Day 301
In the aftermath of the fight we tidy up the living space as best we can. Evening classes are cancelled and all hands are on deck to gather fallen branches, twigs, and care for the wounded.
I respond to most of the patrols' calls for aid by myself. Better to have a single shadow-stepping Hand away from camp than several additional patrols of fighters.
It's after midnight when we finally bed down and I am pulled immediately into the Dreaming by Bran. Apparently it has been difficult to reach Dreamfall in the Dreaming but now a hole has been torn in the net protecting it. Tira and Lyssa have been trying to reach me and Bran is passing along their message that I am to stay in Dreamfall after the storm. They're heading South and will pick me up, then Bran, then Dal. This mission is for inner family, they say.
Things in Drognar are troublesome, Bran also tells me. Between exposure, blunt trauma from hail, and snow blindness their healers are stretched thin and their supplies even thinner. Growing anything indoors has been challenging despite Bran's best efforts at clearing and protecting the indoor courtyards with glass overtop. They have apparently also taken in two dozen dwarves who made it from a mine deep in the mountains once their own supplies ran short. 50 of them left the mine and only 24 arrived - a better ratio than I would have expected.
And if they braved the storm perhaps I should too. My own healing magic would make a difference in Drognar and I can bring healing supplies as well as some arcane magical tools. I expect that I could help with the indoor gardens and methods of surveying the walls without incurring snow blindness.
Day 302
The next day we handle the remains of the dragon. Fortunately one of the dwarves, Morn, is an accomplished butcher and is invaluable in the process.
We end up with hide, scales, piles of edible flesh (though only the hardy should attempt it), blood, as well as the cleaned and preserved bones and horn.
Over lunch I ask Magdalena for some more advanced theory on working with dragon blood, which she gives me. The blood itself can be used in a variety of potions (dragon strength, fire-breaking, augmenting magic for an elemental fire mage) but each will take their toll on the consumer. Elixirs would be even more potent and require still more unusual ingredients, one of which is Grove sap which we've harvested from our fallen tree.
She also warns me of the dangers of working with dragon materials. Weapons can be forged from their bones or quenched in their blood and will be intensely powerful but influential over the wielder. She tells me of a friend she once had who couldn't truly set down her blade. She only felt alive in battle and would answer the call whenever she heard it. Remarkable, considering how eager I am to set down my own sword one day.
We also speak about Drognar and Bran. Dragonskin gloves might help them a lot, as might soil mixed with the offal from the corpse, if only I could find a way to transport the material. She remarks that Bran himself worries her a bit due to his heavy-handed spinning. "A bull in a china shop," she says. Maybe she will check on him and give him a bit of guidance. And Hella, one day in several hundred years, if I think she's ready and offer her as a student.
The evening ends with dinner and Morn presents me with a plate of dragon flesh carpaccio, artfully arranged and drizzled with oils. It is...an experience. I don't think it would be suitable for most of the people we need to feed but if the dwarves and some of the hardier folk can stomach it, it will help sustain us. It is also delicious, though I'm still a little shaken by eating it.
Day 303
After two exhausting days I have the full intention of a full night's sleep before beginning work on aid for Drognar.
Instead Theaceae shakes me awake before the sun has risen and hurries me over to where Dawn is spasming with Camellia channelling healing into them. Glowing purple veins radiate from their chest wound and the skin is inflamed and infected. I plunge into the magic and find it to be two warring effects - the fae magic of the grove tree and Dawn's personal magic. Their personal magic itself is incomprehensible, like layers and layers of complex machinery built on top of itself. I entreat it to just trust the grove for a moment and am met with the uncaring response of any mechanical construct.
I send Theaceae for Magdalena as I strategize with Camellia while adding my own healing magic into the mix. Dawn's body is trying to die as the mechanical network of their personal magic wars with the grove magic trying to take root.
Magdalena confirms this as she arrives with Andstella. The Zephyr's gifts are constructed as befits their magical engineering. The organic magic and the mechanical magic are battling over a human body that doesn't even matter to them.
Humans are a Lesser Race with no personal magic. Those with magic are borrowing it from the Zephyr's gifts.
Andstella and I slip into the Dreaming together in search of more options and find Dawn waiting for us just like Bran waited for me when he was ready to die in Brighton. I enfold them in a hug as they ask if Theaceae is okay.
"Then it was worth it!" they say, at peace, "It was worth it if they're okay. I spent so much of my life unable to stop Elder Haman from hurting people. This time, I did it - "
But I cut them off. I have spent centuries arguing with Fatespinners about this. When we have this choice we do not look at how bad it could have been and feel gratitude. We look at how much better it could be and feel determination.
Andstella distracts Dawn while I reach out for Tira. She's an early waker, of course, and I have to drag her back to sleep in order to get her into the Dreaming with us. She arrives in sleepwear.
As I show her the situation and the layers of complexity imposed by the Zephyr I can see the fascination in her eyes. I'd give her all the time in the world to study this if we had it. I'll introduce her to Miriam when we're all together and she can learn all she wants. For now, she gives me a choice:
- Choose a winner. Either the Zephyr's gift or the Grove.
- Marry the two of them. This will be harder.
I think of Dawn's pained eyes as I removed the branch from their chest, asking if they could be a fae now. It's an easy choice - the Grove wins.
So I join with Tira, Andstella, and Dawn in a Circle as Tira outlines our plan:
- Andstella: A blood donor infused with the magic of the Grove
- Heiassa: To manage the flow of blood and magic
- Camellia: Sustaining magic to keep Dawn's body alive
Back in the waking world we explain this and get to work. Magdalena adds a vial of sap from the Grove for me to use and then settles down to help. If the Grove is to win, Dawn will need songs.
When it is done we are all exhausted again. Three exhausting days in a row and it is barely morning. Magdalena cradles Dawn's head in her lap, softly singing.
Comments