Chapter 175

175 Chapter One Hundred Seventy Five

The phone remained silent for a while after the girl had replied. She could hear the woman on the other side of the phone gasp when she heard the voice of her adoptive daughter. It had been so long. A moment later, she spoke up, “Let me get, Tom so we can all... talk, okay?”

“Yeah, I would like that,” she replied. There was a lot of commotion on the other side of the communication and Katie could swear she heard the woman say, ‘Tom, hurry up. Our daughter just called. She wants to know the famous recipe that you always bragged about in your disastrous morning pancakes,’ the girl giggled at the accusation.

“What, really... Let me come. She shouldn’t go anywhere. I have it all inscribed in my head,” the man’s voice was getting louder accompanied by a few crashing sounds akin to that of furniture. Katie cringed at what he must have been going through to reach his wife, “The trick is to get them a little bit charred. Just a little bit...”

The two women laughed at his explanation, “Yes, honey, we know that part quite well,” Aunt Marie replied. The sound of her adoptive parents laughing was heavenly to the girl’s ears and she wished they could be together again and have one of their coveted picnics in the woods. Memories wouldn’t stop crashing into the girl’s mind the longer she listened to them.

They soon noticed her absence and called out to her, “Hey, Katie. What happened to your previous phone? I don’t think I recognise this number?”

“Oh, it fell into the water and I pretty much lost everything that was in it. This is another one Lina got for me. Courtesy of the king,” she replied.

“You mean your super-rich father,” her adoptive mother cooed.

“I know right. I imagine her riding in the back of a limo and having the time of her life in the city. Don’t lose out on your training. Cole can be a trouble maker, but you’re also a hunter and you have a duty to the hunters,” her adoptive father added.

“Yeah, I hear you, Uncle Tom. And you know I don’t fancy cars and luxurious life. I won’t lie though. Life is not half bad in the city. I have a lot of fun. It has its share of problems, but nothing I can’t handle,” Katie replied.

.....

“That’s good to hear. However, we did know that you’d call home today. What’s the matter, Katie?” her father’s voice got serious all of sudden.

“Leave it to a Chase hunter to always be a step ahead,” she mused before answering, “We are visiting the Sirius game reserve today. A group of two classes and I’ve been assigned as the only professional hunter to escort them. I don’t like the feeling I’m having about this,” she replied.

'

“That’s odd. The rogues are gathering in Lycaon. What makes you feel like they are gathering there instead,” she responded.

“I didn’t say anything about the rogues gathering in Sirius. However, there is a group of them that stayed behind in Sirius. I don’t know where they are or how to locate them, but I am sure that they are always watching my every move,” she replied.

“Well then, if that’s the case and they aren’t as many as the ones that attacked Brigadia last time, then I would ask that you stay vigilant. After all, we got a report from Cupid Shooter. You’ve made scary progress in the past five days that he’s been training you,” Aunt Marie responded.

“Oh, yes, I’ve made a bit of progress. I can definitely try to do what the Thunderbolt can now... Although, just a few of them before I’m too tired to push further. I won’t resort to that unless it’s to save a life,” she answered.

“Did you see the bow we sent you?” Uncle Tom asked her. Just then, the girl felt the small bag on her back get heavier. Earlier that morning, Frank Silver had given her the bag as a good luck charm, but she hadn’t taken a look inside.

She fumbled to take the bag from her back while her adoptive parents pondered her silence, “She hadn’t opened the bag, had she?”

“No, my love, she hadn’t yet. Frank probably wanted her to be surprised when she saw it.

The first thing Katie saw when she opened the bag was a black and red quiver. She took the quiver out and marvelled at the unique design of red streaks that went around the black quiver and arrows as well. “Since your nose is sensitive to wolfsbane, we made sure to leave the wolfsbane out of the order. You should be able to take down rogues just as easily. I hope you won’t have to deal with many though,” Aunt Marie’s voice.

“This must be the second most exciting gift I’ve had since I came here,” the girl marvelled, “Thank you very much.”

“Second... Did someone upstage us? Do you have another bow or maybe a katana? I know you’re not the kind of person to take a bouquet of flowers,” her adoptive father came through the other side.

“Well, it was nothing like that. I would also like that gift to be a surprise,” the girl, placing the phone down beside the bag while she picked out something she never thought she’d own.

Inside the bag was a folded metallic device she’d only seen with one person. She took note of the designs on this one as the red streaks this time came from the very centre of the device. She had to see it in its full glory. Her memory returned the motions Cupid Shooter usually went through when unfurling his bow and she marvelled as the two ends of the bow came out from their resting positions and stretched a black string taught.

The red streaks had been well designed to radiate from the front of the bow and outwards in a fiery behaviour. It made the bow look menacing. “We call it the Phoenix bow,” her mother’s voice came.

“It’s beautiful,” she replied.

“Woah,” a voice came from the back of the bus. Katie had gone to the other side of it for privacy. Sandra couldn’t take her eyes off the marvel before her. “Where did you get that?”

“My parents sent it. Isn’t it amazing?” Katie replied.

“Hey, Sandra. How is Sirius treating you?” Aunt Maries’s voice screamed through the phone.

“Oh, it’s all fine. How are my parents?” she asked them.

“Your parents are fine. We aren’t in Brigadia though. We’d call them if that was the case. You should borrow Katie’s phone and make a quick call before you go on that trip. Do your best to enjoy the visit to the reserve,” the woman spoke back.

“Well, I still don’t understand how protecting wildlife allows it to remain wildlife, but I will see what the reserve has to offer,” the girl sounded skeptical of the marvels they were bound to see at the reserve.

“Oh, you’ve never been to a reserve... I will refrain from spoiling the experience. Keep an open mind though,” the woman replied. Katie could practically feel the smile on her adoptive mother’s face as she said this.

“Katie, is that bow the same one issued for Frank?” the girl asked.

“Yeah, it is... Want to try it out?”

“Well, the string is said to be so taut that someone without a strength Prometheus gift cannot pull it one inch. I don’t think I would be able to use it even if I tried,” the girl chuckled nervously. Once again, Katie marvelled at her friend’s wide range of information.

“Sometimes I wonder where you get the time to read all that,” she replied before trying the string herself. Just as her friend had said, the string didn’t budge one bit. It was so strong she couldn’t move it one bit even when she tried hard. It was only when she let the power of her strength Prometheus gift that the string gave way to her tries. It was only then that she noticed gears at the side letting more of the string out. The mechanism that let an arrow from this bow fly was complicated and calibrated to handle in insane strength of hunters with the strength of Prometheus’ gifts.

“It makes sense why his arrows are so blindingly fast when he chooses to get serious when using his bow,” Katie mumbled.

“Have you gotten the chance to see him serious with his bow?” Aunt Marie asked.

“Once before...” memories of the time he’d saved her from Jeremiah bombarded her mind. She’d barely noticed the man’s arrows that time, but she thought that was only because she hadn’t been focused on the arrows. It was only then that she realised he’d been taking it easy on her during their training. “The Mighty Warriors are scary people.”

“You can say that again,” Uncle Tom replied, “Katie, I don’t know how important this information is to you, but we feel your presence in Lycaon will be very important in the near future. We don’t know how soon, but it’s like a war is brewing. The palace in Lycaon is guarded heavily. It feels like a repeat of the war eighteen years ago. Keep on your toes...”

“I will...” Katie replied. Sandra took note of the warning. She got the feeling the bow in her friend’s hands was going to be important sooner rather than later.

“Oh, Katie, I meant to tell you that the bus is all loaded up. We have to get going,” Sandra told her right when the engine of the massive vehicle roared to life, sending rocking vibrations through the bus.

“Very well...” Katie replied. She bid her parents farewell, promising to call them later on... ‘As long as I don’t lose my phone again...’ she told herself with a grimace. They were ready to go... It felt like the start of an interesting adventure. Katie couldn’t deny the goosebumps it gave her. She entered the bus and took a seat beside Cole. The prince wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into an embrace, wrapping a warm scarf around her as well. The sun wasn’t out yet and the wind seemed to keep the environment cold. ‘Thanks...’ she thanked him through the mind link.