There are some old tales of Apocolytes who in desperate times invoked the aide of a single dragon, but the Swarm only answers the Endtimes call. Dragons are the keepers of temporal existence. It is by their very breath that earth continues, by their presence that the seas teem with diversity, that mammals enjoy the ground beneath them.

After the purge, as the scars healed and the lands of Mearth grew green again, as the scorching disappeared like it had never happened, the tone of impending doom for humanity was in adjournment as the clutch presented its 'evidence' to the Council.

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He waited for her. He now knew her face, her silent presence—not silent to him though, bold and free, unencumbered by human language choosing her own path, within the woods, always.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Reality

Kreelah was removing the pan of dressings she'd changed when something caused her to look back at her young patient's face. Hazel-green eyes watched her in silence. "You're awake! Are you all right? How are you feeling?"

Qello didn't respond.

"I'm Kreelah of Strantoken. We're here in the medicine woman's cottage in Wandoor. Do you remember this room?"

Qello Orkin's eyes moved to survey the room she was in, but gave no sign she could come up with an answer.

"Don't try to talk, now," Kreelah said. "Just enjoy some more rest. You'll have lots of time, while you're mending, for anything else. Do you think you can have a bit more water? I've been giving you water and some of our drops, but you kept going back into—sleep."

At the girl's widening eyes, the young woman named Kreelah said, "Don't be afraid. Your wounds will all heal. You've been asleep for a while. Can you remember the last time I gave you a drink?" Qello riveted alarmed eyes back onto Kreelah's face.

"No, I guess not, eh? Well, you've been awake here and there for just a few minutes and all you managed was water and broth. Do you remember anything much about how you were hurt?"

The girl, still wide-eyed, just watched her.

"All right then. I don't want to make you have to talk to answer yet. I should let the medicine woman know you're awake. She's out in the garden." Kreelah moved to the door and looked back. "You're a right lucky girl to be alive, do you know that? I dare say I don't know how they climb where you're from, but no one here has ever survived the kind of a fall like you've had—not from Devil's Dive, that's sure certain."

The memory shot through Qello like icy dampness—the smells in the Dive were filling her nostrils. She was spinning and falling, an abrupt snag—that was it.

"You've broken the town streak for its really bad luck. That was just awful. To most you're a blessing, an omen. You might find you are a very popular girl, right now. I'll try to let Alphonse know you're awake, if he'll let me. He's been really worried, but he hasn't come close. You just stay and rest there. I'll open these curtains. Are you warm enough, because I can open the window and get you some blankets? Here, you can look outside, at least, and see all the trees."

When Qello made no sign or objection, Kreelah threw the window open as wide as she could, fresh air came on the breeze rushing into the house. They looked out at sunshine, together, hearing the birds.

"Oh there you are, Thunder! Hey! You're squashing those." Kreelah spoke to a big grey cat on the window box, where he sat in the flowers. "Oh, and you'll have a new friend," she said to Qello. "This here fella is Mr. Thunderpaws Bandicoot." She reached to bring the big cat inside. "Yes. That's his name! Come here, my friend." She lifted him and turned so Qello could see the dangling fur-creature. "He tries to sleep under your covers, but we keep on shooing him out. Do you mind if he comes near you?"

Qello didn't respond, and Kreelah was wondering, again, if the child's head had indeed been damaged. Watching closely, though, she thought she could sense the barest signs that the girl had seemed pleased, perhaps reassured to see a cat, not a person, so Kreelah put Mr. Bandicoot down on the bed.

"All right. If he behaves you can keep him in here. If he bothers you, just call out and I'll move him." And with a wink and a smile she was gone.

When a few minutes later, the medicine woman came in with Kreelah behind her, the child was wincing with the cat on her chest.

"Bad, Thunder!" Aldes whisked the cat off, and into the kitchen, frowning at Kreelah. Aldes perched on the edge of the bed and put her hand out, but the girl suddenly cringed in reaction to touch.

Qello pushed herself up towards the head of the bed, finding her body not responding and damaged. Nonetheless, she pushed her way hard up to the headboard and off to the side, crying out with a horrible sound.

"No, no, Wait. Now, don't do that. I don't have to examine you, right at this minute. I'm Aldes. What is your name? We'll get to know each other first—a little, yes?" The patient's eyes were wide and unyielding.

Qello had no plans of letting herself get to know much of the place.

The wise older medicine woman and her apprentice spent most of the rest of that afternoon trying to get the girl to feel safe in their presence. Everything either one of them tried met with silence, so they didn't get far. But they left her some soup on a higher wood table beside the bed that they moved closer to her "in case she wanted it," they said.

They left her alone to have a good rest but she stayed perfectly still and stared at the soup.

The soup was still there when Aldes came back in from the garden and brought her some flowers in a stout clay jar. "Here, these will cheer you?" She bustled across the room, placed them down with the soup and went back out again.

Then Kreelah came through with her tea, having finished her own late lunch in the kitchen. She brought some more water and pushed it out towards Qello. "I'll hold this for you, if you want?"

Qello felt unsure, but she knew she had to have water—her mouth was so dry and stuck together. She pushed back into the hard wood of the bed, with her arms, but allowed Kreelah to bring the cup to her lips.

"Take just a little at first," the young healer said. "You're very dehydrated and it could make you feel sick. Don't drink too much, too soon. Just take a sip at a time." Kreelah sat on the side of the bed with her patient and talked to Qello, in between sips.

"You know, Aldes has been sleeping nights on the bench. In the first week or so you were—with us, we brought that bench in here to Aldes' room and Aldes slept on it there, right beside you— She's cared for you every night while you've been here, and I did most of the days since you came."

Qello looked horrified.

Kreelah was puzzled, but kept on explaining, "No, it's all right! —to keep an eye on you. And then, after that, when you seemed somewhat better, Aldes and I moved the bench back to the bigger front room, out there. Aldes has slept on that bench every night and done all her work in the village, most of the time." Kreelah paused, not wanting to explain to the girl, how her arrival had completely displaced Aldes and that tending to the garden was the most "at home" Aldes could feel while she was here as a patient.

Kreelah was chatting when Aldes overheard and came back in to see how the girl was doing. "Would you like to try to get to a better position?" But the child only cringed back even more. "Seems you have a way that I don't." She looked at Kreelah, briefly. "I'll go back to picking, then. Call if you need me." Aldes went out.

Kreelah and Qello watched the door close. Kreelah picked up the flowers Aldes had brought in and put them onto the bedside table. "You'll be expecting plenty of these." She watched Qello's eyes.

"Once it got round that you were covered in not only cuts and bruises, but all colours of crystal dust, folks knew that you'd fallen into the Dive. That got it started. There is no keeping those folks away from you, now. We've had a crowd outside that we couldn't get rid of ever since they found out you were here." She laughed. "You have been lucky to be sleeping all of this time." And she winked and straightened the bed covers around the sides and the bottom.

She then noticed Qello's face had gone all white and then grey. "Don't worry, we won't let them in here. There were nice flowers brought—and presents. They're excited to see you. They came all the whole week you were first here but you were still sleeping and most of those died. It'll all start up again now, when they hear you're awake. You'll see. There'll be gifts brought here, and way too much excitement. —People wanting to see for themselves—the girl who survived Devil's Dive. They want to hear how you did it. But I love a good party, don't you?"

Kreelah could see the girl wasn't convinced. "We'll keep 'em away until you recover. That can all wait. Nothing too soon. We tried to keep it a secret, so you could get well first but the truth got out and once it did—Oh, well," she shrugged and winked. "There, I can't do anything to help you."

The girl looked much too frightened and Kreelah put a hand on her arm. "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean nothin' too bad—Just teasing. A girl likes her gifts!"

Qello's whole face was darkening now. She knew not where she was, but she had to get going. She just did not need to be delayed by, nor did she want the attention of a whole village of people. They would be wrong.

I have to get out of here. I have to find if Muma's still hurt. But what had Kreelah said? Over a week? Qello needed to know.

Kreelah wasn't watching. She was playing with flowers, so Qello timidly touched the back of Kreelah's arm to get her attention.

Surprised, Kreelah looked back and tilted her head. "Do you want to try the soup, now?" But Qello was gesturing to the flowers and she tried to make her hands move as if they fell down.

"You want the dead flowers back?" Kreelah wrinkled her nose, confused.

Qello shook her head and shrugged, as if asking a question. She raised her eyebrows and again gestured at flowers. Kreelah looked puzzled until Qello raised her arm, wincing, and waved a large circle that included the room. She must have become used to staying focused on this poor girl's needs, as she felt she knew what she asked her, without any words.

"Oh!" Kreelah said. "You mean how long have you been here?" she asked.

Qello nodded. Everything hurt so only the tiniest movement came from her chin.

"About an entire moon now, I would think."

NO! It couldn't be that long! Panic set in. Qello pushed back to try to lift herself against the headboard, cringing in pain, but ignoring it all. Her whole body hurt and her head was dizzy. Mostly, her legs didn't respond as she thought they should. But that didn't matter, now. She shifted her weight.

"No, no! Don't try to get up! You've broken your bones. They're still setting. You couldn't walk, if you wanted to. You have to stay still. Kreelah had come round to stop her and help, but Qello clutched both Kreelah's arms with her fingers dug in. Her eyes widened in horror. She stared into her face.

"What? What? What did you do? Something happened? Something you're late for? Were you with someone? She saw the girl's eyes look into her deeper, with her pain more intense.

Suddenly, Kreelah found herself saying, "Your parents?" Now the possibilities hit Kreelah, too. "Are they still out there?" The girl was nodding, her eyes still so desperate. Kreelah's stomach paled and shrunk. Why hadn't I thought! Too late for a search group to go on a rescue. The Trader's Gathering is long ago over. We would have had help, then, if we could have known. She smiled her sad understanding to comfort the girl. "I will try to find Alphonse and go and tell Seymour. Please don't worry. We'll find who it was. Can't you please tell me? Please, try to talk."

But while Kreelah was asking questions, Qello was pushing her arms aside, frantic to get past her.

"No, no! You simply cannot. If you put a lot of weight on your leg, the bones will not knit; and they've come so far! You must rest still for a while yet. I'm so sorry, but where could you go that would be of any help, now, really? I mean—whatever happened was a long time ago. Right?"

"I know that is hard and I'm terribly sorry. It's been a long time. Truly. I'm sure your parents or your village will have put out the word. Someone's been looking for them, sure as certain. Someone is probably looking for you."

"The truth is whatever has happened will now either be long ago taken care of or has now been accepted as just a plain fact. People will have managed however they had to and I'm really sorry—that's what you'll have to do too. Right? For the time that you're healing. Okay? I'm so sorry!" Kreelah looked into the young girl's face, with pleading concern. "But we can't let you get up right now. I can try to get people to see what they know."

"If you promise you'll stay still, I'll do it right now. But if only you could talk to me, I'd know what to do. Where do I look? What am I looking for?" She left off questioning to study the pretty, pale face for any signs that her patient might break the long silence and say something at last. But there were no words, only grunts and warbles. Perhaps she couldn't talk anymore.

"You might help best to still be sleeping. Then more time will pass. That will be less hard. You must lay still and let the healing finish from Aldes' work and I will get you up to sit at the edge of the bed more tomorrow or maybe tonight. You still must stay here for many more days yet. Do you understand? You agree? It's important."

Qello stared at Kreelah and Kreelah saw wet in her eyes and her nose grew pinker. The girls lips started to tremble.

Qello cried. It was all too much. Somehow, she had been lying here broken, asleep, without even realizing what that had all along meant.

She had no way to know what had happened to her mother—now. It was so long ago. She couldn't believe it. A long time ago. She had lost her. She had failed to get across the Devil's Dive gorge and left her mother there in the sand on the muddiest bank of the river. Had Muma been able to wander off? She didn't think so. Then she thought of the buzzards. It made her sick in her panic.

Aldes and Kreelah kept a close eye on her, all afternoon. They talked more and said she was lucky, but they couldn't know she felt such heart wrenching pain—now more than Qello's whole life had shown her. She had been through so much since it had happened—to try to make it work out; and she had still failed.

Kreelah, however felt intensely distraught, herself. She brought a chair to the bedside and sat with the pale-haired girl child, talking and telling her stories of her own life and funny, made-up stories about the Adventures of Thunderpaws the Maurader.

Those finally made Qello feel somewhat better. When Kreelah brought Qello more soup, Qello reached out for her arm.

The girls locked eyes, and then Kreelah sat on the bed, with Qello pushed against the headboard with her good bent leg. Qello gripped tight to Kreelah's forearm and wouldn't let go.

Kreelah moved her elbows back, pried the one arm from her clutch and pulled the tiny girl closer. She put her arm around Qello who broke open and sobbed in her lap.

Kreelah's heart was splitting for her. She lifted her other arm around to embrace girl's head and—with all sadness in the heart of the girl's grief still present—held her like that for ages. Qello cried and she cried.

After a long time, Kreelah, whispered, "Shhh. Hey. You have to stop crying. Your head can't take this much. You'll make it much worse. We don't know how hard it was hit. You might cause it a lot more of the damage."

"It is not good to try to do so much and specially not to be this upset. You only just woke up. We still don't know yet really how you are doing. Please, can you try to calm down and just stay with us for a short while? Will you do that?" She stroked Qello's hair but Qello could not let go of the older girl. She did stop crying though, but only after a very long time.

The medicine woman had been watching and hearing. She'd come back inside some time before. She could tell the child was extremely distraught. And she secretly guessed she had lost some of her family. She motioned to Kreelah and whispered, "Seymour's already heard there's a girl missing. The herbalist up on the mountain had one staying with him. They've just sent for his nephew."

The strength of the girl's need to get back to her parents had alarmed Aldes with the most practical thoughts. The child was clearly frightened beyond being lost. Aldes could do very little, but she made a decision to lock the door from the high catch at night, so the girl couldn't reach it, in case she did anything too much and too foolish.

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Through those same long worrisome days, Hettie Maggate had been watching too—watching over her niece, when she'd been alone and in charge of her hurt little patient.

"She's done a good job, so I shouldn't have worried," Hettie said in her mind to the voice, with whom she was in sensitive contact. "She's still growing up," the monks had said back. "She would not learn much of her healing work talents, if she weren't alone for the times that must push her." But Hettie only partly agreed.

"This one was hard. Had Kreelah done the wrong thing, or just too little, that child would be lost, now, to the Ethers of No-land. We need this child, Toley. This was quite a big risk."

And the voice inside Hettie's mind again answered back, "And yet, never a strong one was asked so little as this. Her tasks are going to get a lot harder, quite soon to come. Remember that, Hettie Maggate. You might toughen up or it'll be you that's your own niece's downfall!"

Hettie just sighed, still uncomfortable from what she'd just done—leaving a teen so young to look after a child, who must have so much wider importance. "We will still have to see, but I'll never get tough enough to leave the young to their impulsive and foolish devices. You are quite right however, of course, Toley. It will get a lot worse and, at least, Kreelah has gone through this much, already. You're right. I pray— er, intend she will do well."

"I dare think, if not, what might be to happen to all of us later."

"You're learning, Hettie," were the last words she heard answer back in her mind.

≈≈≈

And, Aldes did lock the door to her Medicine Cottage. And it was a good thing—for later that night, Qello tried to get up and leave—quiet as a corgil.

As small as she was, used to blending in among creatures out in the forest, no one had heard her. But her ankle shot fire and her legs wouldn't hold.

Qello lay on her side in agony for a long lonely time, stretched on the kitchen floor. She knew she wouldn't get far if she made it outside and Om was no where in sight to guide her.

She was secretly glad in some sort of a way, that the door had been locked, after-all, and kept her from doing what she knew she must do. As for her own sake she shouldn't have ought to. She inched back to bed, dragging herself along by her arms and fingernails catching in floorboards. She pulled herself up to the bed by the footboard and whimpered to sleep.

A good thing too that Qello had tried leaving just then, for the next day, being busy and tired, Aldes did forget to lock that very same door, but Qello Orkin, this time, did not come to try it.

≈≈≈

It's sad what might have happened to Luu, but ... Phew! Thank goodness Qello stayed in the cottage. Can you imagine, with how determined such a child is, how far she might have tried to get in the dark? She's no longer really thinking.

How are you enjoying our new characters? What else is in store for all of them now?

In Chapter Twenty | Quoraluna - Kreelah makes a confession and Qello receives a miracle gift.