Stormhaze

Chapter 14: Haunted

Gillien had no idea how long he stood there, frozen, staring blankly at the door that had closed between him and Edras. He had heard his fellow soldiers call his name a dozen times, yet he refused to respond, unwilling to accept that he had traded Kilas for his son and left him in Ryken. Coward, liar, betrayer—the words of shame reverberated mercilessly in his mind. He knew they were true.

"Gillien!" Brodd yelled, the words barely penetrating his thoughts, but Gillien remained hollow and unresponsive. He had lost Edras again. He had betrayed his only son. His head jerked as a bloody hand slapped him across the head, forcing his eyes to lock with General Brodd. The tall Mizdraki general stood drenched in blood with a wild look in his eyes, holding the severed head of a Rykic rebel in his other hand. "Get a grip, soldier. Turn off your mind now. The Grand Arkon needs you."

The gunship was crossing the channel again, but there was no time to reach Argead. Grand Arkon Kilas lay unconscious in the medical bay, the infection from his severed arm spreading rapidly. Gillien clenched his fists around the two compasses he held, feeling them tremble more intensely than ever before. He closed his eyes and tried to shut his mind down.

"We have to amputate his right arm." said their combat medic.

"Amputate it?" Brodd said, his black eyes boring into the medic. "Grand Arkon Kilas will not be sawed open like some animal!"

"The infection is spreading too fast. He'll be dead in less than a day if we don't." the medic said.

"Get it done then!"

"This ship doesn't have the right tools, nor the expertise. If we do it here his body could go into shock or bleed to death."

General Brodd shouted Gillien's name again, but he had already retreated to his frozen state of shock. He couldn't shut down his mind, he couldn't simply dispose of the emotions anymore. All he could was stare blankly into the air, unable to form a single thought other than those of doubt. Who was he becoming? Gillien had speculated that Kilas had no red line, but what if he himself was the one without one? Was he willing to sacrifice everything for Kilas? Even his own son?

A second punch threw him onto the ground, Brodd shouting at him to get it together. Lying on the cold steel floor, Gillien shut his eyes again and focused on closing his mind. He stood back up, teeth gritted, the pain in his head and chest still present but diminishing. It seemed like even his training had reached its limit.

The combat medic reiterated that Kilas would die in less than a day if his arm wasn't amputated at the shoulder. "Argead is thirty-six hours away. Do you know somewhere close we can land? You know Alecaria better than anyone here."

"Verigan," Gillien croaked to everyone's puzzled stare, "in Trawlton there is a surgical doctor named Verigan. Take Kilas to him."

Brodd stormed into the cockpit, still covered in blood while holding the severed head in his hands. The gunship made a sudden dive towards the ground so steep that everyone became weightless. Panicking, Gillien clutched the nearest wall before the rumbling vessel leveled out, its metal frame groaning and creaking.

As the gunship sped towards Trawlton, Gillien's mind remained a whirlwind of emotions, but he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. He had to save Grand Arkon Kilas. It was the only way he could even begin to make amends for leaving Edras behind. As gravity returned he decided he couldn't afford to wallow in guilt and despair any longer, and walked into the cockpit.

Upon reaching Trawlton, the gunship descended rapidly towards the small, inconspicuous courtyard where they had previously awaited Vice Arkon Zenobia's attention. Gillien could again see the boat-roofed houses that defined the town, and during his absence, some had been painted in intricate colors and patterns. Wooden racks lined every building with the strong smell of dry fish penetrating his nostrils. Gillien pointed the pilots to the tallest building where Verigan had said his office was and braced for a hard landing. It was.