Knight Flyers

by Ann McCune

  “Do I have a choice?” I thought of my dad’s Colt 1911 .45 as a monster that looked similar to a yeti came running at me. He, it was definitely a he, was tall, at least eight feet, covered with white shaggy fur, standing on two feet, with long arms dangling at his side. His eyes were small and black, matching his bearlike snout. He opened his mouth and roared at me. His mouth was covered in fangs made to rip flesh from bone.

  I pulled my weapon up, aimed at his head, and pulled the trigger. I hit him in the head, but the bullet didn’t stop him. Too bad he wasn’t a zombie, I thought to myself and started shooting at his knees. Hoping to slow him down. After three shots his right leg gave way beneath him, but he still hobbled toward me. I took aim at his left knee and pulled the trigger until it clicked empty. He was almost on me, I froze. He was going to kill me, and I was out of bullets. There was no way I would have time to conjure up another fully loaded clip, drop the empty one, and load the fresh one before he was on me.

  I started to panic, I wasn’t going to make it. I needed to think of something, but my brain could not move past my paralyzing fear. I finally broke out of my paralysis and thought of a sword that would take his head off. A sword was in my hand replacing the Colt in the next instant, but it was a flimsy fencing sword. I threw it at the beast and tried again to come up with a better weapon, but it was too late. A massive arm swung out toward my face and I screamed before everything went black.

  “Liz, you’re fine. Remember, it wasn’t a real monster.” I cracked my eyes open to look up at Shawn. My head was resting on his lap, he was looking down at me and pushed my hair out of my face.

  “What happened?” I sat up and crossed my legs, so I was facing Shawn.

  “I made him leave before he could touch you. You only passed out for a second.” He laced his hands together in his lap.

  “I’m sorry. I panicked.” I looked down at my legs.

  “You did great, but tell me what you were thinking when you ran out of bullets?”

  “That I didn’t have time to think of a full clip and reload before he got to me, then I froze in terror. My mind wouldn’t let me think of anything besides the fact he was going to kill me.”

  “But you were able to work through it, why did you think of a fencing sword?”

  I thought back. “I was scrambling for anything at that point.”

  “Do you understand what you did wrong now?”

  “I didn’t think of something specific, or when I did, it wasn’t what I needed to get the job done.”

  “Yep, all you had to do was imagine the clip full again and it would have been. Thinking generally of a weapon will never get you what you want. You need to think of the weapon with as much detail as possible. I think you are good with the guns because you know a lot about them. You’ve handled them and shot them. You need to look at pictures of other weapons, learn about them. If you can, try one out. We have a bunch at the house, but I’m not allowed to show you our training rooms.”

  “Okay, I’ll work on it. What do we do now?” I asked, not sure if I was ready to face another monster.

  “We can go again, or we can be done for the night. It was a lot.”

  “Let’s go again, I need to get this figured out.” I huffed out a breath and stretched my arms over my head.

  “OK, let’s start by thinking of a weapon that would have killed the monster.”

  I closed my eyes and thought about what might kill it. The mock-mare reminded me of a monster in an old Star Wars movie and I chuckled as I opened my eyes and looked down at the lightsaber in my hand. I pushed the button and brought the handle up to the middle of my chest.

  “Well, you do have an imagination,” Shawn laughed. “Should we see if it works?”

  “Let’s do it.” I wrapped my hands around the hilt and held it like a baseball bat.

  A moment later the mock-mare was back and running straight toward me. His mouth hung open showing me his razor-sharp teeth, he held his arms out like he was going to tackle me, and the claws on the end of his fingers sparkled in the light. I held my ground until he was in range then brought the lightsaber around and connected with his neck. His head went flying away from his body, but not before his claw dug into the skin on my arm and I screamed in pain.

  The mock-mare was gone in the next instant and Shawn’s arms were around me. “Are you alright? Why did you scream?”

  I brought my arm up for him to see “I wasn’t quick enough.” I laughed around the throbbing pain radiating up and down my arm.

  “Shit.” Shawn pulled away from me and pulled his shirt over his head. I felt myself blush despite the pain at seeing his pale skin stretched taut over his pectoral muscles and the eight pack on his stomach. “I’m sorry, Liz, I should have been quicker.” He tore his shirt in half then wrapped half of it around my arm as I grunted in pain.

  “How am I going to explain this to my parents?” I asked, fighting through the pain that changed from throbbing to burning.

  “This is a dream, it won’t be there when you wake up.” Shawn took me over to the wall and made me sit down.

  “It won’t?” It felt like it was going to be there when I woke up. “If this is just a dream then why does it hurt so bad?”

  “You’ve never gotten hurt in your dreams before?”

  I thought about it. “No, I guess I haven’t.”

  “Knight Flyers feel the pain, most people don’t, but we do.” He pulled me against his chest. “You did well against him, but we need to work on your fighting skills.” He kissed the top of my head and I relaxed into his chest, content to let him hold me.

  “I agree, if I can’t kill them with a gun, I need to learn to fight with weapons and hand-to-hand.” I let out a calming breath as the pain turned into a dull ache.

  “That’s why we are here.” He wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “When did you start training for this?” I asked, wondering how long it was going to take me to be as good as he was.

  “When I was ten, it was very different than what we are doing with you.”

  “Why?”

  “You already have the basics down. I started from scratch. The first thing I learned to do was control my dreamscape. I thought it would be easy when my dad told me what I needed to do. I had a good imagination as most ten-year-old’s do, but it took me a long time to figure out how to gain control over my dreams.”

  “Ten? Great, it’s going to take me years to be as good as you.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “No, it won’t. You already have the basics down, we just need to teach you how to fight, and manifest weapons. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were better than me before the summer is over. The best part is, my dad still doesn’t know about half the stuff I do.”

  “Are you talking about the padded room?”

  “Yes, it’s one of the things he never figured out. I have others, I’ll show you sometime, but not tonight, I’m too comfortable.” He yawned and squeezed me tighter.

  “Me too.” I closed my eyes and drifted.

  CHAPTER 28

  Shawn was right about the gash from the mock-mare. When I woke up in the morning there wasn’t even a scratch on my arm, thank God.

  Shawn brought the file on my bio-dad to me the next day and it felt like I was getting to know the man who donated part of his DNA to me.

  The file gave me his parents’ names, Iva, and Stephon Robinson, they were both Knights too. It didn’t say if they were still alive or where they were though. It listed his training scores, which I didn’t understand and that he was the youngest to ever complete the training program. It listed his mare kills over time. It didn’t give me an in-depth look at the man, but it made me proud. My bio-dad was badass. I made a copy of the file, so I could look at it whenever I wanted to and gave it back to Shawn. He needed to sneak it back into the file room before anyone knew it was missing.

  As the week passed I found a rhythm. I got up and went to school, then I would either go to work or go
home and study. Before I went to bed each night, I would look at Google images of weapons and do my best to memorize them. I looked at their specifications, and what they were used for. By the end of the week I could manifest three or four different swords. When I went to sleep, I spent my dreams training with either Shawn or Heather.

  Heather was still searching for a way to remove my mark and for any information on what the rune meant. I hid the fact I was terrified that each night I went to sleep, I didn’t know if I would wake up the next day. My goblin stalker had disappeared since I had been spending every night training with Heather and Shawn. I felt rested for the first time since I hit the moose and by Friday, I felt like I knew what I was doing.

  School dragged, everyone was excited for prom and no one wanted to be in class. Our history class would not be quiet, so our teacher gave up and let us talk about our plans for the upcoming weekend.

  “What are you doing tonight?” Shawn asked me.

  “My parents are making me stay home. They don’t want me getting too tired,” I moaned. “I think they don’t want me to have too much fun.”

  “Bummer, I was hoping we could hang out,” Billy said.

  “I could ask them if we could have a movie night. The new Avengers movie is out on pay-per-view.”

  “Could Jo come?” Billy asked, turning red.

  “If it’s okay with my parents, yeah.”

  “Well, let me know as soon as you can. I will run it by Jo as a maybe.”

  When the bell finally rang we gathered up our books and walked down the hallway together. “I’ll shoot my mom a text before I leave and let you know.”

  “Sounds good see you later.” Billy stopped at his locker while Shawn and I kept going to mine.

  “I hope your parents say it’s okay. I want to hang out with you in real time,” Shawn said.

  “Me too, they have been acting so weird since we started dating. I don’t get it.” I came to a stop in front of my locker and spun the dial before turning it to enter my combination.

  “You’re their only child, they are being overprotective from the new kid in town.” He deepened his voice and tried to sound like a bad boy.

  “I know, I just wish they would get over it already.” I opened my locker and put my history book in my pack. I grabbed my jacket and my pack then closed the locker.

  “My parents aren’t thrilled about us either.”

  “Because of my mark or because of Victor?” We walked down the hall toward his locker. “Because they think you are a distraction, which you are.” He turned and winked at me. “But I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

  “They should be happy though, we are only encouraged to date other Knight Flyers, there is less to explain, and it continues the bloodline.” He shrugged.

  “Isn’t it a little narrow-minded?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to his locker.

  “Yes, but I understand where they are coming from.” He spun the dial and shrugged. “If two Knights have a child there is a ninety percent chance it will be a Knight.”

  “Is that why you are dating me?” I was confused, his words did not sound like him.

  “No, I’m dating you because I like you. It doesn’t hurt you are one of us though.” He opened the locker and started moving things around.

  “Do you have to marry another Knight?”

  “If I want to stay part of the clan.” He pulled his backpack out and slung it over his shoulder. “One of my sister’s friends was kicked out because he eloped with a girl who was not part of the Flyers.

  “Is your dad in charge of the whole thing?” We started walking toward the main entrance.

  “No, he is only in charge of our clan. There are a bunch of other clans scattered across the globe who are fighting mares.”

  “Wow, so it’s a pretty big dating pool then.” He took my hand and squeezed.

  “I don’t need them when I have you.”

  “Since I’m not technically a Knight, you’re breaking the rules, I’ve got myself a bad boy.” I laughed to myself.

  “No, because your dad was one. You are safe even though my dad won’t let you join. He is being such a pain in the ass about it.”

  “It’s alright I have other plans anyway.” We reached my car and I turned to him. “I’ll send my mom a text as soon as I get in the Jeep and I’ll let you know about tonight.”

  “Okay.” He leaned in and brushed his lips across mine. I closed my eyes and moaned at his touch. I didn’t think I would ever get tired of him kissing me.

  Shawn’s phone started to ring, interrupting our kiss, so he pulled away and took his phone out of his pocket. “It’s Heather, I wonder why she’s calling.”

  I shrugged my shoulders as he pushed the answer button on the phone. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked.

  I hit the unlock button on my jeep, opened the door, and put my backpack on the passenger seat while listening in on his side of the conversation.

  “You did? That’s great. What does it say?”

  I turned to look at him with my eyebrows high in question.

  “What? Okay, I’ll see what she can do. I have to drop off the guys and I’ll let you know.” He hit the end button and looked up at me.

  “What?” I asked, barely containing my excitement.

  “Heather found something on the rune.”

  I blinked, letting his words sink in. Were we actually going to figure something out? “What?”

  “She wants to tell us in person. Can we come over after I drop everyone off?”

  “Yeah, of course. Did she give you a clue?”

  “No, but she sounded excited. Go home, we will meet you there as soon as we can.” He pulled me to him and gave me a quick kiss before turning and running over to his Jeep where everyone was waiting for him.

  I got into my Jeep, pulled my phone out and sent a text to my mom. It would take her a while to respond to me, so I drove home thinking about Shawn’s kisses and how many more there would be over the coming weekend.

  When I got home I put my backpack in my room and grabbed the tin with my bio-dad’s stuff and set it on the dining room table. I didn’t know when my parents were going to be home and I hoped they wouldn’t mind if Shawn and his sister came over. I knew they wouldn’t mind if it had been Billy, so I didn’t bother calling them. They were going to have to get over this double standard, or I would force them to.

  I heard cars pulling into the driveway and I ran to the door. I couldn’t wait to find out what Heather had. Shawn got out of his Jeep just as a Subaru parked behind him and Heather got out. I threw up a bit in my mouth at the sight of Heather driving a Subaru but pasted a smile on my face. I would talk to her later about her choice in cars.

  Shawn waited for Heather before they came to the door at a fast walk. “Hi, come on in,” I said, holding the door for them. After they took their shoes off and we went to the dining room and sat, Heather opened the book.

  “Okay, let me start by saying I am not the best at translating but I’m pretty sure the rune you have is an ancient weapon.” She pointed to a hand-drawn diagram on the page. There was text I didn’t understand around it.

  I picked up the stone by the thong and set it on the book, so we could compare the symbol. They matched, I could not believe she had found something that matched it so completely. “What do you mean an ancient weapon?” Shawn asked.

  “Well, if I’m reading this correctly. It says if the person who wears this is of pure heart and wants nothing but the best for humanity it will not only protect them from darkness, but it will aid them in their fight against it.” She looked up at me. “You said when you touched it, it felt like something was covering you in a protective bubble, right?”

  “Yeah, but when Shawn did, it burned him.” I looked from Shawn to Heather and my gut tightened. “If what you say is true then I am of pure heart and Shawn isn’t?” I didn’t want to think about what that meant.

  “No, I don’t think so.” Heather turne
d the page. “It also says once it has chosen its bearer, no one else will be able to use it until the said bearer has died or is given to another freely.”

  Shawn let out a relieved breath. “Thank God, I didn’t think I had any latent homicidal tendencies,” he said with a half-laugh.

  “I think we’re all relieved to hear that,” Heather said.

  “So, what do I do? Wear it when I go to sleep at night?” I asked.

  “It doesn’t say how it works, or what it will do, only it will help whoever wears it.” Heather touched the leather next to the rune.

  “Start wearing it. We will experiment on it next week with the goblin. See if we can figure out a way to make him back off,” Shawn said.

  I picked up the stone and looked at it for a second. As soon as my skin touched it I felt the soothing feeling wash over me again. I put the necklace over my head and under my shirt. “This is going to take some getting used to.” I closed my eyes and let out a sigh as all the stress and fear that had been plaguing me for the past few weeks evaporated.

  “Good, I have to go. See you guys tomorrow.” Heather got up and almost ran out of the house.

  “What now?” I asked, opening my eyes, and looking at Shawn. His expression made me melt.

  “You look so happy right now, I don’t know if I have ever seen you like this.”

  “Well you never saw me before all this crap started.”

  “I hope I will get to see more of it then.” He looked at his watch. “I have to get home but let me know if we are on for movie night.”

  “I will,” I said, walking him to the door.

  “Don’t worry, Liz, we are going to figure this out.” He leaned into me and kissed me quickly before leaving.

  CHAPTER 29

  I let out a deep breath and looked around the living room. There was an empty pizza box on the coffee table and empty cans of soda surrounding it. Billy and Jo were sitting next to each other on the couch, doing everything they could to keep from touching, while I was lying with my head in Shawn’s lap with my legs hanging over the arm of the love seat.