Contract with a Star (On Hold, Possibly Forever)

The Dreams and the Star

They had been traveling west for hours. The two teenagers had long since caught up to the patrol. It was almost morning now. When the leader of the patrol began going north up the river to the only bridge for two miles, Tanya hesitated. She signaled to the others to go on, making it seem like her horse needed a rest.

“Rena’s not west anymore.” Tanya whispered as she pretended to loosen up the saddle.

“What? How do you know?”

“It’s just a feeling, but I think they went south. We have to get to Rena soon, and you know those Knights will never listen to us. Do you trust me, Aiden?”

“With my life. Let’s go.” As soon as the patrol was out of sight, they remounted and headed south. They found the enemy within an hour.

There were four groups of about four or five. They could see Rena unconscious next to the largest man in the center and hoped that she had not woken. There was even more blood on her dress than there had been at the original attack and they hoped to the stars it wasn’t hers.

Rena was in a bright room. She knew she was not herself. The body she was in was tall, with pixie short, black hair and was wearing an old Techie hoodie. It was also full of fear.

There were two women in the room with her, one of them tied to a chair like she was and the other leaning against the mantle of the fireplace, smirking. Rena knew that they were her sisters and the body’s sisters. None of them had ever met before, but they knew they were related.

Tanya and Aiden left the horses when the faint glow of a fire could be seen, tying them together so Miv could keep Cheval in line. Without alerting anyone, Tanya and Aiden managed to take out almost a group and a half. When they were discovered, Aiden threw a knife through the head of the dart shooter, making sure not to leave him alive. Tanya managed four more when she caught her staff ends on fire using the small cooking fire. That left a very large man, a man with glasses, a man with a crooked nose, and another man that was already trying to sneak away.

“Hello Snow Star, Tiger Star. You’re probably wondering why you’re here,” The woman stepped away from the mantle and the shadows. Rena could see now that she had blue eyes and straight black hair. She looked nothing like the woman; Rena was as tanned and round face as the other was pale and sharp. Rena looked over at the other girl; her curly hair was stuck with sweat to her scarred face and her orange eyes reflected the fear Rena’s body felt.

“Did you know, big sisters, that human blood is the source of their energy?” She pulled out a knife as she talked and felt it’s edge, “And that, as we are in human bodies, all that energy we were supposed to give to the earth and our dear older sister, is currently residing in our blood?” Rena’s sister, the Sea Star, stepped closer and placed a hand on the shoulder of each of the trembling girls. “You two are here to help me in a little experiment. I want to see if that power is transferrable.”

The Sea Star looked at the knife in her hand before throwing it to the side. With a wild look in her eye she said, “Screw it. Let’s do this vampire style.” She grabbed Rena by what little hair she had and bared her neck. The woman bit into the fragile skin and Rena screamed. The world turned black.

Tanya took on the man with glasses as Aiden fought with the crooked nosed man. The large man did nothing, focusing only on finishing his water and Rena’ unconscious form.

Tanya’s staff had become unusable so she took up the standard form for weaponless fighting they had all learned as a last resort. Her opponent carried a sword. Tanya had never seen a serrated sword before; but when it bit into her arm, she knew she wouldn’t forget it. Tanya countered with a kick to get him away from her and then a handful of dirt to his eyes. While he swung his sword around aimlessly in the direction he had last seen her, Tanya ducked under his defense to get behind him and snapped his neck.