Wings of Grace

Chapter 21

      "Master Ennar, I can see her. She is returning." The relief in Greno's voice was unmistakable and then it faltered.

     "That's strange, she's not alone. I sense Morski is with her."

     "NO! You must be mistaken. It's not possible. "Ennar exclaimed.

     "You've been saying that a lot lately, and yet she keeps proving you wrong." Without breaking his concentration, Greno couldn't help deflating Ennar's large ego, just a little. Nonetheless it was paramount his life force, Tikikki, kept a strong hold on Lara so she could be redirected back to the right time and place. Just the idea of her drifting forever was not something he wanted to deal with."

     "But the wolf pup is lost, gone, evanesced." Ennar corrected him.

     "Obviously no one told Larayna." Greno responded dryly.

     Considering all their training and experience, the last half hour had not been one of their finest. After Lara's body had stopped convulsing, leaving it lifeless and limp, Greno had been unable to connect to her. His life force, unable to locate her conscious state. Where-ever she had gone he was being prevented from following. It had been quite a long time since he had felt so inept.

     "This one is full of surprises. Maybe you should stop underestimating her." Greno was, actually  addressing himself and did not realise that he had spoken his thoughts aloud.

     "I never underestimate anyone!" Ennar exclaimed

     "Then maybe the teacher needs to be more open minded and should be prepared to learn from the student" ... The twinkle in Greno's eyes belied the seriousness of his comment.

     Nobody knew exactly how old Ennar was...and he actually did have a lot of reverence for the dusty old parchment. After all, he had been one of Greno's tutors since he was eleven, but like so many of his friends and associates who had to deal extensively with the quarrelsome scroll, he found it difficult not to want to silence the antique head, by all sorts of means imaginable. And they had very vivid imaginations.

     'Larayna....?

     'Greno, you sound so far away. What's happening to me? The pressure surrounding me, it's getting too heavy. I feel like I'm being squeezed into a sardine can."

     "Greno, I'm scared.'

     'Everything will be alright. Just a little longer and you'll be back here. Just close your eyes, let us take it from here.' Greno took a deep breath, knowing he was going to live to regret what he had to do, nevertheless Larayna's life was on the line and he had no choice. The words did not come easy.

     "Master Ennar, I need your help."

     "It's about time." Ennar's smug smile brought a heavy groan from his student. "I was wondering when you were going to accept you were in over your head. You young'uns, always think you know it all. Learn from the student, Ha! You should have realized by now that knowledge is not always a given. Nothing, absolutely nothing, beats age and experience and of course, just being 'me'!"

*****

     'That was too close for comfort'. Ennar closed his eyes, not ready to accept the truth of his mistake.

     The signature energy within Lara, that Ennar used to draw her back with for some reason, was much stronger than he had ever dealt with before and he had not accounted for this in his calculations of the amount of force he would need to use. Therefore, the increased acceleration that was exerted on Lara's inert body had been way too excessive.