The Swords of Memory: Second Chances

Chapter 23

Zara woke up slowly. It was that kind of thing where you are completely awake but your body is taking a few seconds to come to terms with it. She finally opened her eyes and saw Warren sitting at her desk on his phone. "Warren, why are you still here?"

"I needed to buy you some time in the portal game. I had no idea how long your plan was going to take so I snuck out the window and then knocked on your front door. Your parents let me in and I told them I would wake you up. That was thirty minutes ago."

"Thanks, Warren. I definitely needed that extra thirty minutes."

"So you got one of the swords?" Zara told him all about what had happened in the portal game, from fighting the bubble people to leaving the lava pit still without one of the swords.

"We are thinking that the cloud people will have done the same with their sword. They live on a giant cloud and it has started to move so hopefully it will go to be near whoever they gave their sword to."

"What if these other species gave the swords away too? Have you thought about the possibility that the swords could be lost?"

"They can't be. They are important relics. They would be well guarded. They were the weapons of the two most famous heroes in the portal game's history."

"We can hope. I can't believe that our laws of war were so close to theirs. They might not have been word for word, but they were essentially the same. They just enforced them differently, more effectively. They could be your greatest asset when dealing with the other races. The laws give you immunity from harm, at least once they realize what hurting you costs them. That lava person would have died if you didn't heal him. But you should be more careful. You were really shivering here when you healed him. I thought you were going to get burned, not made dangerously cold. I nearly woke you up."

"I know. It was risky, but I had to do it. At least now I know that I can heal other species. That could come in handy. Especially now that there are two nonhumans traveling with us. If people keep joining our cause, finding the swords will only get easier."

"Just be careful with these people. Halcyon and Grant seem decent enough from what you told me, but I'm still not so sure about Hayden. He is only helping you out of his own greed. He will betray you the second it becomes more profitable."

"He isn't like that, Warren. I thought he was, but then he saved us from the villagers." Warren conceded and they decided they would go visit Mrs. Johnson at the hospital again. The visit went just like the others with Mrs. Johnson drastically improving upon their appearance but then returning to her withdrawn condition as they left. Eli was in stable condition but his father had yet to even contact his mom. He was MIA. Zara really wished that he would come back to support his wife.

Zara and Warren spent the rest of the day talking and watching movies. When Warren left to go home Zara told him that he could come back to her house again if he needed to that night. He said he would try to brave a night at his house with his parents.

"My phone will be with me at all times. Just text me if you need me to come over for guard duty again."

"I will. Thanks warren."

Zara got ready for bed and then said good night to her family. Veronica followed her to her room and started grilling her about Warren.

"I heard him in your room last night Zara. Are you guys becoming more than friends?"

"No! He just had to get out of his house."

"Okay, but if anything happens I better be the first to know. My little sister getting a boyfriend is something I need to hear about. Zara rushed her sister out of the room and climbed into bed. Being excited for the portal game made getting to sleep hard but eventually Zara drifted off.