Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (20 page)

From her vantage, Elena
could not see much. The hulking forms of the animals block most of
her view, as well as the myriad of trees and bushes they walked
amongst. Still, it did not mean she could not hear what was
happening.

As they crept ever closer
to the crossroads, it became even more evident to her these were
not fell beasts from Storm. They sounded too human in nature. Well,
to put it in precise terms, they sounded like humans in the state
of fierce disagreement. It was obvious, even to one as young as her
they were close to coming to blows.

“…
I don’t give a shit what
you think, you stupid, slant-eyed bitch! I’m not following you to
your damned house and that’s final! It’s too fucking crazy out
here! I’m not about to risk my life traipsing around some demon
forest from hell!” raged one of the voices, female and young. Or at
least it sounded as much to Elena.

“
Why do you have to be so
vulgar, Kimberly?” said a second voice only it did not sound
female. Rather, it was male, just as young, though maybe not as
young as Louis.

Elena frowned and strained
to hear as the boy went on.

“
You should act more
lady-like, and respect people. You’re always so crude and
insulting. You should try to be nice for a change.”

“
What did you say?” asked
the first voice tinged with shock.

“
I said act like a lady.
Is that too much to ask?”

“
In a screwed up place
like this, you want me to act like a lady? Are you as stupid as
her? Have you seen what’s been going on out here? Have you been
paying god damned attention to what attacked us back
there?”

Elena was certain the
first female was on the edge of hysteria. She was yelling at the
top of her lungs, uncaring of her surroundings.

“
This place is more
screwed up than a zombie apocalypse, and you want me to be nicer?
Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

“
Yeah, I know, Kim.” He
sounded resigned. “I saw the thing flying in the air or whatever
the hell it was. We all did, ok? All she is trying to do is help.”
The male was not as loud, though he did speak with raw emotion.
But, there was calculation in his voice.

Elena assumed he was more
in control of himself than the other.

“
Well, shit, Derek, I am
sick of her always trying to be in charge and tell us what to
do!”

“
Get over yourself, girl,
it was you who suggested to we go to your house first. You wanted
to see if it was still there. Hell, it was you that lead us into
that… that… nest of those things, so just back off and shut up for
once!”

Now Elena could hear the
boy was beginning to get angry. It was creeping into the inflection
of his tone.

“
Screw you,
Derek!”

“
Go screw yourself,
Kimberly and please… JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!” shouted Derek in what
sounded like blind rage.

Yeah, he’d had
enough…

Elena watched the faces of
her companions. They all were hard with concern, on edge over the
volume with which these new kids were yelling. These idiots were
going to bring Fenris down on them like flies on a massive
turd.

They crept closer, trying
not to make any noise. But, to be frank, the way the others were
carrying on, they could have done
the
Watsui
(music included) all the way
through the forest. They could have wiggled right up to them and
none of the three newcomers would have noticed.

She glanced to her right
to see if she could see the others across the way. She caught just
a shadowy glimpse of Mugzy as he stalked through the
forest.

“
Ok, look you guys, I’m
sorry. I’m not trying to take control or tell you what to do. Ok?”
pleaded a second female voice, more calm and conciliatory than the
other two.

“
Whatever, Long Duck Dong
or whatever the fuck your name is,” countered the first
female.

Elena surmised this was
Kimberly by the back and forth of their conversation.

She could hear the second
female gasp in frustration.

Derek said: “Forget about
her, Hyun. She’s a jerk. She’s been that way ever since she let
that asshole rule her life. He even tells her how many squares of
toilet paper she
has
to use when she wipes her ass. Ain’t that right,
Kim?”

All Elena heard next was
an animalistic cry, accompanied by some sort of scuffling and
jostling. Snow scraped against something plastic. She could almost
picture them fighting in the middle of the intersection, flinging
debris, in complete disregard for the danger surrounding
them.

It was in no way
quiet.

“
Ok, I’m going to end this
stupid crap. Otherwise, the entire empire of the Lord of the Storm
is going to descend on us,” announced her brother. Without another
word, he jogged through the familiars to the edge of the
forest.

Elena followed as Sophie
sprang after him, fear written on her face. She worried it was some
sort of trap

Mikalah scrambled hard on
her heels, wanting to see what was going on in the intersection for
herself.

Anthony stopped in his
tracks, turning back toward the entire group. “Kenai keep the Fist
at bay just like we did with Sophie and Louis. I don’t want to
scare these guys more than we need to.”

She nodded, gave a quick
look to Garfield.

He turned back the way
they had come, streaking off into the failing light of the day. He
was gone in less than a second.

“
He’ll circle around, out
of sight. He'll tell those on the other side of the road what
you’ve commanded, m’Lord Kring-Hël,” explained Kenai.

The use of his formal
title made a derisive smirk form on Anthony's lips.

Elena knew he did not like
the title. Her brother had never cared for labels of any
sort.

Anthony turned about and
stepped into the intersection.

Elena and her two other
female companions stepped to the edge of the forest to see what was
happening, but stayed concealed. Elena watched as her brother
walked out of the foliage and into the open. He did so as casual as
he would if were heading out to meet old friends or going to the
Men’s room.

At her side, Sophie
chuckled. “Has he always been so calm and cool like that, like
nothing bothers him?”

Elena and her sister
glanced around the older girl, Elena smiling. “You have no
idea.”

“
I figured as much,”
sighed Sophie. “But, man, it sure is sexy when he does it, though…”
She drifted off into a blissful silence.

“
Oh, god!” gagged Mikalah,
mock-retching.

“
What?” asked Sophie with
just a touch of exasperation.

“
You’re sprung,”
challenged Mikalah, sarcastic.

“
I am not!” countered
Sophie in husky whisper that made Mikalah grin back at her in
triumph.

“
Yeah, I think you are,
Sophie,” concluded Elena. But, before the others could reply, she
pointed in front of her. “Look,” she said.

They fell silent, watching
the scene unfold before them.

Anthony was about ten feet
from the three others.

They looked to be
wrestling in the small clearing of the intersection of the two
trails.

Elena could see there were
in fact two females and a male. If there were a more unlikely trio
of companions walking about the Melded World, she vowed she would
eat her gloves. There could be no other group around as diverse as
the three teenagers she saw before her.

The male - a black boy
about thirteen or fourteen years old - was your typical jock in
black jeans and a Laker's jersey. Over that he wore a huge parka
stuffed with goose down. He stood in front of an older looking
Asian girl, who was grappling with the other female, trying to hit
her, though the boy was between them. She was glaring, her face
wild, at the second female on the other side of the boy. This
second teenager was trying her damnedest to get a hold of the Asian
girl at the same time. All the shoving and pushing was making the
three of them sort swing one way and then the other. They looked
like they were doing some ridiculous, three-person
tango.

Elena figured the Asian
for Hyun, given her physical appearance and her Asian sounding
name.

The second female was
Caucasian of medium height with dyed, jet-black hair, in a sort of
Cleopatra-like style. It hung straight, was shoulder-length
complete with bangs cut in a perfect line about half an inch above
her eyebrows. Upon seeing her black lipstick and nail polish and
the multitude of piercings about her ears and face, Elena knew what
Derek had called her was the correct summation of the girl. She was
Goth.

Or maybe Emo, because
she’s sure acting like one!

This had to be
Kimberly.

As they continued their
idiotic dance, Anthony walked up, gesturing toward them. Then he
waited for them to stop. When nothing happened, he waved at
them.

But still, they were too
preoccupied to notice.

Her brother swiveled at
the waist, shrugging at her, her sister and Sophie.

Elena could not believe
they had not realized there was another person standing in their
midst.
What the heck are you guys
thinking?
Her brother was mere feet away
from them! She glanced over at Mikalah. She bunched her shoulders
in confusion, one of her eyebrows higher than the other, her face
unbelieving.

The threesome pivoted
again. The Asian girl face aligned with Anthony’s frame. Hyun
spotted him in an instant, standing there, his weight to one side
as he tapped his foot. She gave a startled screech that made Derek
spin on his heel to face him.

Kimberly jumped out of her
skin, and almost tumbled to the ground.

Her brother stopped
tapping and put up both of his hands, palms facing them, using the
ubiquitous
“I come in peace”
gesture. “Hey, hey, don’t wig-out! I’m not going
to hurt you or do anything stupid or anything like that. Ok?”
Anthony offered, keeping his hands where they could see
them.

Kimberly joined her
companions, coming to stand behind Derek in a rush. The animosity
she on her visage had vanished with Anthony’s magical appearance
out of thin air. She was now shoulder-to-shoulder with Hyun. The
fact the two of them had been on the verge of pulling each other’s
hair out a second ago did not appear to matter now.

“
Who are you? How did you
get here?” demanded Kimberly from over Derek’s shoulder. She was
trying not to sound scared, but it was a miserable attempt. Her
chest was heaving, and her voice cracked.

“
My name is Anthony
Herrera.” He shrugged. “Umm, I guess I got here in the same manner
you got here. You know, ugly greenish lights, three loud gongs,
nausea, throwing-up, passing out and then waking up here. Am I
correct?” came her brother’s reply. He added a smile as the words
came from him.

Elena hoped they could see
his sincerity and not think he was making fun of them. He was,
after all, just stating the obvious.

A bewildered silence
descended upon them. The three exchanged nervous glances at one
another, uncertain of what to make of the situation.

She could see the
confounded feelings in their expressions, in their body language.
The shuffling their feet were a tell-tale sign of indecision. The
girls even bit on lips or upon insides of cheeks. Their eyes were
everywhere at once.
They have been through
a lot, just like us, and they don’t know what to do. They are
afraid to trust.

“
Oh my god, we thought we
were the only ones,” blurted Hyun. Her face changed from fright and
worry to relief and fatigue in the span of a second.

“
Not by a long shot,”
corrected Anthony, which made the others freeze in place and frown
back at him. “In total, there should be twelve of us.”

His revelation made their
jaws drop in shock. They gazed back at him with such hope it almost
brought tears to Elena’s eyes. One seldom sees such earnest faith,
such raw expectation.

Then, Derek’s frown
returned as if something new had occurred to him. “There are more
of you out there, aren’t there?”

“
Yup,” was all Anthony
said, letting a silence grow between them. Then, “Besides me, in
the forest to either side of that trail, there are seven more kids
and teenagers. We're all just like you, caught up in this crazy
shit we can don't understand.

“
I had them stay back, so
you guys wouldn’t freak out, seeing a while gang of kids descending
upon you out of the forest.”

“
For real?” asked
Hyun.

But to Elena’s ears it was
more like a plea. Her slanted eyes seemed to open as far as they
could, almost to bursting at the edges. She wanted it to be true
more than anything.

“
Yeah, I’m not lying or
anything. I promise… but… well, we also have help,” went on her
brother. He raised an eyebrow as though he wanted all three of them
to catch on to what he was hinting at.