They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 12: You Could Distract Me

Gray POV

"You could have given me a little more time," I said to Else as we walked through the woods.

"Gray, I can't believe this is a conversation. Your father is taking the castle. That should be the most important thing."

"But I could have had at least one more moment with her."

"Stop. Do you even hear yourself? Do you value Churchwell? This is your home, and you should defend it. You need to sort out your priorities."

However, I think I already sorted out my priorities. Stella was my number one priority. I don't think it would ever be Churchwell.

Else waved her hand, and a car appeared in front of us.

"Where are you going?"

"The right question is where are we going? You wanted to be a part of the fight, now here we are. After all your training, you are going to fight alongside me."

I should have been excited for this moment, but I couldn't help but feel distracted. Stella still occupied my mind.

Silently I followed Else into the car, and she sped off to a location I did not know.

In the short drive, Else dove into details about how Forest Witches and Shifters had already broken down the outer wall. They were the ones leading the Darklings into the city, killing everyone that stood in their way.

"And my father?"

"He is nowhere to be seen. But we think he is letting the Forest Witches, Shifters, and Darklings are taking the brunt of the damaged before he comes in."

I nodded as she parked the car in front of a small cabin.

"Come on, Grayson. We don't have time for this," Else said as she got out of the car and started walking to the cabin.

I followed her into the cabin to see it full of official looking people. They all stopped as we entered, but then quickly turned their attention back to the map in the middle of the room.

"Good, you came with him," one person said, not looking up from the map.

"How do we stand?" Else asked as she walked up to the map, which flashed with lights of different colors. For a moment, she stared at the map with a frown on her face. I saw concern in her eyes as she switched her gaze to an official-looking man.

I walked closer to the map as images of monsters and people jumped off the map and moved in the light. I recognized Egrick as one. He moved from one street to another as he closed in on the castle.

"Where is Graywick?" Else asked as she turned back to map.

"He is here, surrounded by Darklings," a woman said as she pointed to a red mass by the wall of the city. "We have been holding him off the best we could, but the Darklings keep popping up to shield him from any attacks on him."

"How many people have we lost so far?"

"15% of ours and an estimated 30% of theirs, but they keep replenishing their losses. We think a Forest Witch is duplicating fighters. We get the Forest Witch to stop and we have the upper hand again."

Else nodded as she changed her heeled boots to sneakers.

"Else, we need to get you both to the castle. We don't have time to give any more of a heavy debrief. Take the boy, lead him to where he needs to go. Find Egrick. He knows the details."

I figured I was the boy in this conversation and figured it was the best time to pipe up. "Where am I going?"

"I'll fill you in," Else said as she changed her snow coat to protective vest. She handed me one. "Put this on."