Tillie stared at Kara Plummer in that moment. But the cold truth was standing there in front of her. Mocking her relentlessly. Trying to chip away at her armored confidence.
“I would rather die despising every one of you with the fiber of my being as a witch. On my feet. Fighting every one of you stupid fuckers with my last dying breath—right before I blow all of you to kingdom come.” She spat out with cold defiance.
Instead of getting angry, the Kara found her verbal jousting to be utterly refreshing from one so young.
“Come now, child. You are outnumbered. You have been betrayed by one of your own kind. Dropped into my waiting lap. You have nowhere to turn—having only come a short way. And would you like to know why? It was so much easier to lure you out into the open if we leaked word of an attack on the whole city proper.
“And all we had to do is lay the right trap with the right bait.” Kara laughed to herself.
“I’ve had worse days.” Tillie told her with unswerving bravery. “But you still won’t win.”
The woman looked at her.
“You must be deaf as well as blind. You are outnumbered. Surrounded. You cannot escape me.” She emphasized harshly.
The girl smirked. “Escape was never my plan. I had to get away long enough to formulate a counter strategy. See, in the long term, it was you that I wanted to see up close and personal. My mom and I figured someone was calling the shots, but for the life of me, I never once expected carefully orchestrated treachery from one of our own kind.”
Kara stared at her. “Oh really? Are we talking about Ms. Dietrich over there?” She ventured guardedly.
The girl shook her head.
“Ashley was a good High Witch in her day, but she chose to side with the forces of darkness. No, I was talking about you.”
“What about me?”
“That you are one of us. A magical familiar. A witch. Possibly a dragon shifter by the looks of things—but those were just rumors stoked by the terrified few. Your victims if I’m not mistaken.” She dangled the Dragon’s Tear in front of her as a prize.
“That’s why you’ve been searching for this little trinket. Because it alone has the power to turn you into what you’ve always wanted the most—to free you of your human existence. The chains which bind you.”
Kara Plummer nodded mostly to herself. “It seems as though you are more intelligent than I was led to believe. You will make a most interesting prize for the Supreme Chancellor—after I relieve you of your own suffering.”
Tillie giggled maniacally. “You think I want you to relieve me of what was forced upon me at such a young age? You must think so highly of yourself as to believe you are fucking worthy of Susha’s power.”
“And you’re just a little girl who is about to try my last bit of patience,” she snapped. “I didn’t come here to be dragged into a sparring match with you. I came here to take you all prisoner and bring you back to base. And I will carry out my orders to the fullest—with or without your cooperation.”
Tillie hung back a bit in that instant—her cloak billowing in the soft breeze.
“Then prepare to get your collective armored butts kicked.” She announced boldly. “Because I’m not going anywhere this evening.”
“So foolish. So naïve. So…very unfortunate,” the woman murmured sadly. Then nodded.
“Very well. If it is a death you wish so badly. Then it is a death I will grant willingly.” Turning around, Kara raised her hand and walked away.
“On my mark—fire.” She called out to her personal army of soldiers.
Dozens of weapons snapped up, along with the myriad of gun arms from the hover control bots.
Tillie stepped back in that moment, calling up one of her spell incantations.
A Gatling gun appeared in her hands—the central massive barrel gleaming in the light.
There was a moment of laughter coming from the crowd of soldiers which clearly affected their ability to fire at that time. Kara turned in that moment and stared at what she was facing down.
“Oh, you must be a comedian if you think that archaic thing can hurt us.” She said with a chuckle.
Tillie stood her ground while her mother and friends took a few much needed steps back. Clearly, they knew something she didn’t.
The girl shrugged in response. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Don’t forget: I am a witch. And I can make anything into a plausible reality. Like Bruno here for example.” She said—patting her weapon of choice affectionately. “See? I even had his name stamped on the side.”
The other woman sighed in visible exasperation.
“Clearly I’m dealing with an idiot. Very well.” She said with a nod. “Open fire!”
Her men did so in that instant, the whole street filling up with murderous rounds of kinetic energy and caseless shells that exploded all around Tillie Gunderson but didn’t even get the chance to even touch her.
And this went on for a full minute while the others chose to duck and cover—even Ashley Dietrich herself.
The soldiers pressed on their attack even though everything was now hitting an energy shield which had projected itself three feet in front of the barrel of the Gatling gun itself.
Kara was clearly enraged by what was going on and ordered her regiment to cease fire.
“Cute trick,” she seethed. “An anti-energy shield.”
“Projectile, actually.” Tillie returned evenly. “Would you like to see what I can do? I haven’t had the time to do a road test on Bruno fully against live targets—at home. But if your men would kindly stand still for three seconds, I can return the favor.”
“And what makes you think I’ll let you do that?”
Tillie stood there for a second and then nodded. “Okay. Plan B it is.”
Getting down on one knee, she aimed her weapon skyward for a second—while hitting a magical trigger on the side. In seconds, the skies above her filled with red targeting sights which homed in on every soldier or hover control bot on the street.
Behind her, Alicia covered her ears as she waited for the moment when her daughter would let loose with her own specialized ordinance. Charlie looked up, but she smacked him down and told him to stay down.
“Last chance. Then I fire.” The girl warned every trooper within spitting distance of her weapon.
Kara Plummer couldn’t very well dismiss what was going to happen next so easily either—especially since she had a magical red target on her chest as well.
Whether it was survival which won out in the end, or valor—the woman ordered her troops to stand down.
“You win the day.” She said in a tight voice. Looking at her men, she whistled for them to retreat from the scene of the crime.
They started filing out as quickly as possible, while the girl kept her position locked down. She wasn’t about to move from her spot until the very last soldier, the very last trooper, or personnel carrier vanished from her sight.
Then she stood up and aimed her weapon ever so casually at Ashley Dietrich herself.
“I should shoot you where you stand for betraying us to the enemy.” The girl said with no uncertain terms. “But I think you should live to fight another day. So if I were you, I’d go before I changed my mind.”
The spy (or double agent) hesitated for a second—clearly not sure what to do next.
Tillie waggled her Gatling gun a little more in her general direction for emphasis.
“I didn’t get a chance to test out Bruno on the armies of the Third Watch, but a ten second burst from my gun will reduce you to scraps. It’s your choice of course.”
Ashley nodded slowly—before backing away at a snail’s pace.
“There will be a reckoning. Mark my words. I will get what I was paid for.”
“Naturally.” Tillie offered up in casual agreement. “Now go.”
The woman did so—vanishing into the cool evening of the night—before she extinguished her magical incantations and along with it—?
Her gu
n.
Taking a deep breath, she called out to the rest of her party.
“Okay, guys. Crisis is over. We can continue unmolested to the high rise.” She said.
“That was a pretty risky game you played right there,” her mother said—emerging from her makeshift shelter. The rest followed suit—with Charlie all grins to show for it.
“Damn…!” he breathed in wonder. “You should have popped off when you did. I would have loved to see their reactions up close and personal.”
Tillie giggled. “But not before blowing everyone’s eardrums out from the concussive blast waves.” She informed him sweetly. “What I was about to launch wasn’t going to be pretty.”
“We know.” Her mother said, before leaning over to give her daughter a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
“But you did exceptionally well back there and your dad would have approved wholeheartedly.”
“It was dad’s training which paid off handsomely.” Tillie reminded her as they resumed their walk down the now deserted—and open—streets.
“The Dragon’s Tear was a prize they couldn’t pass up. And I knew the second I took possession of it, someone would come sniffing.” She said solemnly.
“I’m just sorry it had to be Ashley.”
Her mother nodded somberly. “She chose her own path. Like so many before her.” She said. “It’s not for us to judge whether or not it was the right thing to do in the end.”
“I suppose not,” the young woman offered with a nod of her own. “But I’m glad tonight didn’t end in a bloodbath. What a mess that would have been…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The Crossroad
“—grab what you can. And only what’s needed.” Her mother called out as they entered their still lit apartment suite—the lights overhead flickering back and forth.
The party had managed to make it to the apartment high rise, but they were greeted by devastation and destruction as a good corner chunk of it had been taken out—rightly so—by a well timed missile strike.
The entire lobby level had been destroyed and gutted by fire. But their luck held as they made their way to the emergency stairs which miraculously came through intact in the rear.
Reggie and another guardsmen elected to remain outside the building—along with the two scouts—and one spotter.
Tillie bolted for the kitchen table in the dining room area for her abandoned backpack and she ran into the bathroom to grab her medication and a few other things greatly missed since this unfortunate fiasco got started.
But they managed to evade any more patrols on the way in—possibly because Captain Kara Plummer told them not to engage.
Nobody was going to risk a confrontation on that assumption, so they still played things by ear.
Coming out of the bathroom, the girl was met by her mother who palmed her the magical codex into her waiting hand.
“This is better safe with you than me, sweetie,” the woman said. “It may not have any high value with the armies of the Third Watch, but it could be useful for you as an adept.”
Tillie stared at the long hexahedron-like object in wonder.
“What is this?”
“Something belonging to the High Sorcerer. From his personal library. I do not know what it contains. But if I were to guess, it’s going to be something special.” Alicia explained. “Now put it in one of your pocket compartments and guard it well.”
Tillie opened the second compartment in her pack and dropped it in—the thing making a slightly heavy thud on its way to the bottom—and she zipped it shut.
“Good and good.” She announced. “I’m going to grab a few clean things for me to change into—because I haven’t had the time to change out of my clothes since two days ago.”
“Before you do that, take a shower. The tank still runs on its own portable generator, so you should be able to get some hot water out of the deal.”
The teenage girl stared at her mother with frank disbelief.
“Mom…I don’t think we have time. What if anyone other than us shows up and I’m standing around in a towel?”
“Take a shower.” Alicia implored. “You’ll feel much better afterwards.”
Tillie nodded and took her pack into the bathroom again while her mother grabbed a couple of her late husband‘s gunny sacks and started to fill them with much needed provisions, dry stuff, two emergency flare kits from under the sink and some of her own things that she knew she couldn‘t part with on such short notice.
With the other sack, she filled it with some spell books of her daughter’s which were still on the living room table and went into her room for her very own collection which she knew would be invaluable for the road ahead. These tomes were pocket-sized for her convenience—so they would take up less space.
She dropped them into their very own carrying case as she listened as the shower water came on in the bathroom ten minutes later—before she knocked on the door and asked if she could come in.
“It’s okay! I’m in the shower!” Tillie called out to her mother as she briefly opened the door and saw her daughter’s profile obscured by the shower door for a second before she grabbed her dirty clothes off the floor and her cloak off the back of the toilet tank and stepped out.
Knowing that there wouldn’t be any time to wash them, the woman went into her daughter’s room and turned on the overhead light again and went straight for her vanity dresser and started pulling out a fresh change of clothes and then going for another clean cloak in the closet.
She took the dirty clothes and put them in the unused clothes hamper by the stand in closet and the cloak as well. Then she stepped out, turned off the overhead light—heading back to the bathroom—where she knocked again lightly.
“Honey? It’s me. I’m coming in.” She announced once more—opening the door while carrying her load in one arm.
Steam billowed out almost immediately she went in. So she hurried as quickly as she could—putting her clothes on the covered toilet seat while she hung the cloak on the door’s bathroom hook.
“How are things going?” She hollered over the noise of running water.
“Splendid! God I miss this feeling!” The girl responded happily.
“You know you could have showered while we were at the women’s mission.” Her mother calmly pointed out.
“Yeah, but I showered the night before you came into my hotel room!” Tillie said in a loud voice—before she slid open the shower door a bit to peek her head out.
Her hair was already shampooed into a nice and healthy lather while the girl was busy rubbing the stinging suds out of her eyes and flicking the remnants back into the tub.
“Besides…they didn’t have the right kind of shampoo that I liked.” She demurred, bending over for a moment to grab her favorite bottle and showing it to her.
“See?”
“So you risked not taking a shower on the account of lacking the right kind of shampoo?” Her mother laughed. “What would Charlie say on that account if you and him were to get together at some point?”
“Mom…” the girl muttered with some heartfelt exasperation. “Charlie is Charlie. I don’t mind the fact that he smells of cheap cologne and marijuana.”
“You knew?” Her mother said, before taking a seat in the spare high chair in the corner of the large bathroom.
The girl giggled. “Hard not to when he’s standing right next to you while the head manager was making that call at the kiosk terminal.”
“But I don’t want you to be smelling…you know…ripe most of the time because you decided to blow off bathing. I know how you get when you’re anywhere’s near a bathroom.”
Tillie nodded sheepishly before ducking back into the shower to wash the shampoo out of her long hair.
“I know!” she called out then. “But I’m still working at it! You must know that in the next few days a bath will be a definite luxury if and when we engage the enemy again!”
Alicia nodded�
��still bothered by that fact. Or by the fact that Ashley Dietrich showed up so conveniently after she disappeared a few days before the city was overrun by the armies of the Third Watch.
What made her decide to throw in with their sworn enemy like that? She asked herself—wondering if that was the same path they must all take in order to survive?
There were still so many pieces of the puzzle that needed to be filled in and addressed, but the woman didn’t think they would get to it all in the time they had left.
Not if that device is still scheduled to go off. She quietly reasoned to herself.
“Still…it would be better if you were clean while doing it.”
“I doubt my girlish BO is going to be strong enough to kill a whole platoon of troopers—not like some of the guys I used to know before everything went to hell in a hand basket.” Tillie threw out in quiet support.
“Your father would disagree.” Alicia chuckled to herself. “You used to hate baths growing up. Made it virtually impossible to keep you clean. You said you loved playing in the dirt with your toy trucks and dolls more than keeping clean and you didn’t care who knew it.” She paused for a moment, then added: “Your grandmother was very put off by that fact.”
“Grandma Nina was always strong in the belief that I would turn out to be some fairytale princess in my books—even before I became a witch in training.” Tillie said while washing the rest of herself clean of all the soap and body wash.
“But I always thought of myself as that little tomboy I remember seeing in that old Style magazine which you always left around the house.”
“—to which you wanted me to style your hair after. I can’t believe you wanted me to cut down all of your tresses of brown hair which took me forever to grow out for the family photo.” Alicia remarked with great unhappiness.
“My choice.” Tillie returned evenly—before shutting off the water and then asking for a towel to dry herself off with from behind the shower door.
Getting up from her assigned seat, Alicia picked one off from a wire rack above the toilet and handed it to her through the partially open door.
“Thanks, mom!” Tillie called out in a bubbly tone of voice.
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