Ascendants: Tides of the Morn

Chapter 21

(A picture of Illaria Florentino. Here comes chapter 21!)

The silence lay thick between us only the distant calls of gunshots and cry for help broke the standoff. Fransesco and Luca stared at each other with so much hostility that you could cut through it. Then Fransesco finally broke the silence with a smile that made my skin crawl.

"She is one of us, I would appreciate if you gave her back."

If it wasn't such a large distance between us, I would have spat in his face for the insult. I had to be content with merely spitting on the ground as a sign of my disgust.

"The lady seems to disagree," Luca said but seem wary of me.

I frowned at Fransesco wondering what his game is. If Luca would have believed his words, he would have struck me down on the spot, not hand me over to him. Does Fransesco want me dead?

"Herald, I know this young girl. She is a newborn and under Herald Borgia's guidance. I highly doubt that she would be associated with such scoundrels," Lorenzo intervened and I thanked God for him.

"I was kidnapped! They wanted something from my Herald and wanted to use me to blackmail him," I exclaimed, rather insulted by the accusation of me being an Anarchist.

"I'm not handing her over, but I will need to interrogate her in order to make sure that her words are true," Luca muttered avoiding looking at me which only angered me more. He can at least give me the decency to look me in the eyes when he announces his judgment over me.

I huffed and was just about to say something when something landed with a loud thud on the ground in front of them. The street cracked under the pressure and those in close vicinity needed to cover their faces as dust covered the air.

I coughed and covered my face in order to hinder myself from inhaling the dust. Lorenzo had put himself between me and the chaotic scene now filled with frightened shouts. The only calm ones were Lorenzo, who stared at the scene trying to identify what happened, and Luca who merely took another wheeze on his cigarette.

The smoke settled and we soon saw a body, bloody and broken, on the ground. Besides it, stood a man I'm very familiar with.

Carlo's eyes gleamed like a bright sun and his face was hardened with cold callousness. His gaze was sharp like a blade as it turned towards Fransesco, who back away, while Illaria, too young to see her demise, glared back at him.

"Carlo!" I exclaimed blithely and his gaze immediately turned to meet mine. They softened when they saw that I was well and Lorenzo had to hold me back so that I didn't rush out into a battlefield.

"Are you well, bambina?" Carlo asked and brushed off his clothes.

"Well enough, they burned, drugged and roughed me up a bit but I'm well now that you are here!" I replied but felt tears furiously burn underneath my eyelids. I refuse to shed tears but my relief was plenty.

Carlo's eyes started to burn again as he heard about my trials. He turned his gaze toward Fransesco who grimaced and held Illaria back as she wanted to attack the intruder.

"I heard rumors that you were quite strong, but to actually be able to physically overpower a Renegade..."

"Perhaps, you shouldn't be so pretentious that you would dare assault an I Soli during the day. You overestimate your abilities. We are I Soli, and we rule the day!" Carlo growled and with the speed of sound, he threw himself at Fransesco who pushed Illaria out of the way.

With a blast, the strike from Carlo sends Fransesco through the wall of the building. Carlo didn't let up at before I blicked, he had run after Fransesco to finish him up.