Broken, but Not Defeated

Chapter 55 (Wesley)

One minute I'm slamming myself against the door and the next a bird is perched on my bed. The bird is a bird for a second and then the next second it's an enormous bear. Anya! I thought. She looks at me then nods towards the closet. Racing over I grab my sword, nodding as she moves to the door. It might have taken me hours to knock it down, but she slams against the door making it snap under her weight. From the look on the guards' faces they weren't expecting a bear. I glance at Cole. He's staring at Anya, his mouth agape. Just then he spots me, he gives me a dopey grin and then focuses on the witches who have just gotten over their shock. One of the witches moves to take on Cole, as the other moves to face the bear—I mean Anya—and I. I move myself in front of Anya. The sound of steel against steel quickly fills the quiet hallway. Suddenly Anya roars, making us pause our battle. Her furry features are twisted into a look of pure malice. The expression Anya has pinned on the witches' faces has me stepping away from her. At that moment I hear footsteps sound behind me fearing the worst, I grip my sword tighter.

"Woah," Aron whispers.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side," Peter announced.

"Drop your weapons," Cole commands, facing the witches. "We're leaving whether you let us or not."

The witches glance at us then to Anya, who bears her teeth in what probably was intended to be a grin but doesn't even come close to resembling one. The witches drop their weapons. A bark has me turning around. A dog sits there wagging his tail, and I wouldn't have recognized him if it hadn't been for the lopsided ear. Beorn! He has grown through the winter from a little puppy to a ginormous dog. Falling to my knee, I open my arms and Beorn races to me and presses his head against my chest.

"It's good to see you, boy. You sure have grown." I feel my throat threatening to close up. Beorn whines. "Where have you been?" I ask. He backs up and yaps. His tail is wagging so hard I wouldn't be surprised if he hurts someone with it.

"Beorn!" Anya yells, landing next to me. Beorn attacks her with his tongue, accidently knocking her over. Laughing I push him off her, momentarily forgetting my anger towards Anya. I hand her my arm, she looks at it for a moment and then takes it. Maybe she forgot she was mad at me. Right then Juliana marches down the hall tension radiating off of her. She opens her mouth to do what, I don't get to find out because Beorn tackles her to the ground and starts licking her face.

"Eww mouth, Beorn! Get out of here!" she gasped, struggling to push him off her. Not an easy task, I can relate. He probably weighs a hundred pounds. Peter and the others are laughing their heads off at her struggle.

"Are you going to stand there or help?" she yells at them. At that point Cole walks around the corner deep in thought but her yelling he looks up. Cole pushes Beorn off her then helps her up offering her a close lipped smile. She just storms away.

"Julia, can we please talk?" Anya calls.

"No!" Juliana snaps, not turning around. I don't think I have ever seen them fight before.

"Please," Anya begs, tears springing to her eyes. I go to wrap my arm around her shoulder but she sidesteps me.

"Fine!" Juliana grunts. They walk back the way Juliana and Cole had come from, neither of them saying anything.

"Cole?" I ask.

"Hmm," he says, watching Juliana, almost as if he was trying to decide something.

"What's up with them?"

"Don't know, don't care!" he snaps, turning on his heels, mind made up. We stare after him, mouths agape. Wow! Where did that come from?

"Umm, did anyone else see that?" Aron asks after what feels like an eternity. We nod our heads, even Peter is at a loss for words. I start to walk after Cole, and the others follow.

"Wait, I think it would be better if only one of us talks to him," I advise. They nod their heads. "Make sure there are fresh horses and plenty of food." At that Peter gets a big grin on his face. "Do I even want to know what you guys did?" I speculate.

"Yeah, we stole two tents and all their cooking utensils," Aron says.

I chuckle. "Idiots." We all start laughing. "Now on a more serious note then. There is a chance that we might run into some witches. Be careful."

"Oh no, there were only those four witches that were guarding your doors. And we took care of them," Matthew says, pointing to a closed door. "They're in a locked room." He hands me a key.

"Good," I tell him and go on a hunt for my best friend.

After what feels like forever I finally find him.

"Cole?" I ask, finding him sitting under a tree, the same tree Anya and I had had our moment. That feels like centuries ago.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says, looking at his feet and kicking the grass.

"You know you're not a very good liar, Cole," I say, a smile on my face.

"Yeah I know."

"You know something else?"

"What?"

"Do you know how to say any other words but 'yeah'?" I tease.

"Yeah, no," he says, giving me a grin. I sigh and shake my head.

"You're a hopeless cause, Cole."

"Yeah I know."

"You sure you're okay?" I ask, sitting across from him. He just looks over my shoulder. "Cole?"

"Hmm?"

"You okay?"

"No," he says, getting up.

"Cole," I protest, making him pause his pacing. "You can't run away everytime something gets difficult."

"Listen Wes, I have already had my difficult conversation for today, okay?"

"Juliana?" At her name his whole body freezes. Letting out a suffering sigh, he rakes his hand through his hair.

"Yeah." He starts pacing again. I say nothing. "You know I like her, Wesley, and I don't want to see her hurt." He looks at me. "You understand, right?"

"Yes, I understand," I say, moving to stand in front of him. I place a hand on each of his shoulders, "but sometimes you have to let them go and be by themselves. Do you see me stopping Anya? No Cole, I know she's powerful and therefore can take care of herself."

"Julia is not Anya, Anya has always been stronger than Julia."

"You're wrong Cole. Juliana has grown up. She's not that little girl she was last year, she's a woman who is fully capable of taking care of herself."

"She's not Caldina or Anya, she needs our protection," he insists.

"Yes, but she also needs us to stop hovering over her. She is an adult."

"She's a child, Wesley," Cole practically yells.

"No, I am not, Cole," Juliana says marching over to us, "and I'm not a woman either. I'm a witch and it's high time every single one of you sees that." She looks us both in the eye. "I'm not a little girl, and besides we need to leave now before the storm hits." I look up to the sky where a dark cloud is starting to form. Running back to the Keep we grab our stuff and make our way outside where the horses are gathered. Juliana immediately makes her way to a white horse. I slowly walk over to an Appaloosa. Nodding at the others, we all mount up.

"Remember, be alert, we don't know who will meet." I look over at Juliana, "Do you have the map?" Last fall I wasn't fully ready to trust my younger sister to lead us, but Juliana has proven herself over and over again.