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The Gift

Edward's Storyline, Chapter 10.3

copyright comidacomida 2019

Rather than exiting the passenger side, Tre walked through the car and stepped up to join me standing on the curb. He offered me a smile, his eyes glinting a faint Golden hue. "It looks like there's some vending machines... maybe grab yourself a snack on the way back from the toilet? With everything you gotta do when we get in, who knows when you'll next get a chance to eat?"

I know it was only my imagination, but I could have sworn the car sunk a little lower as Green took over The Ancient One, then hopped off of it and onto the asphalt. "Do not go alone. I will join you on your errand... we must be ready for the Spirit of War."

Rolling my eyes, I provided clarification. "The bathroom is right over there. I'm pretty sure I don't need help taking a piss. Just keep a look out and I'm sure I'll be fine."

With that sorted, I turned around to make good on my plans, but I paused, thinking better of separating, and looked in my car for a spare water bottle. Nobody was around so why leave my Spirits behind to take a piss? I suppose some people might have a shy bladder or body issues but, to be honest, Tre and I had been intimate so there was no part of me he hadn't already seen and The Ancient One had been around my house long enough that there wasn't any reason to think that he hadn't gotten an eye-full at some point.

Behind the cover of my open car door I got to work emptying my bladder and filling up a water bottle. Sure, Oregon has a deposit on water bottles, but urine is mostly water anyway, and its not like it couldn't be rinsed out. Besides, despite how quiet and peaceful the situation seemed, Tre and the Ancient One weren't wrong; the Spirit of War could easily have been anywhere. Yes, it might have been a little paranoid, but sticking close to my Spirits wasn't just cautious-- it was smart.

Once I was done pissing I walked around to the front of the car and emptied the bottle down a storm drain, shaking it out before putting the cap back on. It was a major relief to finally get a chance to empty my bladder and I let out a sigh of contentment before returning to the car. We were a good ways into the trip and, with any luck, I'd get to my grandparents' place well before it got dark; considering it was the middle of summer the long days would help increase that chance.

I sat down in the seat without swinging my legs into the car, sitting there for a minute as I looked down at my keys. I'd been moved out for over a month but I still had the house key my grandmother had made for me when I was thirteen; she said that it was a rite of passage for a teenager and she wanted me to know I was always welcome. Even when I was moving out she took special care to make sure that I'd always have a way to get in if I ever came home. For all my grandparents were strict and old fashioned, I always knew that I was loved.

Feeling like I was starting to get choked up I cleared my throat and raised a finger to brush at the dampness under an eye. It was strange to think that my grandparents had been there my entire life-- not just 'there' at the house, but part of my life in general. I was returning home to a house without them... would that really be a home? How had things come so far? How had they fallen apart? It was a simple answer: it was the Spirit of War. She was responsible for it all.

A familiar female voice off to the side sent a chill up my spine. "You're still not ready to admit your own fault in all of this, are you, Edward Clark?"

I jumped up from my car, spinning to confront the destructive force that was steam-rolling over my life. She wasn't the teenage girl I remembered; the Spirit of War was a woman in her twenties, dressed in what looked like combat fatigues, and she was not smiling. I didn't care since I wasn't smiling either. I wanted to shout and scream and yell at her, but I somehow managed to keep it mellow to avoid letting her leech any spirit essence off of me. "How did you find me?"

Although I'd expected by that point for her to have at least one up on me, I didn't realize just how far ahead she was. "I can always tell where I am drawing strength. You're hurting, poor boy, and so I have come."

It was hard to resist rising to the bait; she was trying to provoke me. "You killed my grandparents. Do you just think I'm going to shrug that off?"

Her response was accompanied by a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Reaching up to adjust the tight bun created by her dark brown hair she lowered her hands back down to her sides in a stance that almost looked like an old west gunfighter. "No, Edward... I don't expect you to shrug it off. You're a warrior. You have a fire inside you that requires you to do something-- urges you to right wrongs-- compels you to fight. That IS what you want to do, isn't it?"

My fists were shaking as I held them by my sides but I somehow kept my voice steady. "What is it going to take to make you stop?"

Her hands came back around to her front; I don't know where the thick iron chains came from she was holding, but it was impossible to miss them. "We have already moved beyond that, my sweet little man... you have chosen to do things the hard way, and so the least I can do is honor those wishes until you really and truly understand just how much of a mistake you made by shunning me."

I had never tried so hard to resist giving in and bringing the balance of power back to a reasonable level; I couldn't stand bullies... but, of course, she knew that. Despite knowing how much it made me sound like a victim, I still tried to put an end to everything with words instead of my fists. "Just... leave me alone..."

Her laugh was hollow. "Isn't that what this is about, Edward? I haven't done a thing to you out of respect! Your Sentinel.... your grandfather and grandmother... even your Guardian Bear..."

The final statement caught my heart and crushed it in a viselike grip. His name fell from my lips purely out of horror. "...Medved...."

The links of chains jingled, as if disturbed by wind that had never manifested; a moment later I saw the large Brown Bear kneeling beside the Spirit of War, his muzzle split and one ear missing a chunk of flesh. His paws were linked together at the wrists and he was missing several large patches of fur, vest and trousers torn and bloody. While I expected some kind of reaction from Tre or The Ancient One, they said nothing, and only then did I look to them for aid... and felt my heart sink further.

Tre was still standing beside the car, his muzzle parted into what looked like the start of a smile, his tail arched to the side in the middle of a wag; he wasn't moving. The Ancient One was still using Green's body, his wings half-spread as if he were pantomiming what he'd do if he ever got his talons on the Spirit of War but he too was stuck-- she was there, scarcely teen feet in front of him, but he was doing nothing. I heard her voice from the sidewalk. "Do you see now, Edward Clark? Everything you expected out of this rebellious attitude of yours is for not. I get what I want, and the only say you have in it is just how much pain you wish inflicted in its harvest."

I turned back around to face her, my heart caught somewhere between surrender, desperation, and rage. My brain clawed against my skull, fighting a losing battle with my heart as it shouted for me to think about what I'd learned in the past few days from Ch'upikaq; I had to fight smart... but I'd never done that before. A hoarse cry from Medved made that even more difficult, and I watched as the Spirit of War clenched the chains, creating metal spikes, which emerged from the shackles locked around the Bear's wrists and neck. I cried out "STOP!"

I'm still not sure if there was actual sympathy in her gaze or if she was just good at faking it, but, in that moment, the spikes were gone. "You think of him as family... the last of your family..."

My objection came out a second time, but quieter. Had she really won? I knew I couldn't fight a war of attrition since I was the only one with anything to lose. "Stop... please."

I didn't know if she'd ever be willing to come to the bargaining table but maybe something about my change of approach was enough to do it. Her new smile seemed just a little more genuine. "What do you have to offer me, Seer?"

I--