by T. S. Hall
The other soccer girls stood on the sidelines with their mouths wide open, and a couple of them even dropped their water bottles in reaction to the Olympic-grade performance of their newest senior member.
Tanya walked up next to Jenny. “Wow. She may even be better than you.”
Jenny turned, put her leg behind Tanya, and pushed the girl’s shoulder, causing her to fall over. “Nobody—and I mean nobody—is better than me,” Jenny said.
Allora was as amazed by Kim’s talent as everyone else, but her amazement changed to jealousy when she saw Tanner strutting over to the new girl.
“That was unreal!” Tanner said.
“Thanks, hotshot. You’re not so bad yourself.” As she said this, she gently stroked Tanner’s chest flirtatiously. Then she stood on her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made him blush. “Good luck tomorrow.”
Jenny watched the sensual exchange and erupted like a volcano. Since Coach Laurent was oblivious, too caught up in her chart of soccer drills, the furious captain charged past her and pounced on the unsuspecting new girl. She dragged her to the ground, and the two began pulling each other’s hair. Screams filled the area as the fight became more and more ruthless. Hair-pulling turned into biting and scratching.
When the entire soccer team took notice and started yelling and running over to the fight, Coach Laurent finally realized something was up. She managed to push her way through the crowd of students and tried to pull Kim and Jenny apart, but she couldn’t force either one to release her iron grip. Tanya and Nancy moved in to help with Jenny, while Tanner and Dax both tried to grab Kim. Allora made it through the horde just in time to see the two girls separated.
Coach Laurent scrambled to her feet and snapped her head back in disbelief. “What the hell is going on here? You two, my office… now!”
“Dude, you really know how to incite a riot, don’t ya?” he teased. “That was the best chick fight I’ve ever seen! Too bad I didn’t have my camera, ‘cause that shoulda been on the internet.”
“Shut up,” Tanner replied.
“Seriously, dude, you have a gift.”
“I hate you.”
“I’m just sayin’, you might wanna think about calling one of those talk shows—you know, the real trashy ones where the guy has, like, five girlfriends who don’t know about each other.”
As Dax continued to hassle his friend, Allora remembered an important message she was supposed to pass on to the other three. She grabbed her friends and pulled them to a spot on the green turf where no one could hear. “I forgot to tell you guys something,” she said. “Aunt May wants us to head up to the outer realm after were done here.”
“What for?” Tanner asked.
“I’m not really sure,” Allora answered. “She left a note on my bed saying she wants to speak with us.” Allora paused for a second. “We should probably meet with her. It might be important.”
After practice, they hiked through the forest to the portal and jumped through. The orchard had changed into the interior of a castle. The vaulted ceilings were over twenty feet high with beautifully carved wooden archways spaced throughout long corridors filled with weaponry of every sort. Swords, spears, bows, arrows, and more lined the stone walls. At the end of the hall Aunt May was sitting cross-legged in front of a large fireplace that housed a crackling fire. As they walked down the corridor, flames began to dance out from the fireplace. Each one licked along the stone floor, crawled up one of the pillars, and lit a candle, bringing light to the entire room.
“I get the feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Dax joked.
“Shut up,” Tanner said, well over his jokes by now.
When the teens were only a few feet from Aunt May, she got up and gazed at them, her eyes glistening orange from the firelight. “Thank you for coming.” She then moved away from the fire, walked between the others, and headed out into the corridor.
“Where are we?” Tanner asked.
Aunt May turned around to face them. “This is an outer realm copy of our weapons facility in the guardian base of Shangri-La. The reason I asked to see you all today is because I believe you are ready to be issued weapons. You will pick them from here, and I will get the physical copy from armory.”
They made their way to the middle of the grand hall, which split off in four directions. In every corridor, weapons were stacked against the walls, towers of arsenal much higher than their heads.
“Please spend some time with these and find the weapon that fits you best. I’m sure you already have some idea of the type of weapon that best suits you, so go on and take a look.”
With that, they all split up. Tanner found the section with the long swords. He walked down the hall and ran his hand along the cold steel blades of the swords hanging on the racks. He went past the Roman spatha, the European rapier, and the Scottish claymore. After a while, he stopped in front of a two-handed German long sword, a zweihander. The double-edged straight blade was forged from steel, and while such a sword would normally be eighty-five inches long and weigh fifteen pounds, the one Tanner found was a wee bit smaller, which made it far easier to use.
Katie wasn’t that much farther down the hall, and she’d discovered a Japanese katana. “Aunt May, can we pick out two weapons?” Katie asked.
“Yes, girl,” Aunt May said.
Katie pulled two swords from their sheaths. The single-edged, beautifully crafted, moderately curved swords glistened when she swung them in the air. She made fast, swooshing motions and then placed them back in their sheaths.
Dax was in a completely different hallway, looking at staffs. He made a pass through the entire row of them before he chose the one he liked best. When he found the perfect weapon, he picked it up and twirled it around in his hands. The ends of the staff were rounded, and the wood was smooth and surprisingly light. “Cool,” he muttered quietly.”
“That particular staff is made of a rare type of dogwood,” Aunt May said, catching Dax by surprise. Then, she headed toward the ranged weapons, where Allora was eyeing a composite bow that hung out of reach.
Suddenly, the bow lifted itself from the wall and fell into Allora’s arms. She looked to her left, then to her right and found that Aunt May was holding up her staff. “Hey! How did you do that?” Allora asked.
Aunt May smiled. “I will teach you when you get older.” She waved her staff, and a quiver of arrows appeared from down the hall, flying toward them. “These are especially efficient and strong, and they will fly true. They are made from hickory, and the feathers are that of a Bennu bird. It is said to possess the soul of the ancient Egyptian sun god, Ra. I think they’ll be perfect for you.”
“Thanks,” Allora said and collected the arrows when they fell at her feet.
The teens met back in the middle of the grand hall and excitedly showed one another their weapons, like little kids on Christmas morning. They were all very proud of their choices.
Aunt May let them reflect over their new gifts before she said, “Now that you have your weapons, I must tell you about their power. Each are old and once charmed by an ancient mage. These weapons are imbued with hadrons that will flow through you and back into your weapon. They can be very powerful, so you must use them wisely.” Aunt May went to a wide circle in the middle of the hall. “I will be gone for a little while, but you must continue your training without me. I will assess your progress when I return.” Then, just like that, she was sucked through the portal.
Seven
GAME
The first game of the season was always crazy. The entire town was quite fanatical when it came to Pioneer soccer, and everyone dressed from head to toe in the school colors, so the bleachers looked like a sea of red and white. The soccer players always had their jerseys on, and the cheerleaders wore their uniforms to school. The previous year, Sandy High School had made it to the semifinals of the state championships, only to be beaten in the last quarter by Lake Oswego.
Allora found Tanne
r in the parking lot leaning against his car and staring into the sky. “Hey, got a big game tonight.”
“Yeah, I guess,” he said, seemingly aloof.
“What’s going on?” Allora asked, leaning up next to him. “You’re usually ecstatic for game days.”
“I just don’t see the point,” he said, pushing off from the grill of the car, and shoving his hands in his pockets. “Before, are lives were here, and we were human.”
“You mean before my hands exploded.”
They both half-laughed painfully.
“But now it’s different,” Tanner said. “It made me think that there are more important things in life than kicking around a soccer ball.”
“I hear ya. I felt the same, but for some of those guys, this is the most important thing in their lives right now, and you’re still their captain.”
“You always did have a way with words,” Tanner said, putting his arm around Allora’s shoulder, and walked towards the field. “Heard you got setup duties. Beat up a few sophomores?”
“Yeah, Principal Winters wasn’t exactly understanding of the whole situation.”
They descended the concrete stairs next to the gym and stepped down onto the track. The field was completely surrounded by large trees, giving it an enclosed feel, and the far end was a slope of matted grass and dirt.
Katie was waiting for Allora down at the equipment closet next to the bleachers. She watched as Allora walked by with Tanner’s arm wrapped around her neck, before Tanner ran off to join his team for a pregame talk.
Allora didn’t smile back at her friend, who was giving her a huge grin. “Not a word,” she said, pointing at Katie.
Katie shrugged her shoulders. “What? I didn’t say a thing,” she replied, unable to wipe the know-it-all smile from her face.
The two of them went through the entire checklist Mrs. Mondrach had given them so they could fulfill the community service requirements of their punishment. She had gone over everything twice so they wouldn’t have any excuse for missing something or messing it up. When Mrs. Mondrach showed up an hour before the game, she was surprised and glad to see that they’d accomplished everything to her exact specifications. The signs had been made, the tables and chairs were placed perfectly, and all of the decorations were in their correct places. “Wow, girls, you did a great job. I’ll be sure to let Mrs. Winters know how fabulous you are,” Mrs. Mondrach said, then left to perform her pregame duties.
Allora and Katie found seats in the student section of the stands, at the edge of the running track. Slowly, students started to file in and fill the stands behind them. Allora watched as the cheerleaders practiced their splits, flips, and stances.
Eventually, the soccer players made their way into the locker room to listen to Coach Hale’s pregame pep talk.
The cheerleaders lined up across from each other, creating a corridor into the field. Four of them held up the sign Allora and Katie had made earlier that afternoon. About ten minutes before the start of the game, the Sandy High School Pioneers charged through the red double-doors from inside the locker room and crashed through the large paper banner. The crowd roared to life, and the deafening sound reverberated through the packed stadium.
At halftime, Allora stood, eager to find something else to do while the cheerleaders did their dance routine. “I’m going over to the concession stand for a drink. You want anything?”
“No, I’m good,” Katie responded.
Allora walked down the track, past the rambunctious junior high kids. Memories of being fourteen circulated through her mind. Her life had been so carefree back then, so much simpler, even if it had all seemed so important and significant while she was living it. She ordered a soda, paid for it, then moved to the exit, where a group of kids came screaming out of the woods, toward the stadium. Their parents rushed down the hill from their seats. Allora slowly walked past them so she could hear what they were saying.
One of the girls was crying uncontrollably, absolutely terrified, as she told her mother about a monster in the woods. Between gasps of fright, she kept repeating the same two words. “Red eyes, red eyes! It… it ha-had red eyes!”
As her mother tried to calm her down and carried her away, Allora thought about following them to find out more, but she figured that would be too suspicious. Instead, she rushed back to her seat, spilling soda all over her arm as she ran, and told Katie what had happened. As soon as she finished the story, the cheerleaders lined up, and the soccer players jogged out onto the field. Allora wanted to tell the boys, but Tanner and Dax had enough on their minds.
Tanner walked past her, looked up, and winked.
Allora giggled.
“Geesh. When are you finally going to admit that you like him?” Katie asked.
“Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Allora said.
Katie refused to let her friend off the hook that easily. “C’mon, Allora! I’m not blind. I see the way you two look at each other. It’s so obvious. He’s single now, you know. You should go for it before somebody else snatches him up.”
Just then, as if to prove Katie’s point, Tanner kicked a sixty-yard pass to Dax for a goal. The crowd exploded, but the two girls remained seated.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“When are you gonna stop lying to yourself and admit that you like him?”
Allora contemplated Katie’s words for a minute. Am I just lying to myself? She cared about him a lot, but she wasn’t sure if those feelings were changing into something more. All around her, people were cheering, but she hardly noticed because she was so entranced by her thoughts of Tanner. Deep down, she was scared to get hurt. She was strong when it came to most things, but love was the one exception.
“Nice goal, Dax!” Katie yelled over the crowd.
“Thanks, sis!” he yelled back, grinning.
At the end of the game, Allora and Katie stood in the middle of the field to wait for Tanner and Dax to come out of the locker room. The Pioneers had managed to secure the win in the fourth quarter, so the boys were exuberant as they strutted out onto the turf.
“See? I told you there was nothing to worry about,” Allora said.
Tanner gave her a half-smile. “Yeah, I’m just glad Dax didn’t go offside this time.”
Dax shoved him playfully.
All of a sudden, the stadium lights shut off. The four jumped, then laughed at each other for doing so. Darkness set in as the bulbs dimmed, the light turned orange, and then faded away. The entire field was empty of people, other than the four, and it was unnerving when a snap echoed from the woods surrounding the field. The four young Sonorans stared toward the edge of the trees.
Nothing happened for about a minute, but then two dark red eyes appeared between the trees, immediately reminding Allora of what the girl had been whining about to her mother earlier that evening. The eyes gradually grew bigger as their owner slowly made its way to the edge of the field. When something grabbed Tanner by the shoulder, causing him to spin around to attack, the other three screamed and took up their own battle stance, ready to pounce on the intruder.
In the next second, a dim green light flickered on, revealing that it was Kim. She had her cell phone out and was clutching it to her chest. When she finally caught her breath, she said, “Oh my God! You scared the crap out of me.”
“What are you doing here?” Allora demanded.
“I need a ride home, and everyone else already left to go up camping I guess? I saw you guys down here and thought maybe you could help me out.”
“We were actually heading up towards the mountain ourselves to camp on the quarry. It’s kind of a Pioneer tradition to have a school campout for upperclassmen after the first soccer game. You wanna join us?”
Allora nudged him slightly, forcing a smile at Kim.
“I appreciate the invite, but I’m going to have to pass. I should be getting home.”
They all turned back around to see if the red ey
es were still there, but they had vanished.
“Yeah, uh… I’m thinkin’ we should all probably get outta here as well,” Tanner said with a bit of urgency in his voice.
They all stole a few glances behind them while they walked to Tanner’s car. Dax called shotgun, as usual, which meant the three girls had to squeeze together in the back. Allora wasn’t too happy to be so close to Kim; she felt a weird vibe whenever she was around the girl.
Tanner pulled out of the school lot and onto the main road. “Uh, where do you live?” he asked a bit nervously.
“River Road,” Kim replied.
“That’s really close,” Tanner said.
“Yeah, like close enough to walk,” Allora snapped. She didn’t bother looking at Kim’s reaction to her comment.
Seconds later, the car pulled onto River Road, and Tanner drove all the way down to the end of the street. “Which one is it?” he asked.
“Stop,” Kim said when he approached a yellow, two-story house with hedges surrounding it. “We’re here.”
“Hey, isn’t this the Nelsons’ house?” Allora asked.
“Yep. They’re my grandparents,” Kim said, opening the car door, “on my mother’s side. Mom’s in Europe for work, so she asked me to stay with them for a while and take care of them. They’re kind of… old,” she said, then closed the door without even bothering to thank Tanner. She remained in the driveway and stared as the car rolled back toward the main road.
“That girl is strange, really strange,” Allora said.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Tanner defended. “She’s just new. I kinda like her.”
“Right,” Allora said. She wasn’t too happy with that, of course, but she didn’t want to argue with him. Instead, she quickly changed the subject. “So… what the hell was that thing in the woods?” she asked, lowering her voice as if mentioning it might somehow summon it to them.
“I don’t know, man, but whatever it was, it looked unnatural,” Dax said.