Dragon Frost (36 page)

Don
’t
hold back for my sake! I prefer you to be straight
forward!
 “Don’t
tell me . . . he lives here with you!” I growl and I notice Stephan
looking at me with worry as he cleans the last of the cups before
placing it beside what appears to be the sink. He sets the towel on
a wire by the window to dry and he picks up a large wooden tub of
water before making his way to some other part of the
house.

“
He
does.” I growl, wanting to rip out his throat.

“
Why a
man? There’s plenty of other women I’ve seen. Why couldn’t you live
with them or one of them live with you?”

She places her
hands on her hips.

“
I’m a
full grown woman. I can take care of myself and I chose to live
with whoever I want, including him!” she growls and I stare at her
words. My mind continues to reel with the information it has been
given causing me to pull my eyes from my sister’s intense gaze.
“There’s a spare room at the end of the hall,” she offers. “make
yourself comfortable, you may be here for a while.” Her voice is
barely a whisper and I freeze.

“
I can’t
stay. I need to get back!” I say and attempt to move to the door
but my sister manages to slip in between me and my only exit or so
I think, there may be an uncharted backdoor I’m unaware of so I
turn around and search the rest of the house, with my sister at my
heels.

“
You
can’t return!” she unhelpfully announces.

“
Then why
did you save me, if you knew I couldn’t!” I snap. Her face drops. I
than regretfully realise what I had said.

“
Because
. . . you’re my sister and I love you. That should be enough.” she
whispers and I hold my breath. I don’t know how much time has
passed but by the time I pull myself from my thoughts my sister has
gone and I expel a gush of breath I held.

“
Well
done Kalverya, well done . . .” I scold myself and force open the
door, I leave. I knew whenever we had fights like this she wouldn’t
talk to me for hours until I’ve calmed down or until she has but I
think we may need more time apart. So I figured to find a way to
get back. The others need me and I can’t just abandon them. Also,
how much time has passed? I just pray they’re going ahead with the
plan and not holding up—waiting for me. 
No, they
wouldn’t!
 I think.
They know better, they know what’s at stake and they know Varden is
in danger.

Clattering in the distance resonates in my ears following
the sound of a crying child. I sprint towards the noise. Pushing
past leaves and gliding along rooftops and thick branches and
manage to make my way to the noise and see the little boy on the
ground. A large bear stands on its hind legs and appears to force
its thick paws down on the boy. I’m quick and grab the boy sliding
along the clearing as the bear brings down its paws barely missing
us. With the boy in my arms I stand and place him on the ground. I
push him behind me where the bear turns to face us—I soon realise
this situation reminds me that this bear might not be like the
bears on Nephelia or on Earth. As it has brown thin tentacles
extending from its muzzle. “Stay back.” I say over my shoulder and
the kid stifles a nod.

The bear
moves to charge at us and I brace myself. A green shield is brought
up before us and I know that I had nothing to do with that. I
glance at the opposite end of the clearing and see Galataia with
her hands glowing green before her as do her eyes. I noticed she
focused solely to keep the shield up. The bear turns to her and
Stephan is before her with a scabbard of his own. “Kal. Get the boy
out of here,” orders Galataia.

“
What
about you?” I ask. She smiles at me.

“
We’ll be
fine. Get him home. Genevieve will be worried sick.” I nod and
scoop the child in my arms and race along the canopy back to the
small village. I land on the clearing and Genevieve runs towards us
with wide arms and the boy pulls from me and runs to her, tears
slide down his face as his mother attempts to calm him. I glance
back at where I just entered from and make my way back to Galataia
and Stephan.

My limbs
begin to ache and I’m held in place by something. I look down and
there attached to my limbs are thin wires, there are teeth-like
claws embedded into my scales. Everything than becomes black. “I
have you now . . .” I hear it whispers, why does it sound familiar?
Whose voice is that? A deep barbaric laugh pulls through my mind.
“I’ll devour you whole.” Vedric!

Pain
radiates throughout my limbs and I force my eyes open, my vision is
hazy and a crack of pain burns through my side and I tumble over as
breath slips from my lungs. Vedric has transformed from his dragon
form to his humanoid form, I glance through the haze barely but I
know it’s him, it’s the sound of his voice, the way he walks, the
way he talks it’s all there. I move to stand on my feet.

A sharp
pain, knocks my head to the side. His boot with buckles draws blood
at my lips. “I don’t think so . . .” A high pitched
zing
rings around us and I peer at
the puddle near my face, blood pours down my lips and there I see
Vedric, his blade glows a green colour under the synthetic sun
without delay brings it down—the pain purges through my shoulder
before everything goes hazy once more before fading to
darkness.

There I
lay, unmoving, unnerving . . . watching at the face I’m fated to
face. Bleak in this haziness it disappears and I see a warm light
shining down on me, replacing what I saw before and I hear a voice.
“Kal! Kal!” It calls. I can’t find where it’s from. I want to turn
to it but I can’t, I want to find out how I got here but I can’t
remember. My head, feels numb and the firmness in which I rest upon
is giving way. “Kal!” The voice is female. What do they want? I
want to tell them to go away, I’m tired and I want to rest. Just
five minutes—I’m tired and all I want to do is rest. Yet I’m not
given that right—that desire. Why? “Kal!”

I slowly pull
my eyes open.

I’m
desperate for air and I feel my body convulse—it’s like a blur and
I find myself leaning over the banks’ edge. How did I get here? I
want to ask but I’m too busy coughing up water which soothingly
burns my throat. How did it get in my system and how did I have so
much? This reminds me of something—but what? Images of a battle on
a frozen land with a demon forms in my mind, I fall into the ground
and freeze. Then I wake up to a fire. “She’s alive!” A voice
exclaims. I feel people around me and search.

The light
is blinding and I barely make out the lining of heads above me. One
becomes familiar to me, “Taia?” I begin and she shushes me, tears
stream down her face and I’m anxiously aware of my head on her lap,
as she begins to shake. I hear her gasping for breath but I can’t
move, I want to get up and get away from the people above me but I
can’t—my body is unresponsive. Do I have nerve damage? Has
something happened? Why is everyone on the verge of tears and
smiles? I fall back into darkness . . .

My hand
fumbles through the wool at my fingertips, I feel heat radiate
around me, I urge towards it and my eyes snap open. I’m alone . . .
staring at the high wooden stilt ceiling above me as if nothing has
never happened or as if nothing ever will happen. The beams are
lines of what appears to be a hexagon, the beams stationed as both
the edges and the corners. I pull my gaze from the ceiling and
glance around the room. I find Altair in a chair guarding me and
Dante down at my feet while Varden lays his head on the edge of my
bed.

What happened?
 I think.

“
You’re
awake.” I turn to the voice and see Lifet standing at the far end
of the room, Altair, Dante and Varden all jerk awake at his voice.
His eyes are dark under the fiery lanterns and I feel as though I’m
forgetting something. What could it be?

“
Where am
I?” I mutter.

“
Kalverya. Are you all right?” I hear Varden ask,
desperately.

“
How did
I get here?” Altair and Dante exchange a worried look. Lifet walks
over. “What about the vault and the plan?” I ask,
frantically.

“
The plan
has occurred and we’ve gathered the information you asked
for.”

“
So what
are you all doing here?” I ask and try to move but feel pain stab
at my side and Altair forces me back down.

“
Don’t
move!” I hear Varden scold. Why shouldn’t I move? Is something
wrong? “You’ll reopen your wound.” I stare at him baffled. Wound?
What wound? What is he talking about?

In this
fleeting sense of confusion, I can’t seem to find this gnawing
sensation within me—instead, I’m lost like a captivity—grown animal
that has been released into the wild. Right now, not even my sense
of direction has been untouched. “Are you thirsty?” asks Varden, I
can’t find any words to answer his question. Instead, I absently
nod, slowly and groggily.

He pours
water from a large wooden jug into a small wooden mug and helps me
sit, normally I would fight such help but my mind and limbs seem
foreign to me. “Here . . . this should help.” I accept the liquid
and I’m engrossed—by the cool buzz within me. I wasn’t too sure if
I’m dehydrated or not but probably am. I try to recall what happen
and how I managed to leave the vault—my mind fights back and my
head begins to hurt.

“
How long
have I been asleep?” All their expressions are hard and stare back
at me impassively. “What?” I ask, their eyes—their expression—is
unnerving.

“
Kalverya
. . .” begins Dante, he ever rarely says my full name and whenever
he does-it’s never good. “You were in and out of a coma for two
full weeks.”

“
What . .
. ? No! I remember . . .” My headaches and I stop.

“
You were
in a coma!” growls Altair—he’s never yelled at me like that
before—ever. I’m too shocked to speak, I’m too shocked by his
anger-filled expression and by the tension his body displays to
retort. “Of course you wouldn’t remember! You had severe head
trauma! You could have died!” The anger in his voice is there and
he doesn’t try and hide it neither the expression nor the
bitterness. He moves from his seat by my bed and turns his back on
me. “You’re to stay here.” He’s giving me orders?

“
But . .
.” I begin.

“
No
exceptions . . . your body is in a symbiosis state. You need time
to regenerate your power. Until than you are not to leave this
room, under any circumstances.” He quits the room, Dante and Lifet
follow soon after and I’m left alone with Varden. For my body to be
in a symbiosis state I must have been in contact
with 
fortix
 a
type of liquid that would resemble strongly our kryptonite.
Centuries ago the Nefaliem searched worlds for it, in order to
destroy it and it worked there was supposed to be none left. Until
now . . .

“
That’s a
new look for you . . . I almost didn’t recognize you.” I stare at
him. New look? I look different from before? He stands and leaves
me alone to my thoughts in silence shortly after. I stare at the
white sheet that wraps around my body, the clothes I’m in . . . No
longer my scales or my uniform . . . I’m in a white and steel lined
gown. My scales are no longer black but are white and are under my
gown. My power? Is it true what the frost dragon had said, my
powers aren’t gone but were lost? If that’s the case have I found
them? I try to move from my bed and pain zips through me. I pant,
my arms become numb and tingly. Do I have nerve damage?

The most
likely and possible explanation for my pain comes to mind and oddly
I don’t fear not being able to walk, I don’t fear not being able to
fight. Instead, it’s a relief, in a way I’m not surprised. I lost
my desire to live a long time ago and this is just the
aftermath—the left over explanation for my mental downfall. I
thought a long time ago that I’m no longer depressed or unhappy but
to a degree I am and still remain as such; I’m traumatised and I
have been from a young age, this pain is not new to me. This life I
lead and this condition I am is me. I can’t change that nor do I
want to because at the end of the day I know I have a lot more than
some people.

I know
that I can live to see another day not because I want to but
because I have to. Knowing that trying to move my body causes so
much pain—I try to relax my muscles which seem to be very difficult
to do. My muscles have tensed up from the pain and I’m concluding I
have a form of nerve damage and the concussion I don’t think I
should have now is probably a result of whatever had happened to
me. I know I was in the Vault, I remember trying to collect
information because something wasn’t right and then . . . Blank.
Nothing seems to have make sense. Bit by bit, I move my fingertips
slowly, the pain was excruciating at first but over time as I began
to work my way from the tips of my hands up to my forearm, my arms
were more responsive but felt heavy.

My limbs
slowly ceased to ache the more I moved them but when I didn’t or
rested for a short amount of time, they’ll ache and the pain
ten-times what it was initially. By the time I manage to have the
limbs moving and responding, I forced my body towards the edge of
the bed. My thighs, abdomen, back, shoulders and above all my head
aches. My feet manage to touch the cold stone floors and the sheets
tumbled down at my feet. At the rate I’m going I really did look my
age, minus, the youthfulness of my features.