The Council of Ten

Chapter 22 - Hidden Secrets (Marco D'Este)

Chapter Twenty-Two – Hidden Secrets (Marco D’Este)

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I thought it was over in that moment. I thought that was it and, if I’m honest, I’ve never been more afraid in my entire life. Heart in my mouth I closed my fist over the charms Lena got me, hoping and praying they would be enough yet knowing it was hopeless. Through my closed eyes I could feel rather than see the blinding light and waited for impact.

Nothing came.

I let out the breath I’d been holding, thinking it to be my last and looked over at Desidario only to find my line of sight obscured by a boy. He couldn’t have been much older than me and as I scanned the back of his long green coat I realized he reeked of magic. I sniffed but didn’t make a move to do anything because, if my suspicions were correct, then that boy had saved our lives. I heard Lena cry out “you came!” And my eyes narrowed, it couldn’t possibly be...

“Yes, I did,” said the boy. Although I couldn’t see his face I imagined him to be smirking but his tone changed as he said “let her go, man, or you know what will happen to you.” And his voice was so full of authority that it would take either a brave or foolish person to argue with him. Desidario appeared to be one of these, which one I was not sure, but time would certainly tell.

He made no move to release Lena which angered me and then he opened his mouth and spat “I don’t know who you think you are when this is all for the good of your kind. I don’t know why you think you can tell me what to do. You should be glad at our efforts to rid the city of these people.” He paused, eyes flashing and shifted the arm that was holding Lena “these vermin.”

“I suggest you think twice before you talk about a friend of mine in that way,” the boy sneered “let her go or I guarantee you’ll be sorry you ever made friends with the Council.” Two thoughts entered my mind at the same moment then. The first one being confusion about the boy’s comment about the Council. What on earth did they have to do with it all¬? The second was: the boy is powerful. He’d deflected a strong spell and, not for the first time that night, I was glad he was on our side. “Rip her face off and I’ll kill you.” The boy said, hands clenched and mark my words: that was no empty threat.

“You try and stop me,” came the man’s reply. That was when time told me that Desidario was definitely a fool. And the boy didn’t even need to try, he just did it with a flick of his wrist. There was a cloud of white smoke, wispy so I could see what was happening. Desidario fell to the floor and writhed in pain while the boy grabbed Lena’s arm and pushed her towards me and Alberto. I pulled her to me but my gaze never left the boy and the man lying on the ground. Our saviour but his brown shoe on the man’s wrist and stepped on it with some force.

“I’ve stopped you,” he said, arrogantly “what now?”

“You don’t know who you’re messing with boy,” snarled Desidario, “if you kill me, revenge will be taken.”

The nameless boy chuckled “I know exactly who’s skin I’m getting under, don’t you worry about that. And kill you? No, I wasn’t planning on killing you.” The boy pulled his foot away from the man’s wrist and folded his arms, “I’m going to leave you here.”

“Some punishment, boy, I knew you didn’t have it in you,” taunted Desidario. I winced at his words, wondering how somebody could be so stupid.

I turned to Alberto and hissed “here’s another who needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.” He stuck his tongue out at me and I returned my attention to the scene before me after glancing briefly at Lena who’s shining eyes were fixed on her night time visitor.