I literally JUST closed Eona. It's 3 AM, I bought it around 1 PM, and didn't start reading it until late 3ish. Wow. 12 hours of just that book and I feel GREAT! I HAD to write down what I was feeling because I was far too upset about Ido's revert back to evil, though. So, this is the result. Note: I will occasionally use a paragraph or two from the actual book because there are events I'd like to keep in this rewrite (also to give the readers who have not yet read EONA a few hints on what really happens ;) ). So don't flame me for that, this IS a rewrite after all. I DO NOT OWN EONA OR EON; THEY BELONG TO THE GREAT ALLISON GOODMAN. EVERY PART THAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS FROM HER BOOKS BELONGS TO HER, I CLAIM NO CREDIT FOR IT. SPOILERS! And I have replaced the old, TERRIBLE chapter 1 with this one. I am very proud of it so far ^^ but it was a pain to write cuz I wanna hurry up and get to the better parts already x.x

The world was crying. The dragons, the skies, my people; everyone was crying because of Sethon. He had taken away our peace, ten of our Lords Dragoneye, and thus caused the world to be in chaos. There were monsoons, earth shakes, floods, all because the Dragoneye were no longer here to protect and nourish the land. All but Ido, Dillon, and I.

The river racing below me sprayed mist into the air around me, and I had to brace my feet from falling off the rock. I had stood here every morning to listen to the dragon's agonizing cry combined with my own dragon's song. This morning, it was stronger. Maybe the dragons had returned to the circle? They had vanished when their Dragoneye were killed.

I concentrated and looked into my mind-sight. I united with my dragon, smiling at the joy we both shared. From my dragon's eyes, the land below my earthly body's feet was a swirling mass of colors everywhere. The world's Hua had been disrupted due to the absence of the ten lords, as they are not here to help balance it.

Suddenly, we heard the cry of the other dragons. My mouth was filled with the sour taste of rage and despair. I gasped at the sudden weight against us, several sets of claws and teeth lashing out. We were being attacked by the ten bereft dragons. I had to get out before I was killed. I struggled to shift back to the earthly plane, but to no avail.

"Eona!" I threw myself at the anchor back to my body and fell to my knees, gasping.

"Eona, are you all right?" I turned, it was Lady Dela running toward me. I caught her outstretched hand and noticed her swollen red eyes. I nodded, and my concern peaked.

"What's wrong?"

She looked away, unable to answer. But I knew from her reaction what it was.

Our friend Ryko was dying.

"Master Tozay says his bowels have leaked into his body and poisoned him."

It was hard to believe that the strong islander, who never gave up on anything, was succumbing to his terrible injuries. Maybe going three days without his daily dose of Sun drug to boost his strength was a factor; surely it was taking a heavy toll on his body.

"Tozay insists we leave Ryko and move on," Dela added softly, "before Sethon's men arrive."

"We can't leave him," I said.

The big islander had fought so hard to stop Lord Ido from seizing my dragon power. Even after he had been so badly wounded, he had led us out of the captured palace to the safety of the resistance. No, we could not leave Ryko. But we could not move him, either.

"But we have to move on and find the Pearl Emperor; he needs your power to defeat Sethon."

I frowned, hearing this daily since the coup was getting more and more infuriating.

As we approached the small house, the ugly islander named Solly met us with a pain-stricken face:

"If you want to say goodbye to Ryko, make it quick, he is nearly walking the path to his ancestors."

We nodded our thanks and the three of us ventured inside. Pushing aside the red flags of good luck, we entered the smoky room. Dela had to choke back a sob at the sight of our friend. Tozay looked up at the sound and acknowledged us with a nod, not daring to speak while the Beseecher was chanting and waving his lantern. Tozay's daughter Vida was crouched next to him, a blank expression on her face.

Kneeling next to Ryko, I could see the full extent of his injuries now that his

armor and clothes had been removed, covered only by his loincloth. He had a long gash along his side from his armpit to hip; there were sections of flesh that torn free of the rough stitching showing pale bone and vivid red tissue. His hand, resting on his chest, was swollen and purple where Ido had tortured him.

Dela gently took his healthy hand into her lap, stroking it with tenderness. She waved the Beseecher off as the physician came in with a bowl of steaming ginseng for Ryko's hand.

"Do something, Eona."

I looked at Dela sharply, frowning at the part plea, part accusation.

"Do something," she repeated.

"There is nothing I can do."

"You healed yourself. You healed Ido. Now heal Ryko."

I looked down at my healed hip. Every step I took with it made my heart sing with ease.

"But that was at the moment of union. I don't know if I can do it again."

"Try, please. He's going to die."

She stared at me desperately, waiting for my reply.

Could I save Ryko? I had thought that Ido and I were healed by the extra power of first union between dragon and Dragoneye. Perhaps that was not true. Maybe the Mirror Dragon and I could always heal. But I can't even direct my dragon's power, much less use it. If I tried to heal Ryko, we could fail miserably at the lack of experience. Or we would be ripped apart by the sorrow of the ten bereft dragons.

"Eona!" Dela's voice snapped me back to reality. "Do something. Please!"

"I can't," I whispered. I was not one to play with life and death like a god; I was a Dragoneye with no training.

Even still, I was Ryko's only chance.

"He is dying because of you," Dela said. "You owe him your life and your power. Don't fail him again."

Harsh words, but they were true. Even after lying to Ryko and betraying his trust, he had protected me with his life and fought and suffered for the hope of getting my power. Yet what was the good of protecting power if I did not have the courage to use it?

I shifted my skirt around me so my bare legs touched the earth, instinctively searching for more contact with the earth's energy and power.

"I don't know what will happen," I said. "Everyone, stand back."

The physician scrambled to the farthest corner, Tozay and Vida backed away near the door, Dela did not move.

"I'm staying." She saw the argument in my eyes and shook her head. "I will not leave him."

"Then don't touch him while I'm calling my dragon." The first time I had called the Mirror Dragon, the wild surge of power had ripped through Lord Ido as his body locked mine against the harem wall.

Dela hesitantly released Ryko's hand and sat back, edging away from me.

Maybe if I was touching him, just as Ido had been touching me when my dragon and I forced compassion unto him, it would work. Gingerly, I placed my palm on the muscle of Ryko's chest above his heart. His skin was hot, and his heartbeat as fast and light as a captured bird's.

Taking a deep breath, I drew on my Hua, using the pulsing life force to focus my mind-sight into the energy world. There was a sudden shift in my vision, as though I had lurched forward. The room shimmered into the landscape of power that only a Dragoneye could see, swirling in intricate patters of rainbow colors. Over my left shoulder I caught sight of the coiled form of the Rat Dragon in the north-northwest. His energy was sluggish and thin. My own dragon came to me, waiting to be called.

There were still no other dragons in the circle. Were they waiting for another chance to rush to their queen?

Pushing the thought away, I opened my pathways of Hua and inhaled the cinnamon spice from my dragon as I called our shared name. I felt my earthly body smile broadly, but the joy was short-lived when I remembered that the dragons could come at any moment.

Through dragon eyes high above the clouds, I could see Ryko's quickly diminishing life force. I saw my own hand, flowing with golden Hua, resting above his pale green heart point. Just like I had touched Ido. I focused all my Hua in my being into one command: Heal.

At once, everything changed. I was no longer in two places at once; we had melded directly into Hua. As one, we could see Ryko's life force trying to fix the damage, but it was too great. There was not much time, he was near the spirit world. We carefully dug into his Hua, finding the exact areas where he was damaged. The threads of the silver energy were complexly braided into even thinner threads that were connected all through his body. We sang to them, a silent harmony of healing that wove golden threads of energy into each intricate braid, quickening the cycle of repair and encouraging his spirit to hold on just a bit longer. With my legs dug into the ground, we drew power from the earth, from the air, chambering it all into his body, knitting together damaged flesh and sinew, broken bone and spirit.

"Holy gods," the physician gasped from his corner of the room. "Look, his wounds are closing."

His words penetrated our song, breaking my concentration. I felt my mind-sight waver, my vision narrowing back into my earthly body. The flow of Hua faltered, and my fear peaked into sharp determination.

Ryko wasn't healed yet, there was so much more to do.

I groped for a hold on the energy world, the thread of the song slipping from my clumsy grasp. I knew only one dragon command: the call of union. I screamed it out—Eona. Within my roar of despair, I heard her song sharpen and hook my flailing focus, drawing me back into the golden melding of our Hua.

A rush of the sour taste of despair flooded my mouth. The ten dragons had come. We braced ourselves and kept pushing our work, we would not give up.

If the song broke again, Ryko would die.

We sang his healing, barely withstanding the savage energy that clawed at our connection. Around us, the ten bereft dragons shimmered into pale, howling outlines.

The Rat Dragon suddenly reared from his corner, his tense pain replaced with sinuous speed. He rammed the opaque Ox Dragon beside him, then launched above us, sweeping in a circle that drove back the other advancing dragons. Faintly, we felt another voice screaming with effort.

Lord Ido.

We recoiled from the acrid orange taste of his power, but this time he was not seeking control. He was defending us.

The Rat dragon reared again and met the wild energy of the ten bereft dragons. The roof of the fisher house exploded, raining wooden shingles and dust into the room. A beam plunged to the floor, crushing the physician. The silvery flow of his Hua flickered and was gone.

"Get out," Tozay bellowed, dragging Vida toward the door.

Dela threw herself over Ryko, shielding him from the falling wreckage. Chunks of wood showered my earthly body, but there was no pain. Tozay pushed Vida into Solly's arms.

"Get away from the buildings," he yelled, then turned back to Dela.

The ceiling was now gone, and we could see the transparent figures of my friends safe on the village road. We rolled through the black thundering clouds, feeling brutal power slamming into us. Our claws connected, ripping and throwing dragon bodies away from our work. Beside us, the Rat Dragon blocked the Snake Dragon, the clash of Hua shearing off the edge of a cliff far below.

Focus. It was Lord Ido's mind-voice, piercing the frenzy. Block!

How? I didn't know how!

I was plunged back in the room where Tozay was hauling Ryko over his shoulder, only to be dragged right back in the clouds. Below us, the sea was a roiling mass of energy, ramming tiny boats against the rocks and sweeping away a line of waterfront cottages. A dozen or so bright dots of Hua ran from the village building, the wall of water crashing over them, extinguishing their light.

"Eona." It was Dela, pulling at my earthly body.

For a moment, I came to myself and met her wild eyes. The walls were collapsing, creaking under the pounding power of a searing wind.

"Move," she yelled, pulling me toward the doorway as Tozay carried Ryko out into the courtyard.

Eona! Ido's mind-scream wrenched me back into the Mirror Dragon. We swirled, claws flailing against the agile pink Rabbit Dragon. Above, the Rat Dragon collided with the Tiger Dragon, the impact resonating through Ido's mind into our union.

For a bewildering second, we were in another room—a stone room—wrists and ankles shackled, pain pulsing through our flogged and broken body. Ido's body. Another shock wave as Ido's dragon slammed into the other beast again, and I was back in my own dragon.

They must not close the circle, Ido's mind-voice rasped with pain and alarm. Give me your power.

No!

They will tear you apart. You will die. Give me your power!

No!

The combined power of the ten dragons battered us. We could not hold out much longer, but we could not possibly give our power to Ido. Not after his brutal grab for it at the palace.

Help me stop them! Urgency sharpened Ido's mind-voice.

There was nowhere else to go. We did not have enough power, enough knowledge. With a howl of despair, we opened our pathways to Ido.

His desperate grab burst through us, drawing up all our golden energy. We were emptied, defenseless. As one, the ten bereft dragons rushed at us, their need circling like a vise. With iron control, Ido and the Rat Dragon gathered our energies, binding them with the shrieking wind and crashing water.

Prepare! Ido's mind voice yelled.

He threw the massive weight of power outward, the strain searing through his mind into us. The booming explosion ripped through the circle of dragons, knocking them backward. Below us, the remains of the fisher house spun into the dark sky, the rest of the cliff collapsing into the sea.

Block now! Ido roared.

But we did not know how. The shockwave of power hit us like a hammer, slamming me back into my own body. I saw Dela's face above mine, her strong arms cradling my head. I screamed, pain pulsing through every part of my being. But the agony was not all mine.

Help me, Ido's mind-voice gasped. I can't—

Then swirling blackness dragged me away from his tortured scream.