November, 1102 A.D.

tWe were awoken by frantic banging on the door of our shared room.

t"Lord Dragon!" Called a voice, and I rushed to the door to open it. One of my medical a.s.sistants stood there, out of breath. "Lord Dragon, its bad! Its-its-"

t"Out with it! What is it?"

t"It's-its Kysael!"

tSharp, stabbing, frantic fear struck through my core. "What happened?" I asked as we rushed to the medical building.

t"We found her body on the borders of the lands! She is in critical condition! We came straight for you."

tWe rushed through the labyrinth of tunnels to get out of the kingdom, to the medical building. I bust through the door once we reached it, unwilling to let anything or anyone get in my way of getting to her.

tAnd I felt as if my heart stopped when I saw her.

tShe was covered in blood. I looked over her battered body to focus on what had caused this, and found it quickly;

tThere was a puncture wound on her left hip.

tI went to her, and looked her over, inspecting the wound. I could see into the hole, straight through her body, to see the blood-stained table beneath her.

tI stumbled backwards. "Oh, heavens," I whispered, trembling. I wondered idly if I even had the skill to heal this. But even if I didn't, I would anyway. But the wound was frightening.

tThe hole was a solid two inches across. It was a clean hole, no loose muscles or flesh dangling. Whatever-or whoever-had done this, had run her clean through. And obviously, even Kysael was no match for it, which in itself was terrifying.

tI pulled my hair back, and sterilized my hands. I proceeded to lay my hands over the wound, letting the warm, lavender glow of my healing powers wash over the wound, working on her.

tI could sense that the injury had severed nearly all of the nerves on the left side of her body. It would be a miracle if she ever walked again.... or if she even survived.

tAgonizing hours pa.s.sed as I stood in the same position, sweat running down my face from expending so much energy. My a.s.sistants wiped sweat from my brow, one bringing me a few sips of water even as my hands stayed hovering of Kysael's body, determined to save her.

tMy muscles ached and cramped. Tears blurred my vision.

t"Don't you dare die on me, Kysael!" I told her when her heart slowed to a nearly fatal rate. "Do you hear me? Don't give up now!"

tI b.u.mped up the amount of energy I forced into my hands, trying to heal her faster.

tI couldn't afford to lose her. Not after everything that we had been through together.

tNot after everything that I had done for her, not after I had finally begun to understand and accept the growing feelings that I had for her. I could feel the Blood Bond pulling and tugging in agony, twisting painfully in my gut to push harder, heal her faster, keep her alive.

tI couldn't bear the thought of losing her. I couldn't imagine a world without her.

tHer heartrate rose back up some, and I heaved out a sigh. At least we had gotten by that close call.

*

tMy hands were numb, the skin raw and peeling from the energy emanating from them. I had been healing her for six hours, now.

tAnd finally, after reattaching the muscles, I managed to regrow some of the bones and reattach the skin, and at least partly reattach one of her organs.

tBut something wasn't right. Something in my bond made me feel as if I were going to vomit, but I chocked it up to my exhaustion.

tAfter all of these hours, surely everything would be alright now.

tMy eyes began to slide shut as I almost fell asleep on my feet.

t.i.t wasn't until my a.s.sistant shook my shoulder that I snapped out of my exhausted daze to actually take in her condition and to look upon her face.

tTears ran down my face, and my body fell to the floor, landing on my knees.

tKysael's face was pale.

tThere was no life in her. I stood shakily to lay my head on her b.l.o.o.d.y chest, listening for a heartbeat....

tThere was none. She was gone.

tBut when...? When had she...?

tHow had I missed it? I didn't understand.

tPanic rushed through me. I had been so focused on healing her body and so exhausted, so weak, that I hadn't even noticed her spirit's absence.

tI was speared with pain and guilt.

t"No!" I screamed out the sob, and my body was wracked with the force of my cries. I punched the earth beneath me as I went back to my knees. I continued to cry, drawing my spirit to pool in my belly, transferring the energy to my voice. She had been born dead, after all. Perhaps--

tI stopped. The energy wasn't synching up with hers. There was nothing. No drawing pull from her to pour my spirit into. And I knew what that meant.

t.i.t was already too late. "I can't lose you!" I told her. "I can't lose you like this, not when I had just begun to accept my feelings! Not when you...not...." I couldn't even finish.

tMy a.s.sistants stood back, observing me with solemn, grim faces. One clasped his hands together, twisting his hands in his tunic-the one whom had fetched me, I remembered vaguely. But I didn't care about that.

tOne of them left the building, and I stared up at Kysael's lifeless face as I felt the full impact of her loss.

tHow could I even live now?

tShe had been the entire reason that I had gotten to this point, that I had grown and endured and flourished. She...

tShe was everything that I had lived for since she had been born.

tThe door slammed open to reveal Prince Moserre, in all of his glory. His black hair was free of bindings, rus.h.i.+ng down in waves over his chest.

tHis fierce eyes looked from Kysael to me, then back to Kysael.

t"My lord," I choked out, trying to compose myself. "I... I am sorry, I-"

tHe said nothing as he brushed past me, paying me no mind. With his overbearing nature and his intense reactions to things, I was surprised that he hadn't already killed me for allowing his dear daughter to die.

tI watched him with grim fascination, this dark creature that was my wife's father. He went to stand at her side.

tAnd then he did something that I did not expect.

tHe held out his wrist, and bit into it-hard. With his other hand, he opened her mouth.

tThen, he placed his bleeding wound to her lips, letting it spill into her mouth before holding the still bleeding wound over her freshly closed wound, still raw and it soaked into the new skin.

tHe began chanting in their native tongue that I had just began to learn, but I could not understand this. It was thicker than their normal tongue, darker, fouler sounding. It was extremely guttural compared to the normal Wraith tongue. You could feel the power in the words, how ancient they were. Chills ran up my spine.

"Linkta leef toh mah en, fohs leef bahk toh huun, ohf tees ahn cohmahn yoh ohn, grahn dohknah!"

tA blinding flash shot through the room, and I covered my eyes.

tAfter a moment, I looked and my heart raced when Kysael opened her eyes and began to cough.

tI looked to the Wraith Prince. "How....how did you-?"

tHe scoffed. "The Royal Wraith bloodline has the ability to come back from death once, so long as another Royal Wraith performs the ritual. It was designed to help us to preserve our royal clan."

t"That...." Kysael croaked. "Certainly is.... a handy skill," she said dryly.

tI laughed as I cried. I couldn't remember the last time that I had been so relieved.

tI went to her side. "How are you feeling?"

t"Like I had a hole all the way through my hip bone," she said sourly.

t"What happened to you?" Moserre beat me to asking.

t"I was on my way back, and... I was hunting in the far reaches of Kaloni forest, just outside of the Barbarian's territory, Karok. As I was starting to eat on a young boar, the guardian of that forest found me. He told me that I wasn't allowed to hunt the city's boar, because they are sacred to the Barbarian people....and he stabbed me with his tusk."

t"A man had tusks?" I asked, confused.

t"No....there is a legendary wild boar, who stands taller than seven feet on all fours," Moserre explained. "He is able to speak.... he is a bewitched boar, one of magnificent power. It is said that he protects his kind around that city. Because of him, the Barbarians wors.h.i.+p boars. This head boar is incredibly powerful. To be honest, Kysael, I am immensely impressed that you managed to crawl far enough away from there to be within our hunting lands."

t"Not....exactly. The funny thing...." Kysael chuckled softly. "The funny thing...is that not even half of his tusk punctured through me. He stabbed me, then pulled my body off of the ground and threw me...with just his tusk.... It took....all of my strength....just to stay conscious. If it weren't for Coal grabbing me and getting me back to where I could crawl into Lykra's borders, I would be dead at that boar's feet right now."

tI immediately remembered who Coal was. I was surprised that she now had some form of bond with this creature. But it was Kysael after all. She somehow always managed to draw people in.

t"He is Mafrien's personal ice wyvern," Moserre said. "The lord of the ice wyvern clan, and Prince Mafrien's mount. Mafrien is the only person to have tamed a wyvern from the ice clan before."

t"He's actually really nice," Kysael commented softly. At our incredulous looks, she elaborated. "It shocked me, as well. But I sincerely enjoyed my time around him."

t"You are certainly the first," Moserre said incredulously. He patted my shoulder. "Continue healing her, Dragon. She is out of the woods now. You don't have to fear for her life anymore." He left the room as quickly as he'd entered, returning to his city. I put my attention back to Kysael.

tI resumed my healing position over her body. "Tell me, Kysael...can you feel anything? I am going to run a few tests."

t"Alright. I'm ready when you are."

tI pinched her toes on both feet. "Did you feel that?"

t"I felt it on the right foot," she said.

t"Good, good. And the left?" I pinched the left toes again.

tShe shook her head, eyes wide. "No....nothing."

tI slowly pinched all the way up the left side of her body. From her toes to her feet, to her ankle, up to her calf, her knee, her thigh.... I continued until I had reached her left forearm, when she finally stopped me.

t"So....you couldn't feel any of that until I reached your left forearm...?" I asked softly.

tShe nodded. "Dragon...?"

tI sighed, putting my forehead in my hand. "Kysael....you have severe damage to the nerves in the entire left side of your body."

t"What does that mean...?" She asked, fearful. "Does that mean.... that I'll never fight again...?"

tI shook my head. "It means that you may never be able to walk again."

tShe gasped. "No! I refuse to accept that. You are the best healer in the world! Isn't there anything that can be done? Please!" She begged.

tI ran over a century's worth of studying and researching medical texts and books, medical procedures that I myself had performed or watched. There had to be something.... something....

t"The only thing that I can think of that may help....is a daily healing session for several hours, relocating and reattaching muscle ligaments and nerves. Even then.... rehabilitation would take months, possibly even years until you can function at full power again. I truly do not know if even I am skilled enough to perform such a task."

t"Please, Dragon....One can't survive, or even truly live, in this world without the use of their body. I would rather die than to stay like this. I beg of you."

tI ran a hand through my hair, sighing heavily at the quip that felt more like a slap in the face. As hard as I had worked to keep her from dying, for her to say such a thing angered me But I put it out of my mind. "We will start healing sessions first thing tomorrow morning. Now, I have many other people to get to who have travelled a long way to see me for medical attention. I don't want to keep them waiting." I quickly left the room, wiping the sweat and tears from my weary face.

tI was so relieved that she was alive, yet I dreaded the many months of constant nerve reconstruction that I was facing.

tAs if having my own medical clinic where people from many miles away came to, just to have me heal them, on top of Kirinae's training under me to become a warrior and a healer....and now this?

tHow could I possibly be able to handle all of this? I was only one man.

tI had to find a way. I knew how important Kysael's body was to her. She had to fight to be happy.

tI could only hope that my work would be successful.

*

tAfter a long night of healing people, I returned to Lykra, to my-our chambers. Kysael had been moved back to our shared chambers, back to her bed.

tI found her surprisingly waiting for me, still awake.

tI sighed, setting myself straight to work and uncovered her wound. "Good morning, Kysael. How do you feel this morning?"

t"A little tired. I waited all night for you."

tI looked at her eyes, then. "You should have slept."

t"I couldn't sleep. I am too restless to sleep." She looked away. "And you didn't get to sleep, either. So, it felt wrong of me to have a luxury that you weren't given."

tI met her eyes, giving her a look full of meaning, and then I inspected the wound.

t"The new flesh is molding into the old nicely." I held my glowing hands over it, and closed my eyes, sensing out the wound. "Most of the muscles are still severed, and the veins are tangled and some ripped through. I patched up one of your organs last night, but it still needs work also. You are not in critical need, but you do need attention as soon as possible." I let my healing energy seep into her body, and I opened my eyes when she sighed, her body relaxing.

t"That....is always such a pleasant feeling," she said softly. She met my eyes. "Thank you, Dragon. I hope you know how much I truly appreciate everything over all of these years."

tI smiled. "I have always enjoyed helping people...helping you. You should go to sleep, Kysael. This is going to take a while. I am aiming to repair at least five nerves, but I first have to locate them, what pinpoint location on your body that single nerve goes to, locate the other strand of that nerve, match it up, and began re-growing and reconstructing it so that it fixes that one single nerve on your body, in that one pinpoint location."

tShe frowned, and tears formed in her eyes. ".... Just...how many nerves have been destroyed...?"

tI met her gaze. "Millions. Every pin-head distance over your entire body is made up of nerves. I have to fix almost half of your entire body."

tTears ran down her somber face, and she suddenly looked so much older than she really was. "I....I am so sorry. If I had understood all of that before....I... I wouldn't have been so pushy about this," she said softly.

tI smiled. "Well, the sooner you let me close my eyes and focus, the faster this will go."

tShe pulled her lips into a small, tight, closed-mouth smile, and shut her eyes to rest. After a few moments of silence, she whispered. "I am... I'm so sorry that I left, Dragon. If I hadn't left, I wouldn't be hurt, and you wouldn't be pus.h.i.+ng yourself so far to heal me. I could have saved us a lot of trouble."

tI shut my eyes once again. "Mafrien had intended to come and capture you, anyway. He basically told me so through Kirinae. The only one who was really saved much trouble was him by not having to fight his way in here to get to you. And you needed to hunt after he released you. I am sure that you needed to feed. You've never been one to feed unless you were in need. You're not gluttonous. I am sure that this was something that would have happened anyway, so you don't need to apologize to me for it. Now, hush and get some rest." When she didn't respond, I focused on the task at hand and I used my healing powers to envision the inside of her body, down to the very nerves. I took in a deep breath.

tAnd it was as I had suspected. It would be much easier said than done. When it came to locating both strands of a single nerve, finding which specific point it went to on her body, matching up the strands, and re-growing them...all in all, it took me over an hour just to find and reattach and regrow a single nerve.

tHowever, this was something that had never been done before....so, I congratulated myself before I went back to work.

tAs time continued to go by, it got a little easier. At least I knew what I was looking for, now.

tLocating which pinpoint spot on her body each nerve went to was, of course, the hardest part.

tWhen I began to nod in and out of sleep, I stopped. Judging by how low the candle had gotten, I had been doing this for approximately six hours.

tI had, however, met my goal of reconstructing five nerves, and I was proud of my work.

t.i.t was already close to midday.

tI looked and saw that Kysael was, indeed, asleep. I crawled into my bed and fell into a well-deserved, peaceful slumber.

tThat slumber, was, unfortunately, short lived when I was awoken by a knock on the door. I answered to see my medical a.s.sistant again.

t"I am terribly sorry to disturb you, Lord Dragon. I know that you haven't had much sleep. But a group of half-elves just came into the clinic, and several of them are wounded. They were attacked as they were pa.s.sing through neighboring territory."

tI sighed as I got dressed, and startled when Kysael asked me what was going on.

t"I will be back in the morning. Keep resting."

tAnd then I left, following my a.s.sistant back out of the city and to the clinic.

tI sterilized my hands, quickly getting to work.

tAnd a young woman was my first patient.

t"What can I do to help you?" I asked. She blushed, and looked away, sort of shy, almost. I sighed. I had just begun to accept my feelings for Kysael, whom I had married. But having a woman react to me in such a way… well, it was making me feel a certain kind of way, because it had been so very long since I had been able to be intimate with Kysael.

t"I was stabbed through the arm," she said, holding out her arm for me.

t"Care to tell me the story?" I asked, diving right into healing her.

t"We were attacked by bandits right outside of Elrien. We were returning home from gathering supplies for a top-of-the-line poison that I just discovered."

t"That is close to my home city," I said lightly. "I am from Havengrove. And you must be very talented to be able to discover poisons."

tShe smiled. "Yes, I knew that you were from Havengrove. I have read your medical book." She blushed, and my heartrate increased with the attention. I nearly rolled my eyes at my own adolescent behavior.

t"Really? Are you a healer, also?"

t"Sort of.... I am a poison control specialist at a medical clinic in Arthene. I study how different poisons affect different races, and I create antidotes for those poisons variant for different races since not all races are affected or healed the same way."

tI looked into her eyes, and was surprised by the deep, rich brown mixed with flecks of green and blue around the pupil.

tThere was a light hazel ring around the outside of the iris. Her skin was a soft peach, and her hair was a very rich tan and gold color, a sandy color almost.

t"What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

t"Arthenia," she said. "Before you ask, I am a half mountain elf, half ocean elf."

t"You are beautiful," I blurted before I could stop myself.

tShe grinned; her cheeks rosy. "Thank you. You are quite handsome yourself."

t"Wait a moment.... Arthene....Arthenia...You are king Coralus's daughter! The Princess of Arthene!"

tShe smiled. "Almost. He is like my adopted father.... or, to be technical, he is my father's brother. But my father and mother both pa.s.sed away when I was young....and he took me in."

t"I'm sorry," I said. I let go of her arm. "You should try to take better care of yourself in the future, Lady Arthenia."

tShe looked at her arm, completely healed. "You are skilled," she smiled. "I am impressed."

tI hurried to heal her a.s.sistants, and showed her to the door.

tShe smiled. "Such life-threatening injuries, and you simply heal them all as if they were nothing. How can I repay you?"

tI held up my hand. "Free of charge. I simply love helping others."

t"You truly are a n.o.ble gentleman. I hope to see you again someday, Lord Dragon."

t"As do I, Lady Arthenia," I said, my heart aching strangely from her departure. When she was gone, I did roll my eyes. Why was I behaving this way? Why did I feel like this?

tPerhaps, if I could actually have intimacy with my mate, I wouldn't feel so giddy at the slightest bit of attention. But I shook myself, reminding myself that I was a n.o.bleman, and a loyal husband. I was married. Even if I wasn't able to be with my wife, I was still her mate. I couldn't go behind her back with another woman. Period.

tMorning came slowly, and once again, I made my way to my chambers and found Kysael waiting for me.

t"You seem quite chipper this morning," she noted. "What happened?"

t"I simply had a nice conversation with a patient of mine today," I said, leaving out details of whom the patient was. I didn't need to concern her with the flutters my heart had given from my meeting with that patient. Not to mention that it would more than likely hurt her feelings. I was her husband....and we had just begun to move forward in our own feelings for one another. It would be best if I put those flutters out of my mind, and didn't think on the princess of Arthene.

t"Ah, well good. I am glad that you had a good day."

tI sat and began working over her. "Good! The skin and bones are continuing to improve. The muscles and veins still need work, but not as badly as other things."

tAnd so, she relaxed and chatted with me as I got to work. It meant a lot to me that she pushed herself to stay awake despite how tired she was.

tShe cared deeply for me, and refused sleep until I was able to rest as well. I often found her on the cusp of unconsciousness, desperately struggling to fight against the darkness.

tAnd her efforts to stay awake and keep me company warmed my heart, and I focused on that warmth and ignored the fleeting, wrong-feeling flutters that Arthenia had caused.

*

January, 1103 A.D.

tMonths of this routine pa.s.sed by. Tiring as it was, at least I was getting it done and I was making progress.

tSince Kysael's healing sessions with me began, I had managed to completely repair the bones, muscles, veins, skin, and two hundred nerves.

tKysael, however, was growing very weary and restless from staying in bed all day. And I truly couldn't blame her.

t"Dragon," she began one morning. "When can we begin on rehabilitation?"

t"We have gone over this," I reminded gently. "I have to finish repairing all of the nerves first. If we start rehabilitation before the healing process is complete, you could damage the nerves that I have repaired already. You are just going to have to be patient."

t"Patience has never been my strong suit, if you recall. It seems to me as if you were born with patience."

tI chuckled. "Yes, I have always been very patient. I would have to be, raising a little mischievous little girl like you."

tShe smiled, but it was fleeting, filled with sadness. "I really have been incredibly unfair to you. I am so sorry. After all the years that you have taken care of and watched over me, and I....I have been such a burden..."

tI felt a lump form in the base of my throat, and I cleared it before I responded, confidence in my tone. "You have never been a burden for me. I swore to be your protector. I have to have patience with you."

t"I just wish that I could go outside. I feel like I have paled several shades without being able to get some sunlight."

tI smiled sadly. "You have gotten awfully pale. How about we go and do our healing session outside tomorrow morning?"

t"That sounds really wonderful!" She said dreamily.

tIndeed, the next day came soon enough. Instead of going in to work, I had my a.s.sistants take over for me for the day while I took Kysael outside that morning, working on her injury as she lay out in the sunlight on a blanket.

tI was thankful that it was an oddly warm morning, considering the time of year.

t"Oh, this is so incredibly nice," she whispered. I could swear I saw some color coming back to her skin. She looked so serene, so peaceful that I could also swear that she would fall asleep.

tI smiled. "It is nice. It is quite warm weather for January."

t"Dragon...? If we continue daily healing sessions at the rate that we have been going, when might you be finished so that I can begin rehabilitation?"

t"Truthfully...? In the next couple of months. My skills have vastly improved. I am able to complete the nerves much faster now than when we first began. It should be possible to start rehabilitation by March, hopefully, as long as I continue working at the rate that I have been."

t"Really?" She asked, her eyes lighting with joy. "That would be amazing!" Her voice held such excitement that my heart sped up. I had not seen her so happy in a very, very long time.

tI decided to begin to work even more diligently and as quickly as possible. I knew how ready she was to be on her feet again, and I could understand her feelings.

tI couldn't imagine being stuck in a bed for months, waiting on someone to heal my nerves so that I could learn how to walk all over again.

tAs January pa.s.sed into February, there were fewer and fewer nerves to repair, and Kysael grew more and more excited, and more impatient.

tShe chattered on and on about what she would be doing when she could walk again.

tI knew that she was nervous, as well. I had already explained to her that the rehabilitation process would be excruciatingly painful for her, even with her high level of pain tolerance.

tHaving all of your nerves regrown and connected was all well and good, but learning and training your body to walk and fight again.... that would be the true battle for her.

tI could only hope that she would be strong enough to win that battle. It would be no easy task. There would certainly be points when she would feel like she would break. Moments that she would want to give up.

tBut I believed that she was strong enough to pull through. Kysael was, afterall, the strongest individual that I had ever met.

tKirinae became extremely interested in my work, and began studying all that she could from me whenever I had a spare moment.

tShe became my medical a.s.sistant, and I began trying to teach her what I was doing and how to do it.

t.i.t didn't go well right away, since she'd never had any medical training.

tBut soon, she began to be able to at least help me locate the corresponding strands for nerves, and that was a lot of help even in itself.

tKysael and Kirinae got to spend much more time together than ever before, and it seemed to make both of them happy.

tThey seemed more like sisters than mother and child, though, considering how much Kirinae had grown and how she looked and acted.

tAnd I knew that her progress disturbed Kysael, also.

tKirinae was not even born an entire year ago, and yet she was the size and intelligence level that Kysael was. It seemed so impossible.

tI sincerely hoped that Kirinae would continue to stay on a good path. The world needed more people on the side for good and justice.

tKysael and I were trying to help guide her to stay on the Light path.

tOnly time would tell if she would stick to it, though.

t.i.t was just getting into March when, with Kirinae's diligent help, I finally completed healing all of Kysael's nerves.

t.i.t would be a long, painful road ahead for her, now. But I had done my part by healing her. From November, 1102 A.D., to March, 1103 A.D.

tFor four months, I had been healing her for hours each day. It had taken me four months, for at least four hours each day, to do this.

tSixteen hours a day for sixteen weeks.

tThat meant over two hundred and fifty-six hours.

tI could only hope and pray that all of that work...all of my time, my blood, sweat, and tears had not been for nothing.

tNow, the rehabilitation and its success would be up to Kysael.

tI could only pray that she would be as patient as I had been, and not push the recovery… or else she could undo all of the hard work that I had put into healing and fixing her body.