Dragon Dance - MaxTul's Story

Part 25 - Poison!

Forth paced in his room and stared at Beam who lay on the bed, suffering from very bad nausea. "I don't like this, Beam."

"I love you, Forth, with all my heart and bond, but if you don't stop pacing, I'll kill you myself so that I don't have to feel this way." Beam suddenly got up and ran for the tiny bathroom that was built just for him. 

Forth ran after him. "What is wrong? Do I need a healer?" He stared at the white, pale Beam, hunched over the throne, back arched as everything he never ate during the day attempted to leave his body, "Fuck that, I'm summoning one."

Broadcasting widely, "I need a healer now!" Since he was a Prince, everyone heard. The Queen and his siblings, other than Max and Tul, came running as well as all four healers. Forth was still pacing. 

"God dammit! Change!" He snapped, "You will scare the shit out of Beam if you try and examine him like that!" 

The senior healer knew better than to explain to a frightened bonded pair in a crisis, simply shimmered and became a serious elderly female, dressed in a very pale grey robe. "Where is your bonded, Prince Forth?"

"On the floor." He pointed to the small alcove. 

Sedately, she moved to the area and hovered her hand over Beam's head. In human form, she needed to close her eyes, to concentrate her other senses better. "Sisters? Brothers? There is something interfering with his bond. Check it out for me."

The male healer sighed. "The boy has been poisoned."

The youngest healer, still in the process of learning, "Teaching opportunity?" 

"I can't use my sight. All, open your dragon sight. Prince Forth, please, you as well." The senior healer instructed.

Forth, being a royal dragon, didn't need to be in wyrm shape to use the sight. He shifted to the sight and stared at his beloved, groaning and gasping on the floor. "Healer, what am I looking for?"

"Look at his bonds, the thickest part? You see, around the heart?"

Forth nodded. "Yes Healer, and?" Forth studied, then gasped as the thick, black inky substance curled like smoke out from behind one and then when back into hiding. "What in the fucking hell was that?"

"Poison." She replied softly. "A particularly sneaky and deadly one for us. In humans, it makes them weak and ill for days but it's reversible. Oddly, it mimics the signs of pregnancy early on."

She sighed, "I wish you had come to us sooner. It's easier to heal then." She bowed deeply at the Queen, the princess and the especially Prince Forth. "I am deeply sorry that we missed this."

Queen Talia waved her hand. "Heal Consort Beam. Can you do it now? I also want to know the name of the poison." 

"Yes, we can do it, but all four of us need to be in our natural forms." The elder healer glanced at Forth. Talia didn't even spare her son. 

"Do it now. Beam is necessary to our cause and has agreed to assist us in our war." Talia turned, a wave of her hand indicating Fai and Giant were to go with her.

"MUM!" Forth cried, "Beam..." Talia never looked back, as the plaintive cry hurt her soul. The survival of both species came first. It was times like this, she was grateful that there was no bond to fight.

Fai looked over her shoulder at Forth as he knelt beside Beam, who lay curled up in a tight ball. The four massive dragons now encircled couple, each tail was twisted tightly to the next dragon, secure around the neck, creating a solid, impregnable circle. Tail tapping on Giant's hip, "Will they be alright?"

Giant watched as the Queen slowly, with that gracious walk, disappeared around the slow curve of the hallway. "Come back to my room, brat, I think we need to do some thinking on our own."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Navy Blue Clutch had always felt isolated and distant. With their sleek black bodies, slim lines and slender, almost bat like wings that looked fragile... They were the longest out of all the modern dragons, with the least amount of weight. 

They were so in tune with their magic, that they could be considered chameleons. A night dragon could be 6 inches in front of you and you wouldn't see it, for everything except its eyes would blend, fade or disappear, down to even the smallest scratch on the table top. They made a game out of it as soon as the young could talk.

Then, as they started to teach in the human forms, they began to incorporate the voices, languages and other aspects of magic. Night dragons were indeed deceptive, with glittering moon eyes, magic that was far superior to Emerald's, Ruby's or Gold's. There was one thing that they lacked... young.

Each year, less and less young dragonets were born. The ancient Queen, who by now, at her age, should be a Queen Mother, and retired, had lost both her daughters in the last war. Unable to produce another egg since, she had no choice but stay. Not one of her clutch had managed to pass the royalty tests. 

Not one dragon in 10,000 years! 

Her heart was heavy. Her heart was old. She was tired, and knew that too much of the day to day clutch business was not interesting. She wanted to find a warm stone, lay on it and sleep all day. 

What princes were left? Did the Emerald's have any? Slowly, The Queen lumbered around the bathing pool and sighed. Why was there so much pain in her heart today? "Healer? My chest hurts... Heale..."

With a sudden splash, the ancient dragon fell into the shallow pool. The Healer popped into the air and the Queen was translocated back to dry land. Using dragon sight, the Healer did a quick look. 

Quickly, he froze the wet Queen, dropping her body temperature to close to freezing, stabilizing her. "Healer Aize, I need you and two other healers, the strongest that are available. It's poison. Someone poisoned the Queen." He felt Aize freeze in shock. "Get a move on it, boy. And," Healer Pibo cautioned, "Do not tell the others. We need to save her first."

It took Healer Aize less than five minutes to translocate to Healer Pibo. Carefully, they arranged the Queen in the center, curling her up as small as possible. This was no easy task, for their tails never stopped growing. Finally, Healer Pibo was satisfied.

"Okay, let's get into position." Head to tail, the four dragons interlocked their tails to the head of the next, creating an impregnable circle, with the heads pointed inward. Healer PIbo released the freeze spell, and the Queen gasped for breath.

"Now!" He shouted, and the four dragons sent warmth, kindness and healing energy at her heart, clearing the black inky shroud that was wrapped around it, constricting it from beating. 

The Queen gasped and withered on the floor. She gave a blood curdling howl as the blackness tried to spread, following her veins as the healers burnt every part of the poison from her weakened body. 

As time seemed endless, as they chased it, and chased it, never letting this insidious poison have an opportunity to find a home. Doubt feeds this poison, the Healer Pibo knew, and his Queen was going to be just fine.

But once she was, the nasty poisoner wasn't.

Healer Pibo gritted his teeth. One last burst of good faith and they were done. Tails dropped from the neck. The two younger dragons collapsed, exhausted. Pibo walked around and patted them gently with his tail. "Good job, everyone, good job. By the way, did anyone recognize the poison?"

Healer Aize sighed, "I think it's buttercup." Slowly his whole body trembled as the implications sank in. "But every dragon here knows to leave it alone. Who'd want to kill the Queen?"