by K J Carr
I couldn’t tell you how long we stood like this, but finally the tears slowed and my sounds quieted. I just stood, drained, between them. I kept my eyes closed and my face pressed into Ridwan’s chest.
“Nica.” Inias groaned softly. I had to turn to look at him, since I had never heard that tone from him. His face was wet, his eyes bright. Inias had cried with me? I glanced at Ridwan, catching him wiping his nose on his sleeve, his cheeks damp as well.
I began to understand why a Transitioner might need two trainers. It was not just about the fighting, but the emotional support they provided. They healed this moment for me better than anyone ever had.
Ridwan handed me a handkerchief. I stared at it blankly.
“It’s for your nose, Nica. I only have one, though.” There was a touch of laughter in his voice.
I wiped my face first before blowing into it. “I know that, stupid. It’s just something I expected Inias to carry, not you.”
A slight smile touched his lips. “Misconceptions. They will get you every time.” He chuckled briefly. “Well, my mother had made sure that the one thing I always carried was a handkerchief. I never got out of the habit.”
I looked down at the square of white cloth. “Interesting.” I looked back up at him. “I guess I will clean it before giving it back to you.”
“Please.” This time he was laughing at me.
We all broke apart, a feeling of awkwardness touching us suddenly.
“How’s your...” Inias started as I also stated, “TK said he…”
We both stopped and stared at each other, before Inias nodded slightly. “You first, Nica.”
I told them what T’Koran had told me, as well as about my encounter with the detectives.
Ridwan frowned, studying the ground. “We went by the site and didn’t see anything either. It looks like it was a suicide attempt and I would agree with the detectives, except…” He paused and then continued quickly. “I could feel the touch of daemon in that place. Nothing definite, but it was there. Which is troubling in and of itself.”
“Did anyone check the car?”
Ridwan and I turned towards Inias, confusion on our faces.
“If the daemon had gotten into the car, he could have caused the crash, either by disabling Marcus or the car itself. It then could have just ported out before it crashed. No one would have known any better.” Inias explained.
Ridwan’s face cleared and a determined look came over it. “I will go and check it now.” He turned and walked away, only teleporting after he had reached some of the shadows in the back parking lot.
Inias turned to me. “You should get inside, Nica. While daemons can still get to you there, the chances are a lot less likely. Achilah is a coward and typically goes for the easy solution most of the time. You being out here is easier.”
I nodded. “I needed fresh air, Inias. And TK was with me for a short while. I do need to check on Marcus, though.” I started walking to the entrance before stopping to turn back to face him. “Thank you. Both of you.”
“No thanks needed, Nica. We are here for you. Always.” Inias’s voice was soft, but I could still hear him clearly.
I nodded and made my way into the hospital to check on my brother.
Chapter 12
I wiped the sweat off my forehead and then smoothed my hand down my pants to get rid of the residual moisture. I needed to focus. Bringing up the wooden sword, I hesitantly moved into my defensive stance. Inias stood across from me, mirroring me, his body loose and ready to attack. Ridwan moved behind me and kicked my back leg out a little wider, pushing down a bit on my shoulders.
“You need a base to work from, Nica. A wider stance gives you that. Try to keep your muscles looser – you are much too tense right now.”
“Perhaps it is because he is going to hurt me,” I replied dryly. I mean, Inias was a master swordsman.
Ridwan shook his head, his long hair touching my cheeks. He needed to either cut it soon or bind it back since long hair was a liability in fights. My own was pulled tight and braided, the strands staying put for once.
“Not badly. You will recover.” His retort was accompanied with a snort. “Focus on the middle of his body. You are just blocking his attacks for now.” He stepped back out of the way.
I focused on Inias, feeling my attention spiral down to just his chest and abs. For once, there was nothing more than just that…my focus. I felt myself step into another plane in my mind. When Inias moved this time, it almost felt like he was in slow motion and my body moved to counter him.
Thud!
My sword met his and his eyes shot wide and then narrowed. He jabbed lower and then swung his sword around higher in a spiral. I watched, the movements telegraphing themselves to me and met him first low and then higher. I saw his eyes slip over my shoulder and I stepped slightly to my right, pivoting so that I could see both men. Ridwan moved to attack with his staff and I blocked that, swirling on the energy of the block to also block Inias’s thrust towards my abdomen.
It was easy. I didn’t wonder why, but moved to counteract each attack, almost like I was dancing with them. There was only a small part of my brain screaming “Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh, shit!” The rest just flowed with the sword dance, matching each of the blows with little effort.
Both men stopped, stunned. My eyes focused on them a second more before relaxing. I stood up straight at that moment, the meditative feeling leaving me, my breath suddenly heaving in my throat.
“What?” I croaked, lowering the sword slightly.
Ridwan shook his head and turned to look down at the ground. Inias stepped towards me, a frown marring his face.
“That was different, Nica. Can you tell us what happened?”
Since he had lowered his sword, I knew the session was over for the time being. I took in a deep breath and shook out my limbs.
“I was just doing what you said, Inias. What else?” Okay, I lied. I knew I lied. He knew I lied. Heck, anyone who watched that would have known I had lied.
Inias studied me for a moment, before throwing his sword in the air, causing it to disappear into the Void at it reached the top of its arc.
Thank god! We were done. I dropped the wooden sword before dropping to the ground with a grunt. For some reason, I was spending a lot of time on the ground when training with these guys.
Ridwan threw a towel at me, which I used to wipe my face before flopping onto my back and placing it over my eyes.
We were in the park near the hospital. I didn’t want to leave Marcus for long, but I knew I had to practice if what we suspected was going to occur. If Achilah was upping his attacks again, even if it was against my family and friends and not me specifically, I needed to be ready for him.
He wasn’t playing anymore. And I wasn’t willing to back away, since he was going after my family. That was at the top of my “Things one did not do” list. This sucker needed to die. And if not that, then I needed to hurt him badly.
“You met every attack I gave you and then was able to block both of us when Ridwan joined in.” Inias gracefully dropped down next to me, his legs crossed. I wished I could move like that, but generally, I just sprawled awkwardly.
He studied me. “You have never been able to do that. Not before today. In addition, your blocks were smooth and accurate. No faltering, no hesitation. You almost anticipated our every move.”
I thought back. “I don’t know, Inias.” I remembered that things had felt like time had slowed down and I had time to study what they were going to do and then take steps to counter it. “It was like I was in another space – a zone.”
The men looked at each other.
“In a zone?” Ridwan watched me closely, his voice slow and measured.
“Yeah. Hyper-focused, I guess. It seemed like you guys were moving in slow motion and I could almost see every move as you made it. Why?” Now I was getting a little nervous. Obviously, they hadn’t expected this. Another power? I laughed nervously.
“Interesting.” Inias looked at the ground, deep in thought. Ridwan just watched him, a slightly worried look on his face.
He suddenly turned back to me. “And you knew how to block each attack? Even with both of us?”
“Yes.” I frowned. “What is this about?”
Ridwan stared back at his partner, appearing as if he didn’t want to tell me. Inias sat, his body still, his face pensive, his eyes moving rapidly under his eyelids. He was staring at the ground, but I don’t think he saw it. I waited.
Finally, he sighed and looked up at me, pushing his pale hair away from his face in an unusual gesture. “I think you have just developed another power.”
Even I could hear the quotes around the word “power.”
“Wait, I didn’t think we developed more than one or two. How many is it now?” I stopped to count.
“Four, I think.” Ridwan jumped in.
“I suspect there are more you are not telling us about, as well.” Inias eyed me suspiciously.
I thought about El. Yeah, that. Putting an innocent look on my face, I pointed to my chest. “Who? Me?”
Inias just shook his head.
“Wow. That’s a lot, Nica. Who are you?” Ridwan’s voice was soft, the awe underneath the sarcasm coming through.
Inias stood up gracefully. I envied his ability to stand from sitting crossed leg. I myself still liked to have help to get up from the ground. He put out a hand, knowing this, smirking. Sighing, I grabbed it and he pulled me up to stand beside him.
As Ridwan popped up from the ground, Inias stated softly, “Better question, Ridwan, is ‘What is she?’”
I stared back at the two men.
∞∞∞
I should have known that this wouldn’t be the end of it. Developing powers was a huge thing for the Tennins.
As we pulled up in front of my house, I noticed Enoch sitting on my front stairs. He wasn’t as impeccably dressed as he usually was. Today, he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Of course, the jeans, even though having a worn look to them, were pressed into sharp creases. His T-shirt was crisp and clean, without any image on the front to advertise anything. I suspected it also had been ironed. My fingers itched to mess things up a little.
“Evening, Enoch. Not here to stay. Just grabbing a shower, a change of clothes and going back to the hospital.” I walked past him, climbing the stairs to open the door.
“Daemons were behind your brother’s accident.” His deep voice was quiet and yet the words seemed to ring out around me.
I froze, my back to him, my hand out to put the key in the lock. So, it was Achilah. And if not him directly, one of his henchmen. Bastard.
I unlocked the door and walked in, leaving it open for the others. I started up the stairs to my bedroom, listening to T’Koran scramble into the house after me.
Halfway up them, Enoch’s voice reverberated. “Did you hear what I said?”
I stopped, exhaling. I turned my head to look down at him. “Yes, I did. You said it was daemons. And that means Achilah was involved somehow. Thank you for the information.” I started back up the stairs towards my bedroom.
“He is coming for you, Nica.”
I waved a hand tiredly and disappeared into my bathroom. He always was.
I expected to see all of them when I came back down but there was only Enoch and Ridwan. Passing Ridwan as I went into the kitchen, I raised an eyebrow in question.
“Inias had to look into something.” Ridwan shrugged, his dark eyes not meeting mine. O-kay.
I pulled out some deli meats and cheeses, along with some veggies for TK, and filled a clean bowl with water. I wasn’t even sure when the next time I would be home. I would feed him while I am here, though. After putting them down, I turned to Enoch.
The man was large, taking up most of the two-person chair that matched my couch. Generally, he was military straight, sitting with his feet firmly on the ground, his back straight and his head up. Tonight, his legs were stretched out and he had slumped low enough in the chair that his head was against the back, red strands escaping his man-bun to fall against the top of the chair back.
His eyes were closed, so it must have been my footsteps that he was tracking. As if he knew I was facing him, he started speaking.
“Did you know that daemons originally had nothing to do with evil or demons, as many might call them? They were benign nature spirits. Some, though, became jealous of humans and their entities darkened.”
TK came out from eating, and squatted behind the chair, nodding.
“We used to not have a problem with them fighting with us or killing. They were just there – what one gets when someone famous dies, if they don’t become Tennin.”
I glanced down at TK’s head, wondering. “Who decides?”
“What?” Enoch opened one bright blue eye and looked up at me.
“Who decides if you become daemon or Tennin?” I slowly raised my gaze to his. He rubbed his eyes before sitting up.
“Each person does, to some extent. They choose not to become Tennin when given the choice.” His shrug was tired. “When they die, though, they don’t know what they want to do. They don’t have a firm belief one way or another. So, they don’t go the religious route, nor the general atheist one. They could just be reborn, but some of them don’t want that either. They become daemon.”
My eyes widen. “How is it determined what type of daemon they end up becoming?” I thought I knew but I wanted to hear him confirm this for me.
Enoch obliged. “Based on their souls. Good souls generally end up as lesser daemons these days.” With a flick of his head, he indicated TK, whom I didn’t think he knew was there. “Bad souls, jealous people; envious ones – they generally become greater daemons since they are more ambitious. Achilah was envious, particularly of his brother. He wanted to be a great general, but I think he had been indecisive when he was given the choice of staying human or Transitioning. He knew his brother had become Tennin and a little of what that meant. He ended up becoming daemon.”
Well, this I hadn’t quite expected. “And who was his brother?” Ridwan turned away from us and I watched him closely.
Still, Enoch’s answer startled me. “I am.”
Chapter 13
Enoch followed us out to the car. I had to get back to Marcus. I just couldn’t deal with him anymore today.
Especially since the asshole that was causing all my problems was his fucking brother.
I threw my keys at Ridwan and he snatched them out of the air. I opened the passenger door and then turned back towards the general. He stood a few steps behind me, his hands stuffed into his pockets, his face drawn.
“Your brother is trying to kill me, Enoch, but I am not going to go down without a fight. He needs to stop attacking my family. They are off-limits. Marcus, Kaitie – even those who work at the diner. They are all off limits.” My voice was controlled, given how angry I was at this point.
The giant man just nodded, his face hard to read.
“See if you can convey this to him.” I turned and slipped into the car seat, pulling the car door close hard enough for it to slam. “Asshat,” I finished under my breath.
Ridwan started the car and headed towards the hospital.
“You know he won’t stop, right?” Ridwan’s voice was mild.
I wanted to think that he was talking about Enoch, but I knew that wasn’t true. “I figured as much.”
“I think you should retire. Give rid of your day job. Start training with us more. Spend more time with your family.”
Shifting my body so my back was towards the door, I studied the man. He pointedly ignored me, so I was able to study the way he held his body, and how his eyes searched everywhere while staying focused on the road in front of him.
“You think he is coming for me, don’t you? That I don’t have much time left?”
He shrugged, only one shoulder going up before dropping again. “You may, or you may not. Why waste i
t working at that job? You have enough to retire. If you don’t, we can help with that. You don’t need medical care. You can heal most everything, albeit slowly. What you need is time with your loved ones, so you have no regrets when the time comes for you to Transition.”
I heard him, I really did, but my thoughts sort of stopped with the heal statement. Could I heal Marcus? I sat back thoughtfully.
Ridwan glanced at me and frowned. “No, Nica. You can’t waste energy healing your brother right now, even if you had that power. You need every bit of energy you have in case Achilah comes for you.”
I ignored him. Silly man; I knew what he was saying was true. Except perhaps I could heal Marcus just enough to move him from critical to he-will-survive. I rubbed my cheeks with my hands, wishing we were almost there.
“Damn it!” Ridwan quickly looked around and made a sudden right-hand turn.
“Hey!” I grabbed the oh-shit handle on my car roof. “Where the hell are you going?”
“I am not going to watch you try to save Marcus just to then have you die in a battle with Achilah soon after," he growled, driving swiftly down a side street. He spotted an empty spot and swerved into the parking space, slamming on his brakes.
He turned to me, his face dark. I don’t think I ever seen him this angry before. Scratch that – ever. He leaned towards me, his eyes dark and his voice low.
“We have not trained you just for you to throw your life away, Nica. You need your energy now. If you try to save Marcus, when he is already on the mend, you will die.”
My eyes widened, and I shrieked at him. “But he is not on the mend! He is in a coma!”
Ridwan’s eyes flickered for a moment and then he focused back on me. “He is not. He woke up a few moments ago. If you had not insisted on this stupid course of action, you would have been there in time to see him right after the doctors had finished assessing him. As of now, I won’t take you until you agree that you will not throw your life away. Because, believe me, there is no such thing as healing just a little.”