Prologue: Aftermath
Beep….Beep….Beep…
It was a sparse room, lightly furnished, designed for ease of access. A cluster of displays hovered in the air just over the centre line of the room. It didn’t matter that the information that they displayed was available elsewhere, just that those who were in charge of the room felt more comfortable with them there. All of them had met her personally at one stage or another during their careers, a meeting that had changed them all for the better.
He entered the door closing behind him silently until it hit the wall with a muffled thud. He looked up hopefully towards the centre of the room, wondering if there was any change. The figure in the centre of the room showed no sign of having heard the door. ‘Well, it’s still early days after all. Given the extent of her injuries, it’s a small miracle that she’s alive at all.’
Bathed in the soft green glow of the displays, she looked a hundred times better than how she had looked when she arrived early in the morning. It was nowhere near her true condition, but the vision of her there bathed in such a glow gave him hope that the danger had passed, at least for the moment. A team of doctors and surgeons had worked for nearly half the day, even with the times where breaks had to be taken for fresh nurses to come in and take over. She was out of the worse of it, but time would tell how well she would recover. ‘And even if she does recover physically, none of us are sure whether she is going to be able to live on after what has happened.’
As he moved closer to the bed, the faint hiss of the ventilator could be heard. It was but one of a slew of devices that surrounded her. Satisfied that the devices were all functioning correctly, he doubled checked that all the catheters were firmly secured, before pulling the cover further up her body. He turned away from her after uttering a short prayer over her, heading for the door. If anyone had been watching, the glow of the devices would have revealed the tears flowing down his face.
He made sure that the door closed softly as he exited the room. ‘Time to get some rest, I’ll be glad once this night is over.’ As he made to move away from the patient’s room, a figure came around the corner.
“How is she?” they asked.
“As good as can be expected by one in her position. Better in fact. I’ve never dealt with injuries like these but some of the others have remarked that she’s a good few hours ahead of what they’ve experienced in these cases.”
The tension in the figure facing him eased considerably, “It’s going to ok right, she’d going to get better?”
He scratched the back of his head, “Well it looks good so far, I can’t make any guarantees though. Can you please get some rest now; you’re in no position yourself to be up at this hour, not with those injuries.”
“She’s going to live. No matter what. Their sacrifice is not going to be in vein.” With that they headed back in the direction of their room.
‘I hope you’re right. I really hope you do.’
****
Pain coursed through Agito’s body as she finally made it back to her room. Despite her bravado, the possibility that she wouldn’t make it was ever present in the back of her mind. While the doctor was correct that letting her body rest and recover was the best thing to do, what had happened kept playing in her mind, preventing her from getting to sleep.
We are the Wolkenritter, sworn guardians of the Mistress of the Night Sky. Death to those that attempt to harm her. Seeing that she has been hurt already, I’ll just have to make sure you have a fate worse than death.