“Take care where you find your meals dragon!” I shouted as he began to beat his wings. “If I find you eating humans I will not stand idly by.”
I watched him fly away through the long afternoon sunlight. The palace nearby was ruined. Walking back into it I decided to find my friends, or whatever was left of them.
Chapter 46
Now that I was of a more modest size the damage done to the palace was much more apparent. Large swaths of the complex had been utterly ruined. Rubble and wreckage were strewn about willy-nilly… as if two titans had run amok with giant hammers. The destruction was far from complete however, for at least three quarters of the place remained utterly untouched.
In places I found perfectly sound areas bordered by sections where even the stones had been crushed into gravel. If I hadn’t known the cause I might have thought some bizarre earthquake followed by a tornado had done the damage, but even that explanation wouldn’t have been sufficient.
As I walked (and sometimes picked my way through) the palace, I searched with my mind for my companions. Scanning the undamaged areas I found Rose and Elaine had been laid side by side on a bed in one of the guest suites. Frighteningly a section less than twenty yards from them had been crushed and it appeared that mere chance had saved the two unconscious women.
Dorian still lay where I had last seen him, in the now collapsed main throne room. He was partly buried under stone and rubble but I could tell he was still breathing so I decided to check on the two ladies first. The last time I had seen Rose she had been bleeding profusely from some sort of wound. I found no sign of Penny.
Moira, where is Penny? I asked mentally as I headed for the room where Rose and Elaine lay.
She is with me. Fear not, she is safe, came the reply.
Bring her to me, I commanded.
Moira’s answer had a strange feel to it when she responded, as though strong emotions were overwhelming her thoughts. Not yet, we are… talking. I will bring her back when she is ready.
That was interesting, and it did little to relieve my anxiety. Pressing onward I found the room that Rose was in, I needed to make sure she wasn’t dying before I addressed anything else. I found her lying on a large bed where it appeared she had been hastily dumped. Her arms and legs were askew and by their unnatural positions I didn’t think she had moved at all since Cyhan had presumably left her there. That didn’t bode well, normally even unconscious people move a bit.
Elaine was curled up at the foot of the bed and a cursory examination showed she had nothing more wrong with her than a large goose egg on the back of her head, along with an assortment of scratches. I passed over her immediately and set my hand over Rose’s forehead.
Her skin was cold but not clammy for she wasn’t sweating, in fact if felt remarkably similar to what I would have expected from a corpse but I could tell her heart was still beating. Her gown had been ripped and a large wadded up ball of the fabric had been tied against her abdomen. Even so blood had seeped through the material and the bed beneath her was soaked with it. Shit! I thought and immediately I focused my senses on her wound.
She had been stabbed and likely with a very sharp blade, for her assailant had ripped the blade out with a slashing motion rather than simply withdrawing it. Cyhan had probably had to tuck her innards back in before binding her wound. I had no more time for thought, forgetting my weariness I began sealing arteries and torn vessels, knitting everything back together as quickly as possible before she could lose any more blood.
Unlike the terrible wound Penny had suffered once this one was much simpler and I was able to effectively repair the injuries without trying to work from the inside as I had done before. The biggest problem was loss of blood; she had lost so much of it that I feared her body might shut down from that simple lack. Her heart was beating at an incredible rate trying to make up for the paucity of blood.
I glanced down at the brilliant golden stone I held in my hand and wished I could heal the way the gods were able to. I had seen them heal far worse and yet I struggled with something as simple as a mere shortage of blood. In desperation I briefly considered connecting her blood vessels with those of the girl next to her and trying to share some of Elaine’s blood between them.
More likely you’ll kill both of them, I chided myself. I didn’t know enough to try something like that. Instead I found a pitcher of clean water and used my magic to coerce it through the air and then slip it through her mouth and down her throat. I filled her stomach halfway and stopped, and then I stood back and wiped my forehead. I could only hope that it would help.
A wave of fatigue washed over me and I knew I couldn’t keep going for much longer. I needed rest like a starving man needs food. I ignored the impulse to lie down on the floor and instead I moved Elaine close beside Rose, arranging her so that she might help keep the other woman warm and then I wrapped them both gently in the large comforter that lay underneath them.
Closing my eyes I fought the urge to sleep and sent my mind outward again. Briefly I checked on Dorian… he was still breathing steadily and his heartbeat was strong so I moved on. Searching the grounds I finally found the man I was searching for, Edward, King of Lothion. Soon to be the late-King, I added mentally.
He had had plenty of time to escape, but for the stone column that had fallen and pinned him beneath a pile of rubble. Moving steadily through the palace and across torn gardens I drew closer and I could tell that his left leg had been crushed. I had trouble imagining a better man to suffer such misfortune. As I neared him I felt Cyhan approaching from a different direction and I paused to wait for his arrival.
He saw me standing amid the rubble and changed direction to meet me. I called out to him when he was close, “Thank you.”
Cyhan frowned, “What’s that for?”
“You freed Penny and Dorian didn’t you? I’m fairly certain Edward wouldn’t have had him locked up with his armor and weapons,” I said as if it were a matter of plain fact. “I also appreciate your help getting Rose and the girl out of there,” I added.
The older warrior’s eyes appraised me silently but he only grunted and gave a small nod. “Have you found the King?” he asked, ignoring my gratitude.
“He’s close by,” I said guardedly. I still had doubts regarding Cyhan’s motivations. “First I’d like to know where you and I stand.”
A ripple went through the big man’s shoulders as his muscles twitched. “Twenty years ago I gave my oaths to the king and I have not yet broken them. So long as that remains true the only thing that can change between us is either your death or my own.”
I felt a surge of anger at the other man’s irrational behavior. Clinging to his outdated vows he wouldn’t be satisfied till one of us was dead, even though he obviously no longer believed in the reasons behind those vows. “Why don’t we just settle things now then,” I ground out. “I’m sick of waiting for you to try and kill me.”
Cyhan glanced at me and then looked away, scanning the area for some sign of Edward. “I’m not a fool, nor do I plan to issue a challenge and face you in some knightly bout. My only chance of killing you will be when you are either unconscious or badly wounded. Pray I do not find you so. Where is the King?”
“What’s to stop me from just killing you now then?” I said bitterly.
The large man spun around and glared at me as if I had just caught fire. His eyes were lit with fury. “You should have done that long before now!” he almost shouted, spitting the words from his mouth as if they had left a bad taste there. “Since you won’t, why don’t you tell me where my King is.”
I fought down the impulse to give the other man what he so obviously desired… a quick death. Taking a deep breath I answered him, “I want to talk to him first. You can see him after that.”
“Then hurry, I grow impatient,” Cyhan replied.
I bit my tongue rather than reply and began walking to the north. Crossing a ruined garden and stepping over a fallen wall I found the large stone pillar that had fallen upon the king of Lothion. Edward was lying quietly near the base, wedged between the stone column and a heavy bench that had kept the massive weight from completely crushing his lower body. He was losing blood slowly for the heavy weight had effectively compressed his torn blood vessels. It would take him hours to die, unless he was healed.
