аЯрЁБсџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџ§џџџўџџџўџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџRџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџџmit it.~
Anger stirred briefly at simply the mention of the race and the
memories it
brought up.
~There is no fault to her about her birth. Just as there was
no fault to you
in yours.~
The initial reaction pushed away, Flame was forced to admit
that Warrior was
absolutely right...and that she also held the key to why the
Healing wasn't
working.
Those black souled Elves had spent generations working on ways
to counteract
the Quickning Gift. And it seemed that they had come really
close to
achieving their desire. There was something coiled deep inside
Thist, Flame
could sense it now...something seething and angry, that wanted
nothing more
than to lash out at the pariah that dared...
Well...this wasn't Shi'Kul Lyeaz...and she wasn't half
crazed...Flame
Quickning had quite a bit of work to do it seemed, and it was
time she quit
feeling sorry for herself and got down to business.
*****
Power, sweet and raging flowed through her. It moved to her
command, barely.
The House groaned in its foundation as its creatrix marshaled
her considerable
will, pulling out every weapon in her arsenal.
Sometimes she bullied the Lyeazic magick aside with shear brute
strength,
others she snuck by, a thief in the night. Slowly the internal
wounds were
knit back together, the raging core of Lyeazic magick helpless
to stop the
growing tide of Healing brought about by the Quickning Gift.
Sweat poured from Flame as she knelt, lost in concentration,
over Thist's
prone body. Warrior hovered, keeping silent and giving her
self-sister
anything she could. It wasn't in her to love Thistle as Flame
did...but that
didn't change the fact that she felt the missing piece just as
achingly.
A rib snapped, then another, and a third, in quick succession.
The brutal
sound sending a shudder through the consciousness of Warrior.
Vaguely she was
glad that their eyes were closed, so that she would not have to
watch the
movement of the bones Flame re-set. Around them the House
grumbled its
protests still, the molten threads running through the walls
blazing with the
shunted anger that Flame cast off.
Inside, Flame pulled strings like a master puppeteer, sending
energy to one
area to draw out the Lyeazic core while working frantically to
repair in
another place. Bones snapped and were sculpted back together in
mere seconds.
Internal organs were ruptured and mended in instants. Each step
was a battle,
each Healing a fight in a war, a war that had raged for
generations. It was a
war that Flame had no intention of losing, not after all this
time.
Steam billowed through the bathing room, the naturally hot
water close to
boiling as Fire magick flowed thickly through the rock. The
Fire twined about
the Earth that Flame called so thickly...it bolstered her
failing strength,
and added some teeth to her fight with the Lyeazic magick. Near
by, the lava
flow rumbled and tossed in its bed, the molten rock touched
heavily by Flame
as she struggled to continue.
Hours or days could have passed, and none would have been the
wiser. Flame
remained locked with her adversaries, not the least of which was
her own
weariness. It seemed that there would never be an end to the
struggle, and
then...there was only the arm left to deal with.
Only...more likely it loomed as some impossible task, something
that at the
moment felt out of reach. Flame pulled away a little, floating
in the sea of
power she had called. Fire and Earth seared through her still,
filling her
body and mind to the point of bursting. After a moment she
called Wind, the
gentle thread spinning itself into the torrent made by the other
two Elements.
Lastly she called up Water, the tiny amount of it that she could
hold. Within
the maelstrom she collected every scrap of will she could,
knowing that the
struggle for the arm would the fiercest.
Opening dark emerald eyes, Flame took in the face and form of
Thistle, a
small knot of satisfaction curling around her heart. Gone were
the physical
marks of мЅehled in the heavy air as Flame settled Storm and
Thistle within
the bathing room of the House. She placed each of them upon a
pallet of
heated stone, knowing that even this little trick would be of
some help.
~Tortured.~ Warrior pronounced solemnly.
~Yes.~
~Thistle feels...like us, only more.~
~I know.~ Flame had barely skimmed the surface of Thist's
mind, recoiling
quickly from the savage currents that twisted about further
below. Thistle
was indeed fractured, far beyond the split that Flame and
Warrior had
experienced.
Sleep fell heavily over both Storm and Thist, leaving Flame
free to take a
moment to center before the Healing began. Just minutes before
she had been
ready to throw herself into the lava flow and disappear, so now
she had to
gather up the remnants of her desire. Desire to live. Desire
to Heal. It
was harder than it should have been, but all she could see was
the vast task
of putting the pieces of Thistle back together again...and there
was a chance
that the pieces wouldn't fall into the same places they had
before. The ring
on her finger glinted mockingly, as if reminding her that the
twin was not
where it was supposed to be.
Shaking off the somber mood, she tended to Storm first, knowing
that her
wounds would be easier. Easier did not mean less angering
though. Seeing the
missing teeth and nails brought a red tint to Flame's vision. A
common enough
practice of those black elves, but it did not make it any less
barbaric.
Warrior hissed in anger, seeing a sibling reduced to less than a
cub, unable
to defend herself with the natural weapons of their kind.
Flame hushed Warrior with a mental nudge, needing her
concentration for the
tasks ahead of her. Earth energy flowed through her to Storm,
mending the
cuts, bruises, and other injuries that Storm had taken. She
couldn't grow new
fangs and claws for her sister, that would have to be
accomplished by Storm's
own regenerative powers.
Smoothing back a stray lock of midnight blue hair, Flame sighed
as she
watched her sleeping sister. There was so much that was ugly
between them,
and yet, she would as easily throw herself into danger to save
Storm as she
would Thistle. Sometimes she wondered if Storm forgot that...it
was hard to
say, as she never did understand the younger daughter of Morgan.
Her gaze slewed to Thistle, and a shuddering breath escaped
her. There
before her was another story altogether. The amount of damage
that she would
have to re-Heal was staggering. There were several bones that
would have to
be re-broken and set, internal organs that had to be
re-mended...not to
mention the arm.
Thistle's hand had been taken during the initial kidnaping, and
in her time
with the Lyeazic, she had managed to break it further up the
bone, till she
had only half a forearm left. The knobs of bone lumped under
the stretched
skin, leaving the end of Thist's arm ugly and mostly useless.
If Flame had
her way, that would change before Thist woke.
Healing magick tingled down Flame's arms, gathering into
brilliance in her
hands. She was still unsure where to start, and so just went
internal.
Bonding Thist's heart rate and breathing to her own, she delved
inside to see
what damage needed to be Healed.
*****
The amount of work to be done was surely vast. But it wasn't
anything Flame
hadn't dealt with before. Perhaps not all in one body, but each
wound was
something she had treated. So why was this time giving her such
trouble?
The wounds refused to Heal properly. Some just did not respond
to the energy
and will sent. It was as if there was another force moving
within Thistle
that kept Flame's Healing ability from working.....
~She is part Lyeazic Flame...adher time with those Elves, that part of the battle she
won at least.
Hands that glowed brightly with power from all four Elements
picked up the
stump of Thist's arm and cradled it gently.
Earth held the Lyeazic magick at bay with brute strength, a
wall made of
Healing that held off the snarling, coiled beast that lay at
Thist's heart.
Fire licked out, slicing open the skin, and searing off the
knobs of calcium
that had grown over the broken bones.
Flame trembled as weariness threatened to crumble all that she
had built so
far. Several moments passed as Warrior hung onto the body, to
keep it
upright. Power coursed through them, held in check with a thin
grip, stubborn
will keeping it from lashing out at random.
Earth and Water swirled together, the mix heated by Fire, and
from the open
wound a greyish material began to form. Like a plaster cast of
an arm, it
slowly unfolded till Thist's arm was complete, just missing a
wrist and hand.
Panting with the sustained effort, Flame pushed Fire into the
new portion of
limb, heating the material till it glowed brilliantly white.
Water and Air
splashed over the limb, tempering it into flesh and bone. Then
Earth filtered
through, connecting the new section of limb to the rest. Blood
vessels opened
to begin cycling, tendons connected so that muscles could do
their jobs,
nerves sparked to life, making the new arm twitch in Flame's
hand. Exhaustion
was the only thing that kept the smile from curling her lips.
Unable to work any further, Flame let the Elements go, the
drain more than
her abused body could stand. She collapsed on her side and was
as deeply
asleep as Thist and Storm in a matter of moments.
The Lyeazic...the First Fire sear their hides...were going to
lose this war,
if Flame had anything to say about it.
*****
Internal time said that two days had passed since her body had
collapsed on
the floor. It felt like she had slept years. Fog boiled around
in her brain,
and her body felt weighed down by lead. She blinked eyes that
felt more like
two pieces of sand paper being rubbed together and tried to
remember what had
happened in the extremely vivid dream she had had. Then she saw
Thistle.
All of her discomfort burned away, leaving Flame stunned. It
wasn't a dream.
The thought spun through her and woke Warrior. The tiger
grumbled till she
caught the hesitant excitement that emanated from her
self-sister.
Thistle was home.
The Elements flared and surged through their body, Flame
bursting to finish
what she had started. Thist still slept on, unaware, and Storm
had crept off
sometime in the last two days. Flame spared a thought in hopes
that she was
alright. Then there was nothing but the hand that had to be
returned.
A casual scan showed that Thist was reacting well to the
Healing that Flame
had done before, the Lyeazic magick bashing itself against the
sleep weave
that Flame had tied about her. Renewed by the sight of her
beloved returned,
Flame gathered her will easily, the Elements leaping to their
tasks eagerly.
Quickly the wrist and hand formed, the slender and delicate
fingers resting in
the large palm of Flame's hand.
A grunt escaped her as the Lyeazic force whipped out at Flame,
trying to undo
the newly built hand. The grey material cracked and threatened
to fall away
before Flame could marshal enough force to make a new Earth
blockade. When
she felt that the Lyeazic magick was secured behind the
blockade, she turned
her attention back to the cracked hand.
The grey material fell away, turning to dust then disappearing
into the
floor. Warrior could feel Flame calming herself, forcing
herself to slow
down, take time and use caution in this last bit of Healing to
be done. Under
her ministrations, a new hand formed, the grey material smoother
and better
made this time. It heated evenly, and Flame nodded in
satisfaction as it was
tempered into flesh.
A hand was a difficult thing to rebuild. Tendons, nerves,
muscles, all had
to be connected with exact precision, else the hand would lose
mobility. The
small bones had to be sculpted from body memory with dedicated
care, so that
the new hand wouldn't weigh more than it should. Any mistake
could cause
significant loss in use, even to making the Healing useless
altogether.
The work of connecting the new hand went smoothly, Flame able
to finish
before the Lyeazic magick got around her block. Thist's body
thrashed, the
vile anger that seethed in her core trying to get past the weave
that still
held her mind asleep. Gathering Thist in her arms, her small
body held
gently, Flame melded through the House to their room. There she
placed her on
the bed, and set Wind restraints on her wrists, ankles, over her
chest and
waist.
Flame's face fell, the reality of the situation filtering
through the daze
that came with knowing Thist was really here. Warrior sent
wordless comfort
and then two settled into a chair to watch. Soon Thist would
need to wake,
and then they'd see what manner of person had come home from
Shi'Kul Lyeaz.
] ] зегбЯЭЫЩЧХУСПНЛЙЗЕГБЏЋЉЇЅЃЁ))]4зЇ'