Page 19 of The Divines

“Alright, I’m stuffed and us young ones have to get to our history class. Eli, Halley, you guys ready?”

Thankful for Kalani and her timing, I quickly got up, grabbed my plate, and fled the cafeteria, I hoped I had deterred Knox’s questions, but when I turned back to look at him, there was a determined look in his eyes, and I knew more questions would be waiting for me tomorrow.

Although most people hated history class, it was my favorite part of the day, besides learning about my powers. Most of these people had grown up learning about the history of the Divines, but for me it was all new and I loved everything I got to learn. So far, I had learned in depth about each of the Sectors and what their purpose to the community was, the different jobs Divines had throughout centuries, and the dangers of the Hunters. Each lesson, I greedily soaked in the information, wanting to learn even more about these people I had found myself a part of.

“Alright everyone, today we are going back to the very start of our history here on the human realm. Can anyone tell me why our ancestors left Agrum Di Vinum?”

Although I had briefly read about the Darkness that had overtaken the Divines home, I leaned forward, wanting to learn more about why we were now on the human realm.

Eli raised his hand, sitting next to Kalani and me, and answered. “The Darkness came and turned the Divines feral. The five leaders devised a plan to bring us to a different realm, until we could go back.”

Go back? This was the first time I had heard about the Divines going back to Agrum Di Vinum. If they couldn’t defeat the Darkness back then, how were we supposed to go back to a place that would make all of us go crazy?

“That’s correct. The Darkness was too strong for our leaders, and they didn’t see any other option besides leaving the only home they knew. It was a grand sacrifice for the future of the Divines, however, the Seer, our leader Emilie, saw a future where we could return to our home. It was prophesized that eventually, an heir of each original leader would be born with more strength than we have seen before. These five individuals would be the key to unlocking the portal to our way home and would defeat the Darkness on Agrum Di Vinum, allowing us to live there in peace and harmony again. The prophecy was written and enchanted to last centuries, however, it was lost many years ago. To this day, the Council is still searching for the answers to returning to our home.”

Professor Lilliana continued speaking, but I was lost in my own thoughts. I understood there was a lot about this world I didn’t yet know, but we were putting the future of the Divines in the hands of some lady who had a vision over 500 years ago? And on top of that, it had been500 years.Surely, the strong ancestors would have already been here. And what were we supposed to do now? They said five heirs, but as far as everyone knew, I was the only Enchanter left in existence. And with my measly powers I was learning very slowly, I sure as hell wasn’t strong enough to be the Enchanter they needed. Lost in my thoughts, I nearly missed the flash of a person running into the classroom, until I saw Wilder stop in front of Lilliana. A flash of annoyance crept over me at just the sight of him. The guy was an absolute asshole every session and besides learning about all the different ways I could be killed as a Divine, he had done jack shit to help me learn about being an Enchantress.

Pushing my annoyance aside, I focused on the conversation between Wilder and Lilliana. Although, it looked less like a conversation and more like Wilder was angrily spitting at Lilliana while her face became paler and paler. Whatever they were talking about, it obviously wasn’t something good. I looked to Kalani and Eli, who wore matching frowns, clearly sensing that something was wrong here. Before the conversation could escalate even further, Lilliana ran out of the classroom, using his power to speed, leaving us all confused and Wilder in his place. Murmurs started up amongst everyone in the room, but with one withering look Wilder had everyone silent. He may be an asshole, but he sure knew how to command a room. And with one single sentence, he knew how to send a room into disarray.

“The Hunters have attacked.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Wilder

I paced my room back and forth, running my hands through my hair, wishing there was something I could do. But the Council had the fucking rule that until you finished at the academy, no students were allowed to participate in the Guard or their duties. Which was absolute bullshit if you asked me. I was stronger and faster than nearly all the men and women in the Guard and I sure as shit could kill some Hunters if asked.

As Gunther’s assistant this year, I oversaw answering his calls from the Guard when he was teaching. Usually, I hated that part of my internship, but no more so than today when I got that call and couldn’t do a damn thing but run off to Gunther and the rest of the professors. The Guard had informed us that four of the communities had been infiltrated by Hunters today. Not only was the fact they were able to find and infiltrate our secure communities a kick in the gut, but the fact that all four communities, on different sides of the country, had been infiltrated at the same damn time. Although our people were taught to fear the Hunters, since the war, it had always seemed like they were far and few between. If we avoided the human cities, the Guard and our shields could protect us from the few straggling Hunters that found us. But this was no few Hunters. This was an army of Hunters that had found our safe havens and planned an attack. This was an act of war. A war that our people were not prepared for. After the first war and the Enchanter’s demise, our people had fallen into a mirage of peace. Although we stayed hidden and still feared, we held onto the belief that we were safe. Obviously, that belief was a bunch of bullshit. The Hunters hadn’t given up, they had bided their time, lulled us into a false sense of security, and now they had attacked. As only a student, I didn’t know the casualty numbers, but I assumed by the urgency of the call, we had lost many of our kind. A loss the Divines couldn’t take. We were already dwindling.

Pacing my room wasn’t going to do any good, but until Gunther returned, and I could track him down, there was nothing else for me to do. So, I continued to pace my room, seething at the fact that the Divines were in harm’s way yet again.

Nightfall had come and Gunther had finally returned. I had heard the sound of his car on the road leading up to the academy and I was already waiting outside his door before he had even stepped into the building. Thankfully, he seemed to be in a rush and used his speed to get here, making me wait only several seconds. He didn’t look shocked to see me standing outside his door, and knowing I wouldn’t leave until I had answers, ushered me into the room. Sitting behind his desk, I stayed standing, energy racing through me and hunger driving me. I had been too worked up to feed today, but it was starting to mess with me. It didn’t help that the only blood I craved these days was of a certain frustrating redhead. I didn’t need food to eat but feeding from other Divines was like eating broccoli when you were craving chocolate. It filled you up but didn’t scratch that itch on your tastebuds. Ignoring my immense hunger, I started in on Gunther, asking questions about the attack.

Gunther cut off my questioning and I realized that his eyes looked sunken in. He had obviously overworked himself doing whatever they needed him to do and was hungry as well. But instead of going to feed and rest, he was here to answer my questions. Even though I was frustrated beyond belief, I could at least appreciate that. Gunther was a good man and one of the few people who had earned my trust and respect.

With a large sigh, Gunther started explaining what had happened. “We don’t know for sure how they detected the communities, but there’s speculation that with the increase of human technology, they are now able to detect barriers. As you know, the shields have weakened over the last decades since they were last reinforced by Enchanters and so the Hunters were able to find the communities and break through the shields. We could have never anticipated something like that, and each community was caught off guard.”

“What about the Guard members in each community? Why are they stationed there if they can’t even do their fucking job?” I snarled, angry that this was happening. Most would be angry in this situation, but the Hunters always hit too close to home. I knew how it felt to lose someone to the Hunters. Someone important. And if I had been allowed to join the Guard already, maybe I could have stopped this from happening.

Shaking his head, Gunther answered my question, “The Guard did everything they could. But this was no small attack. There were dozens of Hunters at each community. Dozens of trained Hunters with weapons. You know as well as I do that there’s only a handful of Guards in each community. And without the shielding or healing Enchanters used to aide us with, if a Guard member is shot, they’re done for. We were overpowered within minutes.”

I understood what he was saying but fury still wracked through me. I wanted to think that my presence could have helped, but what was one man facing dozens? And even though I was superiorly strong and fast, if I had gotten hit, there was nothing I could do.

“How many?” I gritted out and Gunther didn’t need to ask for specifications on what I meant. How many of our people had been callously killed simply for existing?

“Across the four communities, 103 were killed and close to 5 dozen were injured.”

“Children? Elders? Innocent fucking people?”

Gunther simply nodded and instead of sagging in defeat, my anger only spiraled, giving me energy, telling me I needed to do something. We all needed to do something.

“I need to know one more thing: is this the start of another war?” If this was, I wasn’t sure we stood any chance. The last war we had barely survived long enough to hide and that was when we still had our protectors, when the Enchanters were still around.

“This isn’t the start of another war Wilder. We don’t have the power we used to. If the Hunters continue on this path, this is the extinction of our people.”

I nodded tightly at his words, knowing we couldn’t let this happen, that something needed to be done. There were hundreds of students at Willow Grove just sitting idly. We were some of the strongest of the Divines, surely, we could do something.

Turning towards the door, needing to work off my aggression and feed, I was stopped by Gunther’s final words.

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