Trials

There was one thing about the job that kept Julius going. The idea of soaring above the surface breathing in non-recycled air was always one that appealed to him, and all the other cadets who began the course. But he couldn't enjoy it today. An unshielded fairy had managed to escape to the surface, that wasn't good at all. If a mudman became suspicious their underground safe haven would be under threat.

In recent years the Mudmen had become more developed, they were moving into the age of computer technology and every day the fairy world was under risk of being discovered. Only the LEPs annoying centaur technician had kept them undetected.

Julius wished that Foaly would upgrade the suits. He felt particularly exposed today, only his shield keeping him from the Mudmen. But he had to find the fairy and stop them doing anything stupid.

-

He swooped down over the countryside of Germany as he following the tracking signal on his helmet screen. He may as well enjoy these moments above the surface. A promotion was coming anyway. He would turn it down of course. Major Root was the last thing he wanted.

Finally he found the rouge fairy and stopped dead. It was a pixie in a pink outfit standing just outside a village, in which were not one, but two trolls. He groaned, why did this always happen on his watch?

"What is your status Captain?" The voice of his commander came through from the Police Plaza.

"There's a pixie and two trolls destroying a village." Root replied simply as he flew overhead, looking for any advantage over the trolls. He heard his commander sigh in annoyance over the comm. Or at least he thought he had sighed, it sounded more like static.

"OK Captain, stay back and get the pixie away from the Mudmen, I'm sending in Retrieval." Root groaned this time. He hated hanging back whilst Retrieval came to sort out the problem. That was when he heard it, a child's cry for help.

"Hilf bitte!"

It was then that Root took a decision that would change not only career but the career of one of his future captains. He ignored his orders.

"I'm sorry commander but people are dying in there." He took the cry for help as an invitation and shot down like a rocket straight towards the trolls.

-

Maya sat meditating in Julius's apartment. She found herself unable to leave his room whilst he went away on topside missions. It made her feel safe, as though he was actually there. It stopped her worrying so much about him because there was always the chance that he wouldn't come back.

That was the downside of the LEP. There was no guarantee that one day you wouldn't get hurt. It was why, even though she had the skills, she had never joined the Lower Elements Police. Instead she taught the younger children of Haven the lessons of peace and respect through the forms of martial art, mostly Kung Fu.

She hoped that by teaching children to defend themselves and teaching the rights and wrongs of life they would never end up in a police building for the wrong reason. She was doing the job of protecting the people, just in a different way, with far less risks.

Slowly she pulled herself out of her meditative state, unable to find peace because she was simply too nervous. Flicking on the TV she watched the news. There was nothing about Julius. Then again, when she watched it there never was. Maybe it was the curse of falling in love with an LEP officer. She had heard of the LEP widows, a group of women who had lost the husbands to the line of duty.

If she ever married him she was determined not to become one of them.

-

Julius had fought trolls before. He had always come out on top fairly quickly. But these two were strangely elusive. His magic had been low to start with but now it was at dangerous levels. Shielding had become a draining chore, no longer coming with ease. He knew that if he didn't end this soon someone would see him.

Finally he got the chance he had been waiting for. The trolls were struggling to remove the roof of one of the houses. He flew towards them sinking a few shots into one and landing on the other. The first troll hit the ground, unconscious for now.

The second however, noticed his presence and plucked his gun from his hand, it fell to the floor. He flew up again but the troll's eyes followed him. Suddenly it hit him. His shield had failed; he was one hundred percent visible. His last thought before the troll slung him against a wall was that his commander was going to have his head for this.

The troll lumbered towards his small form, crumpled against the wall and picked him up. Julius tried to remain silent as an idea popped into his head. He reached up to his helmet and turned on the tunnel beams, the troll's eyes didn't like the idea of the bright light. He was dropped and he managed to pick up his Neutrino and fire two shot into the troll. It hit the ground beside the first troll.

Julius sank to his knees, exhausted and hurting. The Neutrino slipped from his fingers. A young German girl popped her head out of one of the wrecked houses. She was safe but she could see him. His commander really was going to kill him, this would mean a mind wipe.

"Danka." She said softly before disappearing behind the door again. She had been the girl that had cried for help. Julius felt unconsciousness coming for him and gave in, fainting just as the Retrieval team arrived.

-

Maya turned on the TV for the new again. This time a newsflash caught her attention. It showed the two trolls and the pixie that had been above ground being transported back to the safe world underground with the Retrieval team.

Julius had done it again. He had saved the innocent young children, both Mudmen and fairy alike. But the next line stopped her smile in its tracks.

"The young LEP captain who stopped the trolls has been taken to the LEP hospital for treatment for his injuries. He faces several reprimands for the direct breaking of orders, running low on magic for a mission and letting a Mudman child see him."

Maya had raced out of the door by the newsflash ended, the TV left on in her haste to get to the LEP hospital.

By the time she reached the hospital it was being mobbed by the press. They all wanted to find out about the captain who had gone against his orders. A large number of corporals were trying to keep the press back with partial success.

All she cared about was Julius's safety. She fought her way through the mob and almost smiled in relief when she saw her old friend, Corporal Jamie Scott, standing nearby.

"Jamie!" She called urgently. He looked up in surprise and ran over to her, helping her past the barriers and into the hospital itself.

"Maya, what are you doing here?" She took several deep breaths to steady herself.

"I have to see Julius, is he alright?" Corporal Scott rolled his eyes at her use of Julius Root's first name but realised quickly that she was deadly serious.

"You know him don't you?" He asked her suspiciously. Maya nodded in reply, not trusting herself to speak, "He'll live, nothing major. I'm worried what his commander's going to do to him though, unshielded whilst talking on two trolls. He's not going to be happy!"

"Can I see him?" Maya asked again, this time with more urgency. He led her through the maze of corridors until they reached him room. The medics refused to let her in until she told them that she was his fiancée. Scott had raised an eyebrow at this, but had thankfully said nothing.

-

Maya was glad that for once Scott had been right. Julius wasn't in too much of a bad way. A few bruises and a broken rib of two. Not as long as the list of injuries you usually received after a one on one unarmed fight with a troll.

On the bed Julius stirred. Maya sat beside him, taking his hand. His eyes opened and shut again almost instantly accompanied by a groan. Waking up to bright white lights wasn't kind on the eyes. But he tried again anyway and when his vision managed to focus he saw her.

"Maya," He whispered. It sounded like a statement and a question at the same time.

"I'm here." Maya replied, tightening her grip on his hand. He squeezed in reply.

"What happened to give a headache like this?" He asked his voice croaky. But before she could reply he remembered, 'Oh that happened. Commander's gonna kill me." He said quietly, sinking further into the pillows.

Maya smiled comfortingly, her hand brushing a rouge lock of hair off his forehead. Then she took his other hand with hers and placed something into it. He smirked in amusement as he felt the acorn pressed against his palm.

"Promise me you'll do it as soon as you can I'll protect you from your commander." Maya told him jokingly.

"Promise," Julius replied.

Somehow he got away with a verbal reprimand and the orders to complete the ritual at the next full moon, two days from then. Maya held her own against the LEP officers attempting to get the commander to give Julius some sort of punishment and eventually convinced the commander to get him to complete the ritual and keep him underground for a few weeks to learn his lesson.

So Julius Root went home with Maya that night feeling decisively better than he had that morning. Little did he know that one of his future officers would do almost exactly the same thing.

Next time:

Julius Root struggles to find the courage to ask Maya to marry him. What will she say and what will his colleagues think?