Allies of the Sun

Chapter 18

Aspen awoke and expected to still be under the stars with her friends, but she was in an unfamiliar room. She hoped her nightmare had just been a nightmare but a small part of her knew it wasn't. A young woman that Aspen recognized entered the room with a tray of food and gave her a kind smile.

Aspen had so many questions for her maid but decided to only start with two. "Where am I? And where are my friends?" Her maid looked at her strangely, "You don't remember?" She asked. So it wasn't a nightmare then. She couldn't believe what had happened, it was so scary!

"Wh-where is Lexie..is she okay..?" Aspen asked as her eyes started to water. The girl nodded, "She is in the healer's wing sleeping off the healing magic. She is lucky we have someone with healing magic, otherwise...." she didn't have to finish, Aspen knew what she was going to say.

How could she have let this happen, she just stood there when the guy came over with a knife, and when he stabbed Lexie all she did was scream. She was so pathetic. How could she be expected to take the throne from Alina if she only froze up when danger came?

"How...how long has it been since the...the attack?" she asked. "Two days," said a familiar voice from the doorway.

"Jay!" Aspen exclaimed, happy to see her friend. Jay gave her a forced smile and said, "Your mom came by this morning." Aspen sat up, "What did she want?"

"She wanted to see if you were awake yet," her maid said. Aspen nodded, that would explain why her maid, Darla, was here.

Jay motioned for her to follow them so Aspen got out of bed on wobbly legs and stumbled towards the door. It was hard to walk after being in bed for two days so Darla helped her through the winding halls and Jay gave her an apple.

She knew where they were going without anyone saying anything. She almost didn't want to go but she had to see Lexie. "Where's Gabe?" Aspen asked. "He's already there," Jay responded.

Aspen noticed something, or someone, moving in the shadows of the cave hall. She was about to say something when they leaped out. She went straight for Aspen but Jay stepped between them and she stabbed Jay in the shoulder.

Aspen screamed and Jay grabbed the woman's arms, with the arm that wasn't hurt, and wrapped their leg around both of her legs, rendering her helpless. Even though Jay clearly had it under control she was still worried about her friend.

Her maid had run off at the first sign of danger. Aspen now saw her coming back with the woman she and Lexie had watched train before the battle. When she got there she slammed the attacker on the ground and tied her up.

Jay started walking away as soon she got over there so Aspen ran to catch up to them. "Are you okay!?" she asked them. Jay didn't slow their step -nor did they answer- and turned the corner. Aspen wondered how they already knew their way around. When Jay finally stopped in front of a door Aspen was exhausted, in all the excitement she had forgotten that she had been asleep for two days.

They both went inside the room and Aspen saw Lexie asleep on the only bed in the room, with Gabe at her side. The healer, a Kabra, was looking at something on a computer, Lexie's medical records. There were other tabs open but Aspen didn't pay attention to that and went straight to Lexie. She was sleeping on a cot with her shirt lifted a little to reveal bandages underneath. There was dried blood on her clothes so Aspen guessed she hadn't woken up at all since the battle.

She started to silently cry for her friend. If only she hadn't run into the woods that night. If only she had been brave. If only she could have protected her. She wished to go back in time to fix it, to protect Lexie. She knew that she was fine now but she still wanted to do better.