City of Sorcerers (35 page)

Savaron's eyes went from the filly to Kelene and back again. Sometime in between he found his voice. "So this is what you and Rafnir have been up to."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kelene took several minutes to explain to her brother, Morad, and the Korg exactly how Demira had been transformed. The men marveled at the filly's wings and ran their hands incredulously over the satin smooth feathers.

"You did this?" the Korg exclaimed. "Bitorn may be wrong. You are more resourceful than even I thought."

Savaron was obviously impressed, too. "She's fantasric!" he said to his sister.

"You and Rafnir make an unbeatable pair.” He looked around Demira's neck toward his friend. “Why didn't you tell. . ." he began. His voice broke off when he saw the Khulinin's face. "Rafnir!" he cried sharply. "What's wrong?"

Savaron's tone brought Kelene up short. She whirled, her heart in her rhroat, and saw Rafnir slumped on the steps. His face was as red as his tunic, and he was shivering in spite of the heat.

A cry of fear sprang from her lips. She hurried to his side and was horrified to feel the incredible fire in his skin. "Why didn't you say something?" she admonished, wiping his damp hair off his face.

He tried to grin at her and failed miserably. "I wanted to help. Besides. . . it did come over me rather faster than I expected."

Savaron, his face full of worry, knelt beside her. "Is it the plague?" When she nodded, he groaned. "Are you sure it's not a wound fever from his arm or a heat fever?"

"It's the plague," Rafnir answered for her. "My head feels like a forge and my neck hurts."

"Carry him to the shade," Kelene ordered. "I'll need the Lion's Eye."

But Rafnir's hand clamped over her wrist. "No. See to my father first. He is nearer to death and will need your strength to survive."

"I don't want to leave you like this," she protested, even though she knew his argument made sense.

Rafnir pulled himself up to look her right in the face. "You can and you will.

Sayyed needs you more!" He gasped, then fell back into her arms, too weak to even sit upright.

Kelene hesitated for a long moment, torn by her love for Rafnir and her sense of duty to Sayyed. Her love for Rafnir, by the gods, how hard it hit her! The possibility of losing him brought the truth out like a shining star. She did love him with an incredible yearning that burned her heart. How could she leave him now, knowing she might be able to ease his suffering?

But as she looked at his anxious face, she knew through the midst of her turmoil what she had to do. "Savaron, please bring him to the shelter as quickly as you can. I will see what I can do for Sayyed,"

Rafnir's fingers tightened gratefully around her arm before falling limp at his side. She rose hesitantly to her feet. For all of her brave talk and the new diamond splinter that glowed beneath her skin, Kelene was very uncertain of her ability to work a cure for the deadly plague. She did not really know how to use the healing stones or whether they would still be effective. A few of the spells set in Moy Tura were working, but Kelene had no assurances that the healing spells would work, or if they would be enough to break the course of the disease. All she could do was try the stones and hope their magic would be sufficient.

Her jaw set, Kelene fetched the tray of stones and the manuscripts. With the Korg's help, she scrambled up onto Demira's back between the furled wings. She tucked her legs around the upper wings and held on as Demira broke into a trot toward their shelter by the warehouse.

"Thank you for coming now," Kelene said. Then she added wistfully, "You looked so beautiful up in the sky.”

It is incredible
! The filly's thought was a song of delight.
It took a long time to
learn how to do it right, but I remembered what you said about the geese, and it
worked! I am getting stronger and stronger.

Kelene patted the filly's shoulder. "If this healing stone works, do you think you will be strong enough to fly to the Tir Samod?"

The Hunnuli did not answer at once. Her hooves were clattering loudly on the road, and her ears were swiveled back to hear Kelene. She was almost to the shelter before she replied,
I do not know. I have only made a few flights around the plateau
.

Then she rustled her feathers and neighed.
I would like to try, though.

Her call brought the other Hunnuli from the shade of the old building where Sayyed lay. Kelene sent Tibor, as well as Savaron's and Morad's stallions, to help the men bring Rafnir back. Afer and Demira followed her into the shelter.

They found the white cat had already returned to her position by Sayyed's head.

She was curled close to his neck, purring her reassurances softly in his ear.

Kelene kneeled beside Sayyed and laid the tray of stones on the ground before she could bring herself to look at his face. The sight of his once-handsome features made her blanch. The warrior was unconscious, sprawled on his back on his rumpled golden cloak. Although he had not suffered from the devastating vomiting and diarrhea that had afflicted many plague victims, his hot skin was taut and yellow as old parchment, his face and upper body were a mass of open sores, and his neck Was thickened with the swellings under his jaw, making the breath rasp in his throat.

Methodically Kelene unwrapped the stones and picked out the golden Lion's Eye that was spelled to fight fevers. She decided to attack this illness from several directions: first the stone to ease Sayyed's fever, then poultices for his sores, and a warm tea to fight dehydration and improve his strength. If that didn't work. . . she would try every stone and medicinal recipe in her tray until something brought Sayyed back from his trail to the grave. Then she would help Rafnir.

Did you find something?
Afer's deep, masculine voice spoke in her mind. His mental voice was so full of worry and sadness that a tremor shook Kelene's body.

O Amara! In all the hurry to find something to help the people, she had not thought of the Hunnuli. If Sayyed died, would Afer leave to join him like Tam's horse? Would big, stolid Boreas follow her father to the realm of the dead? And Tibor and Nara and Demira and every Hunnuli in the clans that was attached to a human rider? Kelene realized she wasn't just trying to save her friends and family, but their beloved Hunnuli as well.

Instead of making her nervous, the thought strengthened her determination. Her hands steady, she wiped Sayyed's forehead with a cloth. Since she did not know the proper way to use the Lion's Eye, she decided to try Piers's method of placing the stone on the victim's head. The old healer had shown her his red healing stone many years ago, and she still remembered the awe she had felt when he used it to help a young girl hurt by a spell gone out of control. .

Kelene laid the golden stone on Sayyed's forehead. She was about to withdraw her hand when a thought occurred to her. The red stones were meant to work by themselves so anyone could use them, but the Korg had told her the other stones could only be used by healers. Maybe she was supposed to stay in contact with it. She just hoped the stone did not require a specific verbal command to start the spell.

With a pounding heart, Kelene placed her fingers on the stone and closed her eyes to concentrate. Almost at once she felt a heat radiating from the diamond splinter in her wrist, as the power flowed down her hand into the Lion's Eye. But she noticed right away that the magic wasn't complete. Something was missing from the spell.

Keeping the magic under control, Kelene tried to think what else she could do.

There was obviously another step in the process that triggered the spell, but what was it? She started to shift closer to Sayyed's body and bumped into his bare forearm, which lay on the cloak in the way of her knees.

Absently she grasped his hand to move his limb out of the way, and the magic in the stone flared under her touch.

That's it, Kelene nodded. The healer not only had to be in direct contact with the stone, but the patient as well. She clasped his hand tighter. Instantly she felt as if a circle had become complete---she and Sayyed and the stone had become united in the power of magic. She tried to sense his emotions, but his mind was so deep in the pit of his illness that she could only feel the most basic sensations of pain and confusion and somewhere buried in the recesses of his innermost being, a hard kernel of resistance to death.

A smile flitted over her lips. Sayyed hadn't given up yet. Even in his desperate state, he was still trying to struggle for life. That would make her job a little bit easier.

Kelene turned her attention back to the Lion's Eye and the power in its core. She was pleased and relieved when the character of the spell became clear in her mind. It was a strong, well-formed work of sorcery that was still potent after all those years.

Best of all, the spell was easily initiated by the force of the healer's willpower.

The clanswoman opened her eyes a slit and saw the splinter gleaming ruby-red under her skin and the gold stone glowing under her fingers like a coal waiting for tinder. She took a deep breath, said a silent prayer to Amara, and sent the power of her will deep into the Lion's Eye.

The dark gold stone reacted instantly. It burst from a dim coal to a tiny brilliant star resting on Sayyed's head. Its light bathed his face with a golden glow and illuminated the entire shelter. The white cat sat motionless in its brilliance, her fur a shining yellow and her eyes a pair of fiery jewels.

Kelene shut her eyes tightly against the stone's blaze, while she sat very still, keeping her fingers in place. Although she did not see the golden light sink into Sayyed's skin, she felt the spell penetrate his head, its power radiating into every cranny of his skull. The stone worked for a long time before revealing its effectiveness. It was so slow in fact, that Kelene took several minutes to notice Sayyed's fever was declining.

Little by little the deadly beat dropped until it reached a more normal temperature that dried the sweat on Sayyed's face and returned his skin to a healthier pink. At last the light in the golden stone faded and went out. Kelene sensed Sayyed's return to consciousness and used her empathetic touch to ease him into a more restful sleep. He was still a very sick man, but his fever was under control and his body's own healing abilities could now work on destroying the rest of the disease.

There was a warm flash of relief from the warrior's mind, then he drifted away into contentment. The white cat meowed softly and curled up to doze, her tail over her paws.

Thank you,
Afer told Kelene.
Sayyed sleeps. He will be well.

Kelene picked up the stone between her thumb and forefinger. In the low light of the shelter, the Lion's Eye sat dull and shadowed on her palm, as ordinary as any polished pebble. There was nothing to indicate the priceless gift that lay within the stone's core. Slowly Kelene's fingers curled over the stone. When Savaron, Morad, and the Korg carried Rafnir in a few minutes later, the radiant expression on her face was all they needed to see to know the spell had worked.

Savaron and Morad laid Rafnir next to his father on a pad of blankets. The Korg, at Kelene's instructions, lit a small fire to boil water for tea and poultices.

Kelene brought the Lion's Eye to Rafnir. "Your father's fever broke. I think he is out of danger now," she told him, knowing the good news would strengthen his own fight against the disease.

His flashing smile came back, and his hand groped for hers. Their fingers interlocked in a tight clasp.

"I love you," he whispered. The depth and truth of his words were confirmed by such an enveloping aura of delight, passion, and need that Kelene gasped at the wondrousness of it. It was the same incredible emotion she had felt in the Korg's memories of Kelyra, only this time it was for her. She blinked, turned bright red, and began to grin---probably like an idiot, she thought, but she didn't care. He loved her!

And by the gods, she was not going to let him die!

She placed the golden stone on his forehead before he could say anything else, then used her will to begin the spell. The stone once again ignited to its incandescent glow, completing the circle of power between itself, the healer, and the patient. As the magic flooded Rafnir's body, Kelene projected her own feelings for him into his mind.

She felt his welcoming delight like the life-giving warmth of the sun.

Since Rafnir was not as sick as Sayyed, this time the healing went faster. In just a short time the yellow light faded back into the stone and the spell was complete.

Rafnir sighed once; his dark eyes sparkled with a glint of his old humor. "Not bad for a beginner," he said huskily. He tried to sit up, but Kelene pushed him back to his blankets.

"Don't even try it. You're not well yet. You need rest!" She picked up the Lion's Eye from where it had fallen, put it back with the other stones, and started to stand.

Grabbing her arm, Rafnir pulled her down almost on top of him, and kissed her long and deep with all the love he felt in his heart. When he let her go, he was astonished to see tears in her eyes.

"You're going, aren't you?" he asked.

She nodded, saying, "I have to. This is why we came, why we gave Demira wings. If! don't go now, my father will die." She removed four splinters from the tray and laid them in his hand. Then, unpinning the Watcher, she fastened it to his tunic.

"Keep it and you will know when I reach the gathering."

He lifted his hand to cup her chin. "Be safe," he said forcefully. "You and I have just started." He wiped the wetness from her cheeks.

The men watched silently while Kelene packed the healing stones and the scrolls in an empty leather bag and gathered a small pack of food for herself and Demira.

They made no comment when she brewed tea from angelica and comfrey, made the poultice, and told them how to care for Sayyed and Rafnir.

"Don't let either of them ride until they're strong enough," she warned Savaron and Morad. "They could suffer a relapse if they try too soon."