Spike blew red fire again when the rocket was near. It exploded instantly.
Qila was blinded momentarily. The heat reached her despite the covering of his wings.
There was another rocket coming their way. And another. They were six rockets. All were exploded a hundred meters away from them.
"Are you alright, Qila?" Spike asked while waiting after the sixth rocket.
"Y-yes." Qila just heard him. She had this ringing sensation inside her eardrums.
"I can't shift into man. Please, pull out the celfone." He flapped his wings to clear the air of the smoke. "Press the red button. It will alert my men to possible attacks. Then, call your father."
Qila followed his instructions.
"Hello, Spike?" Due answered to the first ring.
"Dad, we are attacked now," Qila informed him. "The rockets came from the east!"
"I have dismantled Limrick's west arsenal! It will be useless now. Now, we're headed to the east! Thanks for the lead, child! I love you!"
"I love you, too, Dad! Take care!"
"Wait for my call!"
Below, they saw lights roaming around the property. Spike's men were combing the area with a fine tooth.
Spike was silent. His chest was heaving. He had smoke coming out of his nostrils.
"Spike? Are you alright?"
He coughed a bit before answering. "Yes."
"You don't sound like you're alright!" Qila climbed down to look up at him. "Spike! Your left eye is bleeding!"
"This is nothing! We wait for Due's call!" Spike blinked his eyes.
Qila torn the skirt of her dress and made it into a patch to stem the bleeding. The eye of the dragon was larger than her face. She used her whole skirt to tie the cloth around his head.
"How do I look?" Spike joked when she was through. "Have you seen a dragon pirate?"
"Stop joking!" Qila scolded him. She was concerned to his wound.
The celfone rang at that moment.
"Hello, Dad?"
"The east arsenal was abandoned. Limrick has escaped. We are chasing him! You are safe for now!"
"Thanks, Dad!" Qila turned to Spike.
He had shifted back to his man form. And he was fainting...
"Spike!" His eye patch had loosened. He was bleeding again.
Qila caught his dead weight. She tightened the eye patch again before she carried him. She thanked her toned arms and legs when she was able to bear his weight.
She was careful when she going down the circular stairway. She resorted to counting the steps silently. She gritted her teeth until they reached the ground.
Qila delivered Spike to the master's bedroom. After making sure that he was lying comfortably and that he looked decently tucked in with a bedsheet, she pulled out the celfone and texted Dr. Peralta.
'Dr Peralta Spike is hurt. Come quickly!'
Something vibrated. She felt his blazer's pocket. His watch!
'Please check the fax machine! Turner.'
Fax machine! Qila decided to wait for the good doctor. She changed her clothes hastily. She had pulled out a pair of slacks and a t-shirt from the closet.
"What happened to him?" Dr. Peralta asked while examining Spike. He checked his blood pressure and body temperature. "He had a fever."
The male nurse assisted the doctor in cleaning the wound of Spike with antiseptic. When the eye wound was visible, they applied a fresh patch and gauze to bind it.
"We have to carry Mr. Pendragon to the clinic. We have to operate his eye." Dr. Peralta informed her while the male nurse fetched the stretcher.
Qila nodded. "Please, do what you have to do," she said in a subdued manner.
Two burly guards assisted the nurse in transferring Spike to the stretcher. Qila followed to the clinic but was told to wait outside the operating room.
She walked to and fro until she decided to look at the fax machine. It seemed urgent.
Again, Qila did not meet anyone when she crossed the distance between the clinic and the mansion. It was eerily silent inside. The grandfather's clock struck twelve when she opened the library.
The lights were automatically switched on. She saw the papers spewed by the fax machine.
"Saturday Activity of Qila Arrow," she read aloud the title page. "That's me!"
Qila was interested immediately. Her days were hazy, especially her visits to the gym!
The report started with: 'Qila entered the gym at 7 o'clock every Saturday. She left the gym at 10 o'clock p.m. same day.'
She delved her mind but could not remember the things she had done at the gym. She had the body of an athlete so she was not worried... until now.
Qila continued reading. The investigators found the details through the CCTV. They had bribed an employee of the building and they managed to get the ten-year files.
The gym was just a front of the No One Organization. All of the clients, old and young, were drugged through the water they bought from the gym's store. Supposedly, the water would provide the vitamins and minerals lost during the sessions but the true effect of the intoxicated water was mind alteration.
Qila was shocked when she read about what happened behind the closed door of the gym.
The place was like a war zone. Everybody held a weapon but the guns had blank bullets and the blades made of plastic. They were trained to be a warrior for the No One Organization!
And she was there for six years!
'Qila Arrow was graduating on the end of this month,' Turner typed precisely. 'Limrick wants her.'
Why? she asked herself.
Qila stayed there for a long time. She sat on the chair and looked at the wall. Her memory was functioning again. She remembered practicing on firing guns. She never missed the bull's eye. She had excelled on all kinds of armaments. The last one was the special bladed weapon of them all. A wakizashi!
She did extremely well at wielding the short Japanese sword. During training, she used a replica of the sword with the same weight. There were six women who trained with wakizashi. They had a mini-tournament. Each showed off her skills on the Japanese blade.
The woman with the gun! Qila dredged up the memory of the woman who looked like her. "Where is that woman?" she asked aloud.
When Qila torn the prosthetics mask, she looked familiar. The woman was their trainer!
She got up and walked out of the library urgently. When she reached the clinic, the operation was finished. Spike was in the recovery room.
"You may use the bunk bed, Miss Qila. Mr. Pendragon is still unconscious," Dr. Peralta informed her softly.
"I will sit by his bed," Qila replied in a hushed tone.
"Okay. There are bottled water and fruit juices in the mini-fridge. Please, help yourself."
"Yes. Do not worry about me."
Spike had his good eye unpatched. When he opened it, he glanced around slowly at first.
"Hi," Qila greeted him gently.
"I'm at the clinic?" Spike sat up.
"Hey, you're still weak!" Qila rushed over. She supported his back. He was wearing a hospital green uniform.
"Just a little bit groggy," Spike smiled at her weakly. "Did Due call again?"
Qila checked the celfone. "No."
"I'm here," Due spoke from the open window.
"Oh, Dad! You scared me!" Qila hugged her father. "But thank you for coming. Spike got hurt."
"What happened, bro?"
"A piece of metal got into my left eye," Spike replied indifferently. "Did you find Limrick?"
"Not yet. My men are still looking for him." Due hopped inside nimbly.
"Um, Spike? Where is the woman who attacked you the other day?"
"She is gone." Spike glanced at Due then back at Qila. "She was vomiting black liquid the same way as you, Qila. Before my eyes, she had dehydrated and she died. I'm afraid that you would die, too, so I took you to my lair and healed you by sucking all the black fluid and white powder from your body."
"Qila!" Due embraced her closely to his chest. "Thank you for saving my child, bro."
"I saved my mate, bro." Spike smiled lopsidedly.
Due was still for a moment.
"Do you mind?"
"No, I don't mind. At least, Qila won't have to hide her true self!" Due said with a smile.
When the men noticed that Qila was not smiling with them, Due asked what was bothering her.
"I saw the report by Turner. For six years, I lost the Saturdays of my life," Qila said calmly. "And I started to remember everything."
"What was your activity at the gym?" Spike asked her. She handed him the faxed report.
"I was training to be a warrior for No One Organization."
Due was quick. "You are the woman with the wakizashi!"
"Yes," Spike answered for Qila. "And Limrick wants you. You are graduating at the end of this month. Why?" He was pensive.
"Why are you being trained to be a warrior?" Due queried curiously.
"To kill men who lead their company or organization. Men like you!"