Facing the Enemy

"So, she was angry at Tala because she wanted to beat Tyson herself?" Adrian asked. The red-head raised his eyebrows. "So you were right, Riley, something was not okay."

I, too, remembered that day after the world finals I had mused about the young Dragon bladers. Taylor looked so much like Tyson, how could anyone who knew the two of them not wonder? I guessed that Tala was well aware of Taylor and Tysons relation, and he, too, knew why Taylor hated her cousin so much. I didn't yet fully understand what happened between them. However, I had always felt that Taylor was different from us, the other abbey kids, and now I knew that I was right. "She's too confident to be one of the others," I told Adrian.

My friend nodded, stretching his limbs. Adrian yawned and sank back into his pillow. "I just wonder why Boris doesn't tell anyone that he raised the world champion first. It would suit him better."

"I know what you mean," I admitted, "and I already wondered, too. Bryan said I should stop asking, but I just have to."

"I understand you," Adrian admitted. "And I promise I'll help you. I won't let you down this time." He smiled shyly and I smiled back.

However, a part of me also felt bad. I didn't want to talk about discovery about the boys I had thought of as my brothers. I felt ashamed and didn't want anyone – not even my best friend in the world – to know. I hadn't told him, and I didn't plan to do it anytime soon.

"And we have to help Lilly," Adrian went on.

I nodded and mused about the possibilites we had – and realized we had none, except for hoping that Taylor would do anything. Hoping that Taylor knew what she did... "Do you think Boris would kill her."

"Lilly?" Adrian raised his eyebrows, he sounded shocked and sat up again.

"No," I shook my head, "Taylor. Would he harm her? I mean, if he knows that she's working on a plan to bring him down. What she does is dangerous, and she might get herself killed. She might get everyone killed who's involved. I mean, I'm sure Tala, Bryan and my bro-" I stumbled, not really knowing what I should call Mikael now, but Adrian wasn't supposed to know, "brother are helping her. And I did, too." Feeling tired myself, I lay down on the bedcover next to Adrian. Feeling his body beside me made me feel comfortable and for a while, I didn't feel totally alone. As I closed my eyes, I heard him yawn again and had to yawn, too, before I drifted off to sleep. Even now, I had to fight to keep myself from thinking about Mikael, Fritz and Ethiopis.

The first thing I realized when I woke up again was that a blanket was tucked around me. My sport shoes had been put off my feet, and I felt warm and cozy. Adrian was lying beside me, I could hear him breath. The room around me was dark, but from the noises, I could tell that there had to be two or three other people sleeping as well. Even though I hadn't felt that safe in a very long time, and I felt warm, I couldn't go back to sleep. Too many things were already eating at me – things I couldn't name, but I felt them in the pit of my stomach.

Eventually, I climbed out from under the blanket. My shoes were standing next to the bed and I could find them easily in the darkness to put them on again. Carefully, I left the room without a particular destination. The hallways were empty as always at night. Only a few lamps were burning, just enough light to not get lost. I found my way up to the next floor, and walked down another corridor, hoping to be far away from Boris. The silence of the abbey was something that made me muse. I felt sick, and I wanted to be far away. I wanted my life to end, I wanted to wake up from that nightmare. I wanted to be farer away than ever... My pace was faster than I intended to, and I walked faster and faster by the minute without being able to help it.

Suddenly, as I walked around a corner, I heard voices and saw light floading into the darker corridor from under a door.

"...can do it." That was Taylor.

"I don't understand you." The other one was Mikael.

Curiously, I sneaked to the door and listened to what they were talking about.

"You don't need to understand me," Taylor stated in a neutral tone.

Mikael chuckled. "So, Bryan is right then? The only one who really understands you is yourself, Taylor." He seemed to find this amusing.

"You don't even know me half as long as Bryan and Tala do, so why are you surprised?" Taylor, however, was definitively not amused.

"Maybe because I love you," Mikael laughed, "and of course, you love me."

"I sure do," Taylor said, but I didn't really think she sounded as if she meant it. However, I didn't know anything about love and relationships anyway.

"So, you want to tell me more about that interesting cousin of yours?"

"No, I don't want to, but if you shut up, I will anyway. He's just my stupid little cousin, a weak coward who accidently became world champion."

"I thought he was older than you."

"Only by two weeks. Anyway, that doesn't matter. He's weak – nearly died as a child, and I still don't understand why Tala, that idiot, couldn't kick his butt during the championship. If Boris had let me do it, I would have beat him before he would have got the chance to realize what had hit him. Boris won't get anywhere if he doesn't change his tactics and forgets about his old Russian way. Doesn't he see that he's about to destroy himself?"

"Obviously, he doesn't. But if we do what Bryan said, he eventually won't matter. As soon as he loses Voltaire's protection, you can show the world what kind of criminal he is and everyone will be happily ever after."

"You sound as if that bores you."

"Well, it does a little bit, but I try to think of the things we will do after we saved the world. Ow!" Taylor seemed to have hit him. "What was that for?"

"For being you."

"Come on, I'm the one you fell for like a bee would have fallen for honey, sweetheart. You can't deny I'm charming, babe"

"Yeah, I obviously have a hard time keeping myself from raping you." Taylor sounded really annoyed by now. "Anyway, that has to wait until we have saved Boris' butt."

"So, you changed your mind? What about all the advice your precious Bryan gave you?"

"He doesn't really expect me to not change my plans and to listen to him." Taylor sighed. "Look, he really does believe in happily ever after – I don't know why, I've always thought of him as intelligent and rational and realistic, but obviously, he's just a dreamer. N.M.P."

"N.M.P.?"

"Not my problem. Anyway, I won't destroy Boris, I will help him to get along with Voltaire again, and then I'll get the chance to be world champion next year. That's the way it was meant to be. We're just going through a slight crisis. Boris has to see that he needs Voltaire and me, not Anastacia and her whinning little cousin. His plans are the hell dumb!"

"So, you've collected all that information against Boris just to drop your plans now?"

"Well, that will be plan B, but I won't need it. I just like to be informed. And I will need the informations to send Anastacia back to the desert or to wherever she came from this time."

"You don't really plan to stay here for the rest of your life with Boris, do you? I mean, you're closer to him than anyone else, yeah, but..."

"What?"

Suddenly, Mikael's voice changed and he sounded soft and understand. "You're so much more, Taylor. There's much more in you, and from all of us, you are the one who has the chance to be free. He's your cousin. He's your family."

"He's not! These people are not my family! My family's dead! Please, Mikael, don't talk as if you know me. Don't pretend you understand me. I've wanted to be happy elsewhere, I wanted to be somewhere else to be free, but I've learned that this is my place, my home, my family. I can't change what I'm destined to be. Tyson and his people are not longer a part of my life, they never were, and it's all right that way. It's all right for me, and it's none of your business."

"Okay, okay..." Mikael sighed. "I just wanted to make sure you know what you do."

I walked past the door, not really caring what they had talked about. Maybe I was angry at Taylor for not doing what she had promised me. Maybe, however, it was for good. That way of life may have been my destiny as well, who knew... I don't know how I slipped back into the bed next to Adrian. Somehow, I fell asleep again, determined to die as soon as possible.

Taylor's plans were never to be carried out. The next morning, I woke up when someone was shaking me violently. I tried to fight the hand off that was shaking me, but then I realized it was Bryan, and he looked really... desperate.

"Get up, quickly. Both of you!"

Adrian, who was sitting beside me on the bed, rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. He, too, didn't understand what was up, and the expression on Bryan's face and the sound in the older boy's voice didn't seem to trouble him too much. Maybe he was just too sleepy still...

"Come on, Riley, get up!" He offered me his hand and I took it as I climbed out of my bed.

"What's up?" I mumbled sleepily as I got into my trainers.

"We need to go to Taylor. Voltaire will be here in a few hours and she's going to reveal everything." In between his worries, he smiled – he smiled really happily, like I had never seen him before.

"She's not going to do it, Bryan," I told him quickly, remembering what I had overheard the night before. "She told Mikael, she won't do it. She'll force them to work together, but she won't abandon Boris."

"When did she say that?" Bryan snapped, and his hand that was holding mine began to shake.

"Last night." I stood beside him, looking up at his troubled face.

"Damn it, Taylor," he muttered under his breath and turned towards me. However, I guess he had expected her to change her mind, since he just said to me: "Okay, then we'll change our plans as well. Come on."

Adrian, too, had put on his shoes, and followed us as Bryan dragged me out of the room. The other two boys were still half asleep and just about to wake up. I had to run to be as fast as Bryan, and he didn't slow down when I asked him to.

We hadn't even reached the stairs when Taylor found us. She came running down the stairs just as we had wanted to go down the other one, and shouted: "Adrian, you're coming with me!"

"Taylor, you..." Bryan wanted to shout at her, but she didn't even look at him.

"Come on, kid, we don't have all day!" She grabbed Adrian by his shoulder, who was too scared and too confused to protest.

"Taylor, we planned this together – we carried this out together! You can't change everything on your own! Do you listen to me? TAYLOR, damn it!"

"I can hear you, Bryan, there's no reason to shout. I'll do what I think is best!"

"Do what you think you have to, but leave Adrian alone. The kids have nothing to do with it, they're too small. I told Boris, but he wouldn't be reasonable... However, I know you're not like him, you understand, so just..."

"Just shut up." She sighed and smiled down sweetly at Adrian – really sweetly – and that moment, she looked extraordinary charming, and nice, and pretty. "Adrian, do you want to meet your brother? I'll bring you to him if you come with me now, I promise."

"Really?" he replied shyly, not really sure if he could believe her or not. "I've got a brother?"

"Yeah, and he looks exactly like you, and I know he will be as happy to see you as you'll be." She offered him his hand, and he took it while he still looked at Bryan and me as if he was searching for help.

"Taylor, you don't really think you can persuade Yuri that way?"

She didn't answer, and just walked past us, Adrian following her. Bryan froze, but didn't say anything. I told him I didn't want to leave Adrian alone, but he just shook his head.

"Riley, look, this is all going to be a disaster!" However, he let me drag him down the stairs, and eventually followed Taylor with me. "Taylor, if you just listen to me for a second... If you just think about it again, you will realize what you're doing... what you're doing to not only all of us, but to yourself, too. That's something you can't control."

"You're wrong, I can."

"Don't be childish, Taylor, please!"

She stopped and turned around to face him. "I'm not childish!"

"Look, what about this: We'll search for everyone and talk about it all together – we'll deicde it as a group, since we've been doing everything concerning this as a group. That would be fair. For all of us."

"We don't have time! Look, I need Tala, and I need you, but I need you now – without endless talking." She made her way down the corridor, but suddenly, Adrian managed to shake her off. (In some way, that was the bravest thing he had done so far.)

"I don't want to go! What's going on?" He sounded as if he was about to cry any minute.

Taylor, however, was determined to keep him on her side, so she explained to him in a very soft and motherly tone: "I know this is all very confusing for you, sweetheart." She caressed his cheeks with her long, thin fingers and smiled. "You're so small, you're just a child. But I promise we're here to look out for you. And your brother has been waiting for you for such a long time… Oh, you will break his heart if you don't come and meet him now."

"TAYLOR!" Bryan and I shouted simultaneous.

Rolling his eyes, the teen girl look at us: "Great, Bryan, you raised that little brat to be a mini-you! Hell, one of your kind was enough, really! There was no need for another one!"

"That's not the least bit funny, Taylor! We have suffered here – all of us have. We have been hit and abused here. We've been kept away from our families and denied everything that makes us human: our freedom, our free will! They've treated us like animals, beat us and took everything away from us and tormented us just for their pleasure! They did it to us what they're doing to those kids now. And just as we, Riley, Adrian and the others can't defend themselves, since they think they don't deserve anything else. They think that's what life's supposed to be for them, they don't know they have so many other chances! And I think that's what you still do, too: You think you're nothing but what Boris made you. You're too blind to see that you're no his creature – without you, he's nothing, but without him, you're still a wonderful, talented, beautiful person, you can turn into whatever you want!

I know you're scared to move on; you're afraid of the change. I was, too, and I still am. But you're not alone, Taylor. Tala and I, we'll always be there for you. We'll always be there to stand by your side. Through thick and thin. We're friends forever, remember? And as friends, we'll end this. We worked so hard for it. We've suffered in silence and only survived because we knew that this day would come. All we now need is just s a little more courage to end it. We've been so brave through the years. We've handled so many things. And we can do that, too. Taylor, please."

That's exactly what Bryan said, I swear. And up to this day, I haven't forgotten a word of it. I have neither forgotten a single one of his words, nor the look in his eyes: how they sparkled as tears gathered in them.

"Oh Bryan…" Taylor looked at him, and she didn't know what to reply. I think, she, too, was close to tears, but she was Taylor, she would never allow herself to cry in front of anyone else. "I... I..."

Adrian, sweet Adrian, felt so sorry for her that he hugged her. Taylor just looked at Bryan like a helpless child. I, too, felt sorry for her, since I knew what it felt like to be helpless and confused. That was, after all, what I've been feeling all my life.

"I want... I want to talk to Boris," Taylor said in a shaking voice. "I can't do it just like that, Bryan. I just can't! My coursage is limited."

"Yes, but Boris is not your limit, Taylor."

"Come with me. Please, come with me," she asked, trying to controll herself.

Bryan nodded and looked down at me. "We will stand this through together, okay, Riley? Come on."

The four of us walked through the empty hallways in silence. Taylor carried a look of determination on her face. My stomach dropped as we eventually reached the door to Boris' office. Taylor opened it without knocking.

"Gaspadin?" she said before I had entered the room.

Boris, Mikael and Anastacia were sitting in his office, and they looked surprised when they saw Taylor coming to them freely like that. The raven haired teenager looked unflappable again. The expression on her face was blank and for a moment, she looked as young as she really was.

"Taylor, what are you here for?" Boris asked coldly. I had never heard him talking to Taylor like that – as if she disgusted him.

She glared at Mikael for a moment, but he just looked away. Anastacia smiled satisfiedly. Within the fracture of a second, Taylor grew in front of our very eyes, she back straightened and she looked like a lioness ready to strike. There was no fear in her eyes, no confusion. She was prepared to fight for herself – she had done so all her life, since there had been no one else to fight for her. All the while, she had been holding Adrian's hand, but now, she let it go and Adrian grabbed for Bryan's free hand instead.

"Oh gosh...," Bryan mumbled under his breath.

"I guess he told you what I have been doing." She nooded towards Mikael.

Much to my surprise, my former brother's face went red and he couldn't face her. Was he really ashamed?

"You mean that little plot of yours against me?" Boris chuckled. "That was so sweet of you, my little Taylor. Did you really think you could bring me down just like that? Tell me, I thought you were smarter than that. Your actions were dumb, I'm disappointed."

"Your plan is dumb, Boris," she replied calmly. "Voltaire has been trying to improve Russia's situation by modernising every aspect of your people's life, and he wanted us to be a great part of his work. He wanted to us blading for good. He's been seeing things the way they were, and if you hadn't worked against him for years, he would be much more successful already. By trying to destroy Voltaire, however, you're just destroying yourself and you don't even have the brains to see that."

"So, you're saving me from myself, my angel?"

"Yes."

"You don't trust me? I've always done every thing for you, Taylor, every thing. You were like a daughter to me, I loved you. And now, you're doing this to me..."

"Stop it!" Bryan interupted him. "Taylor's her own person, Boris. She can make up her own mind, and she doesn't need you. You only need her. And you never showed her any special affection, you just controlled her. You tried to make her you and never gave her a chance to be herself. Every step she took was another mistake to you."

Anastacia laughed. "She failed, Bryan, because she's not Russian. She doesn't belong to us."

"Taylor belongs more to Tala and me than you ever will in a thousand years!"

"It doesn't, Bryan. Taylor, you're free," Boris declared in a soft tone. "You're free to go wherever you want. I won't keep a traitor in the abbey – I don't want any of you around me!"

Suddenly, a flashlight raced over Taylor's face: her eyes widened in shock and horror. "Where's Tala?" she shouted. Boris just smirked, so she talked directly to Mikael: "Where is he, Mikael? Where is Tala? Tell me!"

"Voltaire will be here in a few hours, and neither I nor those loyal to me will be here then anymore. And you won't either." Boris got up from his seat behind the desk, and as he raised his hand, he pointed a pistol at Bryan. "It's your own fault, kids. I'm afraid this is your own fault. I've always taught you to take responsibility for your actions."

"Don't you dare threatening my friends!" Taylor shouted. "You're disgusting."

Boris didn't mind her. "Adrian, my dear, come here, boy. Now!"

With shaking knees, Adrian obeyed. He walked over to Anastacia and Mikael slowly.

"I'll take this one. I didn't train all those sweet little children for nothing. The rest of you, however, is useless to me. Useless little traitors, all involved in your little plan, Taylor."

I looked at Mikael, and he shook his head very slowly. GO! He silently formed the words with his mouth, but all I could do was keeping my hand clutched around Bryan's.

"Leave the boy alone. He hasn't done anything. He's not Yuri's replacement!" Bryan said.

Suddenly, while Boris was still glancing at Bryan, I saw Taylor moving her arms very quickly. "Let it rip!", she shouted and shot her blade at Boris, who immediately dropped the weapon. Bryan drew me after him as he turned around and ran.

"Adrian, come on!" I heard Taylor shouting, but Adrian whimpered. I heard even more noises from Taylor's blade and I later learned that Anastacia had stood up to the challenge and had tried to blade against Taylor right there in Boris' office.

"We need to find the others," Bryan said breathlessly. The battle noises behind us grew louder and louder, and I was close to tears.

Stop it! Wake up! Stop it! Wake up! Let me wake up, please! That was all I could think.