by Mikayla Lane
Luca was becoming really concerned and nervous when the baby’s life signs continued their slow slide down, and he was getting ready to intervene when Tristan glowed for a moment.
“I said: rise, little warrior!” Tristan roared, this time shooting a volley of golden bolts into the baby, each one causing her body to jerk violently on the bed.
Luca, Chris, Disc, and Mikey were getting ready to tackle Tristan away from the bed when it began to shimmer.
“Rise!” Tristan roared again.
This time the bed shimmered before a muted golden light flashed quickly then disappeared. No one could hear the gasping of the two spirits as they stared in open mouthed shock at the bed where Joey had lain.
Tristan smiled broadly and held the hand of the startled little girl now sitting up in the bed.
“Joey, I am Tristan, and I welcome you here, to a place where you can be your true self. It will take a little time, but you will be well again,” he assured her gently.
The light bringer, Joey, who like Tristan was much older than the toddler she was in this realm, looked around the room. Finally seeing what she was looking for, she wrapped a sheet around her emaciated, pre-teen body and slid off of the bed. Tristan caught her as her knees buckled beneath her, and he carried her the rest of the way, sitting her gently beside her sister.
“Emily?” Joey whispered, laying a hand on Emily’s forehead.
“She will be fine in time as well, little warrior. You saved them,” Tristan assured his fellow light bringer.
Joey shook her head, her blond hair cascading down her back.
“No, Emily saved me first; Koda can save her, and she can save him,” Joey said with a weak smile. “So in a way, we all saved each other.”
Tristan smiled down at the brave and heroic child who’d saved his uncle and almost lost her own life in the process.
“Now, you must rest and recover your energy. It is time I took over for you, my brave, young friend,” Tristan said as he covered her head with his hand, shot a golden bolt into her, and caught her as she fell.
Luckily, he could not hear or feel the threats being hurled at him or the attempts that Elmer and Tom were making to kick and punch him for hurting their baby girl. Although, the two men had no idea how she’d grown up so fast, they knew without a doubt that she was their Joey.
Tristan lay her back down on the bed she’d been on and covered the body of baby Joey again. He’d forced her true self back inside of her in order for her to conserve her energy and sent her into a deep, healing sleep.
“Stay back,” Tristan warned Luca and the others while he raised his hands above the baby’s body.
Everyone but Amun and Lauren looked up from their patients as Tristan appeared to pull several golden strands from Joey’s body. He yanked gently on the strands until they pulled free of her body with a loud “pop.”
He followed one of the strands to Emily and yanked until the strand was pulled from her abdomen before turning to do the same to Koda. The moment the “pop” sounded, alarms began blaring around Koda.
“We’re losing him!” Lauren called out as she scrambled to stabilize Koda.
Tristan quickly moved to the bedside and placed his hand on Koda’s head. His eyes grew wide when he felt a familiar energy around his uncle, and he smiled.
“Hang on, Koda. I can fix what she did too, although you must have done something pretty bad to deserve it,” he whispered.
Tristan closed his eyes, ignoring the screams and alarms around him as he sent a ribbon of energy shooting through his hand and into Koda’s barely functioning brain. Tristan winced at the extensive damage he found there, but he was undaunted and shot several more ribbons into his uncle.
When he opened his eyes, the entire room was staring at him in shocked silence. Looking down at himself, he chuckled and muted the golden ribbons of energy that now extended from his body like an octopus’ tentacles, into Koda’s, so that they could no longer see that he’d taken over for Joey and tied his own life force to Koda.
“Tristan, no! It’s too dangerous,” Indrid said weakly from another bed.
Tristan shook his head and smiled at Mikal’s father.
“It is all right. Joey’s courage and sacrifice sent a tsunami of energy through many, many realms. Those who love her and those who respect her actions are sending their regards,” Tristan began as he held his hands up. His palms glowed in a prism of colors unlike his normal golden hue.
Indrid looked stunned at the display before a rainbow of colors shot from Tristan’s hands and struck him in the chest, taking his breath from his lungs. Indrid watched helplessly as Tristan did the same to Joey and Emily.
Suddenly, Indrid bolted upright, feeling completely re-energized and vibrant. He looked over at Tristan, a smile on his worried face.
“You are channeling the energy of the realms?” he asked, stunned that the boy warrior was strong enough to withstand so much power.
Tristan smiled broadly, his teeth glowing in a rainbow of colors as he tied his energy to Joey and Emily, making sure that he sustained them while they tried to recover. When he was done, he turned around and faced the wall with a smile.
“There is a realm of beings,” Tristan began speaking to the wall, to everyone’s amazement and confusion, “who can shift from an ethereal form to a solid one at will. They have sent a special energy gift for you. One that can only last for 14 days before it will fade. But it is more than enough time to thank you. For all you’ve done.”
Elmer and Tom looked around them, wondering who the winged man was speaking to until they heard gasps from around the room.
“What’s everyone looking at?” Elmer asked Tom, feeling a little sick to his stomach for some reason.
“I don’t know,” Tom replied, looking around them again, but he still didn’t see who the winged guy was talking to.
“Who are you?” Chris demanded, leveling two guns before anyone saw him draw.
“What the fuck?” Luca asked as he drew his own weapons.
Suddenly half the room drew weapons and pointed them at the wall.
Elmer and Tom jumped away from the wall, wondering what the hell everyone was so panicked about. Mikal tilted his head to the side and walked over next to Tristan.
“You could have explained it better,” Mikal said with a grin at Tristan.
Tristan chuckled and waved his hand, pointing everyone’s weapons at the floor against their will as he stepped forward.
“Who the hell are they, bro?” Chris asked Tristan as he tried to raise his weapon again.
“My brother, Mikal, thinks I didn’t explain it real well. Let me try again. Elmer and Tom, meet everyone. For your selfless courage and bravery in trying to save Joey, one of the realms that she commands has sent you the gift of solid form,” Tristan explained, staring directly at what used to be two spirits, but were now flesh and blood beings.
Elmer stared at the winged man in shock while Tom clutched his chest, and when he felt the warm fabric of his shirt bunch beneath his hands he burst into tears before passing out on the floor.
“You really need some sensitivity training, you know that?” Mikal teased his brother as he went to pick Tom up and lay him on a bed.
“We’re real?” Elmer whispered hoarsely as he stared at Tom’s now vivid, solid body.
Tristan laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and nodded his head.
“For 14 days, and only as long as you remain here. Then Emily can help you finish your journey. Do you understand?” he asked the stunned man/spirit.
“Are Emily and Joey going to be OK?” Elmer asked, his voice shaking.
“Because of you and Tom, yes. So will my uncle, Koda. Thank you,” Tristan said before he bowed gracefully in front of the still shocked man.
“Who are they?” Chris asked again, his irritation showing in his voice.
Tristan turned to his older brother and grinned.
“They were two deceased spirits who were lookin
g for help to reach the other side. Instead, they pooled their energy and helped to feed and care for Koda, Joey, and Emily. Without them, our family wouldn’t have survived. As you heard, they have 14 days to live again here at beta,” he explained, shocking the room.
Thjodhild stepped forward and held a slightly trembling hand out to Elmer. She wasn’t quite sure if his hand would feel ghostly or normal, but she wouldn’t diminish what he’d done by not being brave enough to make the gesture.
“I am Thjodhild, commander of this base. We welcome you and thank you for what you have done for our own. While you are here, you will have everything you need,” she said, her voice shaking only a little.
Elmer tentatively held his hand out, part of him afraid to know if he could actually feel her or not. But he wasn’t about to act like a coward, not with all these people staring at him.
His hand touched hers, and like Tom, he was overcome with emotion when he felt her warmth and even the racing pulse in her fingers. He choked on a sob, trying desperately to pull himself together as his tears ran down his face.
“Welcome, friend,” Thjodhild said, her own tears slipping down her cheeks as she pulled the stunned and overwhelmed man into a hug.
Elmer held her tightly and cried like a baby before he realized he could feel again. He let go of the tiny woman and ran across the room to the bed containing his baby Roo. He looked down at her adoringly before he touched her head with a shaking hand. When he felt her silky hair slip through his fingers, he turned his tear stained face to the winged man.
“Can I pick her up?” he asked, unsure if he could hold her or if this new body wouldn’t be able to.
“You will have the same strength you had in your old body,” Tristan reassured him with a gentle smile.
Elmer looked at the baby through his tears and gently pulled her small, emaciated body into his arms, cradling her tenderly.
“I would have walked through hell and fought the devil himself if I’d known I could hold you in the end,” he whispered to the small girl. “You keep fighting, baby girl, and I’ll keep taking care of you until they drag me away.”
Tom had come to a few minutes earlier and slid off the bed to walk over to Elmer and peek around him to look at Joey.
“We can really hold her?” Tom asked, looking around the room to see if it was a cruel joke.
Tristan smiled gently and nodded his head.
“You just have to pry her away from Elmer,” he said then looked up at Amun and Lauren. “Now, how long until Lara gets here? We have a lot of work to do to help Koda.”
*****
Grai and Traze were minutes from landing at Base Beta when Grai’s comm alerted that he had an emergency message. He ignored Traze’s curious look as he read the message and cursed.
“What is it? What is more important than getting to our brother?” Traze demanded, angry that Grai even looked at his comm.
Grai narrowed his eyes at his baby brother but held his temper in check.
“Do you remember the assets we used that you helped me set up surveillance on? The ones you swore to help me protect because of the sacrifices they were making to help us? To help our brother,” Grai asked, making sure Traze was real clear on who he meant.
Traze sat up straight and looked at Grai nervously.
“Are they OK?”
Grai shook his head.
“Seems our Major Kyle Morris has figured it out, and they are moving in. We have an hour to save them,” Grai explained, watching his brother’s reaction closely.
Traze roared in anger but surprised Grai by quickly pulling himself together.
“You drop on beta and go to Koda. He needs you more than me right now, I will take care of our friends,” Traze said as his eyes begged Grai to agree.
Grai considered it for only a second.
“You follow the preset plan,” Grai said as Traze nodded in agreement. “I’ve sent the command to activate the other standby team. You can meet them on the way, and you keep me updated every step of the way. No exceptions.”
“I can do this, Grai,” Traze insisted as he started to check his gear to make sure he was fully armed and geared for the mission.
“Ready to drop in 5, 4, 3 . . .” the pilot called out.
Grai held his brother’s shoulders and looked into his eyes.
“Listen to me. Be careful, take no chances, and do whatever it takes to send our own message like we planned.”
Traze quickly hugged Grai, then pushed him out of the opening in the craft and watched him drift to the ground at their Antarctic base.
“I will do us proud. You make sure Koda will be well enough to hear of it,” Traze whispered to his brother through the Shengari’.
Chapter Fifteen
Grai ran inside the medlab, and as he entered the room he quickly scanned it, looking for his brother. He tried to process who the different people were when he spotted Lauren and Amun feverishly working at one of the beds and headed determinedly in that direction. He was quickly intercepted by Tristan, Mikal, and Chris.
“Father, I need you to wait a minute. He’s alive, and he’s staying that way, but you need to listen to me,” Tristan said, keeping his palms on his father’s chest as he shot him with bolts of calming energy.
Grai wasn’t a fool; he knew by the subdued energy in the room that it was bad. Looking into his son’s warrior eyes, he nodded his head.
“Tell me,” he managed to say as his voice cracked from emotion.
“The people who can tell it best—from the beginning—are right over there,” Tristan said as he turned to nod at Elmer and Tom. “So while Amun and Lauren get Koda stabilized, we need to listen to what they have to say.”
“That’s a good idea, Grai,” Amun called out. “Lauren and I need to know so we can treat the three of them in the best way we can.”
Grai nodded his head, fighting the urge to rush to his brother’s side. He did a good job until Luca moved just enough for Grai to get a glimpse of Koda’s exposed and maggot-ridden head wound.
“Oh gods!” Grai roared in fear and pain as he fought Tristan, Chris, and Mikal to get to his brother. “Let me go to him!”
“Dad! Stop! You’re not helping him!” Tristan roared as golden tentacles of light erupted from his sides and shot into Grai. Grai almost immediately stopped fighting and collapsed in Tristan’s arms.
“Father, I swear he will live. I swear. Don’t look at him right now, let them work on him. Please, Dad, you must hear what happened in order to understand why he looks like this. We have an enormous debt to repay, because as bad as he looks right now, he’d have died long ago if it weren’t for who found him and the extraordinary lengths they went to in order to keep him alive,” Tristan explained quietly as he held his father’s head tenderly in his hands, forcing more calming energy into him.
Tristan knew if there was one way to make his father listen, it would be to manipulate his honor. Knowing he owed someone for the life of his brother would certainly distract Grai long enough for Lauren and Amun to clean Koda up a bit.
Tricia came up, took Grai’s hand in hers, and looked into his eyes.
“We must hear what happened, my love,” she said softly, tears shimmering unshed in her eyes. “Come, meet Elmer and Tom.”
Chris, Mikal, and Tristan formed a barrier between the bed where Koda lie broken and barely alive to where Elmer and Tom were standing with a baby Joey resting peacefully in Tom’s careful arms.
It was Elmer who stepped forward to face the obviously distraught but powerful Grai.
“We were there from the beginning. If you don’t mind, could we please sit? This will take a little while, and I’m not used to standing . . . not like this anyway,” Elmer admitted with a half-smile.
With a flick of his hand, Tristan levitated and moved enough chairs for all of them to sit and pushed Grai into one of the chairs.
“It’s a good thing you’re a space guy, or you wouldn’t believe anything we’re going to
tell you,” Tom said with a nervous chuckle as he fretted over the sleeping baby.
“The baby is Joey; her sister Emily is over there,” Elmer began as he pointed to the bed where Emily lay not far from Koda. “They’re the true heroes in all of this.”
*****
Traze ported into the ship containing the tact team he was going to lead, and he faced the mix of hybrids, Valendrans, and Tezarians.
“This mission is as important as the one to find my brother Koda,” Traze began as he addressed his team. “They have no idea we’re coming or that we’ve even been watching them. I don’t expect a fight, but if they initiate, no one is to fire! The enemy is coming for them, and we’ll not let their sacrifices for our own lead to their deaths. Am I clear?”
Traze nodded and turned to the pilots when he heard a chorus of “Yes, sir!”
“What’s the ETA?” he asked.
“Less than five minutes,” came the reply.
“Drop only me first. I will make initial contact,” Traze ordered before he turned back to his team.
“I need the medics to follow me down once I’ve made contact, you will need to make sure they stabilized for transport. Two will definitely need the mobile stretchers; the other two will require assistance. I want every effort made to see to their comfort and their needs,” Traze ordered.
“Who are they?” one of the team asked.
“Some of the finest warriors you’ll ever meet,” Traze said as he rechecked his gear and got ready to drop.
“Drop in 5, 4, 3 . . .” the pilot called out as the drop floor opened.
Traze took a quick look below before dropping to the ground. He knew they didn’t have much time before the watchers called in to report activity. He issued the “go” order through the Shengari’ for his team to drop around the perimeter to take out the threat as he used the shadows to conceal himself.
Long before he reached the back of the house, he could hear the sound of friendly laughter and hated that he was going to have to ruin it—at least for the time being. He knew of these men and their heroic efforts to aid the Alliance, and he hoped that now they could repay the debt they owed them.
