Angel nodded. “That’s fair enough.” She did a mental check on Sepherino. I can feel you blaming yourself, and this isn’t your fault. I wasn’t paying enough attention, and I still love you. She smiled to herself as the Delling laughed in her head.
Selene cooked dinner, and everyone ate with them. It was late before Sathe got ready to go, Adea and Diamonique standing with him as Angel had already gone to bed, but she seemed to feel stronger as the night passed. “Do you mind if I leave the car here? I want to ride Freya home tonight.”
“Of course not. There’s a spare saddle and bridle in the barn if you want it,” she said, then promised to let him know if anything changed with Angel’s condition.
Sathe went out to the barn and said good night to the other Dellings, then saddled Freya and headed home. They cut through the fields and forests, and the ride was something he needed to help clear his mind. The air wasn’t as cold as it had been, and they were enjoying their time together. Freya entered a small clearing about a quarter mile from his house, and the mare suddenly balked and reared, her eyes rolling white in the dark. He could see the ground shifting in the moonlight, then he saw the hundreds of red eyes all turn to look at him.
Wabaku! Freya said as Sathe closed his eyes, and his armor appeared. The creatures began swarming around him, and the Delling whirled and kicked as Sathe fought them with his sword. One creature jumped up, crashing hard into his chest, knocking him from the saddle. He hit the ground on his back, but flipped to his feet. Freya, tell Donay and Sepherino what’s going on, he said, and a few seconds later, she told him they were on their way.
Just a few minutes later, Selene and the two Dellings burst into the clearing, and she dismounted, drawing her own sword. Her white dress was longer than Angel’s, and her wings were on full display, but her star shone with a fierce blue light, lighting up the entire clearing. She and Sathe were fighting back to back, but they eventually sheathed their swords, knowing they needed something more effective as the horde continued attacking them. They illuminated the trees in alternating red and blue as they began firing energy blasts. Finally, the last one went up in a puff of smoke, and they turned to face each other, and strangely enough, they both were grinning. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded, eyeing his scratched armor. “I think I should ask you that. What happened?”
“We were just riding and came across them,” he said with a shrug. “There’s no way Kane could’ve known we would come this way, so I don’t think it was a trap or anything. He’d just set them loose and told them to kill the first people they came across.” He shook his head. “Thank God it was us.”
Selene rode with Sathe the rest of the way home, but it was clear, and they took care of the Dellings before going inside. Michael was reading the newspaper, and he looked up, surprised to see Selene coming in behind his son. “Is everything okay?”
Sathe explained what had happened, and he shook his head at Michael’s wide eyes. “I’m fine. Just beat is all. I’m taking a shower and going to bed.”
* * *
He went upstairs to his room, grabbing some pants, then jumped in the shower. His adrenaline was wearing off, and his muscles were aching something fierce, but he felt a sharp stinging on his back. He quickly finished and got out, wrapping the towel around his waist. He twisted and turned in the mirror after wiping the steam off of it, and he stared disbelieving at the four slashes across his back, starting at his right shoulder and going down to his left hip. Selene, are you still here? he asked, his mental voice barely a whisper in his shock.
Yeah. Is everything, okay? she came back, concerned.
I’ll show you in just a second, he replied, getting dressed quickly, and he went back downstairs.
Michael and Selene were both looking up at him. “What’s wrong, Sathe?” his father asked.
“All Wabaku are venomous, right?” he asked, looking at Selene, who nodded, then asked why. “Because, I’ve got four slashes across my back, but they aren’t even bleeding, and I don’t feel sick or anything.”
The two adults jumped up, their eyes wide, and Selene asked him to turn around. “May I?” she asked, and he nodded. She raised the back of his tank top, and she gasped, seeing the claw marks clearly. “They’re definitely Wabaku, but you don’t have any symptoms. Hold still for a second, I want to see something.” She laid her hand on his back and closed her eyes. Her brow furrowed as she looked deep into his blood, but they flew open, hearing Sathe’s low groan. Her hand was pressing hard into his back, and one slash had cracked back open, blood trickling slowly. She jerked her hand away. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, Sathe.”
He gave a low chuckle, but she could tell he forced it. “I’ll be fine. What did you find out?”
“It’s hard to believe I’m saying this, but you’re immune to the venom.”
“What?” he asked, looking back at her, green eyes wide with surprise.
“They’ll hurt, but they’re already trying to heal up on their own. I don’t even have to bandage them up. Tomorrow, they’ll probably be closed up already.”
They all sat down, and Michael poured Sathe a cup of coffee, then passed another to Selene, his face thoughtful. “I guess there’s more to Elagonian myths than our ancestors wanted to believe.” He saw Selene’s puzzled gaze, and he shook his head. “I was just thinking about the legend surrounding my great-great-grandfather.”
Sathe nodded. “I remember the story. He saved a dragon’s life, and the beast was so grateful, he used his own blood to heal him. What the kind didn’t know, the dragon was the leader of his kind, and he pledged his and all the dragons’ allegiance to the Crown of Elagon. It’s where we got our long lives from. Before, we barely lived longer than the humans we pass for now.”
“That makes sense,” she said, tapping her chin. “Dragons are immune to almost all poisons and toxins, including the Wabaku.” She saw their faces and nodded. “I would bet Ari and Michael have this immunity as well. Your mother, too, when she was alive.”
“That’s incredible. I never thought the legends were more than just that,” Michael said, shaking his head. Sathe was dozing off where he sat, and he smiled gently as his son’s head jerked up for the second time. “Sathe, go on and get some sleep. You do still have school in the morning.”
Sathe shook his head, giving a low groan. “Is this week ever going to end?” Michael laughed, and he grinned ruefully. “And the sad part is? I enjoy it. I’m good at it.”
Selene laughed. “I understand, believe me. Both of our families were born to protect our planets. We’re natural born warriors. Why do you think you and Ari were so good with martial arts at such a young age?” She stood and stretched. “I should probably get back home myself.”
“Be careful, Selene,” Sathe said.
“Always,” she replied. “If I run into trouble, I’ll send a message through Donay and Freya, but I’ll be taking another route home.”
They all said good night, and Sathe waited until Selene, Donay and Sepherino left, then he bedded down Freya for the night before saying good night to Michael. He collapsed on the bed, the sting of the Wabaku’s claws already faded, and he was asleep almost immediately.
* * *
The next morning, Angel woke up and when she cautiously got out of bed, she thanked whatever gods she could think of there wasn’t any dizziness or nausea. Selene examined her side once she got into the kitchen. The swelling had gone down, and the redness was fading. Selene wrote her a note excusing her from gym, then handed it to Angel with a sigh. “Go on, get dressed,” she sighed.
Angel hugged her. “Thanks!” She went back to her room and got dressed in a long-sleeved pale blue sweater dress with a pair of black leggings and calf high black boots with fur around the tops. While the car was warming up, she went out to the barn and spent a few minutes with Donay and Sepherino. She had just got behind the wheel when there was a tap on the passenger side window, and the door opened.
She laughed as Sathe’s sh
aggy head came into view, grinning. “Good morning, love,” he said cheerfully. “How are you feeling?”
She grinned as he slid in beside her. “Good morning to you, too, and I feel much better, actually. I don’t feel sick or anything, and the stitches only hurt a little.”
“Good,” he said, shaking his head with a sigh. “I was so scared I’d lost you, so soon after I’d found you again.”
“I’m not so easy to kill,” she replied, her voice low but firm.
He took her face in his hands, and kissed her slowly, then he leaned back with a slight smile. She just shook her head. “You keep that up, and I’m going to change my mind about going to school,” she said with a laugh. He grinned, taking her hand, and they pulled out of the driveway.
They found a parking spot, and Angel had just gotten out of the car when Adea flew up to them. She hugged her friend gently, barely able to control her enthusiasm. “You just saw me yesterday,” Angel reminded her with a laugh.
“Yeah, but you hardly looked like yourself yesterday,” Adea said, still gripping her hands. “You look more normal today, like you’re feeling better.”
“I am, a little,” she said with a shrug.
“Good,” she said, linking her arm through Angel’s, while Sathe was on her other side.
Angel got into her seat for her first class, and the teacher came up to her. “Garin said you were sick yesterday. I trust you’re feeling better?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
“Good, good.” He handed her a couple sheets of paper. “There’s a test in two days. I went over some notes yesterday, and I was going to finish today. I wasn’t aware you would be here, and I had already typed the key points out.”
She thanked him, and he nodded before going back up to the front of the class. Since the teacher had given her everything he was going over, she laid her head on her arms and went back to sleep. Sathe kept looking back at Angel, feeling a vague unease. He met Adea’s eyes, and he knew she was nervous, too. They were both thinking the same thing, that Angel might be playing with fire coming back to school so soon.
The bell rang, and she woke with a start. “Are you okay?” Sathe asked quietly.
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just still feel so drained. Like, I have no energy whatsoever.”
Once they got to gym, she gave the note to the coach, who read it, then asked her to come into the office while the others were dressing out. “May I see?” she asked softly.
Angel lifted her sweater, and the coach checked her stitches. She examined them carefully, then looked up at Angel, an eyebrow raised. “I fell into my coffee table,” she replied to the unasked question.
The coach smiled, straightening up. “Your coffee table has claws, Angel? That must be very interesting to see. I have to admit, it would be a first.” Her grin widened at Angel’s reddening face, and she stammered briefly before she held up a hand. “Save it. You were never a good liar, Princess.”
Fists and Resolve
Angel’s mouth fell open. “You’re Solarian?” She looked closely at the woman who’d been her gym teach for roughly three months. It suddenly came to her, and her mouth dropped, even as she smacked herself lightly on the forehead. “Of course, I recognize you now, Arms mistress Laren. My sincerest apologies.”
The smile widened, and her former weapons instructor gave her a formal bow. “Well met, your Highness. It was the Wabaku?” Angel nodded. “So, it’s begun. I saw the TV reports and feared as much. Does the prince remember?”
“Yes, ma’am. He regained his memories a few weeks ago.”
“Selene said the time was nearing when I spoke to her at the beginning of the school year, and I knew she was right the first time I saw Sathe when he arrived a few weeks ago. Will you be all right, Princess?”
“We’re hoping and keeping our fingers crossed. Mom said I could relapse, but I can’t handle sitting home. I had to have something to do, even if it was going to school”
The former arms mistress of Solaris nodded, seemingly unsurprised. “You were always defying the Healers on Solaris. I can’t imagine things would have changed very much here on Earth.”
Angel laughed. “You might be right.”
The coach put the note on the desk. “Go on and take a seat on the bleachers. If you need anything, I’m at your command, your Highness.” She smiled and gave a single nod, and the arms mistress gave another formal bow.
She went and sat down, and Sathe waved up at her as they set the floor up for volleyball. He was on the team playing against Ciera. Someone set up a spike, and Sathe took it, driving the ball hard into the side of Ciera’s head. He sounded convincing as he apologized, and Angel’s side hurt from her holding her laughter in.
An explosion went off in her head, and she almost cried out from the pain. She bent forward, pressing her hands to her forehead, hearing an evil laugh that slowly trailed off to an echo. Before it faded away, she heard plainly, ‘I’m coming for you, Princess.’ Sathe saw her hunched over, and he ducked under the net, racing to her side. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice pitched low so no one else could hear them talking. Glancing over, he saw the coach staring at them.
“You didn’t feel that?” she asked, amazed. There were tears in her eyes as she raised her head to look up at him.
“No,” He shook his head. “What was it? Ciera?”
“Close. Yazmina’s seal just broke, and she’s pissed. I don’t understand how you didn’t feel it, Sathe. My head feels like it’s going to explode.” She sighed, sitting up and waving him away. “Go ahead. I’m fine, and you have to act normal.”
“To hell with acting normal. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I will be, I promise,” she replied, and he reluctantly left her side.
The game continued, and he kept watch on her out of the corner of his eyes. She still seemed paler than she’d been this morning, but appeared to be okay otherwise. The whistle blew for them to dress back in, and Angel got off the bleachers and started heading for the door.
* * *
She heard a shrill scream of rage, then rapidly approaching footsteps. Ciera tackled her before she turned around, driving her hard to the ground. She grit her teeth, feeling the stitches in her side rip free. Instinct, both from martial arts and her past life’s training took over. She turned onto her back, ignoring the fists raining down on her, pulled Ciera’s head down, smashing it with hers, then planted her feet in the girl’s stomach and shoving her off.
Ciera stumbled backwards, and Angel rolled back over her shoulder into a low, tense crouch. Her side was on fire, and she could feel the blood already flowing. She ignored it, however, her hands into loose fists. Her eyes narrowed, her mouth twisting in a sneer. “Bring it, you bitch,” she said in a growl. “I’ve tried to be nice to you, but a part of me has been waiting for this since the day we met.”
Ciera was shrieking incoherently as she ran for Angel again. The princess quickly and easily put her down again, her face disdainful. “Oh, come on, Ciera. You’ve got to do better than that. You know I took martial arts classes. If that’s all you got, you’re in trouble.” Ciera’s lips pulled back from her teeth as she shrieked again, running for her. Angel just sighed, rolling her eyes. With relatively little effort, Angel put her on her back again.
The other kids were coming out now, running for them once they realized what was going on. It took three of them to pull Ciera away, and she was struggling violently, lunging against those holding her, and even dragging a couple of them a few steps before they tightened their grips on her. Laren came running out of her office, her face horrified. “What is going on?” she asked.
Stacey shook her head, standing beside Angel, whose eyes stayed locked on Ciera’s. “I have no idea. We came out of the locker room, and she was trying to attack Angel. Ciera just went crazy.”
Laren told them to take Ciera to the office, and she was still struggling to get away from those holding her. Lacey saw a dark stain spre
ading on Angel’s sweater dress, and her eyes widened. “God, Angel. You’re bleeding!”
Laren took Angel into the office by themselves and had her take her shirt off. Two of the three gashes had torn wide open. “Ciera doesn’t remember, does she?” she asked, looking frantically for her first aid kit. “And what happened earlier?”
Angel shook her head, grimacing against the pain. “No, Ciera hasn’t remembered yet, and that was Yazmina’s seal breaking earlier. Ciera just hates me. Not to mention, history seems to be repeating itself, as she’s apparently obsessing over Sathe here as well.”
There was a tap on the door as Laren finally found the first aid kid, and Lacey stuck her head in. “Are you okay, Angel?” she asked, and her concern was impossible to miss.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she replied. “I had a clumsy spell a couple of days ago and fell through my coffee table, and that crazy bitch just popped my stitches.” Her eyes widened, and her hand flew to her mouth. “Sorry, Coach!”
Laren shook her head, looking around the room. “Under the current circumstances, I seem to have gone temporarily deaf.”
Angel looked back at Lacey. “Hey, you or Stacey wouldn’t have an extra shirt, would you? This one’s got blood all over it, and I don’t want to wear it all day.” Lacey said she did, and she ran to get it out of her locker.
She came back a few minutes later, and she shrugged as Angel took it with a grin, recognizing it. “I’ve been meaning to give it back to you, anyway, so shut up.”
She pulled it over her head once Laren had bandaged her up with gauze and tape, then wrapped an Ace bandage around her slender waist to hold it all together. “Do you need to go home? I’ll give you a pass to the office,” she asked once Lacey had left.
“No, I think I can make it through lunch and my last class. Besides, I can feel Sathe almost panicking in my head. I didn’t see him before I came in here, and I bet he’s gotten about half a dozen stories about what happened.” Laren let her out of the office, and once the mob ended, Sathe pushed his way to her, his eyes wide with concern. “I’ll be okay,” she whispered before he could say anything else. His hand reached out and grabbed hers, gripping it tightly.
When Worlds Collide: Solarian Chronicles I Page 9
