The Dragon's Cure - Shaun

Chapter 69

Pants almost slapped him in the face but he grabbed them in time. Elizabeth turned from him and then pulled Luke by the hand, back towards the craft.

"I've got my Luke. You deal with that one and get back here quickly. We need to leave as soon as possible," Elizabeth said.

Shaun and Amanda grunted and pulled, but the big lug wouldn't budge. Amanda dropped his arms with a huff and then stepped around him. She waved Shaun away and then he felt a slight breeze as Luke lifted from the ground. The soft glow from her eyes gave an eerie effect to the cave.

"Guide him through the wall. I can't hold him up and push him," Amanda said.

Luke floated through the spelled wall as Shaun gently guided him through, narrowly avoiding a knock to the unconscious man's head. As soon as he stepped through with Luke, a weapon activated with a high pitched whine.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? How stupid must you be to attack a high ranked guard," a female voice said beside him.

"Bridget, please lower your weapon. My dragon does not appreciate having a gun pointed at him. I will explain, but it is hard to speak while fighting for control," Shaun said through clenched teeth.

"Firstly, I do not know who you are, even though you look really familiar, but the name is officer Williams to you, and secondly, I am not lowering my weapon while my partner is floating in mid air. Drop him and step away before I drop you," Bridget said.

"Bridget, you need to lower that weapon, please. Shaun has a testy dragon that does not like having his dominance threatened," his Luke said from behind him.

The blaster type weapon she had trained on Shaun shook in her hands as Luke stepped through the wall.

"How... What... You're there and there and Shaun... He's dead. How is..."

Stones crunched under her feet as she dropped down, swaying slightly, and Shaun frowned at her statement.

"What do you mean I'm dead? I can't be dead. How the hell is that possible?" Shaun asked.

Luke's hand closed over Shaun's shoulder and when he looked back at him, Luke stood staring at Bridget.

"She's not dead. Look at her. She looks... alive," Luke whispered.

"Baby, remember. She is not your Bridget, but she is alive somewhere. Here. That has to count for something, right?" Elizabeth said, taking his hand in her own.

Luke sniffed and nodded. "Yeah, that counts. She looks good. Different, but good. You picked up weight, but... in a good way," Luke said.

"Well, that's to be expected. After the twins I picked up a few pounds, but I've been working out, so hopefully, I get rid of some of this excess curves," Bridget said and then shook her head. "Hold up. What the hell is going on here? How can there be two of you and... Chezlin. He said something about this. Oh shit. He's going to know something happened to Luke. You need to get out of here. If he sees Shaun, it will break him all-"

"Too late, Bridget. I'm already here. I have been here for a while now. I followed Luke on his patrol and saw the ship. How did you get it to shrink in on itself so it could fit through the hole? I always thought you would come in a smaller craft, but that thing was humongous. It's easily the size of this mountain," the alternate Chezlin said as he walked from around a rock.

He looked like a skeleton compared to Shaun's Chezlin. Not once, while still sick and couldn't eat, did Chezlin's cheek bones show the way they did on the alternate version of him.

"I don't know how she did it, the AI computer, and it's not that big. It would probably cover about two thirds of the mountain, but not all of it," Shaun said and then smiled when Chezlin laughed.

"You always had to correct my over imaginative mind." He gave a sad smile and then looked at Amanda. "I knew you would come. I've been waiting seven years for this day. I need your help."

"Chezlin, I will do anything to help you, but you need food. I can feel your pain. Please eat something and then I will do anything you need." Amanda said.

"I've tried. Really I have, but it won't stay down. Not even the electrolytes that I have been using, helps," he said.

"Jenna, get out here quickly and bring food with you," Amanda said.

Bridget and Chezlin looked around and then gasped when she walked through, what appeared to them, as the mountain wall.

"Oh, bloody hell. Chez, stay there. You do not want to see yourself like this. I can't deal with that too. Please, baby. Just stay there, okay?" Jenna said, speaking with her hand held out towards the mountain.

"Jenna, I want to see him. I can feel his pain as though it was my own. His heart is broken." Chezlin's voice echoed through the wall and when she sighed and nodded, his hand appeared, taking hers, before the rest of him came into view.

"Amanda, he still has the disease. Can you help him, please?" Chezlin said after scanning his doppelganger.

"I can't feel it, but..." Amanda walked towards the thinner Chezlin and helped him sit down. "I smell it now. It's not going to be easy. Shaun guide Luke while I lower him. Neither of you touch your other selves," Amanda said, pointing her finger at his brothers.

Shaun helped Luke down to the ground and walked over to Amanda when she held out her hand.

"You know what to do by now. It is huge. Everyone needs to clear away when I blow it out. Maybe... Fly me up to the summit so it can blow away from them," Amanda said.

Shaun stood behind her and breathed out a deep sigh when she started humming. The calming effect of the tune seemed to spread to everyone as they all dropped their shoulders and leaned against nearby rocks. Bridget gasped in shock when Amanda's eyes and hands started glowing and Shaun held his finger to his mouth to silence her.

Amanda suddenly stiffened and started shaking, but shook her head when Shaun lowered himself into a crouch. The Chezlin on her lap grunted and groaned and his Chezlin slumped against the rock, face turning pale. He could probably feel the pain from the other Chezlin.

"Luke, help him. Put him to sleep. It hurts to much and he won't let go of it," Chezlin said through clenched teeth.

Amanda nodded and Luke reached out to touch his foot. Her shoulders sagged as Chezlin's head rolled to the side, still on her lap. After two more minutes of grunting and pushing her fingers through his messy blond hair, Amanda sighed and dropped back into Shaun's hands.

"Is she okay?" Bridget asked.

"She'll be fine," Shaun said as he gathered Amanda into his arms and released his wings. "Jenna, feed him and you two do as Amanda said please. Do not touch your doppelgangers. I'll be back in a tick,"