The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 14

XIV

DAKEN

15 Minutes After the Attack

Medical Ward, Morningstar Keep

Daken exhaled slowly as he watched the enraged faces of the Nephilim through the small door window of reinforced glass. They pounded almost rhythmically against the final barrier between predator and prey. "So," he said softly, "do you think they're here for me or Uriel?"

"Uriel," Meddy answered without hesitation, her gaze never moving from the door.

"Well, you don't have to sound so confident," Daken pouted, attempting to lighten his own impending sense of impotency. "They might want me too."

Meddy crossed her arms, silently analyzing weak points in the potential assailants. "If you think you're so smart, how about you use your head for a second?" She thrust a thumb back in Uriel's general direction. "He started to levitate when we held out a magical tag. You managed to squeal like a boy half your age when I gave you a shot. Which one do you think got their attention?" Turning around to see that Daken had taken advantage of the question to begin hoisting himself out of his bed, she moved over to his side and steadied him. "I know you, Daken. I know you think this is your fight. You're wrong. You can stop fighting this time."

"I'm telling you Meddy, I can take them," Daken grunted, his still bruised and bloodied body forcing itself up against the medical instrument tray. "Give me a shot of adrenaline and I'm good to go." He cursed beneath his breath. "It's not like we've got a lot of options. That door isn't going to hold them off forever."

Meddy turned her attention from scowling at Daken to the savage blows of fists and feet against the infirmary door. "Don't be insane. You're in no condition to fight." She shook her head. "Putting that kind of strain on your system after the beating that you've taken would not only leave you a completely useless fighter, but probably result in permanent bodily damage that I won't ever be able to correct." She drew a silverwood scalpel from within her lab coat and ran her fingers tenderly along its edge. "When the time comes, I'll be the one to face them." Meddy allowed herself a small smirk, even in the face of the overwhelming enemy. "I've spent years learning how to mend bones and heal cuts. Learning how to open wounds and break bodies only takes a moment."

Daken opened his mouth for a smarmy reply, and then closed it. "You're kind of scary, you know that? I mean, in a very good way."

"I think you mean competent," Meddy said, her vision fixed straight ahead as the banging against the door grew louder and the reinforced bolt holding its hinges shut grew weaker. "And yes. I am."

Then, suddenly, the thundering against the door began to slow. The beats grew less powerful and less numerous. Gazing outside through the tiny glass porthole, Daken and Meddy could see the enraged eyes of the Nephilim begin to shift their focus from the interior of the infirmary to something within the hall. The yelps of battle, the swinging of weapons and the shouting of enemies overcome, began to reverberate out from the corridor. One by one, even the few Nephilim lurking just outside the infirmary door's window crumpled to the ground. Finally, as if placing the crescendo on a violent symphony, a hand shot past the glass, grabbed the last standing Nephilim, and then promptly smashed its face through the door's window.

The angry sounds of limbs striking against one another had come to a close. The gnashing of teeth had ceased. All that could be heard through the cracks in the now-shattered porthole was a lighthearted whistle accompanied by a chipper rendition of, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah."