Humans had declared that the rebels who called themselves the Guardians were, in fact, terrorists and would be hunted down as such. All of the deplorable atrocities committed by Baal and his minions were now being attributed to the Guardians and there didn"t seem to be anything anyone could do about it. The humans were looking for war.
"How can we fight them? We were put here to protect them," Michael whispered. Emerging from the woods, they approached the open field in front of the cabin that had once been the home to one of Mirada"s sisters.
Since being abandoned, the elements had taken a great toll on the small building. The gra.s.s now swallowed the base of the structure and the windows shattered, broken in various storms or by random acts of vandalism.
Mirada turned, taking Michael"s hands into hers and pulling them close to her chest, she warmed his fingertips with her body heat. He is unable to mask the hurt from her, the betrayal he feels, as the people he dedicated his life to protecting now want to wipe out his kind.
"You know they don"t understand what they"re choosing. Baal is very clever at spinning his lies," Mirada said, attempting to comfort her husband.
"I don"t know, maybe the humans would be better off if we just disappeared. Then they might actually be safe," Michael suggested.
"Safe?" Mirada snapped, "Safe to do what? You know exactly what"s going to happen to them. Once we"re gone Baal will show his true colors and make them all into slaves. The ones who aren"t starved or tortured to death will spend the rest of their lives serving the demon"s every whim. You"re their only chance even if they can"t see it."
Michael patted her hand, shifting his feet and turning to head back in the direction of the main courtyard of Iron Gate. "I know you"re right, but it doesn"t make what has to be done any easier. Humans will die; there will be no avoiding it."
"They won"t all be so easily fooled by Baal. There are people who see him for what he really is and they"re willing to fight. There"s nothing you can do to stop the loss of human life, now. All we can do is try to help as many of them as possible."
Michael frowned and muttered, "I"m starting to understand all the impossible choices the council faced."
"Don"t compare yourself to them," Mirada remarked coldly. "You"re so much more than any of them were."
"I understand you didn"t always approve of their approach, but they were great men, and they were trying to change the world. That isn"t an easy thing to do. I"m but one; what can I ever do to really make a difference?" Michael questioned.
Mirada sighed, "I"m not going to discuss my feelings about the council with you; they gave their lives for this cause and I can at least give them that respect. What I will say is that I know you, and I know you"re not making the decision to fight lightly. You love the humans, and eventually they"ll see that."
"I hope so," Michael replied.
"Have you discussed the plan with the other military leaders?" Mirada inquired.
"I have. They"ll be moving their troops into position. We have a small human alliance, but every day it"s growing. According to my scouts, they have a strong hold in Georgia and South Carolina, so most Guardians are being directed to that location. I can"t help feeling like I"m sending countless men and women to their deaths. Guardians are groomed for a life like this. The people on the lines, their just regular people a"
Mirada squeezed Michael"s arm, "Stop! You can"t do that to yourself. They all know the risks that are involved and they still want to fight. This is their freedom, too; they deserve to try and preserve it. Any word from Gabe and the others?"
"Not yet. I"ve left instructions to send them to my briefing room as soon as they return."
"Gabe, will you slow down?" Rachel cried, grabbing her husband"s arm and bringing him to a stop. He didn"t look at her face. He worried if he did he might lose the tight grip he had on his anger. They stand there, silently, as the rest of their group pa.s.sed by them awkwardly.
"Look, I"m sorry," Rachel added after there was enough distance between their friends and them.
"For what?" Gabe asked, clenching his jaw.
"You know what for, please just talk to me," Rachel begged.
He finally looks at her, the pain is evident on his face, but once their eyes meet she can see the worry wash over him. "Why didn"t you tell me?"
Rachel doesn"t hesitate. She is thrilled he is at least listening to her now, after miles of silence. "At first I wasn"t even sure I was. When we were at Mirada"s that first time, she said something that made me start wondering."
Gabe"s eyes grew wide as he gasped, "You"ve known since then?"
"No!" Rachel quickly defended, "I mean not exactly, that was when I started to wonder, but then Clarite sensed it, too, and I hadn"t bled, then I knew."
"I don"t understand how you could keep this from me." Gabe"s voice was low and barely audible.
"I didn"t want to," Rachel explained. "At first, I just wanted to be certain, and then you already had so much to worry about, I didn"t want to give you something else to concern yourself with."
"Concern myself with?"
Rachel shook her head, "I know, it sounds terrible, but then I waited too long, and didn"t know how to tell you at that point."
"You should have told me right away, this is my life we"re talking about!" Gabe"s voice was no longer soft.
Rachel suddenly went on the defensive, "Oh, so you"re not upset I kept it from you, you"re upset because of the prophecy."
"What? No! I mean a I guess. I don"t know. I can"t event think straight, d.a.m.n it!"
"I"m scared about it, too," Rachel offered, trying to diffuse the tension.
"I"m not scared, and you shouldn"t be either."
"But a"
"But nothing, we have plenty of time to think about all of that," Gabe interjected. "I just can"t believe you would keep it from me, Rachel. If I had kept such a secret from you, I doubt you could forgive me."
Rachel giggled, "If you kept a secret from me that you were pregnant, we would have much bigger problems."
"Really, you"re going to joke about this?" Gabe snapped, but his stern look gave way to laughter. "Jesus Rachel, I really am p.i.s.sed at you."
"I know; I"m sorry. I shouldn"t joke," she chimed. "I really am sorry."
"We"re supposed to be a team. Aren"t you the one always telling me that?" Gabe reminded her.
Rachel stepped forward, taking his hand into hers. She placed it on her stomach and with a smile she said, "This is how I should have done it. Gabe, I love you with all my heart, and I"m so excited to tell you that you"re going to be a father."
Even though it had already been revealed to him, Gabe had been so consumed by the fact that Rachel had hidden it from him, it didn"t sink in until that moment what this actually meant. He looked down at her stomach, noticing for the first time the way it was looking fuller. He was going to be a father.
He raised his head, freeing his hand and wrapping both arms around Rachel, pulling her in close to his body. Neither said a word, their breathing fell in sync as they lingered there in each other"s arms, a miracle growing in her womb, their bodies surrounding it. Fatherhood was never something he had imagined or considered. The idea was both overwhelming and exciting. They held each other as if holding on for their very lives.
The Alicorns picked the group up a few miles from the mountainside and escorted them safely back to Iron Gate. Immediately they were led to Michael"s office, the urgency of it all made it clear something had happened.
Haim paced the length of the room and asked a dozen questions, to which none of his companions had answers.
"Look man, just calm down, I"m sure Michael will explain everything as soon as he gets here," Uri rea.s.sured him.
Uri took a seat next to Seraphine on the couch. On the hike home Sera had attempted to start a conversation about the things she said in the cave, but Uri quickly put an end to the topic. The words had hurt too much the first time, hearing them again would have been more than he could stomach.
She was there now, and even if she hadn"t fallen madly in love with him all those years ago, he was certain he loved her enough for the both of them. There was obviously a connection between them, and if Uri could keep her close long enough, he thought there might be a chance she could eventually feel the same for him.
"Welcome home," Dina called out as she entered the room. The group rushed over to greet her, sharing hugs.
Haim wasted no time asking, "Do you know what"s going on?"
"Quite a bit, my dear boy." Michael"s voice filled the room, as he and Mirada entered, Mirada closing the door behind them. "But first, before we get into all of that, I can"t wait to hear how things went."
Michael"s eyes shifted all around the room, landing on Seraphine"s face. "Oh, I see we have a guest."
Sera stood, extending a hand, "Yes sir, h.e.l.lo, I"m not sure if you remember me, but my name is a"
"Sera," Michael interjected. "I could never forget the young lady who saved Uri"s life."
"Yes, thank you sir," she replied humbly, a blush flooding her cheeks as she returned to a seated position.
Gabe eagerly retold the recent events that led up to discovering that the Guardians crown was rendered useless with Raimie"s death. As soon as he spoke Raimie"s name, the entire room looked to Dina, who now sat silent, Haim"s arm wrapped tight around her. She said nothing at the revelation.
"Well I"m glad you"re all safe. And Sera, we"d be honored if you stayed here with us at Iron Gate," Michael offered.
"Thank you sir, I will definitely consider your offer," she replied, shooting a sideways glance to Uri.
"That"s not all," Gabe added.
"Oh?" Michael questioned.
Gabe peered at Rachel, who smiled in response. "We"re going to have a baby."
"What?" Michael gasped.
Mirada rushed forward, hugging Rachel and Gabe and proclaimed "Congratulations!"
"I think you already knew, didn"t you?" Gabe asked, looking at Mirada."
"I might have," she said with a laugh.
"You knew?" Michael inquired, surprised his new wife had not relayed the important information to him.
"It wasn"t my news to share, darling," Mirada explained.
"Thank you," Rachel said softly.
"Well this is amazing news! I"m so happy for you both," Michael continued. "Do you know when?"
"Not exactly, but it should be in about four to five months time I would think," Rachel answered.
"That"s wonderful. Mirada, do you think you could take everyone to the kitchen and see if we can"t whip up a little celebration meal?" Michael instructed.
"Of course," she replied, the group following her from the room.
"Gabe, can you stay for a moment?" Michael asked quietly, grabbing his arm.
Gabe looked to Rachel for approval. She nodded and smiled at him before being swept from the room by the chattering crew.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Gabe inquired.
"We can tell the others later, but I wanted to speak to you first," Michael replied.
"What is it?" Gabe asked, staring at Michael, anxiously.
"Quite a bit unfolded in your absence, I"m afraid."
"We got that impression."
"Baal has formed an alliance with the US government," Michael explained.
"What?!" Gabe exclaimed, "Why would they trust him?"
"Baal is the master of deceit; you know that better than anyone. He has presented himself as a gentleman by the name of Grant Ledger. They believe he has an army of mercenaries willing to destroy the guardians."
"Wait a I"m confused, why would the humans want to see us destroyed?"
"Baal has convinced them that all of the attacks on the humans were from us," Michael continued.
"That"s insane, they can"t possibly believe that."
"Well they do. Perhaps he has them convinced or they are simply going along out of fear. Either way, he has control and has set up permanent residence in New York City," Michael added.
Gabe sighed, shaking his head, "I never even imagined this was a possibility. What do we do?"
"Baal has sent once of his lieutenants, Valafar, to engage with the human resistance that has formed in Georgia and South Carolina. I"ve agreed to send all of the Guardian forces to rally with them. There isn"t much left of us and there are a growing number of humans joining Baal"s side; this isn"t going to be an easy fight to win," Michael explained.
"I understand sir, but you know we are all ready to do whatever it takes. You tell us where to go and we"re there," Gabe rea.s.sured him.
"No, that"s not why I wanted to talk to you," Michael continued, "the prophecy says that your child will change everything. Your child will become a beacon of hope that the humans can rally around."
"What are you saying?" Gabe asked.
"I"m going to America, and I"m taking the Guardian forces with me. But I need you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"The most important thing for mankind isn"t if we win or lose this fight, it"s a savior. Your child is what they need," Michael began.
"I just wish it wasn"t at the expense of my life. I don"t want to die, but even more, I don"t want my kid to grow up without a father. I grew up like that and it"s not what I want for a child of mine," Gabe said somberly.
"I know son, it"s not an easy path for anyone to walk. These things have a strange way of fulfilling themselves, we have to have faith in what we"re doing," Michael explained.
"I wish faith came as easy for me. I don"t want Rachel to know, but I"m terrified."
"And no one can blame you for feeling that way. But there is a job for you now. You have to keep Rachel and your unborn child safe, no matter what," Michael instructed.
"I don"t understand. What are you asking me to do?" Gabe questioned.