Chapter 02 - What Does The Siren Mean?

Echo was staring at the menu, struggling to decide on what to eat. She finally selected, and gave her order to the waitress. Her meal arrived sooner than she had expected, and so did the commander.

The waitress brought the commander and his wife to Echo's table, with a lowered head, she stated, "My apologies commander. The restaurant is full today, you will have to sit here."

Echo raised her head to see who was joining her table. At the sight of the commander, a thought ran through her mind, 'Are you serious right now? Ugh! I'm the unluckiest being in this universe… yes universe.'

Forcing a smile, Echo turned her gaze to the commander's wife. A pretty young lady stood beside the commander, she smiled sweetly at Echo. It was only at that moment Echo looked at her own clothes. She had not changed her outfit since morning, closing her eyes she sighed, pulling her best poker face.

Looking back at the commander, Echo locked eyes with him. The commander crossed his arms, and gave her a cold stare.

"Why don't you guys eat here, while I'll take my leave," Echo politely stood up and took her plate, turning around to leave.

"You don't have to leave. We can share the table, right honey?" Echo heard a soft female voice say.

Echo stood still, her back facing the commander and his wife. She thought to herself, 'Please say no. Please say…"

"Of course," the commander replied.

"What?" Echo turned around, staring at the commander.

The commander raised his eyebrow as he asked, "Is there a problem with that?"

"No," Echo replied, before she could even think.

'Ugh! Why do I do this to myself?' Echo asked herself. She smiled, sitting back down at the table.

The commander and his wife sat at the table too. His wife smiled, and started a conversation, "My name is Jasmine. I haven't seen you around."

"She's the warrior the witches promised," the commander explained as he kept his cold gaze on Echo.

"Oh! Nice to meet you. What's your name?," Jasmine asked.

Echo smiled as she told her name, "Echo."

A loud laugh from a nearby table reached Echo's ears. Jasmine rolled her eyes, as she looked at the table.

"Echo? Who gave you such a dumb name?" a man from the other table asked, laughing. He continued, "We don't need a warrior who fails their first mission."

Echo ignored the man, stabbing the meat on her plate with the fork. The commander noticed this, and shook his head slightly.

Jasmine leaned forward and whispered, "He's not worth it."

Echo glanced at Jasmine, and then at the commander. She nodded, and continued eating.

"Did you come in just today?" Jasmine asked.

The man at the next table turned around, and mocked Echo once again, "Of course she did. Did you expect her to live under the manor all these days?"

The commander stared directly at the man, and asked, "Seb, what's your problem?"

"How could you trust her? She just shows up out of nowhere, not to mention the failed mission. How can she even be the promised warrior? I bet she ran away from her last fight," the man mocked Echo.

The commander looked at Echo, and then stared at the man, "Sebastian, I suggest you continue this elsewhere."

Without missing a beat Sebastian asked, "And what are you going to do if I don't.. Commander?" He stood up, and walked to their table.

RRRRREEEEEEEEEERRRROOOOOOOO!!!!

A siren rang across the restaurant. The commander and his wife stood up, looking at each other.

"Stay safe," Jasmine said, as she kissed her husband's cheek, immediately walking out of the restaurant.

The commander turned to Echo, with a nod he gave her and Sebastian a command to meet him in the briefing room. Waiting for neither of them, he left the restaurant.

Sebastian gave Echo a cold look, and walked away too.

Confused by what was happening, Echo stood up making her way to the lift, only to find it full. Everyone was leaving the restaurant and crowding the lifts.

Echo spent an eternity waiting for her turn to the lift. When she finally did get on the lift, it was cramped to the point where she could not even breath properly. She was among the first to step out of the lift as soon as it arrived on the correct floor.

The main hall was chaotic, warriors and healers ran across to the main door. Echo managed to make her way to the briefing room.

The commander was shouting orders to the captains. Sebastian walked out almost crashing onto Echo. Despite being in a rush he did not stop to laugh at her casual outfit.

Once the captains left the briefing room, the commander slammed his hand on the desk.

Echo almost flinched. The commander noticed her and sighed.

"There you are, I thought you might have decided not to show up."

"What's going on? Everything's crazy outside."

The commander sat on his seat frowning, "The demons brought an army. We knew they wanted a war, but I didn't expect it to be this soon."

Echo noticed the disappointed look on the commander. She wanted to help, so she asked, "What can I do to help?"

The commander pondered the question for a while, and stood up with new found enthusiasm, "There's a warehouse controlled by demons. We should be able to sneak in."

Jasmine walked through the doors, "What's going on? Several warriors are coming in with near fatal wounds. Some of them haven't even made it to the healers."

"The demons are attacking. They have an army."

Echo watched the two talk, staying out of the conversation.

"What are you going to do? Are you going out there too?" Jasmine asked. Her face changed immediately when she heard his answer.

"Yes."

Jasmine froze in place as she stared into the commander's eyes. "Are you sure you're ready to go out there again?"

The commander smiled and wrapped his arms around his wife, hugging her.

Echo awkwardly turned away from them, leaning on the desk.

"Is she going with you too?" Jasmine asked.

The commander looked at Echo replying, "Yes!"