Crowns and Guns.

Rift (part 2)

I struggle with the restraints that bind me to the hospital bed. I do hate the fact that I have found myself in the same situation as before, but what is worse, is that Commander Herrera has the audacity to hold my hand. I want to pull away with all my strength but the restraints are just too tight. I hold my tears. The least I can do is not give him the satisfaction of seeing me yell, cry or beg.

"It's okay, Skye." He says. "We are just going to remove the gems from your arms and legs. Recovering from this without your healing powers will take a toll, and you might have diminished functionally in your arms, and trouble walking, but you are going to be just fine. Well, as fine as someone in a wheelchair with limited motor functions in her arms can be."

I look over to him and clench my jaw. "Fuck you."

"Now, now, no need to use bad words with me. I just want what is best for humanity." Shivers run up my arm when he squeezes my hand twice.

"I trusted you." I snarl. "How could you do this to me? You betrayed me."

He shakes his head. "No, Skye. You betrayed me."

I shake my head, as far as the belts allow me to. "I did no such thing. I was always loyal to you."

He lets go of my hand and scratches his chin. "Let me rephrase. You betrayed humanity. By making deals with the elves."

I sigh. "After ten years of fighting, there are only a couple of hundred humans left, and I doubt the elves are doing much better. At this rate, we will both go extinct. I just want the fighting to stop. If I have to make a peace deal with the elves, so be it."

He claps his hands. "Tricking and killing elves was my magnum opus. The thing that made me a general, that gave me power, and influence. Put me in the history books. If we make peace, it will make all my work for nothing."

I frown. "What do you mean."

He speaks with a softer voice. "If peace is made, I will go into the history books as the fool who made the pact, who steered humanity on the wrong path. While if the elves are exterminated, I will go into history as the greatest hero ever. Why do you want to tarnish my legacy, Skye? What have I ever done to you?"

"Really." I scoff. "You are committing genocide, just to protect your reputation."

He nods. "I vowed to exterminate every last one. And I am going too. I agreed to give up my position to Commander Warner because I thought he could finish where I started, better than I could. But the elves still aren't dead."

I shallow. "Then why did you steal the gems? And then kept quiet about why? You destroyed your reputation anyway. The thing you claim to care about so much."

He smirks. "Because commander Warner wanted to use it to make himself the elven monarch. Or me. Use the elves, as a weapon. Use them as slaves. And without the gems on the crown, he could not. My only mistake is that I got caught."

"If you hate elves so much, why were you against enslaving them?"

He scoffs. "Have you ever read history, Skye? You can only enslave a population for so long. Eventually, they will fight for equal rights, and sometimes they win. Can you imagine the elves living among humans as equals? No way I was gonna let that happen. Not on my watch. They had to be exterminated."

I close my eyes. "I am done talking."

"As you wish. I need to finish some paperwork anyway. Overturning my dismissal I will be commander again. I am sure you understand. The doctor will be with you soon."

He walks out of the room, and I look around. There has to be some way that I can set myself free. Then again, I tried this before. I know I can't get out.

I hear the door of the hospital open. Is the doctor already here> No, I need to escape, and fast. No way I am letting a doctor cut me open.

To my surprise, Katie's voice sounds from behind the curtain. "It's okay, June. I'll find some water and bandages."

I raise my voice. "Katie is that you?"

I see the lights shine in my eyes as Katie opens the curtains. "Skye?" she yells. "I thought you were in prison."

She runs over and starts untying me. "I am not," I explain. "I and here because the commander wants to remove the gems surgically."

Katie swallows. "Damn."

I sit up while rubbing my wrists. Katie picks up June and puts her on the side of my bed.

"New plan, June. Skye has magic healing powers. She will heal you."

June looks at me, and I gasp when I see the large bruise on her face. She has a black eye, her jaw and cheek are swollen and red, and she has a large cut on her forehead. A thin line of blood is running down her face.

"June! What happened?"

She looks me in the eyes. "A boy at school called you a traitor. So I punched him. He punched back, and so did some other kids."

I notice the other bruises on her arms and legs. Damn. I press my wrist against her forehead, and the bleeding stops.

Katie shakes her head. "The teacher suspended her and sent her home. Told her she wasn't allowed to defend elf sympathisers. Kelsey and I found her in the barracks."

I put June on my lap, and embrace her with both arms. I look at Katie. "We can't stay here."

Katie nods. "Kelsey already figured. She has already acquired a laundry basket. She is filling it with all the supplies we can get our hands on at the moment."

"Who is coming with us?" I ask.

"Just Kelsey, June, you and I," she says.

I tighten my embrace with June. "We can't bring her, the woods are no place for a seven-year-old."

Katie raises her palms. "She isn't safe here. The moment the commander realises we are gone, he is going to use her as a weapon against us. Or she gets beaten up again tomorrow. We need to take her with us."

"You are right. Anyone else we should take?"

Katie shrugs. "I don't know who else we can trust."

"Me neither," I say "But I am sure there are still people who are loyal to us."

"I prefer to keep the group small at the moment. It only takes one person telling the commander to ruin everything. We have to keep our cards close."

"Okay."

I put June on Katie's lap and walk over to the other side of the hospital. I tap the metal drawers. "I think we should take a corpse."

Katie covers June's ears with her hands. "A corpse? Are you crazy?"

I nod. "We could gift it to the elves. They eat human flesh."

Katie shrugs. "I am all for asking the elves for help but that is a bit extreme. Do they even eat meat that has been refrigerated?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

Katie shrugs, keeping her palms firmly on June's ears. "Cause they absorb the life energy from the meat? To fuel their magic. Who knows how that works."

I sigh. "We have to take something. We need the elves' help if we are even going to fix this."

"I am sure we can think of something. I just do not want to drag a corpse out here that the elves maybe don't even want."

"Okay, then, what is the plan?" I ask. "The doctor can be back any minute and notice I am not strapped in. And then hell will break loose."

Katie raises her eyebrows. "Don't worry, I have a plan."

I tilt my head. "You mind sharing?"

She smiles. "Just trust me on this."