by Ugo, Kachi
Rose ran toward the nearest screams and into a crossfire between six Metallics and three Woodfolks. She charged right toward the Metallics, sending them into the air with great mounds of earth surging up underneath them and giving the Leaguers their chance to attack.
Stakes zipped out from everywhere, impaling into several critical parts of their bodies. Before they splattered into the ground, they were dead.
“Spread out!” Rose yelled at the three Woodfolks. “Defend this place.” They roared their acquiescence and dashed toward the outpost, where the battle was fiercest. Rose was about to follow them when she heard Julian shriek her name.
Rose froze in her steps, finally seeing the Metallics’ plan. This whole fight was just a diversion to get their attention away from the real price, which was inside the Tree House. It was a tactic she had read about but somehow forgotten in the heat of battle.
Rose bounded for the Tree House.
The destroyed structure came into view immediately, but so did a whole army of Metallics. They advanced on Grey and Julian, who were the only ones in the cratered field.
And they weren’t wielding just shrapnel. In their midst, floating around, were wrecking balls, vehicular parts, large thick metal shards. Swords, metal planks, even shells from the bombs they had dropped.
She couldn’t fight them all. Thinking fast, she dashed for Grey and Julian. As soon as they saw her, seven wrecking balls zipped through the air.
Rose dived. “Now, Julian!” She landed just beside Julian.
Julian screamed, and wood materials shot at them from everywhere. In a moment, they were plunged into complete darkness, a cocoon of solid, impenetrable wood around them.
Julian panted terribly beside her as if he’d run a thousand-meter relay race.
Rose reached for the Baobab fence and cracked a portion of it. Just then, a wrecking ball hit them. Julian yelped, but the cocoon held.
“Can’t take another impact,” he groaned.
The Baobab flew into place and wrapped around the cocoon in another very thick layer of wood. Then, it grew roots that merged with the Earth below them.
Rose didn’t stop there. She caused the Earth below them to form a mold around the cocoon, creating another layer of protection. The impact came again, and again, and again. They remained firm on the ground.
“How long do you think we can hold this up?” Julian asked. He was already bleeding sweat.
Rose made tiny holes through the cocoon so they could breathe. As for the heat, there was nothing she could do about that. Better to bleed sweat than to be ground to marshmallows by gigantic wrecking balls.
And another impact. This one shook them to their foundation.
“How long does it take your quick reaction force to get here?” she asked.
“We don’t have a quick reaction force,” Julian said. “But we do have a homeland defense force. It’ll take them about twenty minutes to mobilize and about ten to deploy.”
“That bad?” Rose joked.
Julian cracked a smile and they were hit on three sides by wrecking balls.
Rose screamed as the earth layer shattered into pieces. She felt her Earth power collapse, her body beginning to tremble from exhaustion.
I used to be stronger than this, she thought to herself. Her Wood power was still holding down the Baobab layer, but she could feel the drain on her body. Out here, the trees weren’t so friendly, she had noticed.
“We can’t take another hit like that,” Rose said. “The moment they strike again, be ready to fight.”
“They’ll slaughter us,” Julian noted.
“I’ll try and hold them back,” Rose said. “Get Grey and escape through the back or get him into the Tree House and hold out for as long as you can.”
Julian sneered. “And leave a teenager behind? No fucking way.”
“I’m an Omega, Julian,” Rose said. “I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah, Wood and Earth? That’s not exactly an inspiring combination,” Julian said.
Rose chortled. “Okay. If you insist. Better to die in a glorious…”
The balls struck again, this time five of them. The cocoon cracked under the impact.
Rose and Julian lashed out with their powers. The cocoon exploded outward, sending out spikes of earth and wood.
Immediately, they surged to their feet, ready to face their adversaries and die like warriors. But then their adversaries were distracted. And soon, Rose saw why.
Peter, the Leaguers, and a host of armed Woodfolks charged out of the smoke cloaking the air. The cavalry had arrived.
***
Peter came just in time. Another minute and Julian and Dad would have been ground to mincemeat by those huge wrecking balls.
The Metallics didn’t even attempt to fight. They beat a hasty retreat, but Peter led the Woodfolks in a charge and slaughtered the Metallics across the cratered field.
Some managed to scale the fence into the woods, leaving behind all their instruments of death in their desperate effort to escape. Peter and his army gave relentless chase, killing more of them.
Peter and Delphina were especially after the man who appeared to be their leader. The man clutched something under his arm as he waded skillfully through the woods. Something he’d stolen from the Tree House.
In war, intelligence was everything. Peter knew he could not allow that man leave this place with that thing.
“He’s good,” Delphina whispered to Peter. She tried to smack him in the belly with a twig, but he cut through it with a blade of metal that was orbiting him.
“We can’t let him get away with that thing,” Peter yelled.
Ahead they heard the distinctive roar of a highway.
The man with the box gave hand signals to five other Metallics on his tail. They broke their run and turned to face the approaching Woodfolks.
Peter leaped onto a huge tree root, unleashing his power with a painful shriek. The root came to life and threw him into the air. Peter sailed over the five, leaving them to Delphina and the army.
Peter landed with a crouch several feet ahead of the man, jumped to his feet, and rushed him.
“This is for my sister,” he yelled, uprooting the two trees by his sides and hurling them at the approaching figure.
The man sliced through the trunks with practiced ease. Without stopping, he shot his blade at Peter.
Peter ducked, rolling out of the way of the coming Metallic. This was all the time the man needed. By the time Peter was back on his feet, the Metallic was already on the highway.
Enraged by the sleazy trick, Peter made a mad dash for the highway even as an unmarked truck pulled up by the Metallic.
Peter reached out to the vehicle with his power, but he was too weak to do anything. He fell to his knees, exhausted.
The man flashed Peter an acrylic smile as the van took him away. Whatever it was that they’d collected, Peter knew Julian and his military would pay for it.
“Peter,” Delphina called from behind.
“Over here,” he replied.
She came to his side. “Are you hurt?” she asked, helping him to his feet.
“Just tired,” Peter said. “I must have been going at it for more than twenty minutes.”
“Come. Grey is injured badly,” she said.
Peter followed Delphina back to the Tree House.
Fire and pillars of smoke bloomed up to the sky across the field. Bodies lay strewn about. Some of them were people Peter knew from the Ceremony. A lot of them were Metallics. Dylan and Stephanie were leading a small group through the carnage, looking for survivors.
Julian was right where Peter had left him. Beside the disfigured Tree House, cradling his father’s head. Dr. Wallace was there as well.
Peter paused at the edge of the fence. Was Dad dead?
Rose stood nearby, looking down at Grey. Her expression was unreadable. Her young protégée stood nearby, he
r face covered in soot and an angry frown.
Dr. Wallace looked resolute. Not in a good way, but in a bad way.
Delphina’s fingers slipped into his right fingers, interlacing with them. He instinctively squeezed, her presence soothing him.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”
Immediately they approached, Wallace looked up. “Are you hurt?” he asked.
Peter shook his head.
“How about you, Ms. Bishop?” Wallace asked.
“I’m fine.”
“How is he?” Peter asked.
Julian gestured toward the gaping hole in the fence. An ambulance was slowly making its way toward the Tree House.
“The ambulance will take him to the COA,” Julian said.
“All we can do is make him comfortable,” Dr. Wallace said.
“What the hell does that mean?” Peter blurted, tears brimming in his eyes. No one answered him. Everyone was crestfallen, from Rose to Julian, even the little girl.
Julian gave way for the paramedics to lift Grey’s body onto a stretcher and move him into the ambulance.
“We were hit by the blast from the bomb. Dad didn’t get to cover on time,” Julian said.
“There are seven small pieces of metal currently circulating in his blood,” Wallace said. “We’ve done all we can to keep it from shredding the lining of his veins and to slow its progress to his heart.”
Dr. Wallace climbed in the back with the paramedics. “Sorry, boys. I’ll keep on trying to save him.” And then the ambulance drove away.
Delphina rubbed Peter’s shoulder affectionately. “He’s still alive,” she said. But her words gave Peter no solace for her voice betrayed her fear.
“Yeah? But for how long?” Peter replied.
***
The cops came later in the night. They were all Woodfolks. With the help of the Leaguers, they dressed up the scene.
Peter didn’t care to know what inventive story they would try and sell this time. He found a quiet place to be alone. And sobbed. He couldn’t lose his dad. Not like this.
What would life be like without a dad? It was one thing to run away, knowing that somewhere you had a dad you could always come back to. It was another thing to not have a dad.
It was my fault, Peter thought. If I hadn’t left, I would have been there to save him.
Peter knew he shouldn’t beat himself up. But he couldn’t help the feeling. Being one of the Two gave him powers no one else had. He should have been there. He would have been able to save Grey.
Peter paused as a thought struck him. The One. There’s still a way to save him.
Peter left his secret place in search of Julian. He found Julian sitting on what was left of the porch. Rose was close by, looking clueless. As he approached, they both looked up at him.
“There’s a way we can save Dad,” Peter said.
A look of hope flickered in Julian’s eyes.
“Rose, tell him about the prophecy.”
Rose appeared to be unhappy with doing the telling, but she obliged nonetheless. When she was done, Julian had a bewildered look on his face.
“I didn’t know you believed in pipe dreams, Peter,” he said.
“It’s not a pipe dream,” Peter said. “Dad believed in it.”
“Everyone other than Dad believes it's a dud,” Julian pointed out.
“And yet, that is the star of the One according to the prophecy,” Rose said, pointing up to the northern sky, where a star blazed brightly in the night.
They gazed at the lone star for a minute.
Peter said, “If we find this One, we can heal both our aunt and father. He doesn’t have to die. We can save him.”
Julian shot to his feet and seized Peter’s arms. “Well, then you find the One and you heal our father!” He spoke with the determination of an enraged cold-blooded killer.
Peter didn’t expect it, but Julian’s command spurred him up. He gritted his teeth and nodded. “Right away.”
“Take Delphina with you,” Julian said. “You’ll need her.”
Peter nodded. “What about you? What will you do?”
“We will go to war,” Julian replied without skipping a beat.
Peter nodded again.
It didn’t take a long time for Rose and Peter to get ready to move out. Delphina, on the other hand, had to return to her house in the suburbs to pack a bag. While they waited, Rose requested for her protégée to join them on the porch.
Emily sat right next to Rose, snuggling into the lady.
Emily was a sharp-witted girl. And fierce, too. She had helped the Leaguers hold down the outpost with her Wood and Earth powers. Or so Peter had heard.
“You did good, Kiddo,” Peter muttered. He leaned against the wall.
“Thanks,” Emily replied.
“Really,” Rose said, and Emily giggled.
“Now, I have a very important mission for you,” Rose said. “I need you to stay here and help these folks. I also need you here because our Sisters will be bringing High Lady Regal’s body. I need you to take possession of it.”
Emily shook her head. “I was sent here to protect you, High Lady.”
“And you’ve done a marvelous job,” Rose said, laying a kiss on the girl’s temple. “But where I’m going, it’s going to be very dangerous.”
“Which is why I need to go with you,” Emily replied.
“I’ll have Peter,” Rose said, “and another powerful Woodfolk named Delphina. I won’t be alone, I promise.
“Please, Emily, do this for me. Will you?”
Emily thought about it for a few seconds, then she stood to her feet and walked up to Peter.
“You promise to keep her safe?” she asked, her eyes fierce.
Peter smiled and nodded. “I’ll do my best, Kiddo.”
She returned to Rose. “I’ll do it.”
Rose gave the kid a tight hug. Peter could see streaks of tears roll down Rose’s cheeks.
Delphina returned with a black, nondescript Sedan. She ceded the wheels to Peter and sat in the back, while Rose rode shotgun.
“Where to?” Peter asked.
Rose pointed at the star. “Follow the star.”
Peter put the car in gear and headed north.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
F
ollow the star. That sounded a lot easier than it actually was. Only if there was one road that led in the direction of the star. More often than not they came up to dead ends and plied roads that seemed to head north toward the star and literally threw a curve on them, leading away from the star.
They had been driving for four hours in silence. No one spoke. How could they? They had all witnessed the uncorked savagery of Marcus Stane and the Metallics.
Scores dead. The Tree House all but decimated. Morale incinerated. They had taken a big hit. Once again, the Metallics had reinforced their superiority. With only a small army they had attacked the Woodfolks’ home base, and they had won.
Peter took a new turn, which led them into a deserted lonely street. It was almost sunrise. If they didn’t find their clue soon enough, they’d have to take a break and wait until nightfall again. But something told Peter that they didn’t have until nightfall.
Whatever the leader of the Metallic attack force had stolen, Peter had a feeling it had a link to finding this One.
Large trees loomed over the street as they drove by. There weren’t many houses around. The few they saw looked abandoned.
Soon, Peter felt a quip in his power core. He stiffened. It was a slight surge.
“You felt it, didn’t you?” Rose asked.
Peter glanced at her momentarily. “The slight surge of power?”
Rose nodded. “This could be it.”
Ahead, the roof of a building rose above the treetops on the right side of the street. Two buses were parked by the side of the house, one of which was familiar to Peter.
<
br /> Peter slowed down and parked about a hundred yards away from the house.
“Why are we stopping?” Delphina asked.
“That bus,” he said, pointing at the bus parked beside the house. “That’s the one the leader got away in.”
“Are you sure?” Delphina leaned in from the backseat to get a better look.
“Positive,” Peter said, gritting his teeth. “Maybe we’ll be able to recover whatever it is they stole.”
“It’s a good thing they’re still here then,” Rose said. “Let’s get this over with.”
They alighted from the car and circled to the trunk, which Delphina popped, and she handed them staffs and armor jackets. The armor jacket fit perfectly with Del’s white blouse, ash jean pants, and cowboy boots. However, Rose had trouble getting it to fit with her brown-and-orange robe.
“I look…stiff,” Rose noted. “I don’t know that I want to wear this.”
“It’s to protect you from metal attack,” Delphina replied. “It’s like bulletproof. It will even stop a bullet.”
Rose pulled the armor off. “It’s ridiculous. Whoever invented these?”
Delphina shrugged and returned Rose’s armor to the trunk.
They began approaching the house. Peter and Rose took the lead while Delphina brought up the rear.
The closer they got to the house the more Peter felt that something was wrong. He exchanged glances with Rose, who looked suspicious as well.
Peter tightened his grip on his staff, crouching a little as they rounded the thick woods blocking their view. Rose did the same thing, her robes wriggling in the night’s cool breeze.
The second sign of trouble was the gates of the house. It had been uprooted, mangled, and thrown to the side of the large grounds. A huge hole gaped from the western side of the roof. In fact, large portions of the western side of the house had been wrecked.
It was a miracle the two-story house was still standing.
Peter scanned the two buses parked. They were deserted; however, five men milled about the lawn of the house. One of them stood in the main entrance, while the other four had their backs to the road.
Metallics.
Peter didn’t think. His anger still burning hot, he broke into a run. He dashed by the four men on the lawn, his eyes on the man in the entryway. In his periphery, he watched Rose sprint to his left side, a boulder of earth hovering over her head.