CHAMPIONS (The Lost Chronicles of Eden, #1) [Published]

20: FURTHER INTO THE DEEP AND FARTHER FROM THE LIGHT

“Just a few kilometers, according to the geomap,” Joana replied. Her brows were furrowed in concentration as she studied the device again. Mateo bit his lip to keep from taking over. He’d give her a few more attempts, but if she couldn’t lead them to the puésto soon, he’d tell her that he would take over as their navigator. Her pride is not worth their precious time. “I don’t understand,” Joana said. She sounded irritated, but Mateo knew from years of rivalry and odd friendship that she was just masking her desperation. “It says here that we should be at the edge of the Pass by now.”

“It’s more like a cave than a pass,” Lukas remarked. Mateo saw him keeping a steady eye on Solenn, who was looking worse as they walked further into the dark. He frowned when Solenn ran her hands down her arms to ward off the chill and looked away.

Something was wrong with Solenn. She knew it. Solomon knew it. Lukas knew it. Everybody knew it, but nobody was doing anything about it.

He was about to call on it when Gabriel’s voice cut through the thick silence that had been accompanying them since they entered the dangerous pass.

“Solenn, you’re sick.”

“I’m not,” Solenn said without missing a beat.

“You are. There are huge circles under your eyes, your skin’s become pale, you keep massaging your arms because the chill that only you are feeling is bothering you and you’re not making rude comments and you’re not threatening to kill me.”

Gabriel poked at Solenn after each point, pushing her farther and farther back. “You’re sick.”

“If you don’t stop poking at me, you’ll be sorry.”

“OK, that’s better,” Gabriel said. “But you’re still sick. See, at that point, you’re supposed to say, ‘Stop poking at me, or you’re dead meat,’ but you just said I’d be ‘sorry’. That was the lamest threat, ever.” He sent an exasperated glare at Lukas. “Come on, Lu. I thought you healed her already with that awesome blue light after the fight?”

“Calm down, lover boy. Fine, I’ll have a look,” Lukas said, pushing Gabriel aside to check at Solenn’s wound. It had dried already, the blood turned into ugly scabs. “Look, it’s all dried up. I took the poison out already, but the wound will scar.”

Solenn shrugged. “Doesn’t make that much of a difference. Thanks, though.”

Gabriel looked thoughtful for a moment before he addressed Lukas. “Hey, that reminds me,” he said, “that awesome healing thing you did back there. Have you always had that?”

“No,” Lukas replied. “Only after the Anointing.”

“Well, it’s not surprising,” Mateo remarked. “Champions receive gifts from the Triune during the anointing. I’ve read many books and stories on Champions. Sometimes, the gifts manifest themselves immediately after, like in Lukas’ case. In other cases, it might take the Champions quite some time before their gifts manifest.”

“It’s what makes us Champions, I think,” Joana added. “We were given abilities that no ordinary Guardian possessed. We’re to use these abilities to help save Eden.”

Gabriel nodded as he processed the information. “I wonder, though, when the rest of us would manifest our gifts. Does it say in the books how or when?”

Mateo shook his head. “Just that it will come out when the Champion is ready. Sometimes in trickles, other times in one go.”

“In trickles?”

Mateo took out a thin, rectangular glass tablet from his back pocket. He pressed on it a few times before a holographic image of a large, burly-looking man popped up from it. “Take Orías, for example. He was from the last generation of Champions. At  first, he could heal only small wounds, but later on, his gift became so powerful, he was able to restore life.”