Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) (44 page)

Andrea intervened. "Each side will step fifty paces into the field. This still puts us at a significant separation. We start when Vincent draws his sword."

"Easy enough." I took a deep breath, then turned to Petra and gave her a crushing hug. She was trying not to cry. "Honey," I said. "I am going to kick his ass, and you know it. No way is he as good as you and Andrea."

I hugged everyone else, then hugged Petra again.
Renea
received
her share of hugs,
then
we collected our swords and stepped into the field.

Both of us carried sheathed swords, but we didn't attach them to our belts. I intended to drop my sheath and would collect it later. I presumed
Renea
would do the same.
We stopped at fifty paces.

"Felicia,"
Renea
said, never taking her eyes from our enemy. "Whatever happens, thank
you.
If this goes badly, do not die on my account."

"You're welcome, and we are going to kick their
asses
."

Vincent and Jeremy arrived at their mark. They both wore swords sheathed at their waists and carried small shields.

"Oh hell," I said. "We didn't practice against shields."

"It's not going to matter,"
Renea
said. "Look at that cocky swagger. Overconfident."

She flashed a smile at me.

"And the scabbards are going to trip them up. They aren't going to be as mobile as either of us. Keep that in mind. They can both probably run faster than we can, but they aren't as nimble."

Vincent drew his sword and yelled. Jeremy drew his, and the two began advancing towards us, a few feet apart.

I went right
,
Renea
went left
. We separated about twenty yards and stepped forward. Both men turned to
Renea
.

My heart was pounding in my chest
. I just hoped I could hold it together long enough to finish this.

Renea
and I stepped forward a little further, giving us a little more room behind us,
then
I stepped over to flank
the
m
a little more. Once they were in comfortable yelling distance, I began taunting them.

"Oh," I said. "Look at the big men waving their little swords around. Jeremy, that one looks kind of big. Are you over-compensating again?"

He
tried to give me a rude gesture, but his hands were full. I laughed.

"That was pretty lame, Jeremy. Is that the best you can do?"

"Fuck off, bitch. We'll get to you," he yelled.

"Big words from such a pathetic man," I said. "Come on, you've wanted to get me ever since I kicked your ass last fall. That pathetic attempt at my apartment was laughable. And then even the girls here won't have anything to do with you. Maybe if you were a real man, things would be better for you."

He ignored me. The two continued to advance on
Renea
. She began leadin
g them around the field
. I continued to taunt Jeremy.

"Jeremy, does Vincent show you what a real man does to a girly girl like you?"

That did it. He immediately snarled and turned to me. "I'll show you a real man, you
lesbo
bitch!"

"Jeremy! Ignore her. The real target is right there." Vincent pointed with his sword. Jeremy turned back to
Renea
, but they were now separated slightly. I was pretty sure I could get greater separation.

"That's right, Jeremy, be the good lap dog and gang up on
Renea
. Cause everyone knows you're not
man
enough to take me on. I beat you once, and I'll beat you again. Fucking pansy. Oh, Non-fucking pansy. Did it fall off?"

"You bitch, you are going to die!" He turned to me.

Vincent immediately started yelling. "God
damnit
, Jeremy, ignore the bitch, you can have all the fun you want later."

"No one talks to me like that!"

"Come kiss my ass, Jeremy, and maybe I won't make you beg too hard for your life."

"You are mine, bitch!"

"Sorry, Jeremy," I said, "but I rather doubt you're man enough to claim me."

Vincent was screaming at him at that point.

Jeremy actually started running at me. Rather than going after Vincent, I waited. Jeremy held his sword in front of him like a lance and clearly intended to gore me.

I waited until the last moment, feinted towards the left, his sword side,
then
rolled
right
to his shield side. He tried to spear me with his sword, but he couldn't twist fast enough. I
extended my sword
as I
rolled and gave him a huge slic
e across his left leg.

I rolled onto my feet and he was past me, well out of immediate attack range.

"Now!"

I popped out and was immediately pulled back. I spun swinging, but Vincent managed to use his shield. I popped away, was pulled back, fell to the ground
while
spinning, and scored a glancing slice across Vincent's right leg. I rolled to my feet and followed after him. He was limping, but his parries were fast. I circled around him until his back was to
Renea
.

He went on the offensive, and I parried and backed up, not letting him close. He limped once, and I reached out with the sword towards his head. He bashed my sword away and I narrowly avoided getting skewered. In the meantime,
Renea
had closed most of the distance.

I feinted left and his sword reached out.
I wasn't where he expected, and I managed to nick his arm. He stepped back.
Renea
rose behind him and swung, removing his head.

We both stared at him
as he fell. We turned to Jeremy, who immediately disappeared.

I looked at
Renea
. "I think we over trained."

She laughed, stepped forward, and hugged me.
"You were kicking his ass," she said.
There were tears in her eyes as she looked at me. "Thank you, Felicia."

I hugged her back. There weren't really words to say.

The cheering started.
I separated from
Renea
, and w
e
both turned to look
at the body. I
walked
over and kicked it. "Asshole."

Petra reached me first and pulled me into a crushing hug, kissing me deeply.
H
ugs and kisses
were
passed around.

Sally walked up with our scabbards
.
Renea
and I cleaned our swords on Vincent's clothes. Sally took my sword and started cleaning it carefully. Karen took
Renea's
.

We looked around. Vincent's army had dispersed.

I turned to Petra. "Sensei, my form was poor."

She looked at me and began laughing. "Oh honey, your form
is
perfect.

* * *

I popped home for a quick clean. I was still in the shower when Petra pulled me back. I stood in the field, stark naked,
soap suds
in my eyes. "Oops," said Petra.

I turned to her. "You did that on purpose! No way was that twenty minutes."

She walked over to me and hugged me. "Honey, it was forty-five."

"Ten more," I told her and popped back to the shower. I was able to rinse off, was partially dressed, and was pulling on the rest of my clothes when she pulled me back again.

When I got back, Kelly was waiting. Andrea had gone to get her. She pulled me into an immediate hug, squeezing the stuffing out of me. "Thank you," she said.

We stayed at the village for hours. We built a large funeral pyre and piled all the bodies from the village on it, with Vincent's in the middle. Sally wore her
hazmat
suit and had the gruesome job of
rolling the bodies from the village into tarps.

Once all the bodies were piled onto the wooden scaffolding,
Renea
said a few words. "These poor people deserved better than this. You were a peaceful, hard working village, and we mourn this loss." She paused. "Vincent, you were a product of your father's. I regret the course events took."

She turned to Sally and nodded. Sally stepped forward with a gas can and thoroughly doused the wood we'd piled under the bodies. She pulled a box of matches from her pocket
and lit it, then tossed it into the wood.

There was a "
woosh
", and the flames roared into the sky. Silently, we all watched the fire, huddled together, all of us touching.
I stood with Petra on one side and
Renea
on the other, arms around shoulders and waists as we fit. Beth and Erika were behind me, also touching me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Erika's head on Sally's shoulder. Andrea and Kelly were hugging and leaning against
Renea
. Karen stood off to the side a little, but Beth grabbed her and pulled her close.

We watched the fire burn for a long time.

Eventually I asked, "What about Jeremy? Will he be a problem?"

Renea
laughed before saying in a loud voice, "I,
Renea
of
Siriena
, hereby claim by right of conquest, all in this land that was Vincent Reynolds', known or unknown, and revoke passage to all others."

"What do you suppose the chances are Jeremy held his own property here?" Andrea asked.

"I guess we'll find out," said Petra. "I don't intend to borrow trouble before it comes."

"So now what?"

"Now?" said
Renea
. "We celebrate. Then it's time to build a real home here." She looked over at Petra. "Find me construction expertise. I want to expand the castle."

Petra nodded, looking at me. "I may know where to start."

I was kneeling, humming and singing. Beside me, Petra was doing the same. She and I grinned at each other.

In front of me, a human form appeared. Beth was waiting by and immediately threw a blanket over the woman. In front of Petra, another form appeared. Erika immediately tossed a blanket over him.

"Mrs. Conner," Beth said. "Mr. Conner. I'm so happy to see you.
Don't worry
,
everything is fine
. Have we got something to show you!
"

Julia P.
Lynde
lives and works in the American mid-west. This is her
second
novel.

Julia is older than most of the characters in her books. She has blue eyes and grey hair. She enjoys hiking in the mountains (difficult to do in the mid-west) and hosting dinner parties.

Julia can be reached via email as
[email protected]
.

Julia's other works include:

Novels

Rewind
:

Emerging from traumatic events of her past, Shane is left dealing with newfound self-revelations until she seeks help from an unexpected quarter.

Veronica is a stunning and powerful businesswoman who knows what she wants and lives for the seduction involved in getting it.

Complicated doesn't begin to describe the results.

Rewind features graphic sex between consenting women and some light BDSM.

Shorts

Bound in Arrogance

"You wouldn't last two hours of my attention," Penny told me, turning it into a wager. Foolishly, I rose to the bait.

Bound in Arrogance features Veronica and Penny several years prior to the events in Rewind. It features light BDSM.

Snow Bound

After a near experience with a deer,
Allison is pulled from her car by Sarah, troubled twenty-five-year-old photographer
. Sarah drives Allison to Allison's secluded cabin on a lake, where the two become snowbound.

Allison finds Sarah deeply attractive. Will Sarah's troubled past interfere with a possible future?

I remember the girl. She was young enough I thought of her as a girl but old enough I should call her a woman. She seemed
unextraordinary
. She was of moderate height wearing nondescript clothes. Jeans and a
tee-shirt
, I suppose. I’m not really sure now. In an earlier age she would have appeared out of place downtown during business hours, but with casual Friday turning into casual everyday over the years, the girl looked only slightly less dressed up than many of the people hurrying along the sidewalks during their lunch breaks.