SHATTERED

Chap:17: A Cauldron of questions(1)

Dinah's POV

Despite feeling exhausted from last night's charade, the Outlaw's head was nonetheless merciless. He had summoned them to be present at 8 o'clock sharp for a conference. A conference that he himself was late in attending.

Dinah watched as Rawel stretched his neck and arms making cracking sounds . Sven was slumped over the table snoring. Surprising, since he did nothing more than run his mouth last night. Ivan sat far away from Sven and was sipping his cappuccino drowsily. Aweid on the other hand had slid down his chair sometime during his sleep and was curled up underneath the table.

Aweid and Ivan were only 14 but they had the highest scores besides Dinah . As good spell castors were hard to come by , the Outlaw had no choice but to enlist them. So aside from going to school like normal teenagers they lived a secret life working for the Outlaw. Though they were only 14 they were mature beyond their age.

Aweid was a quiet one , he hardly ever spoke unless spoken to. Ivan was the rowdy one. He was one of those annoying , pestering kids that demanded to be let in on the grown-ups secret , would threaten to tell on them unless allowed to join the adventures. He was quick to voice out his opinions and quick to lose temper as well. But when it came down to the job , if you knew how to control him and he had respect for you , he was extremely loyal and devoted.

Aweid and Ivan were always together like brothers , though they weren't blood related. Aweid followed orders without questions whereas Ivan questioned. Dinah couldn't decide which was the better trait as she looked at the two. It doesn't matter she decided, she loved them both like her own little brothers.

Dinah's eye-lids felt like lead. She could only catch a few hours of fitful sleep before the summons had arrived. Demanding they drag their asses here.

She stirred her cappuccino half-heartedly. Her stomach was continuously clenching and unclenching itself. Repeatedly she wished the nausea would subside already.

"You should eat something before having that. You missed your breakfast didn't you ? " Rawel's voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up to see his face etched in worry. She gave him a small smile. " It's alright ...the way I'm feeling right now ....I doubt I'll be able to stomach anything. What about you ? You missed your breakfast too didn't you ? " Dinah asked.

"Yeah, but I'm a man . We are made to endure hardships. Not that I'm saying you aren't tough or anything..." Rawel shrugged embarrassed.

Dinah laughed softly in order to not disturb the others, Ivan had fallen asleep again. "You better not be . Really Rawel , I'm fine . Don't worry. I have a feeling we will have to get used to this lack of sleep routines. I just hope the younger ones can keep up with the pressure."

" Aweid and Ivan are much more mature than kids their age, I'm sure they will be fine. But man, if I knew job was gonna get harder and harder I would have signed up for something easier. It sucks that in this dire time when we are so short of hands I have nothing to contribute.." Rawel shook his head remorsefully.

Dinah opened her mouth to say something that would lift his spirits but nothing came to mind. Rawel was a hard worker, deeply loyal and respected authority but unlike the rest of them he didn't have any special talents or abilities, which made him very disadvantaged in fights. After all, fancy gadgets could only get you so far.

"It's alright , you'll be fine . "or " I'll help you , let's hope for the best " all sounded so empty and false. Nothing is for certain. Just because you are alive today doesn't mean you will be tomorrow . How could she promise to help him when she didn't even know how to help him. It was at times like this , she wished she wasn't the leader , it's much easier to just follow. She didn't want the burden of so many people's lives on her shoulders.

She sometimes wondered if there was a spell out there that would help Rawel to have the ability to control magic but there wasn't. Not to her knowledge at least. If there was a solid way to help him , she would. After spending so much time together on their jobs , facing so many life and death situations , the team had become a second family to her. she would hate to see any one of them die. Even Sven and Lord knew how annoying that guy was.

"You know what sucks more Dinah ?The fact that it's 8:30am and it seems the commander has forgotten about us. If only I wasn't so nervous then maybe I could sleep as blissfully unaware as these three. " Rawel joked, lightening up the mood instantly.

Dinah was glad to have him . She finally took a sip of the cappuccino and was debating whether to wake them when the door opened with a click.

A lot of dragging and scratching noises could be heard as Dinah and Rawel jumped up from their seats expecting the commander .

Sylvie Atkinson , from the information unit , came in first. Lugging a projector under one arm and a laptop in the other with a bunch of plugs and wires trailing behind , she looked pissed. Rawel bristled , almost ready to jump in and help her when another head poked in. Her partner, Jared, came in next carrying a rolled up screen in one hand and the end of the plugs and wires in the other hand.

Sylvie blew some hair out of her face and gave them a pensive smile before scurrying off to the end of the room and starting to gear things up.

Dinah realized with a start that the three idiots were still sleeping. She was about to wake them up when the commander himself strolled in.