Read Ascension for Free Online Page A

put any defenses up.”
    “Defenses?” Laura asked.  “Like that?”
    “I don’t know.  All I know is that we have to be careful.  Expect the unexpected.  We don’t know what any of the torrial can do.  If the repository really is in that tower, who’s to say that there aren’t some sort of torrial set up that activate only when a Vassiz is near, and not a human?”
    “You’re right,” Laura said.  “We’ll have to be very careful.”

Chapter Five
    ~Watchers~
     
    Once Alexander had caught up to them, Logan explained the plan, as well as the potential danger.  Alexander took it all in stride, and even made the suggestion that he should be first to go since he was not being directly looked for by the elders.  Laura dismissed the idea.  Logan was the one who would go first, since he had already been there, and would see if he could find a way in.  Then he would return, letting both Laura and Alexander know whether or not he’d been successful.  If he had, they would all go on different routes, staggering their times so they would arrive at the tower one after the other.  And if not, well, then they would have to reassess their plans.
    When Logan left, Alexander and Laura both agreed to stake out the surroundings for any danger.  If they were careful, Laura thought they could avoid running into trouble, and perhaps prevent it in the future.   Laura set off on a small path to the right, while Alexander went left.
    The street Laura was on curved widely, and then straightened into a narrow bend.  Small alleyways and back passages stood behind nearly every building on either side.  Most of them were tight and littered with discarded trash, but Laura thought that in a pinch she could be able to get through.  She kept her eye constantly on the tower, making sure that she circled around it without getting much closer or further away.
    She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, exactly – just that anything suspicious needed to be regarded with the right amount of caution.  She kept to the sides of the street, using her speed to zip past any people who may have given her unwanted attention.   
    As she was looking around, she noticed one peculiarity about the area.  The buildings everywhere were marked with graffiti, though there was no consistency to any of it.  Except for one thing.  Every three of four buildings, she saw the same marking, repeated over and over again.  Compared to the rest of the tags, it was fresh, and painted with a superior hand.  It was a stylized marking of a fist, clutching two ends of a spear.  Although when looked at from a different perspective, it could have easily been two fangs ensnared by a serpent.  For some reason, that second interpretation made Laura uneasy.
    She returned to her starting point to find Alexander already waiting for her.
    “Where’s Logan?” she asked.
    “Not here yet,” Alexander replied.
    “Oh.  Well, did you see anything?”
    “A few things,” he answered.  “First, I’m now sure Logan was right about this being gang territory.”
    “How come?”
    “There was a marking,” he said.  “Over and over.  A snake, wrapped around two fangs.”
    “I saw it too,” Laura said.  “What do you think it means?”
    “Probably just the signage of a gang,” Alexander replied thoughtfully, “although something about it raised my hackles.”
    “You felt it too?” Laura asked.  “I thought it was just my imagination getting the better of me.”
    Alexander shook his head.  “Too much of a coincidence to be imagined.  If Logan’s right, and the repository really is in the tower, I’m sure the gang that rules here knows something about it.”
    “So what do we do?”
    “Try to attract as little attention to ourselves as possible.”
    “Do you think… the fangs… have something to with the Vassiz ?”
    Alexander exhaled.  “It could very well be.  Remember, there are Vassiz everywhere.  Many of them integrate themselves