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The Gift

Edward's Storyline, Chapter 10.5

copyright comidacomida 2019

It was a losing battle; given long enough she would overpower them and that would be that. The three of them were not strong enough to defeat the Spirit of War. Slowly getting to my feet, I found my legs still shaky and I had trouble keeping my balance, but that didn't matter... not when they were in danger-- not when they were going to get killed to defend me.

I realized by then that none of us alone had the ability to fight her off, but that was exactly why I'd been training. Ch'upikaq had said that I'd been doing well, but I knew he didn't think I was ready. Still, in that split second, I realized that there wasn't time to second guess, and that's when I decided.

Reaching out, I called to my Wolf. "Tre! It's you! It always has been! It's time!"

It was a hail-Mary kind of play, and I knew it. Although Ch'upikaq was the most knowledgeable Spirit when it came to melding with a Human, I didn't feel the kind of connection to him that I felt with Tre, and the flying Serpent had said that a connection was important. My shout caught the attention of all my Spirits, and that was when War chose to attack. It was obvious in that split second that her target was Tre, and she stare at me as the enormous, wicked-looking combat knife in her hand thrust through the air, right for the distracted Wolf's chest. The blow didn't land, however, because Tre was gone.

She was a skilled combatant, and the lack of contact from her strike didn't off-balance her... physically, at least. Glancing my way, her eyes narrowed as she glared at me appraisingly. "What game are you playing at, Edward?"

I didn't answer, and I didn't need to since both The Ancient One and Medved recovered from the distraction I created and pushed back against her. Red's coiled body became a spring that launched forward from both sides, his tail lashing out to strike her abdomen while his maw, full of teeth, closed around her shoulder. Medved managed to deflect her follow-up attack as he intercepted her knife with his sword. Red thrashed against her as his claws came into use, clamping down as he grappled her and, a moment later, Medved had his arms around her, hefting her off the ground in an enormous bear hug.

Despite Tre's absence, the remaining two Spirits were doing surprisingly well, and I began to cheer inwardly as the tide appeared to had shifted. A moment later, the area where all three Spirits struggled exploded, and they were all consumed by an enormous concussive blast strong enough to send me flying back several feet. The entire world spun around me as I hit the ground hard and sprawled out, everything around me going hazy, then dim, then almost black as I fought to keep track of my consciousness. Somewhere within my head I heard Tre's voice. "Don't give up on me now, Eddie..."

I wouldn't, and I made certain he'd know it. "I won't."

The voice that came out of me wasn't mine. At first I thought I'd actually spoken using Tre's, but it wasn't the same as what I heard in my head. The ringing in my ears grew louder and the ache in my bones more pronounced as I tried to get back up to my feet, only to find that I was so dizzy that I ended up falling right back onto the ground. The sound of renewed combat behind me was both reassuring and disconcerting at the same time; the fact that my allies were still able to combat her was a good thing but if the situation had remained unchanged then they were still fighting a losing battle.

I growled in frustration as I tried to force myself up again and I was startled by the sound I made; it was far closer to that of a wild animal than an angry man. My arms burned as if they were on fire and, as I pushed the ground in front of my face to get to my feet I saw that the flesh along the back of my hands rippled; the skin peeled and parted as long black fur tore through it. My growl of anger quickly turned into a yelp of surprise, followed by a howl of agony as the break in my flesh on the back of my hands suddenly ruptured, skin tearing up to my elbows and echoing the sound of a zipper opening.

If that was the only sound I'd heard at the moment it would have been enough but, even as I shuddered from the sound of flesh rending apart, I also heard and FELT the echoing snap of bones dislocating, and I bayed anew, my voice even more different as the cry of pain became the true howl of a wolf. My fingers cracked from a mixture of arthritis and palsy as they curled in on themselves, thickening and sprouting fur of their own as my fingernails ruptured, lengthening and hardening into long claws.

My ears twisted and turned, the cartridge burning and itching at the same time as they lengthened out into points and they swiveled on their own, focusing in on the sound of combat behind me. Although I couldn't see what was going on, some part of me was able to decipher it almost as well as if I had been looking and I was dismayed but not surprised to know that the Spirit of War had freed herself, and was proceeding to beat back both The Ancient One and Medved. Only then did I manage to force myself up off the ground and settled into an unsteady standing position as I rose up to an all new height. I had changed... a lot.

Tre had been a tall, black-furred Wolf of a medium-broad build with many Human traits; I was a fairly tall, well built, light skinned Human with light brown hair; we had merged, and what we were together was something else entirely. Together, we stood almost as tall as Green, and the lush black fur that covered me instead of skin could scarcely hide the corded muscle that wound tightly within me, so taut that I felt like it was just waiting for an opportunity to be set loose... like WE were just waiting for that chance. There was no use holding it back... not that I wanted to. Turning back to face the Spirit of War, I gazed down the length of my snout ath her, snarling out the words in the voice that was neither Tre's nor mine-- it was ours. "We're gonna fuck you up, bitch."

She settled herself into what looked like a martial arts stance as The Ancient One floated away from her, moving back to my side before Red gave way to Green, the burly, plated Dragon standing to my left even as Medved fell back slowly and guardedly to my right. It was Ch'upikaq's voice that came from Green's maw. "You have joined with him... it is messy, but you have succeeded, Seeker."

Green regained control of his voice to announce. "Good... now don't die from it."

The discussion ended there as the Spirit of War, rather than racing at us to attack with her knife, just reached behind herself and, out of nowhere pulled out two submachine guns and began spraying out in front of her like some kind of action movie. My arms moved in front of me reflexively and I was shocked as huge waves of asphalt tore up out of the parking lot, following my paws until they created a wall in front of the three of us. Tre spoke from our joined muzzle in our new voice. "Fuck yeah... I could get used to this!"

As quickly as the wall had appeared it sunk back into the earth, revealing a surprised Spirit of War standing there before us with an expression I had never seen on her face before: uncertainty. She recovered quickly though, a wry smile appearing on her lips as she stepped forward. "Oh... a real challenge then? I haven't had one of those in centuries."

Green stepped forward, his wings spreading as he began to hiss, then paused as a wave of red coursed through him. He shuddered, growling seemingly at himself. "No... She's MINE!"

Little tendrils emerged from Green's scaled lips and his horns curled into the kind that Red had as the two seemed to wrestle for a moment. It was Red's voice who countered the assessment. "I need control. This is the deciding moment-- now cease being difficult."

My paw reached up to grasp the air, drawing to it a fresh black wooden club, much like the one Tre had summoned. I made a snap decision, barking at the Ancient One even as "Red. Take control."

As if my permission was all that was required, The Ancient One was suddenly Red, and the oriental Dragon floated there, not bothering to move forward with me as he addressed the Spirit of War. "You are going to lose now."

She scowled for just a moment, quickly replacing the expression with one of elitist indifference. "You are so very mistaken."

The Spirit of War pulled out what looked like some kind of sniper rifle-- one of the ones Hollywood always shows as shooting through a tank, and the building behind it. She raised it to her hip and fired it, right at me. Although I was ready to raise my paws to repeat whatever it was I did before, it turned out to be a useless gesture; the weapon didn't actually fire. I couldn't help myself, taunting her. "Hmm... I guess that's not just a thing guys have to worry about..."

The Spirit of War was still teetering on surprised, but her tone held just a hint of something that seemed unlike her. Was it... fear? "What? What's happening?"

Red finally began to float forward to join me; Medved, on my other side, had put away his blade and began cracking his furry knuckles. To my left, Red began to enlarge, spreading out as Green took control again, but not before Red made one final statement. "Your strength has always been found in War... but this is not a battle..."

She glanced back and forth between the three of us. I felt a growl rise up from deep in my chest and it gave me as much strength as the fear it created in her. The sound was picked up by Medved to my right and Green rumbled menacingly to my left. War took what may have been her first ever step backwards and the color drained from her face as her eyes widened. "This... this is a fight. This is-- this is war!"

She didn't speak with conviction... but Green did. "No it isn't... this is a hunt."

Turning, the Spirit fled. Green was right; the hunt was on.