Free Balm by Viola Grace Page B

through the air, but Quinn was busy staring at the shadowy face above her. She choked on her own blood as her heart stuttered. With the last of her energy, she spoke one word. “Dahl.”
    The figure nodded and a bright flash of light embraced them.
    * * * *
    Iskanu Dahl held Quinn in his arms. He fought to keep the urgency out of his tone. “New arrival. Stabbing victim.”
    The medical staff of Home sprang into action, taking Iskanu’s officer into their arms and taking her into a repair room.
    The knife still stuck out of her neck, causing rising nausea every time he looked at her.
    The medical staff prepared themselves and withdrew the knife, working swiftly to repair her flesh.
    He walked toward the head of the table, placing his hands next to her head and waiting.
    The repair specialists worked quickly, and when they backed away and nodded, Iskanu poured power into Quinn’s body, bringing her back to him.
    The circle of the situation didn’t escape him. She had held him while he breathed his last, and now, he returned the favour.
    Quinn’s body bucked, and with a loud cry, her bright blue eyes opened, staring up into his.
    “Hello, Officer Lios.”
    She coughed up blood and turned to her side to clear her lungs. Wearily, she looked up at him. “Commander Dahl. You look better.”
    He cracked a grin and dropped his hood. “So do you.”

Chapter Two
    He was alive. The most traumatic moment of her life was watching him die and holding him while he breathed his last, and he was alive.
    Quinn swung her arm and slugged him in the chest. “You couldn’t have told me earlier?”
    He grunted obligingly and bent over. “It was not the right time.”
    She sat up, wincing at the blood covering her neckline and cleavage. “Where are we, and can I get a change of clothing? This is a little…bloody, for me.”
    “We are in an inter-dimensional space called Home. You are a candidate to become a Sentinel of Time.”
    She looked at him with her head cocked. “Are you insane?”
    “No. This is where I was taken and where the repairs to my body were enacted. The Avatar of the Orb woke me, and I have been acting as an agent of the Orb for the last four years.”
    Quinn frowned. “It has only been two.”
    “For you, but here, we are outside of time. I have been on dozens of assignments to watch pivotal moments in history on worlds I didn’t know existed.” He offered his hand.
    She took it. “You are going to explain all this?”
    “Of course. It is my duty as your senior officer.” His smile was blinding white in the darkness of his Selna features.
    Quinn chuckled. “You haven’t been my senior anything since your untimely death.” She slipped off the medical bed, and he caught her as her knees gave way.
    “Take it easy, Lios. Dying is tiring.”
    She inhaled deeply, and her body hummed happily. Two years after he had left her forever, she was in his arms. It was a chance she never thought she would have.
    It took Herculean effort on her part, but she straightened and smiled brightly. “Thanks for the catch.”
    His lips twisted in a frown as she stepped out of his grip.
    She turned up the wattage on her smile and brushed the front of his robes. “I think you got some of my blood on you.”
    The small contact relaxed him.
    “Then, we should obtain a change of clothing for both of us. Come with me to the acquisitions department, and I will give you a full briefing.”
    He gestured for her to come with him, and she really had no choice. He was her commanding officer after all.
    “Before this universe was born, there was another. When it came time for the old universe to beat its last, it took part of its consciousness and hid it outside time and space. The old universe died, and the new one took its place, but the Orb survived.”
    They were walking slowly along one of the arched pedestrian bridges, and she was getting a briefing from the very beginning of the history of this most peculiar place.
    A chunk of