The Adapters: Attack (Pt 8)

This story is not related to the prompt.

People featured in this story:

Varsha as Varsha

Jose as Luke

Celeste as Celeste

Sia as Sia

Palak as Palak

Lillian as Lillian

Ethan as Ethan

Danny as Scarlett



“I’m sorry,” said Varsha, her white wolf ears folded down. “I didn’t mean to get upset. But you can’t always be there for me. I’m older now, I can do things on my own.”

Luke sighed. “I know. And I’m sorry too. I just…” His eyes filled with tears. “I can’t lose you too.”

“And I can’t lose you,” she whispered, hugging her brother. “I’ll be fine, Wish and Cirah will be with me. Besides, it’s just some scouting, not an actual battle. Meet me back at the center zone?”

Luke nodded, his crystal blue eyes glistening with tears. They released their embrace and walked separate ways. I grabbed a couple of daggers from the armory shelf, pretending to not have heard their conversation. I attached the daggers to my belt loop along with some smoke bombs. I met up with Celeste, a girl with cream skin and standing next to her. Her hair reached her shoulders, streaks of blue invading the dark brown. The black wings folded behind her back were the largest I had ever seen- most likely a bald eagle’s. Her blue eyes matched Celeste’s at the moment, which surprised me since her usual eye color was yellow.

Celeste noticed me and quickly wiped the tears forming in her eyes and smiled at me, the blue hue in her eyes fighting with her predominant yellow. 

“Harper!” exclaimed Celeste. “This is Sia, she just got back from her mission. Sia, this is Harper.”

“Hey!” said Sia. “Nice to meet you. Are you the leader for the aerial group?”

I nodded my head, glancing at Celeste, flashes of blue still peaking through her eyes.

“Ok, let’s go,” said Celeste, walking out of the room.

“What’s with her?” I asked Sia, adjusting the daggers on my belt.

Sia hesitated before answering. “Draco is her brother. She’s hoping that Azazel hasn’t killed him already.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Well,” said Sia. “We gotta head out, or Lillian will chew us out. Come on.”

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We flew through the air, wind blowing in our faces. Celeste lagged behind, her butterfly wings flapping as fast as they could. Butterflies are better suited for long distances.

Sia and I kept circling back to stay with Celeste as we scouted the field, using our sharp eyes to look for any clues of Predator establishment. We stopped to rest at a small rock formation. I stretched my sore wings, chewing on a mint leaf in the afternoon sun.

“We should head back to the center zone,” commented Sia. “Group together, report our findings, let the night scouts take the rest.”

“Yeah,” agreed Celeste. “But first I want to head to the flower forest and gather some more pollen. I’m running out.”

“Is it far from here?” I asked as I stood up.

“No, it’s on the way to the center zone.”

We took off and, after about an hour of flying, approached a large field with red flowers. As we flew closer, I realized why the flowers looked red.

The smell of blood filled the air as Celeste landed on a rocky ledge, her eyes once again turning a dark shade of blue.

“What happened…” whispered Sia, landing beside Celeste.

“They… they ruined it. That pollen is one of the few sources of healing. And now…” Celeste’s voice cracked, her thin butterfly wings drooping.

Sia placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay. We have spare reserves at the tree. There’s nothing we can do now.”

Celeste bent down and plucked a small flower, red staining its tips. Without a word, she put it in her pack and flew away from the flower field.

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Several more hours passed as we flew to the center zone. We arrived at the large, flat field where everyone else was waiting for us. 

“There you are!” exclaimed Palak. “Where were you guys?”

Celeste dropped her gaze, tears glistening in her eyes. She silently pulled out the blood stained flower and held it out to Palak. Her usual smile dropped from her face as she took the small flower.

“The whole field,” whispered Celeste. “They ruined it.”

Palak stared at the flower until Lillian broke the silence. 

“Any findings?” she asked.

“West flower field is ruined.” reported Sia,

“The East forest is ruined as well,” said Luke. 

Lillian sighed.

“Then I guess we can start searching there. I’ll let the night scouts know where to look. Harper, have you had any success in your transformations?”

I opened my mouth to speak as an arrow whizzed through the air and pierced through Lillian’s heart.

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Someone cried out as another arrow made its mark, and next thing we knew, the entire sky was raining with arrows. We ducked behind the little cover we could find- rocks, ledges, trees. Lillian lied on the ground, body still and cold. I ducked back behind a rock, knowing it was futile to try and save her. Celeste, Palak, and Sia were huddled with me, caught off guard like the rest of us.

Sia cried out as an arrow grazed her arm, fresh blood dripping through her fingertips. 

“They aren’t stopping!” cried Celeste. “We can’t do anything while they’re firing those arro- Palak!”

“What?” asked Palak, startled.

“Harper, quick, tell a joke,” Celeste said, curling her wings as close to her as possible.

“I think now’s hardly the time for a joke…” I snapped.

“Trust me! And make it funny.”

“Uh… why did the nurse need a red pen at work?” I asked.

“I don’t know, why?” asked Palak.

“In case she needed to draw blood!”

Palak laughed, her lips drawing back into a smile.

“Funnier!” exclaimed Celeste.

“Why was six afraid of seven?” asked Sia.

“Why?” asked Palak, still giggling.

“Because seven eight nine!”

Palak laughed harder, clutched her stomach, her high pitched voice ringing through the air. It became louder and louder, and I barely heard Celeste yell “Cover your ears!” as I pressed my hands to my head. Palak’s hyena laugh pierced the air, giving me a headache even with my ear covered. The arrows stopped, and Sia yelled “Charge!” as Palak’s laughter died down. I jumped out from behind the rock, dagger in hand, and noticed a row of archers on a large rocky ledge still clutching their ears. I glanced at the bodies scattered around the field of those who didn’t make it to cover.

I flew into the air to gain the high ground as a girl with platinum blonde hair and dozens of scars ran towards me, a large mass of water behind her. She lifted her hands, turning the water into shards of ice and shooting it at me. I shot towards her, dodging the ice, and missed her head by a few mere inches. I landed behind her and lifted my dagger. She whipped around and faced me, shooting her water towards me, engulfing my body and trapping me against a rock. The water turned to ice as she pulled out a dagger and threw it at me.

A strangled cry emerged from my throat as Ethan jumped in front of me, fresh blood spewing from his reddish-brown hair as the dagger pierced his skull.