Veil of Shadows

Chapter 47. Twenty Questions

Dave had taken to wandering the dungeons each day, monitoring the guards, listening in on their conversations and reporting back to the squad until Midnight arrived to help out. So far, the effort had been useless, but it didn't hurt to try.

He was just about to leave when he heard muffled cursing from one of the hallways that branched off from the main holding chamber. Pausing, he turned toward it. The voice was familiar, and he instinctively knew who it was.

The others hadn't been able to locate Ranger's cell until now. Wolf had searched almost the entire length of the prisons, but had felt no other traces of Ender Energy. Dave crept forward, staying in the shadows as he came close enough to hear what was being said.

"For Notch's sake, Ender, stay still. Struggling isn't going to help your case."

More muttered obscenities, then a firm thudding sound that could only be someone getting punched. Ranger was still able to fight back. But Dave couldn't risk showing himself - not yet. The guards would likely lock him up too, and then he wouldn't be able to help anybody.

"And here you were, thinking that shoving me in a cell for a few days would weaken me. I'm an Ender. I don't have to eat."

"You won't be an Ender for long. And if you put up any more of a fight, we will knock you out if we have to."

Dave's blood ran cold. He replayed those words over and over in his head. You won't be an Ender for long.

He needed to get back to the others. Needed to tell them what was happening, before it was too late to stop it. Not bothering to conceal himself in shadows anymore, Dave bolted for the prison exit.

~

"They're planning to do what?"

Dave met Wolf's gaze. "You heard what I said. They're going to destroy her Ender half, turn her into a full human."

Toxic jumped to her feet. "Then we all need to go down there and beat the ever-living heck out of those guards."

"I believe my presence was requested?" Midnight asked, appearing in the room the Hero Squad had taken as their temporary base of operations.

Blaze grinned faintly. "Yes, it was. Ranger's in danger. The guards are trying to turn her into a normal human to stop her from escaping her execution by teleporting. We're going to stop them."

"I've obviously missed something important, but that doesn't matter now. Let's go save an Ender Hybrid. And maybe kill a few guards in the process." Midnight said, flipping back the cowl of her black cloak.

Glowing white eyes. "You're a Brine Hybrid." Dave said, only half surprised.

"Not a Hybrid. I was born a pure-blooded Brine. And we can stay here and play twenty questions while Ranger's turned into a human, or we can get to the dungeon and start fighting our way in."

"Point taken. Let's do this."

~

Ranger and the guards met up with Shadow and his escort outside the room where their powers would be taken away.

Shadow scanned the three guards who surrounded Ranger, taking note of the first one, whose nose was bent severely to the side. "Looks like you came to the same conclusion I did."

"And what would that be?"

"To die as an Ender or not at all."

"We aren't going to die," Ranger replied. "The squad will really not be happy when they learn of this. As a matter of fact, I'm fairly sure Dave saw me and went back to inform the others."

Shadow smiled ever so slightly. "It must be nice. Having friends who would risk their lives to keep you safe."

"And your knights wouldn't do the same for you?"

"I said friends. There will always be a sort of wall between me and my men, and no matter how much I try, I will never be true friends with any of them. Leadership can be a lonely thing."

"How traumatizing."

Shadow studied her further. "Is something wrong? You seem more irritated than you normally are."

She kept her mouth shut this time. He didn't need to know that Red existed. And he certainly didn't need to know that she was influencing Ranger's mood, or that the determination to keep Red in her place was slowly but surely weakening.

"Alright you two, time to start. Ladies first." A guard said, pointing to Ranger.

Ranger summoned her remaining strength and did what she was best at. Annoying - and occasionally terrifying - her captors. "This lady is still fully capable of blasting your head off, just in case you haven't noticed. So watch the sarcasm."

The guard shut up and gestured to the three others. Two gripped an arm each, and one kept her head lowered as she was brought into the room where she would lose the one thing that had been constant throughout her life.

The one thing that made her different from everybody else, the one thing that defined her. And it was going to be destroyed.

The voice returned, barely audible only to Ranger. Red spoke of freedom, of revenge, poisoning her mind with lies and promises that would not be kept. Ranger would not let Red take control. Not now, not ever again. For the sake of everyone she knew, she would keep her Ender Rage bottled up.

Shadow's grip tightened on the glass pen as the door slammed shut.