The Sowing (The Torch Keeper) by Steven dos Santos Page A

to the cause.
    I would have done the same for him.
    Finding the nearest ladder, I hoisted myself up the rusting rungs, slid open the manhole cover, and peered both ways to make sure no one was looking before crawling out into the snow. The refreshing coolness of the flakes was welcome, ridding me of the stench of the sewers. I opened my mouth, relishing the wetness against my dry tongue.
    I figured I’d better get moving, if I was going to have time to reach my contact at the port and make arrangements to get Cole and myself away from this hellhole.
    The grate squeaked behind me, followed by soft footfalls on the snow-covered cobblestones. I spun. A figure loomed in the alley behind me, eclipsing me with its long shadow.
    “It’s me, mate.” Micajah stepped forward, his smoldering charcoal eyes cooled to ash. “I called to you before, but I guess you didn’t hear me.” He half-chuckled. “I figured someone better make sure the Torch Keeper didn’t get lost on his way home.”
    I studied the moon hovering through the mottled skies. “Sorry. Lot on my mind.”
    “It’s a lot to ask of someone. I understand.”
    I shot him a look brimming with all my frustration and confusion. “Do you really ?”
    He held my gaze without so much as a blink. “You think you’re the only one who’s had to make difficult decisions? I thought the Torch Keeper was made of stronger stuff than that.” He whirled, his hair coming loose and whipping behind him, his torch cutting a flaming rainbow through the gloom before he slammed it into the packed snow and snuffed it out. Then he ignored me and tromped through the side streets.
    I plowed through the maze of alleys after him. “Wait a minute. Who the hell do you think you are, turning your back on me? Hold up! Are you listening to me? Stop or I’ll—”
    He stopped at last, under a torn awning swaying in the wind. “What are you going to do, arrest me, Imposer, Sir ?”
    Our eyes met and held for a moment.
    Then his face, stoic up until then, trembled with effort and he broke at last into a chuckle and a lopsided grin. “Now there’s the fire I’ve heard so much about.”
    I sighed. “Yeah, well, keep it up and you’re liable to get burned.” I glanced around the corner. “I think I can find my way from here.”
    I turned to go, but he reached out and hooked my arm. “Wait,” he said. “I know how hard this is for you. I want you to have this.” He thrust a little pouch into my fist. “Maybe this will help make things easier.”
    I opened the pouch and dumped the contents into my palm. I exhaled a cloud of misty breath.
    Three yellow pills. Three more doses of GX07.
    Ones that had been meant for Micajah and his crew.
    He was willing to sacrifice his own safety, and that of two of his comrades, to ease my conscience.
    I shook my head. “I don’t think your team would approve, and I don’t need to give Preshea another reason to hate me.”
    “She doesn’t hate you, mate. She’s just a little overprotective of me. We had something going once, but it didn’t work out. She was too afraid of getting close and losing someone else. Hurt like hell, but I eventually forced myself to move on and connected with Rafé—”
    “The same Rafé that married Digory?”
    He grinned, but I couldn’t help notice the dew in his eyes. “Very same bloke. I mean, I know it wasn’t a romantic thing between those two. Still, took its toll on us. Ended even before Rafé carked it during the Trials.” He shrugged. “Guess meeting the right girl or bloke isn’t in the Deity’s plan for me. Love is a luxury when there’s war on the horizon.”
    “ I can’t take this.” I pushed the pills back into the pouch and tried to give it back.
    But Micajah engulfed my trembling hands with his warm large ones, curling my fingers closed around the antidote. “It’ll keep the other trainees safe, and you focused. I’m sure you’ll figure out a clever way to get the blocker into their