Dawn of a Thousand Suns, Book I: Arch De Angels

CHapter XVIII

"Do you think he will wake up soon?" -

Michael heard the whispers of two guards standing at the door.

"I hope he will, otherwise no good is waiting for us" replied the other, and looked at the children standing near the door.

They had already gone several times to the chamber where the wizard was asleep and stood at the door. No one but the commander could enter the room. Michael did not know why they were going so often to that room. This was not helping him, but some unknown force was drawing them near the wizard and they spend most of the days waiting there. At first, the guards forbade it, but then they gave in. They stood and waited silently. After hearing that strange voice, they had little to say to each other. That night, the four of them felt something they could not explain. That was the reason they became so speechless and maybe that's why they went there so often.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed in a hall as they saw bandaged commander walking towards the door. He stopped for a moment, gave a disapproval look to the youngsters, and disappeared behind the door without a word.

The janitors called the youngsters to leave, but none of them moved.

"Are you not going to leave?" - One of them sighed, the second one went towards them. But the door opened, and the commander appeared, frowned, walked towards the children. "Go inside, he wants to see you..." - he said eagerly.

They looked at each other and entered the room one by one, lord Felix slammed the door and stayed outside. It was a large, bright room with rhombic windows. Lord Marcus, lying on a white sheet in the middle of the room, stared at the visitors with half-opened eyes. As they approached the bed, the wizard stood up slightly. He stared at them insistently for a while, then touched them with two fingers on the forehead one by one. They felt a burning sensation where Marcus touched them. When he had finished, he put his head in his hands and sat like that for a while, then suddenly laugh hysterically.

"That bastard was right," - he repeated several times and then continued laughing loudly. The commander opened the door - "What is happening?!" He asked in confusion. Youngsters stood dumbfounded. The commander glared at the wizard, while he laughed like a madman and ignored his surroundings.

A few minutes passed like this until the wizard calmed down. Finally, he apologized, blamed everything on the high fever, and went back to bed. Then Lord Felix ordered the children to leave the room. As they crossed the yard and found out that streets were almost empty after last night's bloodshed. The wounded were taken to the palaces. After the first combat encounter, the commander changed the defensive strategy. He gave officers favorable positions on the wall to the good use of long-range weapons. Their main hope was the recovery of Lord Marcus, and since he had already awakened, they were relieved.

"Why did he laugh so strangely?" - Angela asked, though everyone was worried about the same question, none of them had the answer.

"Who was he talking about being right? Or what was he right about?" - Angela continued.

"Did you feel the heat on your forehead where Lord Marcus touched you?"

"He has done the same before, hasn't he?"

They were lost in the sea of questions and too little was known. Last time the wizard explained that by touching the forehead he was examining someone's health. But now they seemed rather healthy. Then why did he touch them? What check was needed? The fact that he started shouting about some bastard being right, at the moment he touched the forehead, further intensified everything.

"No, there is something more in this story."

"Did Lily wake up?" - Michael asked.

"Don't think so, but if he wakes up, Livia will watch over him," Lucius replied thoughtfully. After the horrible night, they were taken to the hall of one of the luxurious houses and given to caregivers. Livia was one of them, fifteen years old girl from a noble family, her parents had died earlier and her only sister was lying with injured people in the hall that was owned by her family.