The Science of Spying (Erityian Tribes, #4) | Published under Pop Fiction

Chapter 18 : Danger Zone

After hours of trying to sleep, I finally gave up. My body was exhausted but my mind was being an ass. I couldn't shut it down.

Without making any sound, I stood up and went outside, wary of all the defensive measurements that Nigel set up. A heavy sigh escaped my lips when Naia's words crossed my mind and the chilly night wasn't helping.

Dad would meet the other tribe leaders. This kind of move would surely rattle the members of each tribe. For the last century, the four tribes lived separately, with little to no communication at all, except for the green-eyed tribes, and this upcoming war might be the turning point of our race.

Bigla ko namang naalala ang nangyari kanina. The Nox Organization and Shinigami tribe probably made contact with each other and the Shinigamis might be one of the recipients of the weapons. Thinking about them possessing a lot of weapons sent shivers down my spine. I didn't want to think about it but it seemed like the war would become a terrifying reality few days from now.

"Why are you still awake?"

Nagulat naman ako nang makita ko si Cliff sa likuran ko. I didn't even notice his movements and presence. Was I that distracted?

Umupo naman siya sa tabi ko. "But yeah, a war seems unavoidable, especially now that the tension between the Senshins and Shinigamis reached its limit," he said while playing with his starknife.

"How did you know that?"

"It's quite predictable since Shinigamis are becoming more active in the black market."

"Aren't you troubled by this? I mean, having all the Erityian tribes in one place is just . . . unnerving."

I remembered the famous story about the separation of the Erityians. The Four Founders tried to unite all the colors but they were too contrasting and each of them believed in different principles. That meeting almost ended up as a war because the Founders got on each other's nerves. To Erityians, it was known as "The First and Last Council" since the four of them never assembled in the same place or at the same time again after that incident.

And after several centuries, the current leaders of the tribes were planning to meet again in the same place and at the same time.

Cliff didn't answer. He must be thinking about the same thing.

We were silent for a few minutes and the calmness of the night made my skin tingle.  Its silence eerily reminded me of the Nox.

"What do you think about that Pitch?" biglang tanong ni Cliff at mukhang pareho kami ng iniiisip.

"For a humdrum, he's quite a sight. I didn't expect a zweite to be intimidating."

"Well there are special cases and the zweites are definitely one of them."

He's right. The Nox is one of the most elusive organizations in the world, causing wars in different countries by selling them weapons, committing crimes without any recognizable evidences and controlling the black market. It has several bases around the world but Philippines might be one of their major bases. After getting into one of their bases here, I felt like we've just seen the surface. We weren't deep enough to know more about the inner circle members—the zweites and zuersts.

Even the drittes were hard to deal with so we really might give our all against the inner circle, especially against zuersts since all of them were Erityians to begin with.

"What should we do with Naia?" biglang tanong ni Cliff kaya napatingin ako. Right. We didn't expect Naia to come here.

"We need her to stay with Nigel. I don't want to risk her in battles because of her current situation. No matter what happens, we shouldn't let her fight. I don't want to see her suffer again just like the last time," sabi ko at naalala ko na naman ang nangyari two years ago.