Chapter 284

We walk in silence through the rest of the short hallway. It seems to be dark gray metal with I beams
reinforcing the walls and ceilings every ten feet or so. I definitely get Batman vibes walking in the
corridor. I don’t know what to expect at this point, but I’m not sure if I’m more excited or afraid of spy
gadgets popping up out of the ground like in the movies. I really need to not let my imagination run
away with me, but it’s hard with no information to work with and Nickolas still isn’t talking to us, just
silently walking.
Nickolas takes us through a heavy metal door that has one handle on the outside, but several
levers and handles on the inside. This place was meant to keep people out. We walk into a room
that is still the drab gray metal, but there is a dim blue light illuminating the whole space. It seems to
be coming from the additional screens, but also the walls too.
“Here.” Nickolas points us to a table where Osiston and three other warriors are sitting. I recognize
all of them from our sparring classes, but none of them are ever there consistently. I guess this
would be why. They are on a mission, no longer needing training, but attending to either stay in
shape or to help with new recruits.
“Thank you for joining us, ladies. I’m hoping that your involvement will make this mission go a bit
more quickly. We’ve been on this for a long time and have lost too many to the cause. It needs to
end sooner rather than later. And now innocence is being taken, that we cannot allow.” The older of
the two guys I only recognize by face. He’s starting to gray around the ears and he has lines around
his eyes from either squinting or smiling a lot. The rest of his dark hair is cut very short on the sides
and back and only long enough to comb back on top. His build is average for most of the warriors I
know. About six feet tall and probably has to walk through a standard door sideways because of his
shoulder width. In this light I can’t tell what color his eyes are, but they are dark and soulful, like he
could see right through you.
“So we’re just going to throw innocence right at them then?” Nickolas asks next to me.
“We have heard from your point of view on this enough, Nickolas. They have agreed to help and the
decision stands.”
“They agreed without all of the information. They are too young and eager to prove themselves. Of
course they agreed.”
Catching on the same time I did, Mina speaks up. “They are standing right here and clearly this isn’t
as formal as when we were asked to join this mission. You all might as well lay it out there. It is
obvious that this mission is dangerous, that was made clear enough when we were volun-told to
join this group. Might as well get out whatever it is that you have a problem with Warrior Nickolas,
since you seem to be the only one to voice a negative to us being here.” She looks right at him, but
my eyes are on Osiston who seems to be just as agitated as Nickolas.
“You are being set up and used as bait. Everyone who is for this bullsh*t plan is hoping that since
both of you excel at fighting and have outmaneuvered everyone in this room on your own and as a
team that you will be able to get yourselves out of trouble when, not if, but when an attempt to
kidnap you happens. There are too many variables that we can’t account for, too much risk to your
lives and those that will step in to help you.”
I take a deep breath, it’s basically what we thought. They have a lot of faith in our skills even though
they have never been used in an actual battle situation. On that I agree with Nickolas, there are too
many variables to think about, too many things that are out of our control. That’s not a plan. I don’t
expect anything foolproof, there’s no such thing, but having some kind of back up plan would be
nice, but I don’t think we even really have a plan to make a backup for.