Guardians: Protectors of Light

Chapter 37

Meet Cora! She has a secret unknown even to herself ;) 

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"Matt!" Valery cries out, walking into the next healing room, and seeing the stump resting on his lap. "Sweet Angels, what in heaven's name happened to you?" She looks frazzled, her short hair sticking out at all angles, her eyes wide as she looks him up and down, rushing into the room. She grabs his arm in quick movements, swiftly unraveling the wrinkled, hastily wrapped bandage.

"There was a battle." He answers simply, refusing to look at his arm as she examines it.

She stares at the cauterized wound, her heart breaking.

"Well?" He asks, unable to handle the silence. He looks at the wall, just over her head, unable to bring himself to look at her face.

"There's nothing to heal." She tells him. "It's a clean wound, and with it cauterized, there's nothing I can do. If I got to you sooner, I might have been able to grow everything back, but the stump. It's dead. I'm so sorry."

"This is how it is then." He tells her, his voice choking back emotion. "Just wrap it up, I don't want to look at it."

"This doesn't mean your career as a Guardian is over." She assures him as she starts wrapping his arm back up, making it look neater than the rush job done before. "You can take more battle training, and practice with your non-dominant hand. You can still battle."

"I won't be a warrior. Not as trusted, valued, at least. This hand will never be as strong as the one that I lost."

"What about Cliff? He lost an eye, no one will say he wasn't a valued Guardian." Valery fires back.

"I know you think you're helping, but you're not. Can you wrap me up and let me go?" Matt snaps, his voice barely hiding his exasperation.

"Matty." Valery sighs.

"Let me go, Val."

Valery nods. She finishes wrapping and steps out of the way without another word. Matt sulks out, avoiding eye contact.

You'll be ok, Matty. Stay strong.

Valery continues her way to the next Guardian in line.

It's been an hour of nonstop healing, helping the most critical to the least. Her temper is starting to run thin. Inside, she simmers, wishing Matt wasn't so low down on the list, knowing if she got to him sooner, she might have been able to help him. But the council got everyone organized for her. Angela was the first person she went to work on without giving them a choice. And the rest went downhill from there. And no one knows anything about Trent, only that he was injured when they left and refused to come back.

He better not come back with something missing, I'll kick his ass to hell and back.

With a scowl on her face, she opens the door for her next healing patient and her last. Savannah.

"That is not the look of a happy, content healer," Savannah comments as Valery walks in.

"There wouldn't have been so many issues if I went with you," Valery tells her as she sits down beside Savannah on the cot. "Is this gash the only reason you're here?" She asks, unraveling the strip of fabric tied around her arm.

"Yeah. I could have stayed, I wanted to, but someone needed to keep an eye on the injured and Albert was keeping our little prisoner under close supervision. Brent and I took turns driving." Savannah answers as Valery places a hand next to each side of her wound and starts working on healing it, the two sides attaching back together. "Trent should be back soon. He will want to get in and out of that place before another patrol returns." Savannah assures her.

Valery only nods.

Finishing healing, Savannah looks at her.

"Take some time, relax. Try to enjoy yourself." She tells Valery as she slips off the cot, leaving Valery sitting there, scowling at the door.

With a heavy sigh, Valery stands up and walks out, heading towards Angela's healing room, the girl has yet to wake up, even though Valery healed all that she could. Trent's voice, filled with frustration echoes down the hall, unintelligible.

Valery turns towards him, wanting to see for herself what's going on. Trent stands in the lounge, just inside the doorway, a girl with all skin and bones hanging onto his arm as her clothes hang on her. Ash, Tessa, and her mom block any forward movement.

"What's going on?" Valery asks, eyeing the scene up, trying not to let her gaze settle too long on the woman who stands, nearly glued to his side.

"Val!" Trent calls out with enthusiasm, his face brightening as he greets her.

"What's happening?" Valery echoes, her voice slowing as she approaches. Her eyes narrow as they fixate on the scrawny, disheveled female clinging to Trent's arm.

Beth's arms are tightly crossed in front of her as she demands, "Do you honestly believe we can trust her?"

Trent faces the assembled council, his tone resolute. "She was imprisoned for attempting to poison Darrel."

"That's her version, Trent," Tessa counters. "We have no way of knowing if it's the truth until Angela can examine her. And that's only IF they both consent to it."

Meanwhile, Valery stands with one hand on her hip, leaning against the wall, her gaze fixed on the newcomer. Her nails leave slight marks on Trent's arms. When the girl notices Valery's stare, she flinches, seeking refuge further behind Trent.

"Ash, please," Trent implores, his gaze fixed on his former mentor. "You trust me, don't you?"

"You, yes. But..." Ash hesitates, his uncertainty palpable. Trent's frustration bubbles up, audible in his groan.

"Look at her! She was clearly abandoned. I found her in the farthest cell, the floor soaked from leaks, and she's malnourished. Left to die. Why would she owe them any favors? They had no idea we were going to strike," Trent argues passionately.

Ash's gaze sharpens. "What are you willing to risk for her? Would you have her in your room, under constant watch twenty-four seven?"

Valery's frustration boils over, a mixture of feeling dismissed and a growing sense of mistrust. She stands tall, arms tightly folded, her gaze sharp and unyielding.

"Excuse me!" Valery interjects with a touch of exasperation as she butts her way into the circle, eyeing each member up in turn. "I'm right here! Can someone please explain who this woman is and why she's so attached to him?"

"Valery," Trent responds urgently, turning to face her. "Please, just listen for a moment. This is Cora. She used to be part of the Northern headquarters until she was exiled for attempting to kill Darrel. I found her in a cell where she was left to die."

Valery fixes him with a cool stare. "I see. Well, that clears things up, doesn't it? Perhaps when you're finished generously opening your room to other women, it would be nice for you to let me know you've returned and get your ribs tended to. And, you know, make decisions together as we're supposed to be doing." Her words are laced with hints of frustration.

Valery whirls around, striding into her stockroom. "I never actually agreed to it!" Trent's sigh resonates in the corridor.

"I'll take her and make sure she's cleaned up," Tessa assures him.

"We'll arrange for someone to keep an eye on her," Ash adds, reassuring Trent. "I just wanted to gauge how certain you are about this. Go talk to her. We'll work it out."

Trent nods in gratitude as Ash steps aside. He calls after Val, a sharp pain flaring in his side as he races after her. "Please, Val, don't make me chase after you like this," he implores, his voice tinged with urgency and pain, but she swiftly slams the door to her stockroom.

"Val," Trent calls, positioning himself in front of the door. He pushes it open gently, stepping inside. Valery stands at the back of the room, her back turned to him. "Val," Trent murmurs, his voice gentle this time, as he approaches her.