I aimed for both the man with the sword and the weaponless woman, expecting Riley to blur past me at the last second to take her out. The smallish thirty-something red head held out both of her palms in my direction as they began to turn bright blue. The same color flashed brilliantly as rings around her neck and her bare arms. I had no idea what her ability could be. I just hoped that Riley would be immune to it.
The muscular man in jean shorts and brown t-shirt raised his long sword over his right shoulder while twisting his body. It looked like a stance I might have seen in a samurai movie. He appeared to be skilled with his weapon. Good. I chose the right opponent for myself, then. I was confident that I could deflect his swing of the deadly blade.
Jada's target seemed much less sure of herself and just held the weapon straight out in front of her. She was a large woman wearing a short jean skirt and thick boots to go with her undersized tank top. Her body bulged out unattractively revealing skin covered with freckles and a sunburn.
The remaining enemy left over for Alexa was roughly her size, and female. She held her bat like she may have been a professional baseball player before all this, wearing short blue shorts and a sleeveless yellow shirt. Her tan skin and long brown hair drew my attention briefly enough to discover that the girl was almost as good looking as my women.
I shifted my attention to the man at the last second. The tactic worked perfectly as Riley shot by me with her bat held sideways with both hands, striking the unsuspecting gifted girl in the midriff and propelling her backwards off her feet. I couldn't pay much attention to what was happening over there, though, since a sword was being aimed at my precious neck.
I raised my hand to deflect my opponent's blow as I braced my spear shaft under my arm. The sharp metal blade of the samurai blew past my hair as I predicted just when the point of my spear penetrated the man's chest. He was completely shocked by my follow through, and that I was virtually ignoring his sharp decapitating blade. I ran my weapon clear through him and pinned him to the ground beside Riley's foe. He clutched his chest as blood soaked his shirt quickly.
Jada expertly pushed her victim's sword aside with her spear then adjusting the angle to run the point into the woman's oversized gut. The big girl doubled over with an unbelievably loud scream. My dark-skinned companion immediately pulled back on the shaft of her spear to keep it from getting stuck. That was something I should have done instead of running it all the way through my target. I was weaponless because of that mistake.
Alexa's combat prowess, despite her training with Jada, was not impressive. But she tried, bless her heart. Fortunately, her opponent was not that much better. A couple wild swings from each managed to knock the bat from Alexa's hand, though. She quickly took a step backwards to stay out of the path of the pretty girl's next volley. When the slender young thing rushed forward to attempt a strike on my wife with an overhead blow, she was shocked to find a spearhead exploding from her chest. Jada had quickly come to her friend's aid and delivered what was probably a fatal blow to her second victim within seconds. Jada was a beast and a huge asset to the clan in battle, despite not having any known superpower.
Turning to check on Riley's progress I found her on her back on the ground. Her momentum had likely put her there since she appeared to be unharmed. The blue palmed girl had regained her feet and was debating on whether to attack my fragile friend on the ground, the easy prey, or me as the bigger threat. I made her mind for her by charging.
The red head turned her blue palms at me, rings flashing as evidence of her power in use. I found out firsthand what that power was. An electrical charge shot out of each hand like lightning bolts. I felt intense pain pulse through every part of my body, crippling me instantly, but hopefully not permanently. I dropped to my knees before the small woman as she balled up her fists. Instead of punching my defenseless face, she shook her arms fiercely. I deduced that she was recharging her power. As she opened her palms toward me again, I heard the crack of a baseball bat against her skull. She lost consciousness immediately and fell sideways to the ground. Riley stood behind her with the wooden weapon clutched in both hands.
"Mason!" I heard Alexa scream. Turning toward her, I was happy to discover that the electrical charge was starting to wear off quickly. I could move again. Unfortunately, we had more attackers coming our way. We had beaten four of them, relatively unscathed. But now we had to regroup to face the new threat. This time we were at the disadvantage.
This group had the bearded man in charge, his pistol pointed at my face from less than twenty feet away. To his left was a muscular black woman with a spear, darker skinned than Jada but otherwise her perfect match. On his right was the voluptuous woman without any weapon. Her bronze skin and large breasts were barely covered by the silky green lace dress she wore. Her confidence in herself was profoundly obvious. The last person in the line of attackers was a tall woman carrying a huge fireman’s ax, painted red and designed to be heaved by the strongest firefighters.
Pop, the bullet released from the barrel of the pistol causing a minor recoil. I raised my hand to deflect it, but not in time to keep from getting hit. I felt my left ear burning as I pulled a dozen bolts from my pocket and tossed them in front of me. My face was turned due to the searing pain in my ear as I swiftly snapped my hand to propel most of the projectiles at the shooter, but he was already dropping to the ground to dodge the effects of my skill. A quick learner he must be. One bolt did contact his forward while another his shoulder, both drawing blood but not near killing him. A third struck the pistol and sent it flying away too far for him to reach. He wasn’t reaching for it anyway. Instead, he stared at me with glowing emerald eyes. The same eyes we had witnessed previously on the trance beast. Sure enough, the effect was the same. I went under his spell and lost all motor control of my body.
I could hear Jada beside me ask as if delirious, "What's going on?" I could tell that she was confused by the situation, which was totally unlike her. Then I saw how the confident woman was staring at my friend with a wicked smile on her lovely wide face. That was apparently her ability. She was some kind of confuser, and her focus was entirely on Jada. She no doubt was used to working beside her leader to divide and conquer the enemy.
A familiar blur of black hair and pale skin bolted in front of me with my spear, slamming it down through the heart of the bearded man. Instantly I regained the ability to move. Just in time, too. The heavy fireman’s ax was headed right for Riley's head. It was already so close I threw all my skill into the deflection, raising both hands and shouting out. Not only did I succeed in deflecting the blow to miss my clan mate, the change of direction took the tall woman off guard and hurled her to the ground as she refused to let go of the errant weapon.
Riley dropped to sit her tiny little ass in the grass, totally exhausted by the two speed bursts she had used in such a short time. I didn't see any blood, so I assumed that she was otherwise okay. I would have to make sure that she was not attacked while in that depleted condition.
Jada screamed out as her muscular adversary took advantage of her confused state, jabbing her with the spear. The point only pierced her in the hip, though, because Alexa whacked the shaft downward with her bat at the last second. Otherwise, the weapon could have taken our friend in her beautiful chest.
I charged the spear toting black woman with a battle cry. When she swung the pointy end at me, I dodged the tip and grabbed the shaft with both hands. Using my momentum to overpower the dark woman, I struck her in the face with the pole, possibly breaking her nose. She fell to the ground clutching her face as blood seeped between her fingers.
I lost focus as the confuse-skill woman moved her attention to me. The effect is temporary, though. It ended when Alexa's bat struck the skimpily dressed woman in the temple. She dropped like a sack of potatoes, only not as noisy with her attractive plush body. I quickly refocused to see the remaining four opponent’s approach. They hesitated when they saw the carnage we had already caused
, including their dead leader with my spear still protruding straight up toward the sky from his chest. I took the opportunity to snatch up the bearded man's pistol and point it at the rile man's chest while holding another hand forward. There was no longer a reason to hide my deflection skill. I wanted him to know that his rifle was useless against me. Everyone could see the bulging veins in my arms pulsing orange.
"Nobody else has to die here today!" I shouted. "Leave now or we will kill you all."
Jada regains her feet, and her spear to stand beside me, looking more intimidating then she was likely feeling with that hip wound. Riley rose to one knee with the handle of the heavy ax in one hand. I knew that there was no way she could lift the weapon, let alone swing it. Alexa grabs the spear I dropped to fall in line with the rest of us forming our unbeatable foursome.
The broken nose black woman and the tall woman that lost her ax both scurry to stand beside their comrades. I watched as they all inspected the situation trying to determine what to do. I decided to help them figure it out.
"Your man will die first," I said calmly. "Then I will send rocks into everyone's faces so my girls can finish off the rest of you." I raise my aim of the pistol directly at the man's face.
"Okay," the large man finally said. "I'll go." He seemed unsure if the remaining members of his clan would back away with him.
"Leave the rifle," I said.
"No," the man replied. "I need it for protection."
"There won't be anyone to protect if we kill you now," Jada answered for me.
"You still have a spear, a baseball bat, and those two wooden stakes that the blond is holding. I won't strip you of all your weapons. Just enough to make sure you'll leave." I did my best to make it sound non-negotiable. I could see the women then realize that I had planned to let them all go.
"How do I know that you won't shoot us in the back?" the blond asked.
I looked down at their dead leader and remembered his words earlier. "You don't. But what choice do you have?" I saw the man struggle with his decision. "Okay, I promise I won't shoot you. We were not the attackers here. From what I understand, I should just kill your man and take your women. I'm not going to do that, though. Just assure me that you won't return, and I'll let you all live. Now, make the right choice to save these girls of yours. Drop the rifle."
The man was big, and proud, but not stupid. He gently placed the rifle on the ground, turned around and walked away. He didn't even turn to see if the girls would follow him. They didn't.
"What should we do?" the innocent looking brunette holding the spear asked her clan mates. They seemed unsure themselves.
"Do you respect that man?" I ask, gesturing at his large form heading into the sunset on his own.
"John? Yeah, I respect him. He's a good man. Much nicer to me than the other two. But you won."
"Follow John if you want to," I answered. "All of you. If he is a good man, go. You know him. You trust him."
One by one they all gradually went to join the man. When the last one arrived, he turned back to look at me. I couldn't see his face at that distance with the sun declining behind him, but I understood when he raised his hand like he was waving goodbye. He was appreciative of my mercy. Perhaps he was a good man after all. I was never one to mess up another man's situation. I had no hard feelings toward John. I hoped he survives, I honestly did, just as long as he leaves us alone.
"You could have taken his women," Jada stated, not complaining.
"I'm not in a hurry for more sexual competition, thank you," Alexa replied.
"But we could use the numbers," Jada answered.
"That's true," Alexa said. "We barely got through this fight alive. Are you okay, Jada?"
"I'll be fine dear," Jada answered as she put her arm over Alexa's shoulders for support on her injured side. "I just need to get inside and cleaned up. Mason, your ear is bleeding. Are you alright?"
Just then one of the bodies on the ground stirred. It was the voluptuous confuser. Riley rose to her feet and dragged the ax over beside the woman's neck. As the only clan member immune to the woman's ability I appreciated her using what energy she had left.
"What's your name?" I asked, standing over her with the pistol visible in my hand.
"Camilla," she answered, raising to her elbows so she could assess the situation around her. Shock registered on her face when she saw how many of her clan had been defeated. The confidence that she strutted with earlier was now completely absent.
"The few survivors of your clan are heading over the hill. You can catch up to them quickly if you run. Are you feeling well enough to travel?" I ask her as the pain in my ear returns full-force. I ignore it for the time being, resisting the urge to cover it was my hand. I couldn’t show any weakness just yet.
"Mason," Riley interrupted. "If I may suggest, Camilla would make an excellent addition to our clan. You have every right to claim her. Perhaps she would choose to join you anyway."
"Is she your type, Mason?" Jada asked.
"I don't claim girls, you know that." I answered Riley and ignored Jada. The injured woman before us was all kinds of sexy. She was fuller figure than I typically liked them, but her sexiness more than overcame that. "Camilla? You are welcome to stay here and get medical attention before making your decision, as long as you promise to behave."
Camilla smiled at me, stood up slowly and adjusted her dress like perhaps she had just stepped out of a limo. My girls all stood ready to attack should she decide to use her ability. "Mason, I would love to get to know you a little better."
Dystopian Girls Page 19
