I felt everyone’s eyes on me, the soldiers posted on the sides of the auditorium, the students, teachers and other hostages focused their eyes on me, waiting for my reaction. None of them had their eyes on Ethan, none of them noticed his smile or saw him wink at me. His attitude made me feel better, and gave me the calmness I needed to go ahead.
“Why would I do something so stupid?” I asked, trying to sound bored and at ease. “If he got himself in this situation, that’s not my problem, he shouldn’t have let himself be captured in the first place. For six years I had to be under Faakhir’s control, waiting, planning, preparing for the perfect opportunity to take control of the Dominion, and you expect me to throw away all my efforts?”
“I told you it wouldn’t work,” Ethan said, his smile was gone and he sounded defeated, when people looked at him they found a broken kid, one that didn’t want to fight anymore, and if it wasn’t for the memory of his smile, even I would have believed his act. “You are just wasting your time.”
“No,” Draco denied, “I know you are heartless, but even people like you need an heir, someone to continue your work, to keep your legacy, and I don’t believe you are the kind of woman that would start again, you don’t have a spare, you need him.”
“Do you really think he is my heir?” I asked, forcing a mocking smile on my lips.
“He is your only child,” Draco replied.
“Malkia is my heir, Greca is my spare, Ethan is… he is only a disappointment.” Ethan’s shoulders dropped, and he moved as if my words were a physical blow, anyone watching would believe he was hurt by my attitude, even I had to remind myself that Ethan knew I was lying, he knew how much I loved him and how proud I was of him. “My daughters are true warriors, in the same situation they would have already killed all of you.”
“What are you talking about?” Draco said, my response was something he wasn’t expecting. “Ethan is your only child,” he repeated, not as sure as before.
“I have two older sisters, but they live in the Dark Empire,” Ethan explained, his voice so full of resentment that I wondered if there was some truth behind them, or if he was still acting. “They are these perfect, deadly warriors that don’t think twice before killing their enemies in cold blood. They are perfect copies of my mother.”
“But, you still wouldn’t let your son die without doing something about it,” Dracon insisted.
“Of course I wouldn’t, there will be consequences if you kill him, but I won’t lose what I have worked so hard for because of him, I will make you pay for hurting or killing him do. And you are forgetting the other half of the equation, Kimball won’t let you hurt his son without paying dearly for that, believe me, you don’t want to know what happened to the people who murdered his first family, you would have nightmares for the rest of your life. I prefer an eye for an eye, you take something from me, I take something from you.”
“I don’t have kids, so it would be a little difficult for you to do that,” Draco mocked.
“I could just take your lover, and your unborn child,” I threatened. As soon as I spoke, the woman next to me took a step back and moved her hands to her belly, as if that act could protect her child. Draco also lowered his gun, staring at the woman, confirming not only the woman’s pregnancy, but my guess that he didn’t know about it.
“Brave words, but do you really think I would let you hurt me?” the woman asked.
“There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
“Enough!” Draco ordered. “You are not in a position to make threats, we have the upper hand here, we are more than you and you don’t have your powers to help you. Besides, there are other ways of getting what we want, if you don’t care about your son, and won’t negotiate with us, then there is no reason to keep you alive.”
The woman pointed her gun at me, again, and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened, I had already taken care of the guns, disabling them as soon as I got my powers back. I could feel the fear and desperation in the woman, as she pulled the trigger again and again without luck.
“Don’t stand there, shoot her!” the woman yelled at the guards, and they tried, but they soon found that their weapons weren’t working either, but they didn’t let that stop them, they attacked. I could feel one of them probing my mind, trying to get inside, while others was already charging in my direction.
Using my powers, I pushed the guards towards the invisible wall dividing us and the rest of the auditorium, as the guards hit it, a strong electrical current rendered all of them, but one, unconscious. They bounced back into the stage, the invisible wall, unfurtainly, still working. The woman tried to run away, but I used the heavy curtains to trap her, wrapping it around her until she couldn’t move anymore, covering everything, even her mouth, but letting enough space so she could breathe. After approaching the last standing soldier and knocking him out, I went back to where the woman was, putting my foot on her neck.
“How does it feel to know you are your enemy’s mercy?” I asked, throwing her own words back at her.
“Stop!” Draco yelled, I’m sure he wanted the word to sound like an order, but it ended up sounding like a pleading.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her unless you give me a reason to. You can surrender right now, and I will show you mercy, maybe, but the longer it takes you to surrender, the worse it will be for you and your men.”
“Your powers, they were supposed to be suppressed, you shouldn’t be able to fight back,” Draco accused.
“Even without my powers I’m perfectly capable of squashing leeches like you, but unfortunately for you, this suppressor is too weak to contain me for long.” I took the suppressor out of my neck and broke it, letting the pieces fall at my feet, There is no way for you to win this battle, you can’t defeat me, you lost the moment you decided to face me, no one can stop me, my power goes beyond what your puny imagination can come up with.”
“You are still on the other side, there’s no way you can hurt me,” he was clearly losing control, I could hear the fear in his voice as he realized that the predator had become the prey.
“Do you really think something like that will stop me?”
“I warned you,” Ethan said, “you can’t stop her. And it wouldn’t be the first time she crosses one of those blockers.”
“Don’t be a fool, you saw what happened to my guards.”
“They’re weak,” Ethan said. “I had seen her crossing barriers like that, she may end up twitching a little and she may even be rendered immobile for a few seconds, but her mind will still be strong enough to take care of you and your people.”
“It’s not an experience I care to repeat, it’s not a pleasant feeling, but my son is right, it wouldn’t be the first time, you are not safe.”
“If you try anything, I will kill your son and then every student on this side, before you have the chance to cross to this side,” Draco threatened.
“And we’re back to the beginning, I thought we had already established that threats don’t work on me. If I’m not willing to compromise for my son, what makes you think I will for other people’s children?”
I could see Draco losing control, his guards, still posted on the sides of the auditorium, were also getting nervous, not sure if my words were true or empty threats. I knew that I had to so something fast before things got out of control, but I wasn’t sure what. I knew that Ethan was safe, he was acting as if everything was ok, so I had to trust him, but I couldn’t get out of my head the vision that had guided me to that place. I had to act, do something, and no matter how much I dreaded crossing the barrier and getting electrocuted, I had no choices, I needed to get to the other side and face Draco and his people before they had the chance to hurt the students.
“You should surrender, this will not end well for you,” Ethan suggested.
“Shut up,” Draco ordered, emphasizing his order with a hit to Ethan’s head, using his gun’s butt, but he only hit Ethan’s barrier.
“Ouch,” Ethan said, his response exaggerated, he moved his head in response to the hit, but his action was delayed, making it clear it was an act, and the hit hadn’t hurt him at all.
“What the hell…?” Draco was losing his mind, he couldn’t understand what was going on, and for the first time he paid attention to Ethan and noticed that he wasn’t actually touching him, his hand was resting an inch above Ethan’s shoulder. “What is this? You have no powers, you can’t be doing this,” he accused. “I’ve heard your mother going on and on about what a disappointment you are, there’s no way you can do this.”
“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one to get it wrong, most people assume that my mother means that I’m weak or powerless, but actually, I have almost the same powers that my mother has,” Ethan explained, his posture and attitude changing once again, he was acting sure of himself, a little haughty, a little cocky.
“Ethan is my son, there’s no way he can be weak, he comes from a great heritage, that’s what makes his attitude so disappointing,” I said, hoping I was reading Ethan’s intentions correctly, and willing to follow his lead and see where he was going. “What I can’t stand is that he has the power to kill all of you, and yet he chooses not to, I hate that he refuses to use his power. It’s disappointing that he has so much potential that he refuses to explore, he could be the deadliest warrior in the Dominion and yet he refuses to train. Ethan could be a monster, but he refuses to come under my wing and train by my side.”
“My father forbade me to fight, not because I couldn’t fight or didn’t know how to, but because I’m so strong he was afraid I would kill someone, like it almost happened a few years ago. I used to train with my mother, along with some of her guards, but after I almost killed my cousins by accident, my father took me away from my mother and told me not to use my powers against those weaker than me, under any circumstances. My mother doesn’t like that.”
“You’re lying,” Draco said, “if that was true, you wouldn’t have let us capture you.”
“I don’t care if you believe me or not, I just wanted to warn you that your plan is not going to work, not only because my mother doesn’t care what happens to me, but because you can’t hurt me. The only thing stopping me from taking action is that I have to follow my father’s rules, rules that I don’t care about anymore, I think I’m capable of controlling my powers and myself quite well, I’m capable of making my own decisions and knowing when and how to use my powers.” I wasn’t sure what was Ethan’s plan, but I could see he already had a plan in place.
“If you want control, all you have to do is agree to come back to me, and train under me, following my rules,” I offered, trying to open more options for him, wanting to know where he was heading with his words.
“I’m sorry mother, but I don’t want to go back to training with you, you are too much for me. Even if I complain about my father’s rules, yours are not better, I know what you want of me, and I don’t want to have to kill anyone, but, I think we can reach an agreement. If you help me with my father and make him agree not to enforce his rules, I will help you get rid of the power blocker, so you can move to this side without problem,” I finally understood what Ethan wanted to do, and I had to recognize it was a good plan, he was playing a good game. He was making a public declaration, showing his powers, but at the same time he was putting distance between him and both his parents, that distance should be enough to keep him protected from my enemies, but also from his father’s enemies, by rejecting his rules and apparently his protection. I knew that he also had other motives, he had been asking his father to loosen up his rules for a while, but Kimball was still afraid of what could happen if Ethan lost control of his powers, like what had happened with his cousins, but those rules had made him a victim of his schoolmates. Even if none of them had been able to hurt him physically, the psychological damage was still there, taking its toll. When I thought about everything Ethan had considered and how he had acted, I couldn’t help but smile pridely at him.
“You know? Maybe there’s still hope for you, but you must know that every action has consequences. I can keep your father off your back about using your powers, but he will be mad, and he won’t be there to help you anymore, and as long as you don’t agree to train with me, I won’t be there to help you with anything else. You will be without our protection.”
“My father won’t let you hurt me, no matter how mad or disappointed he is at me,” Ethan answered, following my lead. “And I don’t think he would hurt me either,” he added, adding just the right amount of doubt to his tone.
“If you are willing to take the risk, then we have a deal. You will take care of them, and neutralize the blocker, and I will make sure your father doesn’t enforce his rules about not using your powers.”
“Enough!” Draco finally said. “If you think I will let an eleven year old brat to scare me, you are mistaken.
“Are you sure of that?” Ethan asked, looking at Draco over his shoulder. Draco let him go immediately, as he scrambled away from him, while trying to shoot him. The gun wasn’t working either, and Draco threw it at Ethan, looking for any way of hurting him he could find.
“Fear? Wouldn’t terror be better?” I asked, pointing out the fact that Ethan had used his empathy against Draco, in case someone hadn’t made the connection yet.
“Terror can lead to a heart attack, and I think I already said I don’t want to kill anyone,” Ethan pointed the gun to Draco, taking a shooting stance. “Tell your men to disable to blocker.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, the gun isn’t working, kid,” Draco answered, mockingly, forgetting the fear he had felt just a few seconds before.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Ethan said, shooting Draco in the leg. His screams echoed in the auditorium, and soon the screams of a few others joined him, some because of fear, most because of surprise. “Now, I don’t need to kill you to convince you that it would be in your best interest to do what I ask of you.”
“Guards! Stop him!” Draco yelled, and the guards, that had kept calm until that moment, moved to attack.
Ethan was standing in the center of the auditorium, one foot slightly back, one arm extended and the other supporting it, both eyes on the target. He started shooting, hitting the guards on the knees when he could, on the shoulders when not, careful that his shots wouldn’t accidentally the other hostages, knowing the price of mistakes after his experience with his cousins. Each shot was precise and on target, but one of the guards was too fast for Ethan and was able to reach him, and hit his hands, sending the gun sailing through the air.
Despite Ethan’s words, we still trained together once in a while, and he definitely trained with his father all the time, so despite the fact that the guard was taller, heavier and older than Ethan, he was able to fight at his same level, blocking and attacking, using his size and weight against him. Another guard had managed to reach them while they were fighting, and tried to take Ethan by surprise, but he already knew he was there, and using his mind he pushed the first guard against the new one, sending them tumbling down the stairs that were behind them. By then, another guard, one he had shot on the shoulder had already recovered and tried to attack Ethan, but he anticipated the attack and moved out of his range, when his new opponent tried to reach him again, Ethan froze for a second, but then, another guard, one that had been hit on his leg, started screaming, and I knew he had tried to attack Ethan’s mind, only to find the mzansier’s poisonous mind. Ethan recovered just in time to avoid a punch to the face, but he took advantage of the closeness to use of his father’s techniques and with a perfectly placed hit, and aided with his powers, he knocked him down.
The fight had taken no more than a couple of minutes, but it was perfectly obvious who had the advantage. Draco had dragged himself away from Ethan, and then he had managed to take one of the hostages as shield.
“If you don’t stop right now, I will kill your classmate,” Draco threatened, putting a knife to the student’s neck.
“If you want me to cooperate, you should have chosen a guy that hadn’t spent the last few years making my life a living hell. Do you think I care what happens to him?” To drive his point home, Ethan recovered his gun and pointed it to Draco, not bothering to even acknowledge the fact he was using a kid as human shield, and pulling the trigger.
The echo of the shot was loud, even as the hostages screamed. Ethan had shot Draco on the arm that was holding the knife, forcing him to drop it without hurting the student, but the scared student didn’t know about Ethan’s plans and he had pissed himself out of fear, as the stain rapidly growing on the front of his pants showed.
His humiliation was short lived, at least, for everyone turned their attention elsewhere soon after the shot. While Ethan had been focused on Draco, another guard had grabbed Oliver, one of Ethan’s friends.
“Game over, kid,” the guard said, “stop right now or your friend will suffer the consequences.” The guard had one of his arms around the kid’s neck, cutting his air, Oliver was red and already starting to suffer from the lack of oxygen. Oliver was a strong boy, but the guard was stronger, and older. The fact that Oliver’s hands were tied up only made things more difficult for him and limited his options.
I started to clap, cutting the tension and grabbing their attention. “Well done,” I told him, “if there’s something that could send Ethan over the edge and get me what I want, is threatening his friends,” the guard, and most of the people returned their attention to Ethan, his demeanor had changed once again, like I knew it would. I could see he was about to lose control, and I also knew he would regret it if he killed the guy, so I needed to break him out of his rage and force him to see the consequences of his actions before he could do something he would regret. “You have no options Ethan,” I told him, “it’s him or your friend. What are you going to do? You have a clear shot to his head, you will have to shoot him and kill him, or your friend will die. Do it, or you will regret it.”
Ethan didn’t answer, but he turned to look at me and I could tell he had heard me and knew what I wasn’t saying, he knew he had options, and I could see when he made his mind, soon after that the guard’s arms started moving on their own. Ethan was using his powers to take control of the guard and free Oliver. As soon as he had a chance, Oliver got away from the guard, and once he was out of his reach, Ethan let the guard go, but turned his attention and powers to the guard’s neck, the guy was scratching at his neck, trying to loosen up something that wasn’t even there, his face turning the same shade of red Oliver had only moments before.
“Ethan, I’m ok,” Oliver said, and that broke the trance Ethan seemed to be in. He let the guard fall, and he started dragging air back into his lungs. Oliver’s bindings fell to the floor, and he took the opportunity to go to the guard and take something from him, he then used his own Taser on him, putting him out of combat.
“It would have been easier…” I started to say.
“Shut up!” Ethan yelled at me, holding his head with his hands and shaking a little, I could tell he had abused his powers and was fighting the early stages of a psychic headache.
“That’s no way of talking to your Queen,” I said, trying to sound menacing, “if you think I won’t make you pay for that insolence, you are mistaken young man.”
“Are you ok?” Oliver asked, going to Ethan’s side and offering him support.
“I think I went too far,” Ethan said, taking a look around and making sure there were no more threats.
“Now, you have to turn the blocker off, and I will take care of the rest,” I said to Ethan, trying to make my words sound like a threat.
“Hold on a minute,” he said, turning his back to me and going to where the rest of his friends were, and then he proceeded to untie them.
“Ethan…” I said, my voice a warning, “stop wasting time.”
“Hold on a minute,” he repeated, dismissing my warning, but I didn’t really care about his attitude.
“How are things going on outside?” I asked, noticing that Yoweri had arrived.
“We took care of the soldiers that were holding us, and General Kimball arrived with another squad, they are sweeping the installations, taking care of the rest of the enemy. The General is looking for his son, but we had no idea where he was.”
“It would have been perfect if he had arrived here five minutes ago,” I said, turning my attention back to Ethan and watching him freeing the guards that were in the front of the auditorium.
“Ethan, what are you doing? I told you to stop wasting your time.”
“You managed to recruit the young boss?” Yoweri asked.
“Not exactly, but soon,” I said.
I turned my back to Ethan, I needed to question Yoweri about what was happening outside, and I needed it to use telepathy so no one else could listen into our conversation.
‘How are things going on outside?‘ I asked again telepathically.
‘The enemy had explosive devices outside the gym, and a few snipers posted on the roof of half the buildings, but Kimball’s group took care of them,’ Yoweri thought, allowing me to read his mind.
I was focused on Yoweri, but he was focusing on something going on behind me, his face let me know that something was going on behind me, something bad. My fears were confirmed when Yoweri ran around me and headed to where Ethan was. I turned in time to see Yoweri hit the invisible barrier and fall to the floor, but it was the scene that presented itself once Yoweri fell that froze my blood.
On the other side, one of the guards that had just been released was holding Ethan by the hair, his other hand holding a blade to Ethan’s neck, even as he had his hands over the power blocker, using his technopathy to disable it, his defenses down because of the use of his powers. In slow motion, I watched as the guard cut Ethan’s throat, his blood flowing out in an arc, splattering the space in front of him. I realized that my actions so far hadn’t avoided the fate I had seen in my vision, but helped it become a reality.
Kaiserin Novel 