Hayden’s eyes went wide. The officer punched the man square in the jaw and shoved the gag back into his mouth. Turning, he shouted, “If you don’t leave, I’ll have you arrested for aiding the escape of condemned criminals.” “Refugees,” Hayden stated flatly, resting her hand on her saber. “Hayden, let’s just leave. He gave us an order.” Wynn pleaded, pulling on Hayden’s arm. “Could you hurt these people, Wynn? They’ve done nothing wrong. Look at them, they could barely stand. Half of them look like they haven’t eaten in weeks,” Hayden shouted, and pulled away from Wynn. “Don’t do this, Hayden. You’ll be a criminal, like father.” Wynn’s words struck Hayden and she swayed from the weight of them. Father, a criminal. Hayden could bear it no longer. “You have no idea what father was,” she said, finally, “He was a hero and he stood up for those who couldn’t stand for themselves. The Enclave kills Azurian innocents every day and tells us they’re just criminals. Well they can’t all be criminals, Wynn. It looks like all they want to do is eat. He died defending those principles. He died defending us.” Wynn stepped back from Hayden, coldly looking into her eyes. “He died a traitor.” “You’re coming with me, Cadet. We can sort this out with Headmaster Bannam,” said the officer as he stepped forward to place Hayden under arrest. Hayden stepped backward, “I won’t let you kill these people.” The officer laughed, “I’m not going to kill them. You are. ‘Show undying loyalty to the Enclave and defend her against her enemies,’ remember? It’s part of this year’s final evaluations.” The prisoner the officer had punched was becoming conscious once more and began to groan. The officer drew his saber, turned to the cart and drove his blade through the chest of the prisoner, blood trickling slowly down the steel. Wynn gasped. Hayden drew her saber. “Drawing a weapon on a soldier is a high crime, Cadet. Put that away.” “These people aren’t our enemies. You are,” Hayden stated. “What are you going to do with that dull piece of shit anyway?” He lunged at her. Hayden parried the blade and drove herself forward for a riposte, but the officer managed to block the strike. He swung his blade high and brought it down for a powerful overhead strike. Hayden sidestepped the swing and crushed her dulled blade into the officer’s face. He stumbled 58
Manastash 2013