"Give me your hand," Rhysel said to Eret.

"Why?" he asked, wading through the water to the edge of the pond and looking very uncomfortable to be outdoors in his human form.

"Most people find it's less disturbing to hang onto someone while flying." She lifted herself into the air a couple of inches. "It's much faster."

He looked at her, and the trembling baby, and back at her. "Fine," he said, offering his hand, apparently deciding that he'd rather not fly under his own power in duck form if it meant having to hand over the baby.

She took his hand, lifted them both up into the air, and flew at speed over the buildings back to the entrance hall. She called out to Tekaal "My place," as she landed herself and the dragons on the transfer point and made the jump.

Tekaal looked at her in bewilderment, but followed her through the transfer point. "What is going on? Who is this?" he asked upon reaching the point in Rhysel's tower.

"Tekaal, this is Eret. He's the father of the baby dragon. Eret, this is my boyfriend, Ar Kithen." She looked back to Tekaal. "To make a long story short, I met Eret and his wife a while ago, and found out they had a new clutch of babies. They don't want anyone to know for reasons that aren't mine to say. Anyhow. I created a link with each of the babies so I could sense if they'd die - my Master thinks there's a way in our magic to save them. I don't have the necessary skill to do more than just keep the baby alive. And the cough medicine, while it helped a little, isn't a cure. They gave me permission to tell you what's going on. Would you summon my Master here? It appears to be just an illness, and he can cure those."

"I - all right, but I don't have any summoning chalk," he said, staring at her. "I'll need to get some, and look up the procedure for drawing the pattern - it's going to take me at least forty-five minutes."

"Thank you," she said, gratitude echoing through her voice. "I don't know what else to do. I can't even put the baby to sleep for the duration." She sighed. "May as well make yourself comfortable, I suppose," she said to Eret, conjuring up a chair for him to sit in.

Eret looked suspiciously at Tekaal as he sat down. Tekaal teleported away to purchase chalk and fetch an appropriate book.

"He's a good man, Eret. You can trust him," Rhysel said.

Eret didn't say anything.

She sagged into another chair wearily, the expression around her eyes tightening as the pain from the life-link became noticeable.

Eret didn't notice this, his attention fixed on his wailing child. His free hand clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

"Is she in pain?"

"I don't know," he snapped. "I'm a red opal, not a dratted green."

"I thought you might understand what her wailing means. Apologies." She sighed heavily. "Why are you so hostile, anyway?"

"You'd know if you'd had my childhood," he said shortly. "And it's not exactly easy on the nerves for my baby to be dying and her continued survival dependent on the goodwill of a stranger who doesn't know the first thing about this world."

"I won't let her die, Eret, no matter how intense the pain gets. But until my Master can be summoned, there's nothing more I can do. We've got some time, would you care to talk about it - help me understand you better?"

He looked at her tiredly. "I'm not exactly in a position to refuse to answer questions."

"Well, I don't wish to press if you don't want to talk about it, but I am curious as to what you meant by if I'd had your childhood. From where I sit, though, you're welcome to remain silent. I want to be your friend, but my actions in regards to you and your babies aren't dependent upon your friendship - I'd do it anyway."

He rolled his eyes. "If you're that curious visit the shren house."

"I plan on it. Were you born a shren?"

"I was hatched a shren, if that's what you mean," he said derisively. "They're much too careful with us to let anyone get infected anymore."

"Yes, hatched. Sorry. The disease makes you a sort of social outcast?"

"All the disease does is make me unable to fly as a dragon," he said sourly. "People do everything else."

"In what way? I suppose I could understand dragons not wanting to risk getting infected, but why would anyone else treat you badly for it?"

"Why would you want to hang out with someone a dragon was scared to death of?" he asked dryly. "And you can imagine how socially well-adjusted we tend to wind up. Theedy is unusually sane for a shren."

"Well, I can't get whatever the disease is, so why would I be bothered by it?" she asked curiously. "Although I can see your point about the social adjustment given the circumstances."

"Yeah, parental rejection and spending a few decades of your infancy in unremitting anguish does wonders for the well-being of the psyche," he muttered, adjusting his hold on the baby.

Rhysel nodded slowly. "I can't do anything about your past, but I'm sincere when I say I'd like to be friends with you and Theedy. Your being shrens doesn't bother me."

He didn't reply, just stared at the floor.

She quirked a wry grin, "I'll confess it's not entirely selfless. I could use a few friends, myself. But you seem to be in the same position - in need of a few friends."

"I've got Theedy," he said in a low voice. "Don't deserve her, but I've got her."

She smiled. "She seems a good soul."

"She never cried, you know?" he said suddenly. "She was the only one who never cried."

She nodded slowly, just listening for the moment.

He didn't elaborate, seeming lost in thought.

"You two grew up together?"

"There aren't that many shren houses out there," he said. "I'm only six years older than her.".

She nodded. "Do you mind if I ask how old you are?"

He looked at her. "Hundred and ninety-three."

"Ah. Still pretty young, then." She looked at him appraisingly.

On close inspection, he appeared young - younger than the other dragons she'd met, rather like an unusually mature-looking nineteen-year-old.

"Yeah," he said neutrally.

"Is there any way to mitigate the pain - medicines of any kind? Or are you stuck with it until you can learn a flying shape?"

"Oh, they keep the little ones drugged to the gills. It helps a little. Not much," he said, shaking his head.

She nodded thoughtfully. "So much I can't do," she said quietly to herself before looking up at Eret again. "Did your parents ever visit you?"

"No. Didn't even pick me up after I'd learned to shift, like a lot of shren's parents do."

"Same with Theedy?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know exactly what that would be like, but I can imagine."

He frowneed at the floor, but doesn't say anything.

"My relationship with my parents cooled dramatically when I started manifesting magical abilities. It's not the same at all, as I did stay in loose contact with them, but I can imagine at least in general terms what it must be like for you."

"Oh? Did they send a polite letter to whoever took care of you subsequently that read, "Thank you for your continued help in caring for that which hatched out of the egg we sent you. We regret that because we were not involved in parenting it, we do not feel secure in allowing it to live in our home with our children, as it would represent an undue restriction on their liberties to require them to maintain nondragon forms at all times lest the shren lapse into its natural and contagious state."?" he asked sarcastically.

Rhysel winced. "No, nothing like that. As I said, it's not the same. That's monstrous."

He laughed bitterly. "I thought it was nice of them to include enough information in the letter to let me know that I've got more than one sibling and both my parents were still alive at the time of writing it. One does like to keep tabs on one's family."

Rhysel didn't appear to know what to say to that.

Tekaal reappeared in the room, chalk in one hand and a book entitled "Modern Summoning Practice" in the other. "Do you want to do this here?" he asked Rhysel.

"For preference, yes. The fewer people who find out about this, the better."

Tekaal looked less than pleased with this pronouncement, but sank to his knees, opened the book to a page towards the beginning, and methodically began sketching a diagram on the floor.

Eret watched this procedure dispassionately.

Rhysel projected to Tekaal, <Thank you. I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.>

<Am I allowed to know why this is being kept a secret?> he replied in kind, his mental voice edged with the barest tint of reproach.

<Yes, I'd prefer to tell you after it's over. Is that all right?> Her mental voice had a tint of guilt to it at keeping him in the dark.

<It's fine. I'd already offered to summon your Master for you. The offer stands, even if I don't know exactly why,> he replied.

<Thank you.> She smiled at him, hiding from him the pain she was feeling as best she can. She moved to position herself to be used as the summoning focus.

After some time, he'd completed the circle and memorized the appropriate spell. With Rhysel in place, he cast it, and Revenn appeared. Talyn appeared as well, and Tekaal winced suddenly, making a few more rapid gestures.

<You all right?> Rhysel projected to Tekaal.

Revenn, meanwhile, looked up from his examination of Talyn's arm - clearly broken. "What? Rhysel, what's going on? And it had better be important."

<Fine, but I didn't expect to have to pull the power to bring in two people,> Tekaal assured her.

"My baby is dying!" said Eret loudly. "That's what's going on!"

Rhysel held up a hand to Eret in a calming gesture. "Master," she said respectfully, "it is important. As Eret here said, his baby is dying - would be dead, in fact, if I weren't keeping her alive with a life-link. From what I can tell - which is, admittedly limited - she's just suffering from some sort of illness that the people here don't know how to cure. I don't have the skills in healing. Please help her, Master."

Revenn took in the situation. "Very well, Rhysel. I'll do what I can. Tend to Talyn. His injury is one you can heal." He bumped up against the edge of the circle barrier. "If you'd care to let me out?" he said to Ar Kithen.

Tekaal smudged the chalk promptly, shaking off his momentary disorientation from the unexpected level of sting.

Revenn moved to Eret. "Give the child to me," he said gently. Rhysel meanwhile, moved into the chalk sketch, looking at Talyn's injury. "What did you do?" she asked him.

Eret handed over the baby warily.

Rhysel started to create a replica of Talyn from the stone in her floor, inserting a bone splinter from his injury into the figure, while Talyn watched with extreme fascination. Revenn, after taking the baby dragon, looked to Rhysel with a horrified and rebuking expression on his face, as he put the baby to sleep. "Rhysel," he said in his booming voice. "she's in intense pain. Why didn't you put her to sleep?"

Rhysel looked up from her work. "I don't know how, Master."

Eret winced.

Revenn looked down at Rhysel disapprovingly. "Learn. You shouldn't use the life-link if you're not going to be able to keep them asleep and unaware of the pain."

Rhysel blushed, ducking her head at the rebuke. "Yes, Master," she said in a subdued voice, "Can you heal her?"

She waited to activate the healing magic for Talyn until Revenn responds, which took several moments. "This isn't an illness. Her body is sort of falling apart magically. I can't do this alone - it'd take far more energy than I have available."

Revenn looked to Eret. "You're the father?"

Eret nodded, his mouth a thin, distressed line.

"Will you allow me to use your lifeforce? It won't hurt, although you'll pass out for an hour or two. Rhysel, Talyn, I'll need links from you as well. Ar Kithen, I may need a little of your energy, but I won't take much. I need you to send me back. You pulled me from six scared apprentices, and I need you to send me back as soon as this is done."

Eret and Tekaal nod.

"Yes, Master," Rhysel and Talyn say in unison. Talyn added, "You can leave me here if that will help. If I'm unconcious from drain, I won't notice this either," he gestures to his injury with his good arm.

"That will make reversing the summoning considerably less complicated," Tekaal said.

"Do it, then," Talyn said from clenched teeth. "If we're waiting to fix my arm, put me under now, Master, please." Revenn nodded, and pulled the necessary energy from the boy, who lapsed into unconciousness.

"Take what you need Master, but I need to be able to take Eret and his baby home, so don't put me completely out if you can help it," said Rhysel.

"No promises, Rhysel, but I'll try." Reven seated himself and closed his eyes.

"I can do that if I'm to be left awake anyway," said Tekaal. "If you'll tell me where to go."

Rhysel looked to the dragon father. "Your decision, Eret. If you'd rather he doesn't take you back, you can stay here until I wake up."

"Theedy will worry," he said softly. "Can't you just leave me awake instead of her?" he asked Revenn.

"I can," he said, opening his eyes.

Rhysel interjects. "You don't know where you are in relation to your home. Are you sure you could find your way back?"

"I know the area pretty well," Eret said firmly.

"But we're not at the school. I took a transfer point from there to my home. We're miles away from there."

He blinked. "Oh... What's this address?"

"1, 55-8, Paraasilan, Esmaar," Rhysel said.

Revenn appears to be growing impatient. "Hurry up and decide, this is taking far too long."

"Fine!" shouts Eret. "I'll let her carry me and my baby, unconscious, home. Heaven forbid I should want to walk anywhere."

Revenn nodded, shutting his eyes again, "Quiet, now please. This will take a lot of concentration." He opened the links to draw the energy, suprised by the strength of the dragon's lifeforce; he didn't comment, remaining focused on healing the infant. He remained silent for nearly five minutes before gasping once as the pain hit him. He left Tekaal out of the link, drawing heavily on both Eret and Rhysel, although neither fell unconcious. After several more minutes he said, "Done. I wouldn't want to do that every day, but she'll live." He woke the baby up again as he passed her back to her father. "You had much more lifeforce than I expected. I didn't need to put any of you out after all." His voice is etched with exhaustion. Rhysel came to her feet wearily as well. "Send me back now, Ar Kithen, if you please," Revenn said.

Ar Kithen nodded and reversed the spell; Revenn winked out. Eret took his baby, marveling quietly.

Rhysel reached over to the baby, touching her gently to break the life-link and sighing with relief as the connection was severed. "Let's get you home. Tekaal, would you wait here please? I'll be back in a few minutes."

He nodded. Eret got up.

She led Eret over to the transfer point and jumped them back to the school. "I can make you two invisible as well, if you're worried there might be someone there," she offered.

"There may be," he said, nodding tiredly.

"Let's take the lift. It's not as fast, but it's less tiring for me." She stepped inside it, holding the door open for Eret, since his arms were full.

He followed, still cradling the baby as though she was made of glass.

"East entrance please," Rhysel asked the lift. As it hummed along, she faded Eret and the baby out of sight, although she remained visible herself. "In case someone's at the entrance," she said by way of explanation.

He might have nodded, but she couldn't see him.

Once the lift arrived, she opened the door, giving enough time for Eret to step out before letting it close. She did the same to the door outside.

She heard faint footsteps going in the appropriate direction.

Theedy swam out, being a duck.

Rhysel, seeing the area clear of people, let the father and child fade into visibility, although she keept the magic to hand in case someone appeared. "Sorry that took so long," she said to Theedy.

"She's alive," the duck breathed, and she turned into her human form to rush forward and pick up the little red opal dragon.

Eret handed the baby over gladly, and turns into a duck himself, swimming back into their cave. Theedy looked gratefully at Rhysel. "Thank you," she whispered, and wades back to the hiding place.

"You're welcome," Rhysel called out with a smile, before turning and heading back to her transfer point.

---

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