the surface when the Judges caught them.



There were only two of them, two thick-muscled men with their hoods and their big heavy sticks, but even one would have been enough. They saw Desirée and the others and bolted toward them. Desirée knew first-hand what they could do, knew how well and skillfully they could use those sticks.



Then Tara held up one hand, and one of the Judges stopped as abruptly as if he had run headlong into a brick wall. His smashed nose gushing blood, he crumpled to the floor of the corridor.



The other one kept coming. Ajay shouldered Desirée behind him, a long, gleaming knife in each hand, but he didn't get the chance to trade blows with the remaining Judge. Instead, Tara took a step forward, pulled a sword from a scabbard across her back, and in the same motion slashed out with it. The Judge fell, blood spurting from a deep gash across his stomach.



It was a bad wound, most likely fatal, but not fast enough. Ajay knelt, clamped a hand over the man's mouth, and cut his throat.



As Ajay did this, Tara darted down the hall toward the first Judge, who was trying to struggle back to his feet. Tara whirled, the sword flashing like fire in the torchlight, and the man died before he could shout for help.



Desirée stared, frozen. These were the same people that had come to rescue her. Ajay had touched her leg so gently, had healed her, and just now he'd killed the Judge without flinching, without even hesitating.



Ajay wiped his knife on the dead Judge's sleeve. Then Tara joined them again and they ran, up toward the surface and away. Outside they slipped quietly past the guards, Tara moving silent as a shadow and Ajay making only a little more noise. By the time anyone found the bodies in the hallway they'd be long gone.

[Moonshadow]

When they reached a safe distance, and finally slowed to a walk, Desirée worked up sufficient nerve: "Who are you? You told me your names, but – you said Carolyn found you? Where are you from?""



"You don't know?" Ajay's eyebrows went up. "I guess you don't. Your friend made it to Reflection. We're Lightbearers. I'm sure you've guessed I'm a healer, and this is Zhiang Tara – can I tell her, Tara?"



The woman nodded once, curtly. Ajay continued. "Tara's in the Sun and Moon. Anyway, Carolyn's safe at Reflection now, waiting for you. She was sobbing when we found her. She was sure you'd be killed."



"You got me out." Desirée let the quiet stand a moment. "Just because you found Carolyn? You don't even know us. You could have been killed yourselves, both of you. My God, you broke into the Ark! I didn't even think that was possible!"



Ajay said, "Someone had to do it."



"But not you. I mean…no one had to."



Tara glanced at Desirée sideways, and in even that brief contact, the mingled pain, wisdom, and determination in Tara's eyes shined so intensely that Desirée had to look down. When Tara spoke, the quiet passion in her voice made tears spring into Desirée's eyes just as much as the words themselves did.

"Does the world have to be the way it is? What kind of world do you want to live in?"



"I…I just…" Desirée couldn't complete the sentence.



But Ajay touched her arm, and she knew she didn't need to. "Come on," he said. "We've got horses waiting at our camp."

[DarkTreader]

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Awesome.

Made of pure win and awesome, topped with chocolate ganache.

[Craft Enzo]

Huzaah! a post!

[Taelanna]

Another excellent story!

Funny how I can identify a current day sect that's a lot like the Judges . Scary funny, that is.

Peace, Tae

[Moonshadow]

Originally Posted by DarkTreader

topped with chocolate ganache.

OMG Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[TheDoctor]

Nice.

[Makiaveli]

Yea that is one of the best ones so far, especially for showcasing a faction like that.

[Stedfast]

Veri interesting indeed thank you for sure.

[Tomb]

Try to dodge bullets freaking ninjas!