Recovery

by Nightwind

I stared up at the blue overhead and blinked a few times. Why was it that everything was blue? Blue is the color of healers, the answer came to me.

I'm a healer, then? My head hurt. My heart hurt. I couldn't remember why at first. Why wasn't I in my chamber at Temple Black?

Because you aren't on that world anymore. You're on Kerri now.

It all came back in a flood. I groaned. The voices in my head were silent for a few moments.

It's been a long time.

The memories ripped at me, and I doubled over, choking and gasping. Something moved nearby, and I scuttled sideways, but it was furry and insistent. I opened my eyes and saw Brenhani's face inches from mine. "Oh, gods!" I gasped, and threw my arms around her neck, choking on my tears. She whimpered in sympathy, then began to lick me and nuzzle me. I was weak and exhausted already. I collapsed on the ground in my sleeping blankets and managed to whisper, "Get me Lupei." Bren nuzzled me one more time, and ran out of the tent.

Minutes could have been eternity as I waited, but then Lupei was there, too. He couldn't even fit in my tent, he brought with him Amethyst and Brenhani, and people were making food for me, they said.

"That wasn't a dream. What's happened to me?" I muttered.

"You experienced someone's death first-hand," Lupei explained. "You almost died too. Celeglas was here..."

I had no memories of this. "Celee..." I saw him riding the field again, reliving it again, Lupei interrupted the flashback with a brush of his hand against my forehead. "Thank you." I looked around the tent. I'd been in there a long time. Maybe a month. No wonder I was so weak. Someone passed me a bowl of hot broth. I drank it slowly.

"What's up with the war? What news?" I asked, as starved for information as food and drink.

"Take it easy. We'll tell you everything. Just a little at a time, for now. Can we move you up to the watchtower now?"

"Let me drink more and give me a couple hours. Then I can move. Then some of the news, then more sleep. When I wake up later, I will need porridge."

"Then you will have it."

I recovered and began fighting again in short order, but I still had occasional flashbacks, and people both inside and outside of my body helped me control them. I was still sometimes wracked with grief and pain, or flashbacks of dying. The dreams of living in Drendel's body were gone, and so was she. I was never going to be quite the same again.

Nightwind

Brenhani