Getting thrown sky high with my eyelids leaving water streaks was not on my agenda. In fact, none of this was part of my schedule. The howling wind echoed across our flight path to the point where it sounded like a ghostly choir. It was only a second ago that we witnessed Nathan’s transformation that ravaged the tree line and Enhancers. Now, I was once again soaring through the air with a fellow student who happened to be a super soldier. All the while, the battle below shrank in size and vanished into the dense, foggy forest.

“Ah! Holy crap!” I shouted from high up with my arms frantically moving. Amara glanced down as much as she could. We were spinning through the air to the point I was feeling bubbles in my stomach. 

Amara grunted, trying to reach for her wrist HUD screen. “Damn it, great thinking…. Nathan!” She shakingly stretched her right arm out in the spinning chaos. After soaring to high altitudes up in the storm, we started plummeting along with the rainfall. 

My hairline swayed like a palm tree in the middle of a hurricane. “Oh no, Amara, we’re going to fall!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. The cold blast of storm air struck my face. Every tree below looked like massive spikes ready to make kabobs. 

Amara’s cloak waved around with the wind. “Just… a little… more!” She reached further, her index finger just barely an inch closer to the screen. Then, right as leaves and branches struck our faces from the canopy. A click sounded, preceded by a cable wrapping around my waist. “Hold on!” Amara shouted while holding a grapple gun that just materialized in her hand and pulled me towards her. The cable tugged, and its metallic wire caught me in a hold. 

“Whoa, wait, hold on a sec!” I yelled right as we crash-landed onto the grass and dirt. I’m not sure why I had a knack for getting thrown into the air and landing mud face down. 

Amara yelled in frustration since she wasn’t able to shoot another cable before the fall. “Shit!” A loud thud sounded, and we barrel rolled towards another tree. 

We both coughed from the tree slam and carefully stood up. “That was something else.” I rubbed my rib as Amara retracted the cable to the grapple gun. The cable gun disappeared when she clicked her HUD screen. Afterwards, Amara scrolled to another module to check her radar. There were beeping and blue scan waves emitting slowly. Nothing noteworthy showed up on her scan.

“Okay, we’re in the clear.” She lowered her arm and placed both hands on her knees. It made sense she’d be tired. Amara’s been fighting on her own this whole time. I’ve just been getting in the way. 

I caught my breath for a moment, looking up at the even darker cloudy sky. Has it really been hours already? I must have been out for a while after the whole river fiasco back there. “I can’t believe there were more of those fire-blasting guys. And damn it, Nathan…” How could he keep that secret from me! How long has he been an Enhancer? It felt like a whirlwind erupted in my brain. And now, I felt a headache wanting to creep in.

Amara took a deep breath and straightened her back. She noticed I was getting tense, though the damp, cold weather wasn’t helping either. My shoes were all bathed in mud. Compared to Amara, though, who had slashes, burn marks, and bruises on her arms/uniform. I had it easy, but Nathan’s reveal was still mind-boggling. “Hey, listen, I’m sorry about your friend. I know it’s probably a big shocker to you.” She came over and stood beside me. “But I’ll do everything I can to help him.” She reassured me, but Nathan’s words lingered around. No, there was no way Amara would arrest us for simply being in her presence. 

“But those Enhancers…”

“Nathan’s an Enhancer too, a really angry one at that. I’ll go back for him, but first I have to get you out of here and find some way to get that skull tag off. I’m really sorry for all of this.” She glanced down at her white boots in shame. I didn’t really blame Amara for what was happening, nor could I control her feelings. 

I nodded, “Okay then, but I’m not leaving until we get Nathan.”

“What is it with you two not following my instructions?” She raised a brow and rested one hand on her hip. 

“Sorry, Amara, but I've known Nathan since 2nd grade. And just like my other friends, I know he wouldn’t hurt us.” Amara stared at me, then crossed her arms. Something about what I said seemed to move her in a way. Her eyes widened as if she opened them for the first time. There was also a hint of remorse in her look.

“Honestly,” She shook her head and grabbed her taser sticks from her belt. “I’m still not on board with this. Plus, dragging a civilian like you into a fight is against the Guard’s code.” She stared at the skull tag that still hugged around my neck. “That thing hasn’t bothered you for a while now, huh?”

“What? Oh, now that you mention it. It really hasn’t bothered me. Almost like my body accepted it. I wonder if maybe…” They’re coming! I heard that ominous voice again; each time it echoed in my ear. “Who is that?” There was a weird sensation in my head. “Never mind, Amara, I think…” Before I said anything else, Amara scoffed and forced me to duck before igniting her taser sticks. 

“Show yourselves!” She demanded, her voice shooting through the dark forest. Next, about 20 fully armed and armored Unitarian Guards suddenly uncloaked around us. High-tech beeps sounded in unison as the air transformed from an isolated horror scene into a dramatic gun thriller. Their Energun rifles directed red lasers straight at my chest. If I wasn’t nervous for my life yet, this certainly shot my heart rate up tenfold. 

“Oh no,” I said softly while slowly standing up with my hands up.

One of the Unitarian Guards yelled, “Arrest him!” Their voice sounded deep due to their dark blue helmet. Every Unitarian Guard wore a full helmet with a complete face visor. Though Amara seemed to be the unique one among them. Since she wore only an eye visor. 

“What?” I stepped back a little. 

“Stay where you are!” The guard yelled.

“Hey, what's your problem?” Amara sat her hand out in front of me to block their way. “Can’t you see I’m escorting a civilian out of this danger zone?”

Hide me, while she keeps them busy! That same strange voice appeared again. It spoke in my mind; was it a part of my thoughts? “Who are you?” I whispered. Hide me, hurry! I felt like freaking out, but I hid the skull tag under my shirt and sweater anyway.

The Unitarian Guards all glanced at each other in confusion. “Who the hell are you?” The Sergeant asked. 

Amara tapped her HUD screen, and a holographic projection appeared with her I.D information. “Private Shapiro, Special Forces Light Class Division. There, I outrank you; now go point those at the Enhancers we just encountered.”

“Private?” A taller, less armored Unitarian Guard stepped forward. This guy had a helmet like the rest, but his whole character felt different. Not to mention the two axes he had tucked on his back were huge. “Now we’re lying, Shaprio? You can do better than that,” he said.

Amara was taken aback by this guard’s words. Her breathing quickened when she started sweating. “Keegan?” 

Keegan, an elite Unitarian Guard, was also part of the Special Forces Light Class Division. “That's First Lieutenant Ryan to you, Private in Training Shapiro!”

The other Guards kept their guns on me and nodded in disappointment. “Uh, ha, um, well, you see, First Lieutenant Ryan, I was nearby when this kind soul next to me was in trouble. Then these pyro…”

“Enough, I don’t want to hear anymore.”

“But…” 

“I said that’s enough, Shapiro! You’re lucky your dad sent me to find you! I should have you court-martialled for lying about your rank. Not to mention harboring an Enhancer.” Keegan stared at me. 

“He’s not an Enhancer! He’s a civilian!” Amara argued.

“You’re lying again! Look, we picked up Sky Crystal energy readings on the way! It's impossible for those to form unless someone is in possession of the Terminus Calvaria.” (Skull of the End) 

“Why don’t you ask those Enhancers then? I’m sure they’re having a blast threatening someone right now!” Amara’s nervousness completely disappeared. I’m glad she was defending me, but it felt like we were wasting time. Nathan’s all alone fighting those Enhancers; I can’t leave him to die! 

Keegan waved his hand at Amara, not wanting to believe her statement. “The guy next to you has a reading of 50 percent. We need to take him back to HQ for a full investigation!” 

“With all due respect, sir,” I said with a shaky voice. “My friend got caught by the same fire Enhancers. He’s in grave danger, and I want to ask if you can save him!” Keegan raised a brow and crossed his arms. “Please, I’ll, I’ll go with you. Arrest me, do whatever! But please, save my friend Nathan!” A tear wanted to escape my eyelid. I didn’t want to make these guys think I was pathetic. But my body reacted on its own. 

Amara turned back to me, her eyes frowned at my desperation. “Jake…” She felt really bad for me. 

Keegan huffed and nodded; he didn’t want to believe any of this, but he could tell I sounded genuine. He tapped his Battle Access HUD screen and brought it close to his mouth. “All units, I need a sweep of the forest for any signs of Pyro Enhancer activity, Pronto!” The other Unitarian Guards responded through the Battle Access HUD screen, confirming the order. Keegan then lowered his arm and approached me. “Fine, come quietly then.” Amara kept her arm out in front of me, blocking Keegan. 

“You may outrank me, but I’m faster,” she said with a serious look.

“Stand down, Shapiro; that's an order. Don’t ruin this for yourself.” Keegan and Amara stood in confrontational stances. He towered over both of us. Yet Amara wasn’t letting up in the slightest. 

“Our first job as Unitarian Guards is to protect people.”

“Right, and our second job is to make sure rogue Enhancers don’t go running around. I admire your naive look on things, but we have orders; we need to follow them.” 

I didn’t know what to do, and now I felt like Amara was going to lose her job cause of me. I stared at the new storm brewing in front of me before Amara’s left hand caught my attention. She pointed to my right where a slope was. I shook my head in worry since things were about to go south. Amara’s right hand slowly reached for her taser stick. Keegan scoffed. “My Dad would call you an idiot,” Amara smirked after saying that.

Keegan tapped his foot. “Fine then, I warned you…” In the second Keegan grabbed his electric axe weapons, a metallic bounce sounded near us. It was a canister with black skulls laughing. “Gas grenades!” Keegan shouted with all of his might.

Amara coughed her lungs out too until she tapped her Battle Access HUD screen and summoned a gas mask onto herself. She took a deep breath and relaxed again. “Oh shit, that was too close.” She glanced around in the gas cloud. All Amara saw was green mist in the way. “Jake! Jake!” Amara called out, but I couldn’t hear her voice while choking to death.

My throat felt like lava was poured into it. It burned so much, and I was losing consciousness. “Help, help, please….” I croaked and reached my hand out to what looked like a black cat sitting across from me. It was there for a split second before I blinked. Then, the skull tag started glowing under my shirt. Its blue light grew until I felt energy course through me and into my lungs. Next thing I knew, I could breathe again. “Holy shoot!” The glow of the tag also blasted the toxic gas away, clearing the air. “What is going on?”

I turned over to see the surviving Unitarian Guards firing up at enemies crashing down from the sky. Anchors struck the grass around, and three floating galleon ships descended from the storm clouds. “Sky Pirates incoming!” One Guard shouted.

“Sky Pirates?” I gasped and crawled back once the Sky Pirates sky-dived from their ships.

“Jake!” Amara ran over to me and knelt beside me. “Are you okay?” She removed her gas mask and threw it down.

“Amara, I’m good! But what about everyone else?” We both looked up at the skydiving horror occurring just above. 

“I, I don’t know.” She said in a concerned tone. Neither of us knew what was even happening at all. 

“How, how are we supposed to survive this?” The forest was now filled with fire, blood, Energun shots, and the cries of the trees themselves. 3 factions, 3 powers, 3 groups with powerhouses and one objective. War has truly arrived, and we just got a front-row seat for it.