Original - With Wrath, the Fall

Adrianna - Chapter 21: The Winds of Change

The air in the bunker felt different than outside. It was not stale or stagnant. It felt shifty, free, and fleeting. It was as if it was an excited child. I knew all too well that that was the result of the oddly-looking Admiral Stephens' presence.

The bunker itself was different from the usual bunkers I had seen from my time being a military general. It was large which was typical but it had various devices lined against the wall. Given my research and time at the university I recognized them as arcani, devices used by the Blue Guard with a purpose I could not name.

My father, the Brigadier General, found his place next to the Lieutenant General.

"It's about damn time you got here," General Meyers looked to Kalvin, Keagan, Randal, and I, "You care to explain what the hell is going on?"

We all stood in silence. If we knew anything of the situation it was that we knew nothing. No doubt our lack of words made that quite obvious.

Admiral Stephens spoke, "They haven't a clue."

His voice was steady and airy, just as the wind. He walked around the room a moment contemplating an imperceptible thought, "Of course I could edge them toward the right direction."

He locked his light meadow green eyes with each of us. With each of our gazes I felt the magical energy shift. He was using magic. "I can see it. Their magic truly is what I think it to be. Even," he held my gaze for a moment, "that one." His gaze moved then to Letty and Levvy, "Those two too. How remarkable. To think that such beings could exist among us and yet be so unaware of what they are."

"What they are?" Kalvin stepped forward, "What do you mean?"

A smile crossed the Admiral's face, "You are more aware than they are but still undeniably unaware..." he seemed humored, "and naïve. To think you've been to the realm of spirits and returned as something new. You are quite intriguing," he scanned Kalvin with genuine curiosity. His gaze then moved through the rest of us.

I let out a sigh of relief as his gaze left me. He turned to Meyers, "I shall have need of these six."

General Meyers looked at the Admiral, his face hard, "You're not taking my daughters."

"General, with all due respect, you are unable to deny me the right to take them regardless of your relationship to them."

The General looked uneased. He opened his mouth to speak but held his tongue.

"We are clear then?"

He just gave a nod.

"Good. We'll be off by dusk. Get your things gathered."

Randal shyly spoke out, "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere you all should have been long ago. I cannot believe it took the Tower this long to catch wind of what you truly are. Although, you all are rather..." he searched his mind for the right word, "unseemly to your role. Now go. Meet me out front at dusk. If you don't, well I'll have to find you and force you to come."

Magic seemed to buzz wildly forcing the air to blow fiercely for a moment as if responding to the fact that what the Admiral said was not a mere bluff, "Does your unit understand Sergeant Eden?"

As I found the eyes of each of my unit members I could see that we were all reluctant and clueless but we knew we didn't have a choice. We all saluted him.

"Good," he waved us off.

We all left the bunker. I had no idea what had just happened. It was as if all the time we spent in there just disappeared from existence taking our memory with it.

Keagan grabbed ahold of my shoulder, "The hell was that?"

I eased my shoulder from his grasp, "I don't know..."

"I don't think any of us know," Kalvin responded.

"Whatever it is," I spoke, "I don't think we have a choice in the matter."

I felt the wind pick up. It was chilling and filled me with a sense of longing but it was an honest wind. Not a silent one that seemed to pass through objects undisturbed but one that whistled as it passed through the rows of trees and snapped the loose hanging cloth of the bunkers' roofs. It reminded me of something my father had once said.

"A strong wind is a true wind. It's a wind that carries with it a promise," I whispered to myself. "If you listen carefully," I relayed my fathers' words, "if that promise was meant for you, you will hear it as words carried upon the winds."

I closed my eyes and brought my hands to my chest as if I was praying. I listened closely to the wind. It was an honest wind. It was strong and true.

As it faded away I heard the promise that it carried with it, "I will be back..."

I smiled. My memory went back to that one fateful night. That one night that a promise so dear was made even the winds could not carry it. That one night that only two held dear and others knew nothing of.

"I will be waiting..." I whispered to the winds hoping that they would carry my promise.