“You are very generous. What should I do?”
“Simply look into my eyes.” Her aura shifted to one of comforting. She raised her forelegs and brought them together so that the heels of her talons rested on his cheeks, warm and heavy with magic.
He nearly staggered as a powerful presence flowed into him and spiraled down into his chest. It paused by his broken rib with a burst of heat, and suddenly the pain there was gone. Then the magic found his bullet wound. It lingered longer this time, tracing the path the bullet had taken, before traveling down his arms, first one and then the other. The purple bruises on his hands faded to yellow before disappearing entirely.
But she was not done. The power moved through his legs and then back up his body to circle through his skull. It was everywhere, his ears, his nose, even his eyeballs. Now he could open his eyes fully again. As the magic slowly withdrew, his face felt cool with the absence of her touch.
Her aura, though, was sad. “I am very sorry about the wound in your shoulder. It is better, but I could not fix it fully.”
Yet the constant ache there was much lessened. And most amazing of miracles, the fingers of his right hand moved when he commanded them to. He bent his elbow, raising his forearm. It seemed as heavy as lead, but it moved. His arm worked!
“This…” He said brokenly, his voice trembling. “This is so much better. It is an amazing gift.” He turned his hand over and back just because he could. Never had the prohibition against giving thanks to a dragon been harder to keep.
“I am happy that I could help, though I wish I could do more.”
“This is beyond anything I ever hoped for.”
Jack said gaily, “Excellent! Coquelicot is the finest healer in the Nest, and she loves doing it. We are all in disgustingly good health because of her.”
“Mortals are very satisfying to heal,” the dragon allowed. “You break so easily.”
Darcy flexed his hand again. It did not close completely, but surely it would grow stronger with time. Even if it did not, he might be able to write again, to hold his reins properly, to carry his child. “I am forever in your debt. If there is any service, however small that I can ever do for you, I pray you to ask it.”
Her aura turned to pleased embarrassment. “Go to the Eldest, then. The Little One will take you. I must remain at my post.”
Yes. He needed to pass on his information, since Elizabeth did not know what the soldiers had told him. He should share the memories of the sea serpents, too. And as eager as he was to see Elizabeth again, to reassure her he was well, he would be glad of the opportunity to steal a little more time with Jack first.
At the Gate, Darcy shook Jack’s hand. Two astonishments at once, that Jack was alive and so was Darcy’s hand. “We will meet again,” he said fiercely. “If nothing else, when the war ends, I will come back to see you.”
“I will look forward to it. I would tell you to give everyone my greetings, but I know you cannot.”
And it was true, because the Eldest had laid another binding on him. “It is not fair.” He hated the idea of leaving Georgiana and his motherbelieving Jack was dead, but what choice did he have? Not that he could truthfully tell them Jack was safe, with the Nest about to come under attack.
Jack clapped his arm. “Many things in life are unfair. Now go, before Saxifrage here gets impatient.” He nodded to the small green dragon by the Gate.
Darcy nodded and strode toward the ring of sparkling air that marked the Gate. What would it feel like? Determinedly he stepped over the threshold of the shimmering space. Soon he would be with Elizabeth again.
It felt like nothing at all. No resistance. Not even the air was different. The chamber looked exactly the same.
He turned to look back, and there Jack stood staring at him in shock.
“What happened? Why am I still here?” Darcy asked. Disappointment rushed through him, along with fear. How could he get home if the Gate did not work?
Jack turned up his hands and shrugged. “What is the matter?” he asked the dragon.
“Curious.” The dragon carefully reached out a talon to the edge of the Gate. Sparks flew from it. He picked up a metal rod and pushed it into the shimmering air. Half of it disappeared. When he drew it back again, it became whole. “The Gate is working, but it will not take him.”
“Why not?” Jack asked.
“I cannot say. He is not a companion, but he is your brother, is he not? You came through the Gate with no difficulty.”
“I came through…” Jack sounded shocked. “Never mind that; how can we get Will home?”
The dragon moved his head from side to side. “That I cannot say. The Eldest might know, or Gentiane or Renoncule. They understand the Gate better than I.”
“Come, Will. We need some answers.”
Darcy could not agree more. It had never crossed his mind that the Gate would fail, leaving him stranded in the mountains of France to face an impending battle.
