CHAPTER 7

His leg had been given whatever treatment he'd needed. The limb had been operated on a couple hours ago by a group of doctors, who'd fixed up his leg to the best of their ability, piecing the bone fragments back together before covering it back up again and stitching the opening they'd made together. They'd wrapped the leg with rough white cloth, which squeezed his leg together so tightly that for a little bit his foot felt numb from the constriction, but the healers were kind, and they loosened it for him. Afterwards they'd put a hard plastic frame around the leg, which stretched everything below the knee out completely and made it straightened out, so much so that he couldn't even move it if he tried. It was a full cast, all the way down to the foot.

After he'd woken up a new nurse had carted him off to his room, still strapped to the gurney. The new nurse looked a lot younger than the other one and acted as if she were still new. She tried to look like she knew what she was doing, but there was a look of questioning on her face. Oftentimes, she would enter with with a little young gray haired nurse that helped the boy get used to the feeling of walking with the other leg as straight as possible before leaving and never returning, leaving him to experiment himself. Over a few days, walking returned to normal again, but it was more of a waddle now that the left leg was completely straight.

The healer left him in the room for an hour or two, before coming back in, two guards at his side. The guards were dressed the same way Giln's men had been dressed, gleaming armor on the body, but positioned so that it didn't impede the wearer's movement in any way. Suddenly, Dasia's scream bolted through the air so vividly that he was surprised that the three adults didn't even react to the noise, like they had heard nothing. Instead the doctor simply walked up to his bed, guards following behind him.

"Hi there...world standing still for you? We gave you some medication...I need to do a little test on you to make sure the meds didn't scramble your thoughts." The healer reached into the small pocket built into his wrinkled plastic coat, pulling a small metal rod out in front of Heksis, which was about the side of the boy's finger. The end of the metal rod that the man pointed at him was reflective, colored white and slightly transparent.

"Now...follow this light for me." The doctor said, with the calm and relaxed voice of someone who had done this a thousand times. He pressed a button on the end of the metal object, a bright piercing white light blasted him in the face, making him reflexively close his eyes in response for the first second before slightly opening his eyes again just a little bit, but the beam still dazed him.

"It is bright..." Heksis mumbled to the healer, who simply gave him a small nod in response. "Follow it," he repeated, beginning to move the light to the left, with Heksis slowly swiveling his head after it. They reached the left side, and then the doctor moved it over to the right side, Heksis following the whole time. He had a blank, expressionless look on his face as he did. The bright light disappeared with a click, and Heksis blinked the afterimage away.

"Okay...now let's start with your name..." The adult said, with Hek's ears hearing a small sigh from his throat. What did he want? He should say what he wants first.

"I wanna go home..." The boy muttered, still laying down on the bed with a plain expression on his face and avoiding eye contact with the doctor by looking down at their jacket. The leg felt uncomfortably numb, and Hek felt tired. Like he'd played all day, and now...he wasn't in his bed even though he wanted to sleep. He wanted to sleep. But his body felt like something didn't belong inside it. The doctor let out another near silence huff. Sad? Upset? Annoyed? He couldn't tell.

"Your home is moving." He said, still plain and robotic with his tone.

Moving? He didn't want to move...was his family coming with him? She needed to come with him.

"Is Kelvi coming? Her name is Kelvi she's my family." Heksis assumed the doctor could just magically find out if she was or not, from what he'd seen he was the highest ranking person here, all the other eliksni doing whatever he told them to. He didn't know any other information about his mother, only their name and what they looked like. But even that information was useless since he'd need to actually see them to recognize them.

"Uh...no she's not coming. Your file doesn't have any parents or guardians listed..." The robotic tone faded to one of annoyance, probably tired of the boys questions. Heksis detected it...it was the same kind he'd heard from Giln...when he told him that he hadn't found anyone.

"Then I'm not going anywhere." Heksis said, his head already lowering to the doctor's feet with a faintly worried look on his face. They sounded like Giln...they were probably going to do the same thing he did to him.

"You don't have much of a choice." That was the only response he got, no violent outburst or bloody head at his feet...just a simple reply. The boy let out a silent exhale out of his nostrils as he thought.

"Oh." The boy gave a relieved nod to the healer, glad they weren't going to do anything like the captain had done. "Okay."

"I'll be back in a little to bring you to them. Get some rest." And with that, the healer exited the room, their plastic jacket gently crinkling as they moved their body. The crinkle reminded him of his tomb, pulling images of cracked stone from his mind coupled with the piercing screams of the creatures above him.

The boy blinked a few times, let out a whimper, and settled down under the covers of the bed.

Heksis had dozed off a few minutes after he'd spoken with the doctor, his still-broken body covered up by the blanket with the upper part twisted over the top of his head, Beneath it, he created a small tunnel large enough for his whole face to peek through, giving him plenty of air to breathe as he slept. He slept peacefully, only letting out a soft gurgled bark every few minutes, pushing up the saliva that built up in his throat to his slightly open mandibles and letting it wet the plain white blankets of the bed. He'd thought about the entire ordeal he'd gone through for awhile before he'd fallen asleep, simplifying it in his mind so it was easier for him to go over. He didn't understand that the Council wanted to question him, only that he was being brought to them, perhaps to deliver him to his mother. His thoughts flowed inside his head.

He had been on the cliffside with his mother and her name was Kelvi and she was nice and she loved him. They went to a cave then a servitor came and then mom put him in the cave. Then, he saw...just purple. Yes...the world became purple for a second right before the cave collapsed down. That had to be it. Then he was stuck in rocks that had fallen on him since he was inside the cave when it collapsed. There was screaming above him, coming from something...It wasn't like him. Then he was dug up, and brought here...

Hek had gotten a few hours of peace in the bed. No dreams, no nightmares, just thoughts and blank sleep, devoid of anything substantial. The small blanket he'd pulled over his head had miraculously held. A couple small grunts escaped out of his throat as he returned to the world from his sleeping state. Unbeknownst to Heksis, what sounded like wood creaking echoed from behind the door, not an odd sound given the disrepair of the metal floor. But he did feel the gentle vibrations poking his side as footsteps walked toward him and as the door slid open, each step poking his side a little stronger than before, a clear indicator that whoever was walking was coming toward him. Before he could peek just one side of his eyes open someone gentle tapped the side of his head.

"Hey...Heksis. I need you to wake up now buddy okay?" A familiar voice whispered into his ear, the thin fabric of the blanket unable to keep the sound from passing through. An involuntary grunt escaped his mandibles along with a slurred, incomprehensible thought as he sat up.

It was the healer. "Hey Heksis. It's time for us to go."

Still groggy, he managed, "Where are we going?"

"We're going to speak to the Council. They need you to tell them what you know about the attack."

"I...I want to rest."

"You can rest on the way there. Very important people want to speak with you."

"I wanna talk with my mommy..." Heksis said, something hot and uncomfortable pulling the sleep out of him. The boy couldn't help but to pull the blanket over his head, as if not seeing it would make him wake up from this dream, staring at the ceiling of his room as he laid in a crib littered with toys. He felt the vibrations as the man walked out of the room, with two heavier people now walking in toward him.

Moments later, his bed was disconnected from the wall and wheeled out of the room by two figures dressed in gray clothing which had a ragged wool texture, with several heavy geometric metal shapes plastered onto their apparel. He allowed himself to peek out from under the blanket to see them.

"Where are we going?" He asked, but the guard didn't so much as look at him while he pushed the bed along. "You are coming to the Council to tell them what you saw." he stated flatly, his tone as stale as cold granite.

Heksis was curious what that meant. It sounded like a fancy word! Like "beenavolent" or "dehaidrated", but at the same time his mind stayed fixated on his mother, looking into the patient rooms as best as he could as they wheeled him down the hallway. She'd come pick him up and take him home again soon, the child felt sure of that. She would want him to be patient until then, she knew he'd miss her, and she knew he'd want to be with her again so he felt safe. She would come, he just had to wait.

"Try to remember the things you saw before we take you there. It should help make this go by a lot faster."

He exhaled a hushed and wimpy "Yes sir" to the guard, his broken Elik making the guard frown down on him with what seemed to be a look of pity. Pity? The boy didn't understand he reason why.

The guard took a curious look at him, seeing him as a broken child still full of fear and confustion. "It's okay little one...We'll figure this all out soon and then you can go home." he said in a naive attempt to soothe.

The second guard's voice, the one on Heksis' left, carried much more authority. "Stop your talking," he ordered. "And hurry up! The Council's almost done discussing trade between the core and Janus IV. If we're late Giln is gonna have our heads. I like my head where is it right now and I'm sure you do too." The pace didn't really pick up, and that seemed to steam the guard that had told the nicer one to hurry. Suddenly, everything stopped.

"I'm trying to go slow so he can relax on the way. Have you ever seen a pup when their woken up? If he was a few months younger he'd be squealing! Do you want to have to deal with that during the trip to Skola?"

"If it means staying alive, yes! Now gimme that!" the more aggressive guard ordered, and a small scruff was heard as the nicer guard was gently pushed away from where he'd been standing, still in view but away from where he'd been before. Their arms stretched out for a moment as they extended in frustration for a moment, yelling, "Hey!" in an angered tone.

"Take it up with your commanding officer Seva!" Hard vibrations on his back and leg hit him as the guard pulled him down the hallway to wherever they were going at what felt like a breakneck speed. Hek felt Seva's footsteps as they ran after him, exclaiming a short "But that's you." as he did.

The guard pushing the cart slowed down a bit, swiveling his head around. Heksis couldn't see it as well, and it just looked like they turned to the side, but he could tell what they were doing by the muscle movements near their arms. "Well, I deem the actions necessary!"

The first guard sighed before letting out a submissive "Yes sir...".

The guards didn't speak at all after that, keeping quiet as they carted him out of the hospital, up a rickety metal ramp, and into a glossy white room. Taking him to the Council to speak before them. Just then Heksis started to actually go through all the things he'd seen. And with that realization...the world wasn't so perfect anymore.

Authors note: I HAVE BEEN SO BUSY WITH SUMMER. My grandpa passed away from pancreatic cancer and I write this now shortly before going to bed in my grandma's home. She's still mourning and feeling lonely and needs my help with things. As much as I love this fanfic and all my readers, I need to put the happiness of my family before the fanfic. I have some free time though, and I will dutifully spend that time working on my fanfic and roleplaying with my friends. SureFireReadingFF may be helping me with the next chapter when Heksis meets the Council. I know having the story sort of stuck in the pre whirlwind era is somewhat boring but character development is my main concern for this fanfic and I thought it best to start my story out from the beginning. But I may do a couple time skips for the sake of your entertainment. That will be all. If anyone wants to speak with me more here is my email.

Adios