Chapter Six

A Warning and an Ally

The woman looked at her chest… the place where the bullet had struck. The wound instantly healed. "You're Chiropterans," Kai said, sneering, "I knew it."

"That wasn't very nice," the man glared, "You could've hurt Chera."

"Kai!" David shouted, as he ran to where Kai was, "Are you alright?"

"Chiropterans," glared Kai, "Where's my daughter? Where's my Georgie?!"

They ignored him. Instead the woman said, "I'm Chera. This is Nole."

"I don't give a damn who you are! Give me my daughter!" Kai shouted, angrily.

"You killed them all, didn't you?" David demanded.

"We had no choice," Nole replied, "They wouldn't give us what we wanted. We had to take it by force. Our senior ordered that the human Professor Collins be taken to him. They tried to get in our way. We had to take Collins by force. Such ignorance."

"Mahler ordered you to murder all of these people?" David glared.

"Humans are very disposable," Chera told him, "Their ignorance knows no bounds and they tend not to mind their own business."

"You should stop worrying about those you don't even know, and start worrying about what's in front of you," sighed Nole.

"We were told to issue a warning first. Give up your feudal search for our queen. Go home and forget about her. If you do not, we will have no choice but to kill you," Chera smirked.

"There is no way I'm abandoning my daughter," sneered Kai.

Chera glanced at Nole. "I'm afraid we have no choice. You shall join these people in the afterlife."

The two began to advance. Suddenly, with a flash, another person appeared. He stood between the two Chiropterans, and Kai and David. "Where do your loyalties lie!" the young man demanded, "Your queen did not wish this!"

"What are you doing here? Nathan said…" Chera began.

"Is it his blood or Georgie's that created you?"

"Do you realize…" Noel sneered.

"Go home," the young man demanded, "I shall take Nathan's wrath alone, but I will not let you harm these humans. Georgie does not wish it."

The two hesitated. Then with one last glare, the two left with a flash. Kai and David both kept their guns on the man. "Who are you?" Kai demanded.

The young man turned to face them. He had messy black hair, and some of it fell into his pale face. He had pale blue eyes and wore a friendly expression. "Looks like I made it just in time, huh? I'm Dalton McMahn. I come on behalf of the one I love. You have nothing to fear from me."

"The one you love? Georgie?" demanded Kai.

The man nodded, "Yes. She asked me to come. I boarded a flight I was not suppose to be on… Nathan will be angry, but I don't serve him."

"Where is she? Take me to her! Is she in New York."

"She's not in New York. I'm sorry," Dalton sighed, "I can't take you to Georgie. I can't tell you where she is, either. Her ultimate wish is to keep you safe. Taking you to her, or telling you where she is would put you in danger. Do you believe that just the two of you would survive if you were to meet Nathan? Chera and Nole are only two of the Chevaliers he's forced Georgie to create… that would rather follow him than her… because of the power they believe he can give them."

"But…" Kai began, desperately.

"I must go. I must get back to her. I don't like leaving her, but she begged me to come. I don't like to see her in pain. I'll be in touch from time to time. As long as Georgie wishes it… no harm will ever come to you or any of the others she loves. Good-bye."

With a flash, Dalton was gone. "Wait!" demanded Kai.

He started to chase after him, but David grabbed his arm, "You know you'll never be able to catch him, Kai. We have to get out of here. We've got to contact the Red Shield… and then we should contact Julia and Riku."

"Yeah, you're right. Damn it!" Kai cursed.

II

Julia hung up the phone, and then looked over at Riku. She and Karl were now staying at David and Julia's house… at least until Kai returned from New York. She had given Karl some of David's old suits to wear for now. "Are they alright?" Riku asked, hopefully.

"David and Kai are fine," replied Julia.

"Then what's wrong, mom?" asked DJ, "You look upset about something."

"Nathan got to Collins first," Julia told them.

"How?" demanded Riku, "How'd he even know that David and dad were going to New York to talk to Collins?"

"You have a leak," Karl sighed.

"A leak?" Julia asked, looking confused.

"Someone is giving Nathan information behind your back," Karl told her, "It's the only explanation."

"But… who?" DJ asked.

"Don't ask me," Karl glared, "I was just born a of couple weeks ago. Who else knew?"

"Several people," Julia replied annoyed, "Everyone in this room… Joel, Lewis…"

"We know it was none of us," Riku sighed.

"Or your Joel… or Lewis," Karl sighed.

DJ slammed his hand down on the coffee table, and then got to his feet, "I'll get to the bottom of this, mom… guys. Lewis and I will question everyone. Someone is in deep shit."

DJ went out the door, slamming it behind him. "Nathan was in New York?" Riku asked, worried.

"No, he didn't come in person," Julia replied.

"You're hiding something, Julia," Riku narrowed her eyes, "What's going on?"

"The people that confronted Kai and David," Julia began, "were Chevaliers."

"Chevaliers? Nathan can make them…"

"No," Karl interrupted her, "Not Nathan. Your sister's Chevaliers. Right, doctor?"

Julia nodded. "No… no, it's not true. Georgie didn't… she wouldn't do it…"

"I agree. She wouldn't do it of her own free will. Nathan probably forced her to do it," Julia told her.

Karl sneered, "Either way, Riku will have to pick up a sword and follow in her aunts footsteps. You have some rather large shoes to fill."

"Hang on! I can't fight! I have no idea…" Riku jumped to her feet, "I've never even held a sword, let alone swung one around!"

"Riku, calm down," Julia soothed.

Karl narrowed his eyes, "Don't know, huh? Perhaps we can change that."