"Oh, ice crystals! Dragon, are you still there? Can you hear me? I maybe cannot hear you."

In her shock at all that she saw, Seileah almost forgot to wait for his answer, not expecting to hear.

She was still facing the valley, looking out over the ridge. The land lay desolate before her. Strange tufts of unfamiliar twiggy bushes thrust out from cracks between rocks. These same bushes seemed to dot a largely bare landscape. Odd trees straggled about the dead pale folds of the land—mostly naked and dry, with nothing much green.

When Seileah turned around with her back to 'Dragon's' pine tree—the only tree looking healthy in 'his' world that she could make out—away from the same lay of the land she knew so well in her own world, she found herself facing, an enormous shelter of sorts, growing right out of the hill that should have been 'her' hill.

It was not made of sticks, but straight solid pieces, which created a flat front and then a black top sloped up and away—along the up-angling face of her hill behind the view-tree, but this enormous shelter loomed out of 'his' land, rather than sat upon the surface of 'hers'—and it kept going up, far beyond the crest of the hill. It jutted itself out of the land at least a full tree's height above the top of the hill! What creature can live in a shelter that's larger than hills? No wonder the dragon boy does as he's told!

The air spit. "Hey, are you there?" It was the boy.

Seileah could just distinguish the faint crack of a voice, but nothing else.

"Help me!" Her eyes were wide, still looking around. "Touch me."

Another crackle of sound.

"Put your hand on my arm!"

Then she felt him. His hand found hers and slid over its back, then up her forearm to grasp onto her tight. His new warmth was a feeling she knew as a certain, and it pulled her against all the currents of smoke and into the depths of her 'wilds'.

A splitting of time later and she could see 'her' world again. And she now stood gasping—looking past Dragonfly's shoulder—to study her hill.

There was no giant shelter—just twee, twee, whizz, twee, twee, whizz, the burbling chatter of leaves and a buzz now and then from a contented collector of pollen in firs. The smells were all 'hers'. She breathed and languished a moment in her raptured relief.

"What happened to that?" She just pointed. She knew she was making no sense. Then she knew what he'd been staring at too.

"That's what I'd like to know." Somehow the boy knew what she'd meant regarding the hill. "Should I let go now?"

Seileah was stunned for a bit, thankful he'd thought of practical matters to ask—should he keep his hand on my arm? "Thank you. I don't know what to do."

"If you disappear, I'll pull you back through. Or I hope— I will try. I don't know why things didn't go back, —normal, when I reached out to you there. But we should stay close." He was looking around. "This shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be here! But, —this is amazing!" He was shaking his head, his sea-green eyes alight with all the visions of new life that he saw.

"Why was that there?" Seileah did not have to explain what she asked. She still had not taken her eyes off the hill that now looked just as it should. The shelter she'd seen had now disappeared with 'his' world.

"The research center? Ya, I see that it's missing." He didn't answer. He just considered its meaning.

After a moment she realized neither of them had chanced to let go.

Is this normal in his life?  "It will be okay, do you think?" She finally asked him.

"Oh, I hope so. Let's do it slowly." He moved back, unclasping his hand, but left it only a little above and inched away now—waiting to see. "I just don't understand why I didn't go back."

"So you do know now? —you live in a different world?" Her ears started to hiss, but then the feelings quickly eased and subsided.

Dragon Efflington had shown a tiny hint of amusement. "Ya. I guess I do." He smiled at her. "You were right. I just didn't see it. I thought—" He was fascinated with the foliage, the life that teemed, thrilled and moved everywhere, like he'd never seen—around and above them. "Thad is going to be so horribly cross. I don't know why you aren't in my, —place. But this is unbelievable here."

"What's going on?" Seileah demanded. "Did you come here to hurt us? Make me go to your land?"

"What? Why would you say that? No! Of course I did not. It was an accident. I don't know anything about how this happened." He did not share her confusion entirely, but he was still making sense of the things he did know.

"Your world has death all over its surface," she stated flatly.

"Oh, wow. Ya. Compared to this, it does!" He marvelled, staring up to the shadowy canopy of trees on the slope, pushing bushes aside, to inspect all the life that he could take in.

He climbed over boulders, to see bright colored plumage of roosting rawcocks, receive the quick admonishing chortles and whirs from the chiplets and squarls as he moved up into the thick of the forest. He noted the happy fluttering of all the young chattering birds—announcing last rays of light—disappearing too fast.

She felt odd trying to avoid the slapping of leaves as he let go of branches. And she tried to stay as close as his shadow, so she wouldn't return to 'his' hill, without him, but he was lost in his thoughts and all the amazement as he climbed up ahead.

"I think it's the view-tree," she called, as a branch smacked her on the forehead and she forced her hand to land on a rock, instead of his foot or a poor little corgil, when trying to follow—stay as close as she could, in spite of his climbing.

Phew! Could touching his solid hoof-wrap have done anything? Could it be just that quick—a single touch—and I could be whipped back to his land? What if he didn't find me to reach out in time and I got horribly stuck there? Without him? Where is his land if I were to walk there? What would happen if I got stuck?

"—Or under it—" she finished her statement, hoping Dragon had heard. Oh, the Eldwar was right! This is awfully bad!

"What is the view-tree?" he called absently back.

"It's the tree where we were—" she could hear fear in her own voice.

"No. I mean what does the view-tree—" He struggled for footing above for a moment. "—have to do with us loosing our bearings?"

Seileah was lost alright, but she didn't know what to make of his sorting things out. I must tell the Clan! I can't stay here a moment. She looked back down the slope to see what she could still determine from here if the swirl was still active in the roots of her tree. But how can I leave him? She was getting more nervous.

As she glanced, she immediately caught sight of a stout grey figure, dashing away from the tree—as if the shadowy creature in form knew she was watching.

With her horror she saw that the love of her tree, which usually glimmered and shone around every branch and every needle, now seemed to look yellow—declining and dimming its reserve of light from the earth. Its spirit was leaking out of her world!

"Nooo!" She checked to see where the boy was. "Dragon!" she screamed.

In a moments chance she had looked. And now in a sudden clear-headed insight, she grabbed for his foot. If its not his clothing that is 'true' to his world, then this won't hurt me. I can touch his foot-wrap from just the outside!

"We have to get down there fast!" She reached for the ankle-leather and pulled, yanking Dragon Efflington right from his footing.

He slid and he fell, landing close to where she had climbed an instant before then but, —she didn't have a moment to lose. Seileah was already alternately sliding and slipping—hurtling as fast as she could down the short slope—hoping Dragon would trust her and follow.

When she reached the view tree, it was already sick! Oh, it is so ailing! Whatever the strange creature had done, he had affected the tree. Her beautiful view-tree, was sickly and loosing it's life-tone.

Brown needles now dripped off its limbs. Its aura was thin and fast getting browner—its glow more muddy than it was even shortly before as she had glanced from the hill. 

Where the swirl dipped into the ground, the tree was now weakening as it spread, losing its presence, thinning its hold.

Seileah could hear the dragonfly boy closing behind her but she couldn't waste time to check where he was inspect much more around her. What would the tree doing in Dragon's world while this sickness was happening here? She leaned over the swirl and fell across roots, throwing her hand out as swiftly as she could get her palm onto bark of the trunk. Could the smoke gobble and spread to absorb other lands—in reverse? 

She felt sick, as soon as she touched it! The rapid loss of life-force from her tree ripped through her body, taking her off her balance—her mind going black. But she threw all her love instantly into her second-home tree and energy coursed up through her softly bound feet still touching the soil. She was Vox Terra. I know what to do! Seileah's internal world engaged her powers of concentration.

Although she'd had no practice for this, she used all her heart to slow the death of the pine. She instinctively pulled light from both the Mother and Skye, by throwing her heart and her mind to the trunk and into the roots. "Alata galas ech aug nin sereg!" Let light stream through my body! 

She would be the thought and the love that would steady her friend--the tree that she loved. I will have help now. She blanked out all else out. Nothing else matters!

For a time—she allowed herself to hear the voices of otherworld minstrels and belong to the silence she knew was beyond. She allowed the essence of life throughout All that existed around them to flow into and through her to save the proud pine.

When at last the flow of the light stopped and she tried to see what had happened, she first focused on Dragon's pale and shocked face. Then she saw on the hillside behind him, the trees there had also been affected by the draining of life-force set upon this place by the black will of such kind of madness. But all that was changing now—coming back through the primordial veil. She looked around to be sure.

Life from all of the land that was closest to her and the tree had almost been lost! 

The void had now been held back from expanding through her world. For now the flow had reversed—its presence returning from where it had fast nearly dissolved. She had strengthened the will of her tree's life-animation to remain here. By her sincerest intention she hoped to now strengthen its pattern to resonate on its own.

Limp, dangling leaves slowly turned more green—the pulses of nature quickened and gently thrummed.

How are the creatures? She swiftly looked up and checked with her senses. Are you all alright? she asked more to her internal perception than to any particular fox or sparlet, but she knew they were there. She could sense their spirits return from the pause. Oh, by Great Iresca's good graces!

"Look." She pointed for Dragon, who had not yet noticed what had happened. What could be happening elsewhere?

She could see now in addition to being in shock, Dragon Efflington wasn't looking so well. "Are you all right?"

Who was that man? How did he come here? And why? Why would he do this and hurt me—hurt my view-tree? Or was he after hurting the boy?

"Ah, ya." Dragon was holding his thumb to the bridge of his nose between both his eyebrows. "My head hurts. I must have hit it."

"No, you were hurt by this too!" She didn't know how she knew and it didn't matter if he understood.

In shock, Seileah, waved her hand to the trees and now realized what she had already only half-known. The shadowy creature may be wishing more harm, and the view-tree is stuck between worlds! It can bring this dragon boy's death into 'my' world, if it would one day not be able to stand as a gateway to guard us.

Thoughts of Iris leapt into her mind—how could she help? Iris had wanted Seileah not to do anything to help the dragonfly boy. I didn't listen. What have I done?

"What are you saying?" Dragonfly was still pale.

"Your world—it could kill everything that we are!"

≈≈≈

Big realizations for Seileah. And a tough thing to admit--that the Eldwahr might have known some things she didn't see. At the same time, her faith in herself can feel partly restored from the saving of View-tree. 

Thanks for being here--voting, supporting... It's sure easy to write when you make me so happy! ;)

In the next episode, Seileah tries to get some answers.