Storm Of War

by Ugo, Kachi

  “Do you now star gaze?” said a voice

  Peter immediately felt as if the air had vanished from his lungs. He looked down at Delphina, who had managed to approach him unawares.

  “Hey,” he replied.

  “I’ve been looking for you.” She came to his side.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. We need to talk.”

  Peter chuckled. “You think?”

  “Look, I’m sorry that I pushed you this morning,” Del said. “It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to hear…”

  “That I can’t stop thinking about you?” Peter interrupted, struggling to keep his breathing normal.

  Delphina exhaled. “I get it, you’re…”

  “No, you don’t get it,” Peter snapped angrily. “From the moment I knew what it was to love, it was you. You accused me of leaving you. But you don’t know what it was like to leave you. But I had to…”

  “Why?” Delphina barked, tears brimming in her eyes.

  “Because no one was safe with me around,” Peter said, raising his voice. “You weren’t safe, and the thought of losing you drove me insane. Because they came for me that night.”

  “What do you mean they came for you?” Delphina asked, frowning. But then she cut in again. “You know what? It doesn’t matter how I feel. I’m with Dylan now.”

  She turned to leave, but Peter grabbed her arm in anger, which was probably not the wisest decision to make, and yelled, “Why do you keep saying that when you don’t mean it?”

  Delphina screamed instinctively, and Dylan came flying out of the house. Three rapid punches connected with Peter’s face, sending him flying to the ground. Dylan jumped on him and rained down punches and swearwords.

  Peter took some and blocked some, hoping that Dylan would get tired or someone would come to separate them. Neither of these happened, and so Peter gave in to rage.

  Peter snatched Dylan’s fist the next time he tried to plow it into Peter’s face and twisted, but not too hard to break his bone.

  Dylan paused and yelled.

  Peter hurled him off his body and scrambled to his feet. His face and sides throbbed with pain. He wiped the liquid trickling down his nose and saw the dark red blood staining his fingers.

  Dylan came to his feet and stretched a hand in the direction of the house. A pained expression flashed across his face as a staff flew out of the house and into his hand. He smiled. “I’m going to enjoy—”

  “Enough!” Delphina cried helplessly from the side.

  Peter tapped his power core and rushed Dylan.

  Dylan’s staff cracked across the air. Peter dodged and plowed into his abdomen, sending him to the ground. Pinning Dylan to the ground, Peter ripped the staff out of his hand and bound him with it. The wood didn’t snap, not even when Dylan struggled against it.

  Peter struck him thrice across the face, breaking his nose and drawing blood, before he was yanked off Dylan.

  Julian interposed himself between Peter and Dylan’s groaning form, while Delphina ran to Dylan’s side. Brad still held Peter back, a solid grip on his clothes.

  “What the hell is this?” Julian glared at him.

  “He attacked me first!”

  “Oh yeah?” Julian retorted. “Then why is he the one tethering on the verge of unconsciousness?”

  Delphina touched the staff unnaturally coiled around Dylan’s hands, and it snapped in three places, freeing him. Dylan’s face had already swollen up terribly, but he seemed to be regaining his senses.

  Dylan struggled to a sitting position. “Tell your brother to stay the hell away from my girlfriend!” he spat.

  Julian, furious, turned to Peter. “A girl?” he said. “You fight because of a girl?”

  Peter’s anger was like the steam engine of a freight train. It steamed and billowed and whistled.

  “My car, now!” Julian snapped and walked away.

  Brad tried to shuffle Peter after Julian, but Peter yanked himself out of the bigger guy’s grip.

  “I know my way to the car,” he snarled.

  Brad joined them on their silent return journey. As soon as they got to the pathway, three figures armed with long smooth staffs appeared out of the darkness into the vehicle’s light. When they saw it was Julian, they melted back into the darkness.

  “I can’t believe you, Peter,” Julian said. “This is a critical time for us. How do you think it will go down with the Elders if they found out that two Woodland League leaders fought each other?”

  “He started it!” Peter snapped.

  “That’s because Delphina…”

  “You know what?” Peter hissed, “I don’t want to hear this. I won’t be here for much longer, after all.”

  He disembarked from the car and trudged down the path to the Tree House.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  P

  eter sat on his bed and listened to the chattering crowd outside. He couldn’t bear the thought that he’d really lost Delphina to Dylan.

  Although late Saturday morning sun slated into his room, filling it with warmth, Peter’s heart remained cold with fear, frustration, and uncertainty.

  A knock came on his door, then Julian came in.

  “Are you ready?” Julian asked.

  Peter nodded, standing and heading out with him. They both wore black tuxedos.

  “I’m sorry about yesterday,” Peter blurted. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you, at least not in front of Brad.”

  Julian waved a dismissive hand. “Ah, don’t worry about that.” He paused. “You always did look good in a tux.”

  Peter chuckled. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  “Stephanie thinks I look like a thug,” Julian said with a sneer.

  “Uh, not to contradict her or anything, but you’re doing okay,” Peter said. “Nevertheless… Dressing like a gangster always did suit you.”

  Julian cracked a smile, clasped Peter’s back, and led him through the crowd of people and toward the podium.

  There must have been more than a thousand people under the canopy. These were people who had come from all around the States to watch their sons, daughters, or wards get initiated formerly into the Woodfolk clan. It reminded him of when he’d been initiated at the age of twelve.

  Julian found them a seat with the Leaguers directly behind the four layers of white chairs reserved for Sprouts. Everyone was there, except Stephanie and Delphina, who sat in the front with the Sprouts.

  The Sprouting Ceremony began with a speech from Grey Crawford about the history of the three tribes, the war that threatened to destroy the world and the Accords, which was meant to bring peace.

  He then slanted into recent happenings, laying heavy praise on the Woodland League for their decisive victory in defeating the Metallics. He enjoined the Sprouts to be diligent in developing their skills so that one day they could be members of their society’s elite club.

  The Sprouts screamed in eager agreement.

  Grey went on to acknowledge everyone present with special thanks to the WRI specialists for constructing the arena and the security team for keeping everyone safe…

  “Where’s Dylan?” Peter said, noticing for the first time that Dylan wasn’t among the numerous Leaguers around. And Brad? Where’s Brad? he thought, craning his neck to look over his shoulder.

  “I have him and Brad supervising security,” Julian said. “We received a tip that the Metallics are planning an attack.”

  “What? On the ceremony?”

  “We’re not sure,” Julian said. “We suspect maybe they’re trying to disrupt the Ceremony as payback.”

  “But that’ll be suicidal for them,” Peter remarked. “There are thousands of us here, not to mention the WRI specialists. They’ll be walking into a bloodbath, whatever their number.”

  “Really?” Julian asked with an arched brow. “What if they come ten thousand strong?”

  “Ten thousand enteri
ng into the city?” Peter asked. “We’ll know immediately. Hell, we’ll know just as soon as they’re amassing.”

  “The same way they’ll know that we’re amassing a military,” Julian noted.

  “What do you think they’ll do the moment they notice we’re amassing a military?” Peter asked.

  Julian shook his head with a tired sigh. “I don’t know. And it scares me.”

  They turned their attention back to their father, who was now addressing the Sprouts.

  “He’s rushing it,” Julian muttered. “Something’s wrong.”

  “What do you mean?” Peter asked, keeping his eyes peeled for trouble. Grey had just instructed all Sprouts to rise.

  “He’s nervous about something. Must be that girl, Rose. He was in conference all night.” He glanced at Peter. “Do you know her?”

  Grey began to lead them in a pledge.

  “I don’t know her, personally,” Peter replied.

  “But you called her name.”

  “It happened when I tried to break her force field of power,” Peter said, thinking back to the incident.

  “Force field?” Julian asked.

  Right, he doesn’t know about that, Peter thought to himself. “Let’s just say I was able to see through her thoughts,” Peter replied. “You know what? That’s not exactly how it was… Her emotions came first. I could sense her apprehension. The more I prodded with my power the more I could sense why she was apprehensive. She sort of revealed to me all her secrets.”

  Julian was even more puzzled.

  “It’s not an exact science,” Peter said with a shrug. “Hell, I don’t even know how I did all of that.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Peter,” he replied. “It’s just something about her. She told him something down there that’s making him nervous.”

  Down where? Peter thought. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough...and why isn’t she here?”

  “Beats me,” Julian murmured.

  Grey finally announced the Sprouts as Woodfolks and commended them for finishing their training excellently and wishing them success in their future endeavors as Woodfolks. He then stepped aside as Stephanie took the podium next.

  With Delphina’s help, Stephanie called out a list of twelve exemplary Woodfolks, who were instantly accepted as initiates of the Woodland League to train alongside the War Commander, Julian Crawford.

  They were handed custom-made staffs and armor jackets, which they accepted with undiluted glee.

  Grey called an end to the Ceremony and then tasked the newly minted Woodfolks with rearranging the arena for the customary feast. In the ensuing chaos, Grey slipped away and disappeared into the Tree House.

  Peter pointed this out to Julian. “Should we follow him?”

  “Nah,” he replied. “Let’s leave him to his devices for now.”

  They stayed back, watching as Stephanie and Delphina guided the new Woodfolks in rearranging the arena. After a while, the WRI specialists joined in, along with family and friends of the newly minted Woodfolks.

  Soon, the arena looked different with rows of long tables and chairs, capable of seating twenty, dotting the arena.

  Once the tables were set, the feast began in earnest with food, drinks, singing, and dancing. Seating arrangements were done according to families, clans, and friends.

  Leaguers had their own tables, where Peter and Julian settled in side by side. Brad, Dylan, Del, and Stephanie joined them.

  Brenda and Cathy were the only new Leaguers allowed on their particular table simply because there were two older Leaguers, which Julian wouldn’t divulge their names, who were crushing on them.

  They ate, drank, and chatted about the last few days. Peter came up later on, and everyone couldn’t help but pitch in about how he’d come and everything had changed.

  “Isn’t he still leaving?” Greg asked.

  “Only because I still have to clean up my mess,” Peter said in his defense.

  “Whatever the case,” Stephanie said, raising a glass and silencing the Leaguers. She looked at Peter. “We love you, Pete. We are your home. This is your home.”

  Julian raised his glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

  They clinked their glasses and drank to it.

  The discussion shifted to Rose. Peter listened to some of the theories from the guys and laughed at their absurdity. He couldn’t tell if they were being serious or if they were just kidding. Either way, they had a good laugh until suddenly they became quiet.

  Someone was approaching. Peter looked over his shoulder and found Grey Crawford standing at his side. He appeared nervous.

  “Dad?” Julian said. “Is everything all right?”

  Grey waved away the question with a snicker. “Peter,” he said, “please follow me.” He turned and walked back in the direction of the Tree House. Along the way, some Elders tried to engage him in a discussion, but he ignored them and made a beeline for the porch where he stopped and waited for Peter.

  “What’s that all about?” Julian asked Peter.

  “Don’t know,” Peter replied. He got up and joined his father on the porch.

  “What’s the matter, Dad?” he asked.

  “Come with me,” Dad replied.

  Dad led him through the double doors into an exquisite, low-ceilinged sitting room with an impressively wide space. The chairs looked custom sewn and well stuffed. The light was soft and the air cool, starkly contrasting the harsh weather outside.

  Peter noticed the four cylindrical structures carved from wood in the four corners. They were elevators that ran on Wood Levitation.

  Grey led him right down the middle of the sitting room into a corridor. They took a right turn that led to a secluded elevator. They got in and began to descend.

  Their descent went on for long enough that Peter wondered just how deep the Tree House went. He thought of asking his father, but the intense look on his face deterred him. He decided to ask Julian when he returned to the top.

  The elevator deposited them in what appeared to be an interrogation room. Small space. Single table. Two chairs. Low-hanging dim light. And Rose.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  W

  ood power slammed into him the moment he stepped in. He staggered back, catching the edge of the elevator’s open door to steady himself. Then he glared at Rose who smiled at him fitfully.

  “Peter, sit,” Grey said as he brushed past him to take up position in the corner.

  Peter approached the table cautiously.

  Rose looked different. She looked calmer. She had shed her red robes and was instead clad in a special kind of robe made with two materials of different colors.

  “Was that really necessary?” Peter observed as he took the chair.

  “Yes, it was,” Rose replied. “That was for breaking my field of power.”

  “You were invading our home,” Peter pointed out.

  “I wasn’t a threat,” Rose replied.

  “You think so?” Peter said.

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” Rose replied.

  Silence.

  Rose watched him with curiosity. Peter returned the favor. Dad remained silent in the corner.

  “Obviously that last conversation didn’t take us anywhere,” Peter said.

  “I agree.”

  “Shall we start all over again?” Peter asked. “My name is Peter Crawford, and I’m a Woodfolk.”

  “My name is Rose Hernandez,” she said in return, “and I’m a Scarlet Sister.”

  Peter sniggered. “Yeah, right. If you’re a Scarlet Sister, then I’m an astronaut.” He turned to his father. “What’s this about, Dad?”

  Grey didn’t respond. Rose did. And not with words but with action.

  The table rattled first. But it was made of wood, and he knew she could Levitate wood, so he wasn’t impressed. But when the ground began to quake, he jerked his head at her, shocked. “This
isn’t possible,” he muttered.

  Hardly had the words escaped his lips that his chair began to rise into the air. He looked down and saw that the portion of the ground beneath his chair had grown out into a mound.

  Rose hadn’t moved a hand. Neither was there a sign of exertion on her face. Yet, he felt wave after wave of her power crash over him.

  “You’re an Omega!” he whispered in awe.

  Rose nodded, solemn. Gently, the mound keeping him up melted into the ground, leaving behind no crack or seam. The earthly rumble ceased, and the room was brought once more into silence.

  “There are thousands of them, Pete,” Grey said from his corner. “Living smack dab in the middle of the Arctic. Rose here is their High Lady. She succeeded your aunt, High Lady Justina Regal.”

  The news jolted Peter to his feet. “Mom had a sister who was an Omega? Nobody told us!”

  Peter paused. Then he said, “You’ve known about these people? For how long?”

  “I’ve had my suspicions,” Grey replied. “Tales. Whispers. Nothing concrete. Until she showed up with that signet ring.”

  Rose twirled the signet ring on her finger, sliding her right index finger across the intricately designed twin scarlet threads.

  “Then it made a lot of sense,” Grey continued. “All this time we believed your mom’s sister ran away on the eve of her Sprouting Ceremony. We did not know that the Scarlet Sisters had come to take her because she had secretly manifested as an Omega.”

  “Unbelievable,” Peter muttered.

  “We are very real, Peter,” the teenage girl said. “And we are a vast and destructive force.”

  “But what do you want with me, High Lady?” asked Peter.

  “Two shall be his Counselor and…”

  Peter rolled his eyes. “Not this again!” he muttered.

  “Peter, hear her out,” Grey commanded with a furious voice.

  Rose continued, “…Protector. Two shall wield the Power of Two and at their touch shall all living creatures reveal their secrets. And by them shall the One fulfill destiny, which is to abolish the enmity and make from himself of three one, thereby making peace.”