Creatures of Snow (19 page)

“
Welcome back.” Roland’s
dry voice found his ears.

A green light caught his eyes and he noticed
a series of halo symbols hovering a few inches above his chest.

“What happened?” He rolled
his head to the side to see Roland sitting next to him.

Roland’s hand moved
rapidly around his tablet and Sky could tell by the little beads of
sweat stacking up on his forehead that he was either nervous or
exhuming a lot of energy, neither option left him feeling
confident.

“
I knocked you out. You
were going into shock.” Roland didn’t look at him, but kept his
focus on his work.

“
Where are we?” Sky looked
back up at a ceiling he’d never seen before.

“It’s just the upper floor
of the storage building they have us in. I saw no point in letting
those barbarians at the school handle this, and it’s a good thing I
didn’t.” Roland looked him straight in the face, “Why didn’t you
just tell us you were shot and not sick? I had to waste precious
time figuring that out.”

“Shot?” He laughed,
sending a terrible tremble through his entire body.

“Don’t move so much.”
Roland snapped and looked back to his calculations.

“I wasn’t shot. That’s
ridiculous. I think I was just dehydrated.”

“
Really.” The halo above
him disappeared as Roland slapped the tablet down into his lap.
“Well, then please, feel free to ignore my seven years of medical
training and go. I insist.”

Sky looked down at his exposed chest. It
still ached a little, but there wasn’t a scratch on it. Even the
most sophisticated weapons left some burn marks or bruising. Roland
had to be crazy.

“You’re an idiot.” Roland
snapped the tablet back up and the halo appeared again. “Your
insides are a mess. It was some sort of old bullet gun by the
extent of the damage.” He shook his head and narrowed his
eyes.

“
But…” His hands began to
shake. That didn’t make sense. “I don’t remember…” But he did. In
his dream, the man made of shadows had a gun. “But, it wasn’t
real.” He whispered hoarsely. “I would be dead if that was
real.”

Roland looked up, curiosity ruled over his
expression. “Dead?”

Anger bubbled inside him.
He didn’t like the way Roland was looking at him. “Yeah, dead. It’s
what happens when you get shot point blank in the chest. You die.
You’re gonna be a doctor, right?”

A slow smile with a touch
of pity graced Roland’s face. It was a practiced smile, one that
they must have taught all the medical professionals. “Right. My
mistake.”

“I was under an illusion.
Could that do actual damage?” He had never heard of such a thing,
but then again, Sky had never heard of half the stuff he had
learned in the past few weeks.

“An illusion? What kind of
enemies have you made already?” Roland shook his head and begun to
chew the inside of his cheek, “But, I suppose, if the illusion was
strong enough.”

Sky breathed a sigh of relief which sent a
spasm of pain through the muscles in his chest.

“Either way, the damage
was extensive.” He said quietly and tore his gaze from Sky and
pretended to concentrate heavily onto the day-glow screen. “I
suggest you go home and rest.”

“Right.” He
croaked.

Roland shook his head.
“Skyden.” He closed his eyes momentarily, shuddering as he did.
“How long has it been since you’ve seen your brother?”

He could hear the bleeping
of his heart rate increasing on whatever Roland had him hooked up
to. “I haven’t talked to him in four years. Is that really your
business?”

“I suppose not.” Roland
nodded, but would no longer look at him.

Sky leaned back into the
cold support of the table. “Why did you ask then?”

“It’s nothing.” He paused,
mulling something over in his mind. “He’s just…well, I was just
wondering.”

Sky stared back up at the
ceiling and wondered if Roland got kicked in the head by accident.
“Did you know him?”

“I knew him for a short
bit, yes.” Roland’s voice was nearly silent as he spoke. “He’s
different now than he used to be. I wouldn’t say that I know him
much anymore.” There was a wavering in his voice.

“Right.” Sky said plainly.
“Me either.”

Roland had begun to unhook
him from the machines. ”You should be fine. I did what I could.
Whatever you got yourself mixed up in, I suggest you sort it
out.”

“
Have you ever heard of
the Book of Nine?” It was worth a shot considering Roland seemed to
think he knew everything.

Roland bobbled his head
from side to side in a sort of absent manner, “Yes, I’ve heard of
it. Can’t say that I know much about it though.” He said and
gestured for him to sit up. “Do you need help getting
up?”

Sky shook his head and
pulled himself upright. “I got it, thanks.” He paused briefly as a
rush of black clouded his vision. “It’s just, this Man of Fog or
something, he was looking for it. He’s who did this.”

“
Man of Mist.” Roland’s
white face went whiter.

“
Yeah, that’s it. Mist. I
don’t remember much, but my friends seem to think he was after the
Book of Nine and so they’ve been trying to research it and aren’t
finding much.”

“Tell them to stop.”
Roland nodded rapidly, his whole body seemed to shake. “Tell them,
they need to stop and need to leave it alone.” Roland ran a nervous
hand through his hair, “Don’t tell anyone else. Don’t mention that
man’s name.”

“Roland-” Sky knew what
panic looked like, and this was certainly the beginning.

“Skyden,” Roland grabbed
both his arms and forced him to look directly into his four eyed
face. “That man is very dangerous. Whatever he is after, leave it
alone. I’m going to contact Master Zeph, he’ll need to know. He can
fix this.”

“Fix what?” Sky stretched
his aching body, but he had to admit – he felt a thousands times
better.

“
Just go home.” Roland
picked up Sky’s bag from the corner and tossed it over to him.
“I’ll take care of this.”

Sky had to just shrug and
agree. “Okay.” He walked to the door. “Thanks for you know, fixing
me up and stuff.” He rubbed at his chest. “See you tomorrow
then.”

Roland gave him a tight smile and waved him
away, “Yes. Of course.”

His head finally felt clear and Sky took in
a lungful of air without pain. “Thanks again.” He threw up a hand
as a farewell.

“Sky,” Roland yelled
behind him, “Be careful. If you see that man again…just
run.”

“You got it.”

Just outside the door was a set of solid
wooden stairs leading down to the ground level. He could hear the
thumps and yells of his comrades below, so that meant class was
still going on. He had no idea how much time had passed since he
had blacked out. In fact, he couldn’t really remember much after he
had talked to Al after class. He must have been in pretty bad
shape.

“
There he is.” Con whooped
joyfully as Sky approached the training circle.

He wasn’t sure if he should be embarrassed
or not. Did he say anything before he passed out? “Hey.”

If he wasn’t certain he was awake, Sky would
have sworn he was dreaming when Sara rushed from the center of the
circle over to him. It wasn’t a hug, but it was close enough. One
of her hands went immediately to his forehead in a motherly gesture
as the other lightly gripped his shoulder.

“See, I told you he was
fine.” Con scoffed and leaned against a stack of crates.

“
You’re okay. You’re okay,
right?” Her eyes searched his face.

“
I feel great, thanks to
Roland.” Sky wanted to smile, but his whole body was numb with
shock.

Sara pushed him back and a
more normal look came over her, “You’re such an idiot! What were
you thinking?”

Sky looked from her, over to Con and even
stole a glance to Ellie. He couldn’t read any of them. He had no
idea what had happened. “I’m sorry?” He shrugged.

Sara rolled her eyes and
growled. “I can’t believe I was actually worried about you. You’re
so stupid. Why didn’t you just move?”

He could only stare
blankly back at her. “Can I be honest? I don’t really remember
coming in here today. I was pretty out of it. I, you know…was
sick.”

It was her turn to stare at him with an
emotionless face as she processed what he had said. “So, you don’t
remember what happened?” Sara glanced back to Ellie who still stood
solidly in the center of the training circle.

“Let’s call it a day.”
Ellie sighed and strode towards them.

“
I like the sound of
that.” Con clapped his hands. “Let’s head home kiddos!”

“But-” Sara began to
protest.

“We’ll pick up the lesson
tomorrow.” Ellie walked by them and straight out the door. That
girl just didn’t mess around.

Sara stood staring after her and when she
turned back she looked to Con.

“Go home, Sara.” Con’s
voice was as soothing as a warm blanket. He walked past Sky and
walked right up to Sara. “It’s okay.” He ran a hand over her
shoulder gently, “Everything is fine, we’ll pick things up
tomorrow. I promise.”

There was a new feeling in
his stomach now, but it wasn’t nausea. Sky gritted his teeth, he
didn’t like the way she was smiling at Con.

“Whatever.” Sara walked
away in a huff. She gave a short glance back and he looked away,
not wanting to catch the look of sympathy.

“
Was it bad? What I did,
was it really that bad?” Sky didn’t want to know.

Con shrugged and pulled him over into a
headlock. “It was my fault.”

Sky struggled to get free,
but Con wasn’t yielding as he walked him towards the door. “Gah,
let go.”

Con shoved him through the
door into the courtyard. “I’m not going to apologize though.” Con
leaned in the door jam with his arms crossed over his chest. “You
said you were fine when you knew you weren’t.” His looked down at
Sky in an intimidating manner. “I don’t like secrets. We’re a team,
Skyden, this isn’t going to work if you don’t trust us.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know
it was that serious.” He tried to straighten, but couldn’t will
himself higher than a slouch.

“
Stand up, soldier.” Con
commanded. He pushed himself out of the doorway and strode over to
Sky. “I expect more from you.”

Sky straightened to his
full height which was only a few inches below Con. “Yes,
Sir.”

Con’s demeanor melted back
into his normal smiling self, “Aww, I’m just messing with you.” He
reached over and ruffled Sky’s hair. “Relax, kid. It’s all good.
I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“
You’re kind of scary when
you want to be.”

“
You should see me when
I’m actually mad.” He laughed. “Now come on, you want some company
on your way home?”

“
Well, I was actually
going to go check on a couple of my friends before I
leave.”

“Ah, I see. Disobeying
orders again.” Con shoved him in the shoulder. “Have it your
way.”

An awkward moment passed
as neither of them moved. “Were you going to follow me?” Sky asked
finally.

“
Yup.”

“I’m really not that
interesting.”

“
Roland said to.” Con held
up his wav-com and across it was the message:

MAKE SURE HE GETS HOME

“All right. Follow me, I
guess.” Sky led Con passed the Administration building and strolled
towards the Library. “Did Roland message anything else to you?
About what happened to me?”

Con nodded slightly, “He did.” He said
quietly, looking straight at him. “I wish you would have been the
one to tell me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean
not
to tell
you. I’ve been so out of it since yesterday I don’t even know if I
actually know what’s going on.” His voice wavered and
cracked.

“
Don’t sweat it kid.” Con
nudged into him, “Not understanding at this point is a good thing,
trust me.”

“
Al and Lee aren’t going
to like what I have to say.” He sighed, watching the clouds above,
“They seemed pretty dead set on researching that stupid
book.”

Con laughed beside him,
“Ah yes, the infamous Book of Nine. Well good luck with that in
this Library. I don’t care how far removed REALM thinks they are
from the government, anything Telic related is strictly monitored
and prohibited, especially about that book.”

“So, you know about
it?”

“
I know enough not to look
for it here.” He smirked and shook his head. “You need to forget
about this stuff, remember.”

“
Right.” He mumbled and
focused straight ahead.

They walked for a bit in silence, he
couldn’t help but try to remember all that Roland had said, and
piece it together with Lee’s fears…

He took a sidelong look at
Con who looked to have his mind focused elsewhere. Without a smile
on his face, or really, without any expression at all, he
looked…sad. “Where are you from?” Sky said to break the
silence.