Myka's Tail Ch. 05

"Daddy..." I groaned, my voice weak from the effort of holding off the pain that would not end. "Oh god daddy, it hurts and I'm tired."

"No, no, no baby. Stay with me, ok," he cried out, and tried to move even faster, finding reserves of strength that even I didn't know he had. "We're almost there little girl, ok. Just a few more minutes. You can sleep after we've figured everything out, but you have to stay with me. Oh dear god, baby, please stay with me."

And through the haze of pain, and the crushing weakness that was threatening to drag me from consciousness forever, I felt the gentle rain of his tears fall on my face as he continued to run.

"Please daddy, don't cry," I whispered before trying to move my hand to wipe the tears from his face.

"Ok baby, ok," he replied in a voice shaky with crying and his fatigue. "I won't cry anymore if you can just hold on for a bit longer, alright? Can you do that little girl?"

Nodding my head seemed to take nearly all of the energy that I had at the moment, but if it meant that my dad wouldn't have to cry anymore I would do what I could to get through this. It was so hard, and I wanted to just slip away and not have to deal with it anymore, but dad's love, combined with the blazing heat of Kelli's feelings for me gave me the strength to endure a little longer.

A few minutes later the two of them stumbled into the clearing and did their best to keep from collapsing. Both were taking deep gulps of air because of their exertions, and it took another minute or two before my dad could talk again.

"Ok baby," he said to me. "What do you need me to do?"

"The water," I whispered back in answer, and I pointed to the pond. "Need, the, water."

Without hesitation, my dad ran the few steps to the edge of the pond and bent down to cup some of the water in his hand and bring it to my lips. If I could have laughed, I would have laughed at his lack of understanding. I didn't need a drink of the water. I needed to be in the water, and with the water, and of the water.

"No. Not that," I whispered again. "Need the water."

With that last comment, I mustered up all of the strength that I could and pushed myself out of his arms so that I fell into the pond that I needed so much. I could both see and sense the surprise that he felt at my actions, and with barely a moment dad had practically leapt after me to pull me out. The instant that I had hit the water, though, things had changed. The pulsing energy that I had been feeling was still there, but my connection to the water muffled much of the pain that it had been causing, and I felt a measure of strength return to my exhausted body.

"No. I'm ok now," I gasped as I fended off dad's efforts to pull me back to land. "The water, it's making me feel better. It doesn't hurt so much now."

"Are you sure about that baby," he asked, his voice still catching a little bit. "You were really in a bad way just a few minutes ago. What changed?"

"It's the water dad. My connection to water has blunted the worst of the effects of what is happening. You both need to turn your backs now, because I'm getting undressed."

Both of my dads turned around as if they had been jolted by a live wire, and even feeling as bad as I did, it still made me chuckle. As fast as my exhausted body could move I pulled off my shirt, shorts, and my underwear and left them on the bank, then moved out to the center of the water. I felt a dire need to sink to the bottom and just think for a while, but I knew I had to explain first.

"Hey dad, you can look now," I called out as I sank up to my neck, and both of them finally turned around. "You're both hesitating like you've never seen me naked before. It's not a big deal, and I'm covered."

"Yeah, you say that," dad replied and Kelli's dad had to chuckle at his obvious embarrassment. "But the last time I saw you naked, on purpose, was when you were five. I think."

"On purpose," I asked, with sly sarcasm. "When have you seen me naked since then? Hmm?"

"She has you there Dan. And you walked into it like a rookie."

"Jesus, Steve. You're supposed to be on my side, and it was a few weeks ago," dad finished with a cough.

My raised eyebrow, and my other dad's soft chuckle and shake of his head caused my dad to hang his head and kick at a couple of rocks. Clearly he was embarrassed about what had happened.

"I got up in the night to go to the bathroom," he began. "And I wanted something to drink, so I grabbed some juice out of the fridge and was looking out of the back window with my glass."

"And you saw me coming back from a run with Kita," I said in understanding. "Yeah, I didn't see you or hear you since you were in the house, so that is my fault. We run like that a lot though so be careful."

"Oh, I am careful," he replied in earnest. "Ever since that night I have been more than careful."

"I bet you have," Kelli's dad chuckled in response. "It would have shocked the hell out of me for sure."

"Yeah, yeah," I shot back, because I was feeling well enough to banter for a moment or two. "I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only woman you have caught unawares and naked, you dirty old men."

My taunt caused a brief pause in the conversation because we all burst out into laughter. I was definitely feeling better. At that moment, though, I had to disappear beneath the surface.

"Ok, as much fun as this is, and as much as I really like feeling better, I have to think for a bit."

"Well, don't let us stop you," dad replied, and I could tell he was trying hard not to mock me.

"Wow. Well I guess you really wouldn't understand," I replied as I shook my head. "I am going to go to the bottom of the pond to think, and I am going to be under for a while. I need you both to let Kelli and the others know where I am."

"Don't you need to breathe little girl?"

"Not while I'm under the water. The last time I did this, Kelli said I was under for just over forty minutes."

"Holy shit," Kelli's dad cried out. "Are you serious? Forty minutes under water? You can breathe water now?"

"No, I don't actually breathe when I am below the surface. I just don't need to. Anyway, let them know where I am."

And with that I sank below the surface, ignoring my dads' protests and hollers to wait. I desperately needed to be down at the bottom of our pond. As I let myself sink, I realized that the powerful pulses of energy that had caused me so much pain were even easier to deal with and I almost cried out in joy when I finally touched the bottom. For the moment it felt like home.

I let my mind drift as my body surrendered all feeling to the water around me, and within a few minutes my consciousness took a back seat. It was strange that I no longer had control over my body, but at the same time I felt that I had more control than ever. Before these conflicting feelings caused more confusion, I suddenly found myself pulled into that strange reflection of our world that existed only in my dreams. This was where I had first met Millicent, where I had struggled against Jasmine's plot of revenge, and where I met and confronted The Betrayer in her domain.

I surfaced and walked out of the pond onto the verdant carpet of the forest floor, looking around for something that would give me some clue as to why I had been called here. I could still feel the pulses of energy that had debilitated me so completely, but here they only felt like the slight echo of your voice over a bad phone connection. My first thought was that I should be frightened to be here against my will again, but in the back of my mind I knew I had no reason to fear this place.

After a few minutes of searching, I was sure that I was alone, but a new sensation started to impress itself on my mind. The urge to run in the forest that hit me was strong, almost irresistible, but I held back long enough to think before I acted. I felt that the earth itself was begging me to run, that there was something here in the forest that I needed to find, but I was cautious because I was not sure what could or could not affect me here.

In the end it was something that Sensei Rick had told class once that helped me to decide. He told us at the end of a very long and rough training session that a time would come where we would be pushed to the very limits of what we were capable of, whether that was physical or mental or both did not matter. What did matter was that we should trust ourselves, trust our training, and move forward with confidence that we could get through it. I had held on through excruciating pain and had come to this point, and I would get through this too. So I ran, because every instinct told me to do so.

Movement through this reflection of my forest was nothing like the real thing. It had muted colors which still seemed washed out even with my enhanced eyesight, and I could not feel the wind on my face as I moved through the trees. While I continued deeper into the surrounding forest, I noticed that there was very little sound to be heard, other than my rapid and continuous footfalls. Even with all of that, I kept on running and seeking out something I was supposed to find.

Time was really deceptive here too. I could have been running for hours, or merely minutes, and I would not know the difference. When I looked around again, I realized that I had run in a large circle, and I was now approaching our clearing from the other side. If I had not been warry before, my instincts and the feeling that was pounding in my head made me extraordinarily cautious.

I stopped running, and slowed my advance to a silent prowl as I advanced towards the tree line. Once I was within a few hundred feet of the clearing, I moved up into the branches and continued my undetectable advance from above. What I saw next to the pond when I got to the edge of the tree line nearly made me gasp in shock.

Standing near the edge of the water, her face still hidden by the blood red cloak's hood, was the Betrayer. I gave a silent thanks to my instincts and the connection I had with the earth, both of which had stopped me from blundering into a situation I might not have been able to handle. I waited and watched, confident that she did not know I was here, and studying every move, twitch, or sound that she made.

Her body language indicated that she was frustrated, though I was not sure why. She was also speaking some muttered words, and using an occasional odd hand gesture, and I realized that she was probably trying to use magic in some form or another. The agitation that she was displaying meant that she probably was having little success. I suddenly felt the desire to be a little bit reckless, so I decided to confront her intrusion head on.

"You're not welcome here Betrayer," I called out as I flipped from the trees and landed in the center of the clearing. "I would suggest you leave before you are compelled to do so."

It was shocking to me that I had surprised her as much I had. She had barely started to turn as I landed, and once she was facing me she let out an irritated hiss.

"You don't frighten me little kitten," she mocked, and we both took a fighting stance as we began to circle each other.

"I'm not here to frighten you," I replied. "I'm just here to send you packing if you won't leave."

"And you think you have the power to just send me away, do you? I would think not, seeing as I have tapped, stolen, and subjugated power sources that you've only dreamed of. And if you think I am going to let a lowly little Neko and her friends who can barely be called witches have access to this locus of power, then perhaps Mathias is right and you are good for nothing but slavery and the eventual draining of your power."

"You know," I said, using the same mocking tone she had. "It seems that we have run into Mathias twice now, and have sent him home empty handed each time. And to top that off, if we hadn't been there in Scotland, Kelli and I might not have figured out the bond in time for me to remain a Neko. Be sure and thank him for that will you."

That caused The Betrayer to growl low in her throat, and it quickly became a frustrated scream as she jumped forward to attack. Like Sensei taught me, I spent the first moments of the fight on defense, doing what I could to catalogue weaknesses, or notice slight tells to her movements, but after a few seconds I realized that I might be in a bit of trouble. She was as fast as I was, and her strength seemed to be almost equal to my own, and she moved and dodged like a Neko trained to fight.*4

"Don't think you can hope to beat me here, little slave. You are nothing more than a feisty kitten who has had a little bit of training, but lacks true claws. I, however, have survived decade after decade after decade."

"Just shut your mouth and fight, bitch. Things aren't over until one of us is on the mat."

"And it will be you that find's yourself there, not I. You don't have the power or control to beat me, and I will make sure you die in this place which will leave your body as an empty shell, waiting for me to come and claim the power you will leave behind."

Damn she was good, and I really began to worry about how this would turn out, and what would happen to Kelli if I did fail. I was blocking and dodging, deflecting and retreating, and I couldn't for the life of me find any opening to press an attack. If I thought fighting Kelli's dad was tough, this was near impossible.

"Do you not see it, you miserable alley cat," she taunted once again as she pushed me around the clearing with merciless efficiency. "I am better than you in every way. And you will not frustrate my design or keep me from acquiring your power, and all that you have discovered here. This I vow."

"Vow all you want," I shot back, maintaining my barely adequate defense. "But every one of us will fight you until the very end, and will gladly give our lives doing so if necessary."

"Then accept your fate here and give up your life," she hissed. "Because I assure you, I will find killing you and your friends to be not only necessary, but entertaining as well."

With that last exchange, the Betrayer seemed to increase in both skill and speed, beyond anything that I had thought possible, and I thought I was going to be overwhelmed. Then I realized that I was still holding my own against her every attack. I had not been tossed, dazed, had my legs swept, or had even taken a single debilitating strike. It was like no matter what she threw at me, I was simply untouchable, and a flash of insight gave me a good idea of why this was the case.

This world was a reflection of our actual reality, and in that reality this clearing was the strongest source of my connection to the element of earth. I began to understand that this place was my seat of greatest power when it came to my two extra aspects, and in my domain I was master. As I continued to defend against her attacks, I was able to notice that she was getting more and more frustrated as the fight went on. I also remembered that when I had first come face to face with her in whatever lair she used as her power center, my instincts told me that I should be afraid then. That was not what I was feeling now.

I took a few moments in the fight to reestablish my bearings, and once I knew where I was I started to retreat to where I wanted to be. I also did my best to project a sense of desperation in my actions, but desperation was the last thing that I was feeling. Back and back I retreated until my foot felt the first signs of wet soil that let me know I was about to step into the pond, but the moment I was there I planted myself and caught the Betrayer's hammer strike in my right hand, and the round house kick that came a moment later in my left. I could feel her shock that her attacks had not only been stopped, but that she could not pull herself from my grasp.

"You can't have this much power. You're nothing but a worthless Neko. How in the name of the goddess were you even able to stand against me for so long?"

"Yeah, about that," I answered as I used my strength and the strength of both water and earth to throw her back from me into the middle of the clearing. "Back when I first met you, I was afraid, and rightly so because we were in your lair. My instincts were right to make me afraid there. Here, though, in this clearing, we are in my domain bitch. You seem to have forgotten that Neko are nature spirits, and as such I am in control of the very earth that we fight on."

I gestured with my hands and gave silent command to the elements around me, and within seconds thick vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around the Betrayer before she could react. It took a lot out of me to exercise this much control, but I knew I could do it here. She was at my mercy, and if, for some reason, I couldn't kill her here like she had been trying to do to me, I knew I could at least make her think twice about coming after me in this place, though.

"The earth was warning me that you were here," I began, and I walked around her trapped body as I talked to her. "And god did that hurt. But it brought me here to expel you from this place, and to warn you not to come back. Do you know why the earth did that?"

"It matters not why any of this happened. The only thing that is of any consequence is what I am going to do to you once I have freed myself."

"Yeah. That right there is the problem. Do you remember Scotland? I am sure your lackey Mathias told you all about it. Do you have any idea what happened there after I beat him senseless and you snatched him from us while we were distracted?"

"Again, it is of no concern to me," she spat, and I could hear the increased anger in her voice. "What you did that night was only a temporary setback, which I will rectify quite soon."

"Think again," I taunted, and I drew attention to the tattoos on my arms. "These markings were given to me when the twin Nekos Mathias had enslaved died free from his grasp. Do you see the elements that they represent? Do you understand the gravity of your situation? When your little boy lost to us, I became the keeper of the aspects tied to earth and water, and we are in the one place on this Earth where my power is greater than any other, bitch."

"That is not possible," she cried out, yet seemed less shocked at my revelation than she should have been. "One Neko, one aspect. That is the order of things. You're lying, and doing a poor job of it."

I thought for a minute that perhaps I had overplayed my hand, and had given The Betrayer a bit of useful information that she did not have. I knew, however, that she would gain this knowledge anyway once Mathias had recovered enough to communicate with her again. Also, if she used even a minimal amount of logic, and realized what I had done to trap her here, then she could figure it out with little to no trouble. Once I realized that I had very little to lose, I decided to go all in.

"It is possible, and your being trapped there is pretty good proof. I think that if you could have done something about this, you already would have."

The only thing she did at that point was scream at me in blind rage, but I sensed an undercurrent of fear as well. Now it was time to kick her ass to the curb.

"Now, I am not as practiced as you are here in this world. I freely admit that, and I probably don't have the skills to completely destroy you here like you thought you could do to me. That doesn't mean that I'm not going to try, though. You and your lackey have made my life, and the lives of my friends and family, a living hell just because I have something you want. I've done nothing to you, but you want to take absolutely everything from me, and I can't allow that. So, I am going to encase you up to your neck in rock, and we will find out if you can drown when I drop you in the pond. I really wonder what would happen if I did that."