by Mell Eight
There was silence for a few minutes as Ash no doubt thought over Dr. Krantz's words.
"There's no side effects?" he finally asked. Dr. Krantz didn't answer with words, so he must have shaken or nodded his head. "Then I'm willing to try too."
"Excellent," Dr. Krantz said jovially. "If you don't mind, I would like to shamelessly use this experience in a paper detailing how we might magically aid albinos and potentially save them from difficult and painful surgeries."
"That's fine," Ash answered. "I'm happy to help other people like me." They were quiet for a long while, which got boring really quickly.
Boron wandered back over carrying three plates of food. He handed one to Alkaline and a second one to Aqua, who licked it up just as quickly as he had the first one. Boron grinned at him and handed over the last plate.
"I'll go get two more for them," he said while pointing a finger at Aqua's wing. He took all the empty plates with him when he left. Boron returned with two fresh plates well before Dr. Krantz was finished.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Krantz gently bumped Aqua's wing with his hand. "Lift your wing up, my boy. All the way so we can stand up, please." Aqua complied, carefully standing so he could lift his wing high enough for Dr. Krantz and Ash to stand.
Dr. Krantz had his hands covering Ash's eyes, Aqua saw as soon as his wing was high enough that he could see. Aqua carefully angled his wing so the rising sun was blocked, giving Ash as much shade as possible. Dr. Krantz waited a brief moment before slowly withdrawing his hands one finger at a time.
Ash's eyes were still closed and he very slowly lifted the lids as Dr. Krantz stepped back. He gasped in shock, staring around him like he had never seen the world before.
"I can see!" Ash lifted his own hand and stared at his palm, then looked up at Aqua. He was smiling, but there were also tears in his eyes. "I had no idea how out of focus the world was before, and now I can see even in sunlight. This is… Thank you, doctor."
"Don't thank me too profusely," Dr. Krantz said sternly, but he was smiling. "This was a purely academic exercise on my part, but I am glad to see that it worked. If your vision does start to deteriorate again, give me a call. Aqua knows how to get in touch."
Ash opened his mouth, no doubt to say thanks again, but he didn't get the chance to say it. A red dragon swooped low over the camp.
"A car's coming," she called loudly. "Looks like three salamanders are headed this way, and they don't look happy!" She flew off, probably to do some more reconnaissance.
"Safara!" Alkaline gasped.
"And Phyre," Ash added grimly.
"The road's this way," Boron said, turning and walking away quickly.
Aqua put his empty plate on the ground and turned towards Ash. "What do you want to do?"
Ash was scowling at the ground, but at Aqua's words, he looked up at him. "I should be there. Phyre's probably upset thinking you kidnapped me. He can stop thinking he's riding to the rescue if he sees I'm all right."
Aqua nodded in agreement. This was also a good chance for Safara to see Alkaline, so he bumped Alkaline gently with the edge of his wing as he turned to follow. She startled in surprise—and luckily not pain because Aqua had forgotten about the bandages that covered her until his wing had touched her—and fell into step with them.
"I would suggest that you stay out of direct sunlight without proper skin protection," Dr. Krantz told Ash as he walked with them, still beneath Aqua's wing. "You shouldn't blister as easily now, but sunburns and skin cancer are still a concern. If you settle down somewhere, I suggest you make regular appointments with your local healer-witch to ensure your skin remains healthy."
They reached the end of the encampment quickly and Dr. Krantz stepped out from underneath Aqua's wing so he could stand behind them all. The road wasn't paved; it was a flat area devoid of scrub. From the air, Aqua would have missed seeing it entirely. There was a cloud of dust quickly approaching them and a few seconds later, Aqua could make out a jeep hurtling down the road at top speed. It screeched to a stop at the end of the road, just in front of where they were all standing. All three salamanders climbed out, and Phyre stomped up to Boron.
"Where is my brother, dragon!" he yelled, glaring at Boron as if just his eyes could set a person on fire.
"I'm right here, Phyre," Ash called. He waved at Phyre as if he were difficult to see.
"Still being held captive, I see," Phyre said with a sneer at Aqua's wing. "How dare you, spy! Come into my home to kidnap my brother!"
There were so many irrational things wrong with that statement that Aqua didn't know where to start. He opened his mouth to reply, but Ash beat him to it.
"You know that's not true, Phyre," Ash insisted. "You kidnapped him when he was enjoying his lunch. Besides, I left willingly. There's no life to live being trapped inside the sparse four walls of that house."
"Mother and father had that house built when you were born and they realized you needed the shelter," Phyre replied firmly. "It's your house."
"And it's time for me to try living outside of it," Ash retorted.
Aqua couldn't help seeing the parallels between this conversation and the one he'd had with Uncle Willy yesterday morning. Uncle Willy had been the one telling him to get out, to explore and go find new friends. The simple walls of Uncle Willy's house were too confining for a growing dragon like him. It had been necessary, like a mamma bird tossing her babies out of the nest so they could learn to fly, and it was strange to hear a similar conversation from opposite perspectives. Ash had Uncle Willy's viewpoint, although Aqua couldn't say that Phyre was spouting the same things Aqua had. Aqua had agreed to leave, after all, while Phyre was still firmly entrenched.
"You can't walk in the sun; you don't have any magic. What do you think you can do in the outside world?" Phyre sneered at Ash cruelly, far more cruelly than any brother Aqua had ever met. Aqua and Rios had fought, but there had never been so much hate or disdain between them as he was seeing Phyre dish out.
"I won't know until I find out," Ash said firmly. His chin was firm and his eyes fiercely glaring at Phyre. "Aqua and I are going to see where the world takes us, no matter how bright and sunny it is."
"Preposterous," Phyre spat. "At least find a nice girl first. You're coming back home until you think this through properly."
"Phyre, stop. Please," Safara pleaded from behind him.
"Saf-Saf, we already tried to talk some sense into him once," Alkaline said softly. "It didn't end well for either of us."
Safara's eyes widened when she caught sight of Alkaline, and her hands lifted into the air in front of her as if she could reach out and touch Alkaline despite Phyre standing between them.
"Alky, you're okay," Safara breathed out, her voice shaking with tears and relief.
"Barely. Finally found a healer thanks to Aqua, but I'm not really healed. I won't be until we get a chance to talk. You know that."
"She knows nothing. What is with you idiot dragons? Don't you know how the world is supposed to work, how we were made to behave?" Phyre hissed. "Your actions are abnormal and I won't have any of my siblings fall prey to you."
"Too late." It took Aqua a moment to realize that it was Safara who had spoken. He half expected it to be Alkaline or even Ash. "It's too late for that, Phyre. I'm in love with Alky and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Oh, I think there is," Phyre said darkly. Flames erupted in his hands as he turned on Safara.
Aqua could feel water boiling behind him in a large pot over the fire, most likely for the encampment's morning coffee or tea. It was the only water he could feel in the area—Boron must bring the water in with the rest of the supplies. He called that water to him and it swirled around his body in a boiling loop. He sent it towards Safara, until a sheet of it separated her from Phyre. She slowly sidestepped Phyre, and Aqua had the water follow her, keeping her safe from Phyre's flames. He tried twice to penetrate the water with jets of flame thrown from his fiery hands, but it only resu
lted in steam. Alkaline screamed desperately each time, which only made Aqua grit his teeth and pour more magic into the water to keep it steady. There was activity on either side of Aqua as Boron tried to do something to help, but Aqua couldn't afford to look away.
Safara was getting closer to them and that only seemed to inflame Phyre's anger. Aqua could hear him growling and muttering to himself over the sound of the water steaming against his fire.
Phyre turned suddenly and threw his hands forward, towards Aqua and Ash. Another jet of fire streamed towards them, vibrant, dangerous red and orange cracking in its fury. Aqua pulled his water frantically towards himself, barely deflecting the fire in time. A flash of steam blew across Aqua's face at the impact, burning his skin slightly.
Phyre immediately turned back towards Safara and another jet of flame arced towards her. Fire lit up her fingers even as Aqua was desperately redirecting his wall of water back towards her. Her fire flashed, hitting Phyre's with a shower of sparks. Both flames vanished just in time for Aqua's water to shield Safara. Phyre sneered and shot more fire at Aqua and he had to scramble to call the water back.
"That's enough!" Boron snarled. All of a sudden, the entire desert was on fire. There were dragons and salamanders everywhere, and each one of them was channeling fire into a wide ring around Phyre.
It was hot, so unbelievably hot. Aqua couldn't breathe—there was no oxygen in the air—and he was sweating so much his clothes were soaked in seconds. Except that sweat dried in the heat only moments later. Ash whimpered next to him and Aqua felt him press his body against Aqua, right underneath Aqua's wing. Aqua curled his body around so his back was to the fire and his arms and wings were wrapped protectively around Ash.
"It's time for you to grow up, Phyre," Boron continued firmly. Somehow his voice was stronger than the crackling and popping of the fire because Aqua could still hear him speak. "You have no right to confine your siblings in that old house. They want a chance to live their own lives, guided by their own choices."
"They're making mistakes. I want to save them before it's too late!" Phyre sounded honest and desperate, yet at the same time, there was a deranged quality in the shrillness of his voice that said he had no idea what was coming out of his mouth.
"It's not your job to save them. You're their brother, not a god. It's your job to support them and then help pick up the pieces when they fail so they're strong enough to get up and try again. All you're doing is weakening them." Boron spoke as if he knew exactly what he was talking about, which meant he was either a psychiatrist or he had gone through something similar sometime in his life and was speaking from experience. "Go back home, Phyre, and let your siblings have their chance to live."
Phyre was quiet for a few very long moments. Aqua waited with bated breath, wondering what Phyre was going to choose to do. Then, just barely audible over the crackle and pop of the fire, Aqua heard him mutter: "Fine. But they'll come crawling back soon enough. You'll see I'm right. Now let me out of here."
The bright glare of the flames dimmed slightly, and it wasn't long before Aqua heard the rumble of a car starting and the crunch of tires on dirt as it pulled away.
"Idiot," Boron muttered under his breath.
Aqua's skin felt unnaturally tight, like all the water had been squeezed out from beneath his scales, leaving only hard leather behind. A hand touched Aqua's back. It was a gentle touch, but it sent a flare of pain through Aqua that had him shivering and gasping. A cooling sensation radiated from that hand a half-second later, spreading wonderful numbness like a balm.
"Luckily I've gotten lots of practice healing burns lately," Aqua heard Dr. Krantz say from behind him. "Next time, try to get the water dragon safely away before you set the field on fire around him."
"Will he be okay?" Boron asked, his voice contrite.
The cooling sensation slowly began to fade away, and as it did, Aqua could feel his skin and scales again. They felt supple and normal, so he carefully uncurled from his protective crouch and looked around. All the dragons and salamanders that had stepped up to confront Phyre were looking at Aqua with contrite and worried expressions on their faces. Dr. Krantz was frowning at some inward thought, his hand still pressed to Aqua's back as he healed whatever damage had been done. The pain had been numbed so quickly that Aqua had no idea just how badly he had been burned, but Dr. Krantz's swift arrival said that Aqua's back hadn't been pretty.
He kept uncurling his body slowly because he hadn't been the only one unable to handle fire nearby. Ash wasn't in his arms any longer; Aqua realized this before he finished unfurling his wings, and a glance downward revealed a small white salamander carefully tucked into the curl of his elbow where he could safely escape the heat.
Aqua had to cough a few times because his throat felt like he had been swallowing sand. "Ash," he called.
The salamander's red eyes popped open, he saw that the fighting was over, and then he leaped from Aqua's arm. Ash landed on two human feet.
"Are you okay?" he said softly, looking worriedly at Aqua. His hand was on Aqua's arm, squeezing gently, as if he needed to offer comfort. Just how badly was Aqua burned?
"Just give me a few more minutes and he'll be right as rain," Dr. Krantz insisted. "His goose was a little cooked, but I've healed worse before.
Everyone waited quietly while Dr. Krantz continued to work, as if they didn't want to leave until they knew Aqua would be okay. Most of the salamanders and dragons probably felt guilty for forgetting that Aqua and Ash didn't have protection from fire the way they did and that Aqua had gotten hurt by that carelessness. It was awkward to stand under the scrutiny of so many people, but once they started drifting away, Aqua knew his injuries no longer looked so gruesome. Dr. Krantz finished up not long after that, and he stepped away, letting out heavy gasps of air like he was out of breath.
"Right as rain, my boy," Dr. Krantz said. He took in a few more pants of air. "But perhaps I need to take a break from healing for a few hours." He patted Aqua's shoulder twice before turning towards Boron. "I'm going to make a few calls, see if one or two of the local healer-witches would make this encampment a regular stop on their rounds. I can feel the dozens of tooth aches and misaligned broken bones even when I'm this depleted."
Aqua tuned them out, focusing again on Ash. "Are you okay? I tried to shield you—"
"I'm fine. You saved me. I'm glad your scales aren't flaking off like ashes any more."
Aqua craned his neck so he could see his back, but it looked like normal, healthy blue scales to him.
"I guess I should probably leave the desert soon, before someone else lights it on fire," Aqua joked.
"Maybe you should," Ash replied firmly. He glanced around them briefly and Aqua followed his gaze.
Safara and Alkaline were standing close to each other, closer than friends or acquaintances would feel comfortable, but they weren't touching. Aqua hoped they were able to figure out their relationship now that they had the chance to talk. Ash's other brother, the one whose name Aqua hadn't learned, was standing by the road, looking bewildered. Phyre had apparently left him behind. A female salamander cautiously approached him, and he followed her into the encampment a moment later.
Aqua shifted to human form, wanting to be at eye level with Ash. He hoped Ash could withstand the sun, which was still rising, for the few minutes they needed to talk.
"I'm going to go home, " Aqua continued. "I need a bath and my own bed." He might sneak a soak in Nixie's pool to get rid of the parched feeling being in the desert was giving his skin. "Do you want to come with me?" Maybe Ash would like the pool too?
Ash looked around the encampment again, then over at the rising sun with a wince.
"Are you sure your family would be okay with me?" he asked softly, almost shyly.
Aqua grinned. "They'll like you, trust me. An albino salamander is not the weirdest thing to ever be in my house. So?"
Ash nodded. "Let me say goodbye to my brother and sister. I'll be back." He
scampered off, but paused a few feet away to glance back at Aqua as if to make certain Aqua really was going to wait. Aqua grinned at him, elated that Ash had agreed, before heading into the encampment himself to find his backpack.
"Phyre will be back," Boron said as he approached Aqua while he was chugging down his final water bottle. "He won't give up just because we forced him to leave. I'm thinking about sending Safara and Alkaline to some relatives living in Las Vegas for a few months. Brant wants to stay and try talking to Phyre." Brant must be the other brother. "And Ash says you're taking him home with you. Where is home?"
"I'm from Canada," Aqua explained easily. "My Uncle Willy takes care of me and my brother."
"Uncle Willy?" Boron said softly, then a thought must have occurred to him because his eyes widened in surprise before narrowing again to focus on Aqua. "I had heard that William had taken in two wards and that they were dragons. You tell him if he ever wants to act like a djinni again, instead of a sterile genie, he can always come to my desert for a few days. The territory leader holds no sway here."
"I'll tell him," Aqua promised. "And I'm sure Ash will want to come visit, so I'll be back."
Boron nodded and his intense look melted into a smile. "It was nice to meet you, Aqua." He held out his hand, which Aqua shook.
"You too," Aqua replied with his own smile.
Ash trotted up to them a second later. "I said goodbye to Brant and told Safara where I'm headed. Can we get out of the sun now?"
Aqua's smile turned into a mischievous grin. He picked up his bag, threw one arm over Ash's shoulder, and said into the wind: "Uncle Willy, it's time to head home."
