Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (48 page)

There were some nods as
Marianna made herself pay attention. There were many things spoken
that seemed important, downright crucial.
You can kiss him later.

“
I take it you guys have
more to tell us about the Melded World than you’ve told us so far,”
commented Derek.

Anthony looked over at
Joaquin, a slight frown on his face.

The large teen put his
hands up, palms forward. “I told them what they needed to know to
survive. It was all I could do with the small amount of time there
was while you patched up Hyun.” He shrugged. “I didn’t have minutes
to spare to go into our little battle in the cave.”

“
Battle?” inquired
Hyun.

“
What cave?” wondered
Marianna aloud.

Anthony pursed his lips.
“Well, we’ll get into all that later, I guess.” He huffed, peering
back at Joaquin. “No worries, man. We’ll fill them in
soon.”

Joaquin said nothing,
nodded. “That aside, I still think it’s best if we looked for some
sort of weapons for ourselves.”

They exchanged
glances.

“
Imagine Jason with say a
baseball bat. What kinda damage would he be able to do if he just
some simple old fashion sport’s equipment in his hands? I bet you
he could do a whole lot more than with just his fists.” He raised
his eyebrows. “It doesn’t have to be anything sharp. It doesn’t
have to be something designed to be a weapon in the first place. It
only has to be able to function as one, right?” He was staring at
each of them, searching for consensus.

“
You have a good point,”
said Anthony. He paused in thought for a moment. “Are any of you
proficient with a weapon? I mean a real one,” he asked, looking at
each of them.

Marianna felt herself
blush. She was dreading the stereotypical looks she would no doubt
receive when she opened her mouth in the affirmative. Uneasy, she
raised her hand.

“
What weapon can you use,
Marianna?” queried Anthony, a little excited, his eyes bright with
anticipation.

Andrew drew away from her,
his eyes boring down on her in mild shock.

“
But don’t laugh, ok?
Promise?”

Anthony’s expression
twisted into confusion. “Ok.”

“
Well… I am pretty good
with a bow and arrow…,” she said it as fast as she could and then
glared at them daring them to respond with laughter.

Only Andrew, at her side,
reacted. He exploded with loud, whopping guffaws that almost
brought the rest of them to tears, trying to hold back their
mirth.

Marianna elbowed him in
the ribs and got a satisfactory
ouch!
from him. He stopped laughing
at once as she snarled, “You dick!”

“
Awww, that hurt!” he
exclaimed, rubbing at his side.

“
Good!”

“
How… um, how good are
you?” wondered Anthony, trying, with enough of a head on his
shoulders, to keep a straight face. Even then, it was
difficult.

Marianna frowned at Andrew
for a few seconds.
Yeah, Andrew, I’m
half-Native American and I can use a bow, so what?

She turned to Anthony with
a serene look on her face, more than was necessary, overdoing it on
purpose. “I’m not bad, but I’m not like some sort of champion
either. I can hit a target at one hundred yards usually about three
inches or so from the center.” Then she turned to glare at Andrew
again. “I could bull’s-eye an apple resting on the head of this
rude-ass dude sitting next to me here at thirty feet. Although, in
this case, I might just miss the damned thing on
purpose.”

“
What?” mouthed Andrew, as
if he done no wrong.

Marianna continued to
stare at him, eyebrows raised in indignation.

Then he shrugged his
shoulders and whispered, brow beaten. “
Sorry, jeez, so touchy
,” he
whispered.

Anthony shared a look with
Joaquin, before he turned back toward Marianna. “That’s pretty
good, Marianna, a thousand times better than what any of us could
do with a bow and arrow.”

He shifted his gaze to
Andrew, saying, “Ok, Smarty Pants, since you came up with it. I
leave it up to you to come up with adequate weapons for us all. It
looks like the snow will keep us here for a while. So, you’ll have
time to make proper decisions on what is suitable and what is not
suitable, ok?”

Andrew was still peering
at Marianna, and then did a quick double take between her and
Anthony. “Yeah, man, no problem.”

“
Drew,” repeated Anthony,
more pointed than before.

The tone of the other’s
voice got Andrew’s attention. “What, dude?”

“
I mean
it when I say
adequate
, Andrew.” The use of his friend’s full name was something he
only did when he was serious. “I don’t want my sisters carrying
around machetes or something stupid like that.”

Andrew stared at Anthony
for a while to see if he was kidding or not. When he realized the
other was not, he shrugged his shoulders and put his hand out to
either side of him in supplication. “Ok, ok, dude! Don’t get all
weirded-out on me, Jeez.”

Don’t you worry, Anthony
Herrera. I’m gonna keep a close eye on this boy. I promise you
that
, her eyes narrowed again as Marianna
considered Andrew. A moment ago, she wanted to climb on top of him,
and… Now, all she wanted was… well, having a bow and an arrow would
be nice. Marianna gazed over at the other teenage boy. “Don’t
worry, Anthony, I’ll keep him from handing out rocket launchers and
long swords.”

The entire group
laughed.

Andrew snorted, derisive,
rolling his eyes and looked away.

“
Cool, thanks, Marianna.
Well, is there anything else we should be gathering to take with
us?” asked Anthony with a nod of his head at her.

“
I think we should
consider rounding up a few decent tool kits. You know, the ones
with hammers and screw drivers, and cutting tools. We could also
use some small hacksaws, hatchets, or something like that too,
seeing that we’re going to be in the wild, right? Though we’re in
the remnants of what used to be a city, it’s a wilderness now. I
think we should approach it as such. Jason said earlier, it’s like
we’re camping. Only now we’re gonna be camping for an indefinite
amount of time. It's a way of life now people,” chimed in Sophie.
She scratched at her head, placing her beautiful white hair behind
her ears with both hands. Her thoughts consumed her the moment she
went silent.

Marianna had never doubted
for a second that Sophie was smart. It did not matter if she looked
like a model straight out of Vogue or Cosmopolitan. The girl was
super intelligent.
Some people just have
all the luck
, she pondered with an
internal smile.

Anthony spoke, although
his eyes were only for Sophie. “Who’s good with tools?”

Joaquin’s head came up at
that. “I am bro. I was always helping my dad with the cars or the
yard. You know how it is. You get a certain age and you’re big
enough to make a difference around your parents’ house. And every
time after, you’re recruited to do this or that for the old
man.”

“
Yeah, I hear you. So,
you’ve got tool duty then. Try and find stuff that’s transportable.
I'm talking about stuff that’s in cases. We need stuff that’ll keep
out moisture and ward against the weather,” directed Anthony. He
smiled at Joaquin, but it was set.

It vanished though when he
peered over the other boy’s shoulder and saw Garfield sauntering up
to the group.

Joaquin said, “I know
exactly what you mean.” He seemed about to say more, but instead he
turned to face the big cat.

Garfield walked passed
him, and then sat on his haunches just outside their lopsided
circle.

Though Marianna's
introductions to the Familiars had come and gone, and she knew in
her heart they were there to protect them. It still unnerved her to
see the sheer size and power in each of their limbs. She could not
help but think any one of them could rip any one of them in half
without a second thought if they wanted to. She found it difficult
to rest at ease around them.

“
Hey, Garfield, how’s it
hangin’?” joked Anthony, glancing over at the animal.

The great feline returned
his stare with an even look and hooded eyes.

Some of them smiled or
giggled into their hands, but Garfield paid them no
mind.

He breathed heavy as if he
were forcing himself to remain in their presence. He spoke with his
deep voice, “It appears, for the time being, we are completely
snowed-in, Tony-Boy. The snow drifts are too high. Their sheer
quantity is already enough to block the downstairs entrances of
this edifice.”

“
No way, the storm has
covered them already?”

“
Yes, the bear-dogs just
managed to get the carts in safe an hour or so ago, but now you
cannot even see out of the doors. The glass is now covered in
full,” replied the cat. He seemed to shrug, indifferent.

How he did it, Marianna
had no clue.

“
Have you been outside
lately? What is it like?” wondered Anthony.

“
I was out half an hour
ago, Tony Kring-Hël. It was difficult for me to stand against the
onslaught of the wind. All the while, the snow blots out the eyes.
I could not see more than a few feet in front of me. Kodiak has
already decreed the weather too severe for even the Fingers of
Light to hunt. We will have to make do with some of the meat-stuffs
we packed in the carts from the cave. For the time being, we will
also graze like horses and cows, and feed upon the leafy products
on the other side of this establishment.”

The huge cat chuckled
without warning.

They were all
astonished.

He took no notice of their
astounded gasps or jerky movements of surprise.

He continued: “What makes
it all the more worse is the storm is still building in intensity.
It is my guess we will be lodging here for at least a couple of
days, maybe longer. Who can say with any certainty at this
point?”

“
Crap,” responded Anthony
more resigned than frustrated. “I sort of already figured that we’d
be here for a while, but still I was hoping we could catch a break.
I was hoping we could head back to the cave and get this show on
the road. We need to search of the Legacy. “Now, it looks like that
won’t be the case.”

“
Well, with the storm
being as bad as it is, everyone everywhere will have to hole-up.
Otherwise, they'll risk death from exposure just like before,”
piped up Jason, trying to brighten the mood.

“
You think Fenris and his
cronies won’t try to move around in the blizzard? I mean after all,
he’s gotta be just as antsy as we are with all the delays and such.
You don’t think he’ll make his forces go out even in weather like
this?” asked Anthony, uncertain and downtrodden.

“
No, I do not feel he
will,” interjected Garfield, surprising them all for the second
time in the past few minutes. “Though I have an inkling he might
attempt something on a much smaller scale. He might send out small
patrols and scouts and the like, but he won’t risk anything of real
value to the storm. He’ll wait and bide his time. He will marshal
his strength, maybe call for reinforcements now that he knows there
is a Fist of the Light present in the Melded World. He will make
small changes to his plans, but he’ll stay the course in the long
term. He knows we’re here, somewhere, but here all the same, so he
can afford to wait. He will not like it one bit, but he will wait
anyhow. The Hand of the Maelstrom is no fool.”

“
Fenris dok Kór cannot
afford to play the fool,” clarified Joaquin. He was looking down at
the floor before him, his words more formal than those he would use
on a normal day. “He is the Crown Prince of the Vülfen Ambalaj and
Heir to his father’s kingdom. Being the Hand of Metohkangmi in
congruence with that title will make him powerful upon his
inheritance. He may rise second to none within the Six-Fold Empire
of Storm. Because of that lofty future, he will be patient. He will
wait, because he has too. He has no choice. He has a lot at
risk.”

They all glanced around in
confusion, Marianna included. The hulking boy was using words she
could not even form in her mouth.

“
What are you talking
about?” asked Jason, his face like a thunderhead.

“
I-I don’t know, it just
all came at once. I th-think I need some time,” was all Joaquin
said holding his head as if he had a headache.

Marianna peered up at
Andrew, an unsaid question in her eyes.

“
His Gift,” he muttered
back at her.

She understood. It hit her
like a sack of potatoes.
His Gift! He is
the Vessel of Knowledge! That’s right!
Though she had already accepted what happened to her for what
it was, after seeing what little Elena could do with light. It was
still amazing to witness. She did not think she would ever get used
to it.