Myka's Tail Ch. 04

"That's enough little girl," and my head snapped up from what I was doing to see Kelli's dad moving into my field of vision. "Just keep him quiet until we secure him."

I saw that my dad and Mary followed close behind. I kept Davis on the ground and his hands away from his weapons as they approached, and Kelli's dad made quick work of binding him once he got to us.

"Thanks little girl," he said when I pulled off Davis' radio and gave it to him.

"How are you guys moving about in the dark so much better than these guys," I asked.

"Mary did some magic and now we can see like it's late evening. Not the best light, but better than dark, and these guys are only using night vision sporadically."

"Got it," I replied. "A few minutes ago the leader called for a report from everyone, and less Davis here, there are eight more teams of two that were active at that time. I don't know how many teams they had originally."

"Fall back! Repeat! Fall back," the leader's voice called out over the radio at that moment. "Fall back to the spring with the pond and we'll regroup there."

"Well," Kelli's dad said. "Now we know where they're headed. Hey Mary, can you get this info to our other groups, how many are left and where they are headed?"

"Certainly Steve," she replied and began casting some sort of spell as she started talking to no one.

"Are you ok little girl," my dad whispered as he pulled me into a hug. "I've been worried since we ran into these jokers a while back. Are you really ok?"

"I had to kill a couple of them dad," I whispered, and I realized I was starting to feel the emotional impact of it. "I don't think I had a choice, but... How do I live with this dad?"

"We'll figure it all out later," he said, and just stroked my hair to make me feel better. "But right now we have to finish this."

"Ok, we gotta go," Kelli's dad interrupted, and we all got up to move on.

While we were making our way back to our clearing, I noticed that the radio had gone silent and we concluded that they knew or suspected that one or more of us had one of their radios. Kelli's dad said that they had either changed channels, or perhaps just went silent until they had regrouped. Regardless, we all continued on towards the clearing and the confrontation with the remaining soldiers.

My wolves had stayed out of sight of the other members of my group, but I could still feel them pacing us with my earth connection. They appeared to be in it for the long haul as well, but our slower pace due to my walking with the others made the return to the clearing somewhat slow. The humans in our group kept silent on the way back, which was important so that we didn't give away our position, but it also let me concentrate on hearing things ahead and around us so that we didn't get ambushed.

As we neared the clearing I hung back and whispered to my dads and to Mary, explaining to them that my plan was to move forward silently and to listen and look so that we would be ready to act when the time came. Kelli's dad agreed with this, and after explaining that he could get the others fairly close to the clearing in this light without being detected, we added that to the plan. It wasn't perfect, but he would argue that no plan ever is, and never stays that way after first contact.

Much to the surprise of my dads, I leapt up into the trees again, and moved without a sound up to our clearing. As we had heard, there were six men in the clearing, grouped together and scanning the surrounding trees for any movement. They had some flashlights on so that they could see better into the dark of the forest, and they had pulled the two I had killed initially over to where they had taken up a defensive position. I took a moment and concentrated, and used my earth abilities to float six small stones through the air and back to where my dads and Mary were. The silent signal let them know how many soldiers were there and that they could move forward into position if they were careful.

The soldiers themselves, seemed very agitated, and if our group of witches, a fish and wildlife officer, and my dads had done this to any other group, they would most likely be agitated as well. I knew I had a minute or two before my group had moved into their positions, so I took the time to concentrate on what the soldiers were saying.

"Look Mitchell," one of the men said, continuing an argument that had probably been going on for some time. "The boss told us to regroup here. We! Stay! Here! Got it?"

"Man, you didn't see the kind of shit I saw out there," the one who was probably Mitchell said. "The one bitch was throwing fire, man! Throwing fire! How the fuck do you explain that? And the other one, the other one. Fucking Christ! She killed Kellar with glowing whips! Fucking whips made of light. We didn't get paid enough for this shit and I say we bug the fuck out and go the fuck home!"

I noticed that a couple of the other soldiers in their group were nodding in agreement with Mitchell. Clearly they were spooked, and I knew that this might be an advantage.

"The boss said to fall back and regroup here," the first one said again, but this time he grabbed his pistol and pulled the hammer back before aiming it at his own man. "If you don't like it, Mitchell, I will gladly put you down myself and take your share. Your choice."

The rest of their group milled around in agitation and some confusion, but nobody stepped up to agree with Mitchell. For his part, the one called Mitchell just stared down the barrel of the gun in silence. This was a game. A game of dominance, and from my observations I was pretty sure that Mitchell had lost.

"That's what I thought," the first soldier said as he holstered his sidearm. "Now, shut the fuck up, keep your eyes open, and do your fucking jobs."

I continued to watch from the trees, silent and unmoving save for the occasional twitch of my tail or flick of my ears. These guys were nervous as hell, and that made them easy targets, but it also made them somewhat unpredictable and dangerous. I would have to be careful if it came to a confrontation. I spent a few moments trying to sense where Kelli was, but the only thing I could get from her was that she was ok and was completely calm. I was reassured by her feelings, but I was still wary since she wasn't here with me.

"Sweet Jesus," one of the other unnamed soldiers called out as he pointed to the other side of the clearing.

I couldn't help but look myself when he had called out to his friends, but when I saw what had alarmed him my heart was nearly pulled out of my chest in fear. There in the tree line, and above the small rock face that the spring came out of, were a large number of wolves. I couldn't tell you how many, but their eyes gave off an eerie green glow as they reflected the beams of the soldier's flash lights. They weren't doing anything but watching, but even for me it was a frightening sight. My biggest fear was that many of them would be hurt if the men decided to open fire.

"Guys," the first soldier called out to the others in a steady voice. "Just keep cool and keep your fingers on your triggers. They shouldn't attack if we don't antagonize them."

"You sure," one of the others asked, and I could see his hands shaking on his gun grip. He was seriously frightened.

"Yes I'm sure. Wolves spook easily, and when they hear the boss coming they will run off without bothering us."

What the lead soldier hadn't noticed, but I saw as clear as day, was that one of the wolves that was there had several pups clustered around her feet. While I was certainly no expert on wolves, I did know that this female wolf would give her life to protect her young, and one of the pups was moving away towards the soldiers. The young wolf had not developed the needed cautiousness that nearly all wild animals had yet, and it was moving itself directly into danger. It was when the female let out a low growl of warning to let everyone know she was protecting a pup, that I knew a total shit-storm was about to go down.

"Oh fucking hell," the really spooked soldier called out, right before he raised his pistol and unloaded several rounds in the direction of the growling mother from across the clearing.

Time seemed to slow down for me at that point. I felt the pain of the female wolf getting hit, almost as if it were my own body, and I heard her yelp in pain as she was knocked back by the impact. Hearing the report of the gun caused the rest of the wolves to scatter and run, but not before a couple of the other nervous soldiers fired indiscriminately after the fleeing creatures. Again I felt the pain of several shots as other wolves were hit, and the smell of fresh blood made my nose flare, and it was in that instant that I completely lost it.

With a hissing yowl of fury I launched myself from the safety of the trees like I had done at the first soldiers that I confronted earlier that night. The poor man only had time to turn around before my flurry of punches and kicks devastated his nose, shattered a knee, and probably broke some of his ribs. It had happened so quickly that the other soldiers had had no time to react, but once this little shit had screamed out his buddies turned to face me.

One of them already had his gun level with my chest, and without thinking about it I pulled the body of the one I had just pounded in front of me as a shield, and I was rewarded with the sound of several rounds striking him in the chest. I wasn't really thinking about it, but later I would come to the conclusion that it was better him than me, and I dropped the now dead soldier and moved on to the next one.

I was a blur. I was anger. I was fury. I was a Neko, and these asshats had trespassed on my domain. I also noticed that it wasn't just me that had stepped in to fight. Kelli's dad was grappling with one soldier, and I saw spells of fire and light going off from multiple directions. But my primal side had full reign now, and it was out for blood.

In the middle of the fighting I saw that one of the remaining men had pulled his pistol to fire at Kelli's dad, and I knew that I would probably not get there in time. Something inside of me wouldn't let that happen, though. With a wave of my hand and a stomp of my foot, a sheath of stone erupted from the ground and encased him in a protective barrier that dropped as soon as the soldier had emptied his clip. In the back of my mind I had realized a new use of the earth powers I possessed.

This new knowledge was quite useful once I had squared off against the leader of the group, because he was much better than his friends. He had been trained well, and knew how to fight. I had good training, but the only real fighting I had done had been in the sparing ring. Plus, this guy had pulled a wicked looking knife from his belt as he took a stance facing me.

Our dance was one of desperation, all of the moves augmented by adrenaline, and both of us were aware that only one would walk away. I was blocking the rapid moves of his knife hand as best I could, but he had practiced long and hard, and had seen actual combat. While blocking, however, I realized I was surrounding my arms in stone every time I deflected one of his attacks, and his inability to cause me injury was frustrating him. Eventually he made a series of swipes, slices and kicks that I was able to deal with, and when He went to pull his pistol I made my move.

I stepped forward using all the speed I could muster, and I used my strength to stun his wrist, which caused him to lose his grip on his knife. I also moved into his personal defense zone before he could bring the pistol to bear. Then it was a simple matter to crush his instep and his balls, to dislocate my third knee of the evening, and my elbow to the throat caused him to choke and gasp for air. Since he had already removed his helmet, I grabbed him by the hair and pulled his face down to meet my rising knee three or four times, and then I finished by twisting his neck until it snapped. That was when the last two soldiers came from the tree line and one spoke to me.

"Well, well my little slave kitten," the leader called out to me as he moved into the clearing and I was shocked to hear Mathias' voice come from the leader's mouth.

The other surprise that nearly finished me was that he was holding my lovely Kelli by the hair and had his pistol pointed at her head. His partner stepped forward as well and threw a badly beaten Cassandra to the ground in front of us. I was shocked to see the bruised and bloodied face there on the ground because it was my understanding that Cassandra was one of the more powerful members of the Circle.

"You and your little friends need to get back from my boys right now, or I will make sure and give your darling girlfriend here a couple extra holes in the head."

I slowly stepped back from the little shit that I had beaten to death, and I moved myself into a fight stance that would allow me to leap at this Mathias soldier mashup very rapidly. What confused me when I did this was the feeling that I got from the bond with Kelli. She was confident that she was in no danger, and she felt calm, extraordinarily so. I also noticed the almost imperceptible shake of her head, but I was ready to attack anyway.

"Now, now slave," Mathias continued, and he gave a jerk on Kelli's hair to emphasize his point. "I told you to back off, and I fucking mean it! You are about half a heartbeat from killing your hedge witch of a girlfriend."

Again at the insistence of Kelli's feelings, I backed off even further and let my stance become more relaxed, yet still fight ready. The problem was that my primal side was not seeing how to end this situation without someone getting hurt and it was worrisome. I also took a quick look around and saw that Ali had joined us when I had attacked and she appeared livid about what was happening to her mom.

"Alright. Now that I have the attention of my little slave kitten, the nosey cunts from your precious Circle, and you other two," Mathias said, indicating my dads. "It's time that we catch up a little"

"You know, Myka," he continued. "You and your family's little stunt in thwarting my little deal with AvaChem kind of pissed me off. I mean, you all deserved it after you denied me my rightful due in Scotland."

"You are a crazy little fuck," Kelli's dad spat at him, with anger and rage. "Once I get hands on you I will wring the life from your worthless fucking neck."

"Careful there daddy," Mathias replied, giving Kelli another shake. "I might just slip on the trigger if you make me angry enough, and I am already so very angry. You have all pissed me off more than you should have. All but you Aliara, my darling daughter."

I had to admit, hearing Mathias make that statement struck like a thundering punch to the gut. It made absolutely no sense, but the fact that he said it with such sincerity was more than troubling. I could see the rage and disbelief that Ali had about it as well.

"You're nothing but a goddess forsaken liar," Ali hissed at him, challenging his claim with her stare. "And you lie as easily as you breathe so I don't believe you."

"Oh, that is such a poor way to treat your own father. Didn't your mother teach you any better than that? Or, oh! Did your mother even tell you about me in the first place?"

"Mathias," Cassandra managed to croak out from her place on the ground. "You are nothing but a worm eaten bastard."

"Oh, Cassandra my dear. Is that any way to act when we're having such a wonderful family reunion?"

"Is that really the best you can do to threaten us," I mocked, still looking for an opening to move in and save Kelli. "Come up with such a blatant lie?"

"Oh dear. I guess I need to take a moment or two to educate you all," he replied in a sing song voice. "What was it, hmm, about twenty some odd years ago? You got in my way Cassandra, and managed to secure a book that I really, really wanted. But I got my pound of flesh anyway, didn't I Cassie?"

"I may have suffered at your hand then, you worm," she spat at him. "But I still thwarted you that day."

Cassandra's response to Mathias' stinging taunts made me rethink for a brief moment the possibility that perhaps he was being somewhat truthful about his claim. Looking at things from this new angle certainly helped to explain some of the guardedness and mystery that Cassandra seemed to wear like a cloak. When I glanced over at Ali to see what she was going to do, I saw that a look of loss and horror had marred her face as her mind began to sort truth from falsehood, while Mathias just continued his rant.

"That you did. But I rewarded you for that by giving you a beautiful little girl, didn't I? Granted, after I left you with this precious gift, you looked pretty much like you do now. But I do so like a little bit of fight in my women. It makes the moment when they finally submit in hopelessness that much sweeter."

With that statement, I saw Ali's world come crashing down around her as a complete realization of the bitter truth set in, and I had a better sense of some of the reasons for Cassandra's crushing loneliness. Now, however, I just needed to save Kelli and end this so all of us could get back to semi normal.

"Well, I for one have had enough of this skipping down memory lane," Mathias continued. "So. Here is the plan, and you better damn well follow it or there will be a lot of blood spilled, and none of it mine."

I kept my stance loose, but I could also feel the tension in the air. Things were about to happen very rapidly and I had to make sure I was ready.

"Myka, you bad little slave you. You will be following me back into the woods where we will disappear, and if any of your bitch friends, or even your pathetic fathers, try and follow, Kelli will gain an extra vent hole, and you will have one right behind her."

"You are even more nuts than I remember," I spat at him, hoping to keep him off guard enough to act. "There is no way in hell I am going to follow you."

"If you don't, then there will be consequences you fucking cunt! And just so you know I'm serious, Jack, put two in Cassandra's forehead will you."

Time again seemed to slow down as I watched the soldier named Jack pull back the hammer on the pistol pointed at Cassandra. I saw Ali start to move in an attempt to make it to her mother in time, but knowing that she probably wouldn't. And I saw the man currently being controlled by Mathias starting to back up, headed for the trees with Kelli still in his grasp. I knew the time had come to act, but no matter what I did, I knew that some of us would not survive the night. Before I could move, however, the roar of a pistol shattered the night.

It came as quite a surprise when it was the head of the soldier, Jack, which snapped back as the impact of a slug tore through him. He collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. It was such a surprise that it even caused Mathias to hesitate, and that is when Kelli acted. With a quick movement of her hands and a few uttered words, she vanished completely from Mathias' grasp.

"By the goddess," he screamed, the face of the man he was controlling contorted in a mask of pure rage and hate. "I will end you and your miserable existence you selfish bitch!"

Mathias, now that he had lost his hostage, changed his aim and leveled the pistol at my chest. It crossed my mind that my only hope was that I could call again on the earth power I had used to protect my dad, and to win that knife fight. I just wasn't sure I could do it again without more practice.

It became a moot point, however, when the ear shattering roar of the gun that had killed Jack repeated itself three more times. I watched as three bright red holes burst open in the chest of Mathias' puppet, and the body that remained collapsed to the forest floor. I was in a state of shock, not understanding how this had happened, when Avery stepped into the clearing, a smoking revolver in her hand.