Cardinal Tower (Trinity Central Book #1)

Chapter 31

"Donovan Mcallister, he's skilled in every form of combat. I'd suggest keeping a close eye on him. He is one of the most respected sector leaders, even having a seat on the council." I spend the time Kai and I take to walk to his secret destination filling him in on any new developments I came across that day.

"The council?" he asks, moving aside a wooden plank to reveal a broken entrance to a well-hidden chain link fence. I'm adorned in my usual leather, and he's wearing the jacket Aster lent him to blend in with the crowd better, but the number of eyes turned our way tells me there were other things about his constitution that made him noticeable.

"Once a month, Karmas gather in their sector, and three of their top sector leaders sit in front of them, debriefing them on their progress with each of their assignments, whether it simply be patrols, or information gathering. And then the three leaders from each sector, excluding Rex's obviously, gather in a disclosed location to discuss god knows what. I was invited but turned them down, seemed like too much of a hassle."

"That means there are ten other leaders we need to look after."

"Three," I correct, "Mcallister's a definite threat, his combat is matched only by two others, and bested only by the Karma leader. I've only ever heard stories about the Karma leader. That he's some sort of monster who has never shown his face. I know he's a Tetra since I've only ever seen two of the three seats filled each meeting."

"Then those other two, do you know them?" Kai asks, cupping his hands to help boost me over an old dilapidated brick wall. I pull myself to the top and reach down to help him up in return.

"I know of them," I say, pushing my loose hair out of my face, "One's a Lutum, the other's a Stella. The Lutum's a man with unmatched accuracy. He makes for a valuable sniper. In fact, he's the only one allowed a supply of unlimited daggers at any time." We slide down a mound of sand before we start to trot over another, my hair swaying at my waist and catching grains of sand as we move.

"The Stella's a girl so in tune with her senses I hear she can fight blindfolded. There are stories of her somehow dodging bullets with her eyes closed, and fighting off three attackers with literally one hand tied behind her back. It's like some sort of strange sixth sense."

"They can't be that terrifying if they're on the same level of Mcallister, right? I mean, based off of what you told me." He takes my hand to steady me - or him - as we stumble down an uneven patch of dirt.

"Mcallister has a skill too. He can assess any opponent within the first few seconds of seeing them. Their strengths, their weaknesses, how they'll attack first. He'll know exactly how to attack which gives him an unfair advantage in planning. I bested Mcallister, yes, but because he's already fought me so I know his tricks, not to mention my superiority of logic. Had he been as smart as me, I'd be dead. And if anyone were to go against those four monsters for real, they'd have the fate I was supposed to. These four are who people refer to when they mention 'the council'."

"The fact that you could escape from one of them makes me feel like you're just unnaturally superhuman. Do you perchance have any other combat skill like them?"

"I'd like to think that I'm a bit of a combination of all three. I'm close to matching them in their individual skills, I know any trump cards they're hiding, and apparently, I'm also a type five." I lose my footing a bit on the side of an unsteady mound of sand, and catch myself before my apparent lack of grace is shown.

"How confident are you on taking the last one? The Karma leader? The one that apparently bests the other three. He sounds inhuman if he's really stronger than them."