Chereads / Kente / Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: The Cost of Fire

Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: The Cost of Fire

(The academy courtyard trembles as WanLaden and his Watchmen materialize. Miss Wolo's Sturmgards draw weapons, WanLan Watchmen ignore the Sturmgaurds, laser-focused on her. The Lieutenants sneer at the kids, shoving them aside as "brats.")

WanLaden Watchman: (voice booming, metallic arm crackling with energy) "Miss Wolo. The capital's puppet. How does it feel to train children to die for a rotten* system?"

Miss Wolo: (lava simmering beneath her feet, eyes cold) "You speak of rot, yet you poison Old Brass with your chaos. Villages burned, clans shattered—was that justice?"

WanLaden: (spitting) "Justice? The capital bleeds us dry! Our minerals fund their palaces while our people starve. You think your Sturmgards protect us? They're slaves in uniforms!"

Falther Watchman: (stepping forward, illusions warping the air) "Enough talk, Wolo. Surrender, or we paint this academy red."

Prophet Mirror: (lunging forward, voice raw) "Falther! You betrayed our tribe for this*?!"

Falther: (coldly) "Tribes are relics. The Watchmen forge a new future—one you're too weak to grasp." 

(WanLaden lunges, teleporting in a flash. Miss Wolo slams her palm into the ground, fissures splitting the earth as molten rock surges—but she pulls back, lava halting inches from students.)

Miss Wolo: (straining, sweat dripping) "Run… now!"

Kente: (grabbing Tamara's arm) "We can't leave her!"

Layefa Watchman: (laughing, icy chain snaking toward them) "Run, little rats! Your hero is out of time."

(Dethugo erupts from the ground, poisoned knives pinning Sturmgards to walls. Adam's clones flank Miss Wolo, swords glowing.)

Adam Watchman: (smirking) "Volcano Queen? More like ash."

Miss Wolo: (glaring at WanLaden, voice trembling) "You win. But harm these children, and I'll bury us all."

WanLaden: (grinning) "Wise choice." (to Falther) "Bind her."

(Kente charges, idol-energy flaring in his fists.)

Kente: (screaming) "Let her GO!"

WanLaden: (backhanding him without looking) "Bold words for a scavenger playing dress-up."

(Kente crashes into rubble, mask shattered. Chioma leaps at Layefa, teeth bared—but the chain freezes her mid-air. Sophia tries to heal a fallen guard, only for Dethugo's knives to graze her arm. Tamara's tortoise shell flickers weakly as he cowers.)

Prophet Mirror: (to Falther, voice breaking) "Why side with him?! You *saw* what they did to our village!"

Falther: (illusionary flames reflecting in his eyes) "Power requires sacrifice. Even family."

(As WanLaden drags Miss Wolo away, a thunderous crack echoes. A figure in obsidian armor descends, flanked by royal guards. His aura crushes the battlefield into silence.)