Warrior's Soul (Book 3 of The Warrior Chronicles)

Chapter 58

One Gaian Week Later...

"What are you doing here?" Gabriel frowned at Michael from beside the glass windows of the Leader's Dome apartments. It hadn't even been ten days since The Sage regained his sight with the help of the Light alchemists, and yet he glared so very well.

"Stop looking at me like that, will you? Peter, Anne and Malia are running things smoothly, they don't need me at the Protectorate -" Seeing Gabriel about to protest, he held up his hands, "But even so, my mother replaced me so that I could come."

"Your mother?" Gabriel's brows rose in surprise. The old Leader's Book Keeper had been in self-inflicted isolation since the day she found out about the true identity of Shik. It didn't matter that no one blamed her, guilt and a deep sense of betrayal had coloured her ability to grieve for the man she served her whole life.

"Yes. She said keeping the 5th Kingdom safe was the least she could do for La-La," Michael said, his expression complicated. Then his eyes took on a look of resolve as he stepped further into the Leader's rooms. "Having a purpose will do her good, at least until your work here is done and you can return to the Protectorate. And now, you tell me: what are you doing here? And where is the patient?"

"Where else? He is out there, trying to convince me that he is not a patient." Gabriel pointed down to the gardens surrounding the Dome.

"You let him go out?" Michael rushed up beside him, looking down with concern. "Didn't you say it was best if he stayed off his feet for at least another ten days?"

"As if I could stop him," Gabriel snorted. "Our wonderful Leader forbid me from following him and went to get some fresh air." Raising his hand, Gabriel adjusted the High Thinker band on his forehead. The yellow stone caught the sun, turning it the same shade of honey as his eyes. "Don't worry too much. He is almost completely healed, and he is with Teacher. She will not let him do too much."

Michael heard the way the Sage's voice softened as he spoke of the Teacher and remembered hearing about his reunion with his mother from Delphine. His silly Lady had cried so hard while describing the scene, that Michael had to calm her down several times before he got to hear the story. What he managed to gather in the end, was that Diana, who had believed her son dead for over a decade, had clung to his shoulders and refused to let go.

It still baffled Michael, how far Shik had gone to realise his vision of Gaia. It was no wonder that the new Leader had been busily revising all their laws, even in his sick bed.

After another moment, Michael spotted the pair walking below and sighed, "How much longer do you think we can hold him back?"

"Now that he is managing to move around without assistance? Not long," Gabriel sighed along with him.

Frustrated, Michael hit the window with his closed fist, "I told the council not to destroy all the dimension liquid. If they hadn't, I would have been able to find La-La by now."

"If they hadn't, we would never have been able to stop him," the Sage shook his head as he imagined the scenario. "Do you think he would have allowed himself to heal?"

"Not a chance," Michael snorted. "He would have jumped with his bones still broken and torn his stitches, again. Seriously, the things he has put us through this past month!"

"Indeed," Gabriel agreed.

"It won't be long before the new batch of dimension liquid he ordered is ready," Michael said, still watching the people walking below. "If I can get my hands on it first, maybe..."

Gabriel raised a brow when the Book Keeper's voice suddenly trailed off.

"What is it?" He asked, turning to the window to follow the direction of Michael's gaze. There, on the other side of the bridge that led away from the gardens, stood a woman in a long silver robe holding the hand of a smaller, hooded figure. Gabriel squinted as he leaned closer to the glass, trying to catch a glimpse of the woman's face beneath her hood, but Light soldiers got in the way as they surrounded the strangers.

"Who...?" He began to ask, but found Michael was gone and the door to Raphael's room was left wide open. "What in Gaia?"