Hidden Dragons (17 page)

The entire Lair was going out to fight the
skiths. It was a magnificent sight to see, though she quickly lost
sight of the dragons in the pre-dawn darkness beyond the well-lit
ledges. Still, she was surprised at just how many dragons and
knights lived in this Lair. She stood in an out of the way spot,
watching until the last dragon had left.

“
Lady Isabelle.” A woman’s voice
came from behind her and Isabelle turned to find the younger
princess—Princess Belora—waving to her. Isabelle walked quickly
over to her, not wanting to keep royalty waiting.

“
What can I do for you, your
highness?”

“
First of all, call me Belora. I
wasn’t always a princess. I lived rough on the land up until just a
few years ago when I met Gareth and Lars,” she explained. “Silla
said you might be willing to help when the casualties start coming
in.”

“
I will do whatever you ask. In
fact, I’d prefer a task rather than just sitting around worrying.”
Isabelle decided to be frank with the rather surprising
princess.

Belora put one hand on Isabelle’s forearm. “I
know exactly what you mean. Don’t worry, there is plenty to do.
It’s surprising, actually, how much the unmated knights do around
here. When they’re not around, the rest of us have a lot of slack
to pick up.” She smiled and tucked her arm into Isabelle’s,
starting them both walking toward the great hall, which was right
down the corridor.

Isabelle spent the next few hours helping
prepare food for the entire Lair. The regular menu was replaced by
quick things that would be easily eaten on the go, in case the
battle lasted longer than expected. Small, pastry-wrapped bits of
meat and cheese went into the ovens by the tray full. Isabelle
helped by cutting the ingredients to size while Belora crimped the
edges of each filled pastry. They chatted as they worked, and
Isabelle got to know Belora a bit better.

For royalty, she was really a very down to
earth woman. Belora told her about how she met her mates and her
adjustment to the idea of having two mates. She also talked about
raising her young family—human babies and dragonets side by
side.

They ate breakfast together and Silla joined
them, claiming Isabelle for the rest of the morning, which they
spent preparing the things that might be needed to treat injured
dragons and knights. Bandages, toweling, clean linens and swabs all
needed folding and sorting, along with the various salves and
potions Silla had made ready.

They moved the bulk of Silla’s herbal
preparations from her workroom to a table set up in an open area on
the main landing ledge. If a dragon was injured and made it back to
the ledge, they wouldn’t want to wait for him or her to go any
farther before beginning treatment.

“
Plus, the first thing to do when
dealing with skith venom burns is to irrigate the area. See those
cisterns over there?” Silla explained as they walked closer to the
actual ledge. “And the channels carved into the floor that slope
downward to the edge? The idea is that you can douse a dragon with
water to dilute the skith acid and the water will run off the ledge
through those channels. Every Lair has them, just in case. And the
cisterns are kept full and refreshed each time it rains. There are
collection areas up top that funnel down into the walls. Behind the
vessels you see that are for everyday use, there are hollowed-out
vats where vast quantities of rainwater are kept in readiness.
Plenty to bathe the entire Lair full of dragons if need
be.”

Isabelle marveled again at the ingenious design
of this amazing place. Other tables had been set up by some of the
youngsters along the walls. Silla and Isabelle oversaw the
placement of her supplies around the landing ledge, creating sets
of items they might need, including sharp, clean blades, piles of
clean cloths of various sizes, pots of the burnjelly they had
prepared, needles and thread for stitches, and all sorts of
medicinal herbs and prepared salves that might be
useful.

Just before they were going to catch a quick
bite of lunch, the first dragons limped back to the Lair. It was a
young pair with newly-chosen knights who had only been training
together for a few months. They had never fought skiths before and
had made some rookie mistakes, according to the dragons who were
both injured and embarrassed. Isabelle introduced herself and
talked to the dragons while Silla and the two princesses worked at
healing them.

Isabelle toted water and helped wash off the
skith venom. Luckily, neither of the young dragons was hurt too
badly. They wouldn’t fly again today, but they would heal and be
back to full strength soon. Once they were treated, Isabelle
listened to the dragons and knights speak of the battle they had
just left.

There were many skiths, which wasn’t good, but
the dragons were holding their own against the ground-bound
creatures. The young dragons eventually limped under their own
power to their quarters, but the knights stayed on the ledge
knowing their help might be required by more seriously injured
dragons and knights.

And sure enough, it wasn’t long before two more
dragons flew in, one of them just barely making the ledge before he
collapsed. Isabelle immediately started sluicing the dragon’s
terrible injuries with water. She poured water on the burns to
dilute the acid still eating away at the dragon’s scales, skin and
muscle.

Belora came over then, and Isabelle was shocked
to realize that the young princess was a true healer. She had the
gift, and something in her magic tingled against Isabelle’s senses
as she called forth her power and started working on the dragon’s
badly mangled foreleg. Isabelle watched, irrigating the dragon’s
burns and keeping out of Belora’s way as much as possible, while
fascinated at what the princess was doing.

When the lesser wounds were free of the acid
taint, Isabelle went quietly to work on them, using the burnjelly
and other medicines Silla and she had prepared. She knew from her
mother’s teachings that true healing took a lot out of the healer.
It was better to keep such abilities for the really important
injuries that might otherwise maim or kill a dragon, and stick to
the more traditional remedies for the things that weren’t life
threatening. Isabelle kept a careful eye on Belora while they both
worked on the auburn-colored dragon. When the princess was nearing
the end of her work, Isabelle was at her side, ready to support
her.

Sure enough, Belora teetered on her feet when
she came out of the healing, but Isabelle was there to steady her.
Belora gave her a surprised look and checked over the rest of the
dragon’s injuries.

“
You’ve done good work here,
Isabelle,” Belora finally said when the dragon had been made as
comfortable as possible. He would not be moved for some time, as
his wounds were too severe and he was unconscious. “Thank you for
catching me. You’ve seen true healing before, haven’t
you?”

Isabelle saw no reason to hide the truth from
these people. While she would never breathe a word to the
villagers, the people in the Lair were very different.

“
My mother had a small gift, but
her mother was a true healer, or so she told me.” Isabelle missed
her mother, but it felt somehow good to speak of her again,
especially with people who she would have liked. “But she healed
with song. Healing chants,” Isabelle said, remembering the long
winter evenings when her mother taught her of such things by the
fire in their lonely cottage.

“
Do you know the way of such
things?” Belora asked, apparently interested.

“
She taught me the words, but I’ve
never used them. Well, not out in the open,” Isabelle admitted. “On
rare occasions, when I work with the village’s animals and I’m
alone, I have been known to hum under my breath. It has a calming
effect on the beasts.” Isabelle smiled and knew Belora understood
what she was saying.

Belora was about to say something when a
dragon’s cry of anguish sounded. A new pair was coming in for a
landing and one of the knights was barely hanging on. As the dragon
landed, his knight slid from his back, unconscious on the floor, a
trail of blood smearing along his dragon’s back.

Belora and Isabelle ran to help. Isabelle
sluiced the dragon, who had areas of burned flesh along his side,
while Belora looked at the knight. Silla and Adora came over and
worked on him too, while Belora tried to calm the frantic
dragon.

Isabelle couldn’t figure why Belora wasn’t
using her magic on the knight. Clearly, he was in very bad shape
and could use all the help he could get. Belora beckoned her over
and Isabelle stepped carefully around the agitated
dragon.

“
Now would be a very good time for
you to try out one of those healing chants at full volume, Lady
Isabelle. My healing ability only works on dragons.”

Isabelle was surprised, but filed that
information away for later examination. The knight was dying and
she had to at least try the things her mother had taught her.
Isabelle began to chant, digging her toes into the stone beneath
her feet and calling on the energy of the Mother of All to aid her
in her quest to bring comfort to the gravely injured
man.

For the first time in her life, Isabelle sang
her chant at full volume within the vicinity of people—dragons and
men—who were badly hurt. She had no idea what would happen. Perhaps
nothing. But perhaps she would be able to help them in some small
way. She clung to that thought. That small glimmer of
hope.

She began to build the chant into something
more substantial, just as her mother had taught her. It began to
flow out of her and into the air around her. She could almost see
the energy floating through the air from her mouth to the injured
knight.

Isabelle was only peripherally aware that
everyone on the ledge had stilled. Tranquility was part of her
chant and if that sense of peace was imparted to those in pain or
distress, she counted that as a good thing. Right now, her focus
was on the man who lay dying between Silla and Adora’s working
hands. She reached for his fading spirit with her song and cradled
him in the chant, not allowing him to leave, using the ancient
words to bind him to his body and imparting some of the Goddess’s
energy into him, to sustain him while the healers did their
work.

Buoyed by the power she could feel flowing
through her at full strength for the first time in her life,
Isabelle did all she could think of to help the knight. He was no
longer dying and that brought a sense of satisfaction.

When she thought he was safely ensconced in his
own body again, she drew back, taking the thread of energy the
chant wrought with her, allowing it to spread around the ledge
again before she finally ended her song. A stunned silence greeted
her when she closed her mouth.

And then it was like everyone began talking at
once, only they were using hushed voices and low murmurs. And they
were looking at her with wide eyes.

“
Milady,”
the dragon behind her spoke into her mind for the first time.
This was the dragon who had brought the badly injured knight in.
This was his partner.
“Thank you, milady.
You saved him and I will be forever grateful. I did not believe
Tildeth when she claimed you had the blood of the Fair Folk in your
lineage, but I have seen the truth of it here today. Thank you for
sharing your gift with my knight.”
The
dragon bowed its great head to her and Isabelle was overwhelmed by
both his words and his gesture. Dragons bowed to no one. Well, very
few people, at any rate.

“
Sir…” she addressed him, not
knowing his name, “…you do me too great an honor.”

Belora touched her hand. “He’s right though.”
The princess’s words startled Isabelle into looking at her. “You
have magic in your voice, Isabelle. It’s unlike any I have heard or
felt before. It is potent and pure, and of the Lady. Thank you for
saving this knight’s life, for without your chant, he would have
left us.”

“
I—” Isabelle was about to protest
again, but she remembered what she had felt and seen while she’d
been using the chant. She stopped talking, unsure of what to say.
She simply waved her hands in the air and then fled to man the
water buckets as another dragon flew in, needing help.

Slowly, the rest of the gathering on the ledge
went back to work. After a while, the moment passed and they were
almost overwhelmed by dragons and knights with burns that needed
treatment.

Then Growloranth flew in. He was hurt, and so
was Robert. Her heart in her throat, Isabelle ran to them, dumping
water over Growloranth’s burns as she looked for Robert.

And then he was there, taking her shoulders,
but keeping her at arm’s length. She understood. His leathers were
smoking with the pungent acid of skith venom.

Chapter Nine

“
Come with me quickly, we’ll wash
you off.” She tugged him toward one of the small areas set aside
nearer the cisterns where they could rinse off people and things
that came into contact with the acidic venom. In that spot, the
contaminated water would be caught in the channels and sent down
the side of the mountain, away from the Lair.

“
It’s only on the leather, except
for one spot,” Robert claimed, already unbuckling his armor as he
walked. “Growloranth needs help more—” he began, but she cut him
off.