Echoes of the Past

Chapter Forty Four - Part Two

Chapter Forty Four: A New Day - Part Two

Den nodded slowly with understanding. "Hayden gave strict instructions that James must not know of his past, or the knowledge could reverse the healing spell and send him back to his impending death."

"I know," Sam quickly said. "I know all that. And I don't believe it anymore. James has shown that he can handle anything we throw at him."

"I believe he can, also."

Sam held Den's intense stare. "Good." He'd expected more resistance. James had, for the second time in his life, been close to death. It had been a miracle he'd survived his multiple injuries. Sam didn't know what he would have done with himself if he had lost James. Lost another person under his protection.

Melida placed her cup onto the table and looked up at them all with her hands in her lap. She had a straight-backed posture, and looked very elegant in her close-fitting long robe. "I am very happy that you all returned safe. And with permission, I will be performing a farewell prayer this evening for the nine soldiers we lost yesterday."

"I believe that is a very good idea," Evan said beside her. "If I may, I will assist you in blessing their souls."

"Thank you, both," Liana said.

Sam had to wonder where the souls of the hundreds of people he'd lost had gone to. Were they in some form of a heavenly existence? Some kind of magical realm that was beyond their comprehension. Or did a person simply vanish into nothing when they died? Sam wasn't sure of anything, but liked to think that regardless of what happened to a person's soul, what was truly important was how that person was remembered and loved. Celebrating life mattered more than grieving for where a lost loved one had gone to.

Sam reached over and picked up his cup of tea from a side table, and felt a twinge of pain move through his side. An echo of a crippling pain in his broken ribs. Ribs that had not really been broken. His injuries during his fight with Jaxx at the cliff top had mostly been psychological, Sam understood that now, and he had since come to compare that psychological pain with his old war trauma. In both instances, pain was very real, and yet mostly only in his head.

Pain was only there, and could only cripple him, if he allowed it to.

Evan cleared his throat, supporting himself on an arm rest as he rose to his feet. "If you will excuse me, I would like to check on James."

***

Blinding flashes of light cut through the crumbling darkness. Excruciating pain in a collapsing world of metal and fire. Vivid images came to James's blurred, semi-conscious mind. Large pieces of metal fell towards him as the iron forge tower broke apart, exploding with an incredible power that expanded to fill his vision. Then there was wind on his face as someone carried him out in the bright daylight. Somewhere within the darkness, Liana's voice had come to him, reassuring yet shaken. Then there was only an empty void.

***

Evan watched as James Island awoke, his eyes slowly opening and finding Evan sitting beside his bed. It took James a moment to situate himself in the room, finding his bearings as Evan felt the pulses of his dull racing mind.

The remnants of large cuts and bruising remained on James's face, heavily healed but still visible. His eyes were blood-shot but showed a gradual awareness as they settled on Evan. The rest of James, covered in bandages, was under the light blue sheet of his medical bed. Consoles and units were arranged behind the bed, softly humming and giving off an occasional beep.

"It has been a day since our battle with Higero Jaxx," Evan said. "You were in a critical condition when we found you in the rubble of the tower. I am told you are stable now, but you must go slow to begin with."