ce. Her gaze locked onto the tremblin

oice calm but carrying the weight of an absolute order. Sh

broken bone spike again.

d erupted from the ground, slamming into Riona and shoving her back sev

wanted to use-logic, facts, reassurances-died in her throat. She knew from her operative training that in the face of such profound, visceral trauma, any verbal expla

them. However, as an operative, she also knew that psychological healing could not begin until th

he bent down and grabbed a fistful of Jordi's tattered, filthy shirt. Despite his f

ed, slapping at her arms. He

d his thrashing body back into the cave. Riona pounded uselessly against the wind wall outside, screaming her brot

d as the barrier vanished, her eyes wide with a mixture of fury and utter helplessness. She looked at her brother's disappearing form, then at Jayla; th

hold, Jordi stopped struggling. H

ative kit, Jayla had quickly cleared a space. A sterile, silver-grey thermal mat was spread across the dirt floor, and a few portable glow-spheres hover

the thermal mat. Jordi let out a grunt

istine white medical sheets Jayla had layered on top.

, trying to hide his filthy, bleeding body from the clean sheets.

nd reached for the stiff, dirty animal skin drape

scream. It wasn't a sound of pain; it was a sound of pure, unadult

r panic. He shoved Jayla away with both

ack hitting the stone wall. Sh

ambled away, wedging himself into a narrow crevice in the rock wall at t

d. His body shook violently. "Don't touch me... please don't t

s and the trembling figure in the crack of the wall. The frustrat

sychological wound. Efficiency and force didn't work here. To a victi

ing; it was about healing. And healing

e step back, putting more distance between her