Before going to see what Aidan had found they stopped at Mereia to visit the shrine of the Sky spirits and to combine the pendants they had collected.

This time Lucas managed to stay still on his own, but it still felt painful to watch the blue lightning dance around Kress.

It just wasn't fair. If he could have done anything to carry his own share, he would have. This should have been his quest too. But still Kress had to bear the burden alone.

He cast his eyes to the ceiling. 'Please, Sky spirits...What can I do? I just want to protect my friends.'

Suddenly he felt a small hand take his and looked at Mrei in surprise. He had almost forgotten she had accompanied them this time.

Mrei leaned on Lucas's side. This place was sort of pretty and scary at the same time. Scary mostly because she didn't know what was happening to Kress either. But no matter what, she was determined to stick together.

The blue light died out, and Kress drew a shuddering breath, his body trembling. Still he managed to give his companions a weak smile and tossed the merged-into-one pendant to Lucas when the other boy got close enough.

Two thirds. Not much more to go anymore.

"Can you walk, kid?" Rolan asked.

"Somewhat."

"Meaning? I don't want you to slip and crack your skull."

"I'm tired, but I'm not an invalid. I can walk."

In the end, though, he had to cling to Lucas pretty tightly to keep moving. Every step felt like it was sapping what little remained of his strength.

Rolan watched it for a while. It was obvious to anyone that that really wasn't working - Kress was two years older than Lucas and about a head taller -, but those two just wouldn't give up. "How long does it take you to swallow that pride, kid?" he finally asked.

"Sh-shut up."

"We'll manage," Lucas hurried to assure him.

Unbelievable. At least they were almost outside. That only left the walk to his house.

Suddenly Kress fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Lucas, unable to support his weight completely, slumped down next to him.

Rolan sighed and gave the lamp to Mrei. "You did your part, kid, and you did it good. Now accept the help when it's offered."

Kress bit his lip. He didn't want to be this weak.

Rolan knelt down by his side. "Hop on. I'll carry you."

Very reluctantly Kress agreed. "Go on, lead the way. I'm fine," he waved off Lucas's concern. "Just completely exhausted."

"Don't say anything," he spoke quietly to Rolan's ear once Lucas had joined Mrei at the front of their little group. "Once we get back...send those two away."

Rolan quirked an eyebrow at the odd request, but nodded. Kress probably had his reasons.

~*~*~

Lucas and Mrei weren't very happy when Rolan told them that they couldn't stay with Kress.

"Now listen. I can sleep on the couch, but there just isn't enough space here for all of us. Kress gets the bed alone - he needs peaceful rest."

"But-" both children started to protest almost as one.

"But nothing. You can see him again in the morning. Now get going."

With the two of them out of the house, he returned to the bedroom. Kress was lying still in the middle of the bed, his eyes crunched shut. "I told Lucas and Mrei to sleep at my mother's. They won't be back until tomorrow."

"Good," Kress breathed out.

"Why the sudden change of heart? I thought you hated being left alone with me."

"I still don't like it."

"But?"

"Those attacks that hit my body every time I use this...blessing in any way. They've never been this bad before." He curled into fetal position as another wave of pain passed through him. His next words were little more than choked sobs. "I don't want Lucas to know. I just don't."

Lucas would stop their search, try to give him more time to recover. But he knew he didn't have any time to waste. If they were to complete the pendant, they had to keep moving. Both before the king's men caught them and before his own life ran out.

Rolan sat at the edge of the bed next to him. "Why now? You seemed to be okay while we were in Taora."

The seizure seemed to pass. Kress breathed a little easier. "It's the shrine. It's trying to change me in some way."

How or why, he didn't know. Maybe this 'messenger' needed to be something more than human.

Rolan stroked his head with surprising gentleness. "I wish I could tell you what's happening, but the legends are very vague. But nothing as much as hints to the messenger having to die. I would have never let a kid like you take on the task if that was the case."

"I think...that it's not working right because something was very wrong with me to begin with."

"About that...would you mind telling me your story now? What is this sickness you have?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Rolan sighed. "Why do you have to be so difficult? Why not just accept it when people are trying to help?"

Kress remained quiet.

"Maybe I should just take you to the town hospital. Hope they could do something."

"No!" Kress shuddered at the mere thought. "I don't want to be near any doctors!"

"For someone with an incurable sickness you sure have negative views on hospitals. Usually the doctors at least try, even when there's nothing to be done."

"...I was never in a hospital," Kress finally admitted.

"Go on."

"I was taken from my parents when I was eight years old and locked in some secret facility. The only thing doctors mean to me is pain. Whatever they tested on me...it broke something inside me."

"Wait, are you serious?" Rolan couldn't believe his ears.

"Why? Because medical tests on human beings are illegal?" Kress snorted. "I used to tell myself that at first. But then I realized that nobody there cared."

He wasn't sure what to say. "And you are certain it's not curable?"

"Positive. If it was, don't you think they would have fixed it?" The strange thing was that they hadn't already replaced him when the symptoms had started. But without Lucas and Mrei getting him out of there that probably would have been only a matter of time.

"Hmm." Rolan's eyebrows furrowed together in deep thought. "I take it just waiting it out won't work?"

"No, I don't think I have any time to waste on waiting."

Now it was Rolan's turn to be quiet.

"...Why are you looking at me like that?" Kress asked. It was more than a little unsettling.

"I'm trying to decide if I should do the right thing and make you forget about this entire messenger business or to help you finish it at the risk of your own life."

Kress snorted. "Did you listen at all? I'm going to die anyway."

"Everybody dies sooner or later. We can only try to make it 'later'."

Kress closed his eyes briefly. "Whatever means you have, use them. Please. I -need- to be able to continue. Even if it means my life ends the moment this pendant is completed."

Rolan shook his head. "I can't promise you even that much."

Figures. Life was rarely fair. "Do it anyway."

Somehow Kress reminded him of a dying candle flame. If it would just remain burning low, it might survive a little longer. But instead it decided to gamble everything for a brief chance to burn brightly again.

He stood up, pushed a drawer out of the way and pried one of the floorboards previously under it away. Underneath was a small compartment that contained all the items he had been entrusted with as the warden of the shrine. Slowly he picked out a fragment of blue crystal about the size of his palm. Then he returned to Kress.

"Is that what you were talking about?" Kress eyed the item skeptically. The shrine's walls had been decorated with similar crystals, but he didn't believe for a moment they'd be some magical items.

"Yes and no. It fell from the ceiling of the shrine during Aidan's and Romi's wedding. You might call it a gift from the Sky spirits - or not, as you still don't seem to believe in them -, but I do know for sure that it acts as an amplifier to their blessings."

"Do you really think I want this to get even worse?"

"I'm not talking about your blessing, but my own."

Kress couldn't help but try to jerk away as Rolan laid a large hand on his shoulder. He forced himself to relax. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but if it helps, do it."

He was expecting more pain or at least something that was far from comfortable, but instead the pain he was already feeling lessened to numb ache. He sat up, surprised. "What was that? If you could heal me all along, why didn't you do it right at start?"

Rolan shook his head, his expression sad. "It's not healing. My blessing allows me not to feel pain." He stroked his thumb along the crystal in his hand. "With this, I could help you not feel yours for some time. But be careful."

"Why?"

"Because you can't feel your condition getting worse either. As a kid I broke my wrist, but I chose to ignore it for quite a while. If Romi hadn't noticed - she was always sharp about what people were really feeling -, it would have probably healed completely wrong. Or not at all." Rolan chuckled. "She made me promise never to use this gift again."

He hadn't been very good in keeping that promise, though. But at least he had learned not to ignore his injuries, even when he'd sometimes ease the pain in minor cases. And...in the end he had been able to make his father's last days a little easier.

Kress lay back down. "I'm not really interested in your life story."

Heh, there was that attitude again. "Suit yourself, kid. I could tell you a lot of great stories, but if you're not interested, I'll save them for a more deserving audience."

The boy closed his eyes. "Just save them for the journey. I expect we're leaving the first thing in the morning."

"You got that right." He stood up again and returned the crystal to its hiding place. "Good night."