The Protector and the Peacemaker

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Twenty Nine

(Sarah)

Before waking up that morning, Sarah never would have thought she'd be happy to see the slave trader's room underneath the pound. After what she'd just gone through, though, she found the moldy stone walls and rusty chain link cage the most welcome sight on earth...

Because it meant she was back in the real world.

She stood up on wobbly legs as Porter opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes, and then yawned, stretching his arms above his head and his wings out behind his back.

"Crazy dream, huh?" he said to her, but he knew just as well as she did that that had been no dream.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Like I just got the best night's sleep I've had in weeks," he answered.

He was right, she realized. They had both just fought for their lives against the most terrible monster that had ever lived, and yet their bodies seemed to think all they had done was take a nap. She held out her hand to help him up.

"So, what do we do now?" She asked, reverting to their intimate soul-talk.

Porter fixed her with an intense stare, and she felt the excitement suddenly shoot up inside of him.

"We've got the Keeping Fire," he answered. "Not only that, but we've got something better. We know what Mortoph really is. If we can reveal that, it'll work even better than telling everyone about his lies."

Sarah nodded, but couldn't crush the uneasy feeling that had settled in her stomach.

"Okay, but how do we do that?" She asked. "It's one thing to tell people he lied to them. Telling them he's an ancient monster out to destroy the world is another."

Porter nodded too, but she could tell that he'd already thought about this. His emotions told her that he didn't have a solution either.

"I don't know," he admitted at last. "But it's too late to turn back now. All we can do is go out there and hope that everything works out."

No more words were needed. They both understood what they were about to walk into, but the small fires of hope still burned inside of them. Porter turned and led the way out of the small prison, climbing the ladder until he ascended into the pound above. When Sarah came out after him, the first rays of sunlight were already streaming in through the windows.

"Let's go find the others," she said, heading for the door, but stopped when Porter put a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait," he told her.

She stopped and turned to look at him expectantly. She could feel the uncertainty roiling around inside of him, but she was encouraged by the fact that he could still put on a brave smile.

"I want you to take Flicker and my Kalion armor," he told her at last.

"What?" She exclaimed internally, taking a step backwards. "I can't do that, Porter! That would leave you defenseless!"

"No, it won't," he argued. "I know how to fight. I knew even before I started using Flicker. You don't. Flicker and the armor will protect you. Even if you never learned how to fight, they'll make you stronger and faster."

"But..." Sarah persisted. "What about you?"

Now Sarah was afraid as well. Without his unbreakable armor, Porter would be just as vulnerable as anyone else. What would happen if he... She silenced those thoughts as Porter sent a wave of comforting emotions her direction.