Chapter Eighteen
"Sam! Sam!" yelled a voice. Elvis shook Sam frantically. "Sam!" blood pooled around Sam's head. Claw marks showed on his forehead. "SAM!" Marcelo pushed Elvis away from Sam. "give the man some space damn it!" Marcelo checked Sam for a pulse. "he doesn't have a pulse." Elvis whimpered softly. Tears welled up in his eyes. "he can't…he can't be dead." The healer lifted Sam's body up. "give me some time with him." She whispered. She carried him back to her hut. She laid him down on the table.
Sam laid in a room filled with white. He slowly got to his feet. His head rang a little bit. "where am I? More importantly I need to get back." He barely took a step when the ringing in his head got worse. "steady there Sam." Came a voice. He turned around to see his friend, Penny standing behind him. She touched the wound he had on his head. "I don't think anyone is going to be able to recover from a wound like that." Sam saddened a bit. "you mean?" She nodded sadly. "the knight bashed your skull in pretty good." Sam felt a wave of grief hit him. He realized he failed his duty as protector to Annu. "I can't die just yet. Not until she's safe." Penny hugged him. "they've taken the girl. She gave herself up so they wouldn't hurt the others." He looked at her. His blue eyes widened in shock. "no I have to get back." He snapped. "I have to. No telling what they are going to do to her." Penny touched the side of his face. "Sam, you've crossed over, there's no going back." He grabbed her hand. "then you have to help me get out of here." She was shocked by his request but knew better then to convince him otherwise. "I'm sure the others I'm coming up with a plan." She comforted.
Annu slowly woke up. She found herself in a familiar place. She frantically rattled the cage door. "no no this can't be happening." She whimpered. "I can't die…not like this." One of the guards punched the wall near her causing her to jump. "shut up in there!" he growled. Annu crawled into a corner. She held herself. "don't worry I'm sure he's okay. He doesn't die as easily as the others. He's going to come looking for me I just know he is." She whispered to herself. She was trying to give herself a glimmer of hope to hold onto. Dread hung heavily around her. The cage door opened. "Devam has been waiting to see you, princess." The guard grabbed her by the back of her neck. "he wishes to give you a proper send off." He added laughing. Annu struggled. She only hoped Sam would get to her as quickly as possible. The guard took her to a room that sat in the heart of the base. He chucked her down in front of a knight that was bigger than the others. Tuko's ice blue eyes blinked. A snake-like grin slowly spread across his lips. "good evening your highness." He put pressure on her skull by putting his foot on her head. "I'm going to have a fun time playing with you before I finally wipe your pathetic kind from existence." Annu snarled at him. She spat on one of his toes. He recoiled in disgust before giving her a solid kick the stomach. "Don't think I sought you out alone. There's a human here who is just dying to get his hands on you as well." He looked up at the guards. "send the alien hunter in the room."
Buck arrived about fifteen minutes later. Annu snarled at him angrily. "I'd like to talk to her majesty alone." Sneered Buck. The guards left the room. "well…well..well…looks like I finally have the final piece of my plan in place." He lifted her up by the collar of her shirt. "when we get that artifact, I'm going to use it to wipe you and the Ero off of the map." Annu growled. "so your just using the Ero to your advantage?" she spat. He nods. "yep. That element I got them wasn't the real sample. I have the real sample locked up somewhere." Annu managed to reach behind her. She touched the button for the intercom so the rest of the base could hear the conversation. "I don't need those alien savages once I have the artifact. I just used them to find out the location of the artifact." The knights began to revolt with what they were hearing. "that's interesting. I don't think they'll be too keen on you betraying them." She smirked. Buck just laughed. "they'll never find out." She begins laughing. "I would check behind you." The guards had reentered the room with the knights. Annu smiled. "you little bitch." He spat. Annu bashed her head against his knocking him senseless. Buck dropped her. She landed on her feet. The guards pinned Buck against the wall. Annu slipped past them once they had become distracted. "gentlemen I was only kidding." Chuckled Buck nervously. The guard raised his fist at Buck who was sweating bullets. Buck noticed that Annu was missing. "the girl is gone!" The guard tightened his hold. "we'll deal with her once we deal with you."
Annu ran downstairs into a hangar area. She noticed that the base hadn't raised the alarm yet. She sighed in relief. She snuck her way over to a speeder that sat idled in front of an open garage. "let me see if I can remember how to use one of these." She whispers. She climbs on top of it. She put her hand on the gas tank letting the speeder react to her aura. The engine started. She rushed the speeder out of the Eroian base. She needed to get back to her protector. Elvis paced back and forth. "will you stop pacing? Your making me dizzy just watching you." Grumbled Marcelo. "sam has to be okay." Whimpered Elvis. "He wouldn't die that easily." Marcelo sighed. "he had no pulse when we brought him in here. There's no way he can survive a blow to the skull like that." Elvis sat down on one of the empty beds. He kept from crying. He didn't want to lose Sam. He didn't want to lose someone else he cared about. The healer walked out of her den. "his body has been patched up now we just have to wait for the elder to finish the ritual." Both of the men nod.
The elder began chanting softly. He shook his staff over the top of Sam's body. He then sprinkled salt. The chanting grew louder as he made a small salt trail on the floor. Sam felt the energy change rapidly in the room he was in. He got to his feet. "looks like they've found a way." He turns to Penny hugging. "good bye Penny." He whispered sadly. She smiled at him. "take care Sam. Give Elvis my regards when you wake up." He nods. The room suddenly gets brighter…..