Part Three: Chaos [POV Detected: Adira Hunter, Peregrinator]

[Peregrinator POV detected]

I see the sword go through Dove’s heart. I hear someone screaming, and I kek. I’m numb. Did that really just happen?! There’s a thud, as Jay falls over. Darkling kneels over her, trying to figure out what happened. Darknight is just standing there, staring the corpse that is Dove’s body. Seriously, brain? All this and that’s what you think? You just found your long lost brother and now he’s dead and that’s what you think?!?!

Incitatus takes advantage of Darknight’s grief and orders the S.W.O.R.D agents to grab him and move out. Everyone on our side is too shocked to do anything, we just stand there, in some sort of stupor.

“What just happened?” Jay asks, looking very confused as she wakes up a bit later. Darkling looks over at where Dove is.

“I think… I think Incantatus killed Dove,” he replies.

“NO!” A voice shouts. I look up to see the Eagle swooping in. “Dove!”

“He’s... dead?” Crescent looks confused. “But I thought that Darknight was the one that was supposed to die, not sweet Alex!!”

“That’s not nice,” Jay mutters, “Darknight’s gone through a lot, Cresce.”

“Yeah, but he’s evil. Dove was nowhere as near as evil.”

“Either way, HE’S BEEN CAPTURED,” Darkling exclaims. “As much as I don’t like saying this, we have to rescue him!” I turn away from the group as they start arguing whether or not we should rescue Darknight. Looking over, I see my mom stand, Dove’s body in her arms. She’s shaking like she’s trying not to cry.

All of the Serephimbian agents are shocked, huddled in groups. Pitch’s arms are around Quiver, Cresce is sitting in her chair, knees drawn up to her chest and arms around her legs, and Talon and Gena are comforting each other. The REBEL agents are equally confused and flustered. Jay and Darkling are holding hands, watching Eagle. White Ninja is comforting a teary-eyed Pyra, while their daughter Jayla stands nearby, having joined the battle early on. Her friend, Black Ninja, stands off to the side, watching and waiting. And me? I’m just standing in the middle of this chaos, like I always have, and trying hard to refrain from turning into a falcon and flying away as fast as I can. The falcon in me is screaming for me to get some alone time, to just roll the recent events over in my mind. But I can tell that the others need me, so I am battling to keep my feet on solid ground. At least for now…

A hand clamps on my shoulder. Only one hand is almost as strong as mine, and that’s Agent 12. “You okay?” he asks.

I turn to acknowledge him. “Yeah, just... I wish that I could’ve gotten to know him better...“

12 nods, but doesn’t say anything. “I know how you feel.” He glances up and surveys the commotion. If I weren’t here to just witness what happened, I would’ve thought that some kind of natural disaster had swept in and taken Darknight, Dove, Incantatus and the S.W.O.R.D officials away. Everything is in ruins now. Trees lay strewn across the scene, though the nearest trees weren’t that close to begin with. I look around and see Jay and Darkling walking up to us.

“Peri…” Jay trails off. She looks like she’s about to cry, which is kinda weird since she always acts like nothing can get to her anymore.

“I know.” I finally find my legs, and take a step. “What now?” My feet instinctively shuffle over to where Eagle still cradles Dove’s body. I hear Talon talking loudly, to everyone.

“What we do now is make a plan. Make a plan to get Darknight back, and then do it. Just because they took one of us doesn’t mean that they get to take another. We will get him back, and we’ll remind S.W.O.R.D not to mess with us because we take care of our own. Now, who’s with me?”

“I guess I have nothing better to do,” Jay says, grinning. “Besides, Darknight’s part of REBEL, I can’t just leave him behind.”

“I was going to rescue him anyway,” Darkling points out. “He’s my brother, after all.”

“Sure, why not?” White Ninja and Pyra chorus.

I hesitate. I can sense Agent 12 is thinking about this too. We exchange glances.

“Not to be a party pooper, but how the hell are we going to break into the S.W.O.R.D base?!! It has more security than BASE, SOS, IIEM, and REBEL combined!! How are we supposed to get through that?” Gena asks. There’s dead silence.

“Well, we have me, so, we won’t fail,” Talon says light-heartedly.

“Uh, actually, they aren’t going to the S.W.O.R.D base,” Jay interjects. “I have a tracker on Darknight, and it says that they’re headed towards the foothills.”

“You’re tracking Darknight?” Darkling demands.

“Yeah, you have a problem with that?” She retorts.

“Uh…” Darkling frowns. “Maybe?”

“She’s right. They’re going into the foothills,” quiver confirms. Everybody looks at her. “What? Just because I’m not as annoying as Jay means that I can’t be as vigilant?”

Agent 12 and I say nothing. We exchange glances again. 12 doesn’t need his powers to figure out what I’m trying to say.

“Let’s go,” I whisper, and we fly out of the forest.

[end POV]