The Radiants Chronicons : Vol. I & II Of The Radiants Duology Series

Radiant (Vol. I) - Chapter fifteen

Chapter 15
Few days had rolled by, and I dressed myself in a complete black attire. This was my first mission and I needed to blend in well enough, like the others.

Once again, Laurena spoke up, just as I was about to leave the room."Everyone's talking about it, you know. Levi letting you go on your first mission. Everyone thinks he's crazy.."

"What about you? What do you think?"

My question seemed to surprise her temporarily, then her face darkened, like it usually did. "I think you should be careful. Keep yourself safe. It's crazy out there."

My lips curled up. "Is that concern I hear in your voice?"

She didn't return my smile. Heck, I didn't expect her to. I haven't had the luxury of seeing her smile and right now, she still gave me her intimidating look. "Levi's fond of you. Don't give him reasons not to be. He's taking a huge risk none of the council members are in support of. So try not to get yourself killed."

I nodded slowly. I understood her point, but it didn't change my mind. "Thank you. For saying that. I'll be careful."

She let out a relieved sigh and said nothing. I walked out the door quietly and went to the garage where Levi said I should meet him.

....

A group of people were huddled together, inside the garage and I could spot a familiar mop of chestnut-brown hair from their midst. I walked over to where Levi stood and gave my brightest smile. "I'm ready."

"We finally meet." The voice had me startled at first and my eyes trailed to where the person stood. He had mahogany skin and stood at least 6" 3. His tall form made Levi's 5" 11 height look almost petite. He gazed at me sternly. His apricot orange eyes narrowed as he spoke.

"Do I know you?" I said, trying to speak comfortably with him. The way he looked, almost seemed scary. With his intimidating height and the intense narrowing of his eyes, made me shrink a little.

"I doubt it. You're the new recruit no one can stop talking about, apparently. Wale's the name."

"I'm Tamar."

"I know."

Darting my eyes uncomfortably away from his gaze, I looked at the girl next to him, who had a small smile on her pretty face. Just like Wale, she also had dark skin. Long flowing hair fell across her face and like everybody else, warm orange eyes looked at me with curiosity. "I'm Tamar. The newbie."

The girl smirked slightly and sang. "I know."

I froze midway. Did she just sing? Yes, her voice was melodious and soothing to the ears, but she actually just SANG her words.

Levi's deep voice shot up. A small grin played on his lips. "That's Miriam. She has quite the unique exception. She can't talk like everybody else. All she can do is to sing. She sings her words."

Miriam sang. Her voice dripping with sadness. "It's quite an unusual exception, but at least, it saved my life."

"How so?"

Levi cut in, before Miriam could reply. "Maybe some other time. We can't afford to waste any other moment or risk losing our target. Let's get in the van and get this over with."

A group of other guys I recognized from the mechanics domain, handed over some weapons to Wale as he stuffed it inside the small grey van.

Miriam sang out. " I call shotgun."

Juan, one of the council members, dragged himself from under the van and handed us a mega watt smile. He had a wrench in one hand and his arms were covered in grease. "Which one? The weapon or the seat? Cause from what I know, you always sit in front."

Miriam grinned. "Bo-th"

Juan grinned back and turned his head to me. "Here's your energy watch. Be careful with it." I stared at the unusually big wrist watch and wore it on my right hand.

Levi quipped. "It detects your energy levels, and refills it, if it notices a decrease or drastic drop in your energy level. It goes directly into your bloodstream and lasts for at least three hours. It's very effective for your job. But you won't need it, since you'd be in the van, and the van has its own inbuilt energy pump."

I raised my head to his eyes. "I'm still keeping it."

"Whatever you say."

Juan's voice shot up, as he spoke to Levi.  "Okay, big boss. Your van's fixed. It's still needs a little servicing so, I'll do that when you get back."

Levi looked at Juan with disappointment. "Thanks. Only a shame you would be wasting your exception here, instead of being on the field like the rest of us "

Juan chuckled."Not all of us are meant to be on the field. Some of us have to stay behind. Besides, I love what I do. Fixing cars are exciting enough for me. Everyone's got a part to play."

"Still, a person with impenetrable skin would be perfect for our missions". I stood in shock that second. He had impenetrable skin? It didn't look like it. Wow. That was incredible. He would really be an asset on our missions.

Shaking his head in amusement, he replied. "I only have an extra layer of skin. It IS definitely penetrable. It's only just stronger than an average human's skin. But seriously, I'm never changing my mind about this and you should really get going. Duty calls."

He gave a salute and headed back inside. Pursing his lips slightly, Levi turned his gaze back to us. "Come on, let's go. We're headed for the east."

Wale's voice boomed loudly. "All in". My eyebrows raised in confusion when Wale stretched out his right hand.

My confusion escalated even more when Levi and Miriam each joined in, putting their right hands over each other.

Wale's voice boomed again. Startling me once more. "We are radiants".

He, Levi and Miriam chanted (okay, Miriam sing-chanted, but you know what I mean) "We can't change who we are but we'll make a difference with it. Let's go."

I blinked at them and searched my head where I've heard those words from. It suddenly clicked in my head and I recalled Oge telling me how it was their mantra. The words they held onto. The words they lived by. "Your mantra."

Levi nodded. "Our mantra. It's what keeps us going."

I locked my eyes briefly with his and nodded back. I whispered the words of the mantra to myself repeatedly, as we all hopped into the van and Wale drove us to our destination.