SWNOVELS Chapter A Meeting with Tao
“Hurry,” I yelled, impatiently, “we’re going to be late.”
“I’m trying,” he yelled back, his hand reaching precariously for the coconut which sat at the top of the tree, his legs wrapped around the body of it. I rolled my eyes. I knew it would be much easier for me to simply shoot a ball of fire at it, but I decided against it, knowing just how badly he needed this win. I knew he blamed himself every time I got hurt, so there I stood, running late and waiting for Akuma to retrieve the coconuts from high above our heads to prove to himself of his worth.
Eventually, he managed to retrieve the nut, allowing us to continue our day, over half an hour late for the little (yet highly important) time we had with Tao for battle strategies and Intel. He handed me the nut. I thanked him patently to hide my annoyance at his need to prove something. “Alright, now we really, really need to go,” I said, taking his hand and rushing across the beach to the castle throne room, where she had set out maps, drawings, notes and more, hoping to ensure the best chance of survival possible. The double doors leading into the room were heavily guarded, only allowing seven people into the room, myself and Akuma, the other four heroes, and Tao and her closest friend, Toso. Anyone and everyone who didn’t have diplomatic clearance were unable to enter the sacred room. In fact, anyone entering the room had to prove they were who they said they were. I, myself put a flame in my free hand as I ordered the guards to look away and cover their ears as we entered. I watched as Akuma disappeared from view before they nodded and did as they were told. I opened the soundproof doors just wide enough for us both to slip through, and then carefully shut them behind us. I turned around, seeing Tao pacing around the room, her brow creased as she stared at the large map which sat sprawled out on the table. The rest of the heroes looked down nervously at the table as well.
She looked up at us, her face becoming quite angry. “You’re late,” she hissed.
I looked down at the coconut I held in my hand. “Um, we had something extremely important to take care of,” I said, meeting Akuma’s eyes and giving him a quick, comforting smile as if explaining to him that I knew why the nut was so important to him and that I would never tell a soul. “We are really very sorry. It won’t happen again,” I said.
“It isn’t very royal of you to show up to things late, but I suppose it can be allowed to slide, just this once,” she said from a distant thought. “Mare,” she ordered, “explain to them what they have missed while I figure things out and make it fast.”
“Yes ma’am,” Mare said, herding us over to a corner, where we would bother Tao the least as she thought. “Alright, as you may have noticed, Tao is a little-stressed,” she said with a worried smile. “That’s because someone has spotted an entire army of shadow creatures, trolls and dragons near the island. They’re killing anything in their way. Now apparently, they could have attacked a long time ago, but are waiting for something. Tao has a few theories, but we still aren’t sure. Basically, all we can do is wait for their inevitable attack because we can’t see them,” she said. “Apparently each of us had a weapon we can use to defeat the shadows. I hear you have yours,” she said. I nodded absent-mindedly. No matter how hard she tried to keep the fear from seeping into her voice, I could tell it was there.
Ignoring this fact, I thought only of her words for a moment. Akuma did the same, interrupting my thoughts by saying, “I actually think we can help with seeing what doesn’t appear there,” he said and smiled at me excitedly, the same way he would every time he had a stupid idea when we were growing up. An uneasy feeling growing in my stomach.