The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 33

"Ouch! It hurts!" I say through the leather belt that is pushed between my teeth as Alexander and Laney pull the chunk of metal out of my back.

"This is going to hurt too," says Alexander as he pours some rubbing alcohol on a cloth. "Make sure you bite down on the leather, trust me."

I do as instructed and bite down hard as Alexander puts the cloth on my wound. The stinging is incredible. It's like a thousand bees stinging the same place over and over again. I can feel the pain radiate down my entire side and my grip on Laney's hand tightens even further. My teeth feel like they are going to bite through the belt that is in my mouth. I moan in agony as the stinging doesn't let up as tears appear in my eyes and roll down my face.

What feels like hours, but only is really a few minutes pass and the stinging gives way to a total numbness through my body. I would take the numbness over the stinging any day I think to myself as Alexander continues to work on fixing me.

"This will have to be sewn up and we can't do that until Jared gets back with the supplies we sent him for. For now, I am going to bandage you up, but you may leak a bit from time to time and will need to change these often to prevent infection."

"Are you going to need to use the alcohol on it again? Because that sucks!"

"If I have to. I certainly don't want you getting infected."

Almost on cue, Jared bursts through the door with several grocery bags of items. He takes a look over at me and his mouth drops. I am sitting in the kitchenette with blood dripping down my arm. My shirt is torn in several places and Alexander stands behind me with his scissors. My hair is caked with dried blood. Laney immediately moves to the bags and begins taking out the supplies that Jared was sent to get.

I see her opening packages and in a cereal bowl begin mixing things.

"What happened?"

"She was attacked by a scout," Laney says over her shoulder. "She's lucky to be alive."

Jared swings his head around back at Laney who is threading a needle to help stitch up. "She whaa?"

"Go on Eira, tell him the story," Alexander softly says over my shoulder as he gently wipes some of the blood off my arm and wrings it out into his makeshift water basin.

I try to gather my thoughts and think about something other than the pain that I still feel in my arm and back. Jared listens as I recount the story of the night and how it started with being hunted in the park and then shot a couple of times with the stars. It's not too long before I find myself telling Jared and Alexander about what happened in the gazebo.

"So there I am, in the pitch black trying to hide as best as I can, terrified that this scout is going to rip me to pieces. I looked at Laney and saw this strange blue glow grow from her hand as she ran. I thought I was seeing things. Turns out, I wasn't seeing things. As Laney was helping me on the way back from the park, she told me about her illuminos.

Laney turns from the mini-project she is creating and reaches down pulling a small object off the side of her belt. Within seconds, a blue light appears to grow from the object taking the shape of a very primitive looking mace. The dark object that Laney holds is the only thing that looks real. The rest is shimmery blue that looks like a projection of light.

Jared reaches out and grabs a hold of the handle and gives it a tug which Laney does not relinquish. "The illuminos can take the shape of whatever weapon I want, within reason of course."

We all watch as the object that Laney is holding switches from a mace, to a medium sized spear, a club and finally a sword. Each time the object changes, the blue light seems to melt and then reform itself on the black handle that Laney grips tightly in her left hand.