Page 24 of Ruarc

RUARC

Growling, I open my eyes only to find Einar’s homely, concerned face hovering over me. “How long have I been out?”

“You are lucky to be breathing, brother. It is apparent the Gods of Ruk were not done with your story.”

“Where are Kallen and Atasha?”

“Look down if your muscles will allow it.”

Bracing myself for the pain that will come from my movement, I lift my head just enough to look down.

Instantly, I notice Kallen’s head lying next to my hand, her body leaning against the bed from the chair she is in.

Further down is a tiny ball of green curled up by my feet, with a small doll in her hand.

“I had to give both of them a sedative. Atasha’s tears were ripping my hearts out, and she refused to leave you or Kallen here, no matter how hard we tried to get her to go with mam. Kallen has not moved from that spot for more than a few tics at a time since you were brought in.”

“How long have I been here?”

Einar glances over at me with sharp yellow eyes. “Two rotations now. The longer you were out, the more stress I could see building within Kallen. She was getting so weak from exhaustion and lack of rest that it forced my hand.”

“Help me scoot over and bring her up here with me.”

A thunderous expression creases his face before he barks back at me, caution heavy in his tone. “Ruarc, you are in no condition to move. I barely got you back here in time, and you are still not completely out of the danger zone yet. You almost died, brother!”

“Either you pick her up or I will.”

“Stubborn fracker!” Einar snarls at me in frustration as he puts down the holo pad in his hand and carefully untangles Kallen’s hand from mine before gently lifting her.

My breath catches as I raise my arm, but the pain is worth it if I can hold her.

It takes Einar several tries, but he finally positions her just right, and immediately, I feel my whole body relax as her scent surrounds me.

She does not make a sound, but she instinctively curls up against my side on her own.

“Now that you are awake, I will proceed with injecting more nanites. I was waiting to see what the first round accomplished before administering more. I am going to inject Kallen with a small dose since her body is taking far too long to recover from the ordeal with the Velgriddix, but I do believe that since you are no longer blocking your bond that she will start healing quicker.”

Relief makes the tightness in my chest relax when Einar tells me that my Starshine is going to be just fine. Glancing down, I sluggishly move my hand, brushing it against a scratch on her face, only to see that she has several scrapes along her arms. “Were Kallen or Atasha hurt in the cave-in?”

“Nothing serious, but I believe the horror of seeing the ceiling engulf you, has both of them shaken up pretty badly. Atasha is much too young to have experienced as much as she has. I must admit it worries me that this many horrendous experiences are stealing her youth.”

Before I can say anything else, Slavic peeks his head through the curtain that Einar has placed around this area. “Frack brother, you look like you got in a bar fight full of Korgons and lost.”

“Well, they may have whipped my ass, but they knew I was there.”

My attempt at humor makes Slavic crack a smile. “It appears those rocks did knock some sense into you.” He points to Kallen, who is tucked up next to me. “Are you finally going to embrace the blessing you have been running from, brother?”

“If she will have me, then yes. I have run long enough and kept far too many secrets for too long now. There is something about me that you all need to know.”

“If you are talking about the ability to will your influence upon others, well, that cat is out of the bag, as my Ruby would say. We saw what you could do firsthand when you raced through the halls when Kallen came up missing. We all understand why you thought you needed to keep that to yourself, but Ruarc, we would never worry about you abusing a power like that. You fought too hard and too long to escape others having control over you, so you would always think twice before subjecting others to the same thing.”

“You are not angry that I did not say anything?”

“I have enough to worry about now, so you and this new development are low on my list.”

I take a second to reflect on his blunt, yet honest words.

“But there is something we do need to discuss and that is who will be staying and who shall leave? You need to think about this because we all have a meeting with mam next rising. I have been comming to the Zenith for two risings now with no response, so I need to head out to figure out what kind of trouble those two frackers got themselves into and what I must do to get them out of it.”

“That decision is for Kallen to make because wherever she is, I will also be.”

“I understand and was expecting that answer. Rest and get healed up so that you can enjoy the perks of having a mate.” Slavic nods his understanding and pats my leg before turning to leave.

Einar steps into the space Slavic vacated before running a scanner over me, and I close my eyes, exhaustion pulling at me hard as I try my best to ignore the pains shooting all over my body.

I must have dozed off for a tic, but movement at the end of the bed has me cracking one eye open.

Atasha is sitting there, her hair in tangles, as she looks around confused, sleep still pulling heavily at her. “Did you sleep well, little star?”

“The monsters tried to come, but Dolly threw rocks at them until they ran away.”

Her solemn voice makes me think Einar is not wrong. A youngling should not have to go through the things our little star has, so I try to lighten the mood. “I am going to have to get myself one of those then.”

“Maybe Kallen will make one for you, too.” She crawls to my other side, and I wince when her pointy little elbow hits my sore ribs, but I still pull her close, nuzzling the top of her head affectionately, simply enjoying being able to hold them both.

Her words are so soft and subdued I can barely hear them.

“I was scared.”

“Me too, little star.”

“You were? But you were so brave.”

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act despite it.” This idiom has been a mantra my entire existence and one that I feel is important for Atasha to know.

“I really liked this place when we first got here, but now I am scared to go to sleep because the rocks might fall on me.” Biting back a snarl because I hate it when Einar is always correct, I inject as much assurance as I can before replying.

“I am sure Falon is working on a way right now to reinforce the main living areas. If he tells you it is safe, then it is, but we will no longer go further into the caverns. We will stay in the area we are familiar with.”

Her comforting scent reaches me tics before she opens the curtain. Mam comes walking in with a small tray in her hands. A huge smile graces her face when she sees us all curled up together.

“If that sleeping platform were larger, I would crawl right in there with the three of you. Ruarc, it appears you are never going to stop testing these old hearts of mine, youngling.”

Atasha giggles, “Mam, you called him a youngling, and he is all big.”

“He was not always big, and in my eyes, all of you will be forever younglings. Now, uncurl yourself out of his massive arms and come get the snack that Edie made for you.”

“Ohhh, did she make honey cakes?”

“She did, but I had to steal these away before Ruby ate them all … something about a taste of home.”

I cannot help but smile as Atasha squirms away from me.

Her delight at a sweet treat has her crawling her way toward the end of the platform, where mam stands.

She reaches out, stuffs one of the small treats in her mouth, then grabs a second one with her other hand.

Mam kisses her forehead before moving the tray out of reach.

“That’s enough for now because the rest of these are for Ruarc and Kallen. How about you come with me for a little while and let them get some more sleep?”

Tangled hair flies around her head as Atasha violently shakes her head no at our lifegiver.

She is just about to crawl back up to me when mam gently puts her hand on her shoulder.

“Ginger just told me that she found what she is calling kittens right outside the gate. Do you want to go with she and I to see them?”

Sheer delight flashes across Atasha’s face before she jumps off the bed and immediately starts yelling Ginger’s name as she sprints out of the medical ward.

Mam laughs while placing the tray next to the sleeping platform.

“The appeal of small animals always works. You two rest and I will check on you later.” She leans down, kisses the top of my head, and I have to hold back the tears forming in my eyes as she walks away.

There is no better healing agent in the world than my mam’s kiss.