***
"When's he coming back?" Sari asked.
"How should I know? It's not like he tells me where and when he is every moment of every day!" Shimani angrily replied. "Sari, you can do this, I know you can. He has trained you well. You have a gift for healing, and I will be here to help you." Shimani said in a gentler tone. "Moto?"
"He will be fine. In fact, he's coming around now. You know what I need, get them, and hurry back before we permanently lose her." Sari told Shimani.
Moto opened his eyes as Shimani hurried out of the cave to do Sari's bidding. He sat up and put his hand to his throbbing head.
"Drink this." Sari handed him a cup.
Moto took the cup and downed the contents. He set the cup aside. He turned his attention to Kaily. She was unconscious and laid too still for his comfort. He reached for her mind but encountered emptiness. He turned pain filled eyes to Sari. "Is she going to be okay?"
Sari's gaze met his. "I don't know. She's locked within her mind."
Moto cursed.
Sari laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "That's a good thing. It could be much worse." She picked up a small handful of his braids that were silvery white and lifted them to draw his attention to them. "What happened?"
Moto glanced at the white braids. He touched them, frowned, and glanced back at the rubble where once the entrance to the training cave stood. "An accident," he touched Kaily's hair and the silvery white streaks that were spread throughout her auburn hair. Her skin was pale, and her heart beat weak.
"Moto!"
Moto's eyes met Sari's intense gaze.
"Did Kaily do that?" She pointed to the back of the cave.
Moto maintained eye contact with Sari. "Can you help her?" He ignored her question.
"Yes, she can." Shimani said from the entrance to the cave. He handed a bag to Sari.
Sari pulled crystals from the bag. She turned her attention to Moto. "I need Kaily's talisman," she glanced at Shimani who nodded just once, "and yours." She finished.
Moto frowned and glanced between Sari and Shimani. He heard part of their conversation when he came to, but not enough to understand what or who they discussed. He thought about demanding answers from them, but the stillness of Kaily beside him was enough to stay his query, for now. There would be time for answers later. He held his hand out and called both talismans to him. He handed Sari his talisman and the pouch that held Kaily's.
Sari held the pouch over Kaily and emptied its contents so that the talisman lay on Kaily's abdomen just below her breasts.
Moto noticed Sari still did not touch Kaily's talisman and yet had no issues touching his. In point of fact, the Kahoali while protective of their talismans, were able to touch another's talisman.
"I need you to lie beside Kaily flat on your back. Make sure that your body touches hers as much as possible and lock your mind with hers." Sari said.
"I only encounter emptiness when I try to touch her mind." Moto said. He stretched out beside Kaily and interlaced his fingers with hers. He moved so that her side was touching the full length of his.
"That's to be expected." Sari said. "Just keep a lock onto that space. When she starts to come back to us, lock her mind with yours. Do you understand?" Sari set Moto's talisman on his front in the same position she had Kaily's. She stood over him with her eyes locked with his. She waited for his answer.
"Yes," Moto didn't understand what happened to Kaily or why her mind was so empty, he trusted Sari, not as much as he used to, but enough to get his Kaily back.
Sari inclined her head once. She placed seven crystals in a circle surrounding Moto and Kaily. After, she took a water skin out of the bag and poured some of the contents in her hand and sprinkled drops of it between each of the crystals.
Moto noticed a spicy, floral scent that was similar to the scent that permeated the meadow of Crystal Lake and wondered what it was but refrained from asking. The silence that descended on the group felt as if it was imperative to maintain.
Sari nodded once to Shimani and stood outside the crystal circle at Moto and Kaily's heads. Shimani took up a similar position at their feet. Both lifted their arms and stretched them towards each other as if in an embrace that might cross the distance between them.
Moto glanced form Sari to Shimani.
Close your eyes, Moto. Sari spoke into his mind. It was the first time she did such a thing.
He was so surprised that Sari had to repeat her command before he comprehended what she said. Reluctantly, he closed his eyes. Almost at once, he felt the air surrounding him and Kaily charge with energy. He could feel that the energy was somehow contained within the parameters set by the crystals, and that the energy was from Ki. His talisman warmed and pulsed against his abdomen. He could feel the same thing emanating from Kaily's talisman. He did not feel it physically as he did with his, but within her mind. He locked his mind onto the emptiness as instructed, and he felt the energy and pulse of her talisman radiating through her mind, almost beacon like.
He marveled at the power that surrounded him, and the
