Pandemonium

Chapter 40: Reunited

JAMES'S POV:

I was just flying past the gates to the palace when the entire meadow seemed to shake as if it were released from a slingshot. The trees wobbled, the walls shook, the floor groaned, yet the other fairies didn't move. Even being in the air, I was thrown to the side and slammed into a wall. My delicate wings smashed behind me and I heard a tear.

"Ow!" I yelled as I slid down the wall in pain, trying my best not to touch my broken wings.

"Oy! Boy-o! You okay there?" A guard with a heavy accent asked.

I looked up at him through half open eyes, "No. M-my wings. They h-hurt." I stuttered through the pain.

It hurt considerably more than I ever thought a wing could. It was like someone took my arm and snapped the bone in two.

"No doubt," said the guard, "Your wings are in pretty bad shape. Let's get you to a healer."

The guard knelt down and carefully scooped me into his arms. Since the transformation, courtesy to Kat, I have grown significantly. But even at my new stature, this guard was still twice my size. The perfect Fae to guard the palace.

It was uncomfortable to be in his arms as he tried to navigate our way to the healer, but I knew I wouldn't have been able to walk, so I was thankful.

We entered a dimly lit room in a southern corridor and the guard carried me to a medical bed. The room was divided in half by a white curtain. I couldn't see what was on the other side but, I knew something was. Maybe it was a someone.

The guard placed me on the bed and before he left I yelled, "Thankyou!". He simply inclined his head towards me and kept going.

Not long after my sitting there in pain, a short fairy with greasy black hair came towards me with a vile of silver goo.

"Hello, my name is Yalto and I'm the healer here. Richard informed me that you've managed to tear your wings today, is that correct?"

So the guards did have names!

"Oh, yes." I stated, "Is there anything you can do?"

Yalto chuckled as he walked around to the back of my bed, "Anything I can do? Why of course there is." He held up the vile, "This will close the rips and fix your wings. This may sting a little but, not as much as you feel now."

I nodded.

He proceeded to lift my wings, and in doing so I heard them crumple like paper. I gave a short yelp as he began smoothing the cold goo onto my wings. It was not pleasing in the least. When he finished, my wings felt heavy and damp. I could feel the goo dripping down and shivered.

"How long until this dries? Or heals? Either? Because this is revolting."

"Patience, young one. Let the medicine do its work."

And then Yalto walked away, leaving me do deal with the slime.

It felt oddly similar to the mud pies Kat and I would make with each other when we were younger. We'd sit in our backyard for hours and collect the wet soil to put in a pan, and when it was finished we'd through it back into the grass and do it again. We'd do it over and over until our parents called us in for supper and we'd have to spend even more time scrubbing the filth from our bodies.

Neither of us minded it though. It was a great time for us to be together.

I remembered then about the whole reason I was leaving the palace anyway, to show Kat the book! The information inside was something she had to see. It could help us get rid of Pan. It could help us control Kat's powers. It could even help get us home.