Her Mythical Warriors (Book Two)
Chapter Thirteen: The Caladrius

“What if I drain whatever is in her body, giving her this fever?” Malique suggested, unsure if it was the right thing to do.

The others stared at Malique.

“Are you crazy? What if you catch it?” Darius asked, staring at the vampire as if he’d sprouted a second head.

Malique laughed. “Did you forget that I’m already pretty much dead? I’m a vampire, Darius. I never get sick and can’t die from a disease.”

Darius huffed and turned back to Akira.

“It’s worth a shot,” Zelious said.

“You’re just as crazy as he is,” Darius grumbled at Zelious, not bothering to look at him.

“Let me at least try. I feel helpless standing here watching Akira….” Malique couldn’t finish what he was going to say.

“Let him try. No harm will come of it.” Wolfric looked up from Akira’s still form.

The other warriors nodded and moved out of the vampire’s way.

Malique took a deep breath and moved to the bed. He knelt beside it, took Akira’s hand into his, and turned it over, kissing the underside of her wrist. His fangs sprang forth, and he sank them into her skin. The taste was bitter and made his stomach churn. He pulled back and turned from the bed.

Darius laughed as he watched the vampire hurl beside the bed.

“Now we have to smell that,” Zelious grumbled.

“I’ll clean it up,” Malique said, wiping his mouth.

Malique looked at his Psychi, then his fellow warriors, tears spilling from his eyes.

“I can’t heal her.”

“You tried,” Wolfric said, looking from Malique to Akira.

“There has to be something we can do other than sit here,” Malique said, holding Akira’s hand in his.

“Yeah, you can clean up your barf,” Zelious grumbled.

Darius shook his head as he took Malique’s place beside Akira.

“Why did the fairies leave?” Wolfric wondered for the hundredth time.

“Who knows?” Malique said, returning with a towel and bucket of water.

“Look,” Darius said, pointing at Akira.

“She’s glowing again,” Zelious said in wonder.

“Is this how she looked when you found her?” Wolfric asked the merman.

Zelious nodded. “Yeah, exactly like this. She was glowing so brightly I could see her in the dark waters. It was like a beacon.”

“Why is her body using her healing powers while she’s unconscious?” Wolfric wondered out loud.

“Maybe it’s trying to save her, knowing she’s too weak to do it herself?” Darius asked, watching the glow grow stronger.

“Maybe it’s the Gods helping her,” Malique suggested.

“Using her power to heal her while she’s unconscious.” Wolfric nodded.

“It doesn’t make much sense, but there’s no other explanation,” Darius said.

“Hey, look what I found in the chicken coop,” Stella said as she walked into the shack, Aarush perched on her shoulder.

“Why would Jules leave without her phoenix?” Malique asked, perplexed.

“She wouldn’t,” Wolfric said, watching the small phoenix clean his wings. “Jules wouldn’t go anywhere without Aarush unless she planned to come back.”

“Then where did they go?” Darius asked.

“Hopefully, somewhere for help,” Wolfric grumbled.

~⚔~

“There’s the castle,” Julianne said, pointing below them.

“I hope the king isn’t home.” Leviasen tapped his mount with his foot. “Let’s get down there.”

Pen fluttered his wings and turned, heading for the ground. They landed, and the fairies jumped off the dragonfly.

“I think we should start up there,” Jules said, pointing to a window on the top floor.

Levi nodded, “right.”

They flapped their wings and flew up to the window. They looked inside and grinned when they saw the bird perched on a pedestal. Levi pulled the window up, and they flew into the room. They shifted into their larger form, and Jules walked over to the bird.

“Hello,” she said when the bird turned to her. “You’re a Caladrius, are you not?”

The snow-white bird nodded his head.

Jules smiled, “thank the Gods,” she breathed. “We need your help.”

The Caladrius’ head tilted to the side.

“You see. Our friend is very sick. She has a fever that won’t go away. She will die if we don’t find a cure—and fast.”

The Caladrius squeaked and flapped his wings.

“I know you’re not a cure. But you’re the closest thing to a cure. Please, help us.”

The Caladrius held his wings out and flapped them twice.

“Do you want to know more about our friend?”

The Caladrius nodded his head.

“Okay,” Jules said. Worrying about her friend made her heart pound in her head. “Well, where do I begin? She’s a Havent, she has found four of her warriors, and they all adore her. She’s a warrior and healer….”

The Caladrius squealed and flapped his wings harder.

“Oh, you want to know her, not what she is.”

The Caladrius nodded his head.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Jules took a deep breath and told the Caladrius about Akira. What kind of person she is, why she’s worth saving. What she’s meant to do in the world, what she has already done for the world. When she told the Caladrius about her ancestry, the bird flapped his wings and squeaked louder than he had before.

“Do you think he understands how important Akira is?” Levi whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“Who’s disturbing my Caladrius!?” the king demanded as he burst through the double doors. “Who are you?”

“We’re sorry, your majesty. We were hoping to do this before you woke,” Julianne said, bowing to the king.

“You planned to steal my Caladrius?”

Leviasen bowed, “no, Sire. We hoped to borrow him to save a friend.”

The king scoffed, “no one uses my Caladrius but me.”

“Your majesty, our friend is….”

“I don’t care who or what your friend is!” the king bellowed. “My word is final!”

The Caladrius squeaked and flapped his wings, then jumped off the pedestal and walked to the open window. He jumped onto the window ledge and took off into the sky.

“Damn stupid bird!” the king hollered as he ran to the window.

“We better be going,” Jules said as she and Levi tried to walk around the angry king.

“You will pay for this,” the king growled, reaching for Jules. “Caladrius’ are picky in who they choose to heal. And when he comes back here, he will watch me hang….” The king didn’t get to finish his words.

Levi pulled Jules from the greedy king’s grip and pressed his sword to the man’s throat. Though the man was much bigger than Levi, Levi had the advantage of surprise.

“Don’t ever touch Jules like that,” Levi growled.

“How dare you touch your king in such a manner,” the king sneered.

Levi smiled and stated, “you are not my king. My father is my king. Now, if you don’t want my father to start a war with your kingdom, you will let us go.”

The king looked over his face and finally noticed his pointed ears and grunted as he backed away.

“Let’s go.” Jules pulled on her prince’s arm. “The Caladrius will need us to guide him to Akira.”

Leviasen replaced his sword at his side and smirked at the king.

“Hope to never see you again,” Levi said, then popped into his fairy form and flew out the window.

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Jules said to the king, then popped into her fairy form.

“He won’t heal your friend. He won’t heal anyone unworthy!” the king bellowed.

Julianne turned and flew at the king’s head. “You have no clue how worthy Akira is,” she said, then flew out the window.

~⚔~

“She’s getting worse,” Malique said, laying another cold cloth over Akira’s forehead.

“Jules should be here,” Wolfric mumbled.

“We didn’t get to say goodbye last time. Maybe that’s why it hit so hard,” Darius said, not truly believing it.

“They’re back!” Fin shouted, bursting into the shack.

“Where the fuck have they been?” Wolfric growled, getting to his feet.

“They can tell us when they land,” Fin said, running back outside.

Stella looked up from her place on the floor beside the bed. “Do you think they found a cure?” she asked.

“I hope they found something,” Wolfric said, heading for the door.

A tapping sound on the window had Wolfric pausing.

Everyone in the room turned to the window to find a snow-white bird tapping on the window.

“What the fuck?” Darius blinked at the bird. “Can’t be,” he whispered.

“Aren’t you going to let our new friend in?” Julianne said as she entered the shack.

“What is that?” Wolfric asked, turning to the fairy.

Jules smiled as she made her way to the window.

“We found a genuine Caladrius,” Levi said as he entered the shack.

“Wake, Akira,” Jules said, opening the window.

Wolfric numbly moved over to the bed and gently shook Akira awake. Akira blinked her eyes open and stared up at Wolfric. Wolfric forced a smile for her, then looked back at the snow-white bird as it entered the shack through the window.

They watched the bird fly in and land on Akira’s chest. Malique moved, and the bird squeaked.

“Stay where you are,” Julianne whispered to the vampire.

“What is it doing?” Malique asked.

“He has to be sure Akira is worthy of his help,” Levi said, watching the bird on Akira’s chest.

“Of course she’s worthy,” Wolfric growled.

“To us, yes. But the Caladrius must be certain.” Jules watched the bird closely.

The bird quickly looked around the room, then into Akira’s eyes. As he stared into her eyes, Akira couldn’t look away from the snow-white bird on her chest.

“What is he doing?” Wolfric asked.

Darius chuckled as he watched the bird.

Julianne and Leviasen breathed a sigh of relief.

Zelious grinned and leaned his back against the wall.

Malique and Wolfric looked to the fairies for answers.

Jules smiled, “the bird is a Caladrius. They’re healers—of sorts.”

“Healer?” Wolfric looked back at the bird, unsure if he believed what he was being told. But he has witnessed many unbelievable things in his lifetime.

The Caladrius blinked, and Akira blinked as well.

“Thank you,” Akira whispered, her hand moving to the bird’s head.

The Caladrius almost purred as he leaned into her hand.

“Akira?” Wolfric asked, watching Akira and the Caladrius.

Akira looked up at Wolfric and smiled.

The bird jumped off the bed and waddled to the door. Jules opened the door for the Caladrius and watched him stumble out the door.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

The Caladrius looked up at Julianne and nodded, then took off into the sky, heading straight for the sun.

“Will he be okay?” Levi asked, watching the bird from beside Jules.

Jules smiled as she watched the Caladrius spread his wings before the sun. A dark powder-like substance puffed off the snow-white bird. The bird turned from the sun and headed for home.

“I think they both will be,” Jules said, turning to Levi. “Thanks to you.”

Levi smiled, “you were good at convincing the Caladrius.”

She chuckled, “you were pretty good at defusing the king.”

Levi laughed. They turned and reentered the shack.

Wolfric checked Akira over while her other three warriors pampered her, ensuring she wasn’t hungry and comfortable.

“The fever is completely gone,” Wolfric said, smiling into his Psychi’s beautiful face.

Akira’s skin was no longer purple and shined with health.

“I am a little hungry and thirsty,” Akira said, looking at her other warriors.

The three men nodded and pushed each other out of the way. They headed for the kitchen to make something for their Havent.

Akira giggled as she cuddled into Wolfric.

Wolfric smirked and held her close.

Akira looked over at Jules and Levi and smiled at them.

“Thank you.”

Jules moved quickly to her best friend and pushed Wolfric to the side as she took her friend into her arms.

Wolfric chuckled as he moved out of the fairy’s way.

“I told you to never do that to me again,” Jules cried in Akira’s arms.

Akira smiled as she held her best friend. “And I told you I couldn’t make any promises.”

Julianne huffed and moved up onto the bed to lie beside Akira.

Nibbles cried out as he jumped onto the bed. Akira smiled and pulled her Al-Mi’Raj onto her lap.

The trolls entered the shack and smiled at Akira. She smiled back and waved for Stella to join her and Jules on the bed.

Stella tried to keep calm but failed and sailed herself onto the foot of the bed, making Akira and Jules laugh.

Fin snorted and rolled his eyes, a secret smile playing across his face.

Akira looked up at Levi and smiled. “Thank you,” she mouthed.

Leviasen smiled and nodded to the Havent. “Anything for you,” he mouthed back.

Akira closed her eyes and held onto her friends. She prayed this was the last time one of them came this close to death, but she knew better than to hold her breath.

The warriors served up the first home-cooked meal in a long time, and the group slept around Akira, not wanting to let her out of their sight.

Come morning, they were on their way again, their troubles behind them—or so they thought.

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