Above the Stars ~ Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Cold; so very cold. The gas within the chamber depleted; I was free. My bones, my body, unable to move from the numbness that ran through me; I couldn’t feel anything. Before I knew it, the temperature rose and I was quickly able to move my arms and legs. It took a few minutes before I could move my fingers and toes. My eyes that were once plastered shut could now open; fogged glass blocked my sight. I shivered; the ice that froze me transformed into water droplets that ran down the side of the pod. I pressed my hand to the cool glass in front; as if hoping that it would somehow open from my touch; nothing. Both hands now held it; lightly tapping the door, praying someone would hear my struggled attempt for freedom.

“H-h...help...” I whispered; barely audible. It was useless, my throat was hoarse and I could barely stop my teeth from rattling. “H...help!” I croaked louder; still no answer. Bah-boom, bah-boom, bah-boom was the sound that probed my ears; my heart sped as I began to panic; I had to get out; had to get out.  One more thump and I stopped, too exhausted to continue. “P-please.” I murmured to myself. I clanked my head back against the headrest; rolling it from side to side. My eyes flickered open and closed for several minutes before I was brought round by some of the condensation being wiped away from outside. Who was that? As my vision focused, I realised that a pair of brown eyes stared back. I gently brought my hand up to the side of the glass; mutely pleading for him to get me out. He seemed to understand because all of a sudden a ‘click’ was heard outside the pod. Fresh air filled the area as it creaked open; I coughed several times in order to breathe. I was dragged to my feet roughly by a strong hand that dug into mine. My legs didn’t respond and I collapsed onto the floor; two men staring back at me in confusion. Once I got a better look at them, when my eyes adjusted to the different lighting, I noticed they were the scientists that helped Nevos; that couldn’t have been good. I was once again carried to my feet; this time I leant onto the opened pod door for support. My eyesight kept blurring; was this a side effect?  I could just make out the other scientist as he moved over to the nearest table and grabbed an object, some sort of tube-like device; what was it? As he pressed a button on the top, I noticed a large, thin needle slide out the end; it was a syringe! They were going to put something into me! I tried to get away but in my panic I didn’t notice the first scientist come behind and hold my arms in place.
“N-no... don’t!” I coughed; my voice still sore. The closer the man came, the more terrified I felt. “S-stay... away from... me!” The scientist behind held both my wrists together with one hand and kept hold of my right arm with the other.  Pain struck my arm as a burning liquid penetrated my skin through the needle and into my body. I could feel it rush through my veins; whatever they put into me was not made or even invented by humans; in fact I wondered if they were even aware of this. However, after a few minutes by body got accustomed to the vaccine and I was unable to feel the heat I felt moments ago. The scientist let go of my wrist and stepped back. Immediately I surveyed the flesh wound; a small puncture where the needle imbedded my shoulder as well as a red flush around it. To be honest, I expected worse from the pain. I sighed inwardly but kept my hand covered over my shoulder. “W-what was that for?”
One of the scientists looked at me before speaking, “The injection carried antibodies that should prevent you from contracting any deceases from our planet. Also, it should help when it comes to breathing the air. Your planet’s environment is similar to ours so there shouldn’t be any dramatic changes to your body, but if need be the injection will help you adapt. Do not worry, there aren’t any severe side effects, it is simply a precaution that we must take to ensure your survival.”
“Survival? Wait, where are we?”
“It’s not my position to say.” Why wouldn’t he answer my question? Where was I? What did he mean by ‘our planet’? Was I on Alkalli?
I twirled my head around when the sound of sliding metal interrupted my thoughts. Nevos stomped through the doorway and into the room; his eyes swiftly swept from the scientists to my direction before landing on my form. I stiffened; his gaze alone sent me shivers down my spine, though I tried my best to not show my fear. I automatically took several steps back, to which he took twice as many forward.

“You will follow me.” He commanded as two shrouded guards sprinted over to me; shackled my hands together behind my back and directed me to him. We trooped out of the scientist laboratory and back through the corridors until we met the recognisable circular corridor ending with the elevator in the middle doorway. It was only until I was directed to the first left-hand door that I realised we weren’t going to where I thought we were. Where were we going? Where were Becky and Gaius? I hoped they were alright.  Through the door I noticed that the room I entered was another boxed off area, identical to the elevator; was this another one that led to somewhere else? I was soon answered as the room shook and we descended to an unknown location.  This time, the steel wall behind didn’t separate to show a window; it didn’t do anything. I was hoping for something to distract me from the guards and Nevos’ frightening stare, though I wasn’t so lucky.
As the elevator led to halt, I was forced to follow Nevos as we entered a very wide, large hangar bay, full of peculiar and oddly-shaped contraptions. The hangar bay was covered in bronze steel. Platinum grates with thin, crisscrossed rectangular patterns textured the floor. We made our way to one of the alienated vehicles. Just by the look of it I knew it was some type of machine. It was a long, blackened pyramid with dark shaded violet, cylinder power supplies on each side, near the back. Another cylinder, this time turned on it’s side was attached to the back of the machine; silver metal encased inside with five straps of wide, rectangular aluminium sticking out. Two identical triangle-shaped wings came out either side of the machine and were straight enough to rest on the ground. I was led up a narrow ramp to the ship; it was only when I got closer that I noticed there was an oval-shaped window placed on the front; centred on the top diagonal line of the pyramid that led down to the tip of the ship. The door itself was a double-door that was in the centre of the ship’s side; carefully lying on top of the wing. A silver lining was the only thing that individualised the door from the rest of the ship as both were the same colour.

Nevos pressed his hand against the door and to my surprise, it opened automatically. The right side slid behind the left-hand door, gaining us entry. As I slipped through, I noticed that the interior was coloured in a musky grey and that there were two similar coloured benches at the back; two rows with three chairs attached to the floor and two more at the control panel at the front of the ship. To my shock: Blythe, Annie, Annabel, Becky, Connor and Leila were all sat in the chairs directly opposite each other; heard turned towards me. I almost screamed when I saw them but kept my mouth shut as I noticed they all portrayed a look of fear. Nevos caught the collar of my shirt and pushed me against one of the empty chairs.
“You will not move until we arrive at the designated location.”
“What designated location?”
His mouth frowned more than I thought was possible as he answered in a dark tone, “Do not speak if you value your tongue.” I almost squeaked and lowered my gaze instantly. He was terrifying. Not only that, I was secretly scared of  the fact that he held so much ferocity towards me and that he could intimidate me so easily.  

I noticed that the two guards turned and sat on the two benches behind as Nevos wondered over to the control panel; another member of his race was in the left-hand seat. He said something in his language, something the other man obviously understood. Before I knew it, the spaceship began to move; though only gently. Were we taking off? Were we moving? Where were we going? Why weren’t my friends and family talking? What was going to happen to us? Several questions distracted me as we took off and headed on an unknown course.
I wasn’t sat near any window so I couldn’t make out our marked destination. I was too afraid to speak because of the fact that two guards were staring daggers into my back and Nevos was only at the front of the ship; silently making up schemes, in his head, of how to get rid of us. I never did trust him, though I doubt he even knew I was aware of whom he was. It was only because of the visions that I was able to know who he was; I had to wonder if this could help me in the near future, or if it would only worsen the current situation I was in. I took several glances at Leila, who was opposite my seat. She was paralysed with shock; she just kept staring in front of her, as if in a trance. I desperately wanted to see if she was alright, make some sort of interaction, though I knew I couldn’t, it was best that I kept my mouth shut until we arrived wherever we were going to; in fact where were we heading? I carefully leant a bit to the left in direction of the pathway of the ship. From there, I was able to get a pretty good view of the front window both Nevos and his companion were staring at. It became clear that we were heading somewhere that I never thought possible. Several hints gave me the conclusion I was looking for; we were definitely not on Earth; I doubted the sky would have changed to a mixture of light blue, grey and violet. There were clouds, similar to Earths flying by; that gave me some comfort, the planet mustn’t have been completely alien. Even though clouds were only a minor thing, it felt like home. The planet may not have anything else in common with Earth, but the clouds were there and they reminded me of it.

Astonishingly, some sort of light shone through the window, from what I could see anyways. It grew brighter until I saw a white wall that we were heading straight into! I panicked and held my head between my legs. When nothing happened, I gently rose and leant left once again. We passed through it, was it some sort of force field? I didn’t know. What I was aware of however was the towers of silver and the magnificent lights that parted from them; we were in a city, a city that could only be described as breathtaking, literally.  I could barely see much, though I was able to see silver buildings that sparkled in the sunlight; trails of gold spiralled around them. White lights came from bronze-outlined arched windows that trailed all the way down the buildings. The towers were parted by pure stone bridges that went on for miles. It was a forest full of identical towers that in some way basked in light. I could just make out the calm, crystal clear water bash against them. To my surprise, there were several similar spaceships to ours that flew by; barely taking any notice. Just as I thought I had seen that was all that could be; up ahead lay a castle that looked completely dream-like. This castle was made up of smaller towers, fixed together; though in the centre was the purest white I had ever seen; crystals glowed off of it’s edges as it spiralled upwards and ended with a flight deck just sitting on top. A smaller building; this time more of a pointed shape lied just above. We were headed up there; obviously this was where the most-important people lived; judging by the more elaborate architecture and effort that went into making it perfect.

As the hover-craft landed on a marked area on the flight deck, the guards got up and Nevos posed in the front like an army officer, staring down at us. I had to wonder what was going to happen next, though he had my undivided attention. I knew something wasn’t going to go right and I had to think of a scenario that could get us free. If nothing else, I could try and outsmart them at most, if that was possible. I had the idea that Nevos’ people most likely didn’t know that much about us; due to them not being able to contact or even communicate with humans, so they probably thought we were just animals; that we couldn’t understand basic things; I was going to prove them wrong. However, when I thought about it, they all knew English perfectly; did they learn the language themselves? Did humans before us help or did they learn it from the centuries of studying us? I wasn’t sure, though we had to be pretty special if we were here; they must have been interested about us. Perhaps over the last millennia, they knew that someday, humans would know of their existence and so bothered to learn the language to be able to contact us when the time came; which was most likely now. What did I get myself and my friends into?

Nevos lowered his gaze so that he was staring at each one of us: “You will exit one at a time; if you try and escape we will shoot with no hesitation; take this as your ONLY warning!” Apart from a few sniffles and cries, we were sent outside in single-file; Leila followed by myself, Becky, Blythe, Annabel and lastly Connor.  One guard was in front of Leila, while the other was behind Nevos, who was behind Connor. We entered some sort of courtyard that was on the flight deck; separated by pearl stone barriers. The courtyard was covered in... snow? It was snow, but it wasn’t that cold, how could snow be there? I was drug out of my thoughts when I saw the building we were headed to. It didn’t seem so gigantic from the hover craft, now though I was having second doubts. The whole thing was the size of two aeroplanes standing end to end! The building was made up in a peculiar way. Two parallel walls stuck out and created some sort of corridor that led to a tall and wide, silver door. Spiral-designs, that were basically gigantic circles with three smaller ones inside with a straight line cutting through to the smaller circle, moulded out of the stone in perfect shape. The door itself had the design, though it was placed several times on the outline of the arched door; specks of gold and crystal poking out the smaller circles in the spiral. This place was beautiful, no doubt about it.

Closer and closer we came to the door; two armed guards that were dressed in similar armour to our capturers (although had thicker armour and larger guns) guarded outside of it. Nevos gathered speed and made his way towards them; momentum and purpose in every stride. The guards seemed to stand straighter, if that was possible, as he came into view. Nevos greeted them with a stare and initiated small dialogue to the one on my left. Just as he spoke, the guard turned around and pressed his hand to the door. Instantly, the circles in the spiral design turned left and right before the door split halfway and opened up enough for us to pass through. ‘Wow!’ I said in my mind; knowing better then to utter any kind of word.

The guard in front began to pick up the pace through the doorway; one by one we dragged our bodies through the monumental, alien building, wondering what awaited us within. A staircase that was at least 12 inches wide grew leading towards another door; identical to the one outside. Golden carpet led through the corridor and stairs. The walls matched the colour of the floor (white); circular columns kept the room supported. As we grew closer to the second door, my heart began to pound harder and harder. I knew we were nearing the end of our journey; whatever was through that door was most likely going to be the end of us. It was getting harder to breath but I had to press on; I had to be strong, for everyone including myself. As this door seemed to open automatically; we were led into another room; the same as the corridor we were just in. This time there were three doors; one straight ahead and two either side ones with staircases. A man, someone I had never met before, waited just outside the middle doorway but turned towards us when we entered the room. He looked familiar, very familiar. His skin was almost the exact same tone as Gaius’, his white hair mirrored his. In fact, the only differences were that he was taller (most likely 6ft), had brown eyes; more distinct facial features and wrinkles; probably due to age. His eyes seemed to linger on Nevos, curiosity shown.
“Nevos.”
“Cevenor.” Both greeted calmly.
“Ti actu si vara cicula vintanas dixas?” Cevenor spoke fluently; once again I had no idea what he was saying.
“Hava kia humans.”
“Humans?”
“Yes, humans. It is my ‘privilege’ to take them to the Elders; the commander and his daughter felt it was... necessary.”
“I see.”  Cevenor seemed different from Nevos; he had a certain calmness about him. “So, I am supposed to wait here with these humans until they are summoned I presume?”
“Of course. I have important errands to attend to; I am sure you can handle yourself and besides, you have four guards patrolling this area, not that they are even a match for one.” He smirked. I would have liked to see him try instead of hiding behind his guards like a coward. Nevos took one more look at me before he marched back outside; the door closed behind.

We were alone with five complete strangers; four guards and Cevenor. I didn’t know what to do; could we talk? Where we aloud to talk? I wasn’t sure. I glanced at the others behind me; they all looked awful. Becky was as pale as a ghost; Blythe tried to comfort Annabel and Annie without speaking; Connor stared at the guards with an intense hatred and Leila kept her eyes locked on me. I knew how she felt and I knew what she was trying to say. I mouthed the words ‘I’m ok’ to her, to which she nodded and faced the others. I turned back quickly when I noticed someone walk towards my direction in the corner of my eyes. I turned my head to see who it was; Cevenor. He had an inquisitive look to him, as if not sure what to do with the situation he was put in. I tried to look him in the eye, but by the time he was a few feet away, I could barely look up; he was that tall.
“I am sorry for the way you have been treated; obviously you have not been treated fairly.” He apologised; sympathy evident in his tone.
Connor was the first to respond: “Sorry? We just got abducted by freaks and now we’re on some God knows planet with you people treating us like animals!” I knew he was angry, I just didn’t expect that sort of outburst.
“I apologised, something I did not have to do, I suggest that you hold your tongue before speaking with the Elders, or else you will be in far worse trouble then you are in now.”
“Elders?” I interrupted; who where they? Faralda and her father talked about them, but I wasn’t sure who they were. “Who are they? Why are we seeing them?”
“I see that you are a curious human.” He began, “The Elders, who you will meet shortly, are the...government, rulers on our planet; they see our laws are obeyed. You are going to meet them because you humans made contact with one of our species and have knowledge of us. These situations are very rare as oftenly the known... individuals would have been exterminated for knowing too much, it seems you are fortunate.”
“How fortunate?”
“You are still alive, given the circumstances you might not have been if Faralda, the commander’s daughter on the ship, didn’t vouch for you.”
“Why did she vouch for me?” I was terrified that we were that close to death without knowing it and I was curious as to why she vouched for us in the first place.
“She is wise, even though she is a youngling. She obviously saw much potential in your race and so has given you a chance.” I suspected as much, though we weren’t safe yet, we were just delaying the inevitable.
“Who are you?”
“I am Cevenor, I am a... scientist of some sorts.”
“A scientist? Then why are you here?” Leila picked up from the side of me; she had a point.
“That is not yours to know.” He interrupted.
I sighed, not wanting to start an argument with a potential ally.
Minutes past and the silence was deafening. My friends began to mutter incoherently to each other; all wondering what was going to happen to us. I stood and stared at the door; worried about what was on the other end.
“What’s going to happen to us?” I asked Cevenor once more.
He seemed to think about what to say before replying: “You will talk to the Elders and they will see if you are as intelligent and cultured as believed to be.”
“I see.”
“Why are we waiting here then?” Blythe wondered from the back; now making eye-contact with Cevenor.
He sighed, “Someone is talking to them inside, someone who is trying to persuade the Elders that you are a higher intellectual species, worthy of keeping alive.” I gulped at the last part.
Leila’s eyebrow rose: “And who would that be?”
“Gaius.”
“Gaius!” I gasped. He was in there talking to them! I never thought I’d see him again! I hoped he was alright, he had to be alright... right? “Is he ok? Did he say anything before entering? Will he be alright?” I questioned immediately, Cevenor’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You know Gaius?”
“Yes. He’s the one I met on Earth.” It was no secret by now so I thought that there was no harm in telling him.
“Your Elena!” He burst out. How did he know my name?
“How do you know me?”
“There is no time.” He said before pulling something out of his pocket. I stepped back once I immediately saw a syringe in his arm; we all took several steps back, Connor was in front trying to guard us all.
“Stay away from her!”  Connor yelled. Before we could do anything, the silver door opened and the guards tried to herd us through. Before I was through the door, Cevenor grabbed my arm and stuck the syringe within it. I could feel the liquid from the syringe penetrate my skin, the burning ached and I felt like my arm was on fire.
I yanked it away but not before Cevenor whispered in my ear: “Trust Gaius.” I looked him in the eyes with worry and confusion, though it didn’t last long. A guard behind forced me through the door along with the others.

..........................................................................................

We entered a large hall, occupied with a large court-like desk that was at least 10 metres wide and 7 ft tall; painted in gold. The desk curved outward towards us, almost trapping us inside. The golden carpet was no longer underneath us; instead stone-white flooring that glistened and gleamed. Five steps led up towards the desk, they were long, narrow and the same width as the desk itself. Behind the desk were three chairs with people seated in them; the chairs were golden and arched over the people’s heads; silver diamond shaped metal backs supported them. Behind the chairs lay three gigantic arched windows that overlooked the violet, grey and blue sky. I paled at the five guards that stood idly in front of the desk; guns raised. I could barely see anyone else due to everyone being in front of me; especially as everyone stopped and huddled together in a protective circle when we stopped. Unknowingly, I was pushed to the side by the guard that was behind; obviously trying to break up our formation. That was when I came face to face with Gaius once more. His eyes were wide in shock, as were my own. He was draped in black attire though shaped differently to his normal black robes. I had to admit, it suited him. Gaius’ eyes trailed from my form to the others, eyebrows narrowing until it turned into a frown. He whipped his head back to the court-desk and that is when I noticed three people staring back at us in their seats; two males and a female in the centre. The men were fashioned, from what I could see (which was waist upwards) in black robes; the ruby red spiral pattern clung onto their left-shoulder and a golden trim outlined the collar. The men had glowing white faces, very distinct arrow-shaped foreheads, pointed ears and dawning black irises. The left-hand man’s hair was white, a lot darker than Gaius’ but enough to shine through the window behind. The other man had jet-black hair which contrasted well with his uniform. His beard was braided and fell to his collarbone, or where I imaged his collarbone would be. Finally was the woman; she had some sort of ruby circlet, wrapped in gold around her corn-silk hair; several twisted braids blended down. Long, pointed ears, much larger than any other of Gaius’ people I saw, pointed outwards. Her skin was also a light white colour. Her arrow-shaped forehead was barely visible, but her eyes made up for her lack of alien appearance; gold irises and pitch black pupils shone through; her eyes were giant and she seemed to stare each way she looked. She wore a black robe that went up to her neckline, a ruby spiral design on both shoulders. What caught my eyes was the necklace she wore around her neck; a silver chain that linked to the golden spiral pattern seen everywhere; red-glass diamonds glittered all over. I felt self-conscious as well as inferior to these beings, but I couldn’t allow myself to think that.
“Cava via sinsinca tivara!” Gaius yelled, fists clenched and eyes staring at the three people. I couldn’t understand what he was saying but he was clearly angry; couldn’t they talk in English? It wasn’t fair.
“Sivada cia un solla tia tivara Gaius!” The black-haired man screamed as he stood from his seat, frustration evident. I couldn’t do anything but watch as they argued. Just before either of them could say anything else, the woman in the middle of the court clapped once; the man fell silent and sat back in his chair, Gaius bent down on one knee respectfully. What just happened? #

She turned her head towards our group, glancing at each one of us intently before gently saying, “Which one of you is the human that first made contact?” I froze, not wanting to give myself away. Connor and the others made their way over in order to protect me.
Gaius got up from his kneeling position and said in a quiet tone: “Elena.”
Connor was once again the one to answer: “Gaius, stay away from her!” I usually went against Connor’s over-protectiveness, but now I was thankful for it.
“Connor. Let her go.” All seven guards marched towards us and broke us apart. Becky, Blythe, Annabel, Leila and Connor were now struggling to free themselves from their captors; I on the other hand wasn’t touched.
They began to scream, to panic; “Let me go!”, “Elena! Stay away!”, “Get off of me!” where some of the shouts that came from the captured crowd. I tried to help but was pushed back by another guard, gun pointed at my stomach. I stepped back a few steps until Gaius grabbed hold of my wrist, guiding me to him. He let go when I was a distance away from everyone else and walked back to his spot; leaving me pale-faced and in shock with the three strangers staring at me intently.
“This is the human.” Gaius responded with no hint of emotion.
The woman nodded, no feeling shown. “Tell me, human, why should we spare you?” That terrified me; what was I supposed to say? I didn’t know what to say!
“B-because... err...” I wasn’t expecting that sort of question. “I-err-“
“Because she is more intelligent then you realise.” Gaius broke out, for once I was thankful for his interruption, who knew where we’d be if he wasn’t there.
“So you have said Gaius, but at the moment in time I have not seen any evidence to show this.”
“You haven’t spent as much time as I have with her and her species. They have come far and have evolved rapidly. If you give them a chance you will see for yourself-“
“We already have several humans here who won’t answer.”
“She will. Ask her anything and she will respond.” The woman seemed to give this some thought before questioning me.
“You are the human that made contact, is that right?”
I nodded.  “Yes.”
“Tell me, how much do you know of the Itarya?” I understood why she used the name for her people instead of just saying ‘us’ or ‘my people’, she wanted to know if I knew more than she thought; this was a test. I remembered a bit;  it was just saying them in the right way and what information they wanted to know.
“I know that the Avitus are your people and that you live on this planet, Alkalli. You have a very prosperous and advanced society. Your people travelled to other galaxies, planets and such to find new races and make new homes. I know that your people have been watching over Earth for centuries and have studied us.” It wasn’t much, in fact I didn’t remember much, but it was all I knew. “Oh and you heal quickly, very quickly. Faster than we do anyways.” I quickly remembered Gaius’ leg and how his injury cured in a matter of weeks where usually an injury like that would take months to heal. She didn’t say anything, just looked between her two companions at either side. I took a quick glance at Gaius who had an unreadable facial expression; what was happening?
“I see that you know more that I originally believed.” I sighed. “However Gaius, what do you expect us to do with her?” I gulped once again.
“I suggest that she goes back to Earth, her people would have realised her absence over the past few years.” Years? What did he mean years? How long where we in those pods? It couldn’t have been years, could it? We couldn’t have been in stasis for that long!
Before the woman answered, Nevos marched his way into the hall, a smirk written on his face, “Elders, forgive me for the intrusion but I must make the point clear that we cannot just simply take the humans back; as you know they have more knowledge of us and our existence; we aren’t going to risk our way of life, are we?” What was he doing! Was he trying to get us killed? That was when it hit me, he didn’t want us to survive, he wanted us to die! The traitor!
“Nevos. What are you doing?”
“Silence Gaius. You may trust these humans but I most certainly do not.”
“Nevos, I beg of you, don’t do this.”
“I suggest you keep quiet unless you want to suffer the same fate.” Gaius shone with anger and hatred of his old friend, trying his best to hold his temper.
The Elder man with the black beard spoke out: “What threat are the human population?”
“None.” Gaius responded instantly.
“At the moment.” Nevos corrected. “However, if they were to learn of us from these humans, then the chances are they will be a threat. Their technology doesn’t even compare to ours, but they can adapt easily and will find a way to destroy everything we know! Humans are slow to change their ways and act on survival instinct alone, they do not care for any other species as long as they remain the dominant one.”
I couldn’t let this go on, I had to say something! “That’s not true! We would never do that!”
“Quiet!” Nevos spat before slamming his hand again my face. The impact made me fall to the floor; The others who were captured screamed, gasped and fought the guards.
I held my hand to my cheek and gently rose to my feet.
Gaius seemed to have had enough: “Nevos! How dare you-“
“Gaius!” the elder woman shouted in frustration. Gaius froze in his spot and didn’t move; eyes directed at his superior. The woman’s pupils had dilated and her eyebrows were down to the point where they looked like they would fall off.
“You see what these humans have done? They have turned him against us!” This wasn’t happening; it couldn’t be happening! “
“Is this true Gaius?” She asked, her tone back to normal.
“No, of course; I would never betray my race.” I gaped at him; mouth dropped and eyes wide.

I was in complete shock and wasn’t sure what to do. The situation was going from bad to worse and I wasn’t sure what the end outcome would be. However, I suddenly realised that I was unable to feel my hands; they were numb. In fact, my whole left arm had no feeling. What was going on? I took a look at the arm and noticed that a purple-blue hue was forming under the skin where Cevenor injected me. What did he put into my body?
“Are you suggesting that this human means nothing to you?” Nevos spat; gaining my attention.
I made eye-contact with Gaius, who turned to Nevos and muttered: “I hold no feeling towards her.” My heart dropped. He... what? No he was lying! He had to be lying; he couldn’t mean that, not after everything we went through!
“How can we be sure.” The bearded elder asked, curiosity in his tone.
“What is it you need me to do?”
Nevos’ mouth turned into a smirk as he approached Gaius. He took something out of his robes and placed it in Gaius’ right-hand. Gaius looked down at it with shock.
“No.”
“This is the only way to prove it Gaius; I suggest you make it quick.” He whispered menacingly. I took several steps back when I realised what was in his hand; a golden dagger.
“Gaius... what?” I asked, fear trawling down my body. This must be some sort of joke, this couldn’t be happening! He wouldn’t... he couldn’t do this! Connor and the others began to scream my name; ripping the guards hold in order to try and save me. It was no use. The guards held their grip and even pointed weapons at their heads; getting them to quiet down. Gaius took one more look at the blade before approaching me; eyes fixed on my body. I tried to run away but a guard fixed me in place by my arms. I screamed; kicked; punched, trying to get him to let me go! “NO! GET OFF OF ME! GAIUS GET AWAY!” I screamed but he didn’t stop; he kept moving towards me.
“Let her go, she won’t run away.”
The guard let me go after Gaius’ orders and stepped back. He was now but a few feet away from me; I stared into his azure eyes; crying and begging for him to not do this. I caught a glimpse of guilt and sorrow in them, though it only flickered. His features softened and his arm shook slightly.

“G-Gaius... please don’t!” I sobbed, trying to get him to rethink this idea, to not go through with something we both knew was coming. In my panic, I didn’t realise that the numbness in my arm had spread to my whole upper body; I could still move them but had no feeling. Tears trickled down my face.

He tried to comfort me. “Shhh.” He whispered softly as he brought his hand up to cup my face; I wanted to recoil and slap him away, but I couldn’t find myself to do it. I leant into his touch, his thumb gently wiping away stray tears. I sobbed even more when he leant forward, kissed my forehead and nuzzled it, knowing something was going to happen. Before I could even think I felt something plunge into my stomach. I gasped out loud. All I could do in my shock was look down and stare at the handle of the golden dagger that had been shoved inside of me. Strangely, I felt no pain. That part of my body had lost all feeling so I was unable to feel the pain I should have felt. The room went silent and my hearing faded. Everything seemed to have slowed down; time had slowed down. All I was aware of was Gaius’ eyes staring at mine with sadness and regret. I felt my legs buckle and fall. Gaius’ arm grabbed my waist and brought me down to the floor gently. His face was the only thing I could see, the only thing I wanted to see. I coughed several times, eyes flickering open and closed. I didn’t want to close them, but the darkness was so inviting; I couldn’t ignore it for long. My hearing returned for several seconds, the screams and cries of my friends and family drowning my thoughts. Gaius once again brought his hand up to my cheek, leaving it there as a rest for my face. For some reason, I didn’t feel pained or in shock; I felt at peace. As my consciousness drifted and my eyesight dimmed; I was left with thinking that if this was going to be the end, at least I wouldn’t be alone; I took some comfort in that. The light of reality faded and I left in a dreamlike state, the darkness that I knew so well making one last return.