Globe Tracers 6: Chaos Storm

Chapter 55: Motherly Advice

Nadine:

"By how much?"

"I haven't seen them fight but Quarteen doesn't exactly have an aggressive personality."

"Well, like with you, that can be deceptive."

"Mom..."

"Yes."

"Raven... I mean, it turns out, my personality is only relatively deceptive in the end."

"Right... well I can be there in about... several hours." I cringed saying that but- well I was bound by human transportation. Even with a small country, I wasn't going across said country in minutes.

"Mom... you physically fight people I can't? Now, who is deluding themselves?"

"You don't expect me to do nothing do you?"

"Pray?"

I squeezed the phone, having to hold back to not crush it in one tightening of my fingers. "That's all you think I can do?"

"It means more than you know. The storm walkers are protecting us against Lord Maelstrom and kinda threatening us themselves."

"If... Jessica... when I hang up this phone... will it be the last time we..."

"Just pray."

I was becoming very afraid for my children. Jessica was asking me to stay and do nothing and... she was right... I ground my teeth together. "That's um... not what I'm calling about though," she ventured to say.

"What more could you put on me? By the way, if he copied your powers already, why is Maelstrom still after you- or do you know?"

"He is a strange character and I suspect he has a myriad of reasons for his actions, but even so, we have a sample of his DNA from a blood spatter on my shirt. We're trying to get it to Triad."

I bit my lip again. Was I really going to say this... if they pulled this off they could end a generational war. If the gargoyle king was gone, then maybe the pharaohs would see no reason to keep pursuing the gargoyles at all.

But these weren't members of an elite fighting unit sent to take down a military target. These were a bunch of kids practicing search and rescue. Maelstrom was an adult, even by the standards of Kyle's people.

"Jessica... what if you handed over the sample and moved on?"

"Hand it over to Maelstrom? The man is a monster! He deserves everything coming to him!"

"I have no doubt about that. I'm not asking you to sacrifice life, I'm asking you to sacrifice an opportunity to dole out some kind of justice for an opportunity to save lives. The lives of your family and the kid you rescued- hey maybe even this tribe."

"They think Maelstrom is harassing us to learn how to use storm walker powers."

"He could probably observe that from afar. I wager he's attacking because you're threatening his life."

"I don't feel sorry for him in that. You don't know how he treated me, mom."

"And I want to kill him for that... trust me," I clenched my hand not holding the phone so I wouldn't break it. I was actually more furious at Maelstrom and worried more about what he might do than I was worried about this thing with Jessica's bio mother. I needed my little girl to live before anything else. I'm was sure these interlopers had their own interests, but at least they weren't causing harm as far as I was being told... directly. This gargoyle was threatening their lives and with reason. Were I the one with a sample of his DNA I would continue to battle to deliver him to justice- if it were just me and a bunch of adults who knew the risks and were out there for such a thing. But... this was my little girl and my little boys.