“He’s been shot!” Paige screamed

Mettan finished twirling the water. Thanks to the additional water from the broken fire hydrant and the distraction of the jeep he had been able to knock out the rest of the soldiers.

“I know.” Mettan shifted the human he was carrying and tapped on the pad on his hip. The van uncloaked. He opened the side door. Three more keys on his pad and the console in front of the second-row seat retracted into the floor. He laid Alex across the second-row seat and climbed in.

Paige was just standing dumbfounded in the driveway.

“Get in.” Mettan ordered. He turned around and typed on the screen on the steering wheel. The van started with a soft purr.

Paige closed the van door as she got in the front passenger seat. She sat down in the back row and peered over the back of the second row, “Is he going to be ok?”

Mettan set the instructions for the van to return to his ship. The van pulled out of its spot and drove away from the chaos. Satisfied that they were on course he turned his attention back to Alex.

“Is he going to be ok?” Paige repeated

“Yes.” Mettan ran his hand over Alex’s two wounds. The bullet had passed through the shoulder, but there was still a bullet in Alex’s leg.

Mettan pulled a handful of water from his uniform’s stash and put his right hand over the hole. The water seeped into the wound and began pushing the bullet back up out of the leg. He jerked his hand up and the bullet popped out and slid down the leg. It dropped to the floor and rolled to the door.

Mettan pressed down on the wound that had started bleeding again. The water under his hand kept the blood back, but it wouldn’t let it clot. He reached for his belt.

“GRK.” Paige choked and then heaved.

Mettan’s left hand shot up and he caught the vomit barely an inch from his hand. It rolled into a ball.

Paige’s eyes got wider and she hurled again.

Mettan caught that and added it to the mass that he was already holding. Paige heaved again then looked up. She was green and her eyes were drooping, but she looked better.

“Finished?” Mettan asked

Paige wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand and nodded. She fell back into her seat and closed her eyes.

Mettan took his hand off of the wound and tapped on his pad. The window behind him rolled down. He threw the vomit out the window and tapped on his pad to roll the window back up.

“How is he?” Paige asked

“Tired. Shot. Tapped out.” Mettan took a syringe off of his belt and traced the mouth of the wound. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the laser from the tip of the pen seared it closed.

Mettan ripped the corner of Alex’s shirt back and cauterized the wound on his shoulder. He looked over the seat at Paige. “You ok?”

Sweat was beading on her forehead, but her color was returning. “Yeah.” Paige breathed. She blinked then closed her eyes tight, “I need some air.”

Mettan pulled Alex forward and closed the hole in the back of his shoulder, “We’re almost done.”

Mettan replaced the syringe on his belt and took his seat in the driver’s chair.

“Is he really ok?” Paige asked

“Yes.” Mettan gripped the steering wheel.

“Are you sure?” the blonde woman asked, “It seems like something is wrong.”

“He’ll be fine.”

They sat in silence as the van pulled into the field. The ship uncloaked and the bay doors opened. The van drove into its box and the bay doors closed.

“How do we get out?” Paige pointed at the sides of the box they were in, “We’re trapped!”

Mettan tapped on the steering wheel screen. Paige jumped up as the console in front of her shrank into the floor. The two rows in the back slowly retracted into the floor. The back folded backward and the back of the van was empty except for two humans. The back doors popped open.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

“That way.” Mettan said as he picked up Alex and walked out into the ship.

Paige exited the van and it closed its doors and the box top slammed shut.

“What is this?” Paige twirled around

“You’re on a spaceship.” Mettan answered

“This is a Spaceship,” Paige asked, “Seriously?”

“Yes.” Mettan shifted Alex’s weight, “Follow.”

He led the way through the maze of crates.

“What’s its name?” Paige asked. Her earlier sickness had worn off. Now wonder had fed excitement.

Mettan hid his smile. Her questions were different from the other humans. It was something that Neresa would’ve asked. The thought of Neresa wiped the smile from his face before it had time to finish forming. “It’s called the Camadt’s bite.”

“What’s that?” Paige asked

Mettan stopped on the elevator, “You have nightmares right?”

Paige nodded, “Sometimes.”

“The Camadt are what nightmares have.” Mettan answered

“Really?” Paige asked, “Nightmares are real?”

“They are but not like you think.” Mettan started the elevator, “Nightmares feed off of negative psychic energy.”

“Like fear?” Paige asked

“Yes.” Mettan said. They were on the second floor. He walked over to Alex’s room and opened the door.

“So why are the Camadt so bad?” Paige asked from the doorway

Mettan laid Alex in the bed, “The Camadt are seven feet tall. They have four arms and cat faces. Magic rolls off of them like fire rolls off of a Dragon. Their teeth are sharp as razors and one bite will kill a mage.” He walked over to the door.

Paige moved out of the way, so Mettan could walk into the hall. Once in the hall he closed the door to Alex’s room and pointed to the door across the hall, “That’s your room.”

Paige walked over to the door and opened it, “The Camadt don’t seem that scary.”

Mettan took two steps and was right next to her. He breathed on her neck as he slammed his fist on the wall. The bang echoed down the hall, “They are as strong and smart as a dragon. They’re so arrogant that they want nothing more than to eradicate all intelligent life in the universe except their own.”

He locked eyes with her. There was fear in her eyes, but she held his gaze. That was good. If she was going to survive, she was going to have to get a backbone.

“We fought a war against them fifteen hundred years ago and almost lost. That war killed almost every Elder rank Mage and Elementalist. Now the Camadt are extinct. Their solar system was destroyed to end the war.” He backed away from the wall.

“Okay.” Paige looked at the ground, “Why get so worked up if they’re all dead?”

“Just because something is thought to be dead does not make it so.” Mettan looked at Paige, “You have to respect things that can kill you. Even if they aren’t supposed to exist.”

Paige nodded, “Yes sir.”

“So why the name?” Paige asked, “If you’re supposed to be respecting them and all?”

“Kark named my ship.” Mettan said, “He thought it needed an actual name instead of MC442.”

“Alex was talking about Kark.” Paige said, “Who’s he?”

“Kark is my cousin. Our mothers were sisters.” Mettan said,

“Why did he name the ship the Camadt’s Bite?” Paige asked

“I used to be a Mage Hunter.” Mettan answered, “Since a Camadt can kill a Mage with one bite, he thought it would be a fitting name to scare the Dark Legion Mages that I was hunting.”

“Oh.” Paige’s voice dropped just about a whisper, “You killed people for a living?”

“The entire Universe is at war.” Mettan glared at Paige, “Everyone kills to live.”

Silence was her only response, so Mettan started walking down the hallway toward the bridge. He entered the bridge and took his seat in the pilot’s chair.

“This doesn’t look like what I would think a bridge would be.” Paige ran her fingers over the back of the couch.

“It used to be a luxury ship.” Mettan began typing in the next coordinates, “This bridge was built to entertain guests, not for practical purposes.”

She sat down in the seat next to him. “Where are we going now?”

“Orbit.” Mettan replied, “It’s late and Caleb isn’t going anywhere.”

“Why not?”

Mettan tap on his console. An image of the hospital where Caleb was being kept popped up on the screen in front of them. He pointed at a room on the third floor. “He’s right there.”

“He got arrested?” Paige asked, “Why?”

“He freaked out after his wife died in a car crash.” Mettan began looking at data on the hospital, “He fought with a doctor, but they both lost to the army.”

Paige twirled the tip of her hair, “I’ve got a question for you.”

Mettan looked up, “What is it?”

“Why did you pick us for your team?”

Mettan frowned, “I didn’t. Kark did.”

“Oh,” Paige said, “Okay.”

“Why were you wondering?”

Paige looked at Mettan, “I just don’t know why you would have saved me or picked them. Aren’t there other people out there more qualified?”

Mettan nodded, “The honest answer to your question is no.” He looked at the ceiling, as he thought about the positive qualities of his students. Alex was driven by his passion to protect others. Paige had the potential to be a great leader. And Caleb would be a great force for good once his mourning was over.

“I was just wondering.” Paige got up, “I’m going to check on Alex before I turn in.”

Mettan watched her walk out. It was an honest question that he had been trying not to think about. He had pulled out the best defense he could for each of his charges, but the truth was that he was worried about his charges. Alex was going to get himself killed by the end of the week if he kept jumping in over his head. Paige would be dead before she was able to pass out from wounding someone and Caleb would likely go into a berserker rage again if he was forced to fight. He hoped Kark knew what he was doing because prophecy or not he didn’t expect all of his charges to still be alive after the Dark Legion Fleet landed in two days.