Awakening (Children of Angels) (26 page)

“
They are finding out which plane my daughter is on
”
he replied simply.

George was puzzled, why send expendable ones to do a genuinely important task? The Master seemed to know his thoughts, although that was not possible, and replied simply.

“
Whichever does not come back is the one who was assigned the plane where my daughter is hidden.
”

Ah, so it
was
a suicide mission. George knew that he should feel pity for those who had been sent out to battle with no idea what they were facing. But pity was one of those human emotions that was useless and weakening. He stood beside his master and together they looked out of the window, at the kingdom beyond, and awaited the return of the soldiers - or more precisely, waited to see who did
not
return.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

E
van stared down at the eyes staring back up at him, holding his
breath, his heart pounding in disbelief. She was alive….
she was alive
! He knelt down beside her, unsure of what to do. He could see her eyes dulling already, and they started to close. Her light was going out. Oh what a fool he had been! All that time he spent feeling sorry for himself, crying on the floor like a pitiful wreck, and all the time she had been there, just feet away from him,
alive
. He could have been helping her, and the guilt washed over him once again.

“
I
’
m so sorry Mia, I
’
m so sorry,
”
he whispered over and over
“
please, please - you have to heal yourself, Mia, do you know how to heal yourself?
”
Her eyes slid further closed now, and Evan grew desperate.
“
MIA!
”
he yelled,
“
you
have to HEAL
!
”
He wanted to shake her, but was afraid that all that would do would push her over the edge, be the last straw which snuffed out her light for good. She could not take any more pain and trauma.

She couldn't speak, to tell him if she knew how or not, he knew that, but the frustration was too much. He had felt a surge of hope when she had opened her eyes, and now she was dying all over again. Desperately, he reached out to her mind, hoping to find the answers there, to see how much power was left in her.

What he found there saddened him deeply - where he knew there should be brilliant light flowing, there was only darkness. Her mind had one tiny core of dying light, and he honed in on it, so that at least she could speak to him.

“
Mia?
”
He called, into her mind, and was surprised to see the light grow slightly brighter as it registered his voice.
“
Mia, can you hear me? Hang on Mia, hang on in there! I
’
m going to try and find somewhere you can heal from, okay?
”
He searched her body, vaguely aware somewhere in his mind that this was more of an invasion of privacy than any human could ever conduct. He was literally searching her
bones
for any hint of life, but everything he found filled him with despair. Charred blackness and pain, no light to be found anywhere. She was really going to die, and he became aware of the tears falling again, splashing onto her face.

As the tears landed on Mia’s skin, Evan noticed the light responding to each one, growing the slightest bit brighter for each tear that hit her. His light - there must be some of his light, draining from him in his tears. No wonder Arduino had told him emotions made him weak. Where a human might feel drained with sorrow, Evan’s light was
literally
being drained from him. But he could still feel the light burning strongly inside him, and that was when he realized how he could help her. He had to get some of his light into her body, to help her own grow, to allow her to heal.

“
I
’
m going to help you, Mia, hold on.
”
He whispered into her mind again, and thought he felt her try to respond, although it could have been wishful thinking.

He withdrew from her body, and searched around the floor for a jagged rock, finding one as quickly as he could. Taking a deep breath, he raised the rock then slashed it down across the palm of his hand, and had to consciously fight the urge to heal it. His body seemed to do that as a reflex now, healing no longer required a conscious effort from him. Biting his lip, wondering whether this was the right thing to do, he gently parted Mia’s scarred lips, and allowed his blood to flow into her mouth. The blood was where the light lived, how it flowed, and where it was strongest. If he could get enough into her, the light would start to flow through
her
body, and she might just stand a chance. He waited, and he hoped.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

M
ia recognized the face, it was the boy. What she couldn't figure out was why he was still there, and why he seemed sad that she was dying. It was what he had wanted. He didn't look hurt at all, she wondered how that was possible. She had been a fool to let rage get the better of her, to try to hurt him with her power. What was that her mother used to say, about karma bringing things back on you threefold? Well, she was certain that she hadn't wished a third of this agony on him. Karma must be broken.

And then he was speaking to her, softly, but she couldn't hear his words, her ears were too hurt. She lay there, and felt her eyes begin to close again. Yes, peace at last. She would be able to sleep now, and she knew that the sleep would take the hurt away. Somewhere in her mind, she was aware that dying should make her sad, but she was not afraid of it now, she welcomed it. Welcomed the release. A part of her acknowledged the voice now speaking into her mind, not into her ears. She didn't understand the words, she just wanted to sleep.

She felt wetness falling on her face, and like cooling rain on the sun-baked land, she felt it lift her spirits, re-energize her. He was crying again, and somehow, it was the beginnings of her healing. She tasted something in her mouth, or thought she could, something metallic and unpleasant. Blood, she thought. That’s odd, she thought to herself, that I’m bleeding now, I wasn’t bleeding before. Or was I? Had I just not noticed?

Then Mia became aware of something touching her charred lips, it hurt, she wanted to make it go away, the pressure, pressing whatever it was against her tender mouth, hurting the skin there. The pain all over her body, which had dulled as she had passed further from the light and closer to the shadow world, began to sear through her once again, and she writhed in agony.

That was the moment that she realized she was not going to die. In all this time, she had not been able to squirm in her agony, and now, she twisted and tried to get away from the hand pressed to her mouth. Her awareness was returning, she knew that this was a hand now. And the blood, that was not her own. Somewhere deep inside her, her power stirred weakly, and told her that this blood was
his
blood, Evan’s blood. She wanted to pull back in disgust, to spit it out, but she was not get strong enough for that. Weakly, she lifted her arm to try to pull his hand away, and he took this as his signal to stop. She opened her eyes and looked up at his face once more.

“
Mia, you should have enough strength now to speak with your mind.
”
He spoke into hers like it was the most natural thing in the world, all the while keeping his eyes on hers. She tried.

“
Yes.
”
Even the voice in her mind was small, croaky and weak, but he heard it, and she felt the joy in his voice as he replied.

“
Good, that
’
s very good! Do you know how to heal yourself, Mia? Do you need me to teach you?
”

“
No
”
she replied croakily,

“
It
’
s easy, all you do is
…”

“
NO!
”
she interrupted, more forcefully,
“
I don
’
t need
…
I can
…
.
”

Even just the effort of that outburst had drained her, and she felt weaker for it. She struggled to keep her focus as she sought out the part of her that was brightest. Most of her body, she was dismayed to find, was black this time. Not even a dull glow of power, just darkness. She sought out the strongest glow, which, as the first time she had healed herself, came from her heart. This time though, the glow was significantly less, and she was not sure there would be enough there to heal
anything
.

Evan, still connected to her mind, seemed to have been following her process, and interjected.

“
I can give you more blood, to give you more strength.
”

“
No
”
she replied, disgusted at the thought.

She began the process of healing, drawing the tiniest white thread from her heart, as much as she dared take, afraid that this time her heart may fail, and she would be lost to the shadows forever. Once she had it, she tried to decide where needed it the most, her whole body was so battered, she didn't know how to prioritize.

“
Your skin,
”
said Evan, softly into her mind,
“
heal your skin first, at least we can move you from this place then, get you somewhere more comfortable.
”

Reluctantly, she agreed, his proposal did make the most sense, and she sought out the most damaged parts of her skin, opening channels and allowing a little energy to flow to them. Had she been able, she would have cried in relief as she felt the pain in those areas fade away, left with the pleasant tingle of being touched by power. She resisted the urge to heal her whole body, and let the thread go back to her heart, which wrapped it back in hungrily. The effort had exhausted her, and she slipped off into unconsciousness.

Gently, Evan picked her up, tucking the blanket around her, and shifted to a place where he knew they would be safe - his own rooms.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

A
rduino sat in Evan’s room, waiting for him to return. He had caught
the briefest flash of the boy earlier, who had disappeared off with a blanket. It was very much like Evan to be up to peculiar things. Arduino knew that the boy had been following the girl, and had kept his master’s secret. Despite any who may think they were in charge of this place, Arduino knew the
real
prophecy, had been there when Evan was born and the first part of it was fulfilled.

Evan was to be the Angel Prince, and lead them all into victory - one way or another. There were those who simply wanted to use him as a weapon, and then there was Arduino, the only one who treated him as his prince. He was all Evan had, since his parents had passed into the Shadow World, when he was just a boy.

He had raised him as he would his own son, and had mimicked the love and affection that Alexander and Adina had showed to their little boy - which was, in turn, copied from their observations of humans. Children, it seemed, required much more than simply to be fed and allowed to sleep. Arduino was glad that an Angel’s existence was a much simpler one than a human - no wonder humans accomplished so little, when they had to spend so much time just keeping themselves alive. He had tried to raise him as they would have wanted, but was certain he had failed.