Guarding the Angel

Chapter 10

Waking up in a hospital bed was the most normal thing to happen to me this afternoon. Well, it would have been, if I had woken up in a hospital bed. Instead, I wake up in complete darkness. The sound of dripping water echoes around me. I shudder as something crawls over my hand. Suddenly, I'm glad I can't see a thing. 

If I were more sentimental, I might be inclined to think this was death. I might be foolish enough to believe my troubles are over and all I have is an eternity of sitting in dark peace. Solutions to problems never come this easily. I slowly count down from ten. 

On cue, a bright light flashes and then the entire space I'm in is illuminated. To my total unsurprise, it's a cave. Still to my total unsurprise, Pat and Cloud are arguing with each other. At least they are doing it quietly, exchanging fierce hissing whispers with each other.

I sit up, hoping to be completely healed by some kind of magic force. Such hopes were misplaced. Pain worse than before wracks through me. The numbing affect of the natural pain killers released with my fall has worn off. My resolve not to make any sound and to silent bear the pain lasts about three seconds.

"Owwwwwwwwwwwww! How can something even hurt this bad? I bet I couldn't feel worse even if a bulldozer ran me over," I exclaim loudly.

Pat and Cloud stop their whisper-fight and hurry over to me. "So, how is your super-healing?" Cloud asks, "Is it almost done?"

I glare daggers into him. Unfortunately, they are metaphorical daggers so they don't actually cause any pain. "I don't have super-healing."

Cloud's expression goes blank, but he gives off a miffed aura. It's as if he thinks it's my fault that I can't instantly get up. 

"I told you we should've brought her to the emergency room," Pat exclaims.

"If we brought her there, then Latif and the rest of my brother's lackeys will realize that my Protector is little more than a sheet of paper between me and them. Then, they would kill her instantly and I would have to find a new Protector." Cloud answers.

"Can't you turn yourself in to them?" Pat asks, "Your death would be well-worth the welfare of everyone you keep throwing into peril."  

"The bond between an..." Cloud pauses for a second "... an angel and their Protector can only be broken by the death of the Protector or the restoration of the angel."

Pat looks like he is about to lunge for Cloud. 

"Don't waste your energy on getting angry over what's done," I tell Pat, "It's not like we can turn back time."

After I say the words, I find myself looking at Cloud expectantly. Unfortunately, he doesn't respond with any information on a "sacred lost art of time travel". One day, I'll learn to stop hoping. Another wave of pain hits me and I muffle a scream. Even if it feels like my insides are being ripped out, I don't want these two to know the full extent of my injuries.

Cloud's eyebrows furrow slightly. If I didn't know better, I would think he was concerned. "You look worse than I did when my brother cast me out of his kingdom," Cloud comments unhelpfully.

"Instead of commenting on my appearance, can you explain exactly what I've gotten into?" I ask. 

By focusing on things other than my pain, I am less likely to have to muffle a second scream. "I thought you would've pieced it together already," Cloud says.

"Let me guess, using my super-intelligence," I say.

"No, using your average intelligence. Protectors don't become smarter when they get their powers." Cloud answers seriously.

If I didn't feel nauseous and like liquid fire was burning me up from the inside, I might have punched him. "I'm sorry, but all I've pieced together so far is that you are some weird angel creature with wings, a problem with flour, limited powers and a whole lot of people trying to kill you and I'm now your Protector, whatever that means." 

"That's all you really need to know," Cloud answers and starts to walk away.

"Absolutely not," I call after him. The effort of raising my voice sends stars into my vision. I continue talking anyways. "You are going to explain exactly what we have to do to restore you and exactly what you did to get kicked out of the kingdom."

I'm expecting Cloud to protest, or to ignore me. Instead, he walks back over to me with a serious expression on his face. "To restore me, I need to take the kingdom from my brother. To do this, we need to sneak back into the realm and start a rebellion."

I'm expecting him to start laughing or crack a smile. Even though I've never seen him smiling and have definitely never heard his laughter, it seems more plausible than the ENTIRELY cliche answer he has given me.

"Let me guess, you got kicked out of the kingdom for staging a rebellion."

He stays silent for a moment and then answers quietly. "Yes."