I dozed off and woke up just before dawn with my head tucked against Korr's good shoulder. His arm had slipped under and around me at some point, and his head was turned so our foreheads touched.
I was exhausted. Like really exhausted. Like so exhausted that the lumpy, sandy, slightly rocky floor of the cave was preferable to me having to move. But I carefully untangled myself from Korr. He cracked one eye briefly, his fingers flexed to steal a caress of my ass as I got up, but he otherwise didn't move.
"I know those feels," I said softly. Ethat had curled up into a little ball tucked against Itek's side furry/feathery side, and Itek had his head turned into his ruff, snoring softly. Asund, in wolf form on my other side, woke instantly. Ormiss stood at the mouth of the cave, leaning on his staff. It was purple-dark.
The bug corpses weren't there anymore. There was still a wet spot from where the ice had melted, but no bugs.
I stopped myself from blurting out a stupid observation and went to Ormiss. "Where are they?"
He pointed. Outside the cave beyond the wooden structure were the two corpses. They reeked. Not like blood and offal, but like a burned out building and that whiffy scent the Haven docks had had at low tide.
"We moved them," Ormiss said.
"Did you sleep?"
"I'm fine. Hippocamp who live below the ocean don't have the same sleeping needs as land-dwellers. I kept watch. You look tired, my love."
"I feel tired." I tried to twist around to see my wound. "Did I lose a lot of blood or something?"
"You did bleed but it wasn't a lot of blood." He looked worried.
Then why the hell was I so weary? Well, then again, between everything that had happened, why was I even asking? I ran my hands through my hair, then instantly regretted it. I'd kind of gotten to like how the hippocamp kept my hair so silky, but now it was all salty and sandy.
Ormiss examined the wound on my back. "It's closed nicely and looks to be healing. I think Asund is a better medic than I am. I know that Korr craves a necromancer, but I think we would be better to have a Healer. If I might make a suggestion."
I sighed. I didn't want anymore consorts. These five were enough trouble. What the hell would I do with a sixth? Besides go crazy trying to keep them from fighting each other.
He bent closer, and ran his fingers down the crusty line in my skin. I flinched. "Ow, that hurts!"
Ormiss kissed my other shoulder. "Wait here."
He went back into the cave and gave Itek a nudge with his foot. After a few exchanged words, Itek got up, shook himself off, and came with Ormiss out into the sunlight.
"Look at her scratch," Ormiss told Itek. "In cat-bird form. I know you were looking at it last night, so look at it now."
Itek blinked lazily at Ormiss, still not quite awake, but obliged by shifting back into animal form. Ormiss scooped my hair to the side.
"What do you think you see?" I asked Ormiss.
"I don't see anything, but the cat-bird might. I can feel something, though."
"Feel something?" That did not sound good.
Itek peered close with his raptor-sharp eyes. I shivered and tried to think about how pretty the ocean was. It was very blue and frothy that morning. Even if the entire island sort of felt fetid and grungy from the tainted rain.
Itek went over to the bug corpses and examined the leg on one. He clicked his beak, and shifted back into human form. "Smooth. The legs have little hooks on them, like hairs. It's what did so much damage to Korr and Ethat. This one's little hooks are ripped off and they're in her wound. Like nettles."
"What?" I gasped and I tried to reach behind myself to touch the scratch. Ormiss swatted my hands away. "I've got those... things in me somehow!"
"I can pick them out," Itek assured me, trying to sound calm but his expression was too calm. "I can see them. Ormiss must be able to sense them with his magic. I will pluck them out. You're healing, they probably are just uncomfortable."
Ormiss folded his arms across his chest. "The leg is also hollow. Venom, perhaps."
"If they are like snakes, snakes can dry-bite. Also, she was just scratched, so only a few little... nettles... got into her skin." Itek disappeared back into the cave.
"Is this even happening?" I asked, because I was so confused.
"The squid venom didn't affect you either," Ormiss said.
I pursed my lips. "True."
Itek returned carrying a small little set of clamps that a thoughtful Eaon had included just in case we had to pull splinters out of our feet. His eyesight was still better than anyone else's in human form, and he quickly and deftly removed the tiny little hooks that had gotten stuck in my skin. He showed me his palm, where five little wicked curly hair-like fibers sat. "There. They were in the scab, but easy enough to get out."
"We should keep those," Ormiss said. He looked at the dead bugs. "And I would say we should take those carcasses with us, but it's not feasible. Eaon would be very curious about them."
"What are they?" I asked.
"I've never seen anything like them," Ormiss said. "Not even in the deep ocean."
Itek shook his head as well.
"I'd say they came with the storm, but we saw them in that town on the southern coast." I hugged myself. "Those were bigger. Different types, these are... little."
"Well, that's disconcerting. So there is a whole town of them?"
"Wait, do you think they've been looking for us?" I asked.
Ormiss and Itek exchanged looks.
"I'm not sure what sounds worse. That they're hunting us, or that there's more than once place we'll bump into them." I chewed on a fingernail.
"If you are immune to their toxins, then that would be reason enough to hunt you," Ormiss said.
"But I'm not immune to the taint." I waved my hand at the island.
"Taint and venom aren't the same thing."
Itek kicked one of the carapaces with is foot. It flopped over. "Bugs. Bugs mixed with demon, I'll bet."
"With a dose of Sea-Serpent ambition, perhaps," Ormiss said darkly.
"You don't think these look like they've got some demon in them?"
"I've always thought bugs were demonic."
"I personally feel the same way about sharks."
I crouched down next to one of the grotesque haves. I'd never met an actual demon, but I'd met humans that had demonic taint. Shifters couldn't sense demonic taint like humans could, so I'd always presumed I was human... except according to my shifter consorts, I wasn't human. Shifters could sense other shifters, humans could sense demons, but I was all mixed up and reversed.
"Theia."
I spun around to Itek.
He raised a brow. "Are you allright?"
"Yes, yes, just... I'm looking at them and something's telling me I should be frightened of them, but I... can't feel the fear?" I'd felt the fear at the southern town. I'd felt the fear while they swarmed overhead. That tap tap noise. But just looking at these dead bodies, even though I was aware of my instincts screaming, I wasn't screaming.
"They are dead," Ormiss commented.
"You might just be in shock," Itek said more kindly.
Maybe that was it.
"I hope no one is planning on roasting that for breakfast," Asund said as he ducked out into the sunlight.
"I was going to catch us some fish," Ormiss said.
"You were?" I asked.
"Of course. There's no point in eating trail rations when I can catch fish. They will be fetid-flavored, but." He shrugged.
"Korr's up and about." Asund looked right at me.
"Oh, thank the gods," I almost collapsed with relief. I moved to go back inside to see him, but Asund caught me. "What?"
Ethat came through the wooden shelter, and just behind him, moving a tiny bit slower, was Korr.
"What the..." Itek muttered.
"I know, I do tend to stop a room." Korr studied his fingernails and smirked.
Korr still looked... rough... like he'd been sick for a long time. Which he had been. And the stab wound was still healing, but it looked a lot less angry than the previous night. But his icy luster had returned. Except it hadn't, not everywhere. It looked like someone had poured a coating of water over his skin and it had frozen instantly. Parts of his skin were frosty, while others were dull and hot.
I touched him, carefully, with my fingers. Yes, some parts of his chest and dots on the arm on that side were frigid cold, so cold they actually misted slightly in the humid, hot southern air. The rest of him was cool, but still felt like it might get to be that crinkly-hot feeling like dried leaves.
He grasped my hand and kissed it. His lips were not frigid cold, nor was his breath. I asked, "Is this how dragons heal?"
"No," Ethat said, frowning at his brother. "His scales would be dry and brittle in dragon form, but those scales would not be. They'd be normal. The magic has drained completely out of his scales from sickness and poison, but those scales... have been restored."
"Dry and brittle, brother. I am at least cool and mildly flexible."
I looked at the bugs, then back at Korr. "How is your injury?"
He glanced down at it. "Sore, but fine. It is not even bleeding, as you can see."
It did appear to have remained closed. "Is there a way to restore dragon scales?"
"No," Ethat said, giving Korr the side-eye. "They heal on their own time. If they ever do. There are scale-sicknesses that can leave scales wasted permanently."
"Perhaps the bug toxin heals spontaneously," Asund said.
Itek twisted Korr's arm to look at the shine-speckled parts, then examined the pattern of the gloss on Korr's body. Then he stood back and frowned.
Ormiss said, "While you ponder, I am going to catch breakfast before the tide goes out."
Itek nodded, rubbing his chin. Then he looked over his shoulder back towards the little pond where we'd filled the water skins the previous night, then back at Korr. "That's where Theia bled on you."
"Um..." I said intelligently.
"And cried on you," Itek added. "We didn't wipe the blood all the way off you because we didn't want to waste drinking water. But we did wipe it up as best we could, in that general area. And the splatters were where more tears or blood fell."
"Um..." I was really smart that morning.
"The blood's gone now," Itek added.
"Are you suggesting he absorbed it?" Asund asked.
"Maybe?"
"None of the shifting species that are left have healing powers, except for some of the Hippocamp," Asund said. "But you've seen how much healing magic Aeon has, and he serves at the Queen's Court."
"Some dragons do," Korr said thoughtfully. Ethat bobbed his head.
"What?"
"They're a rare variety," Korr said. "They never leave our mountain peaks. But as far as I know, it's not blood-magic. But perhaps it might be."
He and Ethat exchanged looks. Ethat shrugged.
"And they're guarded very carefully, I take it," Asund said.
Korr nodded, expression thoughtful and sober. "It's lineal, too. Only certain roost-lines have it. The origin story is that that variety of magic is from a time when some unicorns interbred with dragons, and those hybrids came to live with the dragons, and interbred with dragons, and over many, many, many generations, eventually became dragons. But for some reason, that unicorn magic remains and occasionally pops up in the form of healing magic."
"So it comes from unicorn blood as well," Asund said.
"Phoenixes also had healing powers," Korr said.
"Have any of your dragon pups gone missing?"
"It happens, there have been some reports, but nothing noteworthy. That kind of magic might not be visible at birth, though. For example, although I was born with an ice-grey hide, it took until I molted to know that I was an Ice dragon, and not storm or water or mist or such. It would not make sense to take a pup from its nest. The chances that a random kidnapping took a pup that later manifested healing magic are extremely low."
"But it is possible."
Korr's expression twisted. "Of course, wolf, it is possible."
"We have a theory that Theia was not taken because she was a special child, but that she was an experiment. You were passed out while we discussed this. That she was an experiment in snapping a magical spine with the intent to eventually kidnap the Princess. Perhaps, if she is a dragon from those lines, that's how she was able to escape."
"The flaw in your logic is why grab a dragon pup to experiment on when your target is a hippocamp pup?"
"Because a dragon pup is easier to get than a hippocamp pup."
"But a wolf pup or a raven chick would be yet easier. Why risk grabbing a dragon pup? They are all in our mountain reaches."
Asund didn't have a good answer for that, and frankly, neither did I.
"We're missing another connection," Itek said. He shrugged and said, "Angelic."
"Oh come on, you really think they took an angel's spawn?" Asund threw up his hands.
Itek shrugged again. "Angelic powers can heal."
"Except that the angelic don't consort with mortals unless directed to do so," Asund said irritably. "Demons play by different rules."
"Let's not dismiss the possibility," Korr said before Asund could bark more about it.
So we were right back to playing the What Species Is Theia game. "But I've bled and cried plenty, and never healed anyone before."
"How many sick people have you bled on?" Itek asked.
"Well, I mean, I've been in some kitchen accidents where people were bleeding, including me, and nobody showed up the next day... restored. Especially not me. I just never got an infection." I'd been sick plenty, though, and gotten chewed on by bugs.
"Perhaps your magic has been stirred?" Asund suggested. "We should test it by trying it out."
Oh no, I didn't like the sound of that. The last time any of them had decided to try something, it had involved Itek dropping me off his back. "Try what, exactly."
"Bleed on Korr."
Oh! That made sense. "Sure. Who's got something sharp?"
Stupid me: they all had fangs and claws. They all had something sharp. The least-sharp thing they had was me.
"No!" Ethat jumped between us and shoved Asund back. "No one is cutting her!"
"No," Korr said flatly.
Itek shifted forms and clacked his beak and mantled his wings.
"A few drops of blood will test if it's her blood or not," Asund said stubbornly. "We're not going to cut her from wrist to elbow and have you bathe in it."
"No." Korr said. "I will recover on my own, thank you. My consort will not bleed for me."
Ethat switched to dragon form and growled, swishing his tail back and forth in the sand. It sent the bug corpses flying.
I sighed. So much for further study of those. "I'm fine with it. Just prick my finger."
Korr tossed his shining white hair and said, simply, "No. If I was dying I would not want you to bleed for me. I find your touch soothing enough."
"But it would be really helpful if you could fly again."
Ethat snorted fireflies and pollen and raised his wings. They were still tattered and withered-looking in the sunlight. Didn't do much for my confidence that bleeding on Korr to see if it healed him would be the right thing to do.
"Knock it off, it's my blood, and if it'll heal Korr, I will do it," I said.
"I said no," Korr growled. "The thought is disgusting. You have been abused and mishandled your entire life, including some things that we did early that I am not proud of, and your Lord-Regent consort has been less than savory at times. I absolutely refuse to let you injure yourself for my comfort. You have suffered enough insults to your flesh and soul."
"But, Korr, if it will help--"
"We don't know if it will help, and you've already taken a blow intended for me. No. I would rather be in pain and inconvenience my brother and have Ormiss cuddled against me."
"Oh, come on, you don't mind that last one," Asund told Korr.
Korr grinned. "I don't, but he does."
/***********
PEEPS-
Two things of note for today: it is my 25th anniversary today. That's right, 25 years ago a dozen roses showed up at my dorm room door from my now-husband. He also brought me roses today. I'll post pictures later.
And I have done the TikTok. I actually did film a video of myself today answering a question I get asked a lot, but turns out my potato phone struggles to process anything longer than 15 seconds, soooo.... gonna have to sort that out. Or talk really fast.Until then, please enjoy Office Intern carrying her toys around and my collection of old books.
Oh, and about Office Intern. Last night she dragged my WRAP to me. My WRAP, guys. (Like a long shawl?) She dutifully carried it down the hallway, stepping on it and having to re-situate herself, and brought it to the couch. Forget cleaning up her toys, she's sorting my laundry now.
Cheers-
Merry
(CRINGE PANTSTER?)
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