Haven's Army

Chapter 6

"Whoah."

The indoor arena was huge. It had a huge dirt field with beat-up dummies for weapons practice. The ceiling was so far above I almost couldn't see it. In the middle stood a lone man, swinging a sword as I had never seen. His form was perfect, him movements smooth and relaxed.

"Nicholas!" Leonardo called.

The man turned to us and smiled. "Hello Leonardo, Charlotte, Kathryn, and...you three..."

Peter and Andrew groaned in unison. Laura only looked around.

I couldn't help but feel amazed. This man...I didn't even know how to describe how excited I was. Maybe I shouldn't have judged when my friends were excited about Leonardo.

Leo sauntered up to Nicholas. "Hermano, how are you?" That was a word Peter and Andrew often used. They began talking as old friends. I smiled a little. I wondered if that was how reunions with Kathryn, Peter and Andrew would be in a few years. If we even lived that long.

"Come, sit with us," Nicholas said, beckoning for us to come over.

We all sat hesitantly. We sat in awkward silence for a while.

"So," Leonardo said. "Is there anything you want to know?"

"How did you all come here?" I asked when no one said anything. "The Founders, I mean."

"Oh, is that what they're calling us now?" Nicholas asked with a chuckle.

"Let's see now..." Leonardo trailed off.

"It was during the witch trials," Nicholas said. His voice was deep and rich, like the power he held was expressed in his voice. "They were trying people for having otherworldly powers, like us." The rest of us looked at each other. "That must sound strange to you," Nicholas said with a small smile, noticing our expressions, "coming from a world where powers are a part of everyday life." We nodded.

"Anywho," Leonardo continued, "they were rounding up so-called 'witches' from around the world to get rid of them. We had all come to a place called America. I had moved from a land called Spain. Nick's family was from the Americas as Native Americans, people originally from there. Then you had Louis from France, David from South Africa, can't remember where exactly...maybe Egypt?"

Nicholas leaned over. "Egypt is in North Africa," he reminded Leo good-naturedly.

"Ah..."

"Anyway," Nicholas continued, "They threw a batch of eleven people through a portal in a place called Massachusetts, where most of the trials were held. Mind you, that world is a whole lot larger than Haven." My friends and I looked at each other in amazement once more. Haven was such a large place already. I couldn't imagine anything larger. "We found a way to survive." He clenched his fist. "But we found out the hard way about Louis' powers. By then it was too late. He persuaded us to hand over control of our islands and forced us underground." He looked up at us. "Remember, that's his power: persuasion."

"Um," Kathryn started after a brief silence. "I don't mean to be rude but why is Ronnie all..." She made the crazy sign by circling her temple with a finger. "You two are fairly normal."

The two men looked at each other, a glimmer in their eyes.

Leonardo turned to us, his eyes crinkled in a smile. "We haven't seen Ronnie in so long. No one has." The smile was replaced by a look of sadness. "The Shadow is just too far away. He tried connecting his to ours but no matter how deep he went..." He shook his head. "Is he really?"

"O-only a little," I assured him quickly. He nodded.

We sat in another long silence.

Suddenly, Laura said, "We should probably go. Naomi's going to kill us."