Episode Seven, Part 6:
Your Heart Has a Secret

The moment they had been preparing for had finally arrived. Outside the gates of Basilisk, Targo and Blood Riders had lined up for battle, ready to kill everyone in sight for the Heir if that's what it came down to. 

As uncertainty consumed the entirety of the camp, Kodiak and Dreea fell in line with Sol, the three Sovereigns marching past their armed guards to get to the gates. Sol looked nervous, forcing a look of intimidation upon her face, like she wasn't expecting them all to be there. 

The gates opened and the three of them slipped out, their weapons ready at the side in preparation for having to defend themselves. 

"What's the matter, Sovereigns? Didn't think you'd see all of us here?" Rhea taunted them. She glared across, swinging her sword around her legs nonchalantly. 

Sol sighed, pretending she needed a minute to turn to her equals and reconsider the plan. 

"This is good," Sol whispered, fighting the grin off of her face. She still had to convince Targo that they were alarmed. "Wynn and Quill called an hour ago to say they were just about to shut down Rider's radio controls. Elara should be far away from the labs by now. Everything's on schedule." 

Kodiak placed his hand on Sol's shoulder, nodding over to Targo so it seemed they were talking about them. 

"Great. But we still need them to think Elara is here for now, and that we're underprepared for the attack they think they came here for." 

Sol nodded, refocusing her mind on the enemy in front of them. She turned back around to face them, gulping a deep breath, exhaling a shaky breath. 

"You brought everyone along for the negotiation? I thought I made my requests very clear. Just you, Kane, and a doctor." 

Rhea smiled at Sol, eager to drop the bomb on her already. "Well, we did?" She played dumb. "Kane and I are both here and our doctor is somewhere among all these people," she laughed at herself, and several of her people joined in thinking that they had found a loophole to Sol's demands. 

"Or is that not okay with you, Sovereign? Were you hoping that it would just be the three of us so you could kill us and lead all these people without a leader?" 

Sol took a step back, catching her breath in her throat. "H-how did you know about that?" 

"You really need to be more careful with your radios, Nobel. I don't really like to reveal all my secrets, but, you see, in the same way that Kane thought he was radioing just you three, it seems that you left your channels open, and when you were communicating your plans to each other, you were giving me your game plan," Rhea explained. 

She thought she had just exposed Basilisk's entire plot against them, admitting that they had a counterplan to every move they were about to make, but she was wrong. The conversation Rhea had heard between the Sovereigns was scripted - intended to be heard by her, purposefully misleading her to bring all of her people out of Rider's camp, directly into Basilisk's trap. 

"You can't win. You've got no defence plan among your people. Just hand over the Heir and we'll let you live." 

"We won't-" 

Before Sol could finish her sentence, there was a commotion at the fence behind them. The three Sovereigns turned to see Ares knocking one of their guards down and letting himself out of camp. With no one else wanting to bear the consequences of Ares' anger, he was allowed to get to Sovereigns without restraint. 

"Ares, what are you doing here?" Kodiak spat, grabbing onto his wrist. "Go back inside." 

As he barked his orders at the boy, facing away from Targo, he subtly nodded towards him, showing him that everything was going accordingly at this point. 

Noticing his signal, Ares tugged his hand free from him, forcing himself away so he could step closer to the enemy. He wasn't brave enough to move far from where Sol was standing up ahead, but he got close enough to Kane so that his father could see the anger in his eyes. 

"Stay the hell away from us, Kane," Ares growled, his hands in fists at his side. The rage and resentment from the boy to his father was the only part of their conversation that was staged or counterfeit. Sure, he had certain points he had to get across for the plan's sake, but everything he felt - it was real. 

"Ares..." Kane spoke, calmly taking a few steps forward. "Where are your brothers and your sister?" 

Ares laughed bitterly, clenching his jaw as he looked away for a moment. "They're safe inside Basilisk where you can't touch them. I won't let you anywhere near them!" 

"Come on, Ares..." Kane pleaded. "I'm your dad. Stop fighting me." 

"You're not our dad!" He exploded. "Our dad died when the Bunker opened, along with Valarie, Junius, and... And mum," his voice softened, trembled slightly, but he held onto his anger. 

"Don't you get it? You're dead to us." 

His words were a blow. Almost enough to break through to his hidden, unfeeling heart... But not quite. 

"It's not too late to change your mind - to leave all of this behind." Kane offered. Even in spite of what he had already put his children through, if they still cared about him or not, he would never stop trying to have them all together again. 

"It was too late a long time ago," Ares mumbled, dropping his head down. He couldn't look back up at Kane anymore. He stepped back, retreating to stand beside Kodiak, letting someone else pick up the fight. 

Knowing that his son had given up on him completely, Kane sighed and also retreated to his leader, waiting for Rhea to make her final demands for the Heir. 

"We know she's inside. You have 10 minutes to bring her out unharmed of we will attack." 

"She's not coming out. You might want to reconsider your-" Kodiak began to respond to Rhea, ready to declare that he would fight every single one of her people if it meant keeping Elara safe, but he stopped mid-sentence, everyone turning around to see who had suddenly appeared from the side.

Ares stepped forward, narrowing his eyes to get a better look. "Quill?" 

//// 

Wynn stopped walking as he found a nice patch of shade, holding out his arm against Elara to stop her from continuing. 

"Let's sit down for a while. Catch your breath," he suggested, slinging off his bag and dropping to the ground beside it. 

Elara sighed and copied him, both siblings leaning up against the large willow tree. Wynn pulled out his bottle of water and handed it to his sister before he had a drink himself, wanting to make sure there was plenty for her to recuperate. 

"You feeling alright?" Wynn asked, glancing across at Elara. 

She exhaled heavily, passing the bottle back over to him. "I'm worried about Quill," she confessed.  

Wynn looked at her for a moment, trying to bite back the worry himself. He could Ares' voice in his head, telling him that he had to be strong for her. 

"I know, but he'll be fine. He'll find his way back to Basilisk okay," Wynn assured her. He kept his eyes on her, seeing how she didn't change much, stuck wrestling with the same amount of fear as before. 

"Ell," Wynn murmured. He slung his arm around her shoulder. "They'll realise it's Quill and Kodiak will make sure they get him back inside Basilisk. After that, he'll come and find us too once Targo leave, and we'll be back home as well." 

"Yeah," she sighed, "but then we'll be waiting for Ares..." She pointed out. "I'm fine. I just know today's gonna be a long day, and I can't wait for everything to be over already." 

Wynn nodded, just relieved that Elara was far away from Targo as possible. "It will be over soon," he promised. "Just stay here for a little while and then we'll go home. Together." 

Seven // Part Six
Our dad died when the Bunker opened.

1 chapter left!!

12/04/20