Jake rushed to his truck. “I’ll meet you there.”
We hurried for the ATV. We needed to get there early before they ran out of food.
Chapter Eleven
Qa’a…
Kaelen’s shock, rage and pain hit me like a sledgehammer. I grabbed my head. “Holy shit!”
“Tai-Kok?” Dad asked, looking around in concern.
I flinched as his agony grew stronger. “No. Something has happened to Kaelen.”
A brilliant orange glow popped into existence on the street in front of us and spun rapidly. I shielded my eyes. “That isn’t good.”
“Nope.” Dad brought the ATV to a stop and picked up his assault rifle.
The spinning light accelerated until a vortex formed. Bolts of green lightning crackled wildly around the growing opening. People ran for their lives.
A figure in black body armor flew out of the vortex and smacked into a wall.
“Oh, my, God. That’s Kaelen!” I ran over to him. Ewww. His battle armor was covered in icky green slime. Was it safe to touch him?“Kaelen?”
He didn’t move and his breathing was labored.
Cold fear rolled over me. I could barely sense him in my mind. Drawing on every ounce of power I had, I reached out for Zarek.“Sir, I need your help.”
“Are you hurt?”
I flashed him an image of Kaelen’s slime-covered suit.“No, but I think Kaelen is.”
“Where is Gael?”
The vortex abruptly vanished.
“Dunno. He just tossed Kaelen out of the vortex and left.”
“Do not touch his armor until the slime has been removed. It is highly corrosive,”Zarek commanded as he scanned Kaelen.
“Yes, sir.”I turned to Dad. “We need to wash the slime off his armor.”
He nodded and hurried off.
My eyes widened at the amount of energy Zarek poured into Kaelen.“How badly is he hurt? I have some healing abilities.”
“Gael deliberately drained his powers and dumped him on your world. He knows your primitive health care would be unable to heal him.”
And I helped that rat bastard!“Guess he didn’t know about our link.”
Zarek’s fury rolled over me and my knees buckled.“He did not. I will speak with his father.”
Dad dragged a water hose over to us and washed the slime off Kaelen’s armor. The asphalt began to bubble and melt.
I pulled him away from the steaming water.“How do I remove his armor, sir?”
“Hit the gold button on his belt.”
I did and it shrank away to reveal a skin-tight body suit that emphasized Kaelen’s muscular build. The left side of his face was badly bruised, and I could sense some broken ribs. I placed my hands on his chest and poured healing energy into him. To my utter relief his breathing steadied.
