CHAPTER SIXSeven's A Crowd
The next morning, everyone awoke early, eager to get started on what they hoped was their last journey in the Realm. Hank appreciated that Presto was trying extra hard to lay out a good breakfast on this particular morning. Eric was sitting next to him, encouraging the hat to spit out a decent omelet. Topped with caviar, he requested.
"Caviar for the Cavalier," Presto joked. "Coming right up . . . I hope."
Hank was standing over both of them, feeling as weary as he was sure he looked. More than half the night had passed before he had decided to wake Diana, and afterwards he just lay there on the ground unable to relax, much less sleep.
Presto passed him a banana. Uni took advantage of the moment to stick her nose in the hat and look for something for herself.
Nearby, Diana stretched her sides, and then fluidly moved to a handstand. Her legs slowly stretched out into a full split. Hank peeled the banana as he walked her way. He held it out to her, and she reached up and took it, continuing to hold herself up with only one hand.
"Thanks," she said.
"Show off," he teased with a smile.
He moved on and saw that Bobby and Sheila weren't far away. Bobby was talking excitedly to his sister, who gave him only sympathetic smiles and nods in return. Bobby obviously had more faith than anyone else that they'd soon be home, and Terri's necklace, which he was holding as he spoke, surely bolstered that faith.
Sheila seemed to stop listening. She was looking over her little brother. Hank followed her gaze.
Well away from the group, Donnova swung her sword, slicing an invisible enemy. He watched her. He was no judge of swordplay, but didn't see anything he could call error or bad form. She never flourished the sword, and though she was not graceful, she moved with efficiency and precision. As he observed her, he decided she was more offensive than defensive. He wondered at what battles she had fought. How many, and to what end? Had she killed?
She shifted and changed hands. The sword flamed to life as she thrust it forward with such force that it pulled her with it. After a quick pair of cross cuts, he saw Sheila walking towards her.
He knew he couldn't be so obvious as to interrupt them, not immediately anyway. He didn't want to appear distrustful by being intrusive. He'd trust Sheila to talk to her. He decided it might even help to secure Donnova's cooperation.
He certainly hadn't helped matters last night, he felt. He regretted having been so harsh when she really hadn't done anything wrong. She had come to apologize, and he had threatened her in return. He had only wanted to make things clear to her, to get his point across, but he knew he'd crossed the line. He thought of apologizing, but knew he wouldn't. It was probably the right thing to do, but he felt it might come across to her as weakness. No, last night's words stayed. He meant what he said last night.
Sheila had reached her now. He'd give them a few minutes, but only a few.
"Good morning," Donnova called to Sheila, and slashed the air with her sword.
With hands behind her back, Sheila smiled politely. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"
"Well enough. You?"
Sheila shook her head a little and shrugged. "Too much on my mind, I guess."
"I wouldn't get too excited just yet. This is by no means a sure thing."
"I wasn't thinking about that. I . . . I was thinking about what you said last night."
Donnova spared Sheila a passing glance as she moved with the sword, noting the girl's suddenly quieter tone, and moved to parry another invisible opponent.
"I said a lot of things last night � too much, according to your leader. What's on your mind?"
"You believe there's some good in Venger, don't you?"
"I never said that," she spoke as she continued her mock battle.
"But you don't believe he's entirely evil."
It wasn't a question this time.
Donnova hesitated at the next pass. "Of course not," she said. "I've seen Evil. But then, you were here when true Evil passed through the Realm."
Sheila nodded. "We barely escaped. Venger called him 'He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken.'"
Donnova's last swing ended with the sword landing in its scabbard on her back. She faced Sheila now, totally mystified. "You were with Venger during that?" But then she held up a hand. "Wait. Escaped to where?"
Sheila glanced over her shoulder. Whatever she had to say, she obviously didn't want her friends to hear. "The Underworld. Dungeon Master took us there. He used nearly all his power. And Venger was down there, too." She paused. "I guess it's a long story."
"And one I would very much like to hear some time," said Donnova, matching Sheila's secretive tone.
Donnova crossed her arms and paced, taking in these scant details. A voice inside her head was telling her, first and foremost, to befriend the Thief. She was willing to talk, willing to trust, and apparently full of nice pieces of information. She realized that she may have underestimated this one who was so seemingly fragile and guileless. What did it say of someone who sought to absolve one such as Venger?
She thought back to that very day when The Evil One had come. She had thought at first that Venger had finally succeeded in claiming the Realm. Of course, she had later learned this was not the case. But she had never discovered what had actually happened that day.
"What doesn't make sense . . . " she said, looking back at Sheila, "is why a Dark Lord would flee the Lord of Darkness?"
Sheila's eyes lit up at this. "I wondered the same thing! And get this: he even joined us to fight him! He was gone when we got back, but Venger was actually going to fight at our side!"
Then, Sheila looked at the ground as if she wasn't sure about what she was going to say next. "I actually thought that Venger might not be our enemy anymore, that he'd decided to change." She threw a gesturing hand into the air. "Then, of course, he said something about how he's still going to destroy us all and then everything was pretty much back to normal." She tried to smile, but her disappointment was obvious.
Donnova tried to return the smile, but couldn't give it honest effort. She had too many questions, but they would have to wait. Beyond Sheila, she caught sight of Hank heading their way and shot Sheila a silencing look before adding a playful a wink and a smile as though they were two children keeping silly secrets from their parents.
Sheila smiled deviously in return, which was exactly what Donnova wanted to see. Such a little game was a welcome distraction from recent events. But the game was not without purpose. She wanted to learn all she could of them, and what they knew of their cherished guide.
Hank couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he'd decided their time was up. He could tell already that Sheila liked this woman, despite everything. Despite what, exactly, he couldn't himself answer. But this was one time that he wished Sheila didn't have such a big heart.
He cleared his throat. "Ladies, sorry to interrupt, but breakfast is served. So if you're hungry, better eat now while Presto's on a roll. We've got a lot of ground to cover today."
"We're coming," said Sheila.
Hank stopped to wait for Sheila to catch up to him, but to his dismay, she waited for Donnova to catch up with her. The gentleman in him let them precede him, but there was another part of him that wanted to keep Sheila as far away as possible from their new "friend."
INDEXCHAPTER FIVE (cont.) | CHAPTER SEVEN
