****Paradise Sagas:  Book 1: Warriors of Paradise****

 

Chapter 6

 

     "I don't mean to sound rude, but," Kevin said as he helped do dishes, "do you think it would be okay if we all stayed here tonight?  Lilith could come back.  David and I thought it might be safer for you if we stayed.  Kendra likes the idea too.  I'm not sure about Daenna."

     Lexa smiled, "That'd be great."  Lexa let the water drain from the sink then dried her hands.

     Kevin ducked as a rubber duck whizzed by his head.  Lexa look startled, then turned to see Kendra tackle David.  She rolled her eyes and smiled, picking the duck out of the sink.  "Where'd you get this?"  She asked, throwing it at them.

     David grinned, catching it, "It was in my backpack.  Don't know how it got there."  He pulled Kendra into a headlock and dragged her out of the room.

     Kendra screamed.

     Kevin took a deep breath, "On the other hand..." Lexa laughed.

~*~*~*~

     She had the guys share the couch in the front room.  She put the girls in the living room on the second floor, right outside her bedroom.

     As she slipped into her room, she looked back at Kendra and Daenna.  She whispered the first thing that came to mind, "Rest well, my friends."  She turned off the lights that bordered the living room's west wall, then went to bed.

~*~*~*~

     She clashed her sword with someone else’s.  The dark, semi-familiar laugh echoed in her mind.

”You cannot win," the dark voice said as the sword of the opponent pulled away and didn't come again.

She couldn't see his face, but she sensed him in the darkness "There is no one to save you now.  No one to protect you."

“I don’t need protection.”  Se felt her crystal’s warmth, “My crystal will keep me safe.”

     That dark laugh again, “Your crystal, Lari, shall be the death of you.”  He gave a war cry and attached her again.

~*~*~*~

     She woke up just as the scream erupted from her lips.

~*~*~*~

     He sat up, suddenly pulled from his sleep.  What woke him?  He could feel one of his friend's presence in the back of his mind.

     ~Lexa?~  He sent out mentally.

     ~Yeah?~  Her voice seemed to whisper.

     ~Are you OK?~

     ~Just had a startling dream.  Go back to sleep.~

     ~Are you sure?~

     ~Yeah.  I'll see you in the morning.~

     He lay down and stared at the ceiling.  It was a long time before he slept again.

~*~*~*~

     They ate an entire box of Frosted Flakes for breakfast.

     "Man!  I do NOT want to go to school!"  David complained, before he shoved his hands in his pockets and became quiet again.

     "But we have to."  Kendra threw the box in the garbage can.

     "Says who?"  Daenna wiped her hands on a napkin.

     "Yeah.  I say we skip today."  Kevin voiced his opinion, then he noticed Lexa, picking at her full cereal bowl, "Lexa?  What do you thing?  Lexa?"  He reached out and touched her.

     She jumped, "Huh?  What?" She dropped the spoon in the bowl.

     "I asked what you thought."

     "About what?"

     Daenna grunted, "Skipping school.  Were you listening?"

     "I guess not."  She didn't look at any of them.

     "Lexa?"  David said, sitting down in what had been Kendra's spot the night before, "What's wrong?"  His voice was strangely soft.  The others watched as Lexa slowly looked up at him.

     "David?"  She paused, before she smiled, "I'm fine."

     Daenna laughed curtly, "You guys worry too much."

     "I say we go to school.  There's no reason to start skipping daily."  Lexa voiced.  And reluctantly, they followed their leader out the apartment door.

~*~*~*~

     "Okay," Kendra said, looking up from a paper to Lexa, "Now, mix them together and stand back."

     "Why?" Denov Shindle, the other person in their Science lab group, asked.

     "Because we're mixing a highly reactive--Ah!"  Lexa had no sooner placed the test tubes back into their holders, then a puff of blue smoke erupted from the full one.

     "Is it supposed to do that?"  Denov adjusted his lab goggles.

     "I think so..." Kendra peered back at the sheet on the table, "Yep, but it doesn't say anything about it being BLUE."

     Lexa smirked, "Oops?"

     Denov laughed, then turned to yell at the lab table behind them.

     Lexa liked Denov; he was the only person besides her 'warrior' friends who talked to her.  He was tall and had midnight black hair, somehow darker than David's.  He had laughing blue eyes and was smart-when he wanted to be.

     Denov turned back, "Well, they say they had orange smoke and THEY heard from table 4 that they had purple smoke, sooo..."

     "Maybe we're all wrong."  Lexa sat down on a stool.  Kendra covered her laugh with a cough.

     Denov nodded in agreement, right before he flinched and said, "5...4...3...2...1"

     "WHAT. DID. YOU. ALL. DO???"  The teacher yelled as she re-entered the room.

     Lexa shrugged her shoulders, "Well,” She turned to Kendra, "my day's been great.  How 'bout yours?"  She asked sarcastically.

     "Couldn't get much worse."  Kendra replied, just before the smoke started again, turning from blue to black, "I spoke to soon."

     Lexa leaned forward and put her head in her hands.  She felt Denov pat her back in mock sympathy and she had to smile.

~*~*~*~

     There were no meetings for the rest of the week, and no signs of trouble.  But the dream she had about fighting, that new one, haunted her every night.  She didn't scream at it after the first night.  She became curious.  What did it mead, "Your crystal, Lari, shall be the death of you."

     The voice was so familiar...