CHAPTER 37

Darian Kane leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply. It had not been a good day. As he predicted, the SRC wanted to storm in and incarcerate this 'new Cloak Guard' as people were calling them, but Darian had been able to waylay them for now. The SRC becoming involved in an Emperor's territory? While not unheard of, it would lose him a lot of credibility and let his enemies believe they could act more freely in his affairs.

This Cloak Guard though. It had happened. They had formed up and now the whole world was aware of their presence. He knew it had only been a matter of time but still, it had happened so soon. And now things had become more complicated.

Swarm. He had heard rumors of that name among the underworld but hadn't taken much heed of it. Now he knew that was a mistake. This man, while a braggy idiot, was clever in certain areas. And he did have power, even if it was limited to control over microbots. A scary power to some but to others, barely an inconvenience.

The man had gone to ground for now but it wouldn't take long for Darian's men to dig him up. Then he would pay for messing around where he shouldn't.

A school. That had been what he had attacked. A school. Darian shook his head at the man's unbelievable stupidity. If there was any way to draw attention to oneself, it was to attack a school. Now it had made national news. Fortunately, his people were working around the clock to fix it and the SRC's implementations were already doing their job. Soon, it would be over.

Which brought him back to the Cloak Guard. He pulled up the images taken from the cameras around the school.

Travis Stroneman. Franklin Carson. Madison Jennings. Emily Simmons. Luke Decker. Sumin Jang. And Gabriela Fuentes.

Two days. Only two days and they had a solid control over their power, enough to battle an Awakened and scare him off. It had nearly done them in but they had still done it. Impressive.

But now he had to deal with them. It was clear they were becoming too much of a problem. The smart thing to do would be to eliminate them. Right now would be best. They were tired and their power was dim after the battle. If he sent one of his lieutenants, they would take care of them, no problem.

And that was the problem.

"Sir?" He glanced up to see his assistant standing in the doorway. "They're ready for you."

"Excellent." He turned back to the computer and switched the screen, revealing a dozen FaceTime camera screens showing him nine of his lieutenants and three of his generals. The elite of his Faction and some of the best warriors in the world. Ones he had fought beside for many years, a couple even against the last Cloak Guard. Some were absent though, away on assignments across the globe.

"Now, let's get right to it," he said. "As you were made aware of, the Cloak Guard has risen again. The power has chosen seven high school students as the hosts. However, do not take this lightly. These seven have proven themselves capable, taking down the Awakened warrior known as Swarm. He will be dealt with accordingly."

"And the children?" one of his generals, Master Dark, asked. "Are they to be taken care of?"

Darian looked at them all carefully before responding. "No."

That caused a lot of raised eyebrows and sharp intakes of breath. "Sir," his other general, Richter, leaned forward, "with all due respect, if they have shown this much power already, the best thing to do would be to eliminate them now before they get stronger."

"Agreed," his third general, Stormcloud, nodded. "I can do it before they even realize it."

"I am aware of the circumstances, however, it is because of their power that causes me to reevaluate the situation," Darian explained carefully. "While it took them some time, they were still able to defeat Swarm. And when they united, the Cloak Guard was officially activated in them. We don't know what kind of effect that had. If we go on the attack now, they may be able to fight back and lead to another incident. As good as you all are, we do not have confirmation that an attempt on their life would be successful at this time. And if the battle becomes public, the SRC will come down on us and that is the last thing we need considering our operations."

Now they were nodding along, seeing things his way, though a few still looked dubious.

"I suspect they are beginning to understand the larger world they're involved in," he continued. "Once the SRC implementations take effect over the school incident, they'll realize. My presumption is, they'll begin to lay low, not wanting to draw attention to themselves."

"And if they don't?" Richter asked.

"Then we will be forced to deal with them," Darian shrugged helplessly. "That is all. I will keep you posted on what happens next. Remain vigilant and notify me of any changes."

As soon as the screens faded to black, he slumped over, sighing again. That had been close. He then chuckled dryly. It seemed fate was a cruel mistress, playing him like that. Because now there was no way he could kill the Cloak Guard. Well, at least not all of them.