4. P R O T E C T O R S : Primordial

CHAPTER VI

Snake walked into the combat training cave and over to Bari, tapping him on the shoulder upon reaching him. Bari turned and smiled (though it looked somewhat forced). "Ah! Miss Snake," he greeted her. "What news do you bring me, hm?"

"There's a kid from our haven here," Snake told him. "Camilla. She says she brings bad news from back home."

Bari frowned. "Oh, dear. I suppose we should see what the fuss is about."

Snake nodded, lips pressed together.

Bari glanced at her and sighed before offering his arm. "Shall we?"

Snake's face lit up, and she quickly slipped her arm through Bari's. "Heck, yeah!"

Having overheard the conversation, Mr. Barakoa turned to the Avatars and gestured toward the main cave. "Come—let's hear what your friend has to say," he said to the Northwest Havenites.

-

Camilla stood up quickly when the Avatars (in their depowered forms) appeared. "Hey, guys," she greeted her friends, giving them an anxious smile and waving.

"Cam!" Cameron ran up to her former patient and embraced her. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"I was sent by Renee and Abidan," Camilla explained, returning the embrace and relaxing—slightly. Then she pulled back and added, "It... it's not good."

"What do you mean?" Addison asked, moving to the front of the group and giving Camilla a side-hug. "Great to see you, by the way."

"Thanks." Camilla took out her phone and said, "What I mean is, the guys back at Xirxine think this meetup is a trap."

"A trap?" Zill repeated incredulously. "Great! Just pile that on top of our problems, why don'tchya?"

"Problems?" Camilla asked, surprised. "What problems?"

"You know those earthquakes we've been having recently?" Zill asked in return.

"Yeah..."

"See these guys?" Zill jerked his thumb at the other Havenites.

"Uh-huh..."

"They're getting the same treatment from old Mother Nature. Y'know why?"

"I feel like you're going to tell me."

"I am," Zill confirmed with a wry grin. "See, there are these huge sleeping animals underground—and I mean, like, grande; these guys are straight-up massive—and they're about to wake up and rip the planet in half. So, y'know, we kinda have to stop them."

"Brilliant explanation, luv," Kayla said, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks, hon."

"Wait, so—you're telling me the world's about to explode?" Camilla cried.

"That's about the long n' short of it, sheila," Davey said from where he stood, letting out a yawn.

"But enough about our bad news," Tián broke in, adding, "Ni hao, I am Tián." Then she said, "Please, Camilla—tell us your news."

Camilla nodded and took a deep breath, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "We've located Jason Adams, former chairman of Xirxine," she reported. "The chairwoman made contact with him, but according to her report and those from our cameras, he was... um... pulled into a tree. By... tentacles."