Chapter 33: The Battle Continues

Sara found herself in deep thought when she felt Artemis touch her arm. It knocked her out of whatever she had been thinking about and made her lock eyes with the woman. “Sara, are you okay?” Artemis asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little surprised and shaken up, that’s all,” Sara replied as she looked away from the probing blue eyes that seemed to penetrate deep within her soul. It was like she had been looking for something in those eyes. Sara had to look away to hide everything she was feeling at the moment. She was undoubtedly scared and just wanted to go home to the safety of Van’s strong and gentle arms. God, did she miss him.

“How is your arm?” Artemis questioned when she realized she wouldn’t get a straight answer from Sara even if she pushed the subject.

“It’s doing better,” she answered, unconsciously bringing her right hand up to her patched left shoulder and holding it there for a moment. “Do they know I’m hurt?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think they’re worried?”

“Probably. I sense that they are all worried, not just the ones who are connected to you.”

“Connected to me?” Sara questioned. So, Artemis did have something to do with the Witchblade, she just didn’t know it. “Who’s connected to me?”

“They’re all connected to you, Sara, but some more closely than others,” she answered with a crafty smile.

“Will anyone ever give me a straight answer?” Sara cried out to no one in particular as she ran a frustrated hand through her hair. This was definitely shaping out to be the worst mind trip she had ever been on, in all its connotations. She was just waiting for her next obstacle to pop out in front of her, and when it did, she’d hopefully be ready.

Artemis stretched out her right arm to hold Sara back as her head began to turn. She had heard something in the distance and immediately knew it was danger. “Quick, take this and head over to those trees,” she told Sara, tossing her the knife she had pulled out of the tiger earlier and a long, sharp sword from behind her satchel she had easily concealed.

“Shit, girl, you’re armed to the teeth,” Sara replied as she took the weapons and made a run for the grove of trees to her right where Artemis had pointed. She was definitely read for the next assault.

*~*~*

“Van, wake up,” a soft, almost angelic voice whispered into his ear as he struggled to open his eyes. How he had fallen asleep remained a mystery, but as he awoke, he realized he was propped up against Billie, his head on her shoulder and his arms draped around her waist. Van quickly pulled back and gazed at her with surprised blue eyes.

He shook his head, trying to make sense of what was going on, then remembered what had happened with Sara. He had actually cried, as in shed tears other than those of laughter, over her. Van knew he was in deep. There hadn’t been anything on the face of the earth that made him bawl like he had over her, not his parent’s divorce, not Teddy’s death, not even the death of his partner.

“You okay?” Billie asked as she looked at him suspiciously.

“Fine,” Van sighed as he moved a little further away from her. It was then that he realized they were the only two on the floor and that Ian, Sara, and Deaq were gone. “Where’s Sara?” he asked frantically, quickly swiveling his body in all directions to see if he could find her.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine. Deaq and Ian moved her into the lounge,” Billie answered.

Van breathed in a sigh of relief as he replied, “Has she woken up yet?”

“No, she’s still out cold. She hasn’t had any seizures either, if that’s what they actually are.”

Van stood up and stretched his sore and unused muscles. He must have been out for a while. Then again, he should have expected it, especially after the night he had. Sleep seemed to be his only comfort at the moment. Van began to walk away when he realized Billie was still sitting on the floor in front of him. He extended his hand and helped her to her feet.

“Thanks,” she replied, also doing a quick stretch before following him to the lounge where Ian had kept vigil over Sara while Deaq had fallen asleep on his chair, his head slightly slumped to one side and lightly snoring. Van would have laughed if he hadn’t seen Sara moments later, her face a pastier white than it had been before and slicked with sweat. He sat down on the edge of the couch closest to her feet and gently placed a hand on her knee.

“She’s gotten worse, hasn’t she?” Van asked as he looked over to Ian.

“Sara lost quite a bit of blood,” Ian replied, gesturing towards the blood soaked bandage on her left shoulder, which remained uncovered by the blanket for the soul purpose of being monitored.

Van remained quiet as he watched her slowly breathe in and out, her chest rising with every precious breath that she took. Even in this dreadful state, Sara retained her striking qualities, a sleeping beauty, for the lack of a better term. Van stood up and walked over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. He looked up at the clock and saw that it was nearing three in the afternoon. They hadn’t done anything yet, but he didn’t care, as long as he was with Sara, nothing mattered. He sighed heavily and returned to his seat at the end of the couch.

“Hey, Ian, why don’t you take a break?” Van suggested when he looked up to see the exhaustion in Ian’s eyes. “I’ll watch her.”

“I’m fine,” Ian replied.

“Dude, you look like you’re about to fall over. Take a half hour and get some rest,” Van persisted as he stood up.

“Alright,” Ian finally gave in. He was tired. This day seemed to drag on forever, especially with Sara in such a horrible state. As much as he wanted to stay with her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to do anything if he was dead tired. He reluctantly stood up and took a seat on the other couch at the far end of the lounge where Billie was sprawled out across half of it, almost asleep. She sat up when he took a seat as far away from her as physically possible.

“Can I talk to you?” Billie asked.

Ian had to do a double take. Was she actually talking to him? “Yeah, sure,” he replied as she scooted closer to him.

Their eyes locked when her hand reached up to gently rest on his chin. “I shouldn’t have blown up at you like I did this morning,’ Billie said. “I didn’t know much about you at the time. Deaq gave me a rundown of all the things he knew, and I figured I had made a really big mistake. I now know you’re really new to all this relationship/dating stuff, so maybe I should apologize for my actions, but not until you tell me what I really need to know.”

“What?” Ian asked, looking hopeful as her hand moved away from his face.

“Did you really mean what you said last night about wanting to get to know me better?” Billie replied, her eyes very serious.

“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. Billie was an intriguing person. He thought of her as his mirror image, except for the fact that she had no association with Kenneth Irons and was free of his stronghold.

“Are you deeply in love with Sara?” Billie continued her questioning.

Ian looked away. He didn’t want to answer that question, especially with Van in the room. He could only guess what would happen if he heard the answer. But Billie was a whole different matter. She probably already knew, so he was better off being honest with her. “I am,” Ian finally answered, his eyes still far from hers. “But she’s told me on several different occasions that all she sees with me is friendship, and nothing more.”

“Well, that certainly complicates things for everybody, doesn’t it?” Billie tried to sound serious, but it came out sarcastic anyway. A sort of sadness fell over those big amber orbs, and she suddenly realized that she had yet again hurt him with her words. ‘Damn, he’s sensitive,’ she thought. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I’m trying here. You gotta give me some credit.”

Ian finally looked her in the eyes. He believed her. Sara was the same way. “Alright, I’ll let that one go,” he replied.

“So, if Sara only wants friendship, then why are you so reluctant to let go of your love for her? Why can’t you just leave her alone to make her own decision about who she wants to be with? You’re only setting yourself up for more pain if you don’t let her go now,” Billie actually made sense out of the whole situation. She could have sworn she saw a smile flash on his lips.

“You’re a very wise woman, Billie,” Ian said. “But my reluctance is probably due to the fact that I’ve been in love with her ever since I was a young boy. She haunted my dreams for nearly two decades before I finally came face to face with her and she turned away from me like I was something filthy. It hurt, but I continued to love her as if she’d see me one day as a person and not something Kenneth Irons made.”

“It doesn’t seem like that day has come,” she pointed out quickly.

“But she has begun to see me as someone other than Kenneth Irons’ toy.” Ian visibly cringed at his own words.

“Yeah, but she chose Van, not you,” Billie answered, her words cutting him deeper than he ever thought possible. It definitely hurt hearing it from someone other than Sara. It turned the nightmare into reality. “Let her go, Ian. I know it’s hard, but in the long run, you won’t continue to suffer for her decision.” Billie reached up again to stroke his cheek. “Let her go,” she repeated, her eyes full of reassurance as she seated herself on his lap and leaned in for a soft, gentle kiss.

As their lips locked, Ian realized he was finally letting go of Sara’s stronghold on his conscience. He allowed Billie to deepen the kiss until she was caressing the inside of his mouth with her tongue. It felt good for the first time, not having any inhibitions or chains to restrain him.

Van had watched the whole scene unfold from the sidelines. When Billie had finally leaned in for that kiss, he kicked Deaq’s chair, waking him from his light sleep.

“What happened?” Deaq asked, a little startled as he looked around, letting his eyes adjust to the light. He saw Van nod his head to the other side of the room, and he turned to find Billie and Ian reconciling. “What’d I miss?”

“I don’t know,” Van whispered. “I only heard bits and pieces of their conversation, but I think Ian’s finally getting over Sara.”

“You’re kidding?!”

“Would they be getting that close if I was kidding?”

“Should we give them a little reminder that they’re not alone?” Deaq asked, realizing that neither Ian nor Billie had bothered to pull away in the last few minutes.

“Leave ‘em be,” Van softly replied. “They need their time together.”

“You just want Billie in a good mood so you can spend more quality time with Sara,” Deaq observed.

Van shot him a “shut up” look, then soon returned his gaze to Sara. He sat her up for a few seconds as he nestled himself behind her, then let her head drop into his lap. She was way too warm for his liking, hopefully indicating she was fighting whatever trouble she was in. Van leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her damp forehead as he tired to snuggle her a little tighter in his grasp. It was getting harder and harder for him to keep his hopes up with her condition steadily declining.

“Hang in there, baby,” Van whispered as he stroked her forehead.

*~*~*

Sara peeked over the fallen tree branch to see Artemis waiting in the middle of the footpath for the oncoming obstacle. It was a band of loud and proud young men. Artemis stood her ground as they approached her.

“Who walks in the sacred forest?” her voice boomed over them. They all looked at her with wide eyes, like they had never seen a woman before.

“Why would you care, wench?” their “leader,” a tall light haired man with dark blue eyes and a very built body replied as he stepped forward, his sword drawn.

Sara was ready to stand up and fight him. It was then that she got a better look at the man. ‘Jake?’ her mind asked as she stepped closer to Artemis. He had quite a resemblance to her former partner, but there was just something a little off. His attitude, maybe? She couldn’t figure it out. He was a cocky little bastard, though.

“I protect this forest, and if you are here to do harm, I shall punish you,” Artemis said with determination that made Sara stand up a little straighter.

“You’re nothing but a woman!” the man laughed. “What can you do to punish me?”

Suddenly, Artemis swung her fist at the man and hit him square in the nose, knocking him to the ground. Sara cringed at the sound of it breaking. The others in his band began to gather around the two women, their weapons drawn. Sara knew she was in for it now, and all she had was a sword and a knife. She could only pray that she had some residual experience left in her from what she had been able to do with the Witchblade.

“Sara, get ready,” Artemis advised as she drew her own weapons from the belt around her waist; a pair of long and extremely sharp knives. The men were advancing on them as the man on the ground sat up, feeling his bleeding nose with his hand.

“You’ll pay for this, wench!” he yelled, quickly stumbling to his feet and grabbing his sword from where it had dropped to the ground. He charged for them as the other men followed. All to suddenly, Sara and Artemis found themselves in the midst of a battle between nearly twenty men.

*~*~*

Van could feel Sara shiver beneath him. As he looked down, he realized that she was moving again, but it was nothing like the last time. Her head shot from one side to the other as she grunted and moaned in pain. “Sara!” Van said, quickly placing his hands to either side of her face as it thrashed about.

Ian was up in seconds to aid him in keeping her still while Billie and Deaq watched in terror. Sara’s fists clenched as her feet began to kick in all directions. Ian held them down as Van kept his hands on her still moving head.

“I can’t watch this,” Billie said as she turned her head away from the scene. Deaq made a move to hold her. She wasn’t particularly happy with it, but accepted his comfort. She just couldn’t handle someone going through so much pain. It made her stomach twist and turn in all directions.

Large bruises began to appear on Sara’s face as she continued to twist and turn under Van’s hold. Her lip tore open and blood began to spill down her chin. It was an ugly sight to see, but Van remained calm and collected as his adrenaline levels skyrocketed. He shot a quick glance over to Ian to see he was also struggling with his own resolve. This was definitely going to be a very nerve-wrecking experience for both of them.

*~*~*

Sara was getting pummeled by three men as she tried with all her might to fend them off. When they finally let up slightly, she used the opportunity to raise her sword and impale on of them with it. He fell to his knees in pain and then went unconscious as another two men took his place around her. Sara could feel them using everything they had, arms, legs, swords, feet, and other weapons, to incapacitate her. She wouldn’t give up though. With the knife still in her hand, Sara used it to rip open a few hands and feet that came her way. Three men were down, but there were still six more she needed to defeat before she was safe again. She couldn’t even look over to Artemis to see if she was doing any better than she was.

Sara focused now on the men that were to her left. One had her arm behind her back, keeping her from fighting the rest away. She twisted herself around and caught him off guard, using the hilt of her knife to knock him unconscious. Five more and she’d be okay. As Sara turned around, a fist slammed into her face, ripping open her lip and giving her a few good bruises across her face. She felt a bit dizzy for a moment, but quickly regained her strength and impaled the man with her sword. The other four opponents were slowly retreating from her.

Feeling a surge of adrenaline running through her blood, Sara’s confidence level quickly skyrocketed and she was ready to take on the rest of the little bastards that tried to hurt her. She caught one of them with her left hand and slammed her fist into his face, quickly rendering him into a pool of blood on the ground where he fell. Two more fell at her feet soon after, leaving one more to fight.

‘Just my luck, the little bastard that looks just like Jake,’ Sara thought as they advanced on each other. She raised her sword in challenge and was quickly hit with his, the sound of metal upon metal echoing through the forest like thunder. He continued to strike at her, getting in whatever shots he could and trying to loosen the blade from her grasp.

Sara could feel a jolt of energy fill her veins as she struck back with her own powerful blows. She was panting now, the adrenaline in her system reaching maximum capacity. Her heart thundered against her chest as her hands did all the work. Whenever the man’s sword got a little too close to her delicate body, she immediately used the knife to throw it back.

“You think you can hurt me?” he taunted, continuing to swing his sword towards her as they circled around each other. “You think you can beat the almighty Actaeon?”

“I think I can do better,” Sara replied as she plunged her sword towards his midsection. He dodged her and hit her hand, knocking her own sword out of it. His blade quickly came up to her neck before she even had time to fathom what had happened. Sara swallowed hard as a couple of tears made their way down her cheeks. ‘Oh, shit, I’m gonna die here,’ she thought as she closed her eyes. Her life seemed to flash before her as several images flowed through her mind; her father, her friends, her enemies, her battles, her defeats, her victories, and finally, Van. She only wished she could tell him she loved him once more before she was plunged into the depths of purgatory for the rest of her life.

Suddenly, the blade retracted from her flesh as she heard a thud come from the ground beside her. Sara opened her eyes to see Artemis standing several feet in front of her slowly lowering her bow. She looked down to find Actaeon crumpled at her feet, an arrow sticking out of his back. A wave of relief passed through her as she fell to her knees beside him and cried. Artemis was at her side moments later.

“Sara, are you alright?” she asked, seeing her comrade crying.

“Yeah,” Sara replied as she looked up at the woman standing above her. “Thank you for saving my life again. I thought I was a goner for a second there.”

“That might not be the case next time,” Artemis said as she helped Sara up.

“It’s not over yet, is it?” she asked, knowing the answer almost immediately. Artemis nodded as she pulled another piece of linen from her satchel and began to wipe the blood off Sara’s face.

“You have one more demon to face. If you make it through that trial, you will be free. If you don’t…” her voice trailed off when she realized Sara knew exactly what she would say next.

“Come on, lets get our asses in gear so I can kill that thing and get out of here quicker,” Sara said, pushing the troubling thought out of her mind as she stood up.

*~*~*

Just as suddenly as suddenly as it began, Sara quickly calmed down again, taking a deep breath as she stopped thrashing about. Van lay back on the armrest and breathed in a sigh of relief. The episode had taken a real toll on him, one that was easily apparent when he felt the tears start dripping down his face again. Billie was at his side again, her comforting arms wrapping around him as she tried to keep him from breaking down.

“Come on,” Billie whispered as she helped Van to his feet. She led him to the other couch and made him lay out across it. “Get some rest,” she ordered.

“I can’t. Sara…” Van was about to say until she put her finger to his lips.

“She’ll be fine. Ian and I will take care of her,” Billie reassured him. “Stop worrying.”

“I just can’t stop worrying,” he replied, sitting up and looked her deep in the eye. “I can’t stand to see Sara going through what she’s going through right now. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. I love her so much that I can’t imagine a life without her.”

Billie smiled at him. He was telling the truth. “I know,” she said. “That’s just how love is. Have faith and she’ll be okay.”

Van gave her a strange look. “When did you suddenly become the love doctor?” he asked.

“About the same time that you suddenly fell in love and started to show it,” Billie answered with a lopsided smile.

Van started to put the few pieces of her puzzle he had together. “What about you and Ian?” he replied. “Any possibility that you two will be as happy as Sara and I are?”

Billie continued to give him that lopsided smile as she said, “I don’t know. You’ll just have to see.”

The moment was broken almost too quickly as someone’s cell phone went off. Van nearly jumped out of his seat as Billie turned her head sharply to see where the sound was coming from. Ian and Deaq were also puzzled and all four quickly look to Sara. Ian grabbed the phone out of her pocket and stared at it before he answered, “Hello?"

Chapter 34: Third Time's the Charm

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