by D. E. Morris
“It's all right,” Cavalon told everyone. “This is good. This is what happens. He's going to be okay.” Within moments, the convulsions calmed before coming to a complete stop, and Lochlainn rested, breathing heavily in Jaryn's arms. Coming to a sudden realization, Cavalon swore and sprang to his feet. “Misuzu's going to be wiped. Do you have him?”
Confused and overwhelmed, Jaryn looked up at the hulking man, at a loss. “What?”
“Do you have him? I have to get to Ashlynn.”
“Yes! Go!” It was all Cavalon needed to hear. He stepped back only enough to make sure he wouldn't burn anyone before disappearing in a burst of blue and gold flames.
Jaryn was gentle as he brushed the shaggy hair from Lochlainn's face, peering down to see his eyes opening to slits. “You're all right, my boy. You're all right.” Glancing up, he motioned a still frightened Lucien up closer, then rubbed Rowan's arm. “Everything is okay now.”
Lochlainn moaned as he came to a little more. His gaze shifted as though he wasn't quite sure where he was, then became fixed on the far corner of the room. No one seemed to notice until his hand lifted, reaching for something. Jaryn, Nuala, and Lucien all turned to the other side of the room to see what he was grasping for, but there was nothing to be found. “Easy, Lochlainn,” Jaryn soothed, rocking his son back and forth in a slow, soothing manner. “Rest. Just rest.”
“Is he okay?” Rowan whispered, her pale eyes watery.
“His breathing seems normal,” Jaryn reported, touched by her concern for her foster brother. “He's stopped shaking and his eyes are open. Can you hear my voice, son?” Lochlainn nodded and pulled his long legs up as close to his body as he could, turning his face into his father's chest. “Aye, he's going to be just fine.” Lifting his eyes to Nuala, he worked to keep worry from his tone. “And despite the way Cavalon just left, so will Ashlynn.” The winged woman before him nodded, but as she turned her head toward the wide window that faced out toward the sea, it was easy to tell that she was holding her breath.
~*~*~*~
A burst of fyre behind her did nothing to jolt Misuzu as she struggled to keep her wits about her. The reed needle in her hands shook more than her fingers as she tried to find the vein under the skin on Ashlynn's arm. “It's done,” Cavalon shouted, sprinting across the arena floor. “Bring her back!”
He looked at the pale, unmoving body on the thin bed of straw and blankets, unexpectedly shaken at seeing her like this for a second time. Even as Tasarin threw back the blanket covering the top half of her body and injected something directly into her heart, Cavalon felt the bile rising in his throat.
“Help me,” Misuzu begged, turning around to look at him with the needle held out. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was shallow and rapid. “I can't do this, Cavalon. Help me!” Whatever Tasarin had given Ashlynn took an immediate effect, making her gasp for air so violently that she nearly sat up and doubled over. Misuzu shrieked and jumped away, the needle falling out of her hands. The sudden energy rush left Ashlynn as quickly as it had come on, leaving her as lifeless as she had been just a second ago.
Tasarin eased her back down and glared at both Misuzu and Cavalon, his face flushed. “Do something!” He put her head down, making sure she wasn't at an odd angle, then grabbed her wrists. Blood was warm and slick under his fingers but he didn't care, trying not to focus on it or what the other two were saying or doing as he bent his head in concentration for his healing spell. He had to close the wounds or the blood her heart was now pumping anew would only flow right out of her and join the rivers of blood on either side of her. If he couldn't do this simple thing, there would be no saving her.
Rushing past the elf, Cavalon grabbed more tubing from the liquid in the bowl and hastened to attach it to two more clean needles. Just as he'd done before, he slid one into his own vein and waited until his blood came dripping from the other end. Careful not to get in Tasarin's way, he pressed the second needle through Ashlynn's skin and into her vein for a direct transfusion.
“I'm sorry,” Misuzu cried weakly, on her knees just a couple of feet away. “I tried.”
Tasarin lifted one of his hands to peer at the gash in Ashlynn's wrist. He couldn't keep himself focused and his scattered concentration was making poor work of his magic. Fresh blood spurted out from between his fingers, surprising him enough to almost jerk his hand away completely. “Pull yourself together!” Cavalon barked, the muscles in his neck strained in tension. “If she dies-”
“Be quiet,” the elf growled, bearing down with as much pressure as he could manage. “I need to focus.”
Another burst of fyre was enough to draw Misuzu's attention from the horrific sight before her. When the flames died and she found Badru approaching, she clambered to her feet and threw herself into his arms in relief. “Help them,” she sobbed. “Help them.” For everything he saw, Badru simply gave Misuzu's back a calm little pat before letting her go. He approached the others, untying a heavy leather pouch from his belt as he walked with a quiet determination on his face that was neither rushed nor worried.
“Be still,” he told the other two men, his voice just as peaceful as his demeanor. “Just be still.” He tipped the pouch up, the contents spilling out into his palm to reveal several large teardrop shaped dragon vein shards of different colors. Careful, as though touching thin glass, he lay the shards on Ashlynn's upper chest and shoulders in a semi-circle like a chain of office. One small shard of deep turquoise with gold flecks and veins running throughout was placed on Ashlynn's forehead before Badru let his hand fall to his side and took a step back. For several seconds there was no visible change. Cavalon sank to the ground beside the table, the effects of his own blood loss beginning to kick in, and hung his head in quiet defeat.
“Look,” Misuzu whispered, standing at the foot of the bed. Even Tasarin opened his eyes once more, just in time to see the shards sink down into Ashlynn's skin as though her body simply absorbed them. Misuzu looked to Badru, wide eyed. “What happened? What was that?”
“That was the death cure,” he answered softly. A slow smile spread on his lips as he looked down at Ashlynn. He ran a hand over her head, pushing the hair from her face. “Look, her color is returning.” He nodded to Tasarin. “Check her wounds.” The elf did as suggested with no small amount of hesitation, but inhaled in amazement when he saw she was no longer bleeding and her skin was knit back together as if it had never been injured. “You can stop now,” Badru told Cavalon. The Badarian glared up at his friend with uncertainty, but Badru only nodded. “Look, she is breathing well and her heart is beating at a slow and steady pace. She will live.”
“What did you do to her?” Cavalon asked, pulling the needle from Ashlynn's arm. They all watched, half expecting the small hole in her arm to heal itself after what they'd just witnessed, but it blossomed with blood that needed to be stemmed with pressure.
Badru shook his head in answer to the question asked. “I am not quite certain myself, to be honest, but I will answer as many questions as I can once Ashlynn is awake. I know she will have many of her own. For now, I will simply tell you that there is someone who has been watching over us for some time. I have met her several times before, as has Ashlynn. You have seen her yourself, Cavalon, though she has not yet chosen to speak to you. She knows things of our future, things she has begun to offer us guidance to navigate through. She foresaw a different outcome to this night and led me to an alternate solution.”
“She saw Ashlynn die,” Tasarin said with quiet certainty.
“Yes,” Badru confirmed. “Do not ask me how or why; I was not given details and they are not important. All that matters is that she is alive. And the boy?”
Cavalon ran a weary hand over his head. “He's one of us now.”
Satisfied with Ashlynn's stability, Tasarin stepped away from her to give Misuzu a once over. “Are you all right?”
She nodded even as he took her face in his hands, shame coloring her cheeks. “I let you down.
I'm sorry.”
“I let you down,” he corrected. “I thought my potions would keep you strong during the transfer.” Reaching for two vials of pink liquid, he placed one in her hands. “Drink this. It will help.” With less compassion on his face, he held the other vial out to Cavalon. “You should drink one, too.”
“I don't need it,” Cavalon insisted gruffly, hardly even glancing at the offering.
Tasarin said nothing but lifted his pale eyes to Badru. The darker skinned man fought a smirk and looked down at his friend. “Take it, Cavalon. What good are you to anyone at half your strength?” With a low growl, Cavalon snatched the vial from Tasarin's hand, popped the cork stopper off with his thumb, and downed the thin liquid without a second thought.
“How long do you think it will be before we can move her?” asked Tasarin, returning to Ashlynn's side.
Tilting his head, Badru gave a thoughtful shrug. “I can see no reason why she should not be able to be moved now.”
“I would like to bring her back to Braemar, then. It would be better for her to be in a bed and not out in the open air. She needs to be left alone to rest with people taking shifts watching over her. I am certain Jaryn must be anxious to know how she has fared.”
Cavalon stood, already looking like he was feeling more like himself. “For once, I agree with you. So how are we going to do this?”
Misuzu cleared some of the straw away near Ashlynn's feet. “There's a cot beneath her for easy lifting. We were prepared.”
“Okay,” he replied. “Let's all take a corner and go slowly. I assume your boat is waiting?”
Tasarin nodded, taking the other corner by Ashlynn's head while Badru took the remaining one by her feet. “Yes. If you help me get her on board, the three of you can teleport back, and Suule and I will sail back across with her.”
“I'll go with you,” Cavalon said as they all moved as one.
“There is not enough room,” the elf argued.
“Then I'll fly above,” Cavalon retorted. “I'm not going to leave her alone with just you and a unicorn in a boat at night in open water.”
“Can you both just shut up until we get to the beach?” Misuzu spat as they began to climb the steps.
The others were indeed eager for any sort of news from the Isle of Contest. When Misuzu appeared in fyre with Badru and not Cavalon, there was confusion and a brief moment of panic, but both were quick to assure them that all was well. Badru was evasive when asked why he was there, saying only that it was divine providence and that all would be explained in due time. Rowan clung to his side, unusually quiet and somber. When he asked if she was feeling well, she simply burst into tears, the sound of everything Lochlainn had gone through being all too much for her.
By the time the boat arrived and was safely tied off to a small dock on shore, four strong Volarim waited down on the beach with Nuala. At her instruction, they took Ashlynn's cot and lifted her into the trees to bring her to the royal household. Without any warning, Cavalon grabbed Tasarin under his arms and flew him up as well, both of them with sour expressions upon their faces.
Jaryn and Lochlainn waited in the room that had been prepared for Ashlynn. The little boy was still groggy, though more alert than he had been earlier. He stood against his father with Jaryn's hands resting on his shoulders. Both of them watched in a mixture of fear and worry as she was carried in. “Stay here,” Jaryn whispered, letting go of his son. He hurried across the room to Ashlynn's side and looked her over, searching for any sign of injury or distress.
“You may move her,” Badru said from the doorway.
Jaryn glanced toward him, questioning. When the man nodded confirmation to his words, Jaryn slid his arms under his wife's body to carefully, slowly pull her toward him. He expected her to be cold and impossibly light for some reason, but she was warm and solid against him, real in his grasp and very much alive. It brought tears to his eyes and he bent his head, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. The four Volarim with the cot left the room and Lochlainn climbed up onto the bed to get a look at his mother.
“Is she all right?”
“She will be,” Jaryn told him. “Here, let me lay her down.” They worked together, Lochlainn making sure his mother's hair wasn't being pulled back or her arm being tucked under her as Jaryn put her down onto the bed, eyeing her to make sure she looked comfortable. Lochlainn pulled Ashlynn's arm out and snuggled up close to her side, pulling her arm around him as though she were hugging him. Turning to Badru, Jaryn touched a hand to his heart but did not move away from the bed. “I don't know why you're here or what part you played in bringing my wife back to me, but thank you.”
A smile flickered over Badru's lips. “No thanks are necessary. Rest now with your family. I will tell my tale to the others and they can fill you in later.” Once more Jaryn nodded. He returned his attention to his wife and son, already kicking off his boots as Badru closed the door.
The others were waiting for him in a large common room that had been built around a wide tree not too far away. He had seen them all heading that way as he'd left to make sure Ashlynn would be well settled and could hear familiar voices drifting his way even at such a distance. Cavalon was giving out orders to someone about the cleanup for the arena. As he drew closer, he saw two Volarim leaving the room and moving through the tree tops in the direction of Ashlynn and Jaryn's room, no doubt to keep it guarded and to make sure they weren't disturbed. Cavalon glanced outside as though expecting someone or something, brows raised, and relaxed upon seeing Badru.
“Everything all set?”
“They are all together. I suggest they be left alone until morning.”
“We were thinking the same,” Misuzu commented as he stepped into the large room. “How did you know we were here?”
“Oh,” the old man sighed, settling into a chair by a window. “We are jumping right into the questions.” He took a deep breath and dragged his hands over his weathered face. “Well-”
“Are the others okay?” Rowan blurted. “Do they know you've left them?”
“The others are fine,” he assured. “We have allies in Cieria now, people we can trust. Connor is with them and the girls are still in Rhiamon's village. He knows I have gone, they do not. I plan to return first thing in the morning. As to how I knew you were here, that is a bit more complicated of an answer.” Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and linked his fingers together. “I was sent here by Benevolence to save Ashlynn.”
A collective, “What?” rippled around the room at different decibels, causing Badru to bob his head.
“Her name is Brigid. Like us, she has certain abilities. One of them is the gift of foresight. It is subjective at best and as she weakens, which has been happening as Merrik gains strength, her visions have become less reliable, but there are times she sees things with a level of certainty that is not to be argued. She saw Ashlynn die tonight, and not temporarily. Usually, she does not interfere. She tries not to alter that which she sees, but...” Badru looked at his hands, palms open to the ceiling. “We are faltering, and if we fail – if Merrik wins – the world as we know it will end. And so Brigid interfered. She decided to give Ashlynn a new place among the dragon-kin.”
“What were those shards you put on her skin?” Tasarin asked. “Were they some sort of rocks or crystals meant for healing?”
“Those weren't rocks,” rumbled Cavalon, staring at Badru. “Those were agates...dragon vein agates.”
Misuzu's brow furrowed. “Dragon vein...as in the type that come from jewel dragons?” Shocked, she turned her attention to Badru. “Is that what you mean by a new place among the dragon-kin?”
Nuala shook her head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Misuzu's eyes widened. “Badru put the agate pieces all across Ashlynn's chest and one on her forehead, and they sank into her body. She literally absorbed them.”
“The jewel dragons chose her,” Rowan whispered. “Just like Gia said.�
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Tasarin's eyes were narrowed. “And this Brigid somehow knew these agates would work where my magic would not?”
“That's what's really bothering you,” said Cavalon, “isn't it?”
“Cavalon,” Nuala warned, “not now.”
“There's a lot that doesn't add up,” Misuzu muttered. “How come I've never seen Brigid?”
“I do not think she was ready to be seen by anyone until Jessiah took most of Ashlynn's powers five years ago,” Badru continued. “That was the catalyst for a great deal of change among us, although Cavalon and Nuala, you two happened to meet her by chance the day you visited Bás.”
The couple looked at each other, but Cavalon scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don't believe in chance anymore.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Badru woke early the next morning, his guilt at being away from those he thought of as his charges in Cieria keeping him from sleeping too late. He was quiet as he slipped from the room he'd shared with Misuzu and Rowan, though the younger woman woke before he had the chance to get away. She gave him as tight an embrace as she could manage before curling up once more with Misuzu.
Jaryn was groggy but answered the door when Badru knocked, stepping aside to let the older man in. He was surprised to see Lucien in the room, especially with Ashlynn still asleep, but Jaryn shrugged. “She gave us a bit of a startle this morning. I don't know if she forgot where she was or if she was remembering things from last night, but she wouldn't be calmed. Tasarin gave her some sort of tonic that helped, but Lucien's got something of a gift.”
