Help! Evil Wizards Turned Me Into A Girl!

Delia sat under cover of brush with her chin tucked over her knees as she scribbled swirls in the dirt with the broken tip of her bronze spear.

A rustling of the high brush nearby caused her to investigate. She poked her spear tip into the weeds. At once a loud exclamation of pain came forth, so she urged whoever was there to show themselves. Josh stumbled through the bushes, his arms hanging limply and his back tilted as he looked at Delia quizzically. Oh, she had to be a halucination. He lifted the hem of her dress skirt away from her thigh and rubbed the fabric between his thumb and forefinger.

“So where exactly is the kung-fu tournament baby?”

She stared at his scratched face before pinching his cheek incredibly hard, but he didn’t respond to the stimulation. That’s when Delia noticed a deep blistering burn ran the entire length of his right arm.

“You’re hurt.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re a moron.”

She grabbed his hand and led him across the lawn without much effort. She passed both Nadia and Dew, the former still busy chopping logs to strengthen her powers while the later sat on the pile of wood sulking. Nadia saw Delia drag Josh across the yard; she recognized him immediately, though he looked wounded. She quit her self-imposed training to follow them to the porch. The pendant around her neck emitted a faint blue glow that Nadia failed to notice. Norman and Luthial were working on dinner when Delia came inside and sat the wounded young man on an arm chair. He rested limply and barely registered any awareness of his surroundings.

“This boy was hiding here,” she announced coldly.

Luthial checked him, pulling out his wounded arm for a closer look.

“You’re burnt badly along the arm. Who did this to you?”

“Why sslhould I tell you?” Josh slurred.

Norman left his cooking and confronted the straggler, “You don’t have to tell us anything young man, but I know quite a bit more about that injury than you think. You are going to die soon, releasing a demon into the world. I suggest you find the person who resisted the demon possessing you.”

Josh hid his face, “How in the world do you know about that? I never even asked for her name. What in the world was I supposed to do? I was sent to kill her. You don’t say ‘Hi, I’m here to kill you, but first we need to know one another on a name-to-name basis.’ I’m going to be eaten alive until this thing escapes. Then there’s no controlling what it’ll do. I don’t care how much you know; you people have to let me go for your own sake. Look at this, it’s spreading again!”

He pulled up his arm for all to see the blistering burn that covered it. It now started at the back of his hand and reached his elbow. Then suddenly the blisters healed as the edges of the burn retreated. Nadia entered the living room from the back. Josh jumped from the chair when he saw her, pushing Delia and Norman aside. Nadia took up a fighting stance.

“Sit down, both of you just sit down!” Norman ordered.

Nadia wasn’t ready to listen, so the other girls held her back.

“Why’s he here? And why won’t you let me punch his lights out!”

“Quiet Nadia!” Norman scolded.

Nadia immediately obeyed her father’s order, falling limp in the arms of the other girls with a muttered apology. They let her down, leaving her half in tears, so they could help Norman lead Josh to the kitchen.

“I don’t know why you tried to hurt my daughter, but you do realize that the only thing keeping you alive is her power.”

Nadia entered the kitchen quietly, “My power is the only thing keeping him alive?”

“This young man has a vested interest in keeping you alive, and keeping that pendant around your neck. If your powers are stopped, the incubus using his body will devour him. Seeing as he tried to kill you though, I couldn’t possibly force you to help him. The very nature of his curse is draining your will constantly.”

Josh looked at her with a weak smile, “Hey, I’m really sorry about all that stuff on the road, and the mall. No hard feelings? Right? I’m pretty desperate if you know what I mean. I don’t care about myself, but if my incubus gets loose, a lot of innocent people are going to die before it wears itself out.”

“So that’s a threat,” Norman growled.

“No!” Josh said, taken aback, “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just the truth, if you find a way to kill me without freeing it, I’m fine with that, even though I really don’t want to die.”

Nadia fell into the sofa, put her hand to her forehead, moaned, “Not another headache for me to worry about.”

“Me, me, me, to these women it’s all about them,” Josh said, “I’m the one who’s gotta live with the threat of being cracked wide open like a bad walnut.”

She threw a sofa pillow at him, yelled, “I want to know everything! Why did you come after me? Who put you up to it?”

“He calls himself Dead-leaf, offered to do me a big favor- said you’d be a challenge too. He gave me your picture and your address.”

“Dead-leaf,” Dew said quietly to himself, “Could it be?”

Nadia almost tore another pillow in half at the mention of that name.

-----

Nadia pulled a sweat band over her head before pointing at Josh. Her sneakers were tied tight, her shirt was loose, her jeans fit, and she was ready to practice beating the first hapless creature that offered his services.

“Since my dad is too busy to practice with a girl, you’ll have to do,” she explained forcefully, “I’m tired of training by myself, so I expect a good workout. Besides, since you’re the one who is draining my strength and will, I have the right to treat you as a training device.”

Josh looked up at the trees, there was nothing, not a breath of wind to cool the stifling heat that baked the shade.

“I ain’t no practice pad for some macho chick like you; besides, it’s too hot for a fight.”

“I’m the only thing keeping you alive you total coward. You’ll fight me whether you like it or not!”

“I don’t like bossy chicks with muscular arms. Go take out your anger elsewhere. I might hurt you or something.”

“That didn’t stop you before. And my arms aren’t muscular, they’re toned for your information.”

“Oh, someone is sensitive about her appearance. I’m not going to fight you, even if it’s just practice.”

She walked over and slapped him in the face, “You ungrateful jerk. You tried to kill me. But we’re taking care of you for free because I agreed to it. My dad is angry because I didn't say anything about you. I agreed to help spare your life, and you’re leaching my powers, so act like a man and fight me!”

He threw a lackluster punch that she dodged easily, “It’s driving you nuts, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re used to being trained all the time by that old man of yours, but now that he stopped it’s driving you nuts. Have you ever thought that possibly the time for training has passed. From what I heard; you have serious issues to deal with.”

“You’re so full of it. You just want to get out of practicing.”

“Look, I’m flattered that you like me so much you want to practice with me, but there’s simply no way I can beat you. And I don’t enjoy fighting with girls.”

Her eyes became red, her hands formed into fists as she became the most fearsome woman Josh had ever seen.

“I am not! I am- I am not- I am not- a GIRL!” she yelled before she attacked full force, sending them both down a dirt hill until Nadia grabbed hold of a pine stump to keep them from sliding any further. Josh hit his head on a rock, which knocked him senseless. Dragging him back up to edge of her lawn sapped a great deal of her stamina. She sat him by the trunk of the big fir tree and knelt beside him. An ugly discoloration formed on his left cheek. Nadia felt her heart skip a beat as she gently pressed her fingers to it. A bit of energy flowed into the battered flesh.

“I’m sorry,” she said before walking slowly back to the house.

Josh kept his mouth shut while watching her return crestfallen to her house. During their first fight, the incubus revealed within her a deep struggle to maintain an identity. It went beyond the typical teenage angst. Even now, he sensed her emotions tearing her apart inside. Her mind was too guarded for him to read it clearly, but she obviously had difficulty coming to terms with something. He thought she must have been a real macho tomboy kid and had trouble growing up.

Yeah. That had to be it.