The captain who had been carrying Amelia introduced himself as Captain Gerard O’Connor, and the major also introduced himself to Jay. In exchange, Jay introduced herself and informed them that she was the squadron leader. Then she introduced Flight Lieutenant Lucca Pelini Diallo. She was a Senegalese-Italian Airborn who had now also received the fire power since its appearance earlier within Yans carrying the fire gene, which made her a dual.
Also with them was Flying Officer Lulu Chikelu. It was obvious that they were surprised to see a squadron made entirely of women, and even more surprising was how young the squadron fighters were.
Jay was twenty-four, Lucca was twenty-three, and Lulu was twenty-six, but the squadron fighter ages ranged between sixteen and thirty. As older men, the major being forty-one and the captain being thirty-three, they had a bit of a problem dealing with younger officers who were essentially the same rank as them.
I realised that Jay was not supposed to be in Surrey with me. So why was she here? Jay was from the African side of the family and would never leave Africa unless it was to go to Yanar, so why was she in the UK?
We couldn’t wait any more, so we asked her the reason for her presence here, and she said, “The council has recalled all off-land Yans. The Hendus have officially started the invasion of Earth, and we are to all return home immediately.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked. If the council was worried enough to call us back, that only meant one thing: they were staying out of the fight and would allow the Masani world to be conquered. That also explained the military presence. They were aware of the invasion, and it was clear that the British government had decided to fight rather than come to an agreement with the Hendus.
Major McNamara and Captain O’Connor took the squadron officers aside and explained to them that the government had very little information about the Hendus and that they were flying blind. I overheard them, so I cut into their conversation, and I told them that at J.C., not only did we know a lot about the Hendus, but we had battled against them and knew their fighting style.
To my surprise, Jay’s squadron already had all the information they needed from the war council, and all they wanted from us was to pack our belongings and make our way to Yanar.
I said, “Ohhhh,” and the major, who I think hated children, told Jay, “These kids have saved our lives, and we are very grateful, but do you even know the feeling of watching these little girls giving their lives for us? My men almost had my head for it. They are trained to protect children, not be protected by them,” he said. “Sorry, but Yan or no Yan, I want them all gone, and gone today,” he added.
Jay smiled and said, “Do you know how old they are?”
They both sighed and said, “Go on, tell us.”
So she said, “Diana, my cousin, is fifteen, and Amelia, my other cousin, is fourteen.”
Captain O’Connor just shook his head no, and she added, “Major, Mabel, who shielded you, is also fourteen, and the two boys you forgot to thank are both sixteen.”
The major turned red and apologised. He said, “Do not think that I forgot about them, but watching Mabel was just excruciating. Please send them home to their parents. We will personally visit them after we are done here, to thank them for their help.”
She smiled and said, “I’ll do my best.”
Obviously, we were listening to them, but they clearly didn’t care, and neither did we. As far as we were concerned, the major and the captain were just jealous of us, so we all agreed to ignore those ungrateful grumpy old bags and go back to J.C. We flew away with Pam and Mabel without saying goodbye and returned to school.
Soon after, Jay and her squadron arrived with the police and the soldiers. They found most students with their bags packed. I was not surprised to see that, but what surprised me was that the police had called for vans to pick up the students and take them home, or at least to the nearest train station.
While Amelia and I were filling Jay in with what had occurred in the school, ambulances were arriving as well, and I breathed a sigh of relief; they could take away the others, especially the dead, and clear the school of the young ones and the wounded.
When the officers and the soldiers came out of their cars, the other students, who were still in their houses and scared for their lives, realised that they not only had a large number of armed officers but also a large number of soldiers who had come to help. The students must have been a very scary picture, because the officers jumped when everyone, with their bags in hand, started coming out of the buildings, running towards them, crying, screaming and talking at the same time.
They were jumping on the officers and the soldiers. Each had a story to tell, and they were so relieved to see the authorities and adults around.
I had to admit we were hurt, really hurt. These guys had done nothing to protect them. Without us, the school would be a graveyard, and the police and the military would be on their way to Fólkvangr.
Incidentally, none of them came and thanked us. We just stood there looking at them, as if it was a movie, and then I knew. It was time to go home. I would let the others know that, after we had guaranteed that our friends were safe. The rest of the school, as far as I was concerned, could go to hell. That would teach them that when people put their lives in danger to protect and save them, those warriors deserve at least a thank you.
The police put the students from key stages three and four on buses, as well as the injured students, and sent them to Guildford under escort, so we were left with the sixth-form students only. They also had sent orders for the bodies to be removed, and I got to watch Delphine as she was making her last journey home.
We finally found our friends at the boys’ house living room, where some of them had been waiting for us to explain what had happened to Delphine. They had already been filled in by Pam about Brown’s death, so I started to explain how some of us had sent Delphine to spy on Mr Farage, not knowing that she already had her own investigation under way. I had come to the conclusion that, had I known that she was already investigating him, I would not have sent the anonymous letter to him and asked her to watch his response to the letter. My fear was that she had been killed because the letter confirmed suspicions he must have had regarding her spying on him.
As soon as I said that, William started yelling at me. He was already furious about what had happened on the battlefield, because Alex had been foolish enough to tell the boys in detail how the fight had gone. I had never seen him so angry before. He was furious at me. His face had turned red. He didn’t seem to notice that everyone was staring at us.
He started ranting that it was typical of me to make rash decisions that in turn ended up affecting everyone who loved me and cared about me. He was right, of course. William’s sense of responsibility was very uncommon for someone his age, and it did get on our nerves sometimes, but more than once, it had also saved us from a lot of trouble.
But I was too hurt to tell him that he was right, and felt too guilty about what I had done to face up to my mistake, so I just sat there with a blank look on my face. I could hear sounds around me. I was numb. It was as if I had left my body and was listening to a conversation covered by static.
When the boy you love looks at you as if you are something horrid, something they wished they had never met, it makes you feel small and unwanted. I could see his beautiful lips moving, but instead of a smile was an angry tremble.
Then suddenly my heart started aching, as if someone was slashing it over and over. Tears started to run down my cheeks. I wanted to talk, but my lips were trembling too much. I could see blurs around me, but I couldn’t make out their faces. The only face I could see clearly was William’s, and it looked like it was filled with hate towards me.
My surroundings started to spin, and I couldn’t see or hear any more. All I knew was that I had to get out of that room, so I dashed out and ran as fast as I could, and before I knew it, I was flying. I flew as far as I could until it started raining, and then I landed on a meadow. I sat on the grass and started crying over and over again. First the authorities, then the students, and now my own boyfriend. I had really had enough. I wanted to go back to Yanara. I wanted to be home.
While I was busy with my broken heart, my friends sent Alex after me. I was told later that William had wanted to come too, but Alex was too inexperienced with his powers not to burn him while they were flying. However, he promised not to stop looking for me until dusk.
When the others returned to the living room, Emily informed them that she had found Mr Farage’s diary in his office. In it was a detailed explanation on how they had killed a stu-dent just after an interaction with me.
Apparently, the student, who was a member of the Famla, had been sent by Farage to spy on Delphine, and that student had come to suspect that Delphine had discovered the identity of the royal and had taken a photo as evidence. She had been asked to go through Delphine’s belongings and found a few exchanges between me and Delphine, and a few photos that she had sent me.
Apparently, the photos scared them enough that they instructed the student to retrieve all the photos that I had received, including the one with the royal in it, and dispose of Delphine. The student was unsuccessful in both cases, so they had no choice but to kill Delphine themselves, but not before eliminating the student. Farage had decided she had failed the Famla, when she went home for summer half-term, by sending a killer fly he had used previously to poison her.
Farage’s actions were a direct result of our naivety. We should have been more careful, because they clearly had started to suspect us, and despite that fact, we had still acted without thinking. We should have been more suspicious of our peers. If we had considered the possibility that some of our peers could have been members of the Famla, we could have prevented anyone being killed, by not raising Farage’s suspicions.
The journal did not mention the fact that we were Yans, at least not until we got back from summer half-term, which meant that Delphine’s photos were what really made them very nervous. Due to our age, we shouldn’t have been a threat to them, and yet we had been under constant surveillance by them, and now we were dropping like flies.
I finally went back to J.C. I saw Alex approaching; he had been searching for me and was relieved to see me in one piece. He told me that the others were in conference with Emily. He could see that I was feeling beaten. He hugged me and said, “Not too long. By tonight we will be gone, but for now some-one is very anxious to see you.”
When we got to the house, I still hadn’t spoken to William, and I was worried about how the situation would unfold. Luckily, everybody was hungry, so we went to the kitchen and raided it. It turned out there was a lot of food, and I was in heaven, enjoying my sandwich, when a shadow started hovering over me. I didn’t want to look up, but I had to, so I did, and there was William, standing, staring at me.
My treacherous friends moved away and gave us the space I had never asked for. William was staring at me, and I did not know how to react. He gave me his hand and said, “Come with me, please.”
There was no way I was going to say no. I took his hand and we started walking. He asked me where we could go and talk in private, and I took him to my room. As soon as I had closed the door, he held me in his arms and apologised.
“I am so sorry,” he said, putting his forehead on mine. “I am so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I love you so much. If only you knew how much I love you.” He sighed and said, “You are great, but at the same time, I want you to think of the consequences of your actions. You were right about Farage, and I agree with you that knowing more about him was important, but at the same time, if you had asked for my opinion before involving Delphine, who was clearly not equipped to defend herself against a bigger and stronger adversary, I would have advised against it. I just want you to remember that I am your boyfriend. We are a team, so please trust me a little and come to me before making any dangerous moves.”
He was right; I should have gotten a second opinion. I agreed with him, and I apologised to him for my tantrum. He then finally kissed me, and I was in heaven once again when the door swung open, hitting us in the process.
It was Jay coming towards us. She said, “Well, it looks like the Famla, on top of being a Hendu-run murderous group and a cult, is now in the kidnapping business.”
“What are you on about?” I said.
“The Famla has taken all six hundred and fifty inhabitants of Thursley village as hostages. Their message was clear: safe passage for us as long as we vacate the school immediately, leaving all dead bodies behind and allowing them to keep twenty-four students of our choice – wounded or not, it does not matter. For full disclosure, they made it clear that the twenty-four students who remain will be sacrificed, so there will be no need for any rescue attempt.” Thursley village was the closest village to Gateway Hill.
William and I were shocked. We didn’t know what to say, and then Jay said, “Well, Di, you are the senior Omni of this school; the decision is yours.”
As per Yan law, any member of the Ten who was posted anywhere was automatically given the role of leader of the area. Because there were so few members of the Ten in J.C., the role of leader fell to me because I was an Omni, so I outranked all of them.
I turned to William and said, “I don’t want to make the decision alone. We need to talk to the others. What do you think?”
He touched my cheek, put his forehead on mine and said, “Yes, I agree, and thanks for including me. I love you.” And he kissed me.
We went to the boys’ living room and luckily all our friends were there. We told them what had happened, while Jay went to inform the authorities of this new development. I told them about the Famla’s proposal and asked for their opinion. As much as I wanted to send the Famla to hell, the truth was that twenty-four people versus six hundred and fifty was a no-brainer.
It went as well as I’d expected. The Yans wanted to give the Famla the twenty-four students, and the Masanis were dead set against it. I couldn’t understand their logic. They wanted to keep the twenty-four students, then charge in and rescue the six hundred and fifty hostages.
Clearly, none of them had any idea how hard it was to defeat the Hendus, and that wasn’t even with the royal there. Odin only knew how we would manage to defeat them.
But as it turned out, the authorities did not recognise my authority and refused to listen to Jay when she tried to explain that the decision was mine and mine only.
The police leadership was made up of Surrey Police chief constable Nicola Epgrave, the deputy chief constable, Grace Stephen, Detective Chief Superintendent Jana Boshier and Chief Superintendent Jonathan Sobell, who all had children at J.C. and were in the convoy sent to rescue us from Gateway Hill’s impending attack.
They were also the ones who took the decision not to negotiate with the Famla, with the complicity of Captain Gerard O’Connor and Major Paul McNamara. I had had enough of all of them, so I decided to let them hang. I informed them that they were free to refuse, but I made it clear that since they chose to undermine my leadership, I had no other choice but to leave, taking with me the entire Yan group and anyone else who wished to follow us.
Major McNamara walked straight up to me, smiled and said, “Oh, princess, you sure will be missed. Now off you go. The grown-ups have work to do.” He winked at me and walked back to join the others.
I was furious. I yelled, “Hey, morons, good luck defeating an enemy with supernatural powers, unprepared and outgunned. I’ll make sure to tell your families how your own stupidity and foolishness got you killed. With a bit of luck, when they are done hating you, they might one day remember your sorry behinds fondly.”
There was a moment of silence, and then they burst out laughing, and to add insult to injury, Major McNamara said, “Oh, Diana, I love you so much.”
That was it for me. I left, and I made sure to slam the door behind me. I went back to join the others, and I told the squadron to fly off with any student who wanted to leave with them to go to Guildford, while it was decided that Alex, Tristan and I would be hovering around just to see what was coming next.
To my surprise, all the students chose to follow us, leaving the authorities behind. It confirmed to me that even the Masani students knew that the Famla was the most likely to win that battle.
I suddenly realised that not only had I forgotten to call Pam’s mother and report on what had happened, but I still hadn’t told the boys about the mission I had been given by the general council.
When I told Alex and Tristan about the anomaly and our belief that the school yew tree was the source of the anomaly and was a portal, they agreed with Pam and my assessment. They also said that they now understood why the Famla kept attacking the school.
We still didn’t know why they wanted twenty-four people, but letting them get access to that tree was a no-no for us.