‘Will pull out all minerals from Dawn’s body. Human clear blue is… like nothing.’
Human clear blue was freaking everything to us, but I understood her meaning.
“No, it will leach all the minerals from her body. I’m going to do a quick perimeter scan of Skyhome. See if there is anything else she can have.” I stood slowly, careful not to bang my already throbbing head on the top of the cave.
“Ronnie, you wanna come?” I motioned out of the cave.
Ronnie swallowed hard, making a face. “Actually… I can’t.”
She pulled her foot out of the sleeping bag and revealed a large walking boot.
My eyes widened. “What happened?”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen Ronnie walk since we got here. She had crawled in the cave all yesterday.
“I think it’s broken,” she declared, and Maxine let out a low whistle. “I’ll get an x-ray and a hard cast when we get back to Earth, but for now I should go easy.”
“Well, aren’t we just the perfect gimpy team,” Maxine observed.
Dawn couldn’t fly, Maxine nearly lost her hand, and Ronnie couldn’t walk. That meant it was up to me to protect us. The sudden weight of that pressed down on my shoulders.
Rifling through the one pack we had managed to bring, I handed Ronnie one of the low range walkie-talkies and slipped the other in my pocket.
“Just a quick perimeter check. If it starts raining, I’ll hightail it back here,” I told them both.
Maxine reached down and handed me her assault rifle. “Take this.”
I slung the weapon over my shoulder and nodded.
Stepping over Dawn, I started to walk out into the open. If only the Galadrias bottled the green stuff like humans did, we wouldn’t have this problem. There were gobs of the green stuff on the surface, but that would do no good since Dawn couldn’t fly.
I really wanted to connect with Damien and tell him I was okay, but doing that might compromise some vital organ in my body and I wasn’t going to risk that.
It only took me about an hour to walk the entire island, and I checked in with Ronnie every fifteen minutes. The once beautiful oasis was now… dying. The acid had eaten through every plant and blade of grass. The birthing pool was a sickly brown color, although I wondered if with time it would all grow back and improve.
Other than the one green feeding pool, I found no other sources of the stuff. I was just about to declare our situation really dire when I spotted a bright blue streak of fur and feathers in the sky.
With my hand on the trigger, I watched as the Galadria circled the island almost as if it was looking for signs of life. Was a breeder riding it? I’d never forget the time the sentries had controlled the Galadrias. Rode them like horses. It was sick. The moment he saw me, he started to descend.
‘You are Kit? Friend of Dawn?’he asked when he was about ten feet from the ground.
I nodded, still weary. I didn’t have a full view of his back yet, and I’d blast him out of the sky if I saw a ghoul riding there.
He dropped then, landing fully, and a sigh of relief escaped me as I saw his back was clear of enemies.
‘Everyone left. Clyde can’t tap into our mind. Clyde feels alone.’ His thoughts were frantic and my heart pinched. He must not be able to access their hive mind while everyone was on Earth. I figured a few Galadrias got left behind. Not every single one made it to Skyhome.
‘Clyde feels Dawn, so he came, but she feels… sick. Far away. Confused.’
Yeah, Dawn was high. That must feel weird to tap into. Clyde was a cute name. All the Galadrias were taking human names now.
‘We’ve given her human medication,’I explained.‘Her wings are broken. Temporarily we hope. But she needs the green stuff. Food.’
I stepped forward and reached out my hand. Galadrias were affectionate creatures and I knew he would feel better when touched. The moment he butted his head into my hand, I stroked his neck and his whole body relaxed.
‘Clyde was scared. Clyde thought all Galadrias… dead.’
Tears welled in my eyes.‘No. They’re safe on Earth. I can take you there once we get Dawn and the rest of my friends better.’
