Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A stick that broke beneath a foot was what made Ebañy Salamonderiel tran-Devaberiel look up from the rabbit that he was roasting above the fire. Even though he had the dragons close by, the sound made him uneasy; who could it possibly be up here except for some Horsekin renegade?

     Therefore he was surprised when a woman carefully stepped out through the bushes close to the old watchtower. She was wearing a long-sleeved, grey shirt embroidered with horses and dark trousers much more tight-fitting than any brigga ever sown. Ebañy slowly rose from his place and the girl took a step back, her eyes wide with fear and her lower lip trembling a bit. From the looks of her she had been out in the wilderness for a while; her light-brown hair was full of leaves and branches and her clothes were torn. A fresh wound could be seen on her left cheek; he noticed a drop of blood falling from it.

     “I’m not dangerous”, Ebañy said and smiled. “You are welcome to share my meal with me, you look exhausted.”

     The girl just looked at him and he realized that she did not understand what he was saying. That she did not know the Deverrian tongue. This confused him, but as he felt that he needed to help the girl he pointed at himself.

     “Salamander”, he said. To this she frowned, before he saw her mouth forming the word as well, but without letting any sound out.

     “Amanda”, she said after a while and pointed at herself. Salamander smiled and pointed at the rabbit being roasted, then gestured as if he was eating before pointing at the girl once again. To this she nodded and with one hand he beckoned her to come forward. She did and sat down opposite him, her eyes darting from the meat to his face and back again. He carefully removed the animal from its place and cut it in two pieces with his knife, handing one of them to Amanda. Her hands trembled as she grabbed the meat, but she didn’t eat it until he himself had taken his first bite. Then she started gnawing with such hunger that he knew that he had been right about her being out in the wild for some time.

     Still, he noticed that once she had quenched most of the hunger she ate at a slower pace, obviously knowing that her stomach needed time to get used to food once again. When half of the meat was gone she stopped eating and looked at him. He motioned to her to throw it away and she gave him a quick smile before she did so. Then she studied him while he finished his own portion, her head slightly tilted to one side. When also he threw the rest of his meal away, she pointed at her own ears then towards him and said a word that he did not know. He shook his head at it and she said it slower once before frowning, re-thinking the word she had used before she looked at him again.

     “Elf.”

     He blinked at her in surprise, then nodded. To this she grinned for the first time that evening. Obviously she had noticed that his ears were of a slightly different shape than her own, but how she had connected that with elf he did not know.

     “Salamander”, she then said and pointed towards the fire between them, where Salamander knew that several of the salamanders dwelled. The fact that she also saw them made his jaw drop. To this she froze slightly, realizing that he might not see what she saw. He quickly smiled.

     “Magic”, he said and pointed towards himself. She shook her head, showing that she did not understand him. He then waved his hand over the fire, making it disappear, then waved it over the logs again to light it once more. This time it was her jaw that dropped and once she composed herself, she mouthed a single word over and over again, but the motions were too small for him to understand.

     Then she pulled up something from a pocket on the back of her trousers. It seemed to be a book, but so different from anything he had ever read himself. The front was in different shades of purple, along with a female, human-like being, a silver dragon and a black raven. When he walked over to her side of the fire she tensed momentarily, before letting him look at her treasure as well.

     What he saw on the cover surprised him. The female was not a human at all, but an elf with pale hair and storm-grey eyes.

     “Dallandra”, he blurted out before he could stop himself. Amanda nodded to this and opened the small book to reveal line after line of perfect letters, but they shaped words and symbols that he did not know how to read. This she didn’t seem to care about, however, because she kept flipping the pages until she found one that was empty. She flipped the page back, then forth again, reading whatever the lines said. Salamander wished that he knew her language, or she Deverrian, so that he could ask her to translate what she read.

     After a while she pointed at a word on the page.

     “Amanda”, she said and then pointed at herself. Then Salamander noticed that new words appeared as she did so. He blinked, then looked at the girl.

     “Can it translate what I say to you?” he asked in Deverrian and saw in the corner of his eyes how the book wrote out the new words. Amanda nodded in response, then showed him the book, pointed at the text and raised a questioning eyebrow. He shook his head.

     “I can’t read the letters”, he admitted. “They are different than my own.”

     Amanda grimaced as she read the response as it was typed down by an invisible hand. Then she flipped the pages and pointed at another word.

     “Rori?” she said, then raised her hand to point at the dragon’s cave above their heads.

     “You know about him?” Salamander asked, trying not to sound surprised. Amanda blushed slightly and nodded.

     “He’s with his family, up there”, the elf continued after a while. “His current family, that is…”

     “Arzosah, Medea, Mezza, Devar”, Amanda filled in with a smile. Salamander nodded and smiled back.

     “Here, you must be tired, having been out in the wild for a while”, he said. “Take one of my blankets and get some sleep.”

     She hesitated and gazed up at the cave again. He realized that she wanted to meet the wyrms up there.

     “It’s alright; I’ll wake you if Rori comes here, or any of the others for that matter.”

     At that she nodded and accepted the blanket he was giving her, wrapped it around herself and then lay down on the ground, her face still turned towards the flames. Salamander studied her from his place and saw how a soft smile started to show, then heard how she mumbled a sentence before she turned around and closed her eyes. He had been able to distinguish a couple of words; Deverry and, surprisingly, his own full name. He shook his head in wonderment, then turned towards the flames to try and get in touch with Dallandra.

After a night of pleasant dreams about the far west, Salamander woke only to find Amanda gone. He considered this for a moment, wondered if this had been yet another dream, before the girl stepped out through the bushes. She smiled shyly and put down some firewood on the ground.

     “My thanks”, Salamander said and grinned. Then he picked up the left-over rabbit, which he had wrapped in a bundle of cloth the night before, and split it in half, handing one piece to her yet again.

     As they ate their cold breakfast the steady drumbeat of dragon-wings was heard overhead and sure enough, there came Rori, the silver wyrm, gliding down to join them. Amanda’s eyes widened before she grinned in excitement. Rori considered her for a moment before he walked over to the spring close by to drink.

     “Who is your guest?” he asked as he waddled back to them.

     “This is Amanda”, Salamander answered, noticing that Amanda had once again picked up her book. “She showed up last night… what I do not know is where she is from. She does not understand any language I’ve used.”

     Amanda rose from her place and smiled towards the dragon.

     “Rhodry”, she then said. Both elf and dragon jumped at the name.

     “How much have you told her?” Rori asked and swung his head towards the elf.

     “Honestly, my scaly brother, I have told her naught. She has all the information about us in that book.”

     Curiously, Rori then waddled forth. Amanda took an involuntary step back, before she looked down again and flipped the pages so that she was on the last one.

     “You may read that to me”, the silver dragon said. Salamander frowned and walked over as well as Amanda pointed at something.

     “Rhodorix, Blaen, Gweran, Ricyn, Maddyn, Maer, Meddry, Rhodry, Rori”, she said and trailed her finger along a line of names. Salamander blinked at them, then looked at the dragon, who looked just as surprised.

     “By the Black Sun, she knows all of the names I’ve carried in past lives”, he hissed. Amanda flipped back towards the empty page and read the translation, then nodded.

     “How is that possible?” Salamander asked. Amanda made a gesture with her hand, then groaned and closed the book.

     “The book”, Rori said. “Where she is from, we are but a story, and she is reading it…”

     “So she knows everything that has happened to us?” Salamander asked. “Wait, how do you know this?”

     “She uses her mind to tell me”, Rori said and snorted. “And not to wonder she does not understand you, she’s from Alban!”

     Salamander’s jaw fell down yet again and Amanda covered her mouth to force down a giggle.

     “How come she can contact your mind but not mine?” the elf asked and pouted.

     “Maybe dragons have an easier time with different minds talking to their own”, Rori answered and shrugged. Then he became silent.

     “She feels torn between what she can say and what she has to keep away from us”, he explained. “She knows a bit more of the story than where we are now and she is especially worried about your trick with the Alshandra illusion.”

     Salamander raised both of his eyebrows at this and Amanda blushed as she looked away from his gaze.

     “Well, good dame, I can assure you that I will be most careful with my stunt”, he then said, wondering why he really enjoyed seeing her cheeks turn red. “And in any case it must be done to keep the Horsekin away from Cerr Cawnen.”

     Amanda shrugged and looked worried, as if she had just received an omen.

     “She will stay here and await our return”, Rori translated. “Obviously she is fond of the three others, so they can keep her company.”

     He laughed his rumbling laugh, then helped Salamander settle between two of his thorns. The elf turned momentarily to look back at Amanda, who met his gaze and shook her head. She was worried for his life, he realized.

     “Don’t worry”, he said. “We will both be back.”

     Then Rori took flight. The thunderous sound of wings behind them told Salamander that the three younger ones had flown down to greet the newcomer, but he did not look back; he needed to focus on the task at hand.

The three younger dragons, especially the golden Mezza, quickly came to like Amanda a lot. Thanks to that they could speak through their minds she could tell them stories about other dragons, not such that she had met but that she had read about. Mezza kept close by the whole time, resting her massive head next to Amanda while her brother and sister took the places in front of her. While Medea went out hunting, Devar flew up to the cave to get some rest, leaving the two friends alone for a couple of hours.

     “Do you think that Riders really exist?” Mezza asked in her mind. Amanda shrugged.

     “I’m not sure that the Riders like those in that book do exist, but people that ride dragons, definitely yes. Rori is the proof of that.”

     “But there are no dragons where you are from?” Mezza continued.

     “Nope”, Amanda answered and sighed. “Only in stories and fairytales. There might be dragons flying past when they cross the worlds, but none live in mine.”

     “Then can’t you stay here? You obviously belong here, having dweomer and loving dragons and all of that.”

     Amanda smiled a gentle smile and placed a hand on Mezza’s golden head.

     “I have my family to get back to, you know”, she said. “They’ll wonder where I’ve gone if I do not return. But I wish that I could stay…”

     She sighed again and wrapped both of her arms around her knees.

     “Life here in Deverry is so much more exciting than my own life in Alban. I mean, yes there’s a lot of danger here, but what life do you live if you do not face danger from time to time? The only danger I’m facing is getting bad grades and no job. Not exactly much compared to this.”

     “But you’ll stay for a while, won’t you?” Mezza questioned. Amanda nodded and managed to smile yet again.

     “For as long as I can stay, I will.”

     They shared a hearty afternoon-meal, the four of them, after Medea had returned with a fat deer. Then the story-telling continued until the night fell and Medea announced that they’d better get some sleep. She and Devar flew up to the cave yet again, while Mezza stayed with Amanda, curled up around her even to keep her warm.

     “You’re a great friend, Mezza”, Amanda thought to her and smiled. “Absolutely amazing.”

Chapter Text

     To these words, Mezza fell asleep. But Amanda couldn’t sleep. She knew what had happened to Salamander and, even more important, what would happen the next morning. Frankly speaking, she had always wondered what this character in her book looked like, even considered that he might be beautiful; never had she dreamt that he would be as handsome as he now was. She knew that she had fallen for him and by reading the book she knew that he had feelings for her as well.

     That was what spurred her to make a decision. She had to make sure that Salamander was able to survive the act in the morning. Therefore, she rose and carefully crawled out of Mezza’s warm embrace, standing a safe distance away before she dared contacting her with her mind.

     The golden dragon came to life at once, scrambling up to her feet. Amanda thanked herself for being cautious.

     “What’s wrong?” Mezza asked. “Are there Meradan around?”

     Amanda shook her head.

     “It’s Ebañy”, she said. “He’s in danger.”

     “Da’s with him”, Mezza said.

     “No, magical danger”, Amanda quickly responded. “Please, Mezza, can you take me to him? It will take us a few hours, but please, I need to help him.”

     Mezza considered this for a few moments.

     “You love him, don’t you?” she said and flashed her pointed teeth in a grin. Amanda blushed.

     “I don’t know”, she managed to send back. “I really, really care about him.”

     Mezza laughed a silent, rumbling laugh as to not wake her siblings in the cave.

     “Climb onto my back, we’ll find them.”

Rori lay on the rocky outcrop, watching his brother moving in trance while he controlled the huge image of Alshandra that drifted through the valley. The dragon still remembered Amanda’s warning; something dangerous was about to happen. Therefore he refused to fall asleep in the rising sun. Every muscle in his body made him ready to fly down and divert the enemy’s attention from his vulnerable brother.

     Therefore he heard the beats of Mezza’s wings long before anyone else. He turned his head and spotted his golden daughter in the sky, a sign which made her land some distance away, out of sight from the Horsekin. Rori then noticed how a figure jumped down from Mezza’s back and ran forward to him.

     “Amanda, by every God, what are you doing here?” he asked in his mind.

     “The iron, Rori”, she answered as she climbed up the cliff. “The iron of the falcatas is draining Salamander. If he does not return now he’ll die!”

     “I’ll take flight, see if he can notice me”, Rori responded and rose his massive wings, flapped them a couple of times to gain height before he swooped down towards the disoriented mass below. He saw Amanda run down to Salamander’s trembling body and vaguely heard his brother scream in pain, before he turned to focus on the task at hand. He wanted a horse for breakfast and Mezza was doubtlessly hungry as well.

     Salamander managed to sit up and saw how the free image of Alshandra drifted away through the valley. He was too drained to call it back, too drained to even sit up to tell the truth. He leaned back, waiting for the cliff to form a rest for his sore body, but instead a couple of warm arms caught him and forced him to lie down once again. His tired eyes blinked towards the shape of a human, he heard a soft muttering and then felt how a hand pressed a piece of cloth against his nose. The burning feeling told him that his quick return to his physical body had burst a vein and that he was bleeding.

     The muttering continued as his strength gradually returned and he was able to focus on the one who was taking care of him. He managed to smile when he saw that it was Amanda, but she didn’t smile back. Her face was like a mask of worry, her eyes were blank and he realized that she was blaming herself for not warning him; that she knew that this would happen.

     “It’s alright”, he mumbled. “I’ll be fine.”

     Even though she did not understand what he was saying, she quickly shook her head and said something in the Alban tongue. By the tone he guessed that she said something like ‘it was my fault’.

     As the nosebleed gradually came to a stop, she helped him sit up and handed him his water bottle. He drank it all, despite it tasting meaty thanks to the blood that he had in his mouth. Amanda kept biting her lip as if forcing back the tears.

     “I do not blame you”, he said softly. “You couldn’t do anything; you would have changed the outcome of all of this.”

     She didn’t turn to look at him. Instead she looked up in the sky where Rori was, the sound of his wings growing louder as he circled down to land close by.

     “What happened to you?” he asked as he put the horse down.

     “I made the entrance too quick, it’s just a nosebleed”, Salamander answered.

     “And two black eyes, and according to Amanda you are going to see more injuries in the following days”, Rori said sharply. “I’m glad you managed to get back in time.”

     “I need to wash off in the stream, I…” Salamander begun, staggering to his feet.

     “No, you both need to get onto my back”, Rori interrupted. “The wretched Meradan are climbing up the cliff-side, I’m going to roll this horse down on them.”

     Amanda quickly grabbed onto Salamander and helped him sit down between the two usual spikes, before she climbed in behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist to steady herself. If his body wasn’t so sore, he would have cherished that moment even more. Now his hands ached as he grabbed onto the rope in front of him and in a few places they started to bleed.

     “Let’s go, then”, he said. With those words, Rori took flight, grabbed the horse and tossed it down the cliff. Salamander felt how Amanda turned her head as to not see the animal break into pieces.

     Not until then he noticed Mezza rising from the other side of the cliff and joining them in the air.

     “She brought Amanda here”, Rori said, answering his unspoken question as they headed back to the lair. Salamander only nodded, then decided to focus on staying awake.

     When they landed next to the old watchtower, Amanda jumped off first and managed to help him get down safely enough. His body ached even more after the flight and for a while he only lay on the ground, panting. When he looked up again, Devar had joined them while Mezza had flown up to her older sister, doubtlessly telling her what had happened.

     “Is Uncle Ebañy hurt?” the small dragon asked.

     “No”, Salamander answered and slowly sat up. “Or rather, yes, I am hurt, but not dying.”

     He meant to say this to both Devar and Amanda, but the later was focusing on getting his bedroll and saddlebags down from Rori’s back.

     “Amanda says that you need to rest”, Devar said. “She blames herself…”

     He quickly shut his mouth when Amanda glared at him. The sight made Rori laugh a bit.

     “You shut him up just like his mother does”, he said, then turned towards his brother.

     “I’m going to hunt, I’ll bring you back some venison.”

     “My thanks”, Salamander said, then rose and managed, with a bit of help from Devar, to get to the spring and fill his water bottle. When he returned Amanda had laid out his blankets and beckoned for him to lie down once again.

     “It wasn’t your fault”, he said softly as he did so. “Really, it… it was… me…”

     The last sentence was cut off as he fell asleep.

     Amanda sat still beside the sleeping elf, her arms wrapped around her knees as she watched him. It had been too close. She didn’t doubt that Salamander would be able to see that the cord binding him to his body had grown thin because of the iron – he had done that in the version of the book before her interference – but she knew from reading the new text that he had been thinking about her a lot during his earlier flight with Rori. Her presence might have disturbed his concentration.

     Devar was still on the ground, lying close to his uncle, his dark eyes focusing on Amanda’s troubled face.

     “Uncle Ebañy will be alright, you know”, he said silently. “And he does not wish you to worry about him like this.”

     “It was my fault, whatever he says about it”, Amanda answered. “I could have warned him… he could have… could have done it differently if I…”

     She wiped away a few tears with the back of her hand. The sound of her friend crying made Mezza float down from the cave and land beside her, then wrapping Amanda in her long neck as if embracing her.

     “He will be alright”, Mezza assured her as she cried against the golden scales. “He will have bruises, no doubt, but he’ll still be alive. Maybe thanks to you.”

     “See?” Devar said and seemed to grin. “You saved him, you should be happy.”

     Amanda forced a smile, but she doubted that it looked anywhere near a smile, more like a grimace.

     “Medea is off to get you some firewood”, Mezza continued. “I know that you cannot eat meat right off the bone like we can. Honestly, you should try, it tastes a lot better.”

     “Our stomachs can’t handle it”, Amanda muttered, then shared a quiet laugh with the two dragons because of the mere comment. Then they sat in silence until the last of Amanda’s tears had dried up. By that time Medea had dropped an entire pine tree, dead by the looks of it, into the roofless tower. Amanda rose and stretched.

     “I’ll go and pick some of that wood for the fire, you can go back up to the cave and wait for your father”, she said. Mezza touched her face to hers for a brief moment before she raised her wings and flew back up. Devar, however, stayed on the ground.

     “I’ll stay with Uncle Ebañy”, he said firmly. Amanda thought of him as a human boy of about seven or eight years, considering his way of speaking. He was almost like a little brother to her, a thought that made her smile as she walked into the tower.

     Salamander woke abruptly, feeling a few drops of sweat falling down his back. He had, in his dream, seen the Horsekin camp, as it was now, but somehow the vision had also involved Amanda. She had been captured by their enemies. He had seen how the soldiers had grinned towards him, as if seeing him, then how one of them had cut Amanda’s head off with his falcata.

     The reality of the dream caused him some trouble when it came to remembering where he was. It was the vinegar smell of dragon that made him realize that he was by the dragons’ lair and that Devar was lying close by. The young dragon was looking at him.

     “Are you truly well, Uncle Ebañy?”

     “Well enough”, Salamander answered and sat up. “A bit hungry. How about you?”

     “Very, but Da will bring us something good”, Devar said and sounded confident. “He always does.”

     Feeling guilt sweep down on him because of that the hatchling did not know that they were trying to break Rori’s spell, Salamander quickly decided to get a vision of the army that was truer than his dream.

     “I need to scry”, he said. “Do you know what that is?”

     “I do, Mama does it every now and again”, Devar answered. “I’ll be silent, I promise.”

     Salamander blinked in surprise at the fact that Arzosah knew how to scry, before he lay back down and used the clouds above as focus.

     Once the vision had ended and he had ensured himself that Amanda was not among the dead bodies in the Horsekin camp he was exhausted, and noticing that the clouds had now turned pink told him that Rori would show up any minute with his prey. Sure enough; as he sat up both he and Devar heard the beating of wings coming closer. When the silver wyrm came into sight Devar leapt to his feet.

     “Dinner!” he shouted and shook his wings, ready to fly up.

     “You go eat, I need to find some firewood”, Salamander said and managed to smile.

     “Amanda’s on it already”, Devar said. “Medea fetched some and put it in the tower, Amanda’s there right now.”

     Then he leapt into the air and soared up to greet his father. Salamander watched him disappear before he slowly got to his feet and staggered towards the old door leading into the tower. Amanda was standing with her back towards him next to an old pine that Medea had obviously dropped into the tower, by the looks of the dead bark, splinters and fallen off branches that lay around the place. Salamander felt like weeping with joy, because although he had ensured that she wasn’t in the Horsekin camp he had been worried when she was not around when he woke up. He therefore strode up to her and embraced her from behind, making her drop whatever wood she had picked up. She stood completely still in his arms as he ensured himself that she really was there, that it had only been a nightmare.

     As he slowly released her, though, she turned around in his arms to look at him. He noticed the red lines in her eyes and realized that she had been crying. Carefully he raised one of his hands and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

     “I thought… I saw…”

     He wasn’t sure how to begin to describe what he had seen so that she could read the translation in the book later on. It felt so wrong to say something now and then wait for her to read what the book had translated it to.

     Obviously she felt that too, because she shook her head and placed a finger on his lips. He wondered if he had ever felt such delicate fingers touch his mouth before, if anything so soft ever had. He got an answer a moment later when she reached up and kissed him. Never could anything be as soft as those lips were, gently moving against his own as to not cause him any further pain than he was already in.

     The pain, however, did not matter to him anymore. All he needed to heal was her touch, her scent, the feeling of her lips against his. He let his hands trail up her back and into her hair and heard himself moan at the feeling. That caused her to break the kiss. She looked down onto the ground, biting her lower lip as she did, before carefully glancing up at him again.

     “I love you”, he whispered.

Chapter Text

     “I love you”, he whispered.

     “Love you too”, she answered. This caused him to stare at her in surprise.

     “How did you…?”

     “I read about it”, Amanda answered with a shy smile. “In the Dawntime there was a man from the newly arrived Deverrians who came to meet a woman of the Old People. They communicated through the crystals, the black and white ones, but then after confessing their love for one another they did not need them anymore. They understood each other’s language.”

     “So… love overcomes all obstacles?” Salamander said and forced away a grin.

     “I guess.”

     “You’re the most glorious woman I’ve ever met.”

     He then kissed her again and he did not let go until he realized that his stomach was making itself heard. She smiled.

     “We’d better get the fire started before Rori comes down.”

     Salamander nodded, then watched her pick up the wood once again. As they walked back out of the tower he placed an arm around her shoulders; partly to steady himself but also because of that he still felt the need to have her there. She blushed slightly but did not order him to get his arm off her.

     They had just sat down next to the now burning fire when Rori came down with a piece of meat in his claws.

     “I apologize for the edges”, the dragon said as he let go of the piece. “I can’t handle a knife to disjoint anything clearly.”

     “No worries”, Salamander said and got up with some help from Amanda. “It will do splendidly for a stew.”

     He started to work on the meat before Amanda could stop him, knowing that he needed to do something or his muscles would be completely numb by tomorrow. Amanda went to fetch some water to boil the meat in while Rori returned to his children. Then they sat in silence, watching the meat cook. It tasted good, a little tough maybe, but still tasty. Amanda seemed to be thinking somewhat like that as well.

     “With a bit of salt this could turn out to be really good”, she remarked. “You shouldn’t put too much spice on meat like this.”

     “You’re used to venison, then?” Salamander asked.

     “My grandfather used to be the head-hunter, now it’s my cousin”, Amanda answered with a shrug. Salamander smiled, feeling how tired he really was and quickly stopped himself from yawning. Amanda still noticed.

     “You need to rest, this day’s been hard on you”, she said with a soft smile.

     “I’ll stay up just a bit more”, Salamander answered and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, inviting her to crawl up next to him. After some hesitation she did, carefully leaning her head against his chest. He smiled and placed a careful kiss on top of her hair. He then heard her start to sing a soft melody in a tongue he did not know. As he listened to it he felt wave after wave of relaxation washing over him and he knew that he would be falling asleep soon.

     “Amanda?” he mumbled.

     “Yeah?”

     “Don’t leave me tonight, will you?” he silently asked as his eyes closed.

     “Promise”, she whispered back and kissed his cheek just as he fell asleep. In his dream-state he saw how she laid him down on the grass, then wrapped the cooking-jar and the leftover meat in a few bundles of clothes and placed it close to where he was lying, before she put out the fire. As she turned towards him again she smiled.

     “Rest”, came the order from her mind. “No spying tonight, it will only wear you out.”

     He was surprised that she was able to speak to his mind like that, but then he smiled, drifted down to his body and let go of the control of the dream-state, just as she laid down beside him, curling up next to him to keep them both warm. A pleasant sigh escaped his mouth as he draped an arm over her before sinking back into a most welcome, undisturbed sleep.

     She was already up when he woke the next morning, heating the leftovers from the previous night over the fire. As he moved she looked up at him, a worried frown appearing as he struggled to get to his knees.

     “You’ve got bruises all over you”, she said and came over to him. “Here, be careful.”

     She gently helped him get over to the fire, then grabbed an old clay-jar filled with crushed herbs.

     “Living close to dragons does give you some advantages”, she said with a smile. “Mezza brought me this pot earlier this morning and she also helped me find the right herbs to ease pain.”

     “My thanks”, Salamander responded, then grimaced as she applied the mash to one of his bare legs. The mere touch made him cringe, the fact that she then started to slowly massage it in didn’t help much. Not until a bit later when he felt the tensions release a bit, enabling him to move the leg a bit more.

     The same procedure was applied to his left leg, then to his arms, shoulders and back.

     “By the looks of it I was lucky to survive”, he said, forcing his voice not to tremble with shock over the injuries.

     “I think so”, Amanda answered and looked away. “Once again I’m sorry for not warning you. I should have…”

     “You did the right thing”, Salamander ensured her and placed a bluish hand on her cheek. “And for the sake of the people of Cerr Cawnen, it was the only possible thing to do as to bring them some more time.”

     Amanda nodded and grabbed onto a piece of meat in the bowl.

     “You need to get some protein in you and then we need to make sure that you’re still able to walk”, she said and placed the meat in his waiting mouth, allowing him to lick her fingers as she let go of it.

     “You sound like Dallandra”, he admitted with a smile.

     “Honestly, would you listen to me otherwise?” she asked and grinned. This made him laugh and he admitted that no, probably not.

     While she helped him walk around the area, he decided to ask the question that had been burning in his mind for a while.

     “Will you go back to Alban, after all of this?”

     Amanda stopped, not moving an inch for what seemed like an eternity.

     “My apologies”, Salamander quickly said. “I… I should not have asked that.”

     “It’s alright”, she answered and sighed. “And honestly, I don’t know. I have no idea how I got here, which means that I do not know how to get back either.”

     The thought seemed to make her sad and Salamander realized that by being here she was completely cut off from her family.

     “I apologize for bringing it up”, he said and gently squeezed her shoulder with one of his hands. She managed to smile.

     “It’s alright, you would probably have asked sooner or later anyway.”

     Despite this, she remained silent for the rest of the morning. Salamander felt terrible for bringing such a subject up so soon; it hadn’t done them any good. To keep his mind off the subject he therefore excused himself and contacted Dallandra through the clear water in the spring. The other dweomermaster answered at once.

     “I’m glad to hear from you”, she said. “I’ve been…”

     She fell silent, obviously staring at his bruised appearance.

     “By the Black Sun, what happened?” she demanded to know.

     “I was forced to join my physical body a bit hastily”, he said and grimaced a bit as he moved a certain painful joint of muscles. “But it’s here, more or less intact. I have Amanda to thank for being able to even stand up, though.”

     “Amanda? The girl you saved some days ago?”

     “Yes, that very one”, Salamander answered and felt a smile form on his face. “You will like her as well, oh mistress of powers perilous – she has definitely got a strong talent for dweomer.”

     “Are you able to speak to her by now?” Dallandra asked.

     “Well, she… she kind of… solved that problem”, he admitted. “We… well, I… ah horseshit!”

     Dallandra’s image grinned.

     “Am I right to assume that the two of you are in love and that that is what is keeping you so utterly speechless?”

     “I… well, that would be correct”, Salamander admitted and decided to change the subject. “I have been watching the army…”

     And so he told Dallandra what he had seen of the army so far; that the priestesses, along with several servants, slaves and soldiers, were heading back north, but that the main part of the soldiers were still heading towards Cerr Cawnen.

     “To continue without their priestesses is demoralizing, no doubt”, he finished.

     “So I should think”, Dallandra said and nodded. “You have certainly managed to slow them down.”

     “Have you scried for Dar and the escort?” Salamander asked.

     “Yes, they are almost here”, Dallandra answered. “But we still need time to clear the city. There are some, as always, who refuse to believe in bad news.”

     “If they do not listen, the name of those people will be Horsekin slaves in a couple of days”, Salamander pointed out.

     “Alas, that is true spoken. What are you, and Amanda, going to do now?”

     “Stay by the tower here in Dragon Meadow. Rori and Medea will cause the Meradan some more trouble while I rest, then, when Arzosah returns to the lair, Rori will bring us to Cerr Cawnen.”

     “I’m glad you will rest, what you did cannot have been easy”, Dallandra said with a soft smile.

     “As much as I hate to admit it; no, it definitely wasn’t”, Salamander said and risked a glance backwards. Amanda was sitting by the fire, studying the last few pages of the book. It surprised him that she seemed to refuse to read what happened in the other camps, what was currently filled in on the empty pages. Maybe she felt that she was eavesdropping.

     “The astral tides are changing”, Dallandra said, bringing his attention back to her. “Contact me later, if you can.”

     Then the link was broken. Salamander refilled his water bottle and then turned towards the girl by the fire again. She was biting her lower lip as she considered something on one of the first pages, running the fingers of one of her hands through her hair. As the sun hit it the rays seemed to sparkle, turning her hair into gold and giving her a halo of light. Salamander felt his mouth go dry; she was beautiful and she did not even realize it. He walked over and sat down next to her. As she gazed up on him he took the book out of her hand and placed it next to his own gear, then placed both of his hands on her face. His fingers entwined with a few strands of her hair and she closed her eyes as he gently massaged her temples. Then he bent forward and kissed her, longingly, passionately. The hungry response he received told him just how much she needed him as well. He pushed closer, feeling the heat of her body grazing his own.

     She, however, was more in control of the situation and broke the kiss, caressing his cheek with one of her hands as she did.

     “I love you”, she whispered. “And therefore I cannot let you harm yourself further.”

     He sighed, knowing that if he were to make love to her at this very moment he would cause himself more pain, and perhaps he wouldn’t even be able to finish the act.

     “Most women would never have done that”, he said with a faint smile.

     “Well, then I guess I’m not like most women”, she answered and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. “Now rest or you will never be able to ride in the following days, whether that is on horseback or a dragon.”

     “Only if you rest with me”, he said in return. She rolled her eyes at him, before she lay down next to him on the blanket. He entwined his fingers with hers, then gazed up at the old tower.

     “You think it can be repaired?” he asked after a while. Amanda considered it for a moment.

     “I think it could”, she admitted. “The stones seem intact and in good position, maybe some re-filling is needed to keep them from moving. Otherwise you just need a new roof, a top floor and a set of stairs, and they can be made from wood.”

     “I thought so”, Salamander said and looked at the ruin in silence.

     “When the war is over, when Rori is human again, someone is going to be needed here on the border”, Amanda pointed out, then looked at him. “Are you thinking of leaving the Westlands?”

     “Did I do that in the version that you read before you came here?” he asked and returned the gaze. She shrugged.

     “I don’t know, I stopped reading after you had almost been killed when bringing forth that Alshandra-illusion.”

     He nodded, then looked back up at the tower.

     “Maybe I should man it”, he said silently. “I could help taking care of Devar, you know, and I would have time to study dweomer, for real. The Westlands have never truly been my home, and I am tired of playing the babbling fool at the human courts.”

     She turned over to her stomach, resting her head on her arms as she looked at him with a smile.

     “I think that you just realized what you want to do with your life, Ebañy.”

     It was the first time she had addressed him with his Elvish name. It sounded different thanks to her Alban accent, but in a way much more beautiful than when someone else said it.

     “Will you stay with me here, then?” he asked.

     “If there is no way back to my old home, then yes”, she answered with a sad smile. “Otherwise I’ll have to return to my family.”

     He nodded and leaned over to kiss her on her forehead, before they lay there in silence.

     “Never forget that I do love you”, he said as he turned back to gaze up at the sky.

     “How could I, when you keep saying that the whole time?” Amanda said and looked at him with a smile. It surprised her how blurry he looked, as if she was looking at him through a stream of moving water.

     “Ebañy?” she said, rising to her elbows. He turned towards her, his eyes widened when he saw what was happening and flung out his arm as if to grab her. But it never reached her. She tried to reach out to him as tears began to flood down her cheeks, but something was holding her back.

     “Ebañy!” she called out. He mouthed her name, he probably shouted it as well but she was no longer able to hear him. His shape started to vanish completely, the colors of the meadow becoming soggy.

     “Ebañy!”

     She sat up in her bed with a gasp. At first she could not remember where she was, but then she recognized the pale walls of her new apartment. The book lay on her stomach; she was fully dressed and had obviously fallen asleep while reading it.

     She swung her legs over the ledge and started to look through the pages. Some of them were still empty, but they weren’t filled with words anymore. It was as if the magic was prevented to happen in this world.

     Amanda covered her mouth with one hand as she gazed down at the last sentences written; Salamander reached out towards Amanda’s drifting image, shouting her name higher and higher every time, but she was gone before Rori had landed to see what had happened. The dragon asked over and over again what had occurred, but when Salamander only curled up and cried he roared in anger that their friend had been taken away.

     “I love you”, she whispered, as if the book could hear her. “Never forget that, you babbling elf.”

     Then she lay back on the bed and cried.

Chapter Text

Hey guys – again!

Just a quick message to you all; I’m going to be quite busy throughout the rest of August and September and will have to go on hiatus for at least that time period. Basically I’ve just started working and I’ve been given a lot more responsibility than what was initially planned because the two original teachers I was supposed to work with quit after last semester so we’re three newbies on our teaching team instead of one newbie (me). Aaaand I’ll also be moving in the midst of all of this new work (end of August). So there’s a lot going on and even though I have no doubt I’ll still be writing stuff during this time to keep myself sane I won’t be able to focus on one story and get chapters up for that at a good interval. I will actually try to do something like that after all of this has settled done – set a schedule for chapter publishing – but at the moment I just have to focus on personal stuff.

As for now I’ve posted everything I had that I hadn’t posted yet – hence why some stories were suddenly updated with several new chapters at once instead of just one. I’m not saying that nothing will be posted throughout this period – I will do my best to give myself free weekends so that I can relax and not freak out completely – but on the other hand I can’t promise chapters or short-stories either. You know what I mean? Hope you do. Anyway; keep an eye out for chapters in late September or October, at least, because things should have settled by that time. Hopefully.

Love,

Sandra