Page 45 of Rising

A dismissal. We’d been down this road many times before. From the moment I met him, I told him I believed there were people still in there, that a cure was possible. They were just sick. He’d quickly corrected that thought, bringing a Pansie to me and making an example of them, telling me that silly line of thinking would get me killed.

It’d changed nothing for me in that moment, I knew what’d I’d seen in that apartment with Xavier. His eyes when he’d thought I’d burned him. But when you’re told things long enough, you start to believe there may be some truth there. I couldn’t say I still believed it in totality, but a small part of me couldn’t comprehend that a human soul was there at one point. And now it was just gone.

It wasn’t like someone that had died and left their body behind, departed this world and went to whatever was next. No, this body was still animated, it still moved, it still ate, still had needs. A person with rabies is still a person.

But that’s not what this was about. This was about something that I’d seen with my own eyes, that someone else had witnessed. I left the topic alone, only because there was no point in pushing it without Riley here to back me up. Even then, Prescott would simply claim his bias, besides the fact that it was one situation alone. That was no case study, only a small sample group.

Luna took a deep breath, her kind features filled with worry. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said, as she took a seat on the arm of Prescott’s chair.

Her words weren’t malicious. They came from a place of genuine hope and trust in my abilities. Hoping I was sane enough to effectively do my job and not get her friends killed.

We spent the next few minutes running through a list of emissary’s Luna felt capable of executing our needs and holding their own in the current climate of things. There was no ‘Head of Emissaries,’ just people that were trusted to handle various aspects of Compound business.

Some were great for trade, others were great for simply maintaining relationships that kept the lines of communication open, others were used during times of establishing borders and handling feuds. Very few people had the competence and confidence to do what Luna did. Were capable of handling all the above.

Seven emissaries would be sent out, though they would only be going to six settlements. Two would go to San Diego since they’d have to pass the chaos of Los Angeles on the way. There was a chance they could be there two days ahead of schedule if they booked it after passing the city.

Each emissary would go to discuss coordinating further efforts in the immediate future. Reinforcements would then be sent to help stabilize the borders and allow for more coordinated offense initiatives. Although I knew how many soldiers I planned on sending out, I needed to check with Seth first and confirm he was okay with this course of action. My biggest challenge would be seeing if he was feeling gracious enough to lend some of his calvary.

* * *

My meetingwith Seth was less than pleasant. He still had an attitude about yesterday, but I could tell it was slowly fading. He agreed to send out men and had no qualms about the numbers I intended to deploy.

Sending out a hundred men would be a push, but sixteen men and an emissary were better than nothing. It would show good faith on our end if nothing else. TwoIgnissoldiers, twoAqua,twoTerra, twoAer. TwoIgnisandTerra, oneAquaandTerra, and oneAerandTerra. FourSupraas they practically counted as eight soldiers and one from Seth’s calvary would be sent in addition in order to escort the emissaries safely. They’d all make a last-ditch sprint on the final day of travel.

No cavalry would be sent to support the mission to San Jose since it was so close. Our troops already heavily populated the area, thus making two of Seth’s men available to join the trek to San Diego instead. I debated sending out some medics, uncomfortable with the idea of sending men out there without proper resources, but our resources here were already thin. Without the ability to wait for the next patrol troop to return, a tough call had to be made. We’d have to hope theAquasoldiers with minor healing gifts would be enough to tend to any minor wounds. Herbs would have to do the rest, if anything could be done for them at all without surgery.

We split the missions into a list and each planned three routes to get there. One that was the most efficient, a Plan B, and a fail-safe that would take twice the amount of time, but would ensure they all made it there. It was up to the mission lead to determine which was their best option once they assessed the conditions when they departed. Seth would check in with them every day at a set time per squad.

I left my meeting with Seth feeling accomplished in handling one item on a stack of critical, but uneasy for what I was sending a hundred men and women out to do. No matter how successful each mission went, a handful of them wouldn’t be returning.

Amaia

The rest of my morning went as planned. The Council had met for an emergency meeting and one of my soldiers returned with notice that my plans had been approved. I’d taken a trip to the Infirmary to check on the injured from a few days prior, taking a moment to sit and talk with them each individually.

It was important to show face as a leader, but the time I spent with them went beyond that. I genuinely cared about their recovery and the idea of my failure causing their pain consumed me in a way I never knew guilt could. It clawed at my soul and whispered in my ears vile things every time the room went silent.

I wanted to personally avenge them all, but I also wanted to be there for them through this in any capacity that I could. It wouldn’t take them much longer to heal. Magic speeding up the process, but I’d be sure to honor each one of them when this was all over.

Even though it made me uneasy to have Alexiares free to roam about The Compound, part of me was glad at the peace his absence provided. I hadn’t seen him since last night. Before lunch, I ventured throughout the entirety of The Compound for the first time in months. Sure to take note of the status of our infrastructure, seeing what maintenance was needed, and envisioning what improvements could be made.

Each one of the four gates received extra scrutiny as I took in each detail from the spikes, to the barbed wire, blasting my fire at the metal and testing its durability. As I took my leave, I informed the soldiers on duty that there would be drills run once a week regarding gate protocol for the foreseeable future.

We wouldn’t be caught off guard again.

I saw off the soldiers’ deployment from the South Gate after lunch. Although they were headed in different directions, it would make us too vulnerable to have all gates open at once. It was equally irresponsible to delay their departure by stacking the timing.

From there, they’d break off into a small group until each of them reached a necessary split off point. It wouldn’t make a huge difference as most would have to split after the first day, but an extra night of protection would always be a plus.

The gate sealed shut, and a presence crept up behind me. Tomoe wore her hair clipped up to escape the scorching sun, while her ebony tank top matched the hilt of her katana and harness. Her fingers clutched a familiar well-worn notebook.

“It’s done?” I asked, reaching to take it from her.

She moved me into the shadows near the gate, replying in a hushed tone. I’d asked her to spend time translating Alexiares’s notebook, intending to keep the contents inside close to home. Deciding to err on a side of caution in case there was pertinent information. Of course there was a chance something could be lost in translation by not having a native speaker do the translation. But I’d decided that Tomoe would get the first look, and if what she discovered appeared to have any holes in it or anything dire, we’d explore our other options.

“Here, you were right. It’s Greek. But”—she handed it to me and I realized her smile wasn’t full of worry, but rather sadness—”we have nothing to worry about.”

It was evident she had no intention of divulging more details. “You okay? What’s wrong? He’s a serial killer in his past life? Fuckin knew it.”

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