The Mark of Arella(Book One of the Dragonfly Chronicles)

Chapter Twenty Seven

Joella smiled at Rhylan and said, "Oh my child, everything is going to be OK. I'm so sorry we couldn't get here sooner. We are almost done with the shelter, why don't you take your friends and go track down your horses. They looked terribly frightened." Rhylan just stood there for a moment in shock, not fully understanding what was happening. Joella said, "We are here to help Lilly and your friend. They can't be moved far so we felt a shelter in the trees would be safer. Those creatures are still in the woods." Rhylan's voice was rough as he said, "thank you". The tree shelter was completely finished by the time he and Tam found the horses. Sam was walking next to Finn as the sprites were carrying him up to the shelter. They disappeared with him into a tiny house. Logan was walking next to Lilly as she was being carried by the sprites up to a different house connected by wooden planking's. Both of them were unconscious but cleaned up and bandaged nicely. Sam, Logan, Tam and Rhylan climbed up the ladder and followed the sprites into the tiny houses.

Rhylan followed Joella towards the house with Lilly. Sam was sitting outside and he watched Rhylan as he followed Joella into the house. He said to Rhylan, "Joella says she will be OK in a few days but she is still unconscious. Will you tell me when she wakes up? Even if it is in the middle of the night?" Rhylan nodded to him and walked into the shelter. Joella had just finished up and said, "I'm going to check on your friend Finn. They both should recover completely in a day or two. Lilly has her own healing powers that will help as well." She walked out of the shelter and Rhylan sat down on the floor next to Lilly. Logan peeked in and took a look at Rhylan. "You have some wounds that need attending. Will you let me take care of them?" Rhylan replied, "Yes, I suppose I should get these taken care of." Rhylan had been so pre-occupied with what was happening with Lilly that he hadn't noticed the wounds on his leg and face. Logan pulled out his first aid kit and began to clean off his face. He had a nasty cut on his left cheek that needed a few stitches and his leg had a gash from what looked like a partial claw mark.

As Logan was cleaning and stitching, Rhylan said to him, "I'm sorry about earlier, I lost it when I saw Lilly like that. I shouldn't have behaved so badly." Logan blew out a breath and replied, "We all love her you know, and Sam, has known her longer than any of us. He shouldn't have said those things to you, but he loves her too and I could see the pain he was feeling. Just go easy on him OK." Rhylan knew Logan was right. Sam had been her best friend for most of her life, how could he expect him to behave any differently? He knew he needed to apologize to him, if not for Lilly, but to set things straight between them. He sighed and said, "I think we should go back Logan. This trip has been too difficult and dangerous. Lilly and Finn almost died today and I don't want anybody else to suffer the same fate. We were up against a powerful beast that could have easily killed any of us." Logan shook his head and said, "I agree with you Rhylan, this is too dangerous, but you know Lilly will never agree to turning back." Rhylan said, "She is unconscious, we can take her back now before she has time to argue". "Just how do you think that will turn out for you then? You already betrayed her once by lying for Aeron and Colvin, do you think she would forgive you a second time? No, we have to finish this quest. She won't be able to resolve her anger and fears until we do."

Rhylan sat next to Lilly, thinking about Logan's words. He knew she would be angry if they turned back now, but those beasts were so deadly. In fact, he didn't even understand how they survived like they did. Especially if more were in the forest. They had to come up with a plan to keep themselves safe if they were going to make it to the caves on the border. Lilly whimpered in her sleep and his thoughts turned back to her. He lay down next to her and ran his fingers thru her hair to calm her. He quickly fell asleep but then he woke up in a room with a girl lying on a bed screaming in pain. The dream was fuzzy and he didn't know who she was, or where she was at. He could feel her pain though and it made him scream out. The girl briefly stopped screaming and looked at him. At least he thought that is what she did and then suddenly he was pulled away and woke up to a warm, bright room. Lilly was still next to him asleep, or unconscious still he didn't know. Joella turned the curtain back and stepped inside the room. She walked over to Lilly and knelt on the floor. She touched her face and her wrists and nodded. She turned to Rhylan and said, "Your friend Finn is awake and asking for you. Why don't you go attend to him and have some breakfast. I'll stay here with Lilly. "