The Dragon Healer of Tone (World of Tone) (36 page)

Fienna twisted to see if Terra was all right. She had felt his use of power before but not like this. She normally was only slightly aware of a vague border around his mind that seemed to be a force or strength that was slightly out of her reach. She could never quite touch it, but this time the border broke down, and she felt the full force of his magic through his mind. It flooded her with awe. The power available to him seemed limitless and overwhelming to her, but to him it felt as if it was nothing more than another part of his body. There to be used when needed and using it was part of his nature. He was the power, and the power was him. As she looked into his eyes, she did not see the tiredness that sometimes accompanied the use of the magic. His eyes were bright, and his body seemed as strong as ever. No words were needed any longer between the two. Terra protected Fienna; that’s what he did, and she protected him. Suddenly, the painful moans of her mother came into her mind and brought her back to the outside world.

The two moved quickly to Dawra’s side, and Terra hands began to glow. Her left wing was crushed, and her left shoulder looked broken.

As Terra placed his hand on her shoulder, she felt almost instant relief of the pain and a gentle warming of her body. This time she could feel the presence of his mind. It was almost overpowering. Dawra could feel the power from his body flow into hers. He was infinitely more powerful than he was as a child. She could actually feel the bones knitting together, first in her shoulder, then her wing, next her muscles, and finally the skin. She could feel his words forming in her mind.

“You will be fine now. Don’t worry about bringing the beast to us.

You had no idea what it was.”

With that her anger and hatred seemed to leave her, and she calmed to a point of almost sleep. A peacefulness she had never before experienced fell across her mind. Then his mind was gone. She opened her eyes to the pair standing in front of her watching for a sign she was all right. Dawra could hardly help the smile she felt forming. She slowly stood up and stretched her wings and moved her shoulder. As he had done before, she was completely healed, but she also had a feeling of total peace.

As Dawra stood, Lowlack landed next to the three.

“What was that thing? I saw it as Terra was crushing it.”

“I don’t know, but it does not matter for its gone and will never return,” Terra said in a calm voice.

I was coming to tell you I found Fienna’s father badly injured in a valley not too far from here. It looks as if he was attacked by something incredibly powerful. He is beyond anyone but Terra’s power to heal.”

As Lowlack was talking, fifty to sixty Nymphs surrounded them and faced outward brandishing their spears in a protective circle.

“Go away everything’s fine now.” Terra said in an irritated voice to the nymphs.

“We must protect you sir. Our king has ordered it,” said one of the nymphs in a timid voice.

“All right but don’t get in my way,” Terra said with some understanding of their orders.

Fienna looked at Terra, and he knew she wanted him to go help her father even though she never had met him.

“I’ll go and help, but I want Fienna with me, and Dawra should fly us,” Terra said.

“I’ll fly you but how? The two of you are too big to hold like when you were children.”

“On your back like I flew with Fienna,” he said.

“All right, get on.” With that, Dawra laid down so the two could climb onto her back.

Dawra felt them climb on, first Fienna then Terra. Neither weighed much and carrying them would be no problem. Then she felt an odd sensation on her back where they positioned themselves. It was if something was stuck to her scales. She then realized that this was how Terra stayed on Fienna’s back. He could somehow attach himself to a dragon’s body. She could feel him but not Fienna.

“How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Attach yourself like that.”

“I don’t know.”

“I only feel you, not Fienna; how will she stay on?”

“I’ll hold her.”

Dawra could see Terra’s arms surrounding her daughter’s body. She had never noticed how powerful he looked, especially compared to Fienna. She rose up on her back legs and launched herself into the air.

This was all new to Fienna, but she had always known the feelings and sensations that Terra had felt while riding on her back. She was not connected to her mother, but she was firmly attached to Terra. His grip on her was like nothing she ever felt; it seemed so gentle but stronger than the winds or the world itself. She felt totally safe in his arms.

Chapter 68 - Help

(Help Often Comes from Unexpected Sources.)

356 set of seasons since the coming of the Averons

As Dawra left the ground, Fienna could feel the old exhilaration of flying. She realized how much she missed it. She was a creature of the air and that part of her came flooding back. Her mind came back to reality quickly though because of Terra’s mind wondering what her father was like. She had no answer because she had never met him.

They soon arrived at their destination, and as they came over a small mountain, there was the badly injured dragon lying at the bottom of a rocky gorge. He was not moving as they landed. The two dismounted, and Terra carefully approached the injured dragon not knowing if he would strike out in pain and confusion.

Fienna walked behind Terra as he stepped to her father’s side. His wings were badly broken up, and there were enormous gashes all over his body. Obviously, he put up a great battle before he was downed.

Terra lifted both hands and placed them on the dragon’s side. Then they started glowing orange. His injuries were so great that Terra’s orange glow spread across the dragon’s entire body. It seemed as if his whole body began healing at once. The wings straightened, and the bones began to knit together. Muscles cut within the great gashes seamed together, and the gashes began to close. Scales began to reform from where they were knocked off. Within a very few moments, the dragon’s body seemed to be healed, and Terra stepped back. He slowly lifted his head bringing it within a breath of Terra.

“Thank You,” he said in a powerful and deep voice.

Hectise was in such pain that he could hardly stay conscious. That hideous beast had attacked him from out of the sun, and as hard as he had fought, it was of no avail. The beast was just too powerful. He fell out of the sky like a rock. That old dragon had stopped and said he would be back, but he knew he was already dead. His mind seemed to drift in and out of focus. Then he vaguely realized there were others around him. The pain was so great that he could not even open his eyes.

Suddenly, warmth spread across his body, and the pain was gone. He thought he was finally dying, but there was something else. Words began to form in his mind.

“You will be fine, stay still, and relax your body,” the odd voice said.

His fears of death vanished, and he seemed to drop into a state of total peace and relaxation. He didn’t seem to have control; the voice did. Then he began feeling his wings straighten out, and muscle and bones all over his body began to heal all at once. It wasn’t painful, just very odd. Then the sensation stopped. He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the human, Terra. He had no idea what to say.

He’d looked back at his body, and he was completely healed. He moved his head toward the human and simply thanked him. Terra did not move. As he stood up, he realized it was impossible for him to have hurt Terra. Something inside wanted to now protect him. A sun-rising before he might have tried to eat him, but now, yes now, he felt totally different. He saw Dawra and the old dragon and then behind the human stood a second. It was a female with multicolored skin. It must be Fienna, his daughter. It was true, just as Dawra had said.

“I have healed you. You may go, or you can come back to our home.

It is your choice,” the small human said with a voice as powerful as any dragon.

“I’ll come with you,” he said almost not believing that he agreed.

Something was definitely different. The two small humans climbed onto Dawra’s back, and she and the old one took off. He followed behind. They flew toward the coast and suddenly dove down into a massive crevice and landed on a large flat rock in front of a cave opening. Above the crevice, several dragons flew, and in front of the cave, there stood several nymphs. One was very old and was dressed oddly. He had not seen a nymph for a long time, and he thought that they were not worth even the effort to eat. So he was quite surprised to see the three and then the large number of them in the red lake. He was even more surprised at the color of the water, blood red; he had never seen anything like it. As soon as they landed, the old nymph stepped forward and began to talk in the odd dragon tones, just as Terra.

“I heard what happened. The thing that attacked you is known as a Yafta.”

“And what is a Yafta?” Terra said as he climbed from Dawra and helped Fienna down.

“It is an ancient beast that was long ago killed off by the dragons.

You see these things came from the cold north, and they were the only known things that could kill dragons. They could also make themselves appear to be a dragon. There never were too many of them because they would kill anything they came across including each other. The only time this was not the case was during a short mating season, and then only the females would be immune from death and only while they were mating. A very violent and stupid animal.”

“What happened to them exactly?” said the old dragon.

They tended to kill dragons quite often, so the dragons created hunting groups of five or six and tracked them down. They would surround one and flame it to death. The dragons killed them all hundreds of seasons ago.”

“How do you know this?” Hectise heard himself say.

“I have old records that tell the story.”

“Huff.” Hectise puffed a small amount of smoke in a defiant manner.

“It doesn’t really matter. It’s gone and won’t return,” Terra said in a calm and soft voice.

“Your fearlessness is quite exasperating, you know,” the old nymph said.

He continued, “Don’t you realize that the witch that attacked you sent that thing? She will keep trying to kill you.”

“I can’t control what others do, and I don’t care to. If it becomes necessary, I’ll kill her, but I will not hurt anyone unless it is needed. If you don’t like it, that is your problem.” With that Terra made it clear that the subject was closed.

Chapter 69 - Time For the New and a Change

(It is not often that you Meet Your Father for the First Time.)

356 set of seasons since the coming of the Averons

Hectise did not quite know what to do.

“This is your father Fienna,” Dawra said.

Hectise dropped his head to her level. “You are my father?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

“You never wanted to meet me?”

“Yes, actually I did, but it’s not our way. You were a beautiful dragon, and you are still quite beautiful even though you are human.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“It’s been a long sun-rising. Why don’t we continue this tomorrow,”

Terra said as he walked up to Fienna and put his arm around her.

“Yes, I’ll come back in the morning.” Hectise said.

“Perhaps you could sleep in front of our cave; it is a warm sunset,”

his daughter replied.

“That would be nice. Even though I am healed, I am tired,” he said in a truly tired voice.

“I’ll stay also,” Dawra said with a little distrust in her voice.

“We will be back in the morning also. I have some things I need to talk to you about,” the old Sinut said as he and the other two nymphs walked toward the shore.

Terra and Fienna walked into the cave and back to the waterfall.

“It’s the new moon to sunset,” Terra said.

“You think you’ll change?” his mate said with a bit of concern.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to see tomorrow. If I do, I’ll stay in the cave. I don’t really want anyone but us to see me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It just seems the right thing to do. I’m not sure quite why.”

The two lay down near the pool and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

As the sun rose in the morning, its first rays entered the cave. The crystals hanging from the ceiling were the first to catch the rays. As each absorbed the sun, it lit up like a multi-colored star. Slowly, each in turn caught the light. Gradually, the great cave came to life with all the colors of the world. Finally, the light reached the back cave, and as it entered the sanctuary of the two sleeping figures, one rolled over and stood.

Terra moved away from Fienna as he felt the change start. Fienna awoke then and turned on her side toward him.

“Is it happening?” she asked as she saw his body begin to shimmer in the light.

“Yes,” he said as the first changes spread across his body.