The Guardians of Time

Chapter Thirty-Five: Consequences

Ayden Kromwelle was dead.

He had given into the pain and destruction that had taken over his body and the only thing that he could think just that single thought; death. But then, like a system rebooting, his senses began to prickle back to life. Pain waved through him; slow and soft at first then like a freight train. Suddenly, he was very aware of his fight with Stenos

Maybe he wasn't dead after all. One isn't supposed to feel pain in death. While the sensations rattled his body, he welcomed them with the hope that he had survived his last encounter.

He started to focus himself the best he could, trying now to ignore the pain. The other senses started to come to life as well. He could feel cool air rushing passed him and he could feel gravity pulling at him. He was falling. He could also feel his injured arm flailing in the wind and with all the holes in his tunic, he felt naked.

Ayden tried to open his eyes but it didn't happen. They were too swollen and as he stretched their muscles, pain cascaded through his skull. Light penetrated the skin of his eyelids and he felt the warm heat of the sun beating gently on his broken and damaged skin.

He wondered where he was and what had happened. Had Stenos been killed? Had the rest of the Warriors won? Then there were other thoughts; Kathryn; Skyler; Jakoba. Sadness welled up and if his tear ducts weren't swollen, he was sure that he would have started weeping.

He had been selfish and inconsiderate of all the others that were so important to him. When he had used the orb, the only one he had left, he hadn't thought about what might happen. If he did survive, how was he going to get home? For all he knew, Stenos was still on Edin and would be torturing his loved ones.

As his thoughts engulfed him, he continued to fall. He couldn't tell direction and was too worn to figure out which way he was facing and the angle at which he was careening through an unseen sky.

Maybe he had lucked out and was falling to Edin where he would crash through his castle as he did before and everyone would be waiting for him. They could all reorganize and try again. Stenos had to be stopped. While the negative thoughts bombarded him, he thought about his one small victory.

He was alive. Barely, but alive.

They had managed to stop Stenos from killing him as a child. Otherwise, he wouldn't exist. But then, maybe he had sent Stenos back to Denver and the evil king was going to carry out his plan anyway. If this happened, he wouldn't have to worry about himself falling. He would simply cease to exist.

Without warning, he slammed in to a hard surface with a loud clap and bounced back into the air; then slapped down again. He skipped across it before he slipped beneath. Suspended, his mouth filled with a cool, tasteless fluid.

Water. He was submerged in water.

His limbs hurt too much to swim and panic set in as he worried about drowning. With his eyes closed, he reached out with his good hand and after a few seconds of searching, something rubbed against his fingers. Grainy and tough, it was moving in the water and he latched on hoping it was headed to the surface.

Holding his breath this long caused his lungs to burn as they were continually deprived of life-giving oxygen. By the brightness coming through his eyelids he could tell he was moving toward the sun and with a splash he broke the surface of the water.

He was gasping for breath as he clutched on to the object that was no bigger than a cupboard door. As his breathing slowed, he rested his head against it and could feel the warmth of the sun touching him. The waves and currents moved and swirled around him; all he was able to do was hold on as he floated on a vast expanse of water.