Free Black dawn by Lisa J. Smith Page B

motion, like Mag gie's grandmother gutting a salmon, opened a gash on his wrist.
     
    Five-year-old
Delos
didn't flinch or make a sound. His golden eyes were fixed on his father's face as blood dripped onto the floor.
     
    "I don't think this is a good idea," the old teacher said. "The blue fire isn't meant to be used like this, and it damages his arm every time he does it=
    "Now," the king interrupted, ignoring him and speaking to the child for the first time. "Show me how strong you are, son. Turn the blue fire on ..." He glanced up deliberately at the teacher. "Let's say-him."
     
    "Majesty!" The old man gasped, backing against the wall.
     
    The golden eyes were wide and afraid.
     
    "Do it!" the king said sharply, and when the little boy shook his head mutely, he closed his hand on one small shoulder. Maggie could see his fingers tighten painfully. "Do what I tell you. Now!"
    Delos
turned his wide golden eyes on the old man, who was now shrinking and babbling , his trembling hands held up as if to ward off a blow.
     
    The king changed his grip, lifted the boy's arm.
     
    "Now, brat! Now!"
    Blue fire erupted. It poured in a continuous stream like the water from a high-power fire hose. It struck the old man and spreadeagled him against the wall, his eyes and mouth open with horror. And then there was no old man. There was only a shad owy silhouette made of ashes.
     
    "Interesting," the king said, dropping the boy's arm. His anger had disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Actually, I thought there would be more power. I thought it might take out the wall."
     
    "Give him time." The woman's voice was slightly thick, and she was swallowing over and over.
     
    "Well, no matter what, hell be useful." The king turned to look at the others in the room. "Remem ber-all of you. A time of darkness is coming. The end of the millennium means the end of the world. But whatever happens outside, this kingdom is going to survive."
     
    Throughout all of this, the little boy sat and stared at the place where the old man had been. His eyes were wide, the pupils huge and fixed. His face was white, but without expression.
     
    Maggie struggled to breathe.
     
    That's-that's the most terrible thing I've ever seen. She could hardly get the words of her thought out. They made you kill your teacher-he made you do it. Your father. She didn't know what to say. She turned blindly, trying to find
Delos
himself in this strange landscape, trying to talk to him directly. She wanted to look at him, to hold him. To comfort him. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you had to grow up like that.
     
    Don't be stupid, he said. I grew up to be strong. That's what counts.
     
    You grew up without anyone loving you, Maggie said.
     
    He sent a thought like ice. Love is for weak peo ple. It's a delusion. And it can be deadly.
     
    Maggie didn't know how to answer. She wanted to shake him. All that stuff about the end of the millennium and the end of the world-what did that mean?
    Exactly what it sounded like,
Delos
said briefly. The prophecies are coming true. The world o f hu mans is about to end in blood and darkness. And then the Night People are going to rule again.
     
    And that's why they turned a five-year-old into a lethal weapon? Maggie wondered. The thought wasn't for
Delos
, but she could feel that he heard it.
     
    I am what I was meant to be, he said. And I don't want to be anything else.
     
    Are you sure? Maggie looked around. Although she couldn't have described what she was doing, she knew what it was. She was looking for something ... something to prove to him ...
     
    A scene flashed in the crystal.
     
    The boy
Delos
was eight. He stood in front of a pile of boulders, rocks the size of small cars. His father stood behind him.
     
    "Now!"
    As soon as the king spoke, the boy lifted his arm. Blue fire flashed. A boulder exploded, disinte grating into atoms.
     
    Again!
    Another rock shattered.
     
    "More power! You're not trying. You're useless!" The