• 13 •

A short sprint ensures I reach the rope shortly before Leah. With a daring jump I catapult myself up, grab it in midair and hoist myself towards the tree limb above. The rope is far too thick for my fingers to close around it and I remember how miserably I failed three weeks ago when I tried this the first time. But constant training results in advancement and I’m a bit proud that I pull myself up now just with arm’s strength at striking speed.

Climb onto the branch, balancing along it towards the square foot platform at the end, concentrate – jump! I catch the next rope and hastily climb down, passing the reliable, old safety net I learned to know and appreciate the last weeks, and reach the ground. I run on and barely hear Leah coming down behind me, nimble like a cat.

The circuit training nears its end for this round and I guess the timepiece will show a great score. Indeed I even accelerate as I hear Leah’s quick steps close in when she tries to overtake me at the finish. My hand is on the Stop button first, but in the same instance Leah taps my shoulder so the time counts for both of us. Indeed, the best time ever!

I laugh, exhausted but happy. Leah falls in and hugs me.

“You dirty trickster, that sprint before the last obstacle came unexpected. But I almost got ‘ya!” Leah pants.

“Yup! Almost. Snail!” I tease her and immediately feel her fingers poke between my ribs where I’m most ticklish. With a jaunty squeal I jump back and giggle.

I muster my friend. Our relationship, close and devout before, has grown into such a steadfast and familiar bonding, that she’s so much more than just a buddy. If I had a twin sister, she couldn’t be more dear to me than Leah.

“What?” I must have been staring for a moment too long, for she eyes me suspiciously.

“Care for a swim?” I don’t wait for her answer but drop all my clothing and put it on the nearby bench. Completely nude I dart into the lake. The coldness of the water takes my breath away, first, and makes my heart race. But a few strokes later I’m already accustomed to it. I turn to look for Leah who follows me just this moment. She dives in headlong and surfaces beside me snorting.

We turn and swim with long, relaxed strokes towards the opposing shore. The lake isn’t too small and it takes about 20 minutes to get there, but this even movement in the pleasantly cool water is just wonderful. The sun shines warm and inviting on this side. We leave the water and drop side by side into the soft sand near the shore. The ground is warm and a little sunbath is most welcome!

The area is so secluded we haven’t seen a single human except the ones at the property the whole time. So I’m not at all shy to rest openly nude. I almost fall asleep when I close my eyes. Nah, bad idea, the sunburn would be nearly as bad as the bollocking from our teachers.

“Did you ever wonder about Kimora’s knowledge of traditional Asian healing arts?” A little chat should keep us awake.

“Their effectivity is stunning, that’s true!”

“That first guy I knocked down, the day we arrived, I’d have sworn that I broke his jaw, but Kimora said it were just dislocated and the guy was there at supper, chewing.”

“Hm. I also were quite sure about all those broken noses, wrists and ribs we caused, but so far they proved to be harmless minor ailments. Maybe the human body can take much more than usually presumed.”

“Maybe, yes. And the potency of her massages and remedies is amazing! After that first day’s fight I thought I’d need a week to recover, but a firm kneading and two cups of her stinking tea later, I was like new. She could make millions with her recipes and skills.”

A loud, dry bang makes me leap up.

What the heck was that? Sounds like it came from the woods.

Another pop follows and this time I see some bark chip away from a nearby tree trunk.

“Someone’s shooting!” I yell and crouch behind a tree stump while Leah dives to the other side behind a fallen bole. My heart hammers madly in my chest and an unpleasant tingle fills my midsection. Much to my surprise, though, I worry more about Leah’s safety than for my own. 

What to do? I find it hard to think straight! Run? From a bullet? Not very smart. Swim away? Too slow and an easy target in the water.

Hide in the woods? Maybe the best option, but the gunman is in the woods and we might run straight into him.

My breathing is nervous and quick. Fucking hell, we’re practicing close combat for weeks now and now someone’s shooting at us, blasted irony! Maybe it’s one of Carl’s tests?

At this moment, three men step into the open. They wear camouflage clothing and rifles in their hands.

“Someone’s here?” The man in the middle shouts. He seems to be the leader of the pack. The one to his left spots me and points at me. They grin boastfully.

“Sorry, Madam, we been huntin’ a stag, but the damn beast’s quick ‘n we missed it. Bullets must’ve gone astray. No offense meant.” They do no threatful move, their guns pointing to the ground, but something else about them feels menacing to me.

“So you fire around without an idea whether there’s somebody near?” I don’t even try to keep my anger from my voice.

“Said we’re sorry!” The man’s offhand excuse and brazen grin make pretty clear that he couldn’t care less. “Come out there, gal, no need to hide!”

“Are ye two alone out here?” the guy to the left asks with a furtive tone as he scans the surroundings. All about them screams menace to me.

The man on the right has circled around me almost far enough to look at me fully. He’s only a few metres away by now. The one to the left is closing in on Leah who also crouches doubtful behind her cover.

They’re zeroing in on us!

“C’mon, gal, come to me. I won’t bite ya!” The man in the middle says and beckons, his last sentence prompting dark chuckles from his buddies.

“Know why she’s so shy. The nigger slut’s naked!” The guy to the right went far enough to see my fully now. I shiver under his wolfish stare. He roars with laughter and his buddies fall in. “Good, saves some time…” Then he closes in on me slowly.

“Hey! Stay away from me!” My attempt to scare him off sounds feeble, even in my own ears. Not surprisingly, it triggers new amusement in the guys. The man to the left is close to Leah’s cover now. The one in the middle, though, doesn’t move but covers both his buddies. Even when we engage the two men in close combat, the third one is free to act and shoot us down. I look at Leah and see the mixture of rage, fear and helplessness in her eyes as she glances back at me.

Gone. My fear, my hesitancy are gone with that look. I concentrate. I envision…

Then a cold fist of dismay grips my heart. Close to me, a shell of seemingly empty clothing crumples down, but both other assailants are unaffected. The leader stares dumbfounded at the spot where his pal stood a second ago.

“What?” he yells. His hands grip his gun closer, agitated but unsure about what happened.

This moment, Leah jumps over the tree trunk and charges her attacker. The man is close, but not close enough. Like in slow motion I see him lift his gun and I realize that he’ll manage to shoot before Leah will reach him.

It takes all my self-control to fight down the panicked fear for my friend and act deliberately.

Following an impulse, I form a circle with my hands and thrust them towards the man. An unseen force slams into him and sweeps him off his feet, rolls on and rips leaves and twigs off the trees behind him. The outer fringe of the cone affects Leah, but she just staggers and is on the prone man the next second.

The leader still hesitates, obviously taken by surprise from the sudden turn of events. Any second he’ll come around, though, and start shooting.

I lunge towards him.

Leah reaches her opponent and kicks his head unceremoniously from full running. She skids and almost falls, but crouches in a low stand. The gun of the man lies directly before her feet. She snatches it up, turns on her foe again and batters the shoulder stock down into his stomach. The man folds and writhes. Leah puts her foot on his throat and depresses him hard. She slams the buttstock down again, this time into his face. Then she turns the gun around.

This is the moment the leader starts to act. He raises his rifle to his shoulder and aims at Leah. I do a wiping motion at him and the invisible force strikes again, making him stagger. The main effect results from the sand, though, that blows up and hits his face, effectively blinding him.

With grim determination, Leah reaches back then forcefully stabs down. The gun barrel pierces deep into his eye socket, the bead sight shredding the eyeball apart even further. The screaming of the assailant turns into a ghastly screeching.

I concentrate all my searing hatred for these guys on the leader. His eyes bulge and he gasps like a fish out of water. He drops his gun and brandishes his arms, trying to reach all of his body at once. I want him dead, dead, DEAD!

And I want him to suffer.

A shot rings through the clearing. Leah pulled the trigger, the large calibre hunting cartridge drives the bullet through the man’s skull. The subsequent discharge of muzzle gas bursts from his temple, spraying blood, tissue and aqueous humor. With obvious satisfaction, Leah stares at the man’s body in his last twitches and throws the rifle aside. Despising, she spits on him, turns and walks over at me.

The leader is on his knees. He claws at himself as wisps of smoke leak rippling from his eyes, ears and nose. Then the first blisters appear on his hands and face. He falls over and writhes in racking pains. Without mercy, I keep up my concentration, slowly cooking him from the inside. Leah stands beside me, hands on her hips, and pitiless watches him die in agony.

When his skin cracks in several places and steaming body liquids with blackened fibres ooze out, I’m through with him.

Leah and I look at each other, then we hug wordlessly.

It must have been several minutes we stood here, comforting and soothing each other. I don’t waste a single thought on the beastly assailants. I just thank all higher powers that we made it through the perilous situation unharmed. Especially, that Leah did so.

When we finally leave hold of another, I feel better. We look around. The third man! I step to his the pile of clothes and shake them out. He’s not in there.

Leah understands without words. The closest hideaway is the fallen tree trunk. It’s bordered by ground cover that stands pretty high at this time of the year. She crouches low and gazes under it.

“Come out there!” she orders brusque. After a few seconds, she snatches a broken off branch and pokes it into the hollow. Then she jabs it a few times heftily forward, each thrust ending with a solid crack. Then she again stares into the small cave.

“Out with you, or I swear I’ll bury you alive in there!” Leah again brings the branch into position, but then she suddenly reaches forward with her free hand.

When she rises again, she’s holding the shrunken third attacker in her closed hand. The way he writhes and throws his head about indicates that she’s far from being gentle with him. She stares at him with such disgust and contempt, I immediately realize she’ll kill him, too, without doubt or remorse.

That’s okay for me. When Leah won’t do it, I will. This rancid bastard won’t survive this day.

Leah adjusts her grip on him and presses her thumb against his chest, bending him backwards to the breaking point. With grim satisfaction she watches him flail about and wail in pain and panic.

“You fucking, rotten rapist! Thought we’d be easy meat for you and your pervy fellows, hm?” She chuckles viciously. “This time you chose the wrong prey, lowlife!”

Leah closes her thumb and index on the man’s chest and lets him dangle before her.

“We won’t want to disappoint your stinking dick then!” She flicks her other index finger hard between his legs. The man howls and coughs. He desperately tries to protect his genitals between his legs. No way, you’ll take it, filthy pig!

I pinch his feet between my fingers and force his legs wide apart. His manhood exposed. Leah flicks at it again and again. Soon, a discharge of deep crimson dribbles from it. The pained screams from the wannabe-rapist turn into feeble whimpers. Sounds like ample justice to me!

“Break his legs!” Leah has an idea, as I can see by looking at her expression.

I pull on his ankles and press against his knees, which snap with the satisfying sound of breaking matchsticks. For good measure, I also pulverize his ankles between my fingers. Meanwhile, Leah provides a similar treatment to his arms.

Reduced to a wailing wreck, he’s carried behind the tree trunk by Leah. She puts him on the ground, stands straight and stares down on him. The first time since the beginning of the assault, I see her smile – a cold, grim smile.

I walk towards her and put my arm around her shoulder, comforting her. I see what she has planned for the bloody bastard. And I like it.

Being completely broken and unable to move, she placed him into an ant trail. Already, the scurrying insects swarm all over him.

“When facing a food source that’s too big to get carried into their lair, ants dissect it into bite-sized pieces on site. Saw that in a documentary, once.” Leah’s voice is impersonal, yet her gloating expression is not.

I chuckle.

The man obviously realizes that there’s no mercy to be expected from us. Not for him. He stares back with an afflicted look full of agony and whimpers pathetically, but doesn’t even try to plead.

At this moment I hear the humming from behind. A boat heads towards us, it’s electric drive being so silent that it’s already pretty close. Kimora sits in the back, steering it, while Carl stands at the bow, looking at us with a worried expression. The rifle he carries looks like a toy in the hands of the big man.

A minute later, the boat runs aground on the beach. Carl immediately jumps out, looks around scouting and closes in on us. Kimora is directly behind him, a compound bow in her hands.

“What happened here? Are the two of you alright? We heard gunshots.” Kimora’s behaviour expresses genuine concern. The first time ever, as far as I recall. She gently puts her hand on the side of my head and looks deep into my eyes, as if she could read my inner turmoil from it.

Meanwhile, Carl ranges between the bodies of our enemies. He turns the former leader over with his foot, nods satisfied and walks on. After he inspected the one Leah dispatched, he stands next to us, too. He looks casually down at the shrunken, still moving third man, then eyes us.

“Poachers. Bring the girls back, I take care of these and look for their camp.” He hands Kimora the rifle and takes bow and quiver instead.

“You did well, girls. Don’t worry. This won’t make any difficulties.” With an assuring nod, he turns, takes a folding spade from the boat and heads towards the forest.

Kimora meanwhile shoves us into the boat with gentle emphasis. A moment later we’re on the water. With a short stopover to fetch our stuff we left behind at the training course, we close in on the estate.

They weren’t surprised!

The sudden insight hits me like a slap to the bare brain. Neither Carl nor Kimora were surprised when they found the shrunken man or the one cooked to death. They’ve been perfectly indifferent!

When we reach the shore, my anxious inner discord is killing me!

Kimora leads us directly into the house.

“Have a shower and take your time at it. We meet in the living room when you’re finished.” Again, her behaviour expresses a motherly care she’s never shown before.

“How are you?” I ask Leah minutes later, waiting while she’s taking a hot shower.

“I don’t have a queasy conscience, if that’s what you mean.” She sounds honest and takes enough time to think about her answer. “What about you?”

“To be honest, I’m rather satisfied we took them out. Imagine they’d encountered untrained hikers or campers… All I’m uncertain about is what to do now. I mean, at some point they’ll be missed and other people will come looking.”

“Yes, but though it was completely justified to kill them, we can’t call the police. They’d ask a few questions we could hardly answer…”

“I doubt that a court would deem the killing ‘justified’.” I chuckle bitterly. “After all, they’d have told they neither raped us nor said they would. They’d delineate it as our misapprehension, our overreaction and finally we would be the guilty party.”

“Maybe. Anyway, we made it and those assholes won’t tell anything, now.”

After Leah and I switched positions in the shower stall, I clean myself. The hot water seems to wash away the last little doubts about our actions, but not the nervousness regarding Carl’s and Kimora’s composed reaction.

Half an hour later, I slump down on the huge, cosy couch before the fireplace beside Leah. Kimora puts down a tray on the table and pours tea into three cups. The steaming hot liquid does really good, even more so since it’s none of the usual ghastly herbal brews our Sensei’s so fond of, but a delicacy with flavours of mint and vanilla.

“I can’t express my apologies deeply enough for what happened to you.” Kimora opens with a distressed expression.

Leah stares at me as puzzled as I feel when I look at her. What does this mean? Is Kimora blaming herself for this incident she couldn’t possibly have thwarted under any circumstance? That’s complete nonsense!

“There’s absolutely no need for apologies! How should you have foreseen…” I utter my thoughts but Kimora stops me with a hand gesture.

“Please! Both of you are our guests out here, which means we are in charge of you. This is meant to be a perfectly safe environment for you, so you can fully concentrate on your training. Alas, we failed miserably. If something that unspeakable would have happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

Are that tears that glisten in the corners of her eyes? Her voice is slightly quivering and her usually steadfast composure is somehow shaken. It almost breaks my heart to see my perfectly balanced and serene teacher this gloomy. Once again I’m endorsed it’s been right we destroyed those assholes.

“Though I agree with Kim that such a thing cannot be prevented with certainty, I say: So what? It did happen and we made it through. Now I know for sure that I function properly under major stress and when in grave danger. I shelve it as another training session and so should you. Because your methods are effective, obviously.” Leah’s been remarkably quiet and distant, so her rather fierce comment takes me by surprise.

Yet, I agree with her. We got enmeshed into a real battle and we’ve been victorious. No need to feel sorry for anything.

I nod approving as I look firmly in Kimora’s eyes. It feels good to see her lighten up.

“I’m so relieved you see it that way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still vexed that it could happen at all, but I dearly respect your attitude. Anyway, whenever you wish to talk about it, come to me – anytime, okay?” Obviously more relaxed, Kimora sits down beside us.

For a long moment, the three of us just sit, sip our tea and enjoy the silence, until Kimora breaks it with the question I feared the most since we got here.

“Kim, what did you do to nullify your assailants’ advantage of having guns?”

“How do you know it’s been me and not Leah?” Barely spoken, I could slap myself for this boneheaded back answer. She obviously knows, but from where and how much?

“I presumed it for a while, now. It became obvious when I saw the defoliated tree and the notch in the ground. The tiny guy was just the affirmation.”

I bandy uneasy looks with Leah.

“I would have talked with you in private, but it’s been obvious that Leah already knew. So why being secretive?” Kimora’s obviously holding the reins again tightly.

“I’m not quite sure what I did exactly. I have to admit that I panicked and just wanted to hit them, but was out of reach. Heck, most of the time I use my abilities I have no clue what I’m doing and just hope that I don’t cause any irreversible damage. I hate being that uncontrolled!” That’s it! My frustration about the lack of guidance broke through.

Kimora just nods sympathetically.

“I know how you feel and – don’t get me wrong – I’m glad you feel this way.” she just says and leaves me waiting flabbergasted while she sips from her tea. “It shows you’re caring and responsible. A ruthless one would have tried anything without minding the consequences. But you rather keep back to avoid causing unjust harm. You have my highest esteem for that.”

I’m speechless. With just a single, short remark Kimora’s managed to halt my momentum and allay my fears in one go.

“You don’t seem to be surprised at all!” I burst out and gesture helplessly.

“I have some special powers of my own. I thought you might have figured out by your own, meanwhile.” Kimora’s plain statement earns her two dumbfounded looks. She chuckles.

“Did you really believe all the damages these last weeks have been healed by massages and soothing words? Both of you broke joints and bones by the dozen, including skulls. Not to mention the soft tissue injuries and inner bleedings. By conventional means, you would have worn out your opponents within two days.”

I’m stunned and stare like an idiot.

“I knew it! I sensed the damage I dealt out and wondered all the time how these guys kept on coming.” Leah’s shout jolts me from my torpor. 

“Can you tutor me, then?” Hope sends a warm surge through me.

“No, our talents are too different. But I know the right mentor for you. I’ll contact her when we’re back.”

My heart feels as if it tries to jump from my chest from sheer joy. I jump at Kimora and fling my arms around her neck.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I feel my own voice quiver as I can barely hold back tears of gladness.

“Hey, I can’t promise she’ll teach you…” I feel her usually aloof manner crumble under my affectionate assault. She relaxes and tentatively hugs me back. “You’re welcome!”

“Hey, what about me?” Leah grouses after a moment. I disengage from Kimora and turn around to hug and squeeze her. She responds dearly.

When I calm down, I release her and sit down again. The next hours we sit there, chitchat about this and that, drink more tea and just have a great time, three close friends enjoying life.

“Okay, bed time, lasses!” Kimora says, and it’s only this moment I realize it’s late in the evening by now. We wish each other a goodnight and head for our rooms.

When I step from the bathroom into our bedroom, Leah sits on her bed and observes me.

“No matter what the future might bring or what abilities you might yet find within you, promise me you’ll never use your powers against me, will you?”

I giggle frivolously. “Not? Aww, I intended to…”

“Kim! Swear it!” Her grave tone makes perfectly clear she means this deadly serious.

I’m such a fool! I’ve spent not a single thought on what these late revelations might mean to my closest friend. We’ve always been on eye level in all things and that’s been one of the reasons for our intimate friendship. But now I became someone else, someone not assessable to her. Seeing Leah - usually so tough, cheerful and confident - this shaken, drives tears into my eyes. Just the thought she might back away from me because of this, makes me shiver with fear.

I kneel down before her and look squarely into her eyes.

“I swear upon my life, I’ll never harm you by any means. How could I? You’re so dear to me beyond description.”

Leah sighs and gently puts her forehead against mine, closing her eyes.

“Quite contrary: if somebody ever threatens or harms you, I’ll be there to stand by your side. And it’ll be that one who’ll learn to know my fury to its full extent.” After these words I hug her and feel her unwind.

Later, I lie awake in bed and let my thoughts wander around aimlessly. Leah tosses and turns in restless sleep, breathing fitfully. She groans loudly in a nightmare. 

I tiptoe over at her bed, slip under her blanket and snuggle up to her. Her breath steadies and gets deeper as she relaxes noticeably.

Within moments I doze off.