Wednesday, November 2, 2005

   Chapter 15: Sky Song (part 2)
Two more days passed, and still Aurora showed no sign of improvement. Lucifer remained on the girls’ boat, lending his strength and kind-hearted company. The boys could only encourage him; they were concerned about the sick angel, and they were happy to be able to help out in any way they could.
When the fifth night finally set in, and the Caravan landed on a small strip of stoney shore, Raine finally spoke out what had been dancing on all their minds for the last few days.
“I think it’s time that we tell Nano or Contra about Aurora,” he told them.
The pink-winged angel opened her mouth weakly to say something, but she was cut out by Yatii.
“You’re right,” he said. “They could probably heal her from this strange illness.”
“You really think so?” Lucifer asked. “I thought that healing magic was only useful on wounds and injuries.”
Yatii shrugged. “It usually is, but they are from Havoc. Perhaps they are strong enough to do more.”
“… that’s not likely,” Pen spoke up. They were somewhat surprised to hear his voice; he had not spoken in the last four days. “Havoc wizards have powerful magic, but they train it to fight, not to heal.”
There was a thoughtful silence as they considered what he had said. But, finally, Lucifer sprang to his feet. “Well, it doesn’t hurt anyone to ask!” he exclaimed, and raced off into the dark.
Only a minute later, Lucifer returned, followed quickly by Nano. They watched anxiously as the elf set down her staff and knelt at Aurora’s side. She touched her pale forehead, a spark of magic passing between them. Then, Nano straightened up again, slowing meeting the eyes of every kid in the circle.
“She has the sleeps,” she announced, her voice grim. “I cannot cure this.”
There was a horrible silence after her words.
“… sleeps?” Tory finally squeaked, unable to accept the truth.
“Yes,” Nano confirmed. “She will begin to fall asleep more often, until, one day, she will not awaken ever again.”
“Is… is there anything we can do?” Raine asked, his hand fingering the hilt of his sword. “How long do we have?”
“It’s a slow-moving illness, but it seems that she has been fighting it for quite some time. Another five days and she will be out of our reach forever. If we can get her to University, there will be medecine that can save her.”
She sighed heavily and picked up her staff. Her voice was quiet and broken when she spoke again. “We are half-way down the River Lethe, but the way is hard and slow ahead. Even without incident, it will take another seven days. Five at the very least. I’m sorry.”
Nobody knew what to day.
“Can’t you slow it down?” Yatii questioned, tears welling in his eyes. “It’s just not right! She seemed fine only a couple days ago!”
Nano looked at them sadly. “It would be murder,” she said. “I need to have a basis in a material for such a task, and those plants cannot be found in the Pindus mountains. Without them, anything I try would automatically backfire. I would have no way to control it.”
Another silence threatened, but Nano broke it.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I cannot drive the Caravan to death. We can only wait and hope.”
With those words, she turned away and walked back into the darkness, leaving behind eight stunned children. Aurora had fallen asleep.
Comments (2)