Ribbons of light erupted from Anduin's body. The glow was intense, and Wrathion had to shield his eyes. Anduin looked like he was in pain, as Wrathion had assumed would happen. His body was healing. Bones were regrowing, tendons rejoining, and everything was moving back to the correct place, slowly. This healing exercise would not make Anduin healthy enough to walk without his crutch, but perhaps if this one was successful, he could try it more often. With a series of small healing cycles, Anduin might be good as new in no time.

Thats What everyone hoped for. It was becoming difficult to hope watching Anduin cringe and writhe like this. Sweat poured down Anduin's face, the room grew warmer and warmer. The glow of the light swelled and nearly blinded them both. Wrathion decided then, that it had gone on long enough.

He reached out his hand to Anduin and touched his hand. The flesh burned, but did not hurt. It was fire that did not cause pain. He held the hand fast and reached out with his other arm to shake Anduin as if waking him from a dream. "Anduin!" he called out, "Anduin, thats enough!" but the pained look did not ease, and the heat in the room did not diminish.

Wrathion did not know what to do. How does someone break a healing spell? He couldn't even tell if Anduin was conscious. There was no telling what effect it would have on him if his spell was broken before completion.

"Anduin! Prince!" the dragon called again, but the spell channeled on. Wrathion took hold of Anduin's jaw and forced him to look into the red, firey eyes of the dragon. Anduin saw him, and saw past him. "That's enough," Wrathion soothed, "Relax now and let yourself rest."

"Just...a little...longer!" Anduin pleaded. He strained the words out of his mouth. At least he was within his mind.

"Later," Wrathion warned, "You can try again another time. Do not push yourself too far!"

Anduin understood. What healing he had done thus far would have to do for now. The light in the room was so welcoming, so inviting. Anduin almost did not want to leave. The spell did not stop. Anduin concentrated on ending it, but it continued. The light grew brighter and warmer still. Anduin was being tickled and swallowed up in holy fire.

"Anduin, stop!" Wrathion's voice came from a distance that seemed eternal.

Anduin reached out with his hands. He twisted in the fire searching for the speaker. "Wrathion! I cant find you!" he shouted.

"Here!" came the voice from every direction. Anduin spun. "I am right here!"

Anduin closed his eyes. He was so tired. He could fall asleep in the heat of the fire...just for a little while...

A hand was shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw a dark figure in white clothing kneeling over him. The figure was cradling his head and had another hand on his shoulder. "Anduin come back!" the figure said to him, "Hold on. Hold onto me and don't let go!"

Anduin put his hand on the figures arm, and drifted further from reality into the soft yellow fire.

Wrathion was afraid for this human he had known little of. His friend. His only friend. He had climbed up on the bed to stop Anduin's spell and was shaking the boy as if he were dreaming.

"Hold onto me and don't let go!" he cried in a last desperate attempt to free Anduin, who was slowly fading into unconsciousness.

How do you break a spell? A silence? Anduin wasn't speaking...or chanting... He was silent. But the glow persisted. Wrathion had to cast a silence somehow that would cease the hum of the holy light. "Please," he pleaded quietly to the light, "Let him go. Let him heal and return."

The light lessened, but did not disappear. Wrathion got the impression that it was challenging him, testing him. He needed a spell...

Anduin's expression was easing and relaxing into sleep. If he did not act now, Wrathion might lose his friend forever. Not to mention he would have the wrath of Anduin's father, who would no doubt blame the Black Prince, to deal with.

He could smother Anduin. Would that count as a silence? Wrathion grabbed a pillow and positioned himself above Anduin's face. He hesitated. What if it only suffocated the human? He tossed the pillow aside in frustration and leaned forward gripping either side of Anduin's face.

"Listen to me!" he ordered, "You are not going anywhere. Do you understand? You are going to keep your eyes open and stay awake!"

Wrathion did the last thing he could think of. He leaned in and kissed Anduin on the mouth. Their lips tangled. Saliva slipped between their mouths. Anduins breath flowed across the Black Prince's cheek.

The light in the room brightened and drowned Wrathion. It flowed like a river tumbling him upside down. He was reminded of his nightmare, but concentrated hard on Anduin. The light emanating from Anduin's body pierced Wrathions skin. It left Anduin and surrounded Wrathion instead.

Wrathion was afraid at first, but the light was calm. The fire was cool. The heat was welcoming. In a sea of yellow fire Wrathion opened his eyes to find Anduin below him, waking. Wrathion released the kiss and backed away. He cradled Anduins head in his hands.

"Thank you," the human said, and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Wrathion panicked inside. Anduin had been asleep for hours now. The sun was setting. He was begining to worry that Anduin had gone too far and pushed himself into a coma. Or worse. He could die if this didn't work.

"You've killed my son!" came the angry words in Wrathion's head. An image of Varian, tall and wolf like, standing over him. Anger and hatred even Wrathion could not compare to lashed out through Varian's eyes. The pain he felt like acid flecking Wrathion's face as he screamed and spat at the Black Prince.

That was the only thing that Wrathion could feel. Pain of loss. He was no longer mindful of what Varian might do to him. He felt the pain of a father's loss. If Anduin could come back at least one more time...

Wrathion had been pacing the floor all day. He was wearing holes in his shoes, he could imagine, if not the floor. He was exaggerating it in his mind, but he didnt know that. He had not eaten since breakfast. He had only a pitcher of water, which one of his guards had insisted on bringing in. Wrathion knew it was for the best, and had emptied half of it.

Crickets began to chirp outside. The sunlight grew dimmer. Golden hues stretched out across the land and poured in through the window. It trickled over the room and illuminated Anduin in his slumber. He looked like a gem there. The perfect light exaggerating all the most handsome features of the prince.

Anduins hair blended into his surroundings. Glittered in the sunset air. His blonde eyelashes reached out and combed through the light with a flicker. His mouth twitched and made a soft groan.

Wrathion gasped and left his pacing circle for the bed. He crouched beside it and took hold of Hand in his. "You're alive! Thank the Titans!" He let out his gasps in sighs. His tight shoulders fell. His breathing slowed.

Anduin spoke softly. He was breathing slowly, calmly, as if his body were still asleep. The eyes flickered open to see Wrathion kneeling nearby, smiling wide. "Did it work?" he asked Wrathion slowly.

"I don't know," Wrathion sighed, "You are alive, and that is good news."

"Yes," Anduin agreed. He was still groggy, but he felt good. Better than normal, at the very least. He moved his arms and turned on his side to sit up. He seemed to move easier, but couldn't tell if it was hope, or the healing, that was making him so agile.

Wrathion helped him to stand, and supported him on his weak side. Anduin stretched out his leg, the broken one, and tried to put weight on it. Pain shot through his leg and up through his spine. He cried out and rested all his weight on Wrathion.

"Sit back down, Anduin!" Wrathion ordered. He carried Anduin to his chair in the room. The stool and cushion nearby to rest his leg. Anduin winced and ground his teeth to ease the pain away. "Would you like one of the potions?" Wrathoin asked him, glancing to a shelf on the wall. He and some of the pandaren that lived on this mountain had made potions to take away some of the pain. It didnt heal him, but the potions lasted for hours, and kept him painless enough to move in limited spaces, and play board games with Wrathion.

Wrathion got up without an answer and reached for the large bottle, the one Anduin saved for the worst nights. He poured the glowing liquid into a goblet for Anduin and served.

"I could have a guard care for me, Wrathion," Anduin took the goblet and sipped, "You dont have to wait on me like this. You did exactly what I had hoped for, and needed. You stopped me from going too far."

"You had me worried. Thats all" Wrathion protested. He sat in his own chair, across the table from Anduin.

"It all felt like a dream..." Anduin said. He stared into the distance trying to remember. "I was surrounded by The Light. I was drinking it...I was...breathing it...

"And...You were there,"

"Me?" Wrathion wondered.

"You were...holding me up. I couldn't see your face, but I knew it was you. You were...protecting me I think."

"From what?"

"I'm not sure. There was only you and I and The Light. I suppose you really were protecting me, though, from myself." Wrathion considered this. It was quite true. He was almost happy Anduin was having trouble remembering. He was embarrassed by the way he had been forced to stop Anduin.

For an instant, Wrathion felt the caress of Anduins lips again. He could smell the sweat on Anduin's body, feel those long blonde eyelashes flick across his cheek. He had to pull himself back to reality. He bit his tongue.

"I feel wonderful. Thank you," Anduin smiled over sincerely. "I would like to try it again."

"Not soon," Wrathoin begged, "You need time to recover first."

"That's what I am doing, isnt it? Recovering?" Anduin seemed to take a moment to think. "But you are right. We should take time before repeating it."

"We?"

"I hope you will stay with me, each time, Wrathion. Until I am healthy again."

The thought of Anduin's kiss returned. "Yes, Prince," He agreed, "I will."