Deelind and The Icefire

by Lance Dempster

  Winds blew across the sands of time as the voice said, ‘We will talk again. Go rest now, for your journey has only just begun. Our fate now lies with you.’

  ‘Whew,’ she exhaled, finding it easier to breathe as the ancient voice receded. Like the featherlites, Oakman had a magical signature but his was much stronger and more intense with age. She wondered how old the tree was. Her fingers curled around the crystal, which felt warm and comfortable in her hand.

  A blood-curdling scream filled the hall. Some people dropped to their knees while others folded over in pain, covering their ears to block out the piercing shriek. Only able to block one ear, she buried her other ear against the stretcher. The scream ended abruptly. A deathly silence fell upon the hall. Slowly and unsteadily people began to get to their feet. Some pointed to the top of the tree and then at her, like she had done something to it. She turned her head up to look at the tree and gasped. The whole branch of the tree was dead. Black and burnt. The branch that had touched her!

  ‘Quick, pick her up,’ said Jack to Derik, while pulling on his shoulder straps. ‘Let’s get her out of here now.’

  At a fast trot they reached the side of the hall and exited through a door. She overheard several people whispering together, convinced that she had injured Oakman. They entered a cream-plastered passageway with the arrowslit windows looking out into the Great Hall.

  ‘What is going on?’ she said, feeling fatigued from lack of food.

  Jack ignored her question and carried her down the passageway. Not too far down he opened an old, wooden medieval door and they walked into what looked like a hospital room. There were five beds running down each side of the room. On the first bed lay a man, bloated and covered in red spots.

  ‘The thorns,’ Jack muttered by way of explanation. ‘A fine man and an outstanding Dragonknight. I believe his dragon has died. It would be a kindness if he did, too.’

  ‘But he was in dragon form. Why didn’t his scales protect him?’

  ‘We don’t know yet. Here we go,’ he said as a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform rushed forward and began releasing her restraints. ‘Time to get you fixed up, fed and then some rest. Hold the stretcher next to the bed, Derik. Deelind, see if you can slide onto the bed.’

  ‘What did the tree mean?’ she said, still puzzling over all that had happened.

  ‘I cannot hear the tree,’ said Jack, glancing sharply at Derik and the nurse.

  Deelind saw Derik’s eyes widen at her question, while the nurse just ducked her head and bustled around Deelind.

  Frowning, she said, ‘But it talked to me.’

  ‘Princess Lee will explain,’ said Jack. ‘All will become clear soon. Now we need to get you onto the bed.’

  Derik and Jack moved her closer to the bed, slowly tilting the stretcher, allowing her with the help of her good arm and her legs to gently slide onto the bed. It felt glorious as the mattress cushioned her tired, sore body. The nurse helped position her more comfortably and pulled the bedclothes up under her chin before bustling off.

  ‘Rest. The nurse will be back to attend to you. Do not let anyone take that crystal,’ said Jack as he and Derik backed out of the room.

  ‘Stand guard,’ she heard Jack tell Derik, ‘and not a word to anyone about her hearing Oakman. Not a word.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ replied Derik as the door closed behind them.

  Lying still, she wrapped her fingers around the crystal and allowed herself to fall into the abyss of deep sleep.

  * * *

  Deelind woke. The room was dark and for a few moments she thought she was in her own bed. As the fog of sleep edged away, memories of being brought to the sickroom returned. Moving slightly, she felt the resistance of tightly tucked bedsheets. Her body hurt everywhere. Wincing, she wriggled her body and managed to free her good arm. Slowly she loosened the bed clothing enough to allow her to move her stiff, battered and bruised body.

  She trailed her fingers over her injured arm which was bent and lying across her chest. It felt heavy and tightly wrapped in a bandage. Trying to lift it sent a stabbing pain running up her arm and her breath whooshed out of her. Lying there breathing through the pain, she suddenly remembered the crystal. It was gone. She last remembered holding it in her good hand. Where was it? A quick pat down of her body showed her that she was dressed in a nightshirt and there was a lumpy shape on a cord around her neck.

  Sighing with relief she stared into the darkness. All she could do was lie there and wait, no longer tired but still rather hungry. She was always hungry now. She frowned, hearing a snigger at the back of her mind. Was Zara laughing at her?

  She considered calling out but decided against it. It felt like it was late in the night and she could hear the laboured breathing of the Dragonknight she had seen in the first bed. She tried to piece together everything that had happened to her. Looking up at the dark ceiling, tears rolled down her cheeks as she remembered her grandmother. Images of the body being pulled out of the cottage haunted her. She just wanted to know if Gran was okay and when she could see her.

  What was going to happen to her now? Why had no one told her about what went on at the manor house? Especially when everyone in this new world seemed to know her? She had so many questions and no one to ask. She fell asleep again.

  * * *

  When she awoke Deelind looked around the room as best as she could. A light shining out from what appeared to be a bathroom lit the room with a soft glow. It showed up a sectioned-off operating theatre in one corner. The injured Dragonknight thrashed in his bed, muttering deliriously.

  The door handle rattled as she heard Lady Lee’s voice on the other side say, ‘You can leave now, Derik. Thank you for looking after her and please don’t say anything to anyone about what’s happened here.’

  ‘Yes, Princess Lee,’ said Derik and Deelind heard him walking away down the corridor.

  Princess Lee? She turned her head in time to see the door open as the woman she knew as Lady Lee entered the room.

  ‘Ah, Your Majesty,’ came the musical Welsh accent of the nurse who had come bustling forward when she heard the sickroom door open. ‘What a lovely surprise. Good day to you.’

  ‘Hello, Nurse Amy,’ said Princess Lee warmly to the short and plump nurse. ‘I see you are being kept busy with your two new patients. I’m just here for a brief visit with Deelind. I won’t be underfoot for long.’

  ‘Not a problem at all, Princess Lee. I’ll pull up a chair for you beside Deelind’s bed,’ said Nurse Amy, doing just that.

  With the insight that Princess Lee and Lady Lee were the same person, Deelind took a closer look at Princess Lee as she settled into the chair Nurse Amy had provided. All her movements had a lithe, graceful quality to them. Each motion quiet and with purpose. Tall and slender, she wore a long, white, flowing dress. It was cinched in at the waist with a delicate and supple leather belt intricately tooled with vine leaves in an array of autumn shades. Deelind noticed that her eyes were the same piercing green that the elves in the Great Hall had. She had the pointy ears as well. Unlike the other elves in their sleeveless dresses, Princess Lee’s dress sleeves were long and flowing, and if she had leaf tattoos on her arms like the other elves, Deelind couldn’t see them. On her feet were soft, leather shoes that had finely detailed vine leaf straps winding their way up her ankles and halfway up her calves. Her hair was blonde with streaks of red, gold, blue and green running through it and was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Deelind frowned to herself, wondering why she had never seen any of this before in her previous encounters with Lady Lee.

  As though aware of Deelind’s perusal of her, Princess Lee caught Deelind’s gaze. Her eyes sparkled and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. ‘It’s good to see you are awake and well, young lady. I want you to wear this choker for the next few weeks,’ Princess Lee said, leaning forward and placing a smooth, silver choker around the base of Deelind’s neck. ‘It will prevent you from changing into dragon form. Such a ch
ange would seriously damage your wing. You can’t afford to hurt your arm again before it is healed, or you will struggle to fly again.’

  The choker was very thin and light to wear and its cool metal quickly warmed against her skin.

  Noticing Princess Lee’s pointy ears again, Deelind blurted, ‘Your ears are pointy. Are you elven? I have never seen them pointy before. I saw elves in the Great Hall and they had pointy ears…’ Deelind trailed off, aware that she was suddenly babbling.

  Princess Lee laughed. ‘It’s always the ears that start the questions. I am featherlite like you, but my lineage is elven. You have never seen my ears pointed before because I hide them with magic when I am amongst others who are unaware of our world here. Anyone who has pointed, or partially pointed ears has elven lineage. You have given us all quite a fright. I’m not sure Miss Tibi is going to get over it anytime soon.’

  On hearing Miss Tibi’s name, Deelind felt her face glow red and she slipped further down into the bed.

  ‘I am sorry,’ she stammered. ‘I did not mean to cause trouble.’

  ‘I know. This was fated. You are now a featherlite. The youngest ever to become one and you have a lot to learn,’ said Princess Lee, more to herself than to Deelind.

  ‘Please tell me that some of it was just a weird dream. Most of what has happened has been great like becoming a featherlite, but falling down mysterious chutes and sinking through the ground, not so much,’ she said, wrinkling her nose.

  ‘No, all those bits are real, too,’ said Princess Lee who laughed when she saw Deelind’s groan.

  ‘Please. Can you tell me, is my gran alright? When can I see her?’

  Deelind watched the mirth bleed away from Princess Lee’s eyes, her face growing sombre. ‘I am so sorry to have to tell you this when you have already been through so much. There is no easy way to say this, Deelind. Your grandmother was killed in the cottage fire.’

  Deelind cried out in shock as pain ripped through her. ‘No! Why would you say such a thing!? It’s not true! It can’t be.’ She’d had her suspicions but hadn’t wanted to admit to them and it had done nothing to ease the painful truth she now had to face. Her body shuddered with sobs, tears poured down her cheeks. Poor Gran, she sobbed harder. What was she going to do without her? Gran was her rock, her world and she missed her so badly already.

  Seeing the sadness on Princess Lee’s face, Deelind turned over onto her good arm. Away from her understanding gaze, away from the world, she buried her face in her pillow, her body shaking with smothered sobs, lost in a world of grief. In her haze of sadness, she barely noticed the gentle hand touch her shoulder, offering sympathy and reassurance, or the quiet footsteps walking away.

  Sometime later she lay staring into space. Her racking sobs had passed. She felt numb. Footsteps walked towards the bed. A gentle voice with a sing song accent said, ‘Come, drink this. It will help to soothe your nerves, dull your hunger and give you much-needed sleep. You have been through a traumatic ordeal these last few days. You need time to heal.’

  Silently Deelind took the cup and drained it. Returning it to the nurse, she lay back down and waited for oblivion to take her.

  * * *

  Deelind awoke to the sound of someone humming. Groaning, she lifted her head to look in the direction of the sound and saw the nurse, who had given her the drink, working in the bathroom. She flopped back onto the pillow. She felt drained and groggy. Soft tears slipped down her cheeks as she remembered the news of her gran. Hunger pulled at her and the bathroom called. Fiercely wiping her eyes, she tried to sit up. Hands reached out and helped her.

  ‘Hello Deelind. As you might recall from Princess Lee’s visit, I am Nurse Amy. I helped you into your bed when you first came in here. You may not remember because you were in a lot of pain and exhausted. I have been taking care of you ever since.’ Deelind looked up into soft, brown eyes. They twinkled at her and she gave Nurse Amy a small nod. ‘If you are up to it, we need to get you fed, see to your arm and have you soaking in the warm bath I’ve already drawn for you. Let’s do that, first, shall we?’

  Without waiting for a reply, Nurse Amy helped her out of the bed. She walked slowly to the bathroom. Every step she took jolted her arm and she clenched her teeth against the pain.

  ‘Let’s get that nightshirt off and into the bath.’

  She obeyed but struggled to remove the nightshirt. She was just too weak. Nurse Amy quickly stepped forward and helped her. She tried to pull the necklace with the crystal on it over her head, but Nurse Amy stopped her.

  ‘Leave it on Deelind, it will help to heal you.’

  She flicked a quick glance at the crystal in the mirror. It was just a plain, clear crystal hanging on a green cord.

  Nurse Amy, catching her look of disbelief, said, ‘It is a rainbow crystal. Extremely rare and immensely powerful. There has only ever been one other person that Oakman has ever given a rainbow crystal to and that was Princess Lee’s mother. You will learn all about it over the next few months and it is best that Princess Lee tells you. She inherited the one she wears from her mother. Now into the bath with you.’

  Nurse Amy helped her climb into the hot bath. With her broken arm bent at the elbow and held tight against her chest, she awkwardly managed to get in without jostling her injured arm too much. She smelt herbs as she slipped into the water. It felt wonderful, her body relaxed and the pain lessened.

  ‘Don’t worry about getting your arm wet. The warm water and herbs will help with the pain. I am going to get your cast ready.’ With that, Nurse Amy left.

  Sinking down until her shoulders were under the water, her body soaked up the heat. Deelind held her crystal with her good hand and closed her eyes. The crystal grew warm. Surprised, she opened her eyes to find the bathwater was filled with rainbow colours. She moved her hand through the water, passing from one colour to the next without the rainbow moving, disappearing or mixing the colours. Fascinated, she lifted handfuls of water up and allowed them to dribble back into the bath, where they became reabsorbed without causing a ripple in the colours. After what must have been at least an hour of playing she saw that the rainbow was fading, yet the bathwater had not gone cold. She sank as deeply as she could into the bath and dozed off. It felt like she had just closed her eyes when Nurse Amy called through, ‘Time to get out, Deelind. You have been in there all morning.’

  She jerked awake with a splash. She rose from the still warm bath with surprising ease, finding that most of her aches and pains had disappeared. As best as possible with her injured arm, she wrapped herself in the large, soft towel which was hanging over a chair and slipped on a pair of slippers lying in front of it.

  Emerging from the bathroom she saw Nurse Amy had prepared a table next to the bed with a bowl and bandages on it.

  ‘Come sit and let’s strap that arm up,’ said Nurse Amy. Deelind walked forward and sat down.

  ‘Here, drink this. It will help take the pain away.’ Taking the mug from Nurse Amy and seeing the thick, purple liquid inside, she pulled a face. Hesitantly, she lifted the mug to her lips and drank. It tasted like bitter liquorice with a hint of vanilla. She felt a warm sensation flow through her body and soon she could feel nothing. Nurse Amy quickly cut away the wet bandages. Her skin was pink where the burns had been, and she could see the broken bone.

  ‘The skin has healed nicely, it will not even scar. Now, even with the drink this is still going to hurt but I have to reset the bone.’

  ‘I thought Grimbell set it for me.’

  Nurse Amy nodded. ‘He did but it has moved, and we need it to be perfect. It is a nice, clean break just above the wrist.’

  Before she could brace herself, Nurse Amy took her broken arm and gave it a quick twist. She yelped in pain, but with that purple drink in her system, the pain was bearable.

  Nurse Amy quickly rubbed oil onto the arm and started to wrap the plaster-of-Paris around the lower half of her arm. The plaster-of-Paris was heavy and warm, and it gave her comfort.<
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  ‘Unlike wild dragons, featherlite bones are not hollow. They are a blend of dragon and another species, making them super-strong and flexible. However, when they break, they take about five months to heal,’ said Nurse Amy with a sigh. Patting Deelind’s knee, she said, ‘Now pull on the clean nightshirt, keep the arm against your chest and into bed with you. I will bring you some food.’

  Deelind gasped. ‘Five months in a cast! That’s insane!’

  Looking sympathetic, Nurse Amy said, ‘It is not common for featherlites to break bones, but you took a massive fall and you already had a deathburner injury to that arm. Even featherlite bones can only take so much.’

  With her left arm tightly strapped up, Deelind stood and dressed as best as she could. Staggering to the bed, she collapsed into it and before she knew it, was yet again fast asleep.

  CHAPTER 6

  THE SICKROOM

  She woke to the smell of food and her stomach rumbling. On the table next to the bed was a tray piled high with baked potato, sausages, chops with gravy and vegetables. She now understood where all the food from the kitchen went. She ate everything on the tray. When Nurse Amy came over to take the empty tray away Deelind asked, ‘What happened to the man in that bed? The one infected from the thorns.’

  ‘Sadly, he died. Unfortunately, one thorn went straight into his eye. The thorns are poisonous and fast-acting. It was already too late when they brought him into the room. All we could do was try to make him as comfortable as possible.’

  Eyes wide at the sad news, Deelind said, ‘Did the thorns hurt anyone else? I tried to warn them all.’

  ‘Yes, one or two were hit but their scales protected them.’

  Deelind let out a breath in relief.

  ‘Why is Zara not talking to me?’ They had only been joined a short time and she missed her already. It seemed like everyone important to her was just disappearing. Tears welled up as she thought of Zara and her gran.

  ‘Zara? Is that your dragon’s name?’ said Nurse Amy gently.

  ‘Yes.’