Legends of the Stars

Chapter 9: The Astral Sword

Chapter 9

The Astral Sword

July 9th, 2019 AE, 10:34 AM

The Ark Knight woke up to a blurry haze and a splitting headache. The light nearly obstructed his sight, and he could barely move his head. In fact, his entire body was as stiff as a log. But as his vision became clear, he saw Astra sitting next to the bed, dressed in an open, white sweater over a red top. Wearing this instead of her usual battle uniform, she now looked like a regular young woman.

"Finally, you're awake," Astra said.

"Astra," Jaden said, groggily. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Royal Sanctuary. You've been asleep for about two days."

Jaden looked down to see that he was on a grand, opulent bed beneath a heavy, red blanket with white sheets. He also saw he was lying there shirtless with bandages all across his torso.

"What happened?" he asked Astra.

"You were hurt in battle, so we brought you here to be treated. Don't worry, you're safe."

He tried lifting himself from his pillow, only to recoil in aching pain.

"Lie down! You're still hurt!" she said with her hand on his shoulder.

Jaden heeded her words and chose to give his body a rest. Even with his body's accelerated healing, he was still overwhelmed by the beating it endured. Any regular human would've been trapped in a hospital for weeks, but after a couple of days, the only thing he suffered was a heavy soreness.

The Ark Knight heard the door open in front of him, and he was more than surprised to see Jesse run inside.

"Jaden! You're okay!" he said jubilantly. He leaned and hugged his friend tight, causing him to grunt in pain. "Oh, sorry!"

"It's okay," Jaden said, shrugged off the pain with a laugh.

"We were so worried about you!" he stated.

"Honestly, we weren't sure you'd recover," said Astra. "But thanks to Kaylah, your wounds have fully healed."

Kaylah had walked into the room and stood by his bed, dressed in a blue shirt and matching jacket. Her smile lit up his face like the sun glistening in her red hair.

"It's good to have you back, Jaden," Kaylah said.

"Good to be back," he said, smiling as well.

* * *

After he put on his clothes, which had been cleaned and patched while he slept, Jaden followed Astra out onto the balcony and saw the full splendor of the Kavalah Province. The entire citadel was built into the cliffs and rocks looming over the northeast of Astrelm. The falls nearby beat against the rocks, flowing into the lake as the lifeblood of the valley. Beyond the lake and its rocky cliffs, rolling green hills stretched across the horizon, with trees and flowers blanketing the fields below. The sun hung high above the valley amongst the clear, blue skies. A cool summer breeze filled Jaden's nostrils, fully waking his senses with a jolt.

With Astra as the lead, the four of them walked across the stone bridges connecting the Sanctuary's towers. Out there, they eventually encountered Revan as he was talking to Jaden's old friend, Darek.

"Jaden!" he cried out happily.

"Hey, Darek! What are you doing here?" Jaden asked.

"Revan told me about what happened on the front lines, and he invited me here. It's good to see you up and at 'em!"