Stolen Souls

Sixteen

Harian caught up to the group, sprinting through the forest. Athena still felt shooting pain through her whole body, and squirmed in Harian's arms. When the Mandalorians reached camp, everyone was exhausted. Verian ran to his medicine supplies to thankfully find them all as he left them. He immediately ran around, checking to make sure nobody was badly hurt. Harian entered the camp last, battered and bleeding. He placed Athena on the ground, then sat next to her. Athena still had the needles still in her sides, so Harian pulled them out. She screamed in agony as they were yanked out.

Athena managed to shakily sit up, using some water from a mud puddle to wash off the dried blood. Around her, she saw her tribemates. They were all skinny, but thankfully weren't as skinny as Athena was when she was captured by humans. The elders were especially frail. She counted Retne, but wasn't sure where Halia was. Athena assumed that Halia died while kept by humans.

Athena tilted her head back in pain again, this time her sides stung. She knew that the humans had injected her with something, but she had no idea what it was. And whatever it was, it caused so much more pain than last time. She tried to control it, but it kept growing and growing. She felt as if she would never be able to contain the pain, but eventually the pain throbbed away. Verian came over to her to check her wounds, and bandage her sides.

Athena laid back down, as ordered by Verian. She stared up at the dawn sky, rising slowly over the treetops. "Athena!" Aria ran over and hugged Athena tightly, almost dismantling the bandages. "Easy on the hugging, my sides are in pain." Athena rasped. Aria gently removed a bandage on her side and looked at her wounds. "What did they put in you?" Aria asked nervously. "Don't know, whatever it was, it hurt so much more this time." Athena answered.

"Leave Athena be, Aria. She's been through so much, and we don't want to take those bandages off." Harian ordered Aria. Aria nodded then trotted away to some others. "How are you feeling?" Harian asked. Harian had been Athena's mentor, since she is the queen's daughter. "Everything hurts on the outside, but it hurts even more on the inside." Athena said. "Why do you say that? We are home now, and you saved us all." Harian questioned. "I wasn't able to warn you enough, same with the other two tribes." Athena rasped. "You did plenty. Now, get some rest. I can't imagine you have slept for a while."

THE END/El FIN