Chapter 9 - The Broken Throne
The golden liquid hissed into Kael’s bloodstream.
For three terrifying seconds, nothing happened. The boy lay completely motionless in Harrison’s arms, his pulse flatlining on the laboratory monitors.
"Come on... come on, son... please..." Harrison sobbed, holding the boy's head against his chest, tears washing the dust and blood from his cheeks. "Don't leave me."
Suddenly, Kael took a massive, gasping breath of air.
The grey, stone-like scales covering his feet, legs, and chest began to crack and dissolve like dried mud under rain. Fresh, healthy color rushed back into his skin. His dark eyes fluttered open, bright, clear, and full of life.
"Father..." Kael whispered, reaching up a small, warm hand to touch Harrison’s bloodied shoulder. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine, Kael," Harrison cried, laughing through his tears. "I'm completely fine."
Dr. Evelyn Thorne, seeing her empire crumble as federal police sirens finally echoed from the street below, tried to crawl toward the private escape hatch in the rear of the lab.
Marcus, stepping out from the smoke with minor injuries, placed the heavy barrel of his rifle directly in front of her path. "Going somewhere, Doctor?"
Ten minutes later, elite tactical officers from the Federal Crime Division flooded the 90th floor. Dr. Thorne and Julian Vance were led away in heavy iron restraints, facing lifetime sentences for bio-terrorism, illegal human experimentation, and attempted murder.
As the paramedics tended to Harrison's shoulder wound, a lead federal medical officer picked up one of the glowing golden vials from the console.
"Mr. Vance... this counter-agent..." the officer said, his voice trembling with awe. "Initial scans show it can reverse spinal nerve damage within minutes. Do you realize what you've created here tonight?"
May you like
Harrison looked at the remaining four hundred and ninety-nine golden vials sitting in the dispenser tray. Then he looked at Kael, who was standing quietly beside his wheelchair, holding a clean blanket around his shoulders.
"I didn't create it," Harrison said proudly, reaching down to hold Kael’s hand. "My son did."
