Tre Lloyd Adventures Ch. 10

Robert sat in the dark inner room that Chilo had given over for his mother's use to sleep in and waited on her to awaken from her daytime slumber. She had been out later than usual, barely beating the dawn back to the Villa. She had fallen immediately into a deep torpor as soon as she got into the room. He had been awake for about forty-five minutes, as was his habit, doing his kata.

His cell phone rang as he heard her stirring on the bed. He scooped it out of its holder and flipped it open looking at the number. He frowned slightly and answered it. "Hello?"

"Robert, this is Anita." He recognized the voice and sat up straighter at the worried tone in it. "They are going to attack tonight. A truck full of ghouls, maybe twenty or twenty-five, ten or fifteen vampires and about twenty of the Eclipses. None of the vampires or ghouls have guns but a few of the Eclipses do. The vampires and the rest of the Eclipses have swords and such."

"Anita," Robert cut in, breaking off her hurried talk. "How do you know all of this?"

Anita's southern accent grew stronger as she rushed. "I volunteered to join them when they asked for another mage. I'm coming to join you and your mother, Robert. I've got to go." With that she hung up.

Robert flipped the phone closed and looked at his mother. "We have to warn the others. Freyja's attack force is gathered and ready to come here." He reached down and grabbed his sword as he stood.

Kimiko rose and grabbed her coat, shrugging into it as they walked. They made their way through the house and out into the garden. She led Robert over to where her brothers sat playing a game of chess. She smiled at Keio who gave a half-smile back and walked over to Akiro. "Akiro, Robert says that the vampires are on their way to attack."

Silence fell in the garden at that announcement as everyone stopped what they were doing and walked over to gather around Robert and his mother. Akiro rose from the bench he was sitting on, looking at Robert. "How do you know that they are coming, Robert?"

Robert gestured to the cell phone hanging at his side. "A friend of mine, a fellow Sunchaser, called me just a few moments ago and told me." He went on to rehash the hurried conversation to Akiro and the others.

"How did she find out they are coming?" Tomas asked as he worked the slide on his pistol.

Robert looked over at him. "She volunteered to come with them." He raised a hand to forestall the protests that were visibly coming. "She is coming to escape Freyja's control. Apparently Freyja knows that my mother and I aren't coming back. Anita is a powerful mage and will be a valuable asset in the fight."

Jonathon spoke up over the others as Robert fell silent. "How do you know she can be trusted, Robert? How do you know that the vampires aren't using her as a trap?"

"Because I trust her. She has been with me for as long as I can remember and she would not lie to me." Robert looked around at the others quietly.

"Ok. That's enough." Akiro said. "Robert, if you trust her, we will too. But if you're wrong, she will go down like the rest of the vampires. Everybody get ready, if they were leaving a few minutes ago they will be here in less than forty-five minutes. We need to be ready in twenty minutes. Everybody meet back here when you're ready."

Robert stood beside his mother as everyone split off to go get their gear and get ready. He nodded at her glance and moved over to sit cross-legged, focusing his mind for the coming battle as she moved off to do the same.

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Kimiko watched as her son settled down to prepare himself for the battle. She smiled proudly for a moment before walking over to a small corner of the garden and lowering herself to kneel. She bowed her head to the ground in front of a distinctively Japanese symbol, a torii gate consisting of two uprights and two crossbars. This gate symbolizes the barrier between the physical world and the world of the kami.

She reached over to a fountain designed to look like a waterfall. Taking a small dipper from beside the fountain she dipped it into the water and began purifying herself ritually in preparation for the upcoming fight. She knew she would perform many kegare, wrong deeds, today in the killing of living beings to continue her own life and wanted to be as pure as possible to aid in her calling on the kami's power.

Reaching up to touch the medallion at her neck she called softly "Masuri, come to me." She felt rather than saw the presence of her ally spirit and smiled to herself. At the reassuring touch of her ally's mind to her own she began to speak using the telepathic link between them. "I will need you in a little while, Masuri. We are going into a battle soon and you're going to have to protect me. Robert will be too busy fighting to stay beside me as he wants, so for his peace of mind you will be my protector."

She felt what passed for a nod from her ally and smiled, settling back down in front of the torii gate to pray. She focused her mind repeating the prayers that were taught to her as a child in the Shinto temple where she first made contact with the kami. She smiled remembering the feeling she had in the presence of the kami of the temple school where she was trained as a kannushi, or Shinto priest.

Kimiko knew she had much to atone for with the kami, both in general and more specifically with her ancestor spirits. She also knew that this was the first step in beginning that atonement or purification. There were many people she had killed over the years during her feeding that she had not shown the proper reverence for their sacrifice to help her continue her life. Many of these had turned into aragami, powerful evil kami in search of revenge. Some she had already destroyed, mourning the necessity of each one, while others she had not met again. She knew they were out there though, just waiting for her.

She shook her head, banishing the thoughts of her kegare from her mind and once more began to focus herself on the task to come. The battle ahead would require all of her concentration, forcing her to maintain the harmony with the kami from which her magic flowed. As she repeated her prayers over and over she felt the calm of the kami settle around her and it was all she could do to keep a smile from her face. She was ready for what was to come.

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Bobby, Jonathon, Dreux and Dave sat in the room used as the Villa's armory gathering their weapons for the attack. Akiro stuck his head in the door and looked around a moment. "Remember Tre has neighbors around here. They may not be exactly close, but at night the sounds of a gunfight will carry far enough. Silenced weapons only."

Bobby and Jonathon both nodded silently and reached into their lockers. They both grabbed HK MP5s with silencers, running the weapons through a quick inspection before grabbing a half dozen clips of ammunition each, tucking them into pockets on belts and strapping the belts around their waists. They then grabbed a thirty-round clip each and slid it into the weapon and worked the bolts.

Dave watched them for a moment then slid into his chain mail hauberk. He rolled his shoulders to adjust the way it hung on him and grabbed his Roman-style short swords, slinging them on his back and hooking the straps to his belt. He checked the draw on each gladius and then buckled his seax, a match to the one Jonathon carried, around his waist. With another roll of his shoulders he reached into his footlocker and pulled out a chain mail hood. He pulled it on over his head and quickly worked the leather laces to fasten it around his neck, protecting it from bites, and turned his head from side to side to make sure he had a full range of motion.

As Bobby and Jonathon loaded their side arms, Beretta 93R 9mm pistols modified with integral silencers and offering a choice between single shot and 3 round burst rates of fire, with the 20 round magazines and tucked more into the utility pockets on their belts, Dreux changed into his fighting outfit. Basically this consisted of stripping down to his birthday suit and then covering himself in a breechclout, tying a cord loosely around his waist and then hanging a strip of cloth over the back of it, bringing it between his legs and hanging it over the front.

"C'mon, man. Put some clothes on, mate." Dave protested as he pulled on his boots and tied the laces securely. "Nobody wants to look at you in your underwear."

"Why should I put on clothes?" Dreux replied, grinning. "As soon as I change anything I am wearing will be shredded for the most part. At least this way I'm covered until I change and the loose knot will come apart when my body gets too big for it to fit around and it won't cut me in half." He shrugged and grabbed his spiked club from the corner near his footlocker. He hefted it for a moment and then, as Dave kept grumbling, pulled a cloak-like piece of cloth around his shoulders, fastening it with a small stainless steel pin in the shape of a bear. "Happy now, Dave?"

Dave didn't answer him, simply kept grumbling and headed for the door. Dreux laughed as did Bobby and Jonathon and the four of them headed out of the armory, making their way back to the garden, talking quietly amongst themselves, each feeling the rush of the coming battle.

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Heidi watched as Tomas checked his gear. She could feel the power all around her as Tomas checked the silencer on his MP7-PDW before sliding a magazine into it. He slung the submachine gun on his left side, checking to be sure the handle on the front wouldn't snag and tucked a double handful of magazines into his coat pockets. She laughed as he held out a hand, a magical wind carrying his staff, a navel-high tall piece of wood slightly thicker than a cane, carved with runes and topped with a large fist sized crystal, into it. "You're a showoff, Tomas. I could have done the same thing and expended less energy."

Tomas turned around to face her, his coat fluttering about his knees. "You probably could have, but you wouldn't have looked as good doing it as I do." He grinned his cocky grin at her.

She shook her head, her long hair rustling on her clothes. "You're incorrigible, Tomas. You really are." She looked to the door a bit nervously. "How do you think they will react to how I... um... dress during a fight? I can't exactly wear normal clothes because of the heat my magic produces. It burns them right off of me. It is a great protection against everything from knives to small caliber bullets, but it is hell on clothes."

Tomas checked the focuses hanging on his coat, glancing over at her. "Can you maintain the flames and still use your magic or will the drain become too much? Losing your protection mid-fight would be bad, Heidi."

"No," she said reaching to her neck and lifting a pendant, "this is the spell lock that will maintain the fiery clothes. It is also the spell focus that makes it easier to cast. I will just cover up in a coat until it is time to fight, then throw the coat off and cast the spell at the same time. The drain will be minimal and I can shrug it off."

Tomas looked skeptical for a moment but the determined look on her face convinced him and he nodded. "Ok. I don't know if I'll be able to be close by during the fight, so you watch out for yourself."

Heidi laughed. "I will be fine, Tomas. The heat my body produces when I am using my magic is more than enough protection. The stronger the magic, the greater the heat. I'm one of the strongest Sisters of the Flame. I can call up fire elementals at will and burn holes in concrete walls almost without breaking a sweat. A few vampires and ghouls are not going to hurt me."

She smiled as she thought back to when her powers began to manifest themselves. She hid the sigh as she thought of the unexplained fires she was punished for starting. No one knew she was doing it with magic. It was assumed that she was playing with matches or a lighter and started them. Then one day a teacher saw her get into a fight with someone that was picking on a friend of hers just before the bully's shoes and pants caught on fire from a stream of elemental flame bursting from her fingertips.

Even the bully didn't see where the fire came from but the teacher, a scholar dating one of the Sisters of the Flame, took her and, once he had put the fire out, called his girlfriend. By the end of the week she had been transferred to a private school run by the Sisters. At this school she continued both her mundane education and began to be trained in the ways of the Sisterhood. With her fiery personality she learned quickly, soon becoming the prime student of the school in both mundane and magical areas.

She was snapped out of her remembrances by Tomas. "Heidi, come on. Let's head on back out to the garden. I'll wait outside while you get... undressed for the fight." He laughed and stepped out the door and pulled it closed.

Heidi stood up and quickly stripped nude. She changed her mind about the coat and instead just cast an illusion of one around herself. She fixed the lock as her pendant knowing that as soon as she used it for another spell the illusion would fade. She wasn't worried though because by the time the illusion faded she would be covered in flames.

She stepped out into the hall with Tomas and they headed back out to the garden. She punched him in the shoulder as she heard his murmured "Decided to go with just an illusion instead of the coat eh? It suits you" and just kept walking, not deigning to answer him, just shaking her head at him with a smile.

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Keio finished lacing up his ornate armor, a full set of samurai armor that his father had commissioned, part of a set, one for him in red with black lacing and highlights and one for Akiro in black with red lacing and highlights. He checked the throat piece, or nodawa, carefully before sliding his katanas onto his hips, adjusting the fit of them and testing the draw by pulling each half out of the scabbard.

Akiro knelt in front of the small shrine the brothers maintained in their shared quarters. He prayed to their ancestors to keep them safe and for their deeds to be worthy of the Tanaka name and to uphold the honor of the Way of the Warrior that they lived. He heard his brother moving around in the room as he finished getting ready and spoke quietly. "You always were slow getting into your armor, Keio. You should work on that as much as you do your sword skills."

Keio laughed as he tucked his wakizashi into his belt and walked over to the small shrine and knelt down beside his brother. "Yes and you always did rush to get ready in the hopes that one day you could best me with a sword."

At that joke, one that had been passed back and forth for years, the brothers laughed and settled down to their prayers. Both knew that in the short run Keio was the better swordsman but that if the eldest Tanaka could withstand the younger's assault he would find a weak point, any weak point, to exploit and defeat his more impulsive brother. It had been that way since they were kids and not much had changed.

Both men were well known as being sword masters. Akiro's skill with his no-dachi was unrivalled except possibly by Tre though they had not exercised together in quite some time. Keio's twin katana fighting style made him a sword master of a different sort, one who still wanted to prove that he was better than Tre after the defeat years before after he challenged for his sister's honor.

An awkward silence fell as they reached the point in their prayers where they normally offered respect for their sister. Neither really knew what to do since it was now revealed that Kimiko was not actually dead and so they cut their prayers short. Each grabbed their kabuto helm, Akiro's with the curling rams horns and Keio's having a rising sun crest, and the identical face plates with representations of oni, demons from Japanese mythology, faces. Each had three eyes and fangs and was painted to match the colors of their armor, red with black for Keio and black with red for Akiro.

Akiro stood up from his devotions and walked to the door, waiting for Keio with an amused smile. Keio finished his prayers and hurried to his brother's side, the two of them slipping out the door and heading through the Villa for the garden. Neither spoke during the walk. Their minds were focused on the events about to transpire around them.

When they stepped out into the darkened garden everyone else had already gathered. Akiro looked around seeing Kimiko still knelt down in front of the torii gate that Tre had copied in miniature from the one at the Tanaka home in Japan. Robert looked over as Akiro stepped out of the Villa and rose, walking over and resting his hand on his mother's shoulder. After a moment she looked up at him and then turned, smiling at her brothers. She rose and walked over to where the others were gathered, standing a few feet away from Keio with Robert at her side.

"I hope everyone is ready." He paused and looked around, seeing everyone ready to spring into action, some murmuring their readiness and nodding. "I don't know how long we have until they are here but I want us ready to move to wherever they come from."

Bobby spoke up, pointing to the southwest. "They will probably come from there, Akiro. That's where the woods are closest to the house. More cover over that way. We added a few surprises to the woods but because of wild animals we couldn't do much. It should serve to warn us though if they are coming."

Akiro nodded thoughtfully. "It will have to do. I wish I knew where Tre was. I'm used to running second-in-command, not being the general."

As he mentioned that he wished he knew where Tre was a shimmering appeared in the air in front of him. As he reached for his sword Arianna appeared looking directly at him, an upset look in her eyes. "What is going on Akiro? Chilo sent a messenger spirit to me in New York to tell me that something was going on but the spirit couldn't give me many details, just a basic message."

Keio spoke up, his hands resting on his katana hilts. "Where is Tre? Is he coming back to help out?"

Arianna shook her head, a worried look crossing her face. "No, Tre will not be here. He is in the Order Chapter house unconscious."

Tomas, Keio and Dave all spoke up at the same time wanting to know what had happened but Akiro silenced them with a wave of his hand. "Enough!" He looked at Arianna angrily, taking a step towards her. Kimiko stepped forward to intercept her brother but both Robert and Keio reached for an arm to stop her. "What do you mean Tre is unconscious? What happened to him?"

Arianna looked around and nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself as she remembered the events of yesterday. "The Order wanted him to undergo a testing to check him for something, I'm not sure what. During the testing he was pushed harder than I have ever heard of someone being pushed during a test. He had strong spells, deadly spells, thrown at him; he had to defeat spirits of varying powers in various ways. Then came the final test."

Keio listened with a growing feeling of rage as she continued. "He had to battle a spirit. A stronger spirit than any other I have seen. This spirit was only a step or two away from being demon-strength. He managed to defeat the spirit but he was seriously injured in the process. He was burned, electrocuted, hit with acid not to mention taking a tree limb sized arm to the ribs. He also took a LOT of mana burn. During the battle with the spirit his nose started bleeding. It was just a drip at first, but at the end, before he passed out, it was a steady flow."

"And you stood there and LET this happen?" Akiro snapped.