“Uh…can I help you with your wings…and tail? I’m not exactly sure where it would be appropriate for me to touch you,” the male stammered.
“Touch me as you would any lady, Innycines,” she said demurely.
He turned and gently held her fragile wings as she sat. Maranna deftly flipped her thick brushy tail aside and joined the stalwart male on the precipice.
“Thank you. You’re lucky you don’t have wings and a tail. Oh, I forget, you do. I would like to share your ability to transform to a wingless bipedal shape. Your body in this form is pleasing to look upon, you know. Are you not tired?” she asked. “Can’t you sleep?”
“Nature’s gentle nurse, sleep, escapes me,” he said somberly.
For a moment they stared silently at the sheer drop before them.
She sang.
The strong male felt his eyelids getting heavy. Her lyrical phrases penetrated his psychic barriers and caused deep blue ripples in the tissues of his mind.
He slept.
Maranna glanced at his peaceful expression. She did not regret her first song in a millennium. She reentered the cavern where the vigil continued and sat with the healer through the night and well into the next morning.
Boton tentatively opened his eyes. He lay on soft bedding, was surrounded by pleasant light, and heard voices.
Strands of his flaming red hair were matted over his face. He felt enough pain to make him aware that he still lived, but nothing like he had felt when the dragon’s fiery breath surrounded him.
“He awakens. I doubted he would survive,” a raspy female voice said.
“Yes. Thank you for your help, Maranna,” a male answered.
“You know that we- my ilk- prefer not to get involved in your wars, Alisskirin,” the woman answered.
Boton fully opened his eyes and saw a tall man standing over him. The man wore an elaborate green robe and held an ornate staff in his left hand. At eye level the young sorcerer saw seven sets of distinctive symbols circumferentially etched into the artifact at its midpoint.
Ǿ ∞ Ǿ
Although he had never seen such a Staff, he had read of them and his mother had sung about the Thirteen and Two Staves many times. Staring at the symbols gave Boton some feeling of reassurance, strength, and peacefulness.
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