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CHAPTER 3

MAGIC, KISSES, AND A SUMMONS

"Come with me, Janet." He gently took her hand in his, and then guided her through a door in wall opposite the balcony. As she walked in, Janet heard a happy, if rather weak, yipping from one corner of the room. She recognized Guardian's voice, and realized this was an infirmary, which had seemingly been put together for the single purpose of holding her friends near her, as well as to treat them. Seeing the bloody bandaging on the wolf cub's side, she felt a sudden stab of guilt for having ignored her friends' needs so long.

Ellis knelt down beside the wolf cub's litter. He gently cut off the bandaging, careful not to jar his patient. The wound thus revealed was ugly. It was the only description that came to Janet's mind as she saw it. She realized that this was not the damage done by an arrow. Not knowing the differences between battle wounds, she thought one of the spearmen must have stabbed him when he was unable to defend himself, and the man had probably never cleaned his spear: the wound had gone septic. Guardian was lucky he was still alive.

Ellis beckoned her, gesturing for her to kneel beside him. "He is the worst off. The coward who led them stabbed this cub with his ritual knife before I could get to him. The man is dead now. However, it took all I could do to keep this one alive. We have no reborn Elves here, just at the moment, and none of us has ever treated such a nasty wound. But I think we can work a little miracle today." He gently took her hand again, using her palm to rub the tears from her eyes, and then placed her damp palm on the wound on Guardian's side.

The latter suddenly emitted a painful whine, then his breathing, which had seemed rather too shallow and forced for Janet's liking, became deeper, more regular and easier. When she removed her hand, she saw that the wound was now closed, and quickly fading from sight, not even leaving a scar. Guardian knocked her down when he jumped up on her, putting his forepaws on her chest as he licked at her face happily. Janet felt completely drained, yet completely elated as well. His happy yips rang sharply, painfully in her head and ears, as well as drawing the other animals' attention their way.

She wanted to do the same for them all, heal them all as if they had never been harmed. But as she got unsteadily to her feet to go to Kimber, who seemed to be the worst of the rest, Ellis took her by the arms, then held up one of her shaking hands, and she realized how pale she had become. Her elation suddenly drained away, leaving her exhausted, as she leaned against him.

"We'll get to the others tomorrow, all right, my love? As I said, your little protector was stabbed with a knife used in blood-magic rituals, the worst kind of magic there is. It leaves a taint on whatever it touches. That's what was truly poisoning his wound, and it took all your strength to get rid of it... do you think it would be safe to try to heal the others as you are now?"

She barely had the strength left to shake her head against his shoulder, so did not resist when he picked her up and carried her back to the bedroom, where he deposited her gently on the bed. With a murmured "I'll be right back," he went to the door through which he had entered the day before, where she heard him talking to someone who had been waiting outside, and then he came back to the bed where he sat down at her side. "I've sent for some food. You do realize, don't you, that you haven't eaten a thing since you woke up yesterday?" he asked her with a teasing smile on his face. Realizing he spoke the truth, and recognizing the gnawing ache in her stomach for what it was, she blushed in embarrassment. "You always blushed so prettily, but this time, there's no need to be embarrassed, my love. The fault is mine. What with the pleasure of having you in my life again, and being part of yours as well, the very idea of hunger completely slipped my mind." He leaned over her, slowly, so she could turn away if his attentions were undesired, and instead found himself pulled down into a fierce, slightly desperate embrace.

When Janet let him up for air, she had a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. "It's about time you got to that!" she exclaimed teasingly. Then her face darkened. "I have truly missed you, Ellis. For the first year after that day, I had nightmares of it every single night. Then I finally manage to banish them, somehow, but they've started coming back, lately... I'm almost afraid to sleep sometimes... I've recently taken to working myself to sleep, one way or another. The day before those bastards tried to get me, I'd just returned from a two day hunting trip with the Mynkathi, without sleep, then went and swam for a few of hours with a couple of dolphins that found there way past the arms of the cove. The nightmares seem to have been getting worse, too. I didn't have the nightmares last night, but then that Awakening thing totally drained me, and I didn't dream at all." Janet was shaking.

"I think that what you really need right now, is to eat something and get some more sleep, hmm?" Ellis suggested. Afraid he would leave Janet held his arm in a tight grip. "I don't intend to leave you alone again, at least not right now. I may have to leave you here for a little while tomorrow... I do have duties to attend to. But I should only be gone a few hours. Once you've been through Chrysalis, you'll be given some time to adjust, and then you'll likely be assigned duties in the medical department. Think you'd like that?"

Janet hesitantly nodded. "Okay, I guess." A knock at the door startled her. She looked at Ellis, wondering why he didn't answer.

"As of last night, these are your quarters, this room and, while your friends need it, or as long as you want it, the next room, the infirmary as well." Her eyes widened. Then the knock came again. "Aren't you going to answer?"

"Come in!" she called out.

The door opened, and a woman wearing strange armor walked in. She glanced at them both. "Good, you're still here." She then came to rigid attention. "Ellisanavriel Hai Draconis, thy companion and thou art summoned before the High Council. Thou art to attend the Elders at thy soonest convenience."

"I take it, Sister, that my soonest convenience is to be there as soon as possible? Janet, may I present Anikathlianra Hai Draconia, Battle-Leader of the female wings? Anika, this is Janet, one who is very dear to me." Another knock at the door, followed by the entrance of some men and women carrying trays, which they set about on a table they moved over to the side of the bed. "As for the summons by the Elders, please inform them that Janet and I will attend them tomorrow. She hasn't eaten anything since before I brought her here, went through her Awakening last night, and she just healed her little protector."

"You mean, the one everyone thought should already have died? The one that was just barely hanging on? That is rather impressive," she said, looking at Janet, "considering you are just recently Awakened. And you do look like you need some more sleep." Anika turned back to Ellis. "I take it she refused to let you Sleep her? I think we're all in for a surprise once she hits Chrysalis... especially the Elders!" she said with an upraised eyebrow.

Then she frowned when she noticed the odd way in which light reflected from Janet's eyes. She suddenly stepped forward and gently raised Janet's head so she could have a closer look at her eyes. What she saw tore a gasp from her throat, and then she started laughing. "Oh! By the Gods! I think I'll tell the High Council to expect you at midnight tonight, hmm? It's a new moon, tonight, so the stars should be very visible. And I think I'll go invite the Eldest to attend, as well." And with that, still shaking with laughter, she left them.

"What was that all about?" Janet asked, slightly shaken.

"Well, from what records we've found so far on the Isle, there's only ever been one person with eyes like yours before... And the Histories say she was the most powerful Dragon of all, back then. Her name was Arissa, and the legends say she did not die, but rather, when she was wounded to the point of death, the Gods raised her up among them, making her one of their own... a God."

He heard Janet's sudden gasp, and looked at her. "Despite the fact that they were normal wolves until just a couple generations ago, the Mynkathi swear by Arissa, Great Huntress, Slayer of Darkness, Protector of Woods and Skies. Could they be one and the same?" She was interrupted by a rumbling... from her stomach. Her face flushed with embarrassment. Ellis looked through the trays on the table, and then took one to her. When she uncovered it, she found her favorite meal, before the incident that sent her into the wild: a stew combining rabbit, venison, chicken, and many different vegetables, accompanied by fresh bread, and milk. "You remembered?!? After all these years, you remembered?" she said, surprised, then dug in with a healthy appetite.

"How could I forget?" he asked, turning back to the table to get a tray for himself. "Your face always lit up when we had that strew for supper. I remember how you would always insist on helping your mother..." he trailed off as he saw the pain appear in her eyes. He sat down beside her, his tray forgotten in his lap, as he pulled her against his side. "I'm sorry, love. I guess I've had an easier time getting over the loss, seeing as I was there to see them buried in peace. And I was brought here almost right after. I had other things to worry about... such as how you were doing. I hope you'll be able to forget the pain, to remember just the good times we had, as a family... and, if you want to, maybe later, we might have a family of our own, here, at the Eyrie." He took her hand in his, brought it slowly up to his lips to kiss it, then, with the hand holding hers, gently turned her face up to his, bent forward slightly, and kissed her tenderly on the lips, a kiss that turned slightly desperate on both sides.

When they finally pulled apart, Janet saw the desire burning in his eyes, felt the love and need for each other raging through them both. She put her head on his shoulder again.

"It's been a very long time... for both of us, I think," he whispered in her hair. "I didn't have a chance to, but surely you could have taken a lover here?"

"I always knew you were alive, and I had a feeling I hadn't lost you forever. I felt you were like me, not like other people, not even like what Elvish kin we have. I came close, several times, with Anika, but, when things would really start to heat up, I'd feel like I was betraying you. I thought it would have been like stabbing you in the back."

"I don't think I would have minded... that you had turned to someone else for comfort while I wasn't there... if it was someone I could like. And I think I could get to like Anika. But I'm still kind of glad you didn't. Why does she call you Brother, and you call her Sister?"

"We are of like rank. She is the Battle-Leader of the Females' Wings, and I'm Rite-Master of the Spell-weavers' Battle-Wings. She commands the female Dragons in combat, and I command the Battle-Mages. We both report directly to the High Council, although we can overrule them if needs be. The only one who can really order us to do something is the Eldest Dragon. All Dragons answer to her. More out of respect, really, rather than true authority. She is the only true Dragon to have survived the Age of Technology.

"Now, you need some sleep." They had both finished their meal while he was talking. "I'll spell-weave you to sleep. It will be more restorative than normal sleep, and I can unravel the weaving at any time. Okay? Because you're going to need all the strength and courage you can muster to face the Elders, not to mention the Eldest, should she show up." When she nodded trustingly, he passed his hand over her face, saying a mystical word, his fingers weaving a pattern of magic over her, and she was asleep, under a Nap spell. "Sleep well, my love. We will both need our strength." And, so saying, fell asleep himself, after having put the trays back on the table.