"That is understood," Steel said. "But you know more than any of us. Without aid, Naran will surely die."

"Where is he?"

"In our clinic," Steel said and turned to lead the way.

"What can you tell me about him?" Tani asked as she struggled to keep up with Steel's pace, Astra at her side.

"He's my age, 26," Steel said. "I don't know what happened yet, but I'm told that his injuries are quite serious."

"Is he conscious?"

"I don't know."

"When did the accident occur?"

"Last night," Steel replied as he turned into a cave on the lowest level, ducking beneath the overhang. Tani was surprised to see that the room was lit with electric light, and very clean, but small.

"Electricity?" she asked as Steel led them to the back of the cave.

"We have generators," Astra said as they entered a connecting chamber. This room was set up just like any clinic except that, like on the Stray, the equipment was outdated, though sparkling clean.

Steel went straight to the man lying on the medi-cot and bent over him, talking softly. Tani stayed back to give them privacy, taking the time to look around, relieved to find that she recognized most of the equipment despite its age. When Steel straightened and turned toward her, she approached the other side of the medi-cot.

"Naran, please meet Princess Tanjelia of Jasan," Steel said. "Tani, this is my friend and third in command, Naran."

"I'm glad to meet you, Naran," Tani said. "I'm sure you wish it was under better circumstances."

"I wouldn't complain," Naran said with a faint smile. "Steel says you can heal."

Tani frowned at Steel. "I have some medical knowledge, Naran, but I'm not a med tech or physician. If you prefer that I not touch you, I will abide by your wishes."

"If there's any chance that you can help, I'm more than willing to take it, Highness," Naran said, his voice weakening.

"Then I'm glad to do all that I can," Tani said. "And please call me Tani." Naran started to open his mouth but she shook her head. "No, don't talk any more right now, Naran. I'll be asking you some questions as we go along, so please save your strength for that." Naran released a slow sigh of relief, which didn't surprise Tani in the least.

"Steel, I need to know anything and everything that's been done so far," Tani said as she reached for the medi-cot control panel and lowered the bed so she could reach better.

"Drya?" Steel said, and Tani looked up to see an older woman approach the medi-cot and stand beside Steel. "He's been given some pain meds and antibiotics, and his scrapes and wounds have been cleaned," she said. "I wrote down the meds and doses we've given him. We didn't know what else to do."

"You did well," Tani said, smiling gently at the older woman. Drya nodded with relief, then stepped back. Tani grasped the edge of the light blanket covering Naran and folded it back, nothing in her expression or manner revealing her shock at what she saw. The man was scraped, scratched and bruised all over, though his left side had taken the most damage. She glanced up at Steel who said, "He was knocked out of the sky."

"While in mahrac form?"

"Yes," Steel replied. "I don't know how he even survived, let alone fly back, but he did."

"You really don't have an ability for self-healing, do you?" she murmured as she began a visual inspection of the wounds. "At least I understand why you don't have healing tanks."

"You do?" Steel asked in surprise.

"Yeah, they don't generally work on shifters, so my guess is that they don't work on you, either."

"Your guess is correct," Steel said with a little smile.

"Astra, would you find me a pair of sterile gloves please?" Tani asked as she leaned closer to one rather serious looking gouge on Naran's left leg. "Whoever cleaned his wounds did a remarkable job," she said, accepting the gloves from Astra. She put them on, looked up at the scanner mounted over the medi-cot, then turned toward the control panel beside the bed. She turned it on, and mentally crossed her fingers.

It began to hum softly, causing her to frown worriedly. She adjusted the image on the view screen above the control panel. It was blurred, but a few adjustments corrected that.

She began pressing different areas of the touch screen. The scanner responded to her commands by lowering itself from the ceiling and moving to a position just above the center of Naran's body. She sharpened the image, then spent a few moments studying it. The room around her was absolutely silent, but Tani didn't even notice.

She made some adjustments to the control panel and the image on the view screen changed to a close up view of Naran's right foot. Tani adjusted the scanner so that it traveled up and down Naran's entire body. When she was finished studying the resulting scans, she stepped back, took a deep breath, and turned to face Steel across the medi-cot.

"Would you please tell me where I can get some water?" she asked.

"Water?" Steel asked blankly.

"Yes, please. I'm really thirsty."

"I'll get it, Tani," Astra said and hurried to one corner of the room where a large chiller sat. She removed a container of water and handed it Tani.

"Thank you so much," she said, then drank half the bottle before setting it down on a tray table behind her. "Well, Naran, I'm sure it won't come as any great surprise to hear that you're a mess."

"Not really, no," Naran said. "I hurt everywhere and I can barely move, so I figured it was bad."

"Do you want to hear this?"

"Yes, I do," Naran said.

"You have two broken legs, three cracked ribs, a broken arm, and several broken bones in your left hand. Aside from the various scrapes and scratches, you have a deep laceration in your left thigh which, unfortunately, extends deep into the muscle, and that cut on your head needs attention as well. The scans indicate a wound of some sort on your back, but it's not deep or potentially life threatening at the moment. I'll wait until you're put back together a bit before I turn you over to check it. The good news is that, aside from the one cut and a few scrapes, you have no head injuries, and no injuries that affect your internal organs."

"Will I walk again?" Naran asked tightly.

"Surprisingly, none of the breaks are serious. They should heal without complication. My greatest concern is the wound in your thigh. The muscle damage is extensive, so there's a chance you'll limp, though I'll do all I can to prevent it. Aside from that, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to walk assuming all goes well."

Naran stared at Tani for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "At least there's hope."

"Always," Tani said, smiling. She looked across the bed where Steel, Marbic, and Astra were gathered. "I'm going to need help. Are any of you willing?"

"We all are," Steel said, and the others nodded. "What you just did with that machine on the ceiling is something none of us knew how to do. We didn't even know what its purpose was, Tani. That's how little we know. But if you tell us what you want, we'll follow your instructions to the letter."

"Thanks, Steel." She looked back down to Naran. "Each broken bone must be set, Naran. That means I have to move the bones back into alignment with each other. If that's not done, the bones won't heal straight, and your chances of being able to walk afterward fall dramatically. Unfortunately, setting bones is very painful, and I don't know enough about medication to safely sedate you. I'm sorry."

"Pain I can handle," Naran said with a faint smile. "Drya just gave me some pain med before you arrived, and it's kicking in now. That'll do me."

Tani nodded, then looked up at her assistants. "I need a bone annealer to begin with. Please tell me you have one."

"We have two," Astra said, going to a cabinet on the opposite side of the room and opening it. A moment later she placed two portable bone annealers in Tani's hand that had to be as old as she was. But they were clean, and looked almost new.

"I need to run recalibrations on these before we can use them," she said, taking them over to a counter and setting them down. She opened the control panel door on the side of one of the long, narrow objects that looked much like ancient curling irons, and pressed a button on the control panel. The battery was down to fifty percent, so she snapped it into one of the chargers mounted on the wall in front of her. Then she picked up the second one, relieved that it had a ninety percent charge.

"Do you mind if I watch what you do, Tani?" Astra asked as she joined her at the counter. "Nobody here knows how to use these things, and there were many times they would have been useful."

"Not only can you watch, I'll teach you," Tani said, then pressed another button. A yellow light began to flash and Tani relaxed a bit. "It's recalibrating," she told Astra. "It's very important to do this before using it. Every single time, Astra," she said. "If you have to stop in the middle of healing a bone, which you generally have to do at least once, always run a recalibration before each start. These things can cause a lot of pain and damage if not used properly, and each time it's used, it needs to be reset so that it can rescan the bone before healing. That's what the recalibration does."

"Got it," Astra said, nodding once. "Recalibration before each use."

"When the flashing yellow light stops, check the screen. If it needs you to do something, like recharge it, or enter data, it will tell you. If it's ready for the next step, it will say that as well. Always read the screen and never ignore anything it says."

Astra nodded. "The yellow light stopped flashing," she said, squinting at the little screen. "It wants data on the patient. Height, weight, age."

"The medi-cot displays his measurements and weight, and you know his age, so go ahead and enter those numbers."

Astra hesitated. She was nervous about doing something wrong, but this was the first chance any of them had gotten to learn how to use any of this equipment, and she wasn't going to let it pass without taking advantage of it. "Yes, all right," she said, then blew out a nervous breath.

"Don't worry, Astra, I'll double check your settings," Tani assured her, much to Astra's relief. While Astra went to the medi-cot for the stats, Tani began opening and closing cabinets and drawers.

"What are you looking for?" Steel asked.

"Wound adhesive, bandages, a steri-lamp."

"We have no wound adhesive," Marbic said. "What is a steri-lamp?"

"It's a special light that sterilizes wounds more quickly and thoroughly than antiseptic, and it doesn't burn."

"If we have one, we don't know its purpose," Marbic said. "But it sure would come in handy."

"You have one," Tani said, reaching into a cupboard and removing it. It was small, with a long thin light tube. She turned it on and smiled when the bulb immediately turned dark blue, indicating standby mode. She checked the panel, then turned it toward Marbic and Steel. "Right here it tells you that the unit has an eighty percent charge, and it's in standby mode. When you use it, you press this green button. The bulb will turn red. You hold it over whatever you want sterilized until the panel tells you that it's finished and the area is sterilized."

"That's it?" Steel asked in surprise. Tani nodded, then looked around for the charging base. She found it mounted on the wall next to the bone annealer charging base and snapped it into place. "That will charge while we work on the bones."

"Like Marbic said, we don't have any wound adhesive," Steel said. "Can you use that sewing method you spoke about?"

"Sewing method?" Marbic asked in surprise.

"Yes," Tani said, answering Steel's question. "First, let's see if there are any sterile sutures here." She began opening and closing drawers again, but it didn't take long this time to find what she wanted. She removed a box of pre-packaged sutures and set it on the counter, then opened it, smiling to find the box nearly full.

"What else do you need?" Steel asked.

"Well, thanks to Drya, or whoever did it, we don't have to clean all the scrapes and scratches. We'll sterilize them all later with the steri-lamp, but for now, we've got all that we need."

"You said you would need our help," Marbic said.

"Yes, I will," she said, walking back to the medi-cot so that Naran could hear what she was about to say. "When bones break, the muscles and tendons that surround them contract." She looked at the blank faces around her and tried to think of another way to explain. "Imagine that the muscles are like strong rubber bands that are stretched out and held in place by the bone. When the bone breaks, tension on the muscle...rubber band...is relieved, allowing the muscle to contract, which pulls the bone further out of place. To set the bone, the muscles have to be stretched out far enough that there's room to put the ends of the bone back together. The stronger the muscles, the more difficult that can be because the muscles work against you the entire time. Naran looks pretty strong, so I'm going to need you guys to stretch those muscles and tendons far enough for me to set the bones, then hold them in place until the annealer has completed a minimum of thirty percent healing."

"We can do that, Tani," Steel said.

"Yes, just tell us what where and how," Marbic said.

"How's that annealer coming, Astra?"

"I think it's ready," Astra said hesitantly as she held out the annealer.

Tani took it and checked the status panel, then reviewed the data Astra had entered. She smiled and handed it back.

"We're going to start with the femur in your left leg, Naran," Tani said, moving to the scanner control panel and making a few adjustments. The scanner shifted position, and a moment later a close up view of the broken bone in Naran's thigh was displayed on the screen. Tani swung the view screen around on its adjustable arm so everyone could see it. "Steel, you have the biggest and strongest hands, so I need you to place one just above the break, and the other on Naran's hip, and hold him in place. Try not to touch the wound though, and don't squeeze too tightly, but don't let him move, either." Steel nodded and placed his hands exactly where Tani indicated. "Marbic, I want you to put one hand on each side of his ankle. Get good solid grips, guys, and make sure you're comfortable. When I say so, Marbic, I want you to pull his leg straight back toward the end of the bed, but very slowly and carefully." Tani looked at Naran. "Do your best not to move, Naran, all right?"

"Don't worry about me, Tani, just do what you need to do," Naran said.

Tani noted that his eyes looked a little glassy, and was glad of it. She placed her hands carefully on either side of the break and got a good grip. She felt the muscles tighten beneath her hands and waited a moment for Naran to relax. "Pull, Marbic, very slowly," she said. Marbic pulled, surprised at the amount of resistance he felt even though he hadn't doubted what Tani had told them. He put more effort into it, his eyes glued to the view screen. The bone moved very slowly as he exerted pressure on the muscles and tendons of Naran's leg. "Stop," Tani said when the lower portion of the bone cleared the upper portion. She carefully shifted the bone so that it lined up, checked the view screen carefully, then nodded. "Okay, Marbic, release the tension so the bones meet. Very slowly."

Marbic did as she instructed, still watching the screen, while Tani held the two halves in place. When he'd released almost all of the tension and the bones touched, he smiled, thinking they were done. But Tani continued to stare at the view screen with a frown between her brows. Even though it appeared to be right, she knew that it wasn't. Not quite. She closed her eyes and let herself feel the bone beneath her sensitive fingers. Using all the strength she had in her small hands, she shifted the lower portion of the femur just a bit more. The muscles and tendons relaxed into place and she smiled.

"That's it," Marbic said, feeling the muscles relax beneath his hands.

"Yes, it is," Tani said, sweat rolling down her face. "But don't release your hold yet, either of you. Astra, stand between Steel and Marbic with that annealer."

When Astra was in place, Tani gave her an encouraging smile. "Now place the annealer directly over the break, resting it lightly on his skin, but without pressing down on it. Check your position on the view screen, and then press that little green button. Once you start the annealer, don't move it. If your hand jerks unexpectedly, which can easily happen, don't put the annealer back in place. Take it off altogether and we'll reset it before starting again. Can you do that?"

Astra nodded, her mouth dry. "I can do it."

"Everyone ready?" She got nods from Astra and Marbic, then looked to Steel. He leaned over the bed so he could look directly into Naran's eyes.

"Ready," he said.

"Now, Astra," she said, still holding the bones together. Astra immediately placed the annealer directly above the break, then looked at Tani for confirmation. "That's perfect. Go ahead and press the green button."

Astra pressed the button and they all watched the view screen, even though there wasn't anything to see. "What's the control screen say?" she asked Astra a few minutes later.

Astra bent over, careful not to move the annealer. "Twelve percent," she said.

"When it gets to thirty, let me know."

Astra nodded, her eyes on the screen. Before long Tani's arms began to scream in pain but she ignored the discomfort and stiffened her resolve not to move. Then the dragon pendant beneath her shirt began to grow uncomfortably warm against her skin, which was much more difficult to ignore since she neither expected it, nor understood it.

"Thirty percent," Astra announced after what seemed an eternity.

"Lift the annealer straight up and away," Tani said, then watched as Astra did exactly as she'd instructed.

"Very good," Tani said, relaxing. "We can let go now, but do it slowly and don't move him." They all slowly released their holds on Naran and straightened up.

Tani turned to face the view screen, then reached up to pull the pendant out from beneath her shirt. It no longer felt warm, and neither did her skin where it had been resting. She frowned, not understanding what had happened. She released the pendant and turned her attention to the view screen. After studying it carefully, she smiled. "That's perfect. How're you doing there, Naran?" she asked, surprised to find that he appeared to be completely relaxed. She hadn't heard him scream or yell either, but that didn't surprise her since she'd been very focused on her task.

"Good," Naran said. "It didn't hurt much at all, actually."

"No?" Tani asked. She looked at Steel, who shrugged.

"He never struggled or even tensed up much. He breathed hard there for a moment, but that's it."

"That's...remarkable," Tani said, shocked. Astra was staring at the control panel on the annealer. "Something wrong?"