Chapter 7:
Stone grabbed what looked like a cell phone out of his shirt pocket and Quinn grabbed his hand. She reached her delicate child hand out for Sonny who was skeptical. She motioned him to grab it. Stone spoke, "We need to grab hands. This is how we travel."
Sonny took Olive's warm hand and squeezed it gently. Stone opened the phone and pressed a button. Once pressed it began flashing, then without warning Sonny felt himself floating.
The park slowly began to vaporize right before their eyes. The benches dissolved, followed by the trees, and finally the grass and ground. Soon a giant mountain began to take it's place. A rocky river appeared to the side of Sonny and he could hear it crashing against the surrounding area as it sped down the mountain. The smell of moss and leaves filled his nose as enormous trees over 50 ft high developed all around them. Finally as if dropping from a cloud, he felt dirt beneath his feet.
Surrounding them, about 10 people smiled.
"Welcome Sonny," a young woman greeted.
Stone took over, "They are here to ensure our safety getting up the mountain." He grabbed Sonny's shoulder and with a smile pointed, "We travel up and through the top. That's where our headquarter lies. It's been hidden by a couple of our people. They enchanted the headquarters so no one, not even the Keepers can find it."
Olive spun around in front of Sonny, slowly looking at how beautiful their current surroundings were. "Why can't we just do that transportation thing right into the headquarters?"
"They can sometimes track our transport movements so it is unwise to go within a couple of miles of it." Stone replied.
"So we have to walk miles up the mountain?" Sonny asked already contemplating how tired he would be after scaling a mountain.
Quinn's soft voice piped in, "3.5 miles to be exact." She skipped up ahead of them then peered back, "Oh it's not that far. We do it all the time."
"Yes Sonny, don't forget, we are Silvers. We are stronger and faster than every human. This should be nothing for you." Stone said. "Although Olive, you might have a little trouble keeping up."
"I'll be fine, just walk." She retorted, feeling slightly like an outsider. Trying not to be left behind, she took off with quite the spring in her step.
Sonny stood, contemplating, "Who are the Keepers?"
"We'll explain along the way." Stone shouted, already ascending the mountain.
Ten minutes passed when they reached a clearing in the mountain. For about a mile the land was practically flat and treeless, almost as if someone had demolished the trees and planted grass. The sun hung high in a crystal clear blue sky. Sonny turned to admire the landscape with Olive, when he felt a giant gust of wind envelope him. It pushed him backwards slowly, leaving Sonny grasping at nothing trying to stay upright and breath at the same time. He reached for Olive's hand, pulling her to him to help keep them both upright. The stronger Silvers around them stood their ground and appeared to be readying for battle, each drawing weapons and channeling powers. A woman next to Sonny had begun moving her hands in a circular motion creating a red energy that looked like it could do some heavy damage. Stone began shouting, "Lynx! The Keepers!" And within milliseconds, the group they were traveling with had scattered, everyone shouting.
The wind gusting finally died down and as if stuck in glue, unable to move, Sonny stood simply watching a battle unfold. His breathing had become unsteady, shock taking over. The boy that had attacked him at the park was a grain of sand compared to what he currently witnessed. In the middle of the open field landed a giant golden bald eagle. It flapped it's wings sending powerful wind gusts toward the trees where part of the group was taking cover. The eagle screeched a battle cry and a fierce fire shown in the eagle's large eyes. Around the eagle scattered men, women, and various creatures, all in attack mode. Colorful energy shot from creatures left and right, a purple swirl shot into a dwarf looking creature, immobilizing it immediately. He felt himself moving, someone tugged at his arm. Olive. She dragged him towards a giant log that lay flat, hidden in chaos of branches and moss. He wondered how she seemed so calm, how she thought more clearly than he did right now.
"We need to hide!" Olive shouted in Sonny's face, the noise from the battle obstructing Sonny's hearing. He simply shook his head up and down as she pulled him on the other side of the log into a pile of leaves. They turned, peering out, barely able to see all the commotion.
The eagle had now taken flight and soared over the battlefield screeching as if it were shouting orders towards the warriors below. Within seconds a dark shadow came over the battlefield as a flock of nearly 50 crows descended on the eagle. The crows squawked, each one taking a chance to attack the eagle. Each crow squawk sent shivers down Sonny creating an eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. Warriors from below had turned their efforts toward the sky, some shooting fire beams toward the crows while others enchanting the crows to fly to their death on the ground below. The eagle, now flying higher to avoid more attacks from the crows let out a high pitch squeal and a beam of light shot from it's belly. The eagle tore apart, leaving behind mini eagles which instantly flew toward the crows. They collided, now intertwined in a shockingly beautiful battle in the sky.
A creature entered the woods nearly 20 feet from Sonny and Olive, startling their onlooking. It appeared half bear and half human in an odd combination of claws and fur. It ran toward them on all fours as if it could smell them hiding. It let out an Earth rattling screech and dove to get over the log. In mid air the bear man became a block of ice, freezing, and falling to the ground with a shatter. The bear man had changed into just a man who immediately got up and took off running through the woods behind them. They looked up to see Stone running back to the battle, freezing enemy warriors right and left as he shouted back, "STAY HIDDEN." Sonny exhaled, realizing he had been holding his breath that entire time and grabbed Olive's hand to silently reassure her they would be ok.
Across the field, the crows and eagles had vanished, leaving a scene of men, women, and creatures battling each other. Sonny had a hard time picking out who was on their side and who wasn't. A blonde, thin, woman stood next to Stone and blocked enemy attacks with a forcefield she kept creating with her hands. A dark, super tall woman with long red hair pulled into a braided contraption stood atop a large boulder across the field and let out a roar. The roar sent waves toward the Silvers, knocking Stone and a few others to the ground. The woman jumped off the boulder with one step and roared again, with a similar result. Everytime she let that loud noise erupt across the field, it sent a chill through Sonny. Finally a younger boy about Sonny's age who wore a skin tight white pant suit ran toward the woman. Except Sonny couldn't believe his eyes, the boy ran faster than anything he'd ever seen and within a second had knocked her to the ground, leaving her stunned and unable to continue her attack.
Branches cracked behind them and Sonny and Olive jumped to their feet. Before them stood a skinny man wearing a light gray outfit with accents of gold everywhere. His perfectly straight bleach blonde long hair looked fabricated contrasted off his dark eyebrows and golden brown eyes. He had a slim face and perfect, porcelain looking skin. He looked fake, like a doll standing in front of them with a sinister smile stretched across his face. "Well hello Sonny. I'm glad we finally met." When he spoke his voice generated goose bumps on Sonny's arms.
"Who are you?" Sonny questioned, instinctively moving closer to Olive who grabbed his arm in hers. Sonny could feel and almost hear her heart racing and he noticed his own heart thumping wildly inside his chest.
The man took a tiny step forward, setting Olive and Sonny even more on edge, backing them up until their backs felt the trees behind them. "I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm sure Stone has said many things about me. Things both true and some I'm sure very false." The man reached up and grabbed a flower that was extended off the tree next to him. He took it in his hands, menacingly smelling it and letting out a large exhale after.
"Who are you?!" Sonny almost screamed towards him. He was done playing games.
From beside Sonny Stone's voice bellowed, "Lynx!" Before Sonny could turn, Stone was standing next to them, his eyes laser focused on his brother in front of him. Sonny noticed how polar opposite they looked; Stone with his big burly shoulders and scruffy dark hair and beard. Like dark and light to compare the two.
"Don't make this a battle between the two of us Walter. You know you can't beat me." A pretentious smirk made its way to Lynx's mouth.
Stone must have seen it too because before anyone could think, ice chunks were flying toward Lynx, who after being hit by one, had created a shield of fire to melt the incoming ice. Sonny grabbed Olive and ran into the woods to the left of them. He pushed Olive in front of him, ducking as a branch nearly decapitated him. He felt a pang of heat dig into his back. He fell, rolling over on a sheet of leaves. Olive bent down to help him up, her arms not strong enough to pull him to his feet on her own. Lynx came toward them shooting fire beams at Sonny's feet. "Run!" Sonny screamed at Olive. He wanted her to at least get away if he was going to die. Olive dropped Sonny's shoulder she'd been frantically trying to pick up and darted deep into a sea of trees. He watched as her slender silhouette moved slowly out of view until eventually he could no longer see her.
Sonny got himself to his feet in time to stand face to face with Lynx. This time his hair was disheveled and his cheek had hints of dirt all over.
"Do not fear me" said Lynx calmly.
"What do you want from me?" Sonny asked, shaking slightly.
"I need you to--" a shrieking noise pulsated through the forest and the side of Lynx's face was struck by Stone's freezing rays. Lynx fell to the ground, his face a soft blue color and suddenly as if nothing happened, his face restored itself to it's original paleness. Lynx got up quickly and released a massive fireball towards Stone, barely missing him yet enveloping part of the forest in flames.
"You're coming with me. NOW!" Lynx shouted at Sonny, grabbing him by the arm, his grip tighter than expected from his scrawny figure. Sonny looked back but couldn't see Stone through the flames.
Fearful Sonny grabbed at his hand, trying to pry his arm out from his grip. "No! Get off me."
Lynx's hand turned hot causing Sonny to cease his efforts to free himself. He whimpered slightly as a small amount of fire slowly released from Lynx's hand. The pain seemed almost unbearable and Lynx dragged him toward a group of people gathered in the forest.
Panicking, Sonny screamed, hoping Stone or the others would hear him. Lynx stopped and grabbed at his mouth putting his hand over it, "Shut up little boy! Or I will make you shut up. I do not want to hurt you! I am not the enemy" His hand burned Sonny's lips and cheek with a fiery hot sensation.
Sonny angrily grabbed Lynx with his free arm, and screamed causing Lynx to fly apart from Sonny smashing into a tree. Lynx dropped to the ground, groaning, slowly attempting to pick himself up. Branches broke from underneath him and Lynx's perfect light grey outfit now sported dirt and remnants of leaves everywhere. Painfully and without knowing how he just did that, Sonny instantly took off running back toward the battlefield--toward the flame stricken trees where he last saw Stone. He didn't turn back to see if Lynx was following, he just kept himself running until he hit the clearing for the field and fell to the ground, moaning with pain from his back, arm and face. He felt himself drifting in and out of consciousness from the pain and finally everything went dark.
Within minutes, he opened his eyes to a familiar face hovering over him. Olive. He had forgotten she had taken off and happiness overcame him that she was ok. She wasn't smiling though. Instead she wore a worried expression where her beautiful smile should have been.
"What's wrong Olive?"
She hit his arm-the arm Lynx had burned, harder than even she had expected. A stream of pain rushed through him and passing out seemed like a good option again. He blinked 5 or 6 times, trying to keep himself from losing it. "What the hell Olive?!" He grabbed at his arm, painful tears building up in the corners of his eyes. He steadied himself so his ego wouldn't become bruised by the tears trying to escape.
"I thought you were dead. Don't you ever do that again Sonny Griffin! You hear me?"
He chuckled. "What would you have done if I was dead?"
"Woken you up and killed you again myself!" She fell back on her knees, her hands on her hips with attitude flowing out from everywhere. Sonny noticed her hands shaking as she clasped them tightly. The front she put up was evident as she tried to act as calm as she could.
Sonny reached out, his hands on Olive's trying to steady her. Not a bruise or cut shown on Olive and Sonny let a breath of relief escape him.
Stone approached them, trailed by three members of his group. One, a small, yet muscular man who appeared to be wounded on the leg as he now walked with a limp, his pants were torn, and a hint of blood could be seen every time he bent his knee. The woman in the middle shocked Sonny due to the large Angelic wings that were outstretched from her back. They swayed with every movement she made, the soft, glowing, feathers toward the edges fluttered with the breeze. She appeared untouched by the battle and walked with such power that Sonny felt instantly protected by her. The other woman didn't shock Sonny as much, but she bore a large scar across her face stretching from her left ear, to her eye, and down to her chin. The sheer massiveness of the scar proved it would be with her forever, a reminder of a battle from long ago that would never leave. Despite the slash on her face, Sonny felt drawn to her as she still possessed remarkable beauty: her dark hair flowing in a perfect wave, her eyes glimmering in the sunlight, and her hips dancing with every step she took.
"I'm glad you're alright Sonny." Boomed Stone's voice, echoing off the canyon in the now empty field. Like the angel woman, Stone also looked untouched. He must be powerful Sonny thought, as anyone enduring the attacks he did would have been severely injured.
Sonny got up with Olive's help, "Now what do we do?"
The angel woman spoke, her voice smooth and soft like a beautiful melody, "We must get to headquarters before the Keepers return."
"Yes." Stone responded, "It's not much further up the mountain to our base. We will tend to your wounds then...although they don't look too bad." He pressed on the wound where Lynx had hurt Sonny's head causing him to wince with pain. Not too bad?! He must be crazy.
Stone ushered them across the field and after a fifteen minute hike up the almost vertical side of the mountain, they found themselves standing in front of a large Oak tree. The tree looked almost out of place as wildflowers grew on the floor surrounding it as if protecting the tree. Stone walked toward an opening in the wildflowers and pushed on the tree. To Sonny and Olive's surprise the tree's bark released into a small metal door which Stone opened with a code. He waved the three comrades inside and then insisted Sonny and Olive go. Through the door Sonny found him and Olive on what appeared to be an elevator. Stone got on and pressed a button in the wall sending them skyrocketing downward and within seconds they came to an abrupt stop.
Stone turned to Sonny, "Welcome to the Silver's headquarters. There's some people that have been dying to meet you."
"Me?" questioned Sonny.
"Yes. After all, you are the chosen one."