The Clan of Outcasts [Season 3]

Part 22: "The Winds of Change"

"For what it's worth," Jaran started, prompting Korsan to open his eyes, "I speak for everyone in this castle when I say we will miss you. I just hope the Realm doesn't fall apart in your absence."

Korsan blinked his eyes that flowed the same clear-blue as the talisman stones. "Heed this advice, my king: keep the trust of your friends about you, and never lose faith in your brother, for in that you will find the strength to be every bit the noble, humble, wise, and kind leader your father was."

Jaran felt his confidence beat strongly in his chest, and all the anxiety seemed to melt right off of him.

"You wanted to see me, sire?"

Jaran looked around in puzzled confusion as Erlis the healer approached the balcony. "Erlis? No, I didn't call you..." His keen eyes searched her face. "Are you feeling all right? You look a bit pale."

Actually, the healer's face had gone as white as the marble, and not even the sleek new robes could hide how thin her body was. Had she been starving herself?

Erlis blushed and sat on the very edge of the seat he offered her, right beside Korsan. "I am all right, your majesty. If you must know, the paleness of my face is because I have not shifted into a dragon for some time now."

The young king shrugged. "I don't see why you couldn't. It's not as if you would suddenly be under someone else's control, and you've got plenty of people around to help you. Velora shifts into a wolf quite regularly to track down threats in the Forest, and sometimes even Edri has to shift into a Lion for a bit when she gets too stressed out--maybe shifting will help you feel better."

Erlis sank back into the chair, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "The smaller animals have more control over their animal forms than I do in all the times I've shifted into a dragon. It was one thing to walk around with scales showing on half my body... but ever since Troy gave me the ability to shift into one form or the other, I have felt differently every time the scales come out--I feel as though the dragon is going to rip me apart if I let her emerge." Her sorrowful blue eyes fixed on Jaran, and he could feel the weight of her words pulling at his own shoulders, tightening around his ribs.

Korsan cut in. "Wasn't it just a week ago when Velora offered to go to the Elves to see if they have a cure, since they've had some experience with dragons in their domain?"

Erlis curled her bottom lip between her teeth. "Yes, she did--and in truth, the serum they gave her was more effective than anything Lizeth tried... but all the same, I felt--" her voice broke off, and her brow wrinkled into a frown. Erlis began swaying in her seat, although she fought to continue speaking. "I mean, the Elvish cure could have..."

Jaran hadn't even noticed that his attention had wandered until he heard Korsan cry out in warning, and saw Erlis' body sink to the floor. Soft groans and pitiful wails escaped her lips as she writhed, alternately curling her limbs close and flailing them about, as if in great pain. "No!" she gasped. "Don't... I want... Can't... Help me! Help me... Help--"

"Is something the matter?" Azelie's voice from the door into the castle halls came as a relief to Jaran. He knelt as close to Erlis as he could, struggling to find some way of helping her when he had no idea what's going on.

"She just collapsed while we were talking," he said. "I don't know what's wrong--can you reach her mind and figure out what she can't say?"

Azelie nodded, and stood silently as she extended her telepathic Gift into the mind of the beleaguered healer.

Erlis quieted, but her breath still came in ragged gasps, and she flinched every time someone got anywhere near her.

"It's the Elvish cure," Azelie informed her husband. "She thinks it's changing her somehow. More and more in the days since she started taking it, she says she's been sensing everything."