Chapter 30: It’s a Nice Shirt
As he walked down the dimly lit hallway, Eli pinched the surprisingly soft fabric of his new shirt between his thumb and forefinger, amazed by how light and comfortable the material was against his skin. On the whole, the clothes Sophia’s mother had given him were a much higher quality than anything available to him in the desert city of Lancaster, where rough linen, cheap wool, and stiff denim were the standard, and soft cotton fabric was a rare luxury only available to the elites and ultra-wealthy.
He entered the living room, which was bathed in the orangish-yellow glow of the mid-evening sun, to find Sophia and her mother sitting together on the couch in front of the fireplace. The large couch faced away from the room’s entrance, so they didn’t see him enter, but Sophia turned her head his direction. She shot him what he thought was an angry glare, though her cheeks and ears were blushing a fierce crimson. She motioned for him to have a seat with a curt nod and a tilt of her head toward the nearby armchair.
“Oh, Eli.” Charlotte was caught off-guard and startled by his seemingly sudden appearance in the room when he dropped down onto the chair. She wiped her bloodshot eyes and sniffed a few times. “Do-” She cleared her throat to steady her trembling voice. “Do the clothes fit you alright?”
“Yes ma’am.” Eli said. “They’re perfect, thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” She smiled at him, but it did nothing to hide the pain and sorrow in her eyes.
“Maggie was just here.” Sophia said. “She brought your roller over, but they’re keeping Rico for now, though, since it was technically part of the caravan’s active fleet. Your weapons are still at the guardhouse, too. She said they need Equoni to sign-off on it before they can be returned to you.”
“That’s reasonable.” Eli nodded.
Awkward tension hung in the air like a thick fog for a few agonizingly long minutes. Not wanting to risk saying anything to further upset Sophia’s mother, Eli figured it was probably best to say nothing at all. Charlotte eventually stood up, tucked her hair behind her ears the same way Sophia often did, and looked at her daughter.
“I need to go meet your father at the dock before he comes home. The others will probably be back soon. I trust you can keep your sisters in check until their mothers get home?” She asked.
“Heh.” Sophia scoffed sarcastically. “I’ll try, but you know how they are.”
Charlotte sighed. “Well, just try to keep things civil, I guess.” She conceded, then kissed the top of Sophia’s head and left the cozy family room at a brisk pace.
Eli looked at Sophia with a raised eyebrow. “Keep things civil?”
“Yeah, well, my sisters are….” She waved a hand like she was searching for the right word, “…um, ‘energetic’ would probably be the best way to describe them. They’re young, and they want to be guards, so they’re constantly trying to prove how tough they are. Always fighting each other and anyone they think might be tougher than them.” She sighed. “I love my sisters, but they’re too damn headstrong and aggressive. One of these days they’re going to provoke the wrong person and seriously regret it.” She raised a hand to her chin thoughtfully, “Actually….” She smirked and looked at Eli. “It might be good for them to finally lose a fight to someone their own age. Maybe then they’ll finally settle down a little bit and stop antagonizing everyone in town.”
“Nope.” Eli crossed his arms against his chest. “I’m not going to beat up your sisters just so they’ll behave themselves. Hard pass.”
“You say that now, but you’ll change your mind when you meet them.” Sophia laughed conspiratorially. “Mark my words, once they find out you won against Meli, they’ll drag you into a fight. Whether you want to or not.”
Eli narrowed his eyes at the beautiful green-haired woman. “And how, exactly, would they find out about my fight with Meli?”
“Who knows?” She innocently twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. “Maybe someone will tell them. Someone who has a grudge against you for making her listen to you and Julie fucking in the shower while she was trying to have a difficult conversation with her grieving mother.”
“Ugh.” Eli deflated. “Maybe that someone would be totally justified in telling your sisters. Sorry about that, I forgot you’d be able to hear everything. I wasn’t exactly thinking straight at the time.”
Sophia showed her teeth in a wolfish grin. “I could tell.”
“Hey, Eli.” Vivi called out as she walked into the room, her blonde hair wrapped up in a towel after her shower. “Mom said to let you know she put our luggage in the empty room next to Sophia’s.” She tossed him a package of clean bandages. “And she wanted me to give you that.”
“Thanks.” He caught the package and began rolling up the leg of his pants so he could dress the wound on his ankle.
Vivi plopped down on the couch beside Sophia and rubbed the towel against her wet hair before draping it over her shoulders. Sophia stared at the way Vivi’s large breasts filled out the black tank top she’d borrowed, then looked down at her own slightly smaller chest with a tiny frown. Of course, Vivi noticed.
“Don’t worry.” The gorgeous blonde smiled reassuringly. “Eli doesn’t care about breast size. I’ve seen him stare at small chested women the same way he stares at mom’s huge chest. Oh, but your chest isn’t small by any means. Besides, I think he prefers asses over tits, and yours is fantastic.”
Sophia’s ears immediately blazed bright pink, and Eli felt his own cheeks get hot.
“I-he-” Sophia cleared her throat. “I don’t care about his preferences.”
“Really?” Vivi crossed her toned legs, the skimpy shorts she was wearing showing off her smooth thighs and just a hint of her tantalizingly firm butt. Her stunningly gray-blue eyes twinkled with the promise of mischief. “You don’t care?”
“Vivi.” Eli said warningly as he affixed the bandage in place around his ankle with a tight knot. “Don’t tease her too much, or I’ll tell her about the goat accident.”
Vivi’s back suddenly straightened in her seat, and she glared at him accusatorially. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“What’s the goat accident?” Sophia asked.
“Nothing.” Vivi snapped.
“That’s right, it’s nothing.” Eli agreed. “And as long as you behave yourself, it’ll stay nothing.” He winked at his sister.
“Fine.” Vivi huffed. “You’re no fun.” She mumbled.
“Lies and slander.” Eli feigned outrage. “I’m extremely fun. Or have you forgotten the swamp ogre?”
“Pff!” Vivi snorted a laugh. “Oh yeah! The swamp ogre. I’d forgotten all about that.” She bounced excitedly on the sofa cushion and grabbed Sophia’s hand. “You’ve gotta hear this. Come on, Eli, do the voice.”
“The voice?” Sophia looked at Eli with equal parts confusion and curiosity.
“It’s hilarious!” Vivi smiled. “When we were kids, anytime I was upset, Eli would do this silly voice and call himself the swamp ogre to cheer me up, and he’d have these elaborate arguments with an imaginary donkey.”
Ugh. When she says it like that, it’s kind of embarrassing to do a Shrek impersonation when no one knows what a movie is anymore. Hell, no one even knows what Scotland is, let alone a Scottish accent. Which is probably a good thing, since my attempt at doing one sucks. But it makes her happy, so…
Vivi and Sophia rolled with laughter at Eli’s reenactment of Shrek’s insistence that ogres have layers like onions, and Donkey’s insistence that the layers are like a cake. He was making an absolute fool of himself, but the joy on their faces was worth the embarrassment.
“Stop!” Sophia wheezed. “Stop! It hurts when I laugh.” She cradled her injured hip.
“See? I told you it was hilarious.” Viv said smugly.
Sophia used a finger to wipe the tears from her eyes, tears from laughing too hard at his ridiculous and unexpected display.
Just then, the front door creaked as it was flung open, followed by the laughter of two young girls entering the house.
“Charlotte!” One of them called out. “Whose roller is that out front? It’s so awesome!”
“Mom’s not here.” Sophia replied with a yell of her own. “We have guests. Come say hi.”
“Phi?” A young woman with a mess of curly brown hair and large brown eyes leaned into the open double-wide doorway.
“Phi’s back?” The first girl was joined by a slightly shorter girl with flaxen hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and pale, icy blue eyes.
Both girls wore long-sleeved gray shirts, near identical to what the guards wore, like they were advertising their aspirations to the world.
“Holy shit, Phi. Is that your new roller outside?” The brunette asked.
“No.” Sophia shook her head while she, Eli, and Vivi all stood to greet her sisters. “It’s Eli’s.”
Both young girl’s attention was directed to Eli, and both of them stared at him incredulously.
“No way. Phi brought a man home?” The blonde girl muttered in disbelief.
“Eli’s family will be staying with us tonight. They’re new to town, and their house won’t be ready until tomorrow.” Sophia pressed on, ignoring her younger sister’s remark.
“Hi.” Eli stepped over to them and offered his hand in greeting. “I’m Eli.”
He shook their hands in turn, then stepped aside so Vivi could do the same.
“I’m Cait.” The brunette said after Vivi introduced herself.
“And I’m Amber.” The flaxen haired girl pointed at Eli’s forearm, which he’d forgotten to bandage after getting distracted with his Shrek shenanigans. “What happened to your arm?”
“This?” Eli raised his wrist. “I got into a fight with a couple wolves.”
“Wolves?” Cait chimed in quietly. “Awesome.”
Sophia cut into their conversion with a wicked smirk at Eli. “You know what’s really awesome? Eli fought Meli, and won.”
“You beat Meli?” Cait said with heavy tones of doubt.
“He didn’t just beat her,” Vivi wrapped an arm around her brother’s waist. “He destroyed her. And he made it look easy.”
Amber’s eyed him suspiciously. “Bullshit.” She put her hands on her hips with a sassy attitude. “Meli’s one of the best fighters in the whole settlement. There’s no way you beat her, and absolutely no way you’d make it look easy.”
Eli shook his head. “I really, really hope that’s not true. If she was one of the best in town, then I’m worried about the town’s safety.”
“Prove it.” Amber said.
“Huh?” Eli tilted his head.
“I said prove it. Prove you’re good enough to beat Meli.” She insisted. “Fight me.”
“Yeah, Eli.” Sophia joined in while suppressing a laugh. “Prove it.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He warned her.
“Why? You scared of getting hurt? Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” Amber smirked up at him, her arms confidently crossed over her chest.
“Ha!” Vivi laughed at the younger girl’s attempted provocation. “I like her.” She patted Eli’s chest. “She’s feisty. I say you should go for it, give the girl what she wants.”
Sophia nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Vivi.
“Haaah.” He rubbed his jaw and gave in to their request. It’d always been difficult to say no to Vivi, even more so since their relationship had shifted to become more romantic in nature. “Fine, then. But there’s one condition.” He held up a single finger.
“What’s that?” Amber asked skeptically.
“You two want to be guards right? Well, if I win, you’re not allowed to join the guards until you can beat me.”
“Eli…” Sophia spoke with apprehension. “Isn’t that a little cruel?”
He looked into her emerald eyes, “No. You know what’s about to go down. You know what’s about to come into the forest. If Meli was the best that Mist Haven has to offer, then your best isn’t good enough. Not even close. The guards don’t need rowdy children filling their ranks, they need trained warriors.” He said the last bit while looking at Amber and Cait. “If you lose, you can’t join the guards. Deal?”
“I…” Amber looked both furious and conflicted, but she clenched her fist and found her determination. “Fine! Deal!” She spun around and stormed off to the front door. “Come on, I want to kick your arrogant ass while there’s still daylight!”
Cait followed after her sister, stomping across the hardwood floor with equal frustration.
“I still think it’s a cruel deal.” Sophia murmured.
“I’m not going to hold them to it.” Eli said while Vivi pushed him to sit on the sofa. She swiftly began wrapping a clean bandage around his wrist while he spoke to Sophia. “Shit’s going to get very real for the guards, very soon. I’m talking full-scale warfare. People will die. A lot of people. I wanted to test their resolve a little bit, that’s all, just to make sure they were actually committed to joining the guards and not just playing around. After I knock her down a peg, I’ll offer to train them both. I’ll make them strong, Sophia, strong enough to live through the hell that’s coming for Mist Haven. You’ve already lost one sister, you shouldn’t have to lose two more.”
Vivi finished tying the bandage on his arm and smiled brightly at Sophia. Eli flexed his hand a few times to make sure the wrappings were securely in place, and watched as Vivi leaned close to Sophia and whispered something in her ear. Sophia bit her bottom lip nervously, then shook her head, which earned her a sudden, tight side-hug from Vivi.
“See? I knew it.” His sister laughed.
Yeah, I’d have to be blind to not have an idea what that was all about. Eli thought.
When they joined Amber and Cait in the front yard, a few of the neighborhood women were milling around on their front porches, obviously being nosy and watching whatever was happening, hungry for the newest piece of juicy gossip.
“Finally. You sure took your sweet time getting out here.” Amber taunted.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Eli said, pulling his shirt off and handing it to Vivi.
“W-wh-what the hell are you doing?” Amber stammered.
“It’s a nice shirt.” Eli shrugged, noticing the way Amber and Cait’s eyes were glued to his naked torso. A few of the neighborhood women’s eyes were fixated on him as well. “I’d rather not ruin it by sparring in the grass. Grass stains are a nightmare to get out, after all.”
“Whatever.” Amber finally tore her eyes away from his chest. “You ready or what?”
“Sure.” Eli shook his arms and stretched his legs to limber up. “Come at me whenever you want.”
Amber didn’t hesitate. She sprinted straight at him.
And ended up on the ground behind him.
“What the hell?” She groaned and sat up.
“That was a basic foot sweep. You alright?” Eli held out a hand, offering to help her up, but she slapped it away before scrambling to her feet.
Without warning, she threw a wide right hook at his face. Eli ducked below the swing, grabbed her extended arm, and wrenched it behind her back. With two fingers, he reached up and drew a line across her slim throat.
“Dead.” He said and released her.
Amber stumbled forward, almost tripping over her own feet when she spun around to face him.
Hmm, that’s a good look in her eyes. She not angry, but she’s not scared or nervous either. She looks like she’s trying to figure me out, evaluating me.
Eli lifted his fists in a defensive stance, and to his surprise, and approval, Amber mimicked his stance almost perfectly. Her eyes watched him closely, studied him, but she didn’t rush in again. She’d learned her lesson about rushing him with frontal attacks, and she didn’t seem too keen on repeating her mistakes.
Well I’ll be damned, the kid might be a natural talent.
“Not bad.” Eli smiled. “You’re trying to force me to go on the offensive since you think my defense is too good. Alright, I’ll humor you, but keep your teeth clenched or you’ll bite your tongue.”
He closed the gap between them in a flash, pushed through her weak defense, and drove a heavy fist into the center of her stomach. She sputtered, coughed, and doubled over, and he drew another line across the side of her neck and poked her twice in the ribs.
“Dead.” He repeated, backing away as she dropped to her knees in a fit of coughs and gasping breaths.
“Amber?” Cait’s worried voice came from off to the side.
“I’m-” She coughed and stood up on shaky legs. “I’m fine. He hits hard, though.”
“HEY!” Someone screamed from behind Eli.
He turned to see what was going on, and a fist crashed into the side of his jaw. He registered the sound of Sophia’s voice yelling something in the distance, but he couldn’t process what she said. He whipped his head around to see who’d sucker punched him and saw….Amber? Well, a taller, more deeply tanned version of Amber, but the face, the eyes, and the hair were all the same. She even wore the same clothes.
A second fist flew toward his face, but he was prepared for this one, throwing up his guard and ducking out of the strike zone. Going low to the ground, he grasped her right leg, pulled, and dropped tall Amber flat on her back. He twisted around, grabbed her right wrist, snaked his legs around her arm, and stretched it out to the side with his calves over her throat in a classic arm bar hold. He pulled her arm back just enough to cause some pain, but not enough to cause any real damage, then reached out with two fingers to touch her exposed neck before abruptly releasing her.
“Dead.” He said to the woman who was rubbing her sore arm and groaning. “Wait….who’re you?”
