[Mkguild] Healing Wounds in Arabarb (16 of ?)

[C. Matthias]

Healing Wounds in Arabarb
By Charles Matthias



April 13, 708 CR

Neither Elizabaeg nor Strom returned by the time that Pharcellus 
extinguished the lanterns and bade Lindsey go to sleep. In his dreams 
Lindsey was shooting squirrels and rabbits with a slingshot. 
Pharcellus was there as his older brother who congratulated him on 
each of his kills and together they took them home to their mother 
and father to eat. Only they were in a boat and he was skipping 
stones while Pharcellus fished; he managed to skip one stone all the 
way across the lake. And then they were both flying through the air, 
cool but pleasant with the ground rushing past beneath them, 
everything and everyone so small but so clear.

He woke to the bleating of the sheep as Strom drove them out to 
pasture. He blinked and for a moment wondered where his big brother 
was before remembering that Pharcellus was only pretending to be his 
brother. Lindsey shook his head to clear it, dressed himself, and 
climbed out of the wagon.

"There you are," Pharcellus said with a bright laugh. "I thought 
you'd need your sleep after last night. Any nightmares?"

"No," he replied. The dreams were already fading from his mind, but 
he knew they had been enjoyable ones. "No nightmares. You?"

"I dreamed I was chasing a mountain goat and that I was bouncing 
across the ground like a rabbit as I did so." Pharcellus's human face 
twisted into an expression of pure bewilderment. "It was very 
strange. Now, Elizabaeg will be bringing us something to eat soon. 
She was contacting the other members of the Resistance that she knows 
in Fjellvidden."

"How many?"

"She didn't say, but I don't think there were that many. She and 
Strom returned shortly after you fell asleep."

"Will they help us?"

Pharcellus nodded. "They will. We merely need to devise a signal for 
them. You are the one who is going to kill the monster and mage. What 
signal are you going to give them?"

Lindsey frowned and realized to his chagrin that he hadn't even 
considered that. How would he let them know that the tyrants were 
dead? Finally, he shook his head and sat down on top of the wagon. "I 
don't know. I'll think of something, something dramatic that will be 
impossible to miss. If I have to I'll throw the monster's head over 
the bailey walls."

The dragon laughed. "That would do it."

"Now comes the hard part," Lindsey said with a sour expression. 
"Getting to them and killing them. I only have one chance."

"To become an adult again, aye," Pharcellus agreed with a nod of his 
head. He then stared more deeply into the boy's face with his steady 
gray eyes. "But you may have more than one chance to kill them. There 
is a difference. And I will help you, never forget that."

"Did you see anything to defend the castle against dragons?"

"There were a few spells I thought were aimed at dragons. But I 
already have three soldiers upset at me. I'm sure it won't take much 
to convince them I need to be in the dungeons. Once inside, those 
spells won't matter."

"Ha! I like that. If they take me and you don't hear from me in a 
day, do that." Lindsey lowered his eyes and clasped his hands before 
him. "Tomorrow. I'm going to let myself be captured tomorrow."

Pharcellus put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you frightened?"

"Aye. Very. But that's not why I say tomorrow. That will give whoever 
is coming to our aid enough time to arrive. I just hope to see Quoddy 
and the others before I go. I miss him already. Did... did they 
really do all those things you said last night?"

"And more," Pharcellus chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "You 
are very strong, Lindsey. You have good blood in you. You will not 
fail in this. I believe in you."

Lindsey smiled but didn't raise his eyes. "I'm glad you're here. If I 
didn't have somebody I knew and cared for with me I would never be 
able to do this."

"Speaking of which, here comes Elizabaeg."

Lindsey felt a surge of relief to see his mother. She was still 
wearing the disguise but after four days it was almost as familiar to 
him as her real features. She carried a bowl of eggs and sausage for 
them both and insisted that they eat before asking her anything. 
Lindsey found he was ravenous and devoured the meal in seconds.

Her eyes widened as she watched him eat. "Oh my. Are you well?"

"We were almost caught by soldiers last night coming back," Lindsey 
said after wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He handed her back the 
bowl and then put his hands on his knees. "Not all of the soldiers 
like him. One of them saw us, but refused to take us in. He's looking 
for another boy."

Elizabaeg trembled, lowered her eyes, and made the sign of the yew.

"I'm not going to be his victim," Lindsey repeated. "We've been 
discussing what we're going to do, signals and the like. Did you talk 
with others who don't like him last night?"

She still did not look up, but she did nod. "Aye. Strom and I spoke 
with those we know. If something happens, they will be ready."

"If?"

She glanced at the two of them briefly before looking away, holding 
te empty bowl to her chest. "Most of them don't believe you will succeed."

"And you?"

She put her hand to her mouth and her voice caught in her throat. "I'm afraid."
For some reason, that bothered Lindsey more deeply than the doubts of 
the Resistance. He shook his head and reached out a hand toward her. 
"Please don't be, Mother. Please!"

"How can I not?" She stared at him hard for a moment, then it 
softened and he found himself wrapped in her arms for a moment. The 
forgotten bowl clattered to the floor. Lindsey wished the embrace had 
been longer, but Elizabaeg stepped back, plucked the bowl from the 
ground and took a few steps away. "You aren't a child anymore. Make 
your Father and I proud."

She glanced down at the bowl in her hands and then down the line of 
now empty stalls. "I'm going to make my rounds. When are you going to 
let yourself be taken?"

Lindsey ached. When he'd been a man he'd offered comfort to so many 
of his friends who'd found in his size and manner a reassurance and 
strength they lacked. Now he wanted to comfort his mother and be 
comforted by her, but neither were going to happen. He lowered his 
arm and sighed. "Tomorrow."

"I won't tell anyone else until it has happened." She turned and 
walked away as swiftly as her legs could carry her.

Lindsey stared after her and at the door she stepped through for 
several long seconds. When he finally lowered his eyes, Pharcellus 
put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Would you like to watch the 
sheep and pigs? There's a place we can watch them from where we won't 
be seen by anyone in town."

He sighed and nodded. "Could you tell me another story, 'big brother'?"

His smile was stained but true. "Of course."

----------

Five large wolves loped through the forests on the southern periphery 
of Fjellvidden. An area of at least a mile in any direction from the 
city had been clear cut, though in the last ten years, the outer 
edges had begun sporting an assortment of pines and shrubs taking 
advantage of the plentiful sunlight. These were especially dense east 
of the bridge and thinned out to the south where the many flocks were grazed.

An older man with graying beard dressed in a heavy cloak, carrying a 
crook in one hand and a sword at his belt tended a small flock of 
sheep about halfway between the city and the edge of the woods. 
Beyond them were an array of pens for pigs, goats, chickens, and 
other livestock that the city depended on to supplement their usual 
diet of fish, game, and whatever grains they could grow in the fields 
to the west where the soil wasn't as rocky.

There were a few soldiers perched in watchtowers. No matter who ruled 
Fjellvidden, they needed to protect the herds from predators. The 
five wolves who sat on their haunches and watched hungrily were 
exactly the sort of predators that the shepherds and soldiers feared. 
A quick coordinated run through the flock to scatter them, and then 
the foolish ones who ran toward the wood could be chased under the 
cover of trees, killed, and dragged back to a hidden den from whence 
it would never again emerge.

But these wolves sat, watching. Golden eyes and slavering jaws 
regarded the sheep with eagerness, but not a one of them would move 
unless given leave by the alpha. He was larger than the others, 
bulkier with broad brown fur blending to gray along his haunches, 
with deep tear drops beneath his eyes. His thick, black claws dug 
into the ground as he watched with still tail the sheep, the 
shepherd, and everyone else that he could see across the expansive meadow.

For some time the wolf with his pack watched without comment, neither 
growling nor panting. The only thing that broke his focus was an 
errant whimper from one of the four wolves in his pack. At each such 
sound his head would turn and his jowls retract in a silent snarl 
revealing wicked yellow fangs and a dark red tongue. Vermilion 
flecked his golden eyes and the offender would tuck tail and and 
lower his head shamefully.

They sat there, silent, upwind of the sheep, for three hours. Then, 
the alpha rose, and followed by his packmates, loped deeper into the 
woods. Hungry.

----------

The day went far too quickly for Lindsey. He and Pharcellus spent 
most of it relaxing with their backs against Strom's paddocks, 
looking across the meadows as the elder shepherd tended his flocks. 
The pigs grunted and squealed, rooting around and looking at them 
hopeful for some treat. The sheep bleated and grazed in contentment. 
A slight breeze came down from the north and ruffled the distant 
pines, but it never bothered them.

Pharcellus had been right that there was no way anyone from the 
village could see them as long as they didn't leave the wall. Lindsey 
knew that this was his last chance before he would risk everything. 
So he listened to the dragon's stories and tried to forget that he 
wasn't just a young boy listening to his older brother. He tossed 
stones at the sty's wooden posts to amuse himself.

But the day wore on, and soon his muscles as well as his stomach 
began to complain. Lindsey threw one last stone and then stood up, 
stretching his arms out wide. "I'm hungry."

The dragon stood and stretched too, his human hair catching a bit of 
the breeze as it changed direction. "I'll see what's left of our supplies."

Lindsey grabbed his shirt and tugged. "And... I'm scared."

Pharcellus put a hand on his shoulder and smiled down at him. "Good. So am I."

"You?"

His smiled widened. "Very. But this is going to work. Brigsne and his 
men will be here tomorrow. Quoddy and his brothers should be too. 
It's going to be all over very soon."

"And... if I fail?"

"Then I will tear the castle apart stone by stone with my hands and 
my jaws." There was no laugh behind those words. Pharcellus meant 
them with the same conviction one noted the sun's rising in the east.

"But he's certain to have defenses against dragons!"

"And as soon as he kills one of us, every dragon in the mountains 
will come and burn him to even less than ash. He might kill us both, 
but he will not survive it. You are not going in there for nothing. 
Your brother, your father, your people, all of them. And for your new 
home too. We are all with you."

Lindsey took a deep breath and shuddered. "I... I... thank you. I'm just..."

"I know." Pharcellus patted him on the shoulder and then beckoned him 
back into the paddocks. "Hungry and a little scared. Well, let's take 
care of the first, and then we'll see about the second."

The boy smiled a little and followed the young man into the paddocks. 
"Thank you..."

Pharcellus stopped halfway to the wagon, turned and in a very serious 
voice suggested, "Perhaps you can tell me about Yahshua and Eli."

Lindsey blinked in surprise. He would never have expected that 
request. "Didn't Father tell you? I mean, my father?"

"He did. But you haven't. After you tell me, perhaps we can pray for 
His help too. I'm sure he won't mind somebody like me asking either."

"No, not at all!" Lindsey felt a warmth filling him. He tried to 
imagine a dragon with heavy, scaled paws folded in prayer and making 
the sign of the yew and couldn't help but start laughing.



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

Charles Matthias


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