Mortal Obligation (22 page)

“Good, good. Spread your awareness as much as you can,” Sophie said.

Ree gritted her teeth, not sure she could answer. To say it was difficult to keep the ball moving in its orbit over their heads while anticipating Sophie's movements was an understatement.

“C’mon, Ree. Talk to me or we will start singing, or reciting poetry,” Sophie demanded. She took her teacher position very seriously. “I've always been fond of William Blake. Do you know his poem, ‘Night’?”

It was all Ree could do to keep up, let alone talk. “I . . . do . . . not . . . want . . . to drop . . . the . . . ball . . . on . . . your . . . head.” She stepped around a stone bench and barely missed being hit by the older woman’s outstretched fingers.

“It is a muscle. The more we use it, the stronger it becomes,” Sophie said.

“Fine . . . I . . . prefer . . . ‘The Tiger’,” Ree panted.

“Ah yes. ‘Tiger, Tiger, burning bright,’” Sophie said, swinging her arm at Ree’s head.

“‘In . . . the forests . . . of the . . . .’” Ree stumbled on a root and had to scurry to stay out of the Guardian’s reach. “‘Night.’”

The glass globe felt like it weighed a hundred pounds at this point, and she was beginning to tire. Sophie jumped over the bench and gave her a little push. If she had the time or energy she might have called her something mean, but as it was she didn't have the energy to expend. She kept moving, the ball making figure eights in the air.

Sophie merely smiled and kept coming at her. “‘What immortal hand or eye,’” the Guardian continued.

Ree kept stepping backwards, and the dance continued near the fountain. At one point she realized she was getting rather close to the cold water in the pool surrounding the fountain. Sophie had a serious glint in her eye, and Ree suspected she was going to up the ante. She tried to step away from the fountain, but Sophie kept pushing her back. “Could . . . frame . . . thy fearful . . . symmetry,’” she said through gritted teeth.

“‘In what distant deeps or skies,’” Sophie continued, “‘Burnt the fire of thine eyes?’”

Ree’s foot hit the edge of the fountain and her attention snapped toward the cold water. She did not want to take a frozen bath. Just before Sophie could reach over and push her shoulder, she panicked and threw the ball at the tall woman. The Guardian ducked, and Ree stepped behind her. The ball resumed its position circling above her head. She smiled at the woman just before she shoved her at the fountain.

Sophie’s eyes widened as she fell forward into the basin. Just her upper half hit the water, because she braced her arms and the water wasn't very deep.

“On what wings dare he aspire?” Ree quoted. “What the hand dare seize the fire?”

Sophie stood up and brushed wet hair out of her eyes. “I'd say I deserved that, but I think we both need a bath.”

A wall of water rose behind her and flew out at Ree. Squealing, she ducked behind a scrawny, leafless bush, the glass globe following her without thought. She hissed when the water fell on her – it was even colder than she had anticipated. Another wall of water rose behind Sophie, and Ree ran for more cover. She dove behind a small utility box and waited for the freezing rain to pelt down on her back. As soon as it fell, she felt for the water behind the Guardian and pulled her own sheet, dunking the older woman with her own trick. Sophie hollered in protest and then started laughing. When Ree peeked around the corner Sophie was gone, and a large ball of water hit her in the face. She squealed and ducked back behind her box wiping her face with her sleeve. She reached out with her senses and searched for the Guardian.

Sophie was standing along the edge of the forest, behind a giant elm. Carefully, Ree grabbed several bucket-sized amounts of water and floated them toward the woman. She lifted her head to encourage Sophie to step out from hiding, and, as soon as she felt the Guardian shift behind the tree, she launched the water. There was a high-pitched squeal and coughing.

“Truce! Truce!” Sophie hollered, laughing. She carefully walked out of her hiding spot.

 Ree chuckled at her draggled hair and clothes. Then she realized that not only did she also have wet clothes and hair, but there were twigs and dirt stuck to her from rolling around on the ground. The state of her clothes made her laugh even harder and she stood up from her hiding spot.

“Very good, Ree. You pulled that water without so much as a thought!” Sophie pointed above her head. “And the paperweight is still doing patterns.”

“Oh!” Ree looked at the glass ball in shock. She held her hand out and brought it to land in her palm. “I forgot all about it.”

Someone clapped from near the house, and Ree saw Roland standing there holding towels. She had never seen anything look more appealing than the giant, fluffy towel he was offering her.

“If you two are done with your wet t-shirt contest, I started a fire in the den,” he said.

Sophie and Ree made a beeline for the warmth, giggling as they ran.

Ree slept like the dead that night. She had the faintest impression she had nightmares, but didn’t have any coherent memories. Apparently all of the energy she had exerted the night before had really taken its toll. Hoping she didn’t get sick from all of the cold water last night, she decided to wear several layers today. What had they been thinking? At least they had some fun. It had gone a long way toward easing the tension and it allowed Ree to see a more relaxed side of Sophie. For a little while last night she almost felt like they were friends or family, not just mentor and student. Once she was dressed she went to the kitchen, looking for everyone. It was quiet but there was a bunch of muffins on the counter. She grabbed one and a bottle of juice and went in search of her friends. She found them in the garden, and it looked like they had already been running.
Today is looking up,
she thought
. I missed all of the running.

Melanie waved at Ree as she pulled the door closed behind her. “Hey! We didn't want to wake you up for the first run. Sophie said you did a lot last night.”

“First run?” Wrinkling her nose, Ree hoped that she had heard wrong.

“Yeah, sorry, Ree. The first one you wouldn't have been able to keep up. Now that you’re awake, we can practice formations again.”

“Anyone else feel like they’re in boot camp?” Weylin asked. Juliette raised her hand and Bryce pushed her shoulder gently in mock disapproval.

“What? It does a little bit,” she said, obviously grumpy.

“Don't listen to her. She forgot the tennis shoes that match her outfit for today.” Bryce grunted when Jules elbowed him in the gut.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. So good of you to join us.” Roland came out of the house drinking a bottle of water. Ree blushed at his words and gulped the rest of her juice down. She saw Paden out of the corner of her eye. He looked away from them and bent down to retie his shoe laces. She set her bottle down on the bench and stretched. Everyone else was limber and ready to go, so she didn't stretch for very long. The run started out the same as yesterday, with the others working a protection pattern around her as they ran. Roland was in the lead and would occasionally call out one of their names. That person would drop to the back and keep pace from behind. Ree tried to concentrate on keeping her breathing even. Her legs were sore a lot quicker today, but she thought she remembered that being normal. Hopefully tomorrow it would be a little easier. She stumbled on a root, and when she gained her footing she noticed Roland wasn't in front of them anymore.

The others were looking at each other in confusion. They kept running, but their pattern seemed to become tighter, filled with tension. Juliette's head turned to the side just as a dark shape flew out of the trees. Ree squeaked and bumped into Bryce, but Jules twisted and used Roland’s momentum to throw him back into the woods.

“Well, this makes it more interesting,” Weylin said from the rear.

“Hush, we have to listen.” Paden's eyes darted around the path.

Ree felt silly for squeaking like a little girl. Of course it had been Roland. They were raising the stakes. Giving them more real-life scenarios to work through.  This was different though; knowing there was something real, someone plotting out there where you couldn't see them was frightening. Something fell out of the tree they passed under, and Weylin hollered in shock.

“Tag,” Roland said, smiling. His fangs descended, causing dimples in his bottom lip. “You’re out.” Then he was gone, with nothing to even tell them what direction he had moved.

“Dang it. Sorry, guys,” Weylin picked himself up off the dirt path. “I guess you go on without me now.” 

“We'll see you at the house,” Paden said. Ree smiled at Weylin before he turned and started back to the house. Almost as quickly as Roland had disappeared, she couldn't see any trace of her friend.

“All right guys. Tighten up and fill the gap.” Paden took the lead again, and Ree was amused to watch everyone do as he said. She mock saluted him. He rolled his eyes at her, but she saw the corners of his mouth twitch. They resumed their earlier pace, and Ree tried to sense where Roland was lurking.

It was overwhelming to send feelers out into the forest. There was so much life around them that she would normally not notice. She let her body keep rhythm with the others, and drifted further out with her senses. Just as she felt something dark and cold she heard Paden holler at the others. He turned toward the left, but that wasn't quite right.

“Up!” Ree hollered. Just as Roland came bounding down from the trees in the direction Paden was watching, Bryce barreled into him. They rolled over the ground struggling, and eventually Roland disappeared back into the trees.

“Does that count as a point for me?” Bryce asked as he moved back to his spot. Melanie had adjusted to fill the gap and now moved to her spot in the rear.

Paden laughed, and Ree gave Bryce a high five. They moved on, and Ree kept trying to find Roland. She couldn't shake the spooky feeling of being watched and she found herself shivering from the sensation. Putting that aside, she concentrated harder on their surroundings. She felt the animals around them grow still every so often, and she started to sense a pattern. She smiled once she was sure it was Roland. She had him now.

“Paden.” she barely said his name. Ree was trying to be as quiet as possible. “Directly ahead.” Reaching out to touch Roland with her power was a unique experience. He didn't have the same glow the others held, but rather a spark that seemed to be contained in a cage.

Ree felt Roland and just barely saw a blur ahead of them as he darted across their path. In the next moment, he darted behind them, and Melanie fell to the ground.

“Well, crap!” Mel threw a handful of dirt in the direction he had run.

The others moved to surround Ree in a triangle. Juliette’s eyes looked worried, and Paden seemed tense.

“Left!” Ree hollered. Bryce ducked, and lashed out with his leg. He must have missed, because Ree didn't hear anything make contact. She could feel Roland still moving around them, searching for any weakness he could exploit. Suddenly he was still; he was in the road ahead of them.