Chrystal Bones (Finding Home Book 1) (37 page)

“I’m not so little anymore,” she whispered as her eyes closed.

“You will always be my little girl,” the voice faded.

“Jayden!”
she called out with her mind.

“I am here,” he said holding her hand while he watched Dro closely.

“I’m so tired.”

He panicked,
“NO!”
he shouted at her. With effort he softened his mental voice when he saw her slight wince. “You have to stay awake for just a little longer.”

But she no longer heard him having faded into the shadows where the pain could no longer touch her.

The ground rumbled and shook and the sky darkened. Wind whipped branches from trees and thunder roared from the sky. Lightning flashed all around but none of it touched the small figure lying so still on the ground. There were cries of surprise as they looked around at the sudden storm.

“We have to move her out of this,” Jayden shouted.

The wind built higher and faster and with invisible hands pushed everyone away from Blue.

Jayden fought the wind to stay at her side but his considerable strength was not enough to keep him there when the planet was determined to have her. A burst of wind so strong pushed at him hard enough that he was flung fifteen feet into the air away from her to land on his back. He was on his feet in an instant and fought the wind to get back to her.

They all watched Blue as the wind whipped at their clothes and hair sending tiny stinging pellets of rain into their exposed skin. None of it, not one drop of rain touched her skin, not one hair on her head was disturbed by the strong wind.

Her body started to glow as it was lit from within and a visible wall of light formed around her. A bolt of lightning came from the sky to pierce her throat where the chrystal was embedded. Another bolt and another. One after another they fell from the sky to hit her, causing her body to jerk with every new blow. There was no getting to her. The wall of ice blue light was impenetrable.

Jayden fought the wall of light until his hands were bloody. All he could do was watch as the woman he loved was pummeled with bolt after bolt of lightning until she could no longer be seen through them, they were coming at her so fast.

After what seemed a long time the lightning slowed and the wind died down to a strong breeze. The sky stayed dark with ominous clouds as if the unnatural storm could resume at any time. Blue was left lying on the ground glowing a brilliant icy blue. Three ribbons of lightning the same icy blue color as the lightning shot from the Chrystal Towers to pick up her limp body and pull it up to float in the center of the towers. They all watched terrified for her as she was wrapped in lightning over and over.

When it was done she was encased in an Ice Blue Chrystal and held in place between the towers on thin strings of lightning. Jayden could see the shadow of her body through the chrystal and his heart broke.

She had become the one thing he knew that she was afraid would happen. When the chrystal Idris had brought to Earth had fused to her she had joked about not wanting to become a living chrystal and now here she was. Encased in a chrystal cocoon hanging midair for the world to see. He knew she was still alive because he refused to think anything else.

The three strings of lightning lifted her higher and higher into the air until she was hanging at least fifty feet above the ground. There was a burst of light from Blue that traveled down the strings into the Towers and a moment later the shield around the planet flared bright enough to see with the naked eye.

Jayden heard the soft crying of Blue’s mother and the murmured soothing words of the father but he could not take his eyes off the chrystal holding his beloved. Idris came to stand with him.

“This is what she was afraid of,” he said softly echoing Jayden’s thoughts. “I should not have brought her here.”

“We did not have a choice. She would have insisted on doing what she could to save Shillidon,” Jayden said in a voice taunt with grief.

The King heard every word and walked up to put a hand on each of their shoulders. He gave a light squeeze, “My daughter sounds like she turned into a very interesting and remarkable woman.”

“She is the most remarkable woman you will ever meet sir,” Jayden said.

It was then that he remembered Leo. He had such a close connection with Blue that he must be going nuts in the ship. With all that had happened Jayden had completely forgotten him. He scrambled in his pocket for the remote to the ship and released the doors. It was the best he could do right now. Leo would have to find Blue on his own. The ship was parked only a couple miles away and Jayden knew he would find his way here.

Sure enough it was only a few minutes before Leo burst into the clearing scaring the King and Queen. Their guards already on high alert almost shot him before Idris and Jayden could stop them even though Jayden had warned them he was coming.

The King took one look at the huge white tiger and his jaw dropped, “This is the companion you said was coming.”

Leo stalked towards him snarling.

“Do not shoot him whatever you do. Blue would never forgive you. Make sure your guards do not shoot him either,” Idris said.

“Who is Blue?” the King asked curiously.

“Aaliyah. Only she does not use the name Aaliyah. She did not remember her name so she used the one the scientists gave her,” Jayden told him.

“What is he talking about? What scientists? Just what has my little girl gone through?” Idris’s father demanded.

Jayden ignored him. His mind fully occupied with worry for Blue. Leo came to stand next to him and whimpered.

“I know boy. She is up there and we cannot get to her but she will come back to us soon. You will see. She is not gone. She will be fine.” If he repeated her mantra often enough maybe he could make it be true.

Jos came running out of the tower holding a device that was a little bigger than his hand.

“I found the bomb but there is no way to disarm it. It is going to blow in less than three minutes.”

He ran to the air vehicle and programed it to fly up into the air as far as it could get in the two and a half minutes left. He dropped the bomb inside and backed up. The air car rose straight up into the air and got about four hundred yards before exploding high above their heads. The percussion was felt by all of them as debris rained down.

Jos looked around and saw Idris, his parents and several guards from the palace. “When did you get here?” he asked surprised to see them all. “Where is Blue?” he said going over to check on Sparks who was still sitting against the base of the tower. He noticed that Leo was here but not Blue. Sparks pointed to the giant blue chrystal floating high above them.

“What happened? Man, I missed all the good stuff,” Jos exclaimed.

Jayden replayed in his mind the laser bolts of lightning hitting Blue’s fragile body. Watched her jerk with each blow and fall to her knees. Saw the lightning bolts hit her again and again. He could not even work up the energy to get angry.

“You did not miss any good stuff, it was all bad.” he said in a weary voice heavy with despair.

They may have saved Shillidon but at what cost to him and Leo he thought as they stood together under the chrystal cocoon holding their world.

Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin

Chapter 34

Jayden was sitting on the ground, leaning against the Chrystal Tower with Leo lying next to him. They were both looking up to the chrystal holding the most important person in their lives. It had been three months, five days and sixteen hours since Blue had disappeared into the chrystal chrysalis. He and Leo waited patiently every day for her to emerge. He knew to the marrow of his bones that she was alive. He would accept nothing else. He talked to her hoping that somehow she could hear him and would come back to him and Leo.

The hours following ‘The Event’ as it had come to be called across the planet were busy. The first order of business had been to deal with the Ragillian threat. Once it became clear the duel plots of the attempted assassination of the King and Queen and the bombing of the tower had failed the Ragillians tried to break the shield with wave after wave of energy fire, laser fire and old fashion projectile weapons not seen in hundreds of years.

Five Shillidon ships had died with all hands aboard, defending their world. It did not take long before it became clear to everyone that the Ragillians were not going to get through the shield to bombard the planet. The King had ordered all remaining ships to retreat until the reinforcements had arrived the next day.

Haldairian ships had arrived by the dozens followed closely by the rest of Shillidon’s fleet. The battle raged for hours lighting up the night sky. The people of Shillidon gathered in the streets to watch the fireworks. There was no rejoicing, no happy shouts when the sky lit with explosion after explosion. With no way to know who was winning tensions ran high among the people. Many of whom had friends and family in those ships fighting so hard for them.

The control room had been silent as the battle played out on the view screens. The King and Queen had watched and mourned as ship after ship was destroyed. So many good men and women were dying while they were safe behind the shield. When it was over, blacked hunks of metal littered the space around Shillidon but with the Haldairian’s help they had managed to defeat the Ragillians.

The enemy had amassed one hundred and three ships. Less than forty had been able to flee. The cost had been steep with twelve Shillidon ships and eight Haldairian ships being completely destroyed, with many others suffering severe damage.

It would take time to recover from the loss of not only the ships but the personnel aboard them. Over ten thousand men and women dead in a battle that had been a long time in coming. It could and should have been worse. If not for the reinforced shield around the planet tens of thousands of people would now be dead.

Jayden and the rest of his team had watched along side everyone in the control room, unable to join in the battle because it would be too big a risk to lower the shield so one ship could join the fight. Leo had refused to leave the spot where Blue was encased in the chrystal. He just stared into the sky at her. Jayden had not wanted to leave her but he did not have the option of staying right then.

As the highest ranking officer of Haldairia on site and a member of one of the seven ruling families, he had duties he needed to take care of and was in constant contact with the ships now under his command. Running a battle in space from the ground was not an ideal situation and he left most of the decisions up to the Commander of the fleet. It was a nerve racking ordeal and a part of his mind was always with Blue.

The King had assigned several of his personal guards to stay at the site to protect his daughter and wife. Her mother had refused to leave just like Leo and was at the site constantly. A temporary camp had been set up for them and the guards.

Janteel was a sweet woman with a spine of pure titanium and a stubborn will as strong as her daughter’s. Her daughter had been returned to her only to be claimed by the planet before she could do more than get a glimpse of her and she was not leaving until Aaliyah came out of that chrystal. Neither her husband nor son had been able to convince her to go to rest. Truth be told they hadn’t tried too hard. They too were there as much as they could be.

Balik, the slimy little worm, had been arrested and was sitting in a cell awaiting his fate. He continued to proclaim his innocence to anyone who would listen. The guards tuned him out. As far as they were concerned he was a traitor and they refused to acknowledge his existence beyond serving meals to him. No one believed him. The evidence was too strong proving his guilt.

Idris and Vihan had caught him redhanded as he opened the secret entrance into the palace. They had followed him as he led the assassin to the bedroom door of the sleeping King and Queen.

Idris had sent Dro to his parents while he and Vihan had waited for Balik to incriminate himself enough that he would not be able to wiggle out of the charges. At the door to the bedroom Balik handed the assassin an energy gun then opened the door. The only thing the assassin had shot after stepping into the room had been jumbled up bed coverings hastily made up to resemble two sleeping bodies in the dark.

A hand shot out of the dark, took a strong grip and twisted the assassin’s arm until he had dropped the weapon and a fist had landed on his jaw. Knocking him out before he could do anything to defend himself. Idris and Vihan blocked Balik’s retreat and placed him under arrest for treason. He tried to bluster his way out of it but no one was buying anything he was selling.

Everything had been recorded. He was going to face death right along with the assassin. His mother was throwing temper tantrums, demanding that her son be released immediately. According to her Idris had set Balik up because he knew that her son would make a better King than Idris would.

It was all nonsense and everyone knew it but it was going to have to go through the courts. When that happened there was going to be no way to keep Balik’s father’s actions from the people. There would be some fallout from that coverup but the King felt that it would die down soon enough.

Shillidon’s people were in shock. First they had been informed of the Ragillian threat and told to expect the worst. Then the strange storm had effected the whole planet and a strange chrystal appeared in the sky. Then there was the battle in space where many had lost loved ones. Then they were told of a plot to kill their beloved King and Queen by none other than one of the princes.

And then they were told of the princess’s miraculous survival and return to them. There was no longer any viable reason to keep that a secret. When they learned it was she who was encased in the chrystal hanging above their heads they went into shock. The news casts could hardly keep up and there were so many speculations that the King and Queen had been forced to give an interview to explain the situation.