"The Gift": Edward's Storyline, Chapter 9, Part 3
Story by comidacomida on SoFurry
We return once again to Edward's story line of "The Gift", of which this is the third post of Chapter 9
Edward calls an end to the bargaining and tells the Spirit of War to beat it. Rather than get angry, the Spirit shrugs it off, and then things get real.
At this point readers must decide what course of action Edward takes... few of them are all that positive. Here is what readers chose:
3) -- was ready to do something rash but Tre held be back. "Eddie... she's too powerful for us right now. We'll get her back... just not tonight."
The Gift
Edward's Storyline, Chapter 9.3
copyright comidacomida 2019
I was about to speak up but she continued. "Upon completion of our time together you will walk me home and kiss me goodnight. In return for this service your portion of the Pact will be complete. In return I vow to cause no harm to your family living and yet-to-live. I will also not harm your friends or their families, nor any of the three Spirits who attend you. Now... do we have a pact?"
This time she held HER hand out. Looking down at it, I realized that there were far too many variables. "You know... it's just not worth it."
Her hand remained and she raised an eyebrow. "I am often surprised to find just what Humans consider 'worth it'... or otherwise."
I continued looking at her hand. "In case you weren't aware, that was a 'no', I'm not going out with you..."
She finally withdrew her arm and rested her hand on her hip; I was glad to see that she didn't have a gun belt or anything, but, considering her being a Spirit, that really didn't mean anything. Her hand raised up and brushed her hair back as she let out a deep sigh of exasperation. "Well... I'm sorry to hear that we couldn't do things the pleasant way. Such a shame."
I slid one leg back, adjusting my stance in case she did something that required an immediate reaction. "Is this where you start a gun fight here in the parking lot? Throw some grenades? Call in an air strike or something?"
Smirking, the War Spirit shook her head. "No, Edward Clark... I have nothing to gain by attacking you at this point. My goal this evening was diplomacy... nothing more."
Tre remained by my side, hackles still up as he spoke to me. "Strange thing to hear from a Spirit of War... don't you think?"
Her smile disappeared. "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
Red spoke from behind me. "A quote from Sun Tzu... a Human."
The Spirit woman ran her fingers through her hair as she nodded. "Mmm... we wrote a book about war together... I enjoyed him."
She was posturing again; I could tell. Regardless, I made it a point to keep my head and keep cool. "So we're done here then?"
Red spoke in a way that made his statement sound like another quote. "He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."
The Spirit of War's smile spread across her lips, and took on a slightly harsh quality. "You should listen well to your dragon, Edward Clark... he is well-learned in the way of tactical understanding."
I couldn't resist getting in at least one jab. "Yeah? Well I know at least one Sun Tzu quote too..."
She raised an eyebrow in what looked like obvious curiosity. "Oh? I would ever so much enjoy hearing it."
Tre growled softly as he spoke. "Don't, Edward... it'll only give her--"
I held up my hand to silence the Wolf, and he stopped talking. Taking a step closer to her, I took my turn. "Hey, I'm Sun Tzu-- I'm an old Japanese military genius but I guess I still died anyway."
If I'd hoped to get a rise out of her I failed, but it still felt good to shove it back in her face. She took the higher ground, of course, but I was still happy. "Immature and disappointing, Edward Clark... I hope to teach you better in time."
Although I wanted to give her the finger I thought better of it and stuffed my hands into my pockets forcefully. "Yeah? Well I'm not interested in lessons... now leave me alone, lady. It's late and I'm going home."
She watched me as I walked off with my Spirits at my side. Although I made it a point to look like I was ignoring her, I still kept a majority of my attention focused on her so I could tell in case she tried to follow me. She didn't, though, and just kept standing where I left her until I reached the end of the parking lot. Only then did she call out "Oh, Edward! I almost forgot... I have something for you."
I kept my back to her as I bit my tongue to avoid telling her off. Instead, all I did was raise my voice and state "I don't want anything from you, Lady."
Her voice took on that superior tone again. "Oh... I'm not giving it to you actually... I'm returning it."
For the life of me I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Had I lost something? Had she been able to somehow steal something from me? The lack of understanding was enough to get me to turn around and face her. "What? Make it quick, I--"
Don't ask me how I could tell what it was, but I knew the moment the Spirit of War pulled a long thick horn out of nowhere its significance was unmistakable. The name fell from my mouth as my breath was knocked out of me. "Tom..."
She smiled sweetly, turning her hand over and letting the horn drop onto the asphalt where it bounced once, then a second time, making no sound whatsoever before it came to rest, still dripping blood. Pulling back her leg, she kicked the horn with the tip of her sneaker and it went sailing across the distance, landing just a few feet from me and skittering the remaining yard or so before coming to a stop right in front of me. "A taste of things to come, Edward Clark."
Although I'd been glad to be rid of Tom's incessant nagging and holier-than-thou pointers on how to live my life, I still liked the Rhino and he didn't deserve anything close to what she must have done to him. Barely keeping my temper in check I demanded "Is he still alive?"
She glanced up from wiping her fingers off with what looked like a fast food napkin. "Hmm? Oh... the Sentinel Spirit? No-- I carved that off of his dead corpse before it faded away into ephemera. I don't DO torture, Edward Clark... I'm not a monster."
Tre and Medved managed to restrain me as I shouted obscenities at the Spirit of War; I promised that she was going to pay, that I was going to do twice as bad to her, that I was going to destroy her in every way a Spirit could be destroyed but, for all my posturing, I knew deep down inside that such threats were probably hollow. To make matters worse, I could tell she wasn't just getting a rise out of my anger... she was feeding off of it. Ultimately it was Ch'upikaq who managed to quiet me by pointing that out. "You are only strengthening her, Edward... do not give in."
I was still SO angry. Reaching down to pick up the horn, I looked back to The Ancient One; Ch'upikaq was hovering in the air, flapping his wings to remain aloft in a way that, as usual I'm sure, defied physics. "Green... you need to help me find a way to destroy her."
The flying Serpent was gone and, in an instant, the massive scaled Dragon took its place. "I am pleased to hear you say that, Seeker."
I had no idea when she'd gotten so close but I was surprised as she walked by me, brushing at my shoulder when she passed. "You shouldn't spend too much time dwelling on the old Sentinel, Edward Clark, and spend more time worrying about your grandparents."
I--