Chapter 41: Ava's Fury

At first Ava was very reluctant to learn these new ways. She had never used a weapon in her entire life, in fact she had never shown aggression even. The constant coaxing and urging by all of her new friends persuaded her in the end. Ava learned these new skills very rapidly.

Kate, Eliana, Caprice and Isha spent every waking hour training her. Ava was in excellent shape but by the time sleep period arrived it was all she could do to stay awake and eat even though the meal preparation was fascinating. Kate had given Ava her bed and Ava was so tired that she was asleep almost before her head settled into the soft pillow. She did not even stay awake anymore watching and listening to the love making that took place all around her which she also enjoyed. Kate was welcomed to share a bed with most any of the team and shared her warmth and body with many.

Ava had told them where the metal for the Mordom knives came from. It was gathered from some ruins near the shore of the big water, she said. She was too afraid to go there however because she said Mordom went there very often. Even with her newly learned skills she was still deathly afraid of Mordom.

One day right after sleep period Kate made an announcement. "It's time to put your new skills to the test Ava. We are going to the ruins to gather metal. Maybe we will encounter Mordom there and you will find out they can be killed by Lanaii."

They packed up camp and climbed into the vehicles. They followed Ava's directions and after many hours found the ruins. They also saw the ocean shore for the first time. The ocean was huge and it was fresh water rather than salt water. They retraced their tracks and set up camp over two miles away from the ruins. After the sleep period and over Stan's arguments Caprice, Isha, Katelyn and Ava piled into the four seat car with the robot crowded into the center aisle. Stan wanted the whole team to go but Katelyn had insisted that this would be a test for Ava to see if she would be able to face a Mordom with her new weapons knowing that the rest of the team was not there to back her up.

"Besides," Kate said, "Caprice, Isha and I have our pistols just in case."

The women had no more than rolled out of sight than Stan called Kyle over for a whispered conversation. Kyle nodded his head and then took to the air.

"You are one stubborn woman Katelyn but I am sneaky," Stan said under his breath and chuckled.

They parked the their vehicle half a mile away in the jungle and out of sight. The four women and the robot then continued on foot. When they got there they were alone. Kate put the robot to work carving out pieces of metal to use and then they started to explore. They had just left a ruined building and were headed for another when a fierce roar announced the approach of a Mordom. The female Mordom was slightly surprised when her roar failed to stir these Lanaii into instant flight. She was even more surprised when the four of them stopped and stood their ground.

What are those sticks they have in their hands, she wondered.

Moments later a barb of wood buried itself in her chest followed closely by three more that also stuck in her. She roared again in anger but also pain for the barbs hurt and looking down she saw that she was bleeding from the wounds they had inflicted. The Lanaii were out of spear throwing range but that would soon change as she charged.

Ava felt her knees shaking and she would have run long ago if her friends had not been with her. She almost did anyway but though she was very afraid she would not abandon her friends. Without thinking she notched another arrow and saw that the other women did the same. The Mordom had been at extreme range before but now the beast was charging.

She let fly her arrow as did the others. At the same time the Mordom hurled her spear straight at Ava. Just as she had learned she took in the spears trajectory instantly and twisted to one side. The spear sailed past her within inches but harmlessly. She looked back at the Mordom just in time to see it stumble and fall with four more arrows sticking in it. The fatal one, the one she had shot was buried in the Mordom's throat.

The last thought that passed through the Mordom's mind was, how, how had these Lanaii been able to kill her from afar. With a final gasp she died.

Kate slapped Ava on the back and shouted, "You did it Ava. You killed the beast."

Ava stared at the dead Mordom in disbelief. Her friends had assured her but she had still been very skeptical. "How could these tiny slivers of wood bring a large fierce beast like a Mordom down?" She had asked herself silently. Ava walked closer to the dead Mordom and looked again to be sure it was dead.

When the robot finished gathering metal they returned to the car and made the trip back in jubilation. Kyle shook his head and grinned. When they had passed his hiding spot he sprang into the air flew back over the tree line and landed ahead of their arrival.

"Everything went well I take it," Stan whispered.

"Yes but I will let them tell you the story Stan," he answered and smiling he walked off.

By the time the story had been told the fourth time the Mordom Kate described was twenty feet tall and fierce beyond belief. In silence the robot went to work making a knife, sword and spear for Ava. After the sleep period her training began again with the new weapons. More days passed and while Ava trained with the new weapons. At last Kate was satisfied that Ava would be able to defend herself against any Mordom she met up with.

"Well you have trained me now what? I have heard you talk with each other when you thought I could not hear and I know you plan to move on so what do you think I should do. I may be able to take on Mordom but I am alone. I can't kill them all." Ava said with tears starting to fill her eyes.

"You are right Ava we are going to continue our exploration but not right away. We have more to do here first. You ask what now, what we are going to do now is to recruit and train more Lanaii," Kate answered.

"And just how do you plan on doing that? I might be able to find other Lanaii but I doubt that I could convince them to join me. I am just one woman. I might be able to get some of my relation to join me if I could find them but even that I doubt. Every one will think I am just crazy in the head. If any of you went with me then whatever groups we came across would just scatter and run. They would be just as afraid of you as they are of the Mordom," Ava said with futility filling her voice.

"What if there were two more Lanaii with you from the start?" Caprice asked.

"That might work but you could never disguise yourselves well enough to pass for Lanaii."

"Don't bet on it," Caprice said with a chuckle. She grabbed Ava by the hand, winked at the rest of the team and motioned Isha to go with them. She pulled Ava inside the tent/cabin and stood facing her.

"Ok strip completely Ava," she requested.

"Ah ... well ... ok Caprice I want to have sex with you too but I think this is hardly the time..." Ava stammered and then Caprice interrupted her.

Caprice and Isha chuckled then Caprice said, "Why thank you Ava I find you attractive too and would like to share your body too but that is not what this is about."

Ava said nothing but with a questioning look in her eyes began to comply. She stripped her top, loincloth and boots off to and stood naked before the two Zaflan women. They both stripped too.

"Now what?" She finally managed to say.

"Now you just stand there and watch," Isha spoke for the first time and smiled.

Ava stood there and then her eyes began to grow wider as she watched the bodies of Caprice and Isha begin to melt and flow then they started to reform. When they started to solidify again her amazed look tinged with just a touch of fear became even greater. Gone were the familiar looks of the two women that were her friends. As she gazed from head to toe it was like looking at her own reflection in a still pool of water. It was like looking at identical twin sisters. Every detail was exactly the same. Her hair, eyelashes and eyebrows exactly the same length and shape on them. Her breasts tipped with her dark red nipples and areolas, the dark curly red hair that covered her womanhood and even the spots which the Zaflan called freckles were in the exact same locations.

"How ... who ... are you... ," she stammered.

Two pairs of light green eyes with amber pupils just like her own stared back at her. "I am still Caprice and she is still Isha if that is what you are trying to get out," Caprice said.

"It is an ability that we possess," Isha chimed in.

"Do all the Zaflan have this ability?" Ava asked still amazed.

"No just the two of us have this ability. Some of the others have different powers though," she added.

"Now," Caprice continued, "We need you to suggest subtle differences because the three of us can't go out searching for Lanaii looking exactly the same."

Ava watched in fascination as Caprice and Isha's bodies shifted and flowed then reformed to duplicate the changes she described. When she was done the two women definitely looked like Lanaii but they were no longer exact copies of her.

"You can get dressed again now Ava. I will however take you up on that offer of sex you made though at a different time than now." Caprice said with a wink.

"The only thing we need now is Lanaii clothes but I think the robot can make some. They won't be made of hide but I'm sure they will look the same and only close inspection will reveal the difference." Isha said.

Two Zaflan women and one Lanaii woman had entered the tent, three Lanaii women exited. They went over to the robot and it examined Ava's clothes. An hour later it handed copies to both Caprice and Isha. They put them on completing the transformation.

"Well are we ready to start our recruitment efforts?" Caprice asked cheerfully. Both of her companions' nodded assent and the three women faded into the jungle.

Both Caprice and Isha had receiver/transmitters deep in their left ear's that would permit them constant contact with the rest of the team. The three women had not been moving through the jungle for more than an hour when they encountered a Mordom. Over confidence in his strength and abilities was his quick undoing. They removed their arrows and left the dead body for the scavengers.

At last they came across a group of twenty-four Lanaii. They gathered around the three armed women as Ava started her recruitment speech. Only three, two men and one woman agreed to join them. As they headed back to the camp with their new recruits Caprice whispered her disappointment at only convincing three but Ava was almost ecstatic to have gotten three. She reminded Caprice that they were attempting to change the Lanaii way of life and it would take time. They ran into more Mordom when they went out again, a lone male and then a male and female. All three were dispatched quickly. They encountered another group of Lanaii and were able to convince four to join them this time.

On their third trip they stumbled on eight Lanaii that were being menaced by three Mordoms. The Lanaii were trapped against an impenetrable wall of bushes and vines as the Mordom spread apart so that none could escape. The three women acted quickly. A hail of arrows dropped the first Mordom before he even realized they were there. The other two whirled to face this new menace with their helpless prey forgotten.

The eight Lanaii stood frozen in open jawed astonishment as they watched the three Lanaii women attack the two Mordom. The second male fell with more arrows sprouting from him and multiple stab wounds from spear thrusts made by Caprice and Isha. The last Mordom a female faced Ava. Ava's quiver of arrows was empty and she had stabbed the Mordom in the leg with her spear causing a wound to one of its four legs but not hampering it much. The Mordom pulled the spear free and then drawn her knife to kill this puny Lanaii that had dared to cause her pain.