“Yeah,” he said, and Nehela just stared at him, a silvery eyebrow raised. Finally, he understood. “Wait, that was her?” She nodded, and he frowned, thinking. “And before Xiden came, all the rain we had, when she was so on edge. That was her again?”
“When Xiden came, and she saw what he had done to Victor, she lost the slight grip she’d had left on her control, and it unleashed a storm unlike anything anyone anywhere has ever seen. There was grapefruit sized hail, torrential rains, sustained winds over ninety miles an hour, constant cloud to ground lightning, but all of that isn’t even the worst. She inadvertently spawned about twelve tornados, including two EF-5s. They combined into one massive vortex about two miles wide with a damage path almost fifty miles long. They said the winds inside the funnel were four hundred and seventy miles an hour. It was the worst tornado in history, and it came out of nowhere. They’re talking about classifying it as an EF-6, a super tornado. No one had time for warnings, and no one was prepared for it. Aiden,” she said, meeting his eyes, “that son of a bitch tore right through downtown Atlanta at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon.”
* * *
He blinked, having hardly ever heard the gentle elf swear. She saw him trying to get up, and she and Ian helped him out of bed and over to the window. He pulled the blinds open. “Jesus Christ,” he whispered, looking down at the carnage below him.
It had been an entire week, and despite obvious attempts at cleaning up, everything below him still looked like something out of a war-zone. It had demolished many of the buildings, with piles of debris and glass, twisted hunks of metal which were only vaguely recognizable as cars. There wasn’t a single building which didn’t have some kind of extensive damage. More cars and trucks were tossed here, there, and everywhere, and the tornados had actually thrown some of them through the buildings. He closed the blinds, and his eyes, leaning his forehead against the glass. No one had time for warnings…no one was prepared for it…that son of a bitch tore right through downtown Atlanta at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon, Nehela’s words echoed in his head. “How bad?”
She knew what he was talking about. “There’s over seven hundred dead, twenty-two hundred injured, and there’s still about four hundred still missing. So far, the totals are over eight billion dollars in damage. A hundred and sixty-four of the dead, and almost eight hundred of the injured were children, either just leaving school or on school buses.”
“God,” he said, tears filling his own eyes at the through of all those lives lost, and he knew how the loss of all those children was going to be the worst of it. “Xiden might not have destroyed her, but this will. Mentally, if nothing else.”
Nehela sighed. “I don’t want to tell her until she’s well on the way to recovering. Maybe, and I hate to say this as much as you hate to hear it, this coma might be a good thing for now. Maybe she can get most of the healing done before she wakes up. If she were up now, she’d be fidgety, wanting to get up.”
There was a quiet knock on the door, and a doctor came in. “Ah, good. You’re up and awake. I’m Healer Jones. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been better,” he said.
“I can imagine. Do you have any questions for me? I’m sure Ian and Nehela have explained much of it.”
“Can I see Mickala?”
The Healer smiled. “That’s the one I expected, and I don’t see why not.” Aiden asked if he was also treating Mickala. “I’m one of them. There’s five of us working on her together.”
* * *
Aiden attempted to walk on the crutch, but he gave a quiet gasp as his good leg gave out. Ian was there, his arm around his waist. “I told you, you weren’t ready to be jumping around yet. You’re so damn head-headed.” He sounded just like his usual self, but underneath the surface, he couldn’t express exactly how relieved he was to see Aiden finally wake up. He was embarrassed, and infuriated, at how quickly he’d been taken out of the fight, how useless he’d been trying to defend his best friend.
Aiden laughed quietly. “I’ve got to be to deal with you.”
“Haha, so funny.”
Healer Jones came back with a wheelchair, and Aiden settled in with a faint frown on his face. He wheeled him down the hall and Aiden looked up at him. “Are you Elagonian or Solarian?”
Healer Jones chuckled. “I’m Solarian. I was the Head Healer under Selene, Mickala’s great grandmother, on Solaris.”
Aiden’s eyes widened. “How old are you?” he asked bluntly.
He laughed outright this time. “To be honest? I don’t even keep track anymore. Once Angel turned back time, it seriously threw me off. I’m the physician to the Royal Family. I’ve treated Alera, Selena, Angel, Michelle, and now Mickala.”
Aiden guessed Alera would have been Mickala’s great-great grandmother. “Wow,” he said in a low, awed whisper.
Before they went in, Aiden asked how she really was, and the Healer sighed. “She’s not well, Aiden. She broke most of the bones in her body, and she punctured both of her lungs. There was massive internal bleeding, and her skull’s fractured in three places. We had to fuse two vertebrae in her back together. She’s healing every day, but she’s still in rough shape. Right now, the head trauma is our major concern. It’s caused massive swelling around her brain. She sustained all her injuries from the blast itself, along with the force of going through several walls.”
“She didn’t have any injuries from the fight?”
“I don’t believe so,” Healer Jones said. “Nothing I’ve seen indicates it, anyway.”
“That’s incredible. He took Ian and myself out, but he couldn’t lay a finger on her.”
“She’s an incredible warrior,” he stated. “The Healers just finished with her a little while ago. We’re trying to aide in her recovery in any way possible. Your friend Nehela has been an immense help to us. She’s an incredibly gifted Healer.” The Healer breathed a heavy sigh. “Are you ready?”
‘Not in the least,” Aiden replied. “This is like waking from a worst nightmare only to discover it’s real. Waiting, however, won’t make it any easier.”
They went into the room, and despite the warnings they had given him, Aiden was still unprepared for the sight of Mickala laying motionless on the bed. What part of her that wasn’t covered in bandages was heavily bruised, black and purple being the most prevalent color. Wires and tubes were everywhere, and they were all hooked up to various monitors, but they all showed her signs being steady.
“She started breathing on her own yesterday. Until then, we had her on a ventilator,” Healer Jones said. Aiden took her hand, and he frowned at her limp, cool skin. “I know it looks bad, but as I said, she’s healing more and more every day. We’re hopeful when the swelling goes down, she’ll wake up. If she were an average Solarian, I honestly don’t think she’d be here now. Her demon blood mixed with the Solarian and Elagonian in her is aiding us. You demons heal the fast out of our three races.”
Aiden brushed her hair out of her face gently. “Was the explosion really that powerful?”
The doctor nodded. “The Solarian Will is the strongest out of all Solarian attacks, and it’s definitely not meant to be used in close spaces or at such short range. To top it off, the one she generated was insanely powerful. I believe Michelle said it was the strongest one ever done in our people’s history. Every demon, Solarian and Elagonian felt that power.” He laid a hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “When she wakes up, I highly doubt you’ll have to do any fighting for a very long time.”
“Was it really that strong?”
“Yes. Her own mother and even her grandmother, if she were still alive, would tell you that Mickala’s the most powerful royal ever born. No other predecessor has ever come close to what she’s capable of, especially when she’s pushed to the limit. The only thing we can think of is because of the demon, Solarian, Elagonian blood mix. The way it’s all bonded together into a single cell is incredible. We Healers have seen nothing like it.”
* * *
He glanced at Ian, who gave a single nod, and Aiden shook his head. “Not really.”
“You guys were in the car when that storm came out of nowhere. They said you got blown off the road and down a ravine. Somehow, Mickala’s seatbelt broke, and it threw her out of the car.”
“Oh, and you don’t have to worry about school just yet,” Chad added. “There was some damage to the building, so it’s closed until after the break.”
Aiden looked at him. “I’m so sorry about the competition, Chad.”
He shook his head. “Dude, don’t even worry about it. That’s the last thing on my mind. Besides, there’s always next year.” He saw Aiden’s doubt. “Seriously, Miller. There’s more than enough to worry about without adding some stupid competition to it. You just focus on getting better, okay?”
Once they left, Aiden looked at Ian. “Where’s EJ? I remember Nehela said he would be okay.”
“He is. The house was destroyed, but the garage is okay. We’ve been staying with Chad and Philip, but EJ said you could crash with him when you get out. If you wanted. He feels awful. He tried to block Xiden, but he took him out before he could,” Ian said.
Aiden was in the hospital for another week, and his leg began itching tremendously under the cast as the bones healed, but he was up and about on crutches. Mickala was still in a coma, but the swelling was finally going down around her brain. A week later than originally scheduled, the school reopened, and the spring semester started. This time, they had some separate classes, and Aiden was alone in concert band, still playing the drums, but he kept looking at the first chair in saxophone, where Mickala was supposed to be.
A couple of days after classes started back, Mr. Thomas called Aiden into the office after the late bell rang, and the others began warming up. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. I noticed they took your cast off.”
Aiden nodded listlessly. “It came off yesterday.”
“How’s Mickala?”
He sighed heavily. “She’s still the same. The swelling’s almost gone, but they won’t know if there’s any permanent damage until after she wakes up.”
Mr. Thomas shook his head sadly. “The Will was never meant to be used in such close quarters. The princess should have known that. She must have felt she had no choice…or she just didn’t care at that point.”
Aiden’s eyes widened. “You’re a transplant?”
He nodded. “I was a Bard on Elagon, so teaching music has always come second-nature.” He leaned over and gripped Aiden’s hand. “The princess will be fine, Aiden. You just have to have faith.”
“I’m trying to, sir, but right now? It’s hard.”
* * *
Two more weeks went by, but there wasn’t any change in Mickala’s condition. It was harder watching the bruises fade, the bones being healed, than any of them thought it would be. On the outside, she looked completely well, if a little pale. Everything had completely healed except for one lung was still healing. She had a brace on her back, and one fracture on her skull, but she still wouldn’t wake.
Every day, before and after school, Aiden went to see her. He was hardly sleeping, and he began dropping weight quickly as he couldn’t eat. Ian, Nehela, and EJ worried about him as much, if not more, then Mickala. Adelaide and even Titus couldn’t get through to him enough to get him to take care of himself.
Eighteen
Elvish Fights and Zombie Demons
Only one person truly enjoyed Mickala’s absence, and that was Kira. As soon as classes started back, everyone knew about the ‘accident’, and she didn’t waste any time renewing her attempts to get Aiden. He paid her absolutely no mind, but Ian and Nehela found her harder to ignore, and it didn’t take long for the elf to reach her boiling point.
After two months after the school reopened, Nehela, Ian and Aiden were walking to class, and Kira and one of her few friends were walking in front of them. They were talking, completely unaware they were being overheard. “I hope Mickala never wakes up,” Kira said, the venom in her voice clear. “The dumb bitch got what she deserved. Now, I’ve got a clear shot at Aiden.”
Nehela’s eyes narrowed, and she grabbed Kira’s arm and spun her around. “How in the hell could you say something so cruel? You would really be glad if she died? Because it’s still a genuine possibility. Are you really that much of a cold-hearted bitch, you would wish death on someone just to get what you want?”
Kira sneered. “So what? Why don’t you stay the fuck out of my business?”
Nehela recoiled as if Kira had reached out and slapped her, but her grip on the girl’s arm remained. “Aiden and Mickala are my family, you dumb bitch. They are my business.” Kira tried to snatch her arm away, but the elf refused to let go.
A hush fell over the other teens in the hallway. They had been expecting something like this to happen ever since news of Mickala’s ‘accident’ broke. Kira swung, but Nehela ducked easily, then twisted Kira’s wrist she was still holding, and she flipped the human onto her back. Kira picked herself up, trying to hit the elf several times, but she dodged them all.
She allowed the last one to land, but it didn’t even knock her off balance. The elf just looked at her, her cheek barely red. “Is that really all you have? No wonder Mickala didn’t waste her time with you. I, however? I have nothing but time.”
Nehela threw a punch that landed in Kira’s stomach. While doubled over, Nehela brought her knee straight into her face. It sent Kira reeling back, blood flying from her mouth. “You bitch!” she hissed, the words slurring through broken teeth.
* * *
The scuffle was quiet and brief, but Nehela sent her to the ground four times. Nehela stood over her calmly, her eyes so cold even Ian couldn’t believe they belonged to his girlfriend. Kira got up the last time, but she grabbed a switchblade from the inside of her boot, and she drove it to the hilt in Nehela’s side. She staggered back with a low cry, blood seeming to be everywhere, contrasting sharply against the stark white tile floor.
That was when everyone knew it had gone too far, and someone ran to go get help. Nehela pulled the blade out, looking at it in contempt. Ian snarled, his hands into fists as he started for the human, but a hand come down on his shoulder painfully. He looked up to see Aiden, his face devoid of any emotion except anger, and he pulled Ian back. “I’m handling this.”
He saw Kira scrambling for the knife, and he put his foot down hard on her wrist, then knelt and forced her to turn over and look at him. His face was only a couple of inches from hers. “You had better listen, and listen well, because I will only say this one time. I don’t know where in the hell you got this childish fantasy about me leaving Mickala for you, but it will never, ever come to pass. I love Mickala with all my heart and soul. Even if she died today, I would still never want you. I’ve never met a single person who disgusts me more than you do, with so little regard for someone else’s life. If you and I were the last two people on this miserable planet, then whatever gods are out there would have to start over.”
He drew even closer, and now another emotion registered, hatred. He was only vaguely aware of Chad and Philip pushing their way to the front of the crowd. “If you ever come near me or my family again, because that’s exactly what Ian, Nehela, and now Chad and Philip are to me, family, I will spend the rest of my life making you wish with every fiber of your being that you had never been born. Do I make myself clear?” She couldn’t bring herself to do more than nod, her eyes full of the fear Aiden could smell rolling off he
r, fear of him and the violence she felt lurking just below the surface. “Speak up. You had plenty to say just a little while ago, before Nehela beat your ass, so I know that crooked tongue of yours works. Do you understand me?” His voice rose from a whisper to a roar.
She, along with most of those looking, flinched back. “Yes, I understand.”
They all heard the footsteps running down the hall. “Good.”
* * *
He stood and stepped back as the principal, several police and EMTs came running up, and he absently noted the blue stars on their lapels. Once he had said what he needed to say, he seemed to go back to his usual indifference. The EMTs put Nehela on a stretcher, and Aiden nodded, indicating Ian should go with her. He hesitated, but Chad and Philip were suddenly there, flanking the fox demon. Ian looked at the brothers. “Keep an eye on him for me. I know him better than anyone besides Mickala, and I know he’s not in a good place right now. Don’t let him do anything stupid.” They just nodded, and the three of them were suddenly the only ones left in the hallway as they handcuffed Kira and led her away.
Chad hesitated, but Philip waved him away as Aiden slid down against a wall, his freshly healed leg straight out in front of him, his head down, his black hair obscuring his face. Philip knelt next to him. “What’s going on, Aiden?”
“What Nehela said to Kira, it wasn’t a total lie. Mickala’s almost completely healed, but she still doesn’t wake up,” he said, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling. Philip was astounded to see tears running down his face. “If she doesn’t make it, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know if I can do this without her.”
Philip sighed. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, Aiden, so I’m not going to give you the whole ‘I understand’ bullshit, because I don’t. But I do know I love Mickala like a sister, and you aren’t alone in waiting for her to wake up.” He laid his hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “You just can’t give up. Mickala’s so damn strong, so willful. You know she won’t go out without a fight.”
Releasing the Demons: Solarian Chronicles II Page 16