Rising Tides | 2

13 | C a l i x

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"Do you ever think about life after the war?" Giovanni asked me, his auburn hair tousled by the wind. He tugged at the tight collar of his uniform. I frequently joined him during his patrolling shifts where we would use the discarded equipment on the island as cover. Today, we were settled in the front of an old, cream-colored sedan. The floorboards were covered in black sand, and the windows had been taken out. One of the doors was missing, and in its place was a dirty yellow tarp.

"I think about whether or not I'll have a life," I quipped, leaning my head back against the seat.

He looked down at his hands. "We're going to win."

"You say that with so much confidence." My voice dripped with sarcasm.

Giovanni sighed and mimicked my position, turning his head to look me in the eye. "I'm serious, Cal. Haven't you noticed he isn't fighting back anymore? Maybe he's tired."

"Or maybe he's planning something bigger," I groaned. "You don't seriously think that he would surrender his power over our realm and lose the chance to wreck his father's life just because he's not the only Valarious? He's a lot more powerful than you think."

Giovanni's mouth twitched.

I sighed. "Sorry. It's just that I've witnessed what he's capable of firsthand. He almost killed Ember. He's not going to stop until he gets what he wants."

He shrugged. "You're probably right, anyways. It's just false hope to entertain the idea of him changing for the better."

"Diana seems to think he can."

"Well, she's been dead for eight years. She's kind of out of the loop when it comes to her son's agenda for conquering the realms," Giovanni muttered, resting his cheek against his palm. "How is it that one family can screw over an entire species?"

I laughed loudly. My voice echoed across the sand. Giovanni quickly clamped his hand over my mouth to silence me. He scowled at me and scolded my outburst, "You can't be so loud out here, man. There could be Guard squads scouting this region."

Just as I shoved his hand away, I heard voices. Giovanni's shift must've ended. We stepped out of the car. He led us as we crept our way to the shift exchange location, ducking and sliding along abandoned items. The voices grew louder. We stopped by an old white refrigerator and waited for the rebels to approach. I recognized the girl, Greta, as the one who took Giovanni's shift. She didn't seem surprised to see me there with him. 

"Haven't seen much of you lately, Calix," said Greta flatly. She winked at Gio which caused his cheeks to turn pink. "Hey, there."

"I've been busy," I responded, ignoring her flirtatious attitude towards Giovanni. It was true. The past week, we had spent all our time scouring the base for Ragan. We knew she had been placed in confinement, but no one knew the location of the cell she was locked in. Those who did know had no desire to tell us.

The man with her scoffed. "Busy? No one here is busy. There's barely a war going on anymore, no one to fight, and therefore, nothing to do."

Greta took Giovanni's place behind the refrigerator, and he and I moved to head back into the base. "Then your shift should be a breeze," I stated. "Gods sustain you."

Giovanni and I walked away from the pair as they began a new conversation. We kept close to the objects on the beach, crouching to their levels as we walked. It was the best way to remain hidden from potential spies of the Crown. Our base had been discovered only once, but the pilot was shot down and disposed of. It had been quiet since.
"Greta seems forward."

Giovanni scratched the back of his neck and coughed. "Yeah, she's something."

I chuckled. We came to the entrance of the base, a giant plane that had been torn in half and flipped upside down. We ducked inside, Giovanni leading the way. He stuck to walking between the sets of seats, the floor of the aisle at our heads. The world became dark as we moved deeper into the plane.

Eventually, Gio stopped and crouched down, pulling open a hatch that had been at the top of the plane. It opened up to a deep hole with a ladder attached to the side. He swung around and began his descent. I followed once he disappeared. My boots clinked against the metal rungs as I stepped down into the rebel base, pulling the hatch closed as I went. I slowly lowered myself down each rung until the soles of my shoes hit the grated staircase. I let go of the ladder and pulled on the bottom of my grey shirt. Turning around, I caught up with Giovanni who was waiting by the stairs.

He motioned with his head for me to follow. "Come on, let's get dinner."

My stomach growled in response. I walked after him down the winding stairs. We were quiet as we made our way to the Pit. The quiet was something that everyone had gotten used to. The other soldier with Greta was right. No one here could be busy, nothing was going on. We made it around halfway down the staircase when a blur of voices resonated from above. Giovanni and I turned to see what the matter was.

"Find the general. Alert him immediately of Lord Valarious's plan." I recognized Colonel Peros's voice.

"Yes, sir."

Cleo Nicca came running down the stairs, face flushed and worried. The dark braids of her hair whipped at her chest as she descended. Then, she scurried down the hall a few floors above us, gone as soon as she had appeared.

Giovanni and I stood stunned on the stairs. So much for nothing going on.

"What do you think that was about?" I asked.

Giovanni's mouth turned down. "I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough."