The Water Warrior(Book 1)(Completed)

Chapter 21: Old Friends and New Allies

No matter how many times BlackHawk told Firestar that asking for Stota's help was just straight up crazy, they still ended up outside Stota's door to his bedroom. From outside you could hear he was talking to someone on the phone, so Firestar opened the door.

As soon as Stota saw Firestar and BlackHawk he said, "I'm going to have to call you back," to whoever was on the other end. Stota then reached for his handgun that was on his nightstand, which he had kept for reasons of his past coming back to haunt him and right now he was glad he had. Noticing Stota going for his gun, BlackHawk lifted his crossbow, "I wouldn't do that." Listening to the man holding the bow, Stota stopped what he was doing. "Who are you and how did you get inside my house?" Stota asked the two intruders. "That's not important, what is important is your daughter," said BlackHawk. "What about my daughter?" Asked Stota. "She's been taken prisoner," replied Firestar.

"Aqua hasn't left her bedroom all day, how could she be kidnapped?"

"If you're sure she's in her bedroom, why don't you go look?" Said Firestar challenging Stota. A little irritated, Stota pulled open the top drawer of his nightstand and brought out the key to Aqua's bedroom door. He headed out of his room, purposely bumping into BlackHawk and Firestar as he left his room. Stota quickly unlocked Aqua's door and threw it open. Expecting to see Aqua lying bored on her bed, Stota was shocked to not see her there.

"What did you guys do to my daughter?" Demanded Stota turning around, rage filling his eyes as he looked at BlackHawk and Firestar. "We did nothing. Your daughter was captured by a man you are quite familiar with," stated BlackHawk. "Who?" Stota asked. "Sinergy," replied Firestar.

After that, it did not take much time to explain to Stota what had happened over the past couple of years and for Stota to agree to help them get Aqua back. They went through the secret entrance in Stota's study, which he was not too pleased about, and entered the Forbidden Forest.

As they trudged through Firestar and BlackHawk tried to make small talk with Stota and each other to break the awkward silence. "So, Stota and BlackHawk, where do you think the easiest entrance point into Sinergy's castle is?" Asked Firestar. "First we need to address our weapon problem before we can even think about attacking Sinergy," Stota replied. "Where are we going then to get weapons?" BlackHawk asked, noticing Stota taking the lead and changing direction. "Before Sinergy came to power, I was the king of the Cadars, but you probably already knew that. And that is where we are headed, Cadar. There are plenty of weapons that Sinergy could only dream of having."

BlackHawk looked at Stota then back to Firestar as if to say, he doesn't know.

As they approached the top of the hill BlackHawk spoke up, trying to break the bad news very carefully knowing what a bad temper Stota had. "Stota there's something you need to know about Cadar." "Well whatever it is can wait since we are already here," said Stota when they reached the top of the hill that overlooked his kingdom, but what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

What once was a beautiful kingdom was now a pile of rubble, though some of the main pillars did remain, it was obvious that no one had survived. Stota's hands curled into fists, as he looked at his devastated kingdom. "What kind of monster would kill an entire kingdom including women and children?" Stota said practically growling. "We didn't want to tell you this Stota, but when Sinergy came to power he built up his army and laid waste to any kingdom that was in his path. If the kingdom tried to fight back, like yours did, every living soul was killed," said Firestar breaking the bad news.

Firestar and Stota talked back and forth for a while where Firestar told Stota the truth about the night his wife and unborn child were killed including the part that Sinergy was the one behind the attack. This just fueled Stota's anger toward Sinergy and the need to kill him.

As the two continued to talk, BlackHawk's mind went somewhere else. BlackHawk had not been to his home since the day of the attack and looking at it was like having a soldier come home from war only to realize that his family was dead. He walked down the other side of the hill as memories of that fateful night filled his head.

Without even realizing it, BlackHawk had ended up inside of what once was the King's Quarters. Wood, glass, and fabric covered the floor, but what caught BlackHawk's attention was a small metal handle on the floor partially hidden by a rug. As he moved the debris that covered the rug, Stota and Firestar approached him to see what he was doing. When he lifted the rug, Stota knew what BlackHawk did not, "An escape route that was the last resort if there was ever an invasion."

BlackHawk lifted the hatch and saw the dark tunnel below. Firestar grabbed a nearby torch that layed on the ground and lit it by creating a spark with two rocks. "What other choice do we have," said BlackHawk before descending down the perfectly carved steps into the cave tunnel with Firestar and Stota following quickly behind.

The large tunnel seemed to go on forever with only a small torch to illuminate their path. Deeper into the ground they went until a faint orange glow began to appear. As they neared the light the cave began to open up and they were met with a large underground village full of people. Hundreds of people.

The village housing was made out of cloth, large tree branches, and natural cave rocks. There was even farming in certain areas of the cave where light seeped through holes in the cave's ceiling allowing plants to grow. Last, but not least, there were farm animals in the cave that made it smell just a little like a farm. The animals in the corals or farms were cows, pigs and tons of horses, the horses were the only ones which were not eaten, but when times of starvation set in, everything was fair game.

As the trio took in their new and unusual surroundings, a man in his early thirties approached them. He was very muscular like he had been a soldier or something that required a lot of brutal strength, he wore a stern look on his face and his hand never left the hilt of his sword. "Can I help you?" The man asked.

"Yes, may I speak to the man in charge?" Stota asked trying his best to not sound demanding; all he needed to do right now was tick off another civilization, which they could not afford because they needed them as allies.

"I am the man in charge. Grevis is my name and I must ask you how did you get in here? Nobody knows about the entrance but us."

"Grevis?" Said Stota and BlackHawk at the same time in both shock and confusion.

"Yes?" He asked quizzically, looking at each of the three men's faces that stood in front of him.

"Brother, it's me, BlackHawk," Said BlackHawk as a smile began to form on his face.

Grevis took a second to look at BlackHawk, could he really be his brother? "BlackHawk? Is it really you?" He questioned. BlackHawk nodded his head. Without a moment's hesitation, the two brothers united in a tight brotherly embrace. Tears threatened to cascade down their cheeks as they reunited. It had been almost fifteen years since they had seen each other and the last time that they had was when Sinergy had destroyed their home, Cadar, which was not a good memory for either of them.

Firestar cleared his throat and the brothers' embrace ended. "I don't mean to be rude, but we have a very pressing matter that needs to be attended to." "Grevis the reason we were able to find this place, is because it was our last escape plan if the kingdom was ever invaded," said Stota. "King Stota?" Said Grevis, the second time of the day that a ghost from his past was now standing in front of him alive and well. Grevis knelt down on one knee and put his fist over his heart, the Cadars' symbol of respect to their king.

"You may rise Grevis," said Stota with the authority he had missed. "Alright, let's get down to business. Earlier today my niece, Aqua, was captured by Sinergy when she went to rescue your brother," said Stota inclining his head at BlackHawk. "Once she has served her purpose he will not hesitate to kill her." "And what purpose is that?" Asked General Grevis.

"To fulfill the prophecy," said a shadowy figure as it stepped out of the darkness and into the light, revealing an all too familiar face.