The Eleventh Scroll (Chronicles of a Magi) Read online

“We’ll start there.”

  * * *

  Naomi was dressed as a man. She was wearing a white, embroidered, traditional Ethiopian cotton tunic top, white cotton trousers, a white kufi cap and a bedroll across her back that contained the stolen sword. She laid the bedroll on a wicker table outside of the restaurant and sat down to wait to be served.

  Two men similarly dressed but without any embroidery work or bedroll, approached and rested the butts of their AK-47s on the chair across from her.

  The tallest one said, “You are a fighter, you will join us.”

  “I do not know you or your cause.”

  “We fight the imperialist dogs.”

  “How do you do this?”

  “We attack their ships.”

  “You are Somali?”

  “We are.”

  “I will not join you.”

  In a flash, she drew her sword and sliced through the middle of their weapons. The bottom parts fell to the ground. She brandished the blade near their faces.

  “You are next,” she said.

  The men’s faces showed surprise, then fear. They ran away.

  Naomi replaced the sword in the bedroll, got up and walked away.

  * * *

  Samantha, having been to Addis Ababa before, remanifested the team to a mountaintop overlooking the city. It was a huge metropolis with many high-rise buildings and wide streets.

  Mark brought to the front of his mind the image of Naomi and Pei-Pei. “This is who we’re looking for. Spread out and report back here in an hour or so, or as soon as you find either of them. LeOmi and I will take the first watch.”

  Samantha said, “I’ll stay too.”

  He said, “I think we’re pretty safe here. Everyone can get back quickly if anything happens.”

  “Not an option. We’re sworn to protect you. One of us has to stay behind.”

  He nodded, “Okay, get to it.”

  Everyone except him, LeOmi and Samantha sat and entered Spirit Sight.

  After a moment, he said, “Samantha, I need to talk with LeOmi. Will you do a perimeter check about a hundred yards out?”

  “I won’t listen, I promise.”

  “I’m going to share some thoughts with her and I need you at least fifty yards away.”

  She looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.

  “It’s personal.”

  Samantha smiled, turned and walked off.

  LeOmi said, “What’s this about?”

  “I just want to share some feelings with you. Raphael told me to rethink getting married.”

  “Let me guess, you’re actually considering getting married but still conflicted between me and Chenoa and you’re weighing your options. You love us both and can’t decide because you don’t want to hurt either of us?”

  He looked at his feet. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. How’d you guess?”

  “Chenoa and I talk. We know you love us both and choosing just one is hard. We’re just as committed as you are, so we decided not to pressure you until after Benrah is defeated. We all need to stay focused on that goal. Then it’s no holds barred if we all live through it. From what I’ve seen, I’m pretty sure I’ll win.” She grinned, “Salina has been giving me pointers on how to be a good kisser. Chenoa won’t stand a chance.”

  He chuckled, whistled and motioned for Samantha to return. “I don’t know; Chenoa is already a pretty good kisser.” He grinned, “Maybe I’ll need to hold a competition.”

  She pushed him back then tackled him. They landed face to face and she made as if she was going to kiss him. Before their lips touched, she rolled away and stood, laughing. “You’re just too easy.”

  * * *

  Naomi walked into a large restaurant.

  The hostess seated her on the mezzanine level and asked, “Do you prefer coffee or tea?”

  She placed her bedroll on the seat beside her and answered, “Coffee.”

  The hostess held up two fingers and almost immediately a waiter was there with a steaming pot of coffee and a small plate of dainty cookies. After the coffee was poured, she handed her a menu, turned and left.

  After her second sip, she saw the two that had accosted her earlier come up the stairs. They were rearmed with pistols in their waistbands. About twenty other men, all armed with various firearms, some with machetes at their side, followed them up.

  The other patrons on this level got up and fled.

  Naomi took another sip of coffee while she placed her other hand on the handle of the sword.

  The closest man, the one that had spoken to her before, pulled the pistol from his waistband and moved to point it at her.

  Her sword flashed and the man’s hand fell to the floor. She took another sip of coffee and said, “I’m trying to eat here.”

  As the one handed man began screaming, the others brought their weapons to bear.

  She leapt up placing one foot on her chair, the other on the table and continued up into the air. She descended slower than a normal person would have and touched down on the half-wall surrounding the outside of the mezzanine.

  Her assailants just stared openmouthed. The screaming man shouted, “Shoot him!”

  She moved behind a wooden support column just as the shots rang out. Splinters and chips sprayed on either side of her. She levitated higher, unseen by her attackers, to the ceiling fifteen feet above. They continued firing until some ran out of ammo.

  She moved around the pole above their heads, still unseen. She pushed off and landed in the midst of them. Her sword moved as a blur and eight hands fell to the floor. That was as many as she could reach, so she leapt up and returned behind the column.

  By the time her attackers moved to the half-wall, she had already moved down and was just touching down on the first floor. She stepped under the mezzanine just as they opened fire again.

  The gunfire stopped and a few jumped down in pursuit of her. They were easy enough to dispatch as they hit the floor and crumpled down.

  The rest were coming down the stairs, so she leapt back up. The ones with the severed hands were rolling on the floor, holding their stumps and moaning loudly. She went to her seat and resumed sipping her coffee.

  The ones that had gone down the stairs started coming back up. When the first one was in view, she said, “Do you really want to do this?”

  He scowled and stuttered, twice, “Ple, ple, please,” which sounded an awful lot like ‘Pei-Pei, please.’

  She leapt up again, went over the side of the half-wall and moved along the outside of it, unseen.

  When he looked over, she shoved her sword under his chin and out the top of his skull. The remaining eight began fleeing.

  She looked around and not seeing Pei-Pei, she returned to her coffee, finished it, grabbed some cookies, grabbed her bedroll and started walking out, dripping blood from her clothes as she went. At the foyer, she asked the hostess, “How much do I owe you?”

  The girl held her hands up and ran into the dining area, calling, “It is free. It is free.”

  * * *

  Everyone returned to the mountaintop on schedule and reported they hadn’t found her.

  Ricky said, “There was a pretty good sword fight though. Some Somalis tried to kidnap a guy in a restaurant. Twenty-to-one: The police report he killed four, wounded nine and the rest ran away. They all had guns too. It looks like Ms. Vanmie was right; swords are better than guns.”

  Mark asked, “Did you get a look at this guy?”

  “I wasn’t there when it happened. I was curious about all the police cars screaming to one place, so I checked it out. The description they got was a small man dressed in traditional southern Ethiopian clothes, all white when he came in, all red when he left. He was carrying a bedroll too.”

  LeOmi said, “She’s going to have to change her clothes.”

  Ricky said, “What, you think that was her?”

  Mark said, “Option A: Magi, Option B: Neo-Phylum, option C: Naomi or Pei-Pei. What do
you think?”

  “I didn’t think of it like that.”

  Mark said to everyone there, “Rooftops and balconies: check for blood or bloody clothes.”

  Everyone except the major sat down. “It’s my turn to stand guard.”

  A couple of hours later, LeOmi started checking the Hotel Intercontinental Addis. She found bloody footprints leading to a top floor balcony door. It had blood on the handle.

  She went back to her body and nudged Mark. A moment later, he opened his eyes. “Did you find something?”

  She pointed into the distance. “I think she’s in that hotel over there.”

  She held her hand out and he took it. They remanifested.

  The bloody tracks led straight to the bathroom. The blood soaked clothes were piled in the back corner of the shower. Naomi had already changed and gone.

  Mark asked, “Do you think she flew away or walked out?”

  “Best guess, figs in a basket. She’s trying to blend in.”

  He sat down and said, “Maybe she’s still in the building. Let’s find out.”

  LeOmi sat and grabbed his arm. They went through every hall on every floor and finally found her in the lobby walking toward the door. She was dressed as a female now, wearing a yellow tunic and jeans. She was still carrying the bedroll.

  Mark said, “I will follow her. You get back and remanifest down to intercept her.”

  LeOmi said, “I think she’s going to need to be taught a lesson. Would you hold my staff for me?”

  Mark smiled and grabbed her staff from the carrying case on her back. “Don’t bloody her to bad, we need her alive.”

  She chucked, “I’ll do my best.” She turned and left.

  He turned back to watch Naomi and saw her just about to put her hand on one of the double doors. He swept up and shattered the glass with his sword.

  Everyone in the lobby turned to look. Naomi stood still, startled. One of the hotel staff, a large man in a maroon blazer, trotted up. “Are you okay ma’am?”

  Naomi turned slowly to face him. “I do not know what happened.”

  “The door is no matter. The concern is you, are you okay?”

  Mark saw LeOmi walk up on the sidewalk behind the few people that were looking at what had happened. Behind her, as she was approaching the door, two police cars rolled up and stopped in the loading area in front of the entrance.

  They exited hurriedly and walked in behind LeOmi.

  One of the cops asked the man in the maroon jacket, “Which room?” probably wanting to know where the bloody clothes were found.

  Naomi glanced to see who had spoken. When she saw the officers, her sword was out.

  The cops started to draw their weapons and from behind them, LeOmi said, “I wouldn’t advise that; you saw what she did in the restaurant.” She produced her sword. “Stand aside and I’ll disarm her for you.”

  The cops looked back at LeOmi, then back at Naomi, then back at LeOmi. The cop that had spoken before asked, “You can do this?”

  “Naomi is no match for me and she knows it.” She spoke to Naomi, “Surrender now and you won’t get hurt.”

  “Why should I surrender? I did nothing wrong. I just defended myself.”

  “This is true,” said the cop. “None-the-less, you must submit for official questions.”

  “I will not!” Naomi jabbed at LeOmi.

  LeOmi parried the thrust easily.

  The officers drew their guns and aimed at Naomi.

  LeOmi spoke while continuing to parry Naomi’s blade. “No need to shoot her. Give me a few minutes and I’ll have her sword. She’s not dangerous unless she’s attacked. Lower your weapons or you’ll lose your hands or something else you’d like to keep attached. You know what she did in the restaurant.”

  They looked at each other and lowered their weapons.

  Naomi continued attacking. LeOmi kept parrying, letting Naomi wear herself out.

  “I’m the second best sword fighter in the world. Only my teacher is better. You cannot win. Surrender your sword.”

  Naomi kept attacking.

  LeOmi’s tactic was working; Naomi was obviously growing tired.

  LeOmi decided to tire her a little quicker. She quit just parrying and began parrying and striking with the flat of her blade as well.

  Fear came to Naomi’s face, yet she kept attacking. It didn’t look like she was inclined to surrender.

  LeOmi began double strikes with the flat of the blade after each parry.

  Naomi began trembling.

  Was this a reaction to fear or fatigue? She decided to find out and pressed an attack in which Naomi was only able to block every third or fourth blow while steadily retreating.

  When Naomi had finally backed into the wall, LeOmi had her blade at her neck. “You will surrender.”

  Naomi’s eyes were wide and wet. Her hand was shaking badly. After a moment, her blade lowered and she offered the handle to LeOmi.

  LeOmi started to take it. Suddenly, the blade slashed up, cutting LeOmi across the chest.

  Naomi bolted toward the door and before anyone could react, she levitated away.

  Mark’s spirit followed her.

  Naomi flew to the top branches of a eucalyptus tree in a public park about a mile away. She perched inches from the trunk on a branch barely large enough to carry her weight. It bent precariously. The tree was very tall, maybe a hundred and fifty feet. The leaves below obscured anyone from seeing her at ground level. She was sweating and breathing hard.

  The branched snapped and she managed to grab another limb before falling.

  A nearby dog obviously realized something unusual was going on. It sprinted to the tree and began barking while looking up and constantly changing position to get a glimpse of whatever it was.

  A moment later, a man jogged over and looked up the tree. “What have you found?”

  She levitated to the top of the tree, looked around and moved toward a high-rise building. She landed, went to the shade side of an air conditioning unit and plopped down to rest.

  When it was obvious that she was going to take a nap, Mark went back to his body and remanifested to the top of the building. He sat down beside her and nudged her gently with his elbow.

  She didn’t stir, so he did it a little harder and said softly, “Naomi.”

  She still didn’t stir.

  He shouted, “Naomi!”

  She startled awake, looked at him, bounded up, ran to the edge of the roof and leapt off. She levitated off toward the mountain they were using as a base of operations.

  He followed her with Spirit Sight to where she landed in another tree outside of the city. She perched in a clump of leaves on the outside of the tree about midway down. The branch sagged with her weight and the leaves gave her good cover all around.

  He remanifested onto the branch beside where she sat and it bent so much he thought it might break. He jumped off and landed on the next lower branch. When he left the branch she was on, it sprang back like a catapult and flung her about ten feet up. She didn’t fall. She paused a moment in midair then levitated off toward the mountain.

  He remanifested back to the mountain where his team was. LeOmi was standing among them. “Hide, Naomi is headed this way.” He pointed to a tiny dot in the sky. “I want her to think it’s just us two after her.” He motioned between himself and LeOmi.

  LeOmi took her binoculars out and looked at the speck in the sky. “You know I can’t levitate yet, right?”

  “I don’t expect you to. She’s extremely tired and really wants to rest. She’s looking for a spot to do just that. Just watch for where we land and get everyone to remanifest and surround us. Stay hidden unless I put my hands on my head.”

  “Got it.”

  He remanifested in the air behind Naomi, began levitating and said, “You do know you can’t get away from me, right?”

  His voice startled her and she looked around. “Leave me alone!” At the same time, she descended.


  He followed her down. “I just want to talk and I know you’re tired. I promise I won’t attack you unless you attack me. I’ll leave you alone after we talk. Land on that mountain.”

  “I cannot make it that far.”

  He extended his arm. “Grab my hand and I’ll take you there.”

  She grabbed his hand and they remanifested.

  “So talk.” She sat with her legs folded under her.

  He sat in front of her. “Pei-Pei taught you from a scroll. I need to see it. Can you take me to it?”

  “She hid it. I do not know where it is.”

  “Do you know if she taught you everything in the scroll?”

  “She did not understand everything. I read it and understood more than she did.”

  “So you don’t understand everything in it?”

  “There were many things I did not understand. Most of the diagrams made no sense.”

  He nodded. “Thank you for talking to me.” He put his hands on top of his head. “If you’d like to sleep now, you’re safe here.” He motioned around at his team emerging from their hiding places. “We’ll look after you.”

  Instantly her sword was out and she was on her feet.

  “Wait, there’s no need for that. You’re safe here.” He pointed, “You know my guards; they are no threat to you unless you attack me. The rest are my captains and assistants.” He pointed again, “That there is my mother and father.” He patted the ground in front of him. “Please sit. I want to show you something.”

  She hesitated, looking around at the people slowly moving toward them, none of which seemed threatening. She sat back down and kept the sword in her hand.

  He held his hand out, “May I touch your head?”

  She looked at him for a long moment before nodding.

  He placed his hand on her forehead and began showing her life at The Seventh Mountain. He removed his hand and her head bobbed forward. She was asleep sitting right where she was.

  He stood and said, “I want LeOmi to stay. Everyone else can go back to the mountain.”

  Nick said, “I’ll see what I can salvage of the servers. Where do you want to meet?”

  “Jamal’s Kitchen will be the best place until we can get setup someplace else.”