A Touch Of Lightning (COMPLETED!)

Chapter 33 Ahleena and The Armor 2

       

Chapter 33 Ahleena and The Armor 2       

Callin met Jacob's eyes, his words sinking in. He drew in a ragged breath, closing his eyes for a long moment. Trying to get his racing emotions under control. The panic that had swept him up was unlike anything he could ever remember feeling. The thought that maybe Ahleena was dead had been like a black tidal wave rising up beyond the edges of the sky, threatening to swallow him entirely within its endless depths. He pulled his thoughts away from examining why he should react so strongly, afraid of what he would find if he went there.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"She is in the next room."

The next room meant she was in the Med Lab. Abruptly he remembered his bone armor covering her, and he turned to face Jacob, feeling like he was moving through a dream.

"My armor...?"

"Yes. It is still covering her. Keeping her alive. Protecting her. She has drawn her mind deep into a type of coma while she heals herself."

Callin found his clothes and threw them on quickly, almost chafing his skin in his haste. He took stock inside his mind as he dressed, wondering if he could feel that somehow his bone armor wasn't inside him. Instead, he found himself examining the link between him and Ahleena. It was both stronger and weaker than he had ever seen.

His armor, wrapped completely around her, linked her physical sensation to him more fully than the link alone could ever do, tying his powers to her mind together intricately. His armor was made of his bone, tied to him on the deepest level. And it was wrapped around Ahleena literally like a second skin. He found himself almost blushing at the level of intimate contact between them.

Her mind, through their link, was...quiet. Not gone, not really far away, not cold. Just quiet. He didn't dare try to contact her, sensing she was engaged in what was almost like an inner war. A war that could kill her if she was distracted. He found himself scenting the air again as he hurried towards the door, realizing a second later that he was once again trying to rely on his sense of smell as usual to direct him where he wanted to go.

The Med Lab had five rooms and he didn't know which room he was in. Was Ahleena to his left or his right? He tried to scent the air again, frustration rising up inside. He felt crippled without his nose!

Finally, he turned to look back at Jacob, who was watching him with a small smile on his face.

"Not used to asking for help, are you?"

Callin scowled. That was true, but he didn't like it being said aloud.

"Where is she?"

"To your right. Walk softly."

Callin was already out in the hall and moving to the right. He paused outside the door to her room, his hand hovering over the doorknob. Trepidation welled up inside, a new sensation. He had never really been afraid of anything. Not like this. Was she really ok?

He narrowed his eyes at himself and stepped into her room, moving on cat feet. He wasn't used to such indecision and fear. The lights were dim in the room, a soft glow that left shadows draped in the corners. It was a comforting light, warm yellow, and the shadows felt content, as if a great silence hung in the room. Callin walked to the bed, gnawing his bottom lip, his breathing shallow, rapid.

Ahleena lay on top of the sheets. A naked, pure white, marble statue with perfect detail. She was so still that he found himself holding his breath until he heard her take a breath. He cursed his unusually dull senses, frustrated at how poor his hearing was at the moment. Normally, he would have been able to listen to her heartbeat, to hear her breathing perfectly. He would have been using nearly all of his senses to ensure she was ok, listening to her body, using his nose to track her scent with all of its complexities. Now, he felt like an idiot only able to simply stare down at her. Not even able to contact her telepathically.