"The Gift" Stephanie's Storyline, Chapter 10, Part 3
Story by comidacomida on SoFurry
Hello, readers, and welcome back to Stephanie's story line of "The Gift". This is part three of her final chapter, so I hope you are all prepared for the rising climax!
Thanks to the tie-breaking vote at the last minute, the storyline proceeds with a D vote from the last post. Diplomacy breaks down, forcing an altercation, and battle ensues. Tom is at the forefront, supported quickly by Anapa and even Kyle joins in the fray, hoping to redeem himself in Stephanie's eyes, but it's apparent very quickly that any one of her Spirits will be overpowered by their opponent... and Medved wants her to get to safety.
We're sitting at a 1 in 20 chance now for all of Stephanie's spirits to survive this final altercation, and every single reader decision must be the right one (out of five), four times in a row. You've made it through the first of five... now to see where things go from here.
Here is what readers chose:
3) -- pulled free of Medved's grasp and ran to my bloody Rhino Sentinel. "Tom! No!"
The Gift
Stephanie's Storyline, Chapter 10.3
copyright comidacomida 2019
Mishupishu ignored Medved, speaking past him to me. His words returned to his native language but, for some inexplicable reason, I could still understand him. "That spark is mine as well, Stephanie Brenner. You sought answers, and now you have them. Tell him to relinquish it to me and we will leave you in peace."
I let Medved stand between me and the strange Spirit but that didn't mean I was about to hide behind him. Raising my voice, I pointed right at the Underwater panther rather than addressing him by name. "You didn't answer ANYTHING... all you did was try to redirect my attention to Kyle-- my friend. Whether he has a piece of Billy or not, you don't have a right to it... neither of you do."
William looked at me as if, for the first time, he was interested in talking on his own. "If a Spirit doesn't take it then it's wasted-- all the more reason for it to be put to use! Telling them to surrender it is not only a great loss, but it is not honoring your bro--"
I turned on the paramedic, actually surprising myself at the volume of my voice. "Don't you DARE tell me that letting this THING steal my brother's life essence is in ANY way honoring him, especially when you never got permission! Don't you EVEN DARE!"
The Panther in front of me blinked, and glanced aside to William, who spoke quickly. Mishupishu rumbled out his condescending chuckle again and he looked back to me. "Stephanie Brenner, you blind. You no know, but you talk like you do. Human no say yes. No say no. This, Spirits do. I do. This, Kaagaagiw do." His eyes narrowed as he motioned with a flick of his ear to Anapa. "This, black dog do."
I stood my ground. "Not to my brother."
William took a step forward, an unreadable expression on his face. "You don't want to do this, Ms. Brenner."
I wasn't about to be intimidated. "No... I definitely do. Billy was my brother, and you had no right to take any part of him."
The paramedic looked to Mishupishu and spoke a few words I couldn't understand. Kyle quickly moved behind me; although my attention was focused on the man and Panther in front of me, his beak was close enough to my ear that I heard him whisper regardless. "I'm sorry, Stef... but I'm gonna make it up to you."
I felt a chilling warmth as his talon rose up to grip my hand. In that split second a thousand thoughts and memories and experiences I hadn't considered in weeks or months or even years flooded through me. The smallest of details about my life with Billy crashed against my mind like a wave against a pier... and the pier gave way. Weak in the knees, I very nearly fell, if not for Anapa reaching out to catch me. A moment later I heard a roar that sounded like a lightning strike, and I was thrown off balance.
Anapa, already holding me, rotated his body, falling to the grass so he would land on his back and me atop him. The world went topsy-turvy as we rolled to a stop, and he quickly let me go, saying quickly "Stay." before hopping up. He turned to face what had already become a pitched battle, a large, bronze spear with what looked like it had been intricately crafted with a scarab with spread wings worked into the shaft right behind a leaf-shaped blade.
Remaining where I was, I looked up at Mishupishu and William and froze at what I saw; the Spirit had returned to a dark fog and was swirling around the man, seeping into him. Rather than disappearing, Mishupishu actually seemed to merge with the paramedic, who began to grow. Although he wasn't a big man by any means when he first started, William Smith quickly enlarged to at least seven feet tall, his clothing tearing and ripping to accommodate rippling muscles. His hands popped and twisted, joints cracking as his fingers curled in on his palm, fingernails growing into large, hook-like claws. Even more frightening was the way his jaw popped out of joint, mouth enlarging greatly as his teeth elongated and became pointed.
A wing reached down and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me up. Kyle stood beside me, stepping in front of me and blocking me with his body as he called over his shoulder. "He can hurt you, Stef... and he's gonna try to if it means he can get at Billy's spark. Stay behind me... please. No matter what."
Even though I had trouble pulling my attention away from what looked like a nightmare combination of William Smith and Mishupishu, the way he gave me the warning forced my attention to the Raven for just a moment, and that's when I gasped. Kyle was missing most of his feathers, and his body beneath was almost skeletal. Even more disconcerting was the way his eyes no longer shone with an Amethyst glow; they were a dark brown, and looked tired; it was obvious that whatever he'd done to give me Billy's spark had done something to weaken him greatly. "Kyle, I--"
He didn't wait to let me speak, turning toward the combined monstrosity that was Mishupishu and William Smith. His easy-going, casual teenager stance gave way to a truly intimidating pose as his jeans and hoodie disappeared, leaving him dressed in only a loincloth and a collection of beaded cords. He called out to the red-eyed beast, and I couldn't help but think that his voice sounded like it belonged to an old man. "Wendigo Inini ! Madja!!"
I couldn't tell how or why, but I somehow knew that the word Kyle had used, 'Wendigo', was a specific term... a specific title for what it was we faced. There wasn't any more time to consider it as the being that was the combination of William Smith and Mishupishu charged, arms spread wide and deadly-looking claws brandished as if he were ready to kill. His eyes glowed a baleful red, piercing my heart with so much fear that it actually hurt-- but he slammed into an unknown barrier before he got within five feet of me; Anapa stood near, his staff held up with a single paw presented with its palm out.
Before the Wendigo could recover Tom was upon him, bearing down like a freight train as he bellowed at the top of his lungs "Rak Chazak!"
The moment they collided the world came to a stop, almost as if the wind had been knocked out of reality's stomach, and, after what felt like forever, the two were each thrown in separate directions as if they were two magnets whose poles refused to touch. Tom landed hard on his feet, falling down to one knee as blood seeped from his nose, and he coughed, sending a spray of blood onto the ground; although he was wearing a hauberk made of bronze plates I could clearly see that one of the metal bands had been shredded horribly and blood poured freely from it. I was immediately aghast, but it only got worse when my attention returned to the Wendigo.
The creature was taller yet, nearly eight foot, and, although a large, sickle-like sword had cleaved into his shoulder, he pulled it free and tossed it aside as if he were immune to the pain. Indeed, as soon as the blade was out of his flesh the wound closed up. Getting larger still, it looked almost like his body was burning itself out just to keep up the growth, and he grew so skeletal as to look unhealthy, all coloring bleaching out of his fur, which started shedding, leaving patches of pale flesh all over him.
I had no more time to spend observing as Medved pulled me away even as Kyle launched himself forward and cawing out what must have been a war cry, his wings supporting a wooden shafted war spear with a flint tip. Tom chose the same time to charge him again, a lengthy spear appearing in his free hand even as the blade discarded by Wendigo disappeared before hitting the ground. Both spear wielders were joined by Anapa as the Jackal lowered his arm, gripping his own pole arm with both paws, rushing to join the other two in a three-pronged attack on Wendigo.
Medved's arm wrapped around me as he spoke firmly. "Come, Lapushka... we must get you inside. It is not safe."
I struggled. "They need me-- they need us, Medved! We should help them!"
Although his tone was comforting, he did not relent. "I know, Vozlyublennaya. I will help-- I promise... but you MUST be safe. Pozhaluysta-- Please!"
I heard the sound of Anapa yelp in pain even as Tom roared out an indication that he'd been wounded further. With no time to debate the situation, I--