Love and Other Magical Adventures

seventeen

Nearly senseless with terror, I sent enough energy into the red dragon to give him a fighting chance at escaping the web and screamed at Grim in my mind to take us up. He had already made that decision and we began our panicked ascent even as the creature screeched and cast viscous strands of web at us. Grimmer dodged these with skill and took us higher, to safety, flying as fast as he could back the way we'd come.

A fucking WEB, he sent, less petrified than I, but not by much. How have we never heard of spiders that fucking BIG? Bright green incredulity rolled off him.

I was too dazed to answer, holding my arms over Sylvie's, which were wrapped around my waist. I could feel her trembling though I was none too steady myself.

Darkness was full now but I used a protection spell to shield us, because it was foolish and dangerous to be flying after dark through unknown territories. Especially ones where the creatures seemed supersize; who knew what else was hunting.

The other dragons caught up to us, the red one clearly struggling. I widened the protection spell, though the repeated power drains were taking a toll on me.

They don't deserve it, Grim sent heatedly, slowing down not for the sake of the lagging dragon, but so that I wouldn't have to cover more area than I had to. Let them get eaten by something. Too bad we weren't too late. His bitterness at being forced to help them was considerable, and not unjustified. Of course wishing death upon them was a little drastic, but dragons can really hold a grudge.

To lift our protection was against the way we lived, however. We'd had plenty of rescuees we would have been happy to let stay in whatever predicament they'd found themselves in. Let's just camp, we're mostly out of the cliffs.

A place presented itself soon after, and we landed. The red dragon staggered and fell heavily forward, passing out. The other hurried to his side, dark grey concern radiating from him. This was mixed with a strong love that was more romantic than I'd previously realized. "Traythyn? Can you hear me?" He turned back to us as we got our own feet on the ground. "Do something, I beg of you! You're a healer, aren't you? I can sense it. Help him, he can't die."

I could have slept on the ground then and there but I moved to put my hands on him. His friend's extreme distress surrounded him and I tried to ignore it as I concentrated.

What I found brought only a deep sinking feeling. "The toxins have reached his heart," I said as kindly as I could. "I will do what I can, but promise nothing."

Grimmer blew smoke in dissent. "There's no sense risking your own health trying to heal him if it's a lost cause," he said aloud so the blue dragon would know his opinion. Don't do it, he warned me privately, knowing I was going to anyway. You're already spent, it's not worth it.

"I beseech you to make an attempt," Blue begged. "Take from me, whatever you need, just try. We have so much left to do together.""

Borrowed energy transferred into much less magic and he was already weakened, but I would do as he requested. To a point anyway, as I was unwilling to let death take him as well.

And hope not to go beyond it.

Sylvie knelt beside me. "Take it from me too," she offered.

I balked at the idea, not wanting to harm her in any way. As we knew, my magic management was far from an exact science, and I would have plenty of extra from Grim. "I should have enough from these two, but thank you." Offering to help a contentious stranger in such a way was a truly selfless act, and my respect for her increased.

She touched my arm just under my elbow and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "Please be careful," she implored quietly. "His life is not more valuable than yours."

How about you be more than careful, and don't attempt this idiotic thing, my comrade urged, just short of making it a demand.

The red dragon's heart beat feebly under my hands and I stated the obvious. I have to. Help me.

His sigh was enormous. I know. Fine, I got you.

I know, I echoed him. Make a fire, some light would be nice. And I wasn't likely to be doing any heating spells that night.

But, he added as he grabbed a clawful of bark from a dead tree. Let the record show I am against this futile, perilous deed.

I closed my eyes, at once mentally rushing among rumbling blood toward the murmur of his heart, focused on locating and neutralizing as much of the jagged thread of poison as I could. It was tenacious and potent, more so than anything I'd dealt with, and I almost gave up. But the strength of the always-eager wild magic as I allowed it to mix with my own was bigger than me. It was of course much more potent when uncontained.

If only being uncontained didn't also make it uncontrollable.

For the moment I kept the reins on it, drawing from Grim and Blue as it became more and more difficult to achieve my destination. When I finally reached his heart, it glowed with the sickly green of the toxin and I hesitated. The only way I was going to have any chance at all was to step out of the way and let the magic do its thing if I didn't want him to die.

Or we could recognize a lost cause for what it is and save yourself the aftermath, Grimmer pointed out, exasperated and nervous. It was no small thing to let a dragon die, but my well-being was of course more of a priority to him.

If it had been him though, lying there with his life ebbing away, I would want a healer to do everything they could. I can do this, I sent back firmly, not quite believing it myself. Sylvie's hand on my arm was warm and grounding, and I loosened the constraints on the power, trying to regulate it to some extent.

The sensation that followed wasn't unlike touching a bare wire with wet hands; it flashed through me with a zing and what seemed like a mind of its own, eradicating a quarter of the foreign substance. But it wasn't enough. I relinquished more control, on some level conscious of sweat dripping down my face before being wiped away, and the magic eagerly restored another quarter of the faintly beating heart. The second half was untouched though.

This stops now, Grim said, seeing the dire prognosis through my thoughts. Reel it back in!

But I couldn't, I was too worn out. My head snapped back as it exploded through my body and into the red dragon, blinding me with a light that had no describable color, rendering me a senseless vessel.

Next I knew I lay on my back, tingly from head to toe, mostly unaware of anything other than a great sorrow for the life force I could no longer feel. "I'm sorry," I tried to say, tears dripping into my hair, but nothing came out. I could hear Blue crying, but much worse was the raw anguish pouring off him.

Softness replaced the ground under my head and Sylvie's scent filled my senses. I was shaking so hard my teeth chattered like a child's wind-up toy, my mind and heart in full chaos. "Shh, I'm here," her sweet voice soothed. "You're okay. You did your best." Gentle hands coaxed me to allow oil to be placed under my tongue, and this time I welcomed the inky blackness pooling through my consciousness.

This time my best wasn't good enough.