Protectors of Umbra [Umbra's Fate #1] ✓

ᴛᴇɴ: ꜱᴛᴇꜰᴀɴ

The problems were Stefan's new followers, every place he went they were there. They came in all forms and sizes, some had bigger weight, others were easier to solve, but, for him, the worst of them was his discussion with Momotaro.

The instant he ordered the young man to stay away from the headquarters he realized he made a mistake. It wasn't the fact that he asked Momotaro to not investigate the other members that he regretted, but the way he screamed at him.

"Still fighting against your thoughts?" Gellert crossed the threshold of the office's door, his blue eyes scanning the state of the room.

"Was I too hard with Momotaro?" The question came out of his mouth before he could stop it.

A sigh left Gellert's mouth. Preparing for the conversation that was about to start he sat on the chair.

"I don't have to explain to you that as a leader is your job to keep the order, if you let Momotaro run the word about a traitor it would be chaos"

"But that's the thing. Would he do something like that?" Stefan controlled his pacing, his movement turned slow. "He knows what could happen. Even if I don't agree with his theory, I can assure you that he was careful about who he was talking to and the questions he asked."

"It would take only a smart member to guess what he was doing."

"He has good intentions, the Protectors are his only family in this village. He left everything to join us, I understand where his anger comes from." By this point, Stefan stopped pacing and sat on the chair in front of Gellert.

"You're worried about him, I get that, believe me, I do." His voice transmitted empathy. "After my husband died I was always thinking about Bertram's safety, all I did was worry about my parenting skills. In the end, I started believing it and my relationship with Bertram broke, all because of my doubts. Don't repeat my mistake"

"What did you do to fix it?"

"We talked. We listened to each other,  accepted our mistakes, and found a solution. Once a week we take our time to communicate."

A knock came from the other way of the door. Stefan stood from his seat and welcomed Flora into the office.

"Sorry for the interruption but I have important news," she said, her voice shaky from running to the room.

"What happened now?" Stefan asked, tired of the problems that kept following him.

"Mr. Peters' cult is planning to make a deal with the devil. They give him the souls of the impure in exchange for their lives."

"I can believe this shit," whispered Gellert to himself but his words reached the others. " We have to stop them."

"I'll take care of this," announced the leader. "Flora, tell Casimir I'll be waiting for him at the entrance. And Gellert, you're in charge of the headquarters."