Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 58: Meetings

Five hours later, and there was still just desert around us. Miles and miles and miles of desert, along with more plateaus that stuck up like fingers into the sky. It was gorgeous, even as we followed the other airship through cities and wasteland.

"Man, its really far to the south huh?" I asked. "Where are we going?"

"Durpar." BahnBarr replied. "It's a small prairie. There, its the capital of the city of the Dark Orcs, Kir-Myther."

"Alright." I said, then let go of the wheel. "I'm going down to see her."

"Trevon-"

"Please, BahnBarr?"

She sighed, then nodded. "Alright. I'll take the wheel for a while."

I made my way down to the hold, where Haneen was still tending to Finana's many wounds, some of which had become infected. I wasnt exactly sure what Alocertha had done to her, but just one look at Finana, and I could hardly contain my rage. If I caught her, no, WHEN I caught her, she was dead.

But you cant kill her. A little raspy voice in my mind said. You cannot kill her yourself, and neither can your friends.

Shut up. I thought

I kelt down next to Finana, and Haneen turned to me sadly.

"The medicinal roots in the cargo hold helped as much as they can. My magic is powerful, but this level of healing...."

She trailed off, and I shook my head. "What do you think happened in there?"

"She probably tried to torture and kill her." She said. "Sorry."

"No, don't apologize Haneen." I said. "Youre doing all you can. That's all I can ask of you."

She smiled, then turned back to Finana as she muttered in her sleep.

"Good." Haneen said. "At least shes alive."

"Now what?"

Another sad look. "Now we wait."

And wait we did. I paced the deck, the hold, the cargo hold, looked at the map, watched the sunset, talked with BahnBarr and Ormgaul about our next plan, or anything else that took my mind off the issue. But finally, six hours later, as I was pacing the hold, Finana woke up crying.

"Finny!" I said with alarm. "Are you okay?"

She stammered, crying her eyes out, and I hugged her close, letting her cry into my chest as Haneen came running down the stairs, her hands already glowing purple. She knelt next to me, we laid Finana down, and she started chanting in draconic while casting healing spells, helping the wounds to close up more and more, some of them disappearing into scars, while others only reducing in size. Haneen sighed, then sat back, sweat popping up over her face and arms. She looked exhausted, and I understood why. The healing of Finana had taken so much magic out of her, that I wasn't going to risk casting another spell for Haneen, or risk any more magic going into Finana. She sniffled and cried a little bit, and I grabbed her hand before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm here for you." I said. "I'm right here Finny."

She sniffled, then, in a small voice, came a "Thank you."

I squeezed her hand again.

"Haneen, get some sleep. I'll stay here with her."

She looked like she wanted to protest, but she thought better of it, nodded, then gave me a hug.