Guardian(Part IV): Revelation

Chapter 6: Ruth

I woke up to a sudden scream from Avanka. I quickly looked to her bed, and saw her sitting against the wall on her blankets with her bare feet on the floor, and a pool of blood beneath one.

"Oh, no," I whispered. There was a long nail poking through her bleeding foot, with blood gushing from the wound. I knelt down and grabbed the foot that it was in, and slowly began to lift Avanka's foot of the nail. I could see her biting her lip to keep herself from screaming, and sudden gasping with relief once the nail was completely out.

"Thank you, Ruth," said Avanka.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I've had worse," Avanka reminded.

"This still looks painful," I observed. "I'll get a doctor for you."

"They won't send one for me," Avanka denied.

"Just because you're an epsilon?"

I went up to the plasma barrier and began to pound on it with my fists, to the guards standing on the other side.

"Hey!" I shouted. "We need a doctor in here!"

The guards didn't turn around, or seem to acknowledge me. I pounded harder and shouted to them again, but it still didn't work. Did they even hear me?

"Hey, her wound could be infected!" I warned. "Get...!"

Suddenly, there were gunshots, and both guards at the door went down.

"What?" I gasped.

"What's going on?" asked Avanka.

We continued to hear the sounds of gunshots echoing throughout the dungeon, until they stopped, and the platform that navigated the shaft arrived at our cell, carrying two men with assault rifles in their hands. They weren't wearing the combat uniforms of Chardanish Regulars, though. They wore more casual clothing, like what civilians would wear, under protective utility vests.

"Rebels?" I guessed.

"Perhaps," said Avanka. One of them drew a pistol and shot the keypad to our cell, and the plasma barrier disappeared.

"Are you Avanka Kordijakan?" one of them asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Avanka answered.

"I believe this is yours," the same rebel guessed, holding out a sheathed katana, enchanted with a crystal of radiant malakyte. I sensed a feeling of excitement from Avanka. She tried to stand, but winced with pain, and sat back down. I took the katana from the rebel soldier, then bent down on one of my knees to hand it to her. She graciously took it from my hands, and pushed an inch of the blade out of the scabbard with her thumb, enough to see her name above the guard, etched in Fae.

"It is yours," I whispered. A smile came across Avanka's face as she grabbed the hilt of the sword, before a bright, white light suddenly flashed from all around her. For a brief moment, I felt an immensely powerful aura of light from her, before it faded as Avanka took the rest of her blade out of its sheath. The blood around her foot was gone, and the hole that the nail poked in it was healed. Whatever power was in her had awakened after three years of being dormant when she touched her sword again. The warding sigil in the ceiling of our cell was broken, as well. My power had also returned. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, though. The rebels had been sent to free Avanka, not me. She knew that, too.

"This woman is my daughter," she asserted. "Either she goes with us or I stay here."

"Fair enough," the same rebel soldier understood. "But we have to hurry."