[Mkguild] Healing Wounds in Arabarb (6 of ?)

[C. Matthias]

Ooops, forgot to send something this morning!

Healing Wounds in Arabarb
By Charles Matthias




April 2, 708 CR


After the spell wore off and Lindsey was his usual age again, he 
spent the evening with the timber crews explaining that he would be 
leaving them again for a time. At first they were quite upset, but 
once he went over the reasons they all understood and shared a few 
rounds of ale on him. Michael was especially distraught, but the 
patchwork beaver came around in the end.

And he was there the next morning in the northern clearing between 
the Keep and the curtain walls where Pharcellus waited with the 
harness strapped to his upper back between wings and neck. Jessica 
had the spell ready and was accompanied by a worried looking Weyden. 
He bore the awl pike that Lindsey had given them for a wedding 
present, something he'd made himself while still in Arabarb and 
wonderfully suited to the hawk's physique. Of the rest, Madog 
reclined near Misha after a thorough romping with the dragon, while 
the head of the Long Scouts kept crossing and uncrossing his arms.

Duke Thomas even emerged to wish him a safe and speedy journey. The 
horse lord put one hand on his shoulder and gazed down his equine 
snout. "I cannot tell you how grateful and indebted I will be to you, 
Lindsey. With the death of Calephas the last of Nasoj's lieutenants 
will be defeated. He will stand alone and Metamor will stand strong."

Lindsey put his hand on the Duke's shoulder in imitation of the horse 
lord's gesture. "I know. And Arabarb will be free. My homeland will 
be free. My family will be free again. If Nasoj had died last night I 
would still be doing this." He tightened his grip and the horse did 
his as well. For a brief moment Thomas and Lindsey were equals, 
brothers even, each wishing the other success in battle. And then 
they stepped apart, brutal smiles pressing their lips.

Misha came to him next, as they walked through fresh grass, the scent 
of flowers and warmer air all around them. The fox licked his jowls 
and then in a whisper said, "I've arranged with George to have some 
of his still human mercenaries mount a rescue operation if we do not 
hear from you in a month. They'll have a pair of mages with them. I 
wanted to have a mage with you, but sending even one this way is 
risky enough. You will not be abandoned by Metamor if things do not go well."

Lindsey nodded and patted the fox on the shoulder. Though he had 
never really known the fox except by reputation until after his 
return from Marzac, he was exceedingly grateful for his friendship 
now. "Thank you. If things do not go well, I may not be alive in a 
month's time, but the sea birds will need help too."

"They'll get it. And we'll do it by force if subtlety doesn't work. I 
hate subtlety. So much can go wrong."

"As it does with force too," Lindsey replied. "I have seen many a 
tree fall in a completely different direction than we expected and 
regardless of what we've done to direct it. But this is my home. I 
need to do this, Misha."

The fox sighed but then grabbed Lindsey by the shoulder the same as 
the Duke had. "I wish I could convince you to join the Longs, 
Lindsey. Be careful now. If Calephas broke our old spy ring, he may 
have done the same with the new one. That mage, Gmork, you may need 
to kill him first."

The thought was unsettling, but Lindsey knew it could be true. "I'll 
watch my back," He and the fox hugged as fellow soldiers, and then he 
continued on toward the dragon where Jessica and Michael waited.

The beaver was rubbing one paw over Pharcellus's flank in admiration, 
while the dragon gave the multi-hued beaver a peculiar stare. When 
Lindsey approached, Michael stepped away and hugged the northerner 
before he could even utter a word. His grip was strong and sure, and 
the beaver hefted the northerner off the ground a few inches in his 
enthusiasm. "You've been the dearest of friends to me, Lindsey. 
Without you I'd have never found my place here at Metamor. I missed 
you when you left for Marzac, and I'm going to miss you even more 
this time! Please come back to us!"

Lindsey patted the beaver along the back as he hugged and laughed 
warmly. "Michael, you are a better timbersman than I am. Thank you 
for saving me a place with them. Without you Metamor would never feel 
like home."

The beaver set him back down and let go, grinning broadly enough to 
show off his incisors. He slapped his flat tail on the grass for 
emphasis. "We'll get going. The sooner you go, the sooner you get back to us!"

He laughed one more time before turning to Jessica. The hawk bobbed 
her head to him and asked, "Do you have your gear?"

"All the clothes for my younger self are in here." He gestured to the 
pack slung over his shoulder. He glanced up at the dragon and 
grinned, "Pharcellus, do you mind giving me some modesty?"

The dragon belched some smoke and gave the other Keepers a hard 
stare. "Not at all! Do you want to walk around me or should I sit on 
the others?"

Lindsey laughed broadly and shook his head. "We'll walk around. I'm 
sure his grace did not appreciate you threatening to sit on him."

Pharcellus splayed his paw across his chest and in very solemn tones 
said, "I would never do such a thing. I am an honorable dragon. The 
fox however..." A mischievous glint filled his blue eyes. "It would 
only be fair for the way he tightened the harness too tight last night."

"You told me to keep going, you incorrigible reptile!" Misha shouted 
with one paw beside his snout.

Pharcellus belched a gust of smoke but made no further reply. Jessica 
and Lindsey moved around to the far side where they couldn't be seen 
by the others. Pharcellus glanced once at them before turning his 
head around to study the colorful beaver again.

Jessica stretched out her wings and lowered her beak. "Are you ready?"

"Aye. Do it."

"You will be this way for a month, or until you remove the spell 
yourself. You'll know how." Jessica lowered her voice. "But once you 
do, you can't be young again. Do you understand?"

Lindsey stroked his braided beard one last time and then folded his 
hands before him, ready to grab his trousers when they started to 
fall. "I understand."

The hawk nodded to him then drew her wings tips together and began 
drawing sigils in the air. This time, Lindsey could actually see a 
faint blue light surrounding them. It grew in strength, a complicated 
weave that crossed over itself several times, until Lindsey could 
make no sense of the mess of symbols and glyphs from which it had 
been arranged. And then, one by one they began to vanish, as if they 
were a candle placed in a jar until all the air ran out. And as more 
and more of it faded from view, he began to feel that strange 
tightening in his body much as he did last night.

His clothes quickly grew baggy around him as his beard and hair 
shrank, and the world grew in proportion. He grabbed a hold of his 
trousers as they began to slip over his waist, and even the pack over 
his shoulder fell down around his elbow and nearly made him stumble. 
Even after he felt the changes stop and he was a ten year old boy 
again Jessica continued with her spell. He could almost see her tying 
knots, and a faint nimbus shot off to the northwest though he couldn't see why.

And then, Jessica lowered her wings and breathed across the empty air 
between them. The warm fragrance of chrysanthemums and lilacs struck 
him and held him transfixed until they faded. Her beak then creased 
in a smile and her golden eyes brightened. "There! I've locked you 
into this age until you concentrate on returning to your old self. It 
will take a few seconds to trigger, and once it does you won't be 
able to stop it. The spells around you will unravel and you'll be you 
again. How do you feel?"

Lindsey glanced down at himself and laughed in a piping alto. "Like a 
boy again!" He tossed the pack on the ground and started rummaging 
through for his clothes. He'd need good warm furs to fly on the back 
of a dragon.

Jessica hopped back around while he changed into more fitting 
clothes. He double checked that he had an extra pair, then tied the 
pack onto the harness next to the rest of his supplies. He gave 
Pharcellus's hard but smooth shoulder a firm rub, glad to be in the 
company of an old family friend, and then walked back around to where 
the others waited.

Michael slapped his tail again and chuckled when he saw the youthful 
Lindsey. Thomas congratulated Jessica on her good work, while Madog 
looked eager to have a new friend to play with. Misha put a paw on 
the automaton's head to gently restrain him.

Lindsey sighed, and glanced past them at the castle once before 
turning to Pharcellus who lowered his neck to bring the harness into 
reach. The gray-scale smiled in a very simple and reassuring way. 
Lindsey gripped the leather straps and hauled himself up onto the 
dragon's back, placing his feet in the stirrups. There was a little 
clamp that he hooked through his belt, and grips for his arms. The 
saddle portion was shaped to protect him from the spiny ridge along 
Pharcellus's back, and scalloped so he could duck out of most of the 
wind. Otherwise it should be no worse on his body than riding a large horse.

He leaned back for a bit and waved to his friends. "I will return. 
Good bye my friends. Eli's blessings go with you." He then patted 
Pharcellus on the side of the neck, the scaly flesh very warm beneath 
him. "Come my friend, it's time to go."

Lindsey felt the dragon's muscles tense beneath him and he tightened 
his grip. The wings spread wide behind him, and with a powerful 
thrust of limbs, they vaulted into the air. The sound of the wings 
beating was like a heavy drum that reverberated through his chest. 
The air whipped past him and made him very grateful he'd tucked his 
hair braid within his heavy cloaks. Beneath them the Keepers looked 
so small, no more than ants.

Before him he could see the back of Pharcellus's head. Apart from the 
twin white dark gray horns protruding from the back of his skull and 
the tip of the ridge from his back, his head was mostly smooth 
scales, with crimson ridges over his brow. His long neck swelled with 
each breath, and every now and then little tendrils of smoke would 
escape his nostrils. Beyond the bright blue sky of Spring beckoned, 
little wisps of clouds high in the sky dancing like prancing mares.

Once they were well above the Keep, Pharcellus circled a couple of 
time to gain his bearings, and then started off on a course to the 
northwest, quickly passing above the forests hugging the side of the 
valley and then over the first low peaks of the Dragon Mountains. 
Lindsey stared first down past the dragon's arms which he held close 
to his chest at the forests with their new growth of blossoms and 
leaves, and then the first mountains still topped by snow. He then 
turned backward and gazed between the massive wings with thick 
leather sails stretched between the bony fingers and down the long 
tail with a spade tip that bobbed and weaved back and forth in a slow 
rhythm. He saw fleeting glimpsed of the Keep, the city, and the 
surrounding countryside before all was obscured by rocky peaks and 
snowy embankments.

Lindsey sighed and held close to the leather harness draped in skins. 
The wind was fierce and cool, and growing colder by the moment. His 
legs already felt stiff from straddling so wide a set of shoulders. 
Despite this, he felt a strange exhilaration that went beyond the 
many weeks he'd spent riding the Rheh Talaran through the sky. Now he 
could almost feel the swinging tail as his own, and the beating wings 
as from his own back. He smiled and wanted to belch flame.

The gray-scale tilted his head back and in a booming voice said, "Are 
you comfortable back there? Just shout into my back. I can hear you that way."

Lindsey had barely been able to hear Pharcellus over the driving wind 
and wondered how shouting into his back would help. Certainly there 
would be no way anyone could hear him now, especially with his much 
weaker voice. Still, he did as the dragon instructed, pushing his 
face against exposed scaled along the dragon's neck and shouting. "I 
am! This is... amazing!"

Pharcellus dipped a little and then swooped higher. His wings turned 
slightly, catching the air and he glided. Beneath them Lindsey could 
see numerous valleys cutting through the mountains, most of which 
ended in sheer cliffs. He'd always heard how impassable the mountains 
were and now he could see why.

"I can hear you through my body. This will let us talk some!"

"I can barely hear you, Pharcellus."

He tilted his head to one side, and then returned his gaze on the sky 
before him. The mountains were growing in height the further they 
moved from Metamor. He beat his wings a few more times and soon they 
were gliding through a valley with forbidding ridges on either side. 
Lindsey could see a handful of trees and brush clinging to the 
slopes, and he thought he spotted a herd of mountain goats descending 
along a narrow defile.

It was another ten minutes before they passed out the other end of 
the ravine and emerged into the open air again. Pharcellus glanced 
back and said, "I know. We'll talk more when we land next. I always 
give my friends at least three brief stops a day for meals and other 
things. But if we are attacked in the air, this is how we speak." The 
last was accented by a puff of smoke that blew past Lindsey so 
quickly he barely detected the aftertaste of hickory that came with it.

He pressed his already chapping lips to the dragon's hide and 
shouted, "I understand."

Pharcellus smiled in a fond way, his eyes bright but strangely 
distant. He seemed to look at the childish Lindsey and see something 
else entirely. His voice, snatched by the wind, nevertheless felt as 
warm as the scaly flesh beneath him. "I always hoped one day we'd go 
back to Arabarb together." After a moment he added, "I really hope we 
find your family too."

Lindsey's heart trembled then and it took all his self-control, which 
he discovered he didn't quite have as much as a child as he did an 
adult, to keep from crying. Instead, he quickly shouted, "So do I!" 
and then huddled in the harness and wondered with fear and awe what 
they would find in his home.


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May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias


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