Haven's Army

Chapter 6

It was finally time for our next mission. I never got a break. I almost envied those who weren't as powerful as me that could stay on the ship while we almost died every few days. It might be boring, though.

We hopped off the ship as a group and made our way through the forest. This was different than the jungle area of the lower Western Halo. These trees were pine and fir trees. The ground was covered in pine needles and twisted branches. The woods were thick and didn't end until we came to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was the biggest lake I had ever seen. Considering I hadn't seen many lakes, I didn't have much to compare it to, but this lake was huge. It was bigger than the entire village on the Shadow. I looked across the lake a little to see a huge mansion. It had huge, glass windows set in tall, white-painted, wooden walls. The front doors were three times taller than me.

We skirted the edge of the clearing with Dennis in front.

"Why are you here?" I asked Percy before realizing that may have been a little harsh.

He only said one word: "Laura." Though I wasn't sure what he meant by that, I knew not to ask more. He was just a train wreck waiting to happen.

Before I had prepared myself mentally, we were just next to the building. Dennis and Nathan stepped forward, nodded to each other, and Dennis pushed one door open a crack. Both peeked in, then motioned for us to follow. They led us in and down the hall. Before turning corners, Dennis would poke his head around to check.

We came to a corner. Dennis peeked around, then pulled back his head quickly. Before he could tell us anything, a voice echoed down the hall.

"Don't be bad guests. Come right in."

Louis.

We turned to look behind us. Angels filled the hall. We had nowhere to run.

"Come in, come in," he crowed.

Dennis nodded firmly to us and we put away our weapons and followed him around the corner. There stood Louis in the middle of the room flanked by about twenty Elite Angels. The only way out besides the hall (which doors were being closed at the moment) was a door to our right, which was guarded by an additional three Elites.

He grinned maniacally as we entered the room.

Before we could do anything, Percy ran forward. He was intercepted by two Elites. One knocked the back of his knees so he fell to his knees. The other held a sword point at Percy's head.

"Nobody move or he dies," Louis said calmly. "Including you," he said to Percy.

The tension was awful, waiting for one side to make its move. Percy looked frightened but he obviously didn't dare move.

In the blink of an eye, someone darted forward, knocked the sword out of the Angel's hand, stabbed a weapon into its stomach, and shoved it back onto the ground. The person landed on the ground in front of Percy, breathing hard. Percy looked up at the figure, now easily recognizable. Laura.

"What are you doing, Laura?" Percy asked, his voice shaking slightly from excitement and relief.

Without turning to look at him, she smiled. "Saving your butt, what does it look like?"

He grinned. "All right, works for me."

I wasn't so sure if I wanted to trust her but she was our only chance at the moment.

"Laura," Louis said strictly, "get back over here. I can still destroy you."

She stood up straight from her ready position. "I'm not afraid of you any more. I don't care if I die. Time with these people," she turned her head to Percy and smiled, "I've realized what a horrible person you are."