Two Princes In Panama

Chapter 25: Myles

Laying in our shared bed alone with the constant threat of the loneliness being my forever had my stomach in knots. My heart pounded a mile a minute and I could feel it in my throat as if any second it would break past the confines of my ribs. Pulling the cover off of me I trained my eyes on a meaningless spot in the ceiling I reached out with my sensory abilities and found four guards in critical defense positions around the compound and one downstairs.

"Whoever is downstairs, come here please," I called. Ot more than a minute later a man with almost porcelain skin tone was standing to at my door, a gun strapped to his vest. I noticed he wore his hat low so that his eyes weren't visible and he shuffled uncomfortably, probably not comfortable leaving his post. I knew a sensory soldier when I saw one. The service trained them to remain hidden, always looking out for danger. "May I help you, Sir?"

"Do any of you have eyes on what's going on with my husband right now?" It was going to be impossible for me to lie down, oblivious to what was happening. Good or bad, I needed to see for myself. The guard hesitant but moved forward, presenting me a holographic pad that had a compiled view of what was happening from all the guards' contact videos. I nodded my head and waved him back to his post.

All my focus was on the screen as I pulled the covers over my legs. The screen was like a rudimentary version of my spell. Bernardo was in the lead as they moved at a tactical pace. Meaning they were going slow and methodical as to keep the element of surprise. The only building around was a makeshift shack formed from discarded wood. The darkness was suffocating, and the intensity of the moment from a spectators' view felt like an action movie. I wished I was watching a movie where the stakes were fictional and the lives lost would be fake.

"Surround the building in a circular formation. I will handle most of them with a spell, and the rest of you take care of anyone who slips past me," Bernardo whispered his orders. The soldiers complied immediately and began falling into a circular pattern while they drew their guns. Common sense told me that there had to be at least one lookout or sensor in the building they were targeting. As if on cue, a man with deep skin ran out of the building with his hands in the air.

The feed shook causing me to go to the drone footage as gunshots rang out. Bernardo was the only thing I could focus on. He didn't seem bothered by the man, the only reaction he had was flicking his hand causing several iron spikes to jut out violently from the ground impaling the man. Blood splattered the ground, and I closed my eyes from the shock. The finality of the action and the way Bernardo remained calm while doing it was something I would always remember.

When I opened my eyes again, the shack was unloading with vicious looking men and women. I knew what they were in for and felt this deepness in my chest. Bullets and magic flowed as the soldiers and terrorist began a deadly dance. Bernardo had a calm to the way he moved, the battlefield was a home for him. His fingers stretched out as his hands raised in the shack's direction. Not understanding what was happening, I watched as the chipped paint darkened. I switched through feed and saw that the darkness was growing around the structure. "He's turning everything into iron without touching it."

Transmutation of that level without physically touching the material you wanted to change was an expert level skill. Yet, Bernardo did it with what looked to be little effort. His next move was making a fist, causing the house to explode in a cloud of iron dust, much like how he did in the restaurant ambush. With his hand moving around, the dust gathered around some terrorist like a swarm of bees and covered their bodies in iron, entombing their bodies. Their faces forever cast in horrified expressions.

This was personal for Bernardo. It was clear in the way he made them suffer before they died. I never wanted an insight on how it felt to take a life before, but in that moment I wanted to know so I could understand what Bernardo was and had gone through. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have that weighing on my conscience. The thought would torture me forever, and the guilt would take years to wear off.