Chapter List

hey’re broken,” the Warrior of the Storms said, reclining her shoulders against a conveniently placed rock. Cici slept quietly nearby next to her Lantern.

“I’ve had broken ribs before from hockey, and these feel like broken ribs. Good thing I was wearing armor or I’d be in two pieces right about now,” Ranko held her side with one hand. She was trying to be jovial and dismissive, but she didn’t notice the expression on Alanna’s face. The older girl stood up and walked away a few steps.

“Boss? What’s wrong?” Ranko called after her. Alanna didn’t reply for a long moment. Finally she spoke quietly.

“I could have killed you.”

“Hey, you gotta defend yourself,” Ranko said encouragingly. “Don’t sweat it. I’m pretty well protected here.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Alanna snapped, glaring at Ranko. “That.. that monster could have beaten us without even fighting! Here we are the big bad Ajan Warriors and we’re busy attacking each other and we don’t even know we’re blowing it!”

Ranko listened with a stunned look. She wasn’t used to seeing and hearing Alanna shout.

“I’m supposed to look out for you! That’s why I trained. That’s why I fought that stupid wooden dummy until my wrists and arms were purple! So I could protect my friends, and now that despicable…” Alanna hissed the last word.

“That Cryptic tricked me into using my powers against my own side!” Alanna spat. “I’ve become what I hate!”

“Hey!” Ranko interrupted, crawling to her feet through the stabbling pain in her side. “Hold on a minute.”

“I don’t deserve to fight if I can’t handle something as simple as a stupid illusion!” Alanna voice was ragged and she was close to tears. Her hands were fists, one clamped around the Quarterseeker at her side.

“Wait a minute!” Ranko shouted back, gesturing sharply with both hands. “You made a mistake! We all have!”

Alanna quieted, her eyes glistening and her lip trembling.

“If one of us goes haywire because of what our enemies use against us, it’s just something we have to deal with. We all learned from the same teacher!”

“But I could have really hurt Cici or Shannon!”

“Hey, you want to go a few rounds, we’ll match you punch for punch. Smash my armor all day with that staff. That’s why I wear it. I won’t let you hurt anyone. I know you’d do the same thing for me if I get confused by what those minions do. Miss Shannon and Cici have a few powers of their own, Boss. They trained to fight just like us. They can take care of themselves.”

“But they shouldn’t have to take care of themselves. They wouldn’t if I wasn’t so careless.”

Ranko walked right up to where Alanna was standing.

“You fought to survive, Alanna,” she said. “You have no right to stand there and blame yourself for being attacked! We got separated. We got confused. We didn’t do what Reina taught us to do when things get rough.”

Alanna looked down at her weapon and tightened her grip around its cool surface. When she looked back up, Ranko was holding out her gauntleted hand.

“I haven’t learned anything,” Alanna said quietly. Ranko stretched her open hand a little further.

“Take it,” Ranko said.

Alanna hesitated, then grasped Ranko’s gloved hand as if they were going to armwrestle. It was the familiar warrior’s greeting. Ranko held Alanna’s hand firmly, wincing slightly from the pain in her ribs.

“We made a mistake. So we learn from it and we gear up for the next fight,” Ranko said. “That’s the way we do things. You know who we learned that from?”

“Who?” Alanna asked.

“You.”

Alanna couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I wouldn’t want to go up against any of this stuff without Snow Girl,” Ranko said, her eyes sharp and focused. “You ain’t kidding you could have messed us up. You’re faster than lightning and you’re twice as strong as you were when we started training. You fight like an Ajan Warrior.”

Continue to Chapter Eleven