The Dragon Knight and the Light

by D. C. Clemens

  “Start slow,” I told Ghevont. “Only rush once you get the hang of whatever you’re doing. If this takes more than a day, so be it.”

  “Oh, well, if I have to stop before I can eliminate all trace of the spores, then they’ll certainly multiply again. It may take a few days for them to return to their former numbers, but I would prefer not giving them a chance to spread and force me to expend more nismerdon prana.”

  “I prefer that as well, but we may not have a choice if the procedure ends up as harmful as the desiccation itself, or if the prince can’t handle it.”

  “I can handle it!” said Yukata. “Don’t forget that I’m no commoner! I’m an imperial valkrean! My blood and soul can cleanse corruption itself. A little weird pain is nothing.”

  “Your father and ancestors will be proud to know that even their youngest sons exhibit great courage in the face of the unknown. It’s so easy to be afraid of it, but people like us understand that the unknown is an opportunity to be seized, not shirked or shunned, right?” He nodded. “Good. Just remember to focus on your breathing and listen to anything Ghevont tells you. He will stop whenever you need a quick break, even if it’s to pray. The gods will grant you strength if they find you worthy. Are you worthy?”

  “I-I am.”

  “Then we can begin.”

  I backed away to let Ghevont take his position by the prince. Not too keen on watching the procedure up close and personal, I sat on a chair between Ghevont and the sparring entrance. However, when my nerves demanded it, I sometimes paced around the room. To trick any prana finders into thinking I was training with the prince, I often cast my ward and manipulated it into different shapes and widths. This also gave me something for me to distract myself from the gagging sounds the prince made when Ghevont pulled out the collected spores from his mouth and nose. Sometimes flecks of blood came out with them.

  Especially in the first hour, Yukata needed several breaks to stop himself from losing too much contents held by his veins, stomach, and sinuses. The scholar had to occasionally use a water spell and a rag to help clean his patient and the table’s surface. The expulsions did nothing to deter the prince.

  Near the end of the second hour, which was pointed out by a bronze clock on a wall, the prince’s body was drenched in sweat and too weak to do much more than sit up for a minute or two. Ghevont dried him up with a rag and gave him lukewarm water before resuming the operation. Except for being a little paler, Yukata did not look too the worse for wear.

  More than three hours into the procedure, Ghevont replied to my question by saying he estimated that he removed about a third of the spores, but as he became more efficient in gathering them, he thought he could expedite the operation in the next couple of hours. The most problematic part of the procedure would be when he focused on the spores attached to his major organs. He decided to save that for last.

  So I waited another hour before I truly worried that the prince’s attendants would soon check on the prince’s condition. If he were in a stronger state I would have told him put on his clothes and tell the attendants himself that he needed more time to train, but his delicate condition made that impossible. Going out by myself would only spur suspicion and a quicker assessment, so I was forced to wait it out at the edge of my seat.

  The fifth hour neared. I heard the table creak and the prince gag out a moan. I could see his hand gripping the table’s edge tight. Ghevont’s flame burned twice as brightly and three times long from those I last remembered.

  Over the coughs of the prince, the scholar said, “That was a big clump!”

  Ghevont’s flame died away, but Yukata’s coughing refused to abate. That’s when I heard the door open. Multiple pairs of steps rushed down the stairs. Hearing their prince barking up the frog in his throat made them rush even faster. As I went to stand next to Ghevont, the female attendant made herself known. Yukata’s protector and Gerard quickly followed her. Gerard was prevented from coming any closer by the bodyguard’s extended arm.

  “What is going on here?!” asked the woman in yellow. “Why is the prince without his clothes? Why is his prana so unsettled? Explain yourselves!”

  “Shall you or I?” Ghevont asked me.

  Between his coughs, which were finally easing, Yukata said, “I will.” The young man’s hand sought something to help him raise his upper body. I offered my shoulder. Grunting his way upward, he said, “They’re… helping me, N-Nuan. It’s… it’s fine.”

  “You don’t sound fine at all, child. What kind of training is this?”

  “It’s not training… They want to get rid of the des… desiccation.”

  “The desiccation? You told them of it?”

  “No, I did,” said Ikumi, who had just finished coming down the steps.

  “Princess Ashina? Does the emperor know about this?”

  “No. I couldn’t risk his disapproval, but if Master Rathmore can cleanse the desiccation from his son, then that means the others can be cured as well.”

  “But to risk the boy’s life-”

  “His life is not in danger, madam,” I said. “I assure you, I would entrust the lives of my family to this scholar if I needed to. And with his staff holding a piece of the Hoic-Dro’s power, he has a real chance to purge the sickness they may have very well implanted to weaken your emperor’s position in his own land. We’ve only been down here for this long because the procedure is working. How much longer until you’ve eliminated all trace of the sickness, Ghevont?”

  “Hmm, three hours to be safe. Four to be more so.”

  “I can take it, Nuan. Yeah, i-it feels damn weird when this redheaded ass moves my blood and pulls out the spores, but I can sense my body getting, um… cleaner. It’s working. Let him finish. If I do die, then you can have them all executed. Just don’t tell my father yet. The spores will only spread again if he makes them stop now… I don’t care if I throw up a hundred more times.” His hand trembled. He let go of my shoulder so he could lie back down. “Nuan, please, I don’t want to be afraid of drying up like a damn raisin tomorrow.”

  Nuan walked toward the prince, coming between me and Ghevont. A maternal hand clasped Yukata’s. “Foolish boy, you will not die with me here.” She slammed the bottom of her staff on the ground. “You, scholar! His fate will be tied to your own. If he so much as approaches death’s door, then so will you. Understand?”

  “Ah, yes, it’s a simple scheme you’ve presented. But really, madam, the worst that can happen to the prince is an ex-”

  “Finishing that sentence will not make anyone feel better,” I said. “Continue the procedure whenever Yukata is ready.”

  Walking to the other side of the table, Nuan told Ghevont, “And you will explain everything you’re doing as you’re doing it.”

  “Wonderful! I tend to think better aloud, but everyone else seems perturbed by it.”

  Relieved to have come to an understanding, I walked back to my chair and slumped in it. Gerard, now free to move farther into the room, came to lay a firm hand on my shoulder. I laid my head upon it. I perhaps would have napped in that position if I did not hear Yukata begin his retching again.

  “That sound always riles my own stomach,” said Gerard.

  “Are you all right? You don’t have to be here.”

  “You mean in Wregor?”

  “Ready to go back home?”

  “I’m ready to join an army and confront the Advent directly. I’d rather rely on my sword and spells to determine my fate, not wait to see whether someone else will prevent us from being executed.”

  “Oh, I doubt we’ll all be executed. Ghevont will surely be beheaded, but I suspect we’ll only be imprisoned. And if we can hear from Mercer soon, then maybe Ghevont’s head can be saved as well.”

  “How cheerfully pragmatic of you.” He bent forward to put his mouth closer to my ear. Lowering his voice so that the armored protector did not overhear, he said, “If I may be less so, I say we subdue the prince’s attendants if it
looks like Ghevont is losing him. We cannot afford to waste away in a dungeon while we wait for someone who might be a long time getting here, if at all. I’m sure Princess Ashina can help us escape.”

  “I agree, but it won’t come to that. I’m confident Ghevont will not push past the prince’s limit. At worst, we learn that the desiccation cannot be cleansed by the scholar’s procedure and that we put the boy through misery for nothing.”

  “Well, you take on the woman and I’ll take on the soldier. Deal?”

  “Deal. Now stop whispering, he’s looking at us from the corner of his eye.”

  Gerard’s lips pecked my cheek before standing straight again.

  Practicing with my shield would probably unnerve Nuan and the bodyguard, so I paced away my apprehension. Since the sparring room echoed the prince’s gags and coughs, I would have to leave the chamber to gain a reprieve from the repugnant sounds, but I never wanted the prince to notice that I left him. While she tried to hold her own, Princess Ashina needed to revive her constitution every now and again by heading above ground for a few minutes. She otherwise kept close to me.

  Nuan’s presence appeared to slow proceedings, but her casting ability also eased the prince’s woes after his fouler fits. For three hours she and Ghevont worked in tandem. During the moments Yukata caught his breath, Ikumi and I offered words of encouragement and sometimes gain appraisals from the casters.

  On his latest appraisal, Ghevont said, “My spell is having great difficulty detecting any more spores outside of his heart. I shall make one more extensive sweep to gather the tiniest of scraps before I finish with his most vital of organs.”

  “Just a little longer, then,” said Ikumi.

  “Let’s get this over with,” said the prince, looking as though he lost at least five pounds through sweat alone.

  “Hush, child,” said Nuan. “Save your energy. Breathe.”

  I drew back to give the boy some air. Starting from his feet, Ghevont’s staff hovered over his patient. The orb of green light surrounding the crystal shrunk and brightened in long intervals. Then the orb became a focused ray of light that almost pierced the skin of the prince. Ghevont let this ray linger over a small segment of his body for a couple of moments before moving on to another segment. After ten or fifteen minutes, Yukata coughed out the residual spores that dallied outside of his heart.

  For the first time in the ordeal, the scholar sat on a nearby chair. He dried his hands, rubbed his eyes, yawned, and cracked his knuckles and the bones in his feet. Everyone stayed silent as we wondered how long his break was going to be.

  Between one and two minutes was the answer. He stood up and placed a hand emanating golden light on Yukata’s chest. I imagined he was sensing Yukata’s heartbeat. Nuan must have known what he was doing, for she stated nothing against it.

  The scholar’s hand was hastily removed and replaced by his staff’s crystal, its green aura as sharp as ever. Taking a rag, Ghevont said, “I suspect this will not be pleasant. Bite down on this if you please.”

  “What does your spell sense?” asked Nuan.

  “Three sizeable spore clusters… Along with two or three smaller ones. I’ll begin by concentrating on the smaller ones first. If you can, I’ll need you to help steady the blood around his heart as best you can. No doubt I’ll have to shake those clusters a bit to loosen the most entrenched spores. His heart may react negatively.” Muffled by the rag in his mouth, the prince groaned. “Shush, shush, young sir.”

  “That is ‘Prince Ashina’ to you, lowly scholar. You’ve been far too informal with him. Or do you dare mock my own familiarity with him?”

  “He means no offense, Lady Nuan,” I said. “I assure you, he has never developed the ability to mock or speak sarcastically, and once he cures your prince, the informality will be well-earned.”

  Nuan looked ready to argue with me, but my best royal bearing reminded her of the formality I was owed. Instead, she said, “It’s time for us to focus. I’m ready when you are, scholar.”

  Ghevont was ready immediately. The crystal palpitated like the heartbeat below it. His patient grumbled and bonded his fingers with the edge of the table. Nuan’s staff and its blue light was brought alongside Ghevont’s to add her spell of stability. Ghevont’s nismerdon-enhanced spell started to pluck the spores from that all-important organ. How grotesquely outlandish it must have felt to the unfortunate prince when the blood in and around his heart swirled and slushed.

  In what I assumed to be vulgarities in his natural tongue, Yukata expressed stifled words through the rag. A few minutes later and he could not say anything as Ghevont methodically pulled the first batch of heart spores toward his face. When the green crystal hung over his face, Ghevont took away the rag so Yukata could cough out the foreign bodies. Nuan provided the cleansing fire this time. The light of that flame revealed her to be quite satisfied at knowing she was helping to burn the sickness in her beloved prince.

  The duo casters permitted their patient and themselves to rest up for a while. Every other exhale from Yukata was a wheeze. It would take hours of rest to get rid of that. When his heart composed itself, they moved on to the next session.

  Two more sessions were completed within the next hour. Each one became harder on the prince, but we were oh so close to releasing him from the desiccation’s harsh, arid grip. Ghevont stated that two more attempts would be all that was needed to purify the young man’s body from the spores he could sense with his nismerdon-enhanced spell. So after Yukata’s longest respite yet, they proceeded with the operation.

  Mirroring their previous actions, scholar and attendant hovered their staffs and hands over the prince’s chest. They stayed in this same position longer than previous efforts.

  Finally, Nuan asked, “Is something wrong, scholar?”

  Opening his shut eyes, Ghevont answered, “They’re quite dug in. If his heart is not bruised now, it will be. Uh, merely mild contusions, of course.”

  “Pray that is the worst outcome.”

  “We have little time for prayer, madam. Can you cast a sleeping spell?”

  “Yes.”

  “This will be a good time to cast it. The incantation should work long enough to get him through the worst of it.”

  “I see. Very well.”

  Nuan pulled out Yukata’s rag and told him something in their native tongue. The prince’s response was to close his eyes and take a deep breath. His attendant next placed a glowing blue hand over his eyes and forehead. She removed her hand several moments later. Ghevont tapped the prince’s forehead a couple of times. No response.

  “Good, now follow my lead.”

  Since they did not speak, the rest of us could only follow that lead by watching how their staffs and hands moved.

  “Guanyu,” said Nuan. “Stand by the prince’s head. Press his shoulders down if he wakes up suddenly.”

  Yukata’s bodyguard, who had been standing behind Nuan, went to do as instructed. Everyone else not directly involved with the procedure stood a few steps away from Yukata’s feet. For a long time the two casters merely made small motions over Yukata’s torso. It was understandable why they were being so careful, but every second acted like another cat’s claw hooking somewhere on my body. I wished I had asked Ghevont to put me under a sleeping spell for the next hour.

  As it turned out, Yukata’s sleep was dispelled as soon as Ghevont put any significant nismerdon prana into his patient. Yukata grumbled and writhed. Guanyu gently placed his gloved hands on the boy’s shoulders. Meanwhile, Ghevont’s staff smoldered a very pure, bright green only possible through magic. The color mixed with the blue light from Nuan’s staff, creating a cyan shade in the middle.

  Yukata appeared to want to say something, but his mouth and tongue failed to form any intelligible words. He let go of the table’s edge and wanted to hold his chest. However, at the behest of Nuan, Guanyu firmly slid his hands down to the prince’s forearms to hold him down. After a handful of seconds, I saw the riv
ulet of a couple of tears glistening Yukata’s cheeks. Unable to make his arms move, his legs were all he could flail.

  A torturous minute later, Nuan exclaimed, “His heart is frantic! Do what you have to do now or release him!” Ghevont did not seem to pay any heed to the attendant. “Scholar!” She glared at me. “Stop him or I will!”

  Sprinting up to him, I said, “Ghevont! Is this necessary?”

  “Just a little longer!” he answered, his voice as strained as he ever made it. “Hold down his legs! I need him still!”

  Moving to do what he said, I replied with, “One more moment!” I regretted listening to him the instant I pinned Yukata’s legs to the table. I felt like the assistant to an executioner. Poor boy just wanted to squirm. The best he could do was cry and croak out shrieks repressed by the pressure in his chest. “Damn it, Ghevont! Hurry it up!”

  A third of an eternity was squeezed into roughly three seconds. Once it passed, we saw Ghevont’s staff sluggishly move away from the prince’s heart and toward his neck. I wondered whether I should let go or not, but the question was answered for me when Yukata’s body stopped convulsing. His eyes rolled back and his head went limp.

  Electric arcs sparked between Nuan’s fingers. But before she could do anything with the harnessed lightning, Ghevont said, “Not yet.” Despite her hideous scowl, Nuan obeyed. With excruciating deliberateness, Ghevont hauled the spores up through the neck. To Guanyu, Ghevont said, “Open his mouth.”

  The protector conformed to the request. Somehow keeping his focus, the scholar used his free hand to cast a flame over the prince’s insensible face. No one stirred the air with either breath or movement during the last couple of inches Ghevont’s staff needed to traverse. Then the staff’s tip rose above the open mouth. The flame he held together flickered wildly when the crystal nearly touched it.

  Not waiting any longer, Nuan bolstered the lightning encompassing her hand and floated it over Yukata’s chest like a thundercloud. Arcs of electricity prickled his skin. Ghevont’s flame raged for a moment before flashing out of existence. The scholar stumbled backward, looking exhausted for the first time today. Gerard guided him into a chair. I went to take Ghevont’s place by the boy.