Chapter Five #3
Isocar created a cage from trees and vines, and Nylora caused it to glow bright as she arranged it high in a tree.
Neekil and Emmers were laughing. Kairek was coming over to see if he could show Jerrik some Dullahan things.
Iris looked a little nervous, but she let her son go.
“He needs to learn this stuff. The warning to hang onto his head was timely. Two of the bullies on his team tried to grab him, but he hung on, and then his fire flared out, and the kids let go. I nearly beat their parents, but Jerrik was just happy he remembered to hold his head.”
Hannah looked over at Kairek and his son removing their heads and practicing taking it off and putting it on.
A portal started to open near the house, and Hannah wasn’t sure what to expect, but then an ice-blue giantess in cycle shorts and a sports bra walked through the gateway.
The woman was seven feet tall, and her abs had abs.
Hannah looked at her as she put her white hair up in a scrunchie.
The woman grinned. “This had better be some good mac and cheese. You are Hannah?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Cool. I am Amy. So, whose ass am I kicking?” Amy got her hair up in a tight bun.
Hannah pointed to Neekil and Emmers. “Either one of them would be good. The wall of challenges is over there, and I think all the dark elves are going to drown in their own drool.”
“Yeah, all they can imagine is how much square footage to play with.” Amy bent her elbow and started some runner’s stretches. She was being watched from all over the yard.
“Where do you get a sports bra in that size?” Hannah blurted out.
“It’s a custom build. So, wrestling first?”
Hannah grinned. “Oh, please. This I have to see.”
They walked toward the area where the dark elves were wrestling, and as they passed Jerrik, they heard, “Aunt Amy! Why are you big today?”
“Oh, I am going to wrestle so that Hannah doesn’t have to.”
“Why?”
“Because Neekil is bigger than her.”
Jerrik got excited. “Oh, because he pins her every time. That’s why.”
Neekil was laughing, and Hannah had a hand over her eyes.
Amy walked to the edge of the wrestling ring and said, “Okay, who is standing in for the delicate homeowner?”
She stood, and Hannah watched Neekil look around. Emmers slowly raised his hand. “I’ll do it.”
Amy looked at him and laughed. “Well, the one guy here who won’t freeze his balls off touching me. Well done, Emmers.”
He paused. “You know who I am?”
“Of course. I know every agent here. I am a bit of a groupie. Now, shall we?” She gestured to the ring.
Hannah watched Emmers walk to the ring, and Amy faced him. He was a few inches shorter than she was, but as they faced off against each other, he became a polar bear in tight jeans and an XIA T-shirt.
Amy wasn’t surprised. “There you are.”
Neekil walked to the side and said, “On your mark, get set, fight!”
Amy rushed in, did a judo move, and flipped Emmers onto his back. The bear-man looked surprised. She stepped back and waited. He got up, and this time, he went in low, grabbed her around the waist, and staggered back as she slammed her hands against his ears. He shook his head and growled.
It was serious now. Amy hunkered down somewhat and rushed Emmers. He grabbed her, flipped her with a hand on her shoulder and between her thighs, and was shocked when she grabbed his wrist, twisted to brace her feet against his belly, and pushed off, landing just inside the ring.
He growled low, and Hannah heard Neekil muttering for Emmers to calm down, but the polar bear charged at her, and to everyone’s shock, she jumped up and over while he landed outside the ring.
Hannah muttered, “I think that means I win.”
“It does, but now we have to calm Emmers down. That takes some doing.”
Emmers lumbered around, fixed his gaze on Amy, and walked up to her calmly.
Amy stood still as he approached, and when he wrapped his arms around her, she went frosty.
Hannah could feel the frost coming off her. Emmers paused, shook his head, and resumed his human appearance.
Amy nodded. “There you go. All better?”
Emmers frowned and backed up. “How did you know how to do that?”
“Told you. Groupie.” She smiled. She looked around. “Now, when do we get a football game organized?”
Neekil spoke up. “I believe that we could arrange one right now.”
Hannah chuckled. “I call Amy’s team.”
Jennel walked up. “Hannah’s team.”
Isocar nodded. “Hannah’s team.”
Iris said, “I will cheer.”
Neekil looked around, and Emmers said, “Count me in.”
Solor and Demuel walked in. “Nylora says we can play.”
Hannah chuckled. “We would be better off with Jennel’s three, but I think they want to live.”
Neekil said, “Two of my cousins instead of you two. Nylora looks irritable at the best of times.”
So it was that three dark elves and one fixated polar bear faced off against four ladies. Isocar was powered up, Jennel was crackling with energy, and her guys were sitting on lawn chairs. Hannah was looking at Neekil with narrowed eyes, and Amy looked bored.
Hannah’s dad blew the whistle, and the game was on.
Hannah got the ball, Jennel morphed into her chimera shape and touched everyone, qualifying them as out . Amy turned into a snow fox and bolted for the end zone. She was there in seconds, and she turned back into a frost giant and caught the ball. Touchdown.
The next round, Isocar used trees to tie the guys up, and the third was up to Amy to freeze them all to the ground.
The girls were declared the winners, and they skipped around while the guys tried to get unstuck.
After the obligatory happy dance, Hannah said, “Can you unstick them?”
Amy turned and exhaled slowly. The frozen feet thawed in a heartbeat.
Neekil wrapped his arms around Hannah. “So, you have won two out of three events.”
Amy said, “What about the hunting? I make excellent prey. I mean, no one catches me, but I like the exercise.”
Emmers murmured, “I will hunt you.”
Three of the dark elves agreed.
“Fine, but what does Hannah get if I win? I will elude you for ten minutes.”
Neekil smiled. “I will think of something.”
Amy nodded. “Right. Count me down, and I will run.”
Hannah counted, “Five, four, three, two, one. Go!”
Amy’s eyes glowed, and she shifted into a fox, taking off with astonishing speed. She was a white blur as she bolted for the woods.
Hannah looked at Neekil. “What do we do now?”
“We wait a minute and let the guys track her.”
“Ah. I should have been timing it, huh?”
He held up his wrist with the stopwatch going. “Don’t worry, I did. Cheater.”
He looked at the guys and said, “Go.”
Hannah laughed. “Okay, so this is surprisingly fun. I mean, not the part where my guest is being stalked through the woods, but other than that, it’s pretty fun.”
“Amy seems familiar, and she knows exactly how we move. And she knew how to calm Emmers. That is huge.”
She looked at his wrist. “How long does she have to dodge them?”
“Ten minutes.”
“Why?”
“It proves that you have someone in your family with stealth and stamina, not to mention intelligence. Male or female, the runner makes a point.”
“And if she gets caught?”
“Then she gets kissed by the trackers.”
“She knows that?”
“If she is the runner, then yes.”
“I hope those guys know what happens when you lick a metal pole in winter. This could be funny when they come back.”
His eyes widened, and he laughed. “That had not occurred to me. Eight minutes to go.”
Jennel’s guys were mopey that they couldn’t participate more fully, so Jennel promised to wrestle them when they got home.