"Today, we put an end to the suffering of these infants. We will rescue them and bring them here where we can help them. Find families or find their biological mothers. We will do the best we can for those Unseen babies."
Someone shouted a cheer and the crowd erupted into applause.
Zander waited for it to die down before he spoke again. "This will not be easy. We might be outnumbered, and they have advanced weapons. You will all need every minute of your training to come out of this alive. But I know you can do it. I have seen what each and every one of you are capable of. You are the bravest, strongest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. So go out there and show them what we're made of."
He stepped down and the crowd went wild, cheering and shouting. People were pumped, ready to fight. But as I looked around at the faces of the people I had come to know, I couldn't help but feel a little scared.
Not everyone was going to come back.
The Vampari came over, and Terri introduced us to her second in command, a woman named Tanya. We quickly came up with a plan. The Vampari would take out the guards at the gate, along with the Valkyrie, Reapers, and some of Terri and Tanya's soldiers. They were our front line. The witches would take the Sárkány and Supay, many of whom were not warriors, into the warehouse. Their main goal was to create portals and get as many babies as possible out of the warehouse and into a warehouse of our own. It was away from the Junta headquarters in case members of the bad Leyak followed us there. From there we could get the babies here via more portals, where doctors and nurses waited to care for them.
The rest of the Junta army would go where needed, whether that be inside the warehouse or in front of it. Anything to keep the fight away from the infants. We didn't want to risk their lives.
I was with Riley, and we had six fierce men surrounding us. We were going with the vampari to kill and distract as many of the Leyak as we could.
Tanya fiddled with the Leyak's weird scientific portals, and we all stepped back. It blared to life across the width of the council room. Half of our force went through, and though I couldn't see it, another group was going through on the opposite side of the room, into the warehouse for the babies. "Good luck," I whispered.
15
We pouredout onto a field of lush green grass.
Trees surrounded the clearing on all sides, their leaves rustling in the light breeze. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, casting a pink and orange glow across the sky.
I had never seen anything so beautiful.
But I didn't have time to appreciate it. As soon as we stepped out of the portal, we were met with a wall of enemy soldiers. We had no idea if they’d known we were coming or if they’d stayed there constantly since our last visit. Hopefully, nobody on our side had forewarned them.
We charged into the fray, swords flashing and arrows flying. Vampari, the mighty warriors, jumped around like cats, their inhuman speed and agility making them deadly.
Riley fought beside me, her movements smooth and graceful. Fire erupted from her hands, balls flying into the enemies and engulfing them in flames. She'd been training. I still hadn't found my fire, and really the only thing I could do was fly. I'd never entertained the first suggestion of staying behind, however.
I'd had a few crash course trainings with a sword, and had guns strapped all over me.
This was like a dream. Everything was moving so fast and yet in slow motion at the same time. A spike came out of a blue arm near me and stabbed toward Doryu. I screamed, and slashed downward with my sword, cutting the spike off of the Leyak's arm.
They had guns, too, but they looked like they'd come out of a science fiction movie. They were huge, and the bullets seemed to be able to pass through solid objects, too.
Riley focused on taking out guns, aiming her fire toward the big weapons. Axoular erupted in flames, his clothes burning off, and Doryu soon followed.
It wasn't until I was nearly stabbed with one of those awful spikes that I found my fire. My wings erupted from my back, and my body engulfed in flames. Rage pouring through me, I took to the air and opened my mouth. Molten fire poured out of me like lava, falling all over the soldiers below.
Someone slammed into me, sending me careening down toward the ground. I started to fight but realized it was Doryu. His wings had erupted, as well. "You made yourself a target," he yelled as he slashed a Leyak in the throat with his sword. “I could see a bunch of them aiming their guns at you, up in the air.”
The battle continued to rage around us, and we fought desperately to keep our enemies at bay. But it was clear that this was a losing battle. Many more people came through the portal, and there were too many for our small army, even with the addition of the good Leyak. We had to pray they were faring better inside.
Nearby, a portal opened, and Dumadi ran through. Before I could warn anyone he was here, he pulled a sword from a scabbard and began hacking into his own people, the ones in the futuristic armor and with the big guns. Leyak after Leyak fell to his sword. From his portal, a good hundred more people came through. Most looked like humans, but I knew those were stolen identities. These were Dumadi's followers.
But he was fighting for us. He'd been sincere after all.
We fought our way over to him. "How'd you get here?" Riley asked as she came running up, breathless. The rest of her mates and mine followed. Zander yanked me into a quick side hug. "Don't do that again," he growled.
Anthony pulled a slim-fitting, short dress from his bag and handed it to Riley, then another for me. Our clothes had burned off. To Axoular and Doryu he gave running shorts. The battle raged around us while we took a moment to breathe behind our line.
"I've been able to escape the prison house since day one," he said. "I'm a bit smarter than any of you give me credit for. But I wanted to prove to you that I'm sorry, and I really do want to help."
Riley nodded once. "Well, this was a good way to do it."
"Behind us!" Doryu yelled. Our conversation was broken then, by a Leyak with a big gun. He was aiming at us. Doryu flew up into the air and tackled the soldier, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
