Knights v Hunters: The Choice
Chapter 15

Two weeks later, Jude summoned his family and Ethan’s to the control room. Becca was healing nicely, her wound being treated with honey and although she still spent most of her time isolated to prevent infections, nothing could keep her away from this meeting.

Caleb was also there, sitting next to Becca. They had spent quite a bit of time together since she had been injured, but Eli had also become a regular visitor at Becca’s, stirring up some jealously and confusing emotions within Caleb.

Rafe had just completed his exams and was waiting for his results. He had spoken to Eden several times over the past few weeks and she had seemed very stressed; the Knights had been working all hours trying to track down former Knights. He gathered that it wasn’t going too well.

Ella sat next to Ava, her mentor, and her mother Maya, glad to have been able to use her skills to help her sister over the past few weeks.

Ethan and Jude both stood at the front of the control room. It was obvious to the young Hunters that their fathers were about to share something that would change their lives. The serious looks on the faces of both Ethan and Jude infused some nervous energy into the room.

“Before we start, Ethan and I request that everything that is shared in this room remains confidential. In a few days’ time, we will share this with the rest of the compound, because it affects us all. Right now, we wanted this meeting to share our ideas and thoughts. We wanted you, who we trust above all, to tell us if you think our ideas are crazy, far-fetched or realistic. There’s no holding back today. Agreed?”

All the Hunters in the room nodded in agreement. “Great,” Ethan said. “Over the past two weeks, Jude and I have been trying to run a few scenarios on likely missions for the Untouchables.”

Ah, so that’s what this is about, both Rafe and Caleb thought. They have obviously concluded on something that affects us.

“We believe that the Untouchables, with the help of some current Knights and maybe former Knights, plan to change how we operate, as both Knights and Hunters. We think that they will move into the world of the Normals and exert greater power than they’ve ever done before. In so doing, they might expose us all,” Ethan said.

There was silence around the room. Eventually, Rafe spoke. “So, you don’t think that they could just be planning to attack the leadership of the Knights?”

“There’s that too, but we think that this goes much deeper,” Jude said.

Over the next five hours, they challenged suppositions, debated ideas, threw out conjecture and looked at the cold hard facts. What they were left with brought a new sense of determination around the room. Rafe knew, when they all walked out of the control room, that if what they thought were true, nothing would ever be the same again.

Jude and Ava walked back home hand in hand. They had spent countless nights talking about what was coming to their compound and how best to train their society. Over the next few days, it would all be out in the open and the Hunters would begin training like they had never done so in the past. Hunters, young and old, would be called to hone their skills, test their abilities and sharpen their focus. Jude knew that he could count on his pack to weather this. He had always trusted every Hunter in their compound; had never questioned their loyalty and knew that he had no reason to. Now, that trust and loyalty would be put to the test.

The next day, Jude and Ethan called a grand meeting of the Hunters. The facts were shared, the possibilities debated and accepted and the outcome decided. All training camps had been activated and the leaders of each camp, selected. Jude and Ethan monitored the progress at the camps every day and were extremely satisfied with the training being meted out All was quiet in the world of the Normals and although a few Hunters ventured out on selected missions, the rest were back at the compound, training like they had never done so before.

Rafe had continued to chat with Eden during this time, but he had not mentioned what was going on at the compound. He didn’t like keeping things from her, especially when she so generously shared her information, but he had promised his father. The Knights had managed to track quite a few of the former Knights and about 90% of them had apparently been successfully cleaned before they left Knight town. However, the rest who had left with their memories and abilities intact, claimed not to know what was going on and only asked that they be allowed to continue with their peaceful lives. Gabe and the Council had decided to let them be for now, but would continue to track them in case they transgressed or were targeted by the Untouchables. Eden mentioned that the Untouchables were proving difficult to track. They had only managed to replace a handful, all successfully cleaned, all of whom who were living happy lives.

“My father is working so hard to track these former Knights. Fortunately, we have many Knights helping us, but I can’t help but wonder who we can trust,” Eden confessed one evening.

“I can’t imagine this is easy. You just have to be on the lookout for anomalies. How’s Noah doing?” Rafe asked.

“Remarkably well, considering,” Eden laughed. “He’s sequestered, so only the Council and my father can see him. Father says Noah seems to be working on a few theories himself, after reluctantly accepting that he could have handed over intelligence that proved to be false.”

“Surprising!” Rafe said. “Are you doing okay though? You seem more worried each time we talk.”

Eden was silent for a long while, such that Rafe thought that he might have lost communication. “I’m worried, yes, Rafe. This isn’t moving as quickly as I’d hoped. In a few days’ time, my year of the Choice ends and I have to meet with the Council to share my decision. We aren’t allowed to postpone, even though things are crazy in Knight town right now!”

Rafe heard all that was playing through Eden’s mind. He wished he could help her, but knew that she had to make her own decisions. He could only be there for her. “I love you, just know that,” he said. “Knowing that you love me too, well, everything has just paled into comparison since then.”

“Thank you. Despite my worries and frustration, your love is the only thing that rings true for me right now. It’s the one thing I don’t doubt. Love you, Rafe the Hunter. I have to go now. I think my parents are calling a meeting.”

A day later, a breathless Kyra interrupted Matthew and Eden’s rushed breakfast. She had come straight from her early morning jog with Josh, who was now not with her.

“Hey, slow down,” Matthew said, steadying his sister. “What’s going on?”

“Father asked that you join him at Noah’s house right now. Something horrible has happened!” Kyra said, unable to add more information. She raced upstairs to change while Matthew and Eden hurried over to Noah’s house, which was four streets away. When they approached the house they noticed their parents first, both huddled in conversation. Sam was talking to the Council members, including Seth and they all looked a bit shocked.

Eden ran up to her parents. “What happened?” she asked quickly.

“It’s Noah,” her father said, agitated. “He seems to have escaped!”

“What? How is that possible?” Matthew asked. Their father indicated that they should follow him into the house. In the kitchen, they found the two Guardians who had been watching Noah. Their throats had been slit, their cold bodies indicating that they had been dead for hours. Matthew couldn’t believe it. It was virtually impossible to overpower a Guardian, let alone two.

“Father, why do you think Noah would have done this?” Eden asked bewildered. Despite all the charges against Noah, a few doubts had crept into her mind as to his guilt. But now, had he not shown that he was in fact guilty of what he had been accused?

“I don’t know. I do know that he must have had quite a bit of help to take down the Guardians though. Whoever helped him to escape has to be from within Knight town because no one came past the Guardians last night,” Gabe said.

“Have you been able to track him?” Eden asked.

“No,” Gabe answered. “None of us can. The Guardians at the gate never saw him though, which can only mean that he is still in Knight town. We’re going to execute a house by house search immediately.”

While the search teams were being set up, Matthew, Josh and Eden took a look around Noah’s house. There was only damage in the kitchen, indicating that the Guardians had put up a fight. Noah must have called them inside, Eden thought, because the Guardians were assigned to guard the perimeter of Noah’s property and not inside the house. She saw three coffee mugs in the sink, lifted one and smelt it. It smelt okay, but something must have been used to initially subdue the Guardians.

Matthew bent over the bodies of the Guardians. They were so young, he realised. There was nothing on the Guardians to indicate how they might have been subdued.

“I wonder if Noah’s still in Knight town,” Josh said. “Though, I don’t know how he could have left without being seen. The Guardians would have known that he was sequestered; he would never have made it past them at the gate.”

Eden suddenly had a thought. “Have we accounted for all the Guardians on duty last night? If he took out the two who were watching him, he could have taken out one at the gate, especially if he had help.”

They ran outside to ask their father if all the Guardians had checked in. “Yes,” Gabe said. “Levi accounted for all of them when I contacted him thirty minutes ago, but I hear what you’re saying. Let’s go and replace Levi, he’s covering the north side of the town.”

Twenty minutes later, they realised that both Josh and Eden’s hunches were correct when they came across the body of Levi, also with his throat slit. Gabe was distraught because Levi had been a childhood friend of both him and Noah.

“Could Noah have answered Levi’s radio when you called?” Josh asked his father. “Did you hear anything unusual?”

“No, there was a lot of static, but there normally is on this side of town. It was definitely Levi that I spoke to, though. That means that Noah was still here when we found the other Guardians’ bodies in his house!” Gabe realised.

They walked back to Noah’s house and informed the Council of their replaceings. The search teams were called back and an urgent Council meeting was arranged. They had to figure out how to track Noah and those who helped him escape, because surely he was not that strong to take down three Guardians by himself, the strongest, fiercest and most loyal of all Knights?

Late evening, Rafe received word from Eden about Noah’s escape and the killing of the Guardians. Eden said it was chaotic in Knight town and they were desperately trying to replace a way to track Noah. She warned Rafe that she probably wouldn’t see him for a while yet. It was also more than likely that she wouldn’t be able to communicate with him over the coming days. She was being paired with Matthew to check out everyone in Knight town and it was tough to evade her brother.

Rafe realised that Eden also had something else on her mind and he hesitated before asking her.

“You’re right,” she confessed. “My year of the Choice is almost over and my mind is so muddled. I think that if I just focus over the next few days, I’ll come to my decision, which means that I can’t speak to you either because you introduce conflicting thoughts in my head, Rafe. I love you, but please can you give me the space to think clearly?

Rafe was taken aback. Was he confusing Eden? He couldn’t recall pressuring her, but maybe he was unknowingly doing that? “I’ll stand back for a while. Talk to me when you are ready. I love you, remember that,” he said instead.

When Eden ended her conversation with Rafe, she didn’t realise that there were tears running down her face or that Matthew had seen them and had heard her whispers of “I love you too” to Rafe. Matthew, quiet as he generally was, saw more than others imagined he did. Now, he saw that his sister was distraught and confused, but determined to help the Knights track down Noah.

Many frustrated hours and a few days later, the Knights returned to their homes, eager to continue the search the next day. Gabe’s family gathered in his home, joined by Seth and Dina. They were all exhausted.

“I don’t know how he did it,” Seth admitted. “The Guardians have always been our strongest weapons, our protectors. This is unbelievable!”

Gabe agreed. “Obviously there are more Knights helping Noah than we initially thought. He couldn’t have acted alone, but he has been gone for three days now and there is no sign off him. Even our strongest Trackers have been unable to replace him. This is worse than we have ever thought and we still haven’t figured out his mission.”

“He has to be coming after us in Knight town,” Seth suggested. “If he could take out the Guardians once, he can do it again!”

Gabe and Grace sat in silence. They both felt that they were missing something crucial, something that would point them in the right direction.

Eden sat across from her parents and watched their worried faces. The last few days had been taxing, but it had helped bring greater focus to her life. She looked around the room, at her brothers and sister, at Seth and Dina and knew for certain that their greatest struggle was only just beginning.

She longed to speak to Rafe, longed to see him, feel his arms around her and she would, she thought. She would allow herself that one joy in the midst of this hurricane in which the Knights found themselves.