by Sariah Skye
We had to stick relatively close to the house because the predators were wandering back in for the season, and they weren’t obviously familiar with Rhys or me yet. And even though Trystan was watching out for them, he didn’t want to risk it when we were distracted. We only had to be careful of the smaller critters, like fox and raccoons and larger herbivores like deer. It was strange though, being outside amongst all these woodland, forest creatures.
Xander was the one good with the weapons; with his expert agility it made him a good instructor. I was pretty familiar with his agility so, I approved of this… activity. Especially because in order to show me how to use them, he had to wrap himself around me and press against my body. I didn’t mind one bit.
Rhys was just milling about here and there, grumbling about how he wished he could be useful, how he was the most powerful sorcerer the world had ever seen, and he deserved better than this. Still, when Trystan grilled him about his comments, he just flashed an innocent smile and said nothing.
I’d finally changed into something of mine before going outside; a pair of sleek exercise leggings that were warmer than my regular ones, a long sleeved gray thermal Henley, and normal black sneakers. Normally I’d toss my hair up in a bun but that wind was cold… and it kept Xander’s lips from grazing over the side of my neck. Well, it slowed him down, anyhow.
Xander, however, was wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans. It was probably around fifty degrees, colder with the wind, and he was wearing a damn t-shirt and his body was still smoldering hot. I wondered if that was just an incubus thing? At least I’d not freeze to death in the frigid Minnesota winter ahead. I could just see it now… cuddled up in silk pajamas in thick blankets in front of the fireplace and big glasses of red wine… and a naked incubus on top of me. Or two. I slowly grinned at the prospect.
“Avie, you’re panting. What are you thinking about?” Xander crooned into my ear, and I shivered and tried not to melt into him—and doing a pretty poor job of it, as he positioned himself around me, one of the smaller stunners in one hand held in front of me, his rough cheek brushing against my chin so he could see what he was doing. Feeling a rush of horniness and hormones, I turned and carefully nibbled on his neck, inhaling his musky scent; a combination of stormy rain and some kind of spicy deodorant.
“Shit…” he muttered, as I watched his eyelids droop, along with the stunner he was holding. I giggled flirtatiously.
“Hey! Hanky-panky later! Time for shootin’!” Trystan called from across the lawn, laughing loudly.
“Shut up or I’ll shoot you, bird brain!” Xander taunted, and Trystan just rolled with wild laughter.
Ignoring him, Xander slid his right hand over mine, and pushed it against the stunner in his left hand, urging me to take the grip. “You’ve held a normal gun before? This is basically the same, except a lot more recoil.”
I nodded slowly. “Right. I’ve only shot one of those video game things so… yeah that’s the extent of my experience.”
“To be honest that’s how Bash learned too.” He sounded like he was kidding, but a sideways glance at his serious face told me he wasn’t. I snickered. “Okay, first you need to make sure your feet are planted firm on the ground and stagger them a little.”
“Like this?” I stepped one foot slightly forward, inadvertently causing my ass to bump his thighs.
“Goddammit,” he groaned. “It’s Sunday tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, baby,” I purred.
“Good.” He pretended to slap himself out of a haze. “Okay try to put as much weight as you can on your feet, because you will go flying if you don’t properly brace yourself.”
“How the hell did Swarthy manage to shoot one of these?” I asked incredulously.
“You get used to it. There’s a certain trick but you don’t figure it out until you’ve shot it a couple times.” Xander pried my hands apart and fixed them properly on the silver trigger and the handle. “Okay. Now we’re not going to bother aiming. You’re going to miss anyway, first time.”
“Who says?” I squinted my eyes at him.
He smiled knowingly, amusing me. “Okay, then. Pick a target.”
I scanned the yard before me; Rhys was currently engrossed in his garbage music player, and I grinned mischievously. “Should I?”
Xander followed my gaze and laughed loudly, startling the sorcerer. He winced and proceeded to slide behind Trystan.
There was a lone tree about two hundred feet away; its trunk was thick and the branches heavy with yellow leaves. “Will I hurt the tree if I aim for that?”
Xander snorted. “I don’t think either way you’ll hurt it, Ava.” I glowered at him thunderously. “Okay! I’m sorry, you just have no idea how much this thing kicks.”
Frowning, I stood up straighter, so my backside no longer rubbed against his thigh. “Don’t underestimate me, Jian Xiang. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
“It’s not you I underestimate; I overestimate the power of this weaponry.” I didn’t protest though when he turned his head and pecked my cheek. “Ready?” I nodded slightly. He lifted my hands slightly; the metal was cool and surprisingly light. “You might want to aim a little bit higher than your target—say that knot in the center of it? See that?”
“Yep,” I said, eyeing the black hole of the tree. I tipped my chin up gently.
“When you squeeze, it’ll be easier than you think. Almost like pressing a button instead of a trigger. Don’t be surprised.”
Rolling my eyes, I grunted. He kept his hands near mine, his feet were just behind me. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Determined to prove him wrong, I squinted at the bump on the tree, leaving one eye closed for better focus. Biting my lip, I started to squeeze the trigger and it shot instantly. I had barely moved it. The recoil was strong, as Xander said… but not as bad as I thought. I managed to stay on my feet more or less, and Xander’s hands were firmly on my waist as the bright white streaming light whizzed like a firecracker towards the tree, just nicking the side of the knot I was originally aiming for.
Xander’s mouth dropped open in awe. “Are you shitting me? Are you secretly some kind of Robin Hood or something?!”
“Told you not to underestimate me,” I said, poking him squarely in the chest.
“Okay, then. Try again, this time on your own.” His lips upturned in the corner in a smirk.
“Don’t.”
“What?” He asked innocently.
“That cocky, sexy-ass smirk. You’re trying to mess me up. Stop it!”
He fixed is face into an exaggerated frown. “Better?”
“Meh.” There wasn’t anything he could do to make himself look ugly. “Again?”
Xander nodded. “On your own now.” He stepped back; I shivered as a strong autumn breeze whisked through the clearing, suddenly really missing the warmth of his body.
Sighing, I lifted the stunner to my eye level again, and positioned my hands on the trigger. Now that I knew what to expect, it was much easier. I tilted my head slightly and lifted my hands a bit higher just like Xander had instructed. I squeezed again, the light rapidly shooting out but this time I was propelled backward off my feet. Xander was behind me in a flash and managed to break my fall.
I smiled innocently. “Oops.”
“Oops, maybe, but look.” He pointed, and the knot on the tree had a definite nick in its bark. “You actually hit it.”
“Told you,” I said triumphantly.
“That’s great! But,” Xander’s tone sobered. “You can’t easily walk around with that.” He had a couple other silver weapons nearby on the ground, and he walked over and eyed them thoughtfully. They were as large as a rifle or as small as a tiny water gun. To my dismay, he selected the smallest one and handed it to me.
I cocked a brow. “Really?”
He just grinned. “Trust me. Ever seen Men in Black?”
“Of course,” I said, like it should be obvious.
“Noisy cricket,”
he laughed. “Seriously don’t be fooled by size; sometimes the smaller—” I interrupted him by choking on a noisy laugh, thinking offensively dirty thoughts. He rolled his eyes, sighed in friendly exasperation, and continued.
“Sometimes it’s the smaller things that have the biggest punch.” His eyes roved over me, and he motioned a hand in my general direction. “I give to you, exhibit ‘A’.”
Giving him a mock scowl, I protested. “Hey. I’m not small. You are all just really, really…” my eyes hovered just under his waist, and he grinned widely, “…large.”
“Sometimes bigger is better though, yes?”
I jumped around, inadvertently pointing the tiny little stunner at Mathias who’d stealthily snuck up behind us. There was a playful upturn of his full lips on his otherwise brooding expression. Elbowing him gently, I just smirked.
“How’s it going?” He asked both Xander and I.
Xander let out a whistle. “She’s a damn sharpshooter. Hit her target on the second try.”
“Eh…” I pretended to shrug modestly. Secretly, I was happy to be good at something.
Mathias raised brow, looking impressed. “Really? With a stunner?”
“Yep. Now if she gets this one down, I think she’ll be good,” Xander said, motioning to the smaller one in my hand.
“Well,” Mathias said, folding his arms over the expanse of his chest, his fingers tucking under the opposite arms. “Let’s see what you got.”
“Great, I get to put on a show,” I muttered. “No pressure.”
“Just do what you did before, except two things,” Xander said. “One, this one hurts a lot, so please avoid any of us.” I laughed uncomfortably, because he wasn’t kidding. “Two, this one’s recoil is ten times worse. So…”
“So don’t kill anyone, and try to not fall on my ass. You drive a hard bargain, Jian,” I kidded. I blew out a tense breath and dug my feet into the ground. It was lighter, obviously, and easier to move and aim but his words freaked me out. Still… I’d give it my best shot.
Shut up, Ava… I scolded myself, a stupid grin on my face.
“Oh hell, she’s gonna shoot off our balls,” Mathias mused with a chuckle.
“I’d never do that. I use those,” I retorted, ignoring them as they both laughed. I clutched the weapon in both hands, getting my fingers in the right place, squinted, and took aim at the poor defenseless tree, but not before quickly scanning the area to make sure there were no random supes milling about. Satisfied there weren’t—not sure where Trystan or Rhys went off to—I sucked in a breath and pressed the trigger. My arms felt tense just before the shot fired, and I instinctively lifted the weapon up slightly as a bright orange and white orb of flame came flying out. In a flash, it singed the knot of the tree right in the center.
There was a metal clink that fell to the ground; Mathias stood there, open-mouthed. I didn’t notice before, distracted by his gorgeousness, that he had Excalibur sheathed at his waist. Apparently, he’d taken it out as I aimed, and dropped it to the ground.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, shaking his head in amazement.
I pretended to blow on the end of the “gun” like they did in Westerns and pretended to set it in a holster at my side.
“Well,” Xander said, clasping my shoulder. “At least that’s one thing we don’t have to worry about.” He did reach over and pry the weapon out of my hands, cocking some sort of clicky-thing as he did so. “Safety. This thing is pretty dangerous.”
“Remember when it didn’t have a safety?” Mathias asked, with an amused snort.
“Yeah, ask Bash to show you the scar on his leg sometime,” Xander said, nudging me.
“Ha. Charming.” I leaned over to grab the heavy hilt of the sword. I could lift it of course but it was very awkward. Besides the magic there was literally nothing special about it, except for the blue jewel that had been pried out of its hilt. Holding it before me, I hoped foolishly for something to happen—anything—but all I got was an arm cramp. I handed it back to Mathias, frowning, but he refused to take it. Sneering, I let the edge slump to the ground, and dragged it. “Well, at least maybe I can blast Arthur out of his castle with my Not-So-Noisy Cricket if nothing else.”
Mathias gave me a sympathetic smile. “If only it were that simple.”
Chuckling wryly, I agreed. “Truth.”
“Well I’m afraid what I have next for you isn’t as fun as shooting things,” Mathias said, draping an arm over my shoulders. “It’s stabbing things.”
“Oh? That doesn’t sound so bad.” I walked with them through the clearing, nearing the barn, when a beautiful, graceful doe came darting from the woods. Her ears were pinned back, and while I couldn’t read the thoughts of animals like Trystan, she definitely seemed scared.
And she had every right to be, when a large black bear—not the tamer Sammy, but a new one I didn’t recognize, came barreling out of the woods, hot on her heels.
I gasped, Mathias pushed me behind him protectively as the bear roared. The doe actually slowed down as it neared, maybe sensing safety in us, and the bear continued rolling towards us.
“Shit, where the hell is Trystan when you need him?” Xander groused, “Or even that damn sorcerer.”
Mathias rose his hands, palms outward. He was tense. He had a somewhat of a camaraderie with bears, supposedly, seeing as how he lived amongst them for a while during his long life. But, this bear stopped in his tracks, eyed him carefully and snarled after a moment.
“This is not one of ours,” Mathias observed. “How did he get in here?” I wanted to ask how he could tell but it made little difference; a bear was a bear.
“I don’t know,” Xander breathed out tensely. “But, I’m open to suggestions here.”
The metal hilt gripped in my hand began to tingle. It was very slight and almost easily missed, but maybe it was a sign. Swallowing thickly, I stepped out from behind them reluctantly, clutching the hilt in both hands, and raising it—albeit cumbersomely, but I did.
“Ava—you can’t—” Mathias began, panicking, but Xander set a hand on his arm.
“I’ve underestimated her before. Just… let her.” He said softly, and I nodded gratefully. Reluctantly, the two of them stepped back only slightly as I put myself in between the poor, terrified deer and the hungry carnivore.
The bear growled, swiping out a paw before he began charging at us—the doe and I—again. I raised the sword higher—high as I could and glared. “Stop it!” I yelled, for little good it would do.
“Ava…” Mathias’ voice trembled in fear, and I just nodded to the side. I heard the unmistakable sound of electricity thrumming, and I knew that Xander had summoned his lightning just in case.
Excalibur tingled beneath my hands, a little stronger this time, so I raised it a bit higher, raised my head a bit taller. “Go away!”
“This is madness, I—”
“Mathias! Enough!” Xander scolded.
Sensing my aggressiveness, the bear began to charge again. The sword under my hands turned from a tingle to more of a burning sensation. I winced, pulling one hand away slightly, shaking it out. In doing so, I’d lowered my posture and the sword some. The bear slowed down.
“Maybe…” I said thoughtfully, letting the sword fall to about waist-height. I could feel the panic radiating off Mathias in waves. I slowly lowered the sword completely to the ground and stood with my palms raised. “Not gonna hurt you, big guy. Just… leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone.”
The bear stopped mid-gait. The poor doe next to me still trembled; terrified.
He eyed us one more time, let out a growl… and turned and ran back the way he came.
“The hell?” Mathias said.
I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the poor deer. She was sickly and weak and didn’t fight it when I reached out to gently stroke the back of her neck.
“Um, Ava?” Xander said quietly.
“What?” I glanced up at him briefly, not wanting t
o take my eyes off the poor doe.
“Look,” he whispered, pointing. I tracked the direction of his finger and about fell over.
Excalibur, still on the ground, was radiating a faint gold glow. “What the—” I began, and turned towards the sword, leaning over to gingerly pick it up.
The second my hand touched the hilt it exploded into a brilliant golden light. The metal heated, and from the hilt the golden sheen emanated and spread over the length, through the tip; it totally reminded me of a Star Wars lightsaber. The hilt grew hot, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, in fact it felt like the summer sun on the beach. Before I knew it, the golden light stretched from the metal of the sword up my arm, tingling and sparking my appendages before skirting up and down my body, until both the sword and I were completely surrounded in the brilliant gold light. Suddenly, even though I was holding it in only one hand the weight lessened, and I was able to move it effortlessly.
“By the gods…” Mathias muttered; I couldn’t even see him or Xander for that matter. All I could see was gold.
I beamed as bright as the sword, swooping it back and forth in the air to get a feel for it. The light began to fade after a moment and seemed to suck back into the hilt, but not before edging the brand new, shiny silver sword with perfectly formed gold, up to its hilt, and swirled in the spot where the blue jewel once lay until it formed a brand-new stone. In purple of course. “No, fucking, way!” An inscription of runes appeared brightly on the blade’s surface and faded. At first, I didn’t recognize it but as I mouthed the words, it came to me. “Sometimes the difference between war and peace is knowing when to drop the sword.”
“English please,” Xander prompted, still open-mouthed and completely in awe.
“You mean I didn’t speak it?” I asked, confused.
“No, it was Avalonian.” A third voice spoke behind me, I swiveled around to see Rhys had appeared behind me, grinning widely.
“Congratulations, Avalon… you just unlocked the magic of Excalibur.”
Chapter Twenty-Six