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Keefe

Keefe's breath was shaky as he waited. For five days, he'd been counting. Counting down the days until the attack on the Neverseen's hideout. Counting down the days until their downfall. And counting down the days until he'd see Sophie again. Oralie's plan was actually pretty solid, no matter what the council thought. The entire Lost Cities, all intelligent species, and all their power, against the Neverseen. Sure, maybe they had their own allies-- traitors of intelligent species. However, with the Lost City civilians' assistance, Keefe was sure they would win. And Oralie would get her job back. 

Beside him waited Dex, his cheeks still flushing pink, and Keefe wondered if it had anything to do with his visit to Biana's room just minutes before they'd left. It was time. After all that waiting, they were setting the plan into motion. It felt as though it were happening much too fast, and yet at the same time, Keefe felt he'd waited decades, for this. 

"Where's Oralie?" Linh asked from Keefe's right as they waited outside the Neverseen's freezing base. They were waiting for Oralie to draw the Neverseen from the cave, alongside the council. After that, it was Keefe, Linh, Dex, Tam, and Stina's job to bring them to the Lost Cities where the rest of the world would be waiting. "She should be back by now." 

"They all should," Stina added. Keefe nodded. It was definitely taking longer than the estimated time.  

"Should we go in?" Keefe asked, readjusting his stance for the millionth time. 

"No," Tam hissed. "We wait. Just like the council said. If we move, and die, it'll be on us." 

"Fine," Keefe said, growing irritated when Tam ignored the glare Keefe had sent him. "We'll do it your way, Bangs Boy," he taunted. Tam remained silent, and Keefe gave up. Tam was boring. 

"Tammy," Linh said, and Keefe snickered. "Look." Everyone followed Linh's finger towards the caves, watching as several figures emerged from the darkness. 

It was the council, each shielding their eyes as they readjusted to the sunlight. Keefe moved to stand, but a firm hand held him down. It was Dex, and he looked frightened. As the council neared, he saw it, too. The face of shock and devastation. And in Councillor Alina's hand, was a paper. Linh, before Dex could stop her too, jumped from her place and ran to meet them. The group waited five more seconds before joining her. 

"It's too late," Oralie told them, her eyes wide with realization. 

"What's too late?" Stina asked. Oralie met her eyes before answering. 

"They've cleared the place out and started it."

"Started what? You've gotta start being more clear," Stina told her. 

"They're in the Lost Cities," Bronte clarified. "And they're fighting without us." 

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Fire. There was fire everywhere. Fintan's Everblaze, Keefe realized, sour coating his  tongue. Once again, no matter how good a plan they had, the Neverseen would always remain three steps ahead. Hopefully Oralie's plan hadn't been dubbed a "failure" yet. Hopefully, they still had a chance. 

All around, elves could be seen going head to head with figures in chilling black cloaks baring a white symbol resembling somewhat of an eye. Ogres fought ogres, goblins fought goblins, and so on. But occasionally, Keefe would catch traitors ganging up on lone fighters or smaller groups. The Lost City civilians fought hard, and Keefe was impressed at how well they were handling things. While the Civilian Army was made up mostly of men, the women staying back to protect children and heal wounded, there was the occasional women here and there. Among the blazing chaos, he spotted Elwin treating an injured man. Livvy was nearby, helping another. 

Chaos. Chaos was everywhere. And death. Death plagued the area, bodies from both sides being treaded over and trampled as the battle continued. 

And in the center of everything, was a cloaked figure, they're back facing him. Not fighting, but seeming to be waiting for something. Purple static enveloped her hands, glitching in and out of existence and pumping as a heart would. Keefe watched the figure for a solid minute, the battle continuing around him. And then, the hooded figure turned around.

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