Guardians: Protectors of Light

Chapter 5

Picture of Matt

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Valery groans as she comes to, the strong smell of Olivia's sterile room overwhelms her dulled senses. Her head hurts, her limbs feel like useless dead limbs. 

"Easy now." A soft, woman's voice soothes. It's a voice full of quiet worry. 

"Can you hear us?" A male's voice asks gently. "Val, honey?"

Valery nods yes, fighting to collect herself, fighting to remember. Fighting to get her body to react.

"Don't strain yourself, it will all come back." The female murmurs.

"Mom." Valery groans, finally registering the first speaker. "Dad?"

"Right here, sweetie." A rough, callused hand encloses around Valery's. 

"Trent." Valery murmurs, his voice in her head, calling out wordlessly. Pieces of memories falling into place, creating a clearer picture with each breath. 

Silence fills the room as her parents share a glance. 

"TRENT!" Valery cries out. Her voice trembles with panic and urgency, the memories settling over her with a heavy coating of dread. 

"Easy." Her mom soothes, steadying Valery's shoulders as she sways, the pale yellow walls seeming to dance before her. "Lay back down." Her mom gently nudges her back into bed. Valery shakes her head and knocks her moms arm away. Her mom doesn't fight the motion. 

"They have him! He needs help." Valery insists, tears welling up in her eyes as she strains to swing her legs over the bed.

"Not from you." Her mom insists, holding Valery tight. 

"We need to take things one step at a time." Her dad tells her. He pulls her into a tight embrace. "You need to recover before you go mounting a recovery mission. We almost lost you."

Valery stills as she lets her dad hold her, crushing her into his chest. She sees her moms face set in a solid reserve, and knows her dad is the same. Her mom's hair matches her own but falls in long locks which she keeps pulled back in clips, leaving her face clear for her brown eyes to bore into Valery's soul. Valery's dad, her biggest supporter, refuses to relax his arm muscles to free her.

"Dad" Valery murmurs, raising an arm to rest on his hand. "He needs help." Valery's dad sighs and releases her, He holds her at arm's length and looks her over intently for the slightest scratch, smallest sign of injury. 

Though Valery and her mom look the most alike, her dad and her share the same type of heart. The attitude. 

"I know how you feel, I would be crazy myself if it happened to your mother, but we need to take any rescue mission one step at a time. They took their time,watching and plotting. We can't jump headlong into anything." 

"There won't be a rescue mission." Liana speaks up from the doorway. Valery's parent's whip around in their chairs to look at Liana. She looks worn out, slightly disheveled. Eyes dark from lack of sleep. But still going strong. 

"We can't leave him!" Valery objects. Liana grants Valery a quick look, and focuses on her mom. 

"We inspected the bodies Trent killed." She starts. "The group that attacked was from the North. We don't stand a chance. He's well on his way to the Northern Headquarters. An attack would mean slaughter." She tells them and turns her gaze back to Valery. "I'm sorry Val, but we can't."

"We can't abandon him!" Tears come to her eyes as panic tightens her chest. She grasps her dad's hand, nails digging into him as she silently pleads for help. Her dad gives her hand a gentle squeeze in return.