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  Blind

  Hero

  An Atramento Novel

  Nix Whittaker

  Reshwity Publishers

  https://reshwity.wixsite.com/publishing

  © 2016 by Nicola Pike

  This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical facts, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

  This book is written in my native English so if you are American, you might notice more U’s and less Z’s but that is as intended. Also, a warning to those who love the oxford comma, you might see less of those as well.

  This book was previously published as Blind Leading.

  Other books by Nix Whittaker

  Atramento Series

  Halcyon’s Hero

  Betrayed Hero

  Hidden Hero

  Wyvern Chronicles

  Blazing Blunderbuss

  The Mechanicals

  Wyvern’s Trim and other stories

  The Jade Dragon

  Ruby Beyond Compare

  Wyvern Mysteries

  Lady Golden Hand

  The White Lady

  Lady Doctor

  Kitsune Shapeshifter Series

  Zero Foxes Given

  Preface

  The world ending wasn’t what people expected. They knew global warming was an issue, although they thought it would get hotter and people would scorch. The scientists knew better. They knew everything was connected. People had become complacent in their blinkered world. Even in their most conservative model, scientists predicted a world thrown into chaos and anarchy never known before.

  What they predicted came true. First came food shortages and economic breakdown that cascaded through countries at an alarming rate. Any currency pretty much turned into fancy toilet paper, and whole governments crumbled while the basis of their own little worlds disappeared. War descended as people thought they could do a better job or were just plain greedy and wanted what the former leaders had.

  Then there were refugees, fleeing ahead of war, famine and drought. This of course put pressure on countries, and nationalism reared its ugly head in the worst way. Wars erupted in almost every country, leaving nowhere to hide from the turmoil.

  And like a fierce fire, the war and chaos burnt itself out. Eventually.

  Then the ashes fell and the world sighed with exhaustion. The people were finally able to build a semblance of society. Some scientists had managed to construct a weather shield that created stable climate in localised areas. Instead of selling it, they gave it to what was left of the world.

  This was the start of the City States, and life went on.

  Prologue

  Edge April 2091

  The tower twisted and spiralled all the way up to a flower bud of a platform. Megan wasn’t sure what she felt about the finished structure. The tower was the first building she had designed and built and it was finished.

  Her father was at the top of the tower. He was placing in the Weather Shield plant he had given to Natasha a few years before.

  She loved the tower. It was a dream come literally true. Yet she still didn’t know what to feel about the completed edifice. She had thought she would be happy. There was a sense of pride, but strangely happiness eluded her.

  Her father yelled from the top and she went to the elevator and rode it to the top.

  There were smaller rooms all the way which could be used for official business and there was also a lookout platform near the top. The top was dedicated to one thing only and because of security no one was allowed up there without permission.

  There was already a crowd up there. Natasha and Warren were huddled together whispering to each other. Even though they had been married for a while they still acted like newlyweds. Natasha was tall and elegant. Her dark brown looks complimented Megan’s brother who had black hair. His skin tone a shade darker than his wife’s. Though he didn’t care much about his appearance he still was a fine figure as he had good genetics and no matter how much he spent with books he still looked like he had spent a whole summer in the sun.

  Megan waved the scissors they needed to cut the ribbon and said eagerly, “I have them.”

  Her father smiled warmly at her. Natasha’s Dad, Sergei, shook his head as he said, “Do we need to go through the ceremony? I mean there is only family here.”

  Sergei included her father and her because Warren was married to Natasha. Sergei had accepted her easily which was an eerie feeling.

  People all thought the Nasser family was strange as they didn’t try to fit into the mould the city had created for their academic nobility. Warren had run away to Edge, a small town on the edges of the larger city.

  To be honest all of them had left, though, like her it wasn’t very far away.

  Edge was a short trip from the city. The small town was where the water desalination plant was situated, which Sergei and his brother had started. The plant supplied the city with most of its water. Sergei had built it here because it was his wife’s home. He could have built it nearer to the city. But his wife’s needs were more important.

  Megan understood why Sergei had stayed and built here. Edge was a good place. Megan wasn’t sure if it was for her. One thing she did know was she could make it something special.

  With the shield plant being placed, there would soon be a biological dome over the small town which would protect it from the weather. People jumped to invest in the place, but she thought Warren and Natasha, who owned all the land in Edge might have a say.

  Megan depended on it. They would stipulate she had to be the architect on anything built here. They wouldn’t regret it.

  Megan handed the scissors to her father as she said to Sergei, “It’s more about appearances. After today Edge will be an autonomous town separate from the city.”

  Sergei snorted. “Don’t say things like that.”

  Natasha laughed. “I see the panicked officials have been bugging you again, Dad.”

  Sergei waved off her words and huffed. “I have supplied water to the city for over thirty years. I have no plans to stop now.”

  Natasha patted his shoulder. “But you can charge more. Use the money to build more infrastructure.”

  Sergei waved that off as well. “We have money enough.”

  He was right. The city had set aside taxes from the water, only Sergei hadn’t had access to the bulk of it as it needed a Bioware chip and Sergei hated excessive technology. He had traded the past years’ taxes for all the land in Edge. He was a scarred man who had been too many days in the full weather of their climate crisis. He didn’t have wrinkles, he had crags. Whole mountain ranges carved his face.

  Megan smiled at him. “Trust me, Sergei, I can spend all the money you can find.”

  Her father laughed at the look on Sergei’s face, which changed to a frown when he realised she was joking.

  Sergei got his own back when he asked, “I hear that boy Noah is interested in you.”

  Megan blushed. Noah had asked her out last night. She was eighteen and this was her first date. Noah was also very good looking, but he made her nervous. She still wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  Natasha smacked Sergei. “Leave it alone, Dad. It’s young love.”

  Megan sighed. They weren’t going to leave it alone anytime soon.

  Nasser guided her away from the others. Not that would keep this conversation private. Her father, like Warren had good genes and though he was ancient in her eyes he had an ageless quality that made him seem older and young at the same time.


  Her father frowned down at her. “I know you lost your mother when you were young. I’m not very good at this kind of conversation.”

  Megan blushed as she realised her father was trying to give her the speech about the birds and the bees.

  She caught his arm to stop him. “It’s alright, Dad. I know what happens between a boy and a girl.”

  She was friends with Freya and Hal. They were sometimes very graphic when they spoke about anatomy, but it had meant when she had wanted to know things, they had been clear and factual with her. She had not done more than kiss a boy, but she knew how it all went.

  Chapter One

  Edge June 2097

  Natasha and Megan sat in companionable silence as they drove through the desert which surrounded the city. Natasha had found an interesting complex and Megan had come out to help her gather whatever she had found of worth. Hopefully there would be some materials for her current project.

  Megan had started on her last project, now the weather shield was almost completely grown. The Edge was fully equipped with facilities and infrastructure and was being quickly filled with artists and scientists who were tired of the elitism in the city.

  The Shield Tower had been her first project, but there wasn’t much architecture in building a tower. So, though it was pretty, it wasn’t very challenging. The tower was delicate and proclaimed its history of the world and reflected the new world they lived in but it was still just a tower. Megan was quite proud of how she had incorporated found stuff and twisted it into the main structure. The tower was more art than architecture.

  At the moment she was working on a mansion which overlooked the whole town. She was thinking of making it her home but she hadn’t made up her mind yet and there was always a place for her at her brother’s home.

  Megan was glad Natasha had asked her to come out today as she had been a little bored with her work. The builders knew what they were doing and didn’t need her input anymore. She would have thought she would have had more passion for her own home, but there seemed to be something missing.

  She perked up when she saw the ruins Natasha had found. The structure appeared like it had once been a large hexagonal structure, but it was almost completely covered in sand. She knew of a building like this and whooped in excitement. Natasha gave her a glance out of the corner of her eye as she drove up to the building.

  Megan drawled back. “What? I’m excited. You just found a storage site for servers.”

  Natasha looked astonished and asked, “Do you think they are still working?”

  Megan said, “Probably, if they weren’t water damaged.”

  Which was a possibility. The Wildlands might be desert now but in the early days there had been flood after flood in this valley. That was what happened when the ground became hydrophobic and the world went to custard because of climate change.

  This was a find of a lifetime and the chance to increase the web with some intact servers was priceless.

  During the wars, the web had disintegrated. Most people believed the internet was in one place. The internet was spread across the world in servers.

  When large search engine companies were destroyed most people had trouble finding things which had been commonplace before climate change. The internet had disappeared for years until the city states had risen. They had resurrected the internet and it was a mere shadow of what it had been before. With every server found and refurbished knowledge was added to the internet which had been lost.

  If this was a server farm, they could be sitting on a treasure worthy of King Solomon’s mines.

  When the truck stopped Megan hopped out. She picked up a sign lying in the dust. She turned it so Natasha could see.

  “Look, look it’s the place.” Megan bounced on her toes with excitement. She really didn’t feel like the twenty-one-year-old she actually was in light of this discovery.

  She didn’t wait for Natasha but went towards the building. Natasha had already been out here last week to make sure it was safe. But Megan could see it was already in a stable condition. Her Architect eye sized up the structure with expertise in a mere instant. There weren’t going to be any surprises with roofs falling down or walls collapsing.

  She had studied the layout of this particular server farm when she had studied to be an architect. Back then it had been at the height of technology in its day. The building had used solar farms to power it and was green in design.

  She ran to the room which was the most likely to hold undamaged servers and whistled at what she found. Large boxes, covered in glass fronts hid panels and wires, stood like soldiers. It appeared the servers were in a good condition though covered in dust.

  She had worked with Natasha enough; they settled into a rhythm without having to talk much. Megan worked to free a server and Natasha lugged them outside to the large truck bed.

  Megan gathered up her tools to go on to the next server when she heard something. Her atramentos enhanced her senses, making them highly sensitive to even the smallest sound. She knew there was a person in the other room. She could tell from the soft rustling and scuff of footsteps which gave the person away.

  She picked up a wrench and palmed it as she moved as quietly as possible through the servers. She heard the sound again. It came from a room off the server room. She moved through into the other room.

  The room had light pouring into it as it was open to the elements where the window had caved in and taken a part of the wall down. She blinked as her eyes swiftly became used to the flood of illumination.

  She saw the man crouched over something with his back to her. He seemed to be collecting up some blankets. He didn’t carry weapons so it was unlikely he was one of the raiders. Though he was dressed in military fatigues. She cleared her throat and the man stilled.

  He slowly stood up and turned around. He had dark skin like her own, but not quite the same. He had scars as well which were picked up by the shadows cast by the sunlight streaming into the room. They crisscrossed his chest in a clear sign he had been tortured.

  But that wasn’t what caught her attention. It was his eyes. Instead of having dark warm brown eyes as his skin dictated, they were milky white. He was blind.

  He asked, “Who is there?”

  He had a slight accent that placed him from the islands. She took a gulp of air as she took in the vulnerability of the man and said softly, “Over here.”

  He turned to look at her. Well, he turned his face towards her as clearly, he was blind.

  She lowered the wrench; he wasn’t going to be any danger to her.

  “I’m Megan. Who are you?”

  He seemed wary and she didn’t blame him. There were plenty of people here in the Wildlands who would take advantage of a loner like this with such a clear weakness.

  He had a strong build and he was a tall man. But he ducked down a little to minimise his height. He must be used to having to minimise his presence so not to intimidate people with his sheer size. That would probably change. Which told her he couldn’t have been blind for very long.

  His voice was soft as he said, “Toa.”

  She smiled. She would get him out of his shell. “Well, Toa it’s your lucky day. If you help us move something, we will give you food and a place to stay.”

  Toa hesitated and she reassured him. “It’s just me and Natasha. Two girls. Surely you aren’t afraid of two girls.”

  He thought about it for a moment longer before he nodded his head and then motioned to his eyes. “I don’t know how much help I can be.”

  Megan shrugged and then realised he wouldn’t be able to see the gesture and said, “This just needs brute strength and we will guide you.”

  Toa definitely had the muscles to move the servers around the back of the truck. She shamelessly checked out his figure outlined by the green shirt he wore.

  Megan was cautious as she reached out. She didn’t want to spook him. He flinched when she laid her hand on his arm, but otherwise didn’t react. />
  Megan’s voice was soft. “Nothing to worry about. I’m just a little bit of a thing.”

  Her voice tipped into amusement at the end. Her brother had always teased her about her height and her growth spurt had never happened.

  She slid her hand down to his and brought it up to her cheek so he could see she wasn’t lying.

  Toa seemed to relax a little and his fingers brushed at the strands of her hair before he dropped his hand. She caught it and led him out into the room with the servers.

  She called out with more than just a hint of amusement in her voice. “Hey, Natasha look what I found. I think we should keep him.”

  Natasha’s voice echoed back to them. “I hope it’s a puppy. I always wanted a puppy.”

  ___

  Toa trembled, but it was more to do with hunger than fearing what was to happen. He hadn’t eaten in days. He could have walked straight past a feast and he wouldn’t have known it.

  He stumbled after the woman. Though he wasn’t sure if she was a woman as she barely came up to his shoulder. She seemed sure enough of herself; he believed she was all grown up.

  He wasn’t sure what the two women were doing out in the Wildlands. The area was dangerous. Not only were there raiders out here who killed anyone for what little they had but there were also bullies who called themselves soldiers. Death would be a kind thing if they were caught by soldiers.

  Toa should know. He had been one of them though he had never involved himself in what the others had called sport.

  The woman dragged him through a room which didn’t echo so it must be filled with things. She pulled on his arm with the confidence he would follow. Though if he really wanted to, he could easily pull her back. He thought about this for a second. In the past, he had used his strength to intimidate and to hurt others. Now he was blind, he didn’t want to use his strength anymore. His physique hadn’t been able to save him.

  Toa bumped into large, tall towers of things made of metal and plastic. Smooth glass fronts were mostly intact.