<h4>Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Little Heroes</h4>


    The school bus crashed through the burning building’s wall.


    Kael jumped out before it stopped moving. Smoke filled his lungs as he ran toward the trapped children. Behind him, his brothers and mother followed.


    "Third floor!" Darian shouted, checking his tablet. "Thirty kids locked in the cafeteria!"


    "Second floor has twenty more!" Ronan called out.


    "I’ll take the basement," ra said, her silver eyes glowing. "Fifteen babies in the daycare."


    They split up, racing against time. The building groaned as mes ate through the support beams.


    Kael burst through the cafeteria doors. Inside, he found something that broke his heart.


    Human teachers were shielding supernatural children with their own bodies. Mrs. Kim, who taught second grade, had her arms wrapped around three werewolf pups. Mr. Torres covered a young vampire girl with his jacket.


    "The exits are blocked!" Mrs. Kim cried when she saw Kael. "We can’t get out!"


    "Yes, you can," Kael said firmly. "I’m here now."


    He grabbed the heaviest table and threw it at the window. ss exploded outward, creating an escape route.


    "One at a time!" he ordered. "Teachers first, then older kids help the little ones!"


    But as the first teacher climbed toward the window, something amazing happened.


    A tiny voice said, "Wait, Mr. Kael!"


    Kael turned. A three-year-old girl with bright green eyes stood in the middle of the chaos. She was Emma Santos, but she looked different. Calmer. Like she knew something important.


    "Emma, we have to go!" Kael said urgently.


    "No," she said simply. "Watch."


    Emma walked to where the fire was hottest. She put her small hand on the burning wall.


    The mes went out.


    Not just in one spot. Everywhere her hand touched, the fire diedpletely.


    "How did you..." Mrs. Kim gasped.


    Emma smiled. "Daddy taught me. Fire is just scared energy. When you’re not scared, it stops being scared too."


    She turned to the other supernatural children. "Help me fix the building!"


    What happened next seemed impossible.


    A four-year-old werewolf boy touched a cracked beam. The wood healed itself, bing stronger than before.


    A vampire girl no bigger than a doll breathed on broken ss. The pieces flew back together, forming perfect windows.


    Twin fairy children, barely old enough to walk, fluttered their tiny wings. Cool air flowed through the room, clearing away all the smoke.


    "This is incredible," Mr. Torres whispered.


    But Emma wasn’t done. She walked to Mrs. Kim, who had been burned trying to protect the children.


    "Ouchie?" Emma asked, pointing at the teacher’s injured arm.


    "It’s okay, sweetheart," Mrs. Kim said, trying to hide her pain. "It doesn’t hurt much."


    Emma frowned. She gently touched the burn.


    Golden light flowed from her fingers. Mrs. Kim’s wound vanishedpletely.


    "How?" Mrs. Kim stared at her perfect arm.


    "Love fixes everything," Emma said matter-of-factly. "Daddy says love is the strongest magic."


    Kael’s phone buzzed. Messages from his brothers:


    Ronan: "You won’t believe what these kids are doing. They’re healing the whole building!"


    Darian: "The babies in the basement just stopped a gas explosion with their bare hands!"


    Mom: "These children aren’t just supernatural. They’re something new."


    Through the repaired windows, Kael could see crowds gathering outside. Humans and supernatural beings who had rushed to help rescue the trapped kids.


    But they weren’t fighting anymore. They were staring in wonder at what the children had done.


    "Look!" someone shouted from the street. "The whole school is fixing itself!"


    It was true. As more supernatural children used their powers, the building began healing. Walls sealed themselves. Broken stairs rebuilt. Shattered doors became whole again.


    "We did good?" Emma asked Kael hopefully.


    "You did amazing, little one," Kael said, kneeling down to hug her.


    But then Emma’s expression changed. She looked scared for the first time.


    "Mr. Kael," she whispered. "Something bad ising."


    "What do you mean?"


    Before Emma could answer, the building shook. Not from fire or explosions. From something much worse.


    A voice boomed from outside, amplified by speakers:


    "Attention freaks and traitors! You have thirty seconds to surrender the mutant children, or we level the entire block!"


    Kael looked out the window. Military trucks surrounded the school. Soldiers in ck armor pointed massive weapons at the building.


    But these weren’t regr human soldiers. They moved wrong. Too fast. Too strong.


    "Enhanced humans," Darian’s voice crackled through Kael’s earpiece. "They’ve been experimenting on volunteers. Making them stronger to fight us."


    "How many?" Kael asked grimly.


    "Two hundred. All trained killers. All volunteers who me supernatural beings for dead family members."


    Emma tugged on Kael’s shirt. "They’re hurt inside," she said sadly.


    "What?"


    "The angry soldiers. They’re hurt inside. That’s why they’re mean."


    "Twenty seconds!" the voice outside shouted.


    Mrs. Kim gathered the children close to her. "What do we do?"


    Kael looked at the scared faces around him. Human teachers who had risked their lives to protect supernatural children. Supernatural kids who had used their powers to save everyone. All of them trusting him to keep them safe.


    "We don’t surrender," he said firmly.


    "But they’ll kill us!" Mr. Torres protested.


    "No," Emma said confidently. "They won’t."


    "How can you be sure?"


    Emma smiled. "Because we’re going to help them stop hurting."


    "Ten seconds!" the voice boomed.


    Emma walked to the window. The other supernatural children followed her. Thirty little faces pressed against the ss, looking down at the angry soldiers.


    "Time’s up!" the lead soldier shouted. "Fire!"


    The weapons charged up, preparing to destroy the building.


    But before they could shoot, something incredible happened.


    The children began to sing.


    It wasn’t any song Kael recognized. It sounded like wind through trees, like water over stones, like a mother’s luby. The human teachers found themselves humming along without knowing why.


    The supernatural children’s eyes began to glow. Not with power or anger, but with something else. Something warm and healing.


    Below, the enhanced soldiers hesitated. Their weapons wavered.


    "What are you waiting for?" their leader screamed. "Shoot!"


    But the soldiers couldn’t. The children’s song was reaching something deep inside them. Something they had forgotten.


    One soldier dropped his weaponpletely. Tears streamed down his face.


    "I can’t," he whispered. "They’re just babies."


    "They’re monsters!" the leader raged.


    "No," another soldier said, removing his helmet. "They’re children. Just like my daughter was."


    More soldiers beganying down their weapons. The song was reminding them of their own kids, their own families, their own capacity for love instead of hate.


    "Cowards!" the leader snarled. He raised his weapon alone.


    But before he could fire, Emma did something that changed everything.


    She disappeared from the window.


    One second she was there, the next she was gone.


    Then she reappeared right in front of the angry leader.


    "Hi," she said simply. "Why are you so sad?"


    The leader pointed his weapon at her, but his hands were shaking. "Get away from me, freak!"


    "You miss someone," Emma said gently. "Someone little like me."


    "Shut up!"


    "A little girl with yellow hair. She liked butterflies."


    The weapon slipped from the leader’s hands. "How do you know about Sarah?"


    "She’s not gone," Emma said softly. "She’s still in your heart. She doesn’t want you to hurt other children."


    The leader fell to his knees, sobbing. "The vampires killed her."


    "No," Emma said. "Bad people killed her. People who looked like vampires but weren’t really. The same bad people who tricked you into being angry at all of us."


    "The Shadow Council," the leader realized.


    "They made you hurt so you would hurt others," Emma exined. "But you don’t have to stay hurt. Love is stronger than hurt."


    She put her tiny hand on his cheek.


    Golden light flowed between them.


    The leader’s eyes cleared. The rage and pain that had consumed him began to fade.


    "I’m sorry," he whispered. "I’m so sorry."


    All around them, enhanced soldiers were remembering who they used to be. Fathers, brothers, sons who had lost their way in grief and anger.


    The human teachers in the school were crying. The supernatural children were smiling.


    "It’s working," Mrs. Kim breathed. "They’re healing the soldiers’ hearts."


    But then Emma suddenly screamed.


    She copsed to the ground, her small body convulsing.


    "Emma!" Kael leaped from the window,nding beside her.


    "What’s happening to her?" the former leader asked, panicked.


    Emma’s eyes rolled back. When she spoke, her voice sounded strange. Older. Afraid.


    "They’reing," she gasped. "The real enemy. Not humans. Not supernatural beings. Something else. Something that feeds on hate and fear."


    "Who’sing?" Kael demanded.


    "The ones who made the Shadow Council. The ones who started the war. They’re angry because we’re bringing people together."


    Emma’s body arched in pain. "They’re here."


    The sky began to darken. Not with clouds, but with something darker. Something hungry.


    "What are they?" Kael asked desperately.


    Emma looked at him with eyes that suddenly seemed ancient.


    "The things that live in the spaces between worlds. Theye when people stop loving each other. They feed on hatred."


    The darkness above them began to take shape. Huge, terrible forms that hurt to look at directly.


    "And now," Emma whispered, "they’re going to try to eat everyone."


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