(… continuing)

Later that afternoon, Marr, Dukk, Luna and Annee were jogging through the vineyards beyond the walls of the citadel.
Mentor had come good on his promise. He had secured four day passes that permitted them to go beyond the walls for the afternoon.
They had completed their duties at the rig, cleared the ID gateway and got a lift via one of the regular shuttles.
The quadcopter had delivered them to a day compound where they had changed into running clothes. They would be able to make use of the showers at the compound before returning to the citadel.

Dukk’s plans to interrogate Marr and Luna had been put aside for the time being.
The experience of exploring the lush grounds was just too good.
He was very much enjoying the exertion and even more so, seeing Marr move so effortlessly through the rows of vegetation.

Marr was leading the group. She was in her element. The time away from the orchards and fields helped cement her love for it.
She was maintaining a steady pace but had also taken regular breaks to check-in with the others or point something out.
Her next stopping point was the half way mark. It was a small enclosed shelter in the middle of a dense cluster of trees. The shelter would offer a moment to regroup before returning. It would be cool inside and she knew it had a fresh water spring. She was looking forward to the soft and sweet taste of the unprocessed water.
She stopped outside and waited for the others to join her before going in.

It was dark inside the shelter. The only light came from a small window in the back. As their eyes adjusted to the reduced light, a familiar voice greeted them.
“Sit, please.”
Marr immediately enabled her bracelet. The others followed.
“Teacher,” blurted Luna.
The old woman smiled and gestured for them to join her. She was sitting on a stool. There were four other stools. Positioned in a circle.
They obeyed.
In the middle of the circle was a stone mound. A fountain. Water bubbled up in the centre of the fountain and filled a small basin in its top. Excess water flowed out of the basin, down the stone mound and into a small drain in the floor.
The old woman filled a cup from the basin and offered it to Annee.
Annee took the cup and took a sip. The woman gestured to Annee to finish it. Annee did that and passed the cup back.
The woman repeated the process with Dukk, Luna and finally Marr.

With the cup back in the basin, the old woman turned her gaze to Annee. “Welcome, Annee.”
“You know my name?” Annee replied.
“Of course, Teacher knows much. You have come far.”
Before Annee could respond, the old woman turned her gaze to Dukk. She lingered on Dukk, then spoke. “Welcome, Dukk. You have come home at last.”
“Thank you, I think.” Dukk said hesitantly. He was even more bemused than Annee.
The old woman then turned to Luna. “Luna, what occurs to you at this moment in your journey?”
Luna stared back. She was still unsure how to answer that question.
Teacher smiled, then turned her gaze to Marr.
“Hello Teacher, it is an honour to see you here,” Marr said before the old woman could say anything.
The old woman laughed. “I approve, Marr. Good choice. Thank you for bringing him here to meet me.”
Teacher then looked at Dukk and back to Marr. “It is time. Share your toil.”
“What the!” Marr said in surprise.
The old woman closed her eyes and lowered her head. She chuckled five times, took a deep inhale and then started to snore.
Marr looked over at Dukk. He was looking at her. They both blushed.
Annee laughed and looked around at the others.
Luna smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Time to go,” she said.

Once outside, Annee turned to them and said, “Who in the world was that?”
“A nosy and crazy old story teller,” Luna offered.
“Great entertainment value,” Annee laughed.
“Did you know she would be here?” Dukk asked, looking at Marr.
“Nope,” Marr answered. “I am surprised about her presence too.”
Dukk looked harder at Marr. It felt authentic, which made the whole experience even more confusing. Then it hit him. He laughed out loud. Perhaps it was what he needed after all. He had learnt something, something even more valuable than getting the inside track on Mentor. The dreams. The toil climbing the mountain. It was connected. Now he knew what he needed to do.
“Are you ok? Has she rubbed off on you?” Annee asked, having observed Dukk’s sudden change in demeanour.
“Yep,” Dukk answered confidently. “We'd better get moving. We have dinner plans.”

Later that evening, Marr and Dukk were walking towards The Triggerarti.
After the adventure in the wild, they had cleaned up and made ready for their dinner booking. Marr and Dukk were ready before the others so they headed off.
As they passed down a narrow street, the lights went out.
A door could be heard opening near them.
“Not again,” Dukk thought to himself.
“In there,” A voice said behind them as they were shoved forward.
They stumbled into a large, dimly lit room.
Two hooded figures stood before them. Dukk chanced a glance behind him. Two further hooded figures stood in a wide doorway. The ones that had shoved them. Dukk sensed the space was a garage of sorts.
Dukk could now see something sharp in the attackers hands. The attackers rushed towards them.
Dukk felt Marr move and decided to go with it.
Marr ducked and sent her fist into the kidney of one of the hooded figures. Dukk sensed her movement and did the same. Both of the hooded figures squealed. As his attacker started to turn, Dukk slammed his boot into the attacker’s knee. Pop. The attacker went down head first. Thud. No movement.
Unfortunately, in responding to the frontal attack, Dukk had lost sight of those behind. A fist collected him in the side of the face. He staggered. He glanced around. Marr looked to have had a similar experience. They looked at each other and nodded. They both swung around, back to back facing the remaining two attackers, who were now on either side of them.
Dukk looked up at the attacker in front of him. A woman. She was tall and strong looking. She looked at him and smiled. A smile that showed awareness that her punch had connected. Then suddenly the smile changed to shock. The woman was looking behind him. Dukk didn’t hesitate. He charged, ducking as he did. He collected her in her mid section and flipped her up. He pivoted so that as she landed he could drive his boot into the side of her head. She went out cold.
Dukk regained his balance and glanced back at Marr. She was looking at him. She was grinning.
“You finished?” Marr said laughing.

Behind Marr were Luna and Bognath. Luna was rubbing her forehead. The forth attacker was sprawled face down on the ground in front of Luna. Bognath was smiling with his pointer over his lips. He then gestured towards their bracelets. They all activated them.

“What the hell guys? We leave you for a moment and you find more trouble!” Luna said.
“Who are they?” Marr asked as she looked at the pile of bodies.
“Thumpol’s thugs,” Bognath answered. “I heard they’ve been hanging around for the last few days. Waiting for you to return. Plenty of influence it would appear. We’d better get out of here and away from this street before the lights come back on.”
“Just as well we showed up,” Luna said.
“What! We had it covered,” Marr laughed.

Bognath led the way back onto the street. Dukk closed the doors behind them.

(to be continued...)

[Rule of Twelve, Double Take, Chapter 23 - Pivoting (Passage 4 of 5)]

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