Battle of Forces

by Ali Vali

  “Who is she?” he asked in a whisper, even though they were far from where Asra practiced.

  “Piper Marmande is from New Orleans and someone Asra met on her recent trip back. Lenore hasn’t finished recording the full account, but from the rumors that filtered back to Rolla, Asra started a relationship with her after destroying Ora and Henri.”

  “So she’s a new plaything.”

  “Travis did hear from Rolla himself that she was almost a twin of some woman from Asra’s past.” Bailey appeared to look from Piper to the practice circle.

  Travis had been gone for weeks to keep Rolla happy and to warn them of any travel the old man planned. They’d been in Egypt most of the summer, and so far Rolla had shown no signs of suspicion.

  “Who are the older people and the woman with Asra?”

  “The couple is Miss Marmande’s grandparents, who raised her, and the woman is Hill Hickman, a friend of Miss Marmande.”

  “What are they doing here?”

  Piper stood up and leaned on the stone wall that surrounded the balcony. She was stunning as the sun broke through the clouds momentarily.

  “I really don’t know for sure, but I guess it’s because Asra likes them. This isn’t much different than what she’s done in the past. She finds playthings, like you said, and spends time with them.”

  “We have a starting point, then,” he said, and turned his face to the sun. He needed it to return to full strength. “Even if she plans to discard them eventually, I’ll help her do that. It’ll be my first favor for what she did to me.”

  The swordplay started again, so he watched to see if Asra had gotten any better during his time away. She faced off against a large black man and laughed as he engaged. Her style was the same, only smoother and quicker, as if she’d learned to economize her movements, and it didn’t take long for the man to lose his sword.

  “I’ll take it all from you. All this time and you’re still nothing but the Clan’s whore.” He spoke no louder than before, but she stopped the man before he struck her sword and seemed to look directly at Julius through the lenses. “Impossible,” he said, but she started walking in their direction and then ran.

  “What?” Bailey said, and his voice carried in the wind. Julius grabbed him and ran deeper into the woods to the road where they’d parked their vehicle. He didn’t look back, almost afraid he’d see her with her sword ready to strike his head from his shoulders.

  “Not yet. I’m too close.”

  *

  Kendal ran with Charlie, Hill, and Ming trying to keep up.

  “What’s wrong?” Charlie asked when Kendal stopped and studied the ground.

  “We had visitors.” She pointed to the tracks in the muddy ground that led to the woods. Whoever it was had left in a hurry and was fast enough to be long gone.

  “Something wicked is getting closer, my friend.”

  “It’ll find nothing but pain here,” Charlie said as Ming and Hill finally caught up.

  “Did you run track or something?” Hill asked, holding her side.

  “All this fresh damp air made me crave a sprint. Sorry I scared all of you.”

  “Are you sure that’s all? You ran like you were chasing someone,” Hill said, as Kendal walked them all back. “Do you want me to set up some surveillance equipment out here?”

  “The house has all the security necessary.” She liked Hill’s enthusiasm.

  “If it has any kind of alarm I haven’t seen any sign of it.”

  She smiled at Charlie and Ming, who knew the house was protected by a number of spells that kept out a majority of the things that roamed at night. The only way for them to enter was to be invited in, and no one was about to make that mistake.

  “It’s low-tech since we don’t get a lot of intruders. There’s a shotgun in every room. If anyone breaks in, feel free to open fire.”

  *

  “You want to go where?” Piper asked as she watched Kendal get dressed after her shower.

  “We haven’t been out of the house in days, and I don’t want your grandparents to get suspicious about anything. They’re starting to ask questions since all of us are reading our way through those stacks in the library and nothing else.” Kendal moved closer and put her arms around Piper. She’d listened carefully to why Kendal had run off with the others earlier, but it couldn’t have anything to do with her vision. Vampires didn’t prowl during the day.

  “You did understand what I said about what I saw today?” She looked up at Kendal, and the weight she felt like she was carrying around lightened when Kendal smiled, then kissed her. No matter what she saw, Kendal never appeared overly worried.

  “I understood, and I think Morgaine’s right. Your gift is growing, and you’ll get us close to the answers.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “I want you to try something new and then I’ll answer that.” Kendal finished buttoning her shirt and led her back to the bedroom.

  “If you tell me to relax like Lenore keeps telling me, I’m going to pinch you,” she threatened with a laugh. “And I might throw her off that balcony if I hear that one more time while all this gruesomeness is going through my head.”

  “I do plan to relax you, but before that I want to take you and your grandparents out to lunch and to look at some beautiful art to help you wipe away some of the ugliness you’ve been seeing lately. When I’m in a rut, a change of scenery helps me clear any blocks that prevent me from seeing something I missed.”

  While Kendal put her shoes on, Piper stood behind her and kissed her neck. “Are you a little worried? I’d feel better if I’m not the only one who’s freaked out about all this. If this loop that keeps playing over in my head is right, I’m going to lose you soon, and it’s making me nuts.”

  “I don’t want to sound like I’m not listening to you and don’t care what you’re going through, but I’ve always tried not to build up anything I’m facing more than I have to.”

  “So you use some kind of yoga you learned along the way to ignore the fear?” she asked as she slipped into Kendal’s lap. All the exercise had knocked a few pounds off Kendal and had started to make the muscles across her shoulders and arms more pronounced.

  “Yoga does keep me limber, but I’m not sure it’s ever made me ignore anything,” Kendal said. “It’s human nature to fear what we don’t know, but this time I know I’m not alone, so all I can do is wait and prepare.” Piper felt adored as Kendal looked at her and held her like she wanted to keep her safe. “No matter what, I’ll have you by my side.”

  “The thought of never seeing you again, or that someone would put you somewhere I’d never be able to find you…that terrifies me.”

  Kendal kissed above each of Piper’s eyes before she kissed her lips long enough to make her put her arms around her. Piper felt the tears form at the possibility of never having this again. If Kendal lost this fight it would be a slow death to know she was out there somewhere waiting for her, but finding her would be like finding one certain raindrop in a storm. The world was a big place with plenty of hiding spots.

  “I’m not saying this to make you crazy with more stress, but think of who you are now, and what gifts you’ve been given. If you don’t believe in your sight, then believe in the man who wrote about it so very long ago.” Kendal wiped Piper’s cheeks with her fingers and kissed her again. “I plan to walk with you for the rest of time, and I’ll enjoy every step because it’s you I’m with. If anyone ever separates us, then I have every faith in you to find me if it’s me in the darkness.”

  “You think it’d be that easy?”

  “As easy as it is to love you. That requires no thought, no work, and no hesitation because it’s engrained so deep, nothing will ever erase it.”

  *

  Mac and Molly appeared happy to be heading into town with them, even though they’d taken to country life like they’d been born to it. They were both tan and looked more fit from all the long walks they took every da
y, and the stable hands were happy to have them both come by for rides often.

  Kendal knew Mac spent a few hours on a video chat with the managers at Marmande conducting business from her office, and he seemed content with the progress they were making on all the projects they had going. It was a blessing; in the future if they had to travel, he’d realize he didn’t have to be there every second to keep an eye on things.

  After their talk, Piper seemed more relaxed as well and was content to sit pressed against Kendal as they drove into London. None of them seemed interested in small talk, so they gazed out the windows and watched the world go by in a blur.

  After lunch they entered the National Gallery and let Mac and Molly go their own way, having agreed on a meeting point a few hours later. Kendal led Piper to one of the galleries and walked slowly along the portraits and landscapes to make Piper concentrate on the colors and beauty instead of the images in her head. This was the only way she could think of to break the cycle that’d taken over Piper’s imagination, knowing it was only dragging her down into a despair that would swallow her whole.

  “There’s one more painting in this room I wanted you to see,” Kendal said as she guided Piper to the bench in front of it.

  “This one looks so sad but beautiful.” Piper looked at the old man fixing a tattered net as he sat next to a fishing boat. Whoever had painted it had used muted colors for the sea and sky, but they seemed to match the man’s outlook and mood, and she knew that without knowing anything about the artist or the canvas.

  “I sat for more than one afternoon and watched as the artist worked on this. He had a good eye for detail and the patience not to rush his work.” Kendal sat slightly behind Piper so she could hold her and whisper in her ear. It was like she was supporting her but not giving her a view of anything but the painting. “He was always waiting there with his easel and his paints, happy for whatever time the fisherman gave him.”

  As she stared at the painting, Piper again saw the room fade away as if she’d developed tunnel vision. It led to the past this time, and in her bones she knew something she’d fought so hard to find was waiting for her. “Kendal…” She said the name but Kendal was so far away, even though she could feel her right behind her.

  “Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Let it come to you, don’t chase it.”

  “They want to harm Gran and Pops.” The sight of the fangs sinking into their necks made her want to throw up. “I’m not just going to lose you.” She turned slightly and pressed her face to Kendal’s neck and cried. The vision had to have come because the old man in the painting reminded her of Mac, but the scene in her mind had been so real as he slumped lifeless and pale to the floor.

  “Piper, look at me, sweetheart.” Kendal pulled her away just far enough to gaze into her eyes. “The only way you’ll lose Mac or Molly will be years from now after they’ve lived a long and peaceful life. We can change the images you see.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Have you seen the clan’s compound again?”

  “No, but what does that matter now?” All she wanted to do was to run through this place and find her grandparents and flee. Maybe if they got far enough away from all this she could keep them safe.

  “That was your first vision after your gifts were awakened and you saw the trap they’d intended to set for me. We changed that by meeting with Rolla in London, and that vision hasn’t come to you again because he came to us as a friend, not a judge. We altered our movements, and because we did, we changed the outcome, so yes, I’m sure nothing you see is certain if we work together to change it.” Kendal placed her hands on the sides of Piper’s neck and almost forced her to focus on her face. “Once that happened your visions changed, and each one has let us glimpse a possibility, not the outcome. I’m as certain of that as I am in the love I have for you.”

  Piper nodded and focused on the painting again, ready to continue. “He loved the sea, didn’t he?”

  “The painter or the old man?”

  “The old man.” As she relaxed, her mind seemed to widen its view and she stood on the sand watching him work, trying to ignore the young man so interested in his craft that he wanted to preserve it in paint. “He’s been fishing all day and already sold his catch, so he’s getting ready for tomorrow. The painter, though, is just now getting started, and he’ll be here until he loses the light.”

  She closed her eyes when the wind picked up, bringing the smell of the salt water with it. This spot could’ve been anywhere and she couldn’t sense any danger around her, but it was nice to feel Kendal pressed up behind her. It was like she’d taken this journey back with her. “Miguel loved two things. He loved the sea and he loved that boat.” Kendal’s soft voice made her open her eyes and watch Miguel’s quick sure hands as he mended the net.

  “He loved three things actually, honey, because he loved you as well, or at least who you were back then.” Piper smiled at the faint footsteps Kendal had left over the tapestry of time, touching so many lives along the way.

  When he glanced up at her from his net, Piper knew instantly that Miguel loved his boat and the water it glided over, but he had no family left except for the young woman who helped him pull up his nets every day and helped him clean his catch in the afternoons.

  “What happened to his family? You’re the only thing holding the madness at losing them at bay.”

  “He lost them to an outbreak of the plague, and his guilt that he’d survived when they didn’t ate at him like a shark devouring a wounded fish. His three sons and his wife were all he had, aside from his boat, and when they died, I kept him from taking his boat out and drowning himself.”

  Piper heard the sad affection in Kendal’s voice for the broken soul she’d cared for. The painting might have been done in muted colors, but the sun was shining now and it was warm on her face and it stirred the seagulls into a lazy flight over the water. Miguel’s fingers, though old, worked the nets like a fine weaver making a tapestry, and he laughed at the teasing he was getting.

  “Tell me, Mari, do you believe in God?” Miguel asked in Spanish, but Piper understood him perfectly.

  “I’ve seen the devil too many times not to.” This voice she knew instantly, and she turned to look at the end of the dock where a barefoot Kendal sat on a crate watching the young man put paint on the canvas. Her skin was darker, from all the sun, Piper imagined, but the smile was always the same. “Now smile pretty so you don’t look like a crab when he’s done.”

  Miguel never glanced up from his work but he laughed at Kendal’s joke. Once they were done Piper knew they’d head to his small house for a plate of fish stew, then a drink at the tavern near the dock. As if she could read his mind, she also knew he admired Kendal as well because she never complained about the hard work and always paid for their drinks no matter how much he protested.

  His biggest fear was she would grow tired of his sadness and move on, and then he’d truly be alone, but that never came to pass, and he never questioned why she never changed while he grew feeble and so old that all he could do was sit and watch as she did all the work on the boat. On the day he was buried next to his family, Kendal was the only mourner there, but she’d ensured that even in death he hadn’t been alone.

  He worked the last knot into place and brought his knife out to cut the thread so they could get home to their meal. When he lifted his head he hesitated, turned in her direction, and looked right at Piper. “Thank her for me and tell her she was right. My family, they were waiting for me, and paradise is an endless sea of calm water and blue skies.”

  “I’ll tell her.”

  He nodded and stood to join the woman he knew as Mari. The artist was busy packing up his supplies and talking to her. Miguel turned again before he got too far away and put his finger up to get Piper’s attention. “Can I ask just you to do one more thing for me?”

  “Anything.”

  “Tell her it’s Julius. He’s waiting for the right ti
me, but he’ll stop at nothing to repay her for what wrongs he thinks she committed against him, and he’ll use the sword and the dragon to do it.”

  Piper did her best to keep her feet on that beach and the connection she had to Miguel. “How do you know all this?”

  “This is my way of repaying her for all she did for an old, sad man, Piper,” he said with a bright smile, and waved to her. “It makes me happy that she’s finally found you, but you must be ready and accept who you are to her and what position you have in her life. The dragon is about to awaken from its watery home and show its true power.”

  “Will she win?”

  “There is time, but you must use it wisely and find the key.”

  “The key to what?” she screamed, but he was gone, locked forever in the painting that came back into view. She still had a slew of unanswered questions, but she looked at Kendal, glad to have found another piece of the puzzle.

  “Julius.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Julius.” Kendal said the name, and it sounded strange to hear it after so many years. She knew immediately who Piper was talking about since she hadn’t known many with the same name in her lifetime. “That’s impossible.”

  “If he’s the Julius from the story you told me of when you got the Sea Serpent Sword, it would be impossible, considering the ending, but that’s not what Miguel told me.” Piper pointed to the painting. “I saw you back on that dock with him, and he talked to me.” Piper explained her vision and her conversation with Miguel.

  “I believe you, and it sends us in two different directions after the two very different things you’ve seen here. The vampires I could almost understand, but Julius makes no sense.” She held Piper while her mind raced. “The way Rolla carried out the punishment would make it impossible for anyone to find him unless everyone involved got together to free him. That means I would’ve had to have been one of the people, and you know that’s not true.”