Page 57 of Souls of Steel
I instinctively obeyed. I’d trusted Selene the day before, when she’d come up with her crazy plan to pass the mirror trial. This wasn’t the same, but it was close enough. We had to believe in each other, because nobody else had our best interests at heart.
Brendan flicked his fingers and a drone showed up, levitating August mid-air and giving Selene a better reach even after I released him. Selene took a deep breath and pressed her hands to his chest. “I know I don’t have your blessing, Gaia,” she whispered under her breath, “but just this once, please, help me. Don’t let him die.”
At first, nothing happened. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard it bled. I’d known Selene didn’t have Gaia’s Gift, but I still hoped she’d perform this miracle for us.
I wasn’t very sure how Gaia’s Gift worked. Some Terrans called it magic, but that was peasant talk. It had a scientific source, just like ours did. Selene hadn’t been able to explain it, though, and every other person I’d asked was just as puzzled. It was part of the reason why General Rhodes had decided to take such drastic steps against the terrorists in New Washington, even if the group hadn’t been that much of a threat. The Grand Judiciary didn’t like things they didn’t understand.
But for Selene, it was different. She’d grown up as Gaia’s child, in a way I hadn’t. She might have become one of us, but she still believed in Gaia’s blessings. “Please,” she said. “They’re your children too. We can still fix this. We haven’t lost yet. Don’t give up on us.”
“Ms. Renard, we’re wasting time,” the medic intervened. “If you don’t have Gaia’s blessing, we should see to Flight Lieutenant Cavallero ourselves.”
The hypocrisy of the statement made me want to throttle him. Maybe I’d have done exactly that had Brendan not grabbed the man himself. “By which you mean putting him through a million different preliminary procedures that won’t help him in any way, right?”
It was very unusual for Brendan to lose his temper and everyone knew it. He was also a prince and had an authority I didn’t. The man went pale and started to stammer. “Y-Your Highness, there’s a process in these things. We can’t just—”
“You’ll do what you’re told,” Brendan cut him off. “We’ll give Selene a chance to help him. If it doesn’t work, we’ll take him to the secondary med bay. If you have issues, make sure every other patient is evacuated until then.”
“Our staff—”
“Your staff is inoculated against large amounts of radiation. What little is left on August won’t hurt you. And if it does, it’s easily solvable at a later date.” He leaned in a little closer. “I don’t know whose orders you’re following now, but be very careful. You don’t want me as your enemy.”
At that moment, when I looked at Brendan, I couldn’t see him standing there at all. I blinked and I could’ve sworn Typhon was the one standing in front of me. An aura of poisonous ice spread around us. At least three people pissed themselves.
Selene seemed oblivious. She was still bent over August, trying to get him to respond. All of a sudden, she froze, her eyes glazing as she stared out into the distance, at something only she could see.
“Oh,” she murmured. “Yes, of course.”
As if in a daze, she retrieved her sword and used it to slice her palm. Blood dripped over August’s cheek, and the bright crimson reminded me of the power of our chimeras. Tartarus’s Gift had failed us today. Would Gaia’s be more successful?
I wouldn’t have placed my hopes in something so vague, but I still believed in Selene. I was not disappointed. As two more drops of blood fell onto August’s skin, a blue-green glow surrounded him. It swept over me and the others like a warm, tight embrace. For the first time, I felt Gaia’s power and it was so intense it almost brought me to my knees.
It was nothing like Tartarus’s touch. I’d always found my gift empowering, but it hadn’t been soothing, not really. Its strength came with a price, one I’d accepted and was happy to pay. Gaia’s power held a different meaning. It reminded me of better days, of the first time I’d met Brendan, of the laughter we’d shared so many times as friends, of the companionship between everyone in our unit, of Selene’s smile and unexpected kindness.
The wave of power faded away and as it disappeared, I felt more clear-headed. The slight radiation damage I’d received was gone. More importantly, August’s injuries were fading away, the burns starting to turn milder. I’d never been prone to shedding tears, but at that moment, I could’ve sobbed in relief. He groaned and cracked his eyes open, rescuing me from utterly embarrassing myself. “Fuck. What happened?”
“There was an accident during the race,” Pollux replied, his voice shaking. “You were badly hurt so we brought you to Hyperion Base 35.”
August’s eyes widened at Pollux’s explanation. “Charybdis?”
I didn’t know how to tell him we’d been forced to leave Charybdis behind. By now, the chimera’s metal form had probably been destroyed by space rock and had drifted too close to the sun to be salvaged. He must’ve realized it anyway, because he tried to get up.
Selene pressed her hand to his cheek and pushed him down, keeping him from moving further and accidentally harming himself. “Shh. Don’t worry about that now. You’re still wounded. You need to rest.”
A single tear trailed down August’s cheek. “Selene, we need to find her. She’s all alone. We can’t leave her. Please.”
“Don’t be afraid,” Selene answered. “We won’t abandon her. We won’t abandon you. Not ever.”
August shot Selene an almost beatific smile. “T-Thank you. I… I’m going to take my words back. You’re far more beautiful than the sun.”
With those final words, he went limp, his eyes drifting closed once again. Pollux’s breath caught. “Is he…?”
He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Fortunately, Selene was able to reassure him. “August is asleep. He’s nowhere near fine, but he’s not going to die, at least.”
The medics were staring at her in shock, obviously not knowing what to make of this strange development. In their world, people didn’t recover from heavy burns and radiation damage within the blink of an eye. An overload of tachyons could be stopped by a talented healer, but the injuries left behind weren’t that easy to fix.
Or were they? Chimera Warriors had stopped relying on Terrans long ago, but if I remembered well, some legends said that Gaia priestesses had done this a lot during the war with the apsids. Why had we stopped working together?
The scent of Selene’s blood and August’s scorched flesh filled the air. At the back of my mind, Cerberus snarled in anger. Nothing made sense anymore. I watched the medics take August away and made a vow.
