Freezing Light - Chapter 3: Power
"Move, and your boyfriend chokes on blood," the cloaked canine growled deeply.
Connor froze, visibly unsure of what move to make next.
Pressing the dagger closer to Travis' throat, the stranger whipped his other hand forward in Connor's direction, a strange ball of black, navy, gray, and purple energy forming in his palm. "Now stand there and die."
Travis' eyes narrowed. This freak was asking Connor to die in order to spare the life of someone he had known for a day. There was no way out of this.
Connor hesitated and raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. Kill me. But if you don't let him go, I swear..."
"You'll what?" the dark ball grew. "Hell, maybe I'll just kill you both."
"And you'll die before you finish," said Gavin from the opposite side of the room, blood running down his face from beneath his maroon baseball cap. He held a broadsword with both hands, ready to fight if he had the chance. His girlfriend, Kara, remained motionless on the floor.
'Where the hell did the sword come from?' Travis wondered.
The dog in the cloak sighed. Travis felt his grip on the dagger tighten and the ball of dark power intensify. He was about to make a move; he was about to kill someone, and no one there could stop that without someone else getting killed in the process. This couldn't happen.
Adrenaline surged through Travis' body and he gave way to his instincts, which told him to protect. The entirety of the room grew several shades lighter, shadows projected on the walls behind Connor and Gavin. With one breath, Travis pushed his energy, his will, his light, out through every pore in his body. The dagger dropped, darkness vanished, and the hooded canine yelped, smashing into the wall behind him.
The job was finished, Connor had been protected. Now Travis... could........
".....but what was he after?" a familiar voice asked. It was Gavin.
Travis shifted, inhaling deeply and coming to. What the hell had happened? As he opened his eyes, he saw a still shirtless Connor sitting beside him, grasping his hand. Becoming further oriented with his surroundings, he was on Connor's bed; Gavin and Kara standing beside them. The two had already cleaned up and bandaged their injuries, which meant Travis must have been out for a while. He met Connor's eyes, comforting as ever. "What happened?"
"Well," the husky gave his hand a squeeze, "you used your power and saved our asses, for one."
Travis pulled himself up with Connor's help and stared remained silent, still unsure what was going on. His mind was a bit fried at the moment. "How about the basics? What are these powers all about? What was that guy after? What the fuck did I do to him!?"
Connor couldn't help but laugh. "Uhhh, well."
"Let me explain from the beginning," Kara interrupted. "Gavin, Connor, and I have special abilities. Superhuman powers that we were each born with. Genetically inherited."
"Like my ice," Connor continued, "Or the healing I used on you when we first met."
Travis nodded. "Right. You said that healing wasn't all you could do. So what else is there?"
"Of the very few people who have powers," Connor answered, "most of us have one of six elements. The two primal elements - light and dark - are the background to every human being in some combination, and some of them are able to access these attributes as an element."
"Think of it as a meter," Gavin said, "one side being black and the other being white. Each person falls somewhere along this line, measuring their light and darkness. I'm almost pure dark, but that doesn't make me evil. Connor's mostly light, but that doesn't mean he isn't an asshole."
Connor stabbed the tiger with an icy glare.
Kara grinned. "Now, it's pretty rare, but there have been people who fall on the far end of either side, being of pure light or pure darkness. That's where you come in."
Travis tilted his head, pointing to himself questioningly.
She nodded.
Connor slid himself closer to Travis, caressing his thigh. "I'm sorry, I don't know how else to tell you this, but we've been watching you."
Travis' brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"For about two months now, we've known that you're a 'pure light'," Connor spoke in a lower tone, staring Travis dead in the eye. "which basically means that..."
"Wait," Travis held up a paw to stop him. "So when we met, it was random, right? How did you arrange that?" He felt a wave of distrust toward the three of them, especially Connor.
"I didn't. That's where fate went it's own way. The instant we met was actually the first time I ever saw you. Before that, Gavin had spotted you once, but we mostly just watched for your car and tracked your cell phone. We also didn't know you liked guys until you and I first made eye contact; straight dudes don't have that kind of chemistry."
Travis had to smile, but one question still plagued him: "Then why were you following me?"
"A few reasons," Kara answered. "Finding out whether you could use your powers yet was one of them, but the main object..."
"... Was to make sure the Black Rose didn't find you," Connor finished.
"And the Black Rose is...." he asked the obvious question.
"They're a kinda' syndicate, set on killing us off," Kara replied. "We think our hooded assassin from earlier was one of 'em, no doubt after you."
"And if none of you happened to notice, his entire outfit was a single color," Gavin chimed in.
"Meaning he's one of the higher-ups," Kara mumbled, head lowered. She seemed troubled. "Probably their head dark-user."
Something about that statement struck a chord in Travis that unsettled him deeply. He had made physical contact with someone of that caliber and lived? In fact, he had single-handedly chased him off with one move. Was this why the Black Rose was after him?
"You're wondering why he came for you first, right?" Connor remained close to Travis, making an effort to settle him and make him comfortable. "Your pure light makes you very unique, with defining powers and even personality traits that are dangerous to the Black Rose."
Travis listened carefully. This information was important, he could tell, and it might have been the last time he would hear it. In his mind, wheels were turning and conclusions were being made, but questions remained. "So what about the other four elements?"
Connor flashed a toothy grin, probably at the fact that Travis was somewhat keeping up. "Fire, water, wind, and earth. But we'll get to those later. How do you feel?"
Travis huffed, remembering the fact that he had passed out not long ago after using some kind of crazy magic flash thingy. "I'm better now. What exactly did I do? To the Black Rose dude, I mean."
Connor paused and scratched his chin. "I think was was some sort of barrier," he guessed out loud. "But as to why it actually hurt that guy badly enough to run him off, your guess is as good as mine."
The room turned quiet, each of the four silenced in thought.
Connor lifted his hand, placing the back of his index finger on Travis' cheek and rubbed gently. "Babe, I'm so sorry I dragged you into this shit."
Travis instantly got butterflies in his stomach. He'd never been called that before. 'Babe', he rolled the title around in his head and withheld a grin, almost entirely ignoring the actual statement.
"As long as we're seeing each other, and as long as you have your powers, you're vulnerable." He let the statement settle before continuing, then forced himself to speak with visible effort, "If you want.... I can remove your powers...."
Travis listened intently, watching the husky's shifting, nervous gaze.
"...and I'll leave you alone forever." His shoulders and ears drooped.
Travis hesitated, expressionless, just staring. "Not a chance." He reached forward, gripping Connor's arm, and lunged forward, meeting his lips with a passionate kiss. He heard but ignored Gavin and Kara awkwardly sneaking out of the room. After a few seconds, he slowly pulled away, resting his forehead on Connor's and meeting his eyes. "You're stuck with me now," he smirked. "So we'd better start my training, right?"
Connor quickly grabbed Travis by the waist and pulled him forward, falling back on the bed so that they were stacked once again. He ran his fingers through the thick fur on his partner's back. "Sure, but first, we've got unfinished business." He lifted an arm to the side, and with a flicking motion of his finger, the bedroom door slammed shut.