K, so I know that I over stepped the boundaries in this one, but I think that it works. Remember… every chapter has a reason, even chapter 2 and 4, even though they are just filler chapters… they do serve a porpoise in the end result. I love comments, and I love requests and helpful tips… but if you flame me… I will curse you into oblivion. Just see if I don't.

hope you like this one, 'cause she spent a very long time on this one.

5

Despair

Lykouleon knocked on the door of Alfeegi's office, and called his name. The Dragon Lord had been looking all day for the White Officer, without much luck. He had gone to all of Alfeegi's normal nesting grounds, (the library, the gardens, his room, etc.) and still hadn't found him. Opening the door, Lykouleon poked his head in, and called Alfeegi again. What he found inside caused the name to die on his lips. Paper as stacked all around the room, and so high that it reached well over the King's head. In front of him was a small clearing, and leading from it was a path that cut through the stacks. It was narrow, and turned to hide whatever the path lead to. Following it, Lykouleon found that it twisted, turned, and often became almost too narrow to travel through. As he continued, and squeezed through another particular narrow passage through the wall of paper, Lykouleon noticed that hardly any light came into the "hall", and that he had come into another clearing. In the clearing was Alfeegi's desk, and piled onto that was another smaller wall.

"Alfeegi?" Lykouleon asked, hoping that after that strange trail that the Officer was behind the wall. Sure enough, Alfeegi's head appeared over the wall of processed wood, and blinked owlishly at the Lord.

"Lord Lykouleon!" Alfeegi shouted. "Hold on a minute m'lord. I have to find a way out of here." The ink-stained, un-kept aqua haired head disappeared behind the paper once more. "Find a pile and make yourself at home."

Chuckling, Lykouleon found a small stack of paper, cut it in half, and sat on it. A moment later, Alfeegi struggled through a hole that he had to create, and fell face-first onto the floor. Staggering to his feet and fixing his blue jacket, he crossed over to Lykouleon, and bowed low.

"Lord Lykouleon, what brings you here to my… over crowded… office?"

"I was wondering if you would like to join me for a round or two of 'Pin the face on the hard-ass Tetheus'? I've become rather fond of the game, and was looking forward to teaching it to you!" Alfeegi stared at Lykouleon. He was obviously chewing his tongue to keep from snapping at the Dragon Lord.

"Your Highness, I would like to join you, only that I came out of a coma four weeks ago, three weeks ago I came back from Nadil's castle, and I still have ten months of work to catch up on. Mayhap you should come back in two months, then I'll be glad to accompany you to the 'fighters guild'. Until then, I'm afraid that I must stay here." Lykouleon didn't take in a word Alfeegi had just said; he was busy starring at the Officer's left hand.

"Alfeegi, what happened to your hand?" He asked quietly. The said hand was slashed, cut, and bleeding. It dripped onto the floor, and the papers that Alfeegi shifted to get away from the desk now were stained with the thick red that Alfeegi had lost so much of lately. As well as his cloths, which now had handprints stained onto the light blue material. The White Officer looked at it, obviously he hadn't noticed it before Lykouleon had said anything, and obviously, it startled him as he fainted clean away. Lykouleon pushed himself into the cramped area into which Alfeegi's desk was kept, and searched through the drawers for some gauze bandages. Finding some, he stared to replace the items that he removed from the drawer, and found his hand had rested onto a cold, sharp, metal thing that had a sticky warm liquid coating it. Looking over the edge of the desk, he found his fingers on the same letter-opener that Alfeegi had used almost a year and a half ago; when his near-death experiences had first started when he tried to take his own life. It was the exact letter-opener that he had used to slit his wrist, and Lykouleon suspected that it was what had caused the new wounds, on the same hand, though not for the same reason. Wiping his fingers clean, he wove himself away from the desk, and wrapped Alfeegi's hand.

"Alfeegi, what did you do?" He asked as the Officer came too, and stared at his freshly bandaged hand. He had a feeling that Alfeegi just needed to get out of the office.

"I'm afraid that I don't know m'lord. I was working, and my mind wandered a little. I was thinking of when I was at Nadil's castle. I guess that the thought of that demon made me a little nervous, and I guess that my hands reacted on their own." He chuckled nervously.

"You need to get out of this office."

"Maybe I do, but there's so much that needs to get done. I can't poss-"

"No discussion. The other Officers and I are leaving tomorrow for a treaty conference. There will be paper work that will need to be done there, and it will take a few days to get to the meeting. So while you get to relax for a few days, you still get to do some work that would have been otherwise been completed by Ruwalk, and you know how he is with paper."

Alfeegi thought about that for a moment as he sat on the other half of the stack that Lykouleon had shifted to sit on. The prospect was tempting, but the walls of paperwork were taking priority in Alfeegi's mind.

"Will there be dictation?" Alfeegi asked, throwing caution to the winds.

"More than likely. Kai-Stern will be doing quiet a bit of talking, and I've always been curious as to how he can persuade those bureaucrats."

"Then I guess that I have no choice. What time are we leaving?"

Lykouleon grinned. Patting Alfeegi's back, he stood to leave, jotting down all the details on a piece of paper (there were so many to choose from), and making a mental note to have one of the extra Officers – one without a crystal – to finish Alfeegi's paperwork while they were gone.

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Alfeegi clutched the neck of his Darna tightly as the sun dipped lower. After two days of travel, he still didn't trust being on the back of the ridding dragon. He had fallen off twice already that morning, (five by lunch) and had lost his best writing set to the river that they passed when a sudden movement in the bushes had startled his dragon, and it took off into the air. Alfeegi would have fallen off the frightened dragon high above the ground if it weren't for his feet getting tangled in the harness. Lykouleon's nerves were wearing thin, and he was already regretting bringing the Officer with them.

Alfeegi didn't leave the castle too often. Actually, he didn't leave the confines of his office too often. Now it was showing that he wasn't often out of the country boundaries. Even though Kai-Stern's skin was naturally pale, it was dark compared to Alfeegi's white skin - skin that rarely ever saw the light of day - as light reflected off his snowy flesh. From the way he rode the dragon, he wouldn't be able to bring it to a run if the need called for it without falling off it; then again, he was falling off it at the slow pace of a walk that they were already traveling at.

He also had problems setting up camp. There were over a hundred Dragon Fighters that had come on the trip, along with all the important Officers, and Lykouleon. Each person had done little bits and pieces to get the camp set up the night before, and Alfeegi really tried, he really did. He just continually got in the way. Setting up tents had proved difficult, as every time he put up one side of the tent, it would collapse. At one point, no one could find Alfeegi; he had been trying to stabilize the one tent that he managed to erect, only to have it fall on him, and get tangled in the thick canvas.

After the tent fiasco, he was put on food duty. Collecting sticks for the fire, he had gotten lost; and having been told to fill a cauldron with water, he had taken the cast iron cooking pot to the river, filled it, and staggered under it's weight. He managed to get it back within the bounds of the camp ground, only to trip and spill half of it on Tetheus.

He had been put on Darna duty after Tetheus had changed into dry cloths; Alfeegi had to be sure the dragons were feed, watered, and that they didn't run off. That didn't last long. His Darna – the one that was giving him troubles – had bitten Alfeegi on the shoulder when Alfeegi had given it a stack of food. While binding it, the Dragon Fighter shook his head, and suggested that Alfeegi stick with paperwork. The list of jobs continued on, until he was given the one that he wouldn't have been able to do if he were at the castle, but was accomplishing very well out here. That job was to- as Ruwalk had put it - "Shut up, sit down, and stay out of our way!"

So that's what Alfeegi was doing now that they had stopped for the night. It was their second night out, and Alfeegi sat on a log, just outside of the campgrounds. Head on fists; elbows on knees; moral at the bottom of his feet. He had been useless, always in the way, and wanted to go home. He wasn't used to getting orders, he was more comfortable giving them. However, here, in un-known territory to him, he had to keep his mouth shut. Lykouleon came over to him, sat down on the log, and put his arm around the depressed Officer's shoulders.

"What's the matter Alfeegi?" he asked.

"I shouldn't have come on this trip, and you know it." Alfeegi's sarcastic reply hit Lykouleon hard. What Alfeegi said was exactly what the Dragon Lord had been thinking, and now guilt was running freely over his mind, "It's not like I've been exactly helpful. Why did you want me to come on this little escapade?"

"You needed to get out of the office?"

"Yes, but I think that you should have sent someone else out of the office. Someone a little more useful. I'm a bump on a log, if you pardon the expression. See, I've even got my own log." Lykouleon blinked at him, not understanding the attempt at humor.

vxr

Alfeegi was feeling so horrible that he didn't eat that night at dinner. As the camp settled down, and slowly dropped off to sleep, Alfeegi sat outside the tent that he shared with Tetheus and Thatz, and watched the candles in the tents be blown out one by one. The tent flap opened, and Tetheus stepped out to sit besides Alfeegi.

"Sorry about the water yesterday." Alfeegi muttered. "I'm not the most coordinated. I think that I'm better at storming the castle and carrying pounds of paper than camping. I'm going for a walk. I'll probably get lost. If I do, don't look for me until it's time to start the delegations. It would be easier to travel if you weren't all watching after me." he stood, and disappeared into the forest before Tetheus could stop him.

Tetheus sat there, looking unblinkingly at the spot that Alfeegi had disappeared. Something in him was tugged at the way Alfeegi just left – at what he said. He wanted to go after the officer, but he respected Alfeegi's wish to be alone for a moment. So he sat there, in front of the tent, and turned what he said over in his mind. They had been hard on Alfeegi, and the Officer didn't deserve that; he was the backbone. While he had been out of commission at the castle for the ten months, the whole place was in shambles. There was no excuse for how they had treated Alfeegi, but they would make it up to him… somehow.

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Alfeegi wandered through the brambles, not knowing where he was, and not caring all the same. Starlight fell, dappled through leaves and branches above. The moon had set some hours ago. After two hours of walking, Alfeegi had decided that he needed to turn back and try again with the camping thing. Yet, that was about five hours ago, and the sun was already turning the sky a dawn-like-gray. Exhausted, Alfeegi slumped under a tree for a few moments, feeling lonely, cold, tired, and lost. He had told Tetheus that he would get lost, but he didn't think that he really would. Playing with the bandage on his hand, he stared at his knees - hidden by black leggings - and shivered. Winter had finally settled in, and it was noticeable on the thin stranded figure.

A sudden movement in the bushes startled him, and his mind began to race just as fast as his heart. As the thumping in his ears grew louder, his mind traveled to three weeks ago. Nadil had taken him from his room, and had done some unimaginable things to him. Those four days flashed into his mind as he started to hyperventilate. In his mind, Nadil – the large, dangerous, evil demon – had stepped through the bushes. In truth, it was a large, dangerous, evil demon that came through the bushes. The demon wasn't Nadil though. Nor was he as evil as the Demon King.

"Hello." The demon purred, sitting beside the stone-like Alfeegi, "You look lost, no. Would you klike some healp, yes?"

"I-I-I-I'm not l-l-lost…" stuttered Alfeegi, well aware of the blue eyes of the demon that lay on him. Trying to prove it to himself, he stood up, and headed the direction of the camp. The real direction of the camp.

"You are goink the wrong way. Yes." The demon growled.

"No, I'm going the right way." Whispered Alfeegi, not knowing that he really was. He felt the cold grip of the demon's claws close on his wrist, and the other set placed their tips between his shoulder blades.

"You are fram the Dragon Camps, yes?" the demon hissed into the pointed ears of Alfeegi, his thick accent curling through Alfeegi's mind like ribbon. Shivering, Alfeegi nodded.

The claws on his back sank into the blue cloth, puncturing the skin just enough, and blood ran in rivulets down Alfeegi's flesh, making his shirt stick to his skin as the claws sank deeper into the mussel. He gasped lightly as the demon pulled him closer, snapping his wrist in the process, and wrapping his captured arm around behind him.

"You are goink the wrong way, yes. You well fallow me now no? I well take you to my home, and ef you do not come, I well break your airm off yes?" Alfeegi nodded, and was lifted off the ground.

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Alfeegi felt his arms lifted by chains that clinked loudly as his feet left the floor. He continued upwards, watching the grinning face below him. As he reached the ceiling, he struggled briefly, feeling shocks run from his broken wrist, and making his stomach churn. The one flickering torch on the wall was far below him, and it lit up the grimy chains that forced his arms over his head. It wasn't the most painful position that he'd ever been in. The bottom of stairs and in Nadil's castle came to mind; yet, it wasn't the most comfortable either. Blood dripped from his shoulders, down his spine, along the backs of his legs, then finally falling onto the floor, so very, very far below him.

"You brought me a good catch. Moreover, you even threatened him as well as broke his wrist, and those holes in his back aren't from sticks. There might be hope for you yet!" said the short one, looking up with blood red eyes at their captive.

"You shall have 'fun' weth the Dragon Clan, yes?" asked the demon that had caught him, looking down at his short friend. His voice had the hint that he was concealing a grimace from the truth behind the accusations the smaller one had just leered at him.

"So long as we get him back in a few days so they don't search for us, I don't see why not." Replied the second one, his voice a raspy hiss more than anything else.

"But you are to have 'fun' weth him, no?"

"I want to keep my head on my shoulders, thank you very much. In four days, we must let him go back to the Tribe, or that 'Blond Idiot' will find us, kill us, and get HIM back anyway. I prefer MY alternative."

"But ef he is to return, then they well still come after us, yes, he well tell them where we are no? Ef he does, and they want to 'venge him, they well come after us any way, yes?"

"We will be long gone by then. You may go now." And the tall demon did without hesitation, and only an apologetic glance up at Alfeegi.

With that, Alfeegi felt him falling very fast towards the ground. As the stone floor rushed up to him, he found himself thinking that it was over, that he was going to die, and that there was nothing that could be done about it. Just as the thought reached him - and he was but a few feet above the ground - the chain came to a sudden stop. There was a huge popping crack, and Alfeegi's scream rang around the chamber, only to be cut off by a hand grasping his throat, and the harsh laughing that was resounding from the demon. The claws grew tighter, sinking into the soft flesh, and cutting off all attempts to breathe. The world fuzzed from pain; his shoulders had been dislocated, his wrist turned around completely, and the claws were sinking into the flesh of his neck; Alfeegi passed out.

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Alfeegi awoke in the dark, pain being the only thing that he knew as his eyes opened. Hovering a foot above the floor, the last four days played in his mind. His shoulders were still out of their normal position, his hand hung – white and limp – still twingeing from the broken wrist, and his back was covered in deep scores. Mainly from the short demon's claws – which had found the weak spots of his back, making the scars from his last capture run deeper, forcing his back to lose all means of support, and his hair – no longer disappearing at touch – to become a deep shade of violet. The last six days had been spent with the demon venting his frustration about daily life on Alfeegi, mainly about being chased out of a town he and his tall friend had been ravaging, and how their 'weapons' were not what the small demon/human gang needed against the Dragons.

Alfeegi had heard their yelling and fighting as the small one tore at him, but none of it stuck very long in his mind. Now, he was wishing that it had, for the latest ranting had been about the Dragon Clan, and of a plot against them – but it was fuzzy, and he didn't remember half of it. A light flickered from somewhere off to his right, and – turning to face it – found the demons there again.

"You hafe slept will, no?" said the taller one that had captured him. Alfeegi had found his name to be Sæph, and he was the more agreeable one. He had not touched Alfeegi since taking him, and had even offered to give him food, until the smaller one scolded and hit the larger demon.

Kangrack slapped Sæph, then turned to Alfeegi. "Please ignore the imbecile, he's not the brightest star in the sky. What would be your fancy today? I have control of you for one more day, and I'm giving you a choice. Do you have anything that you would prefer?"

Alfeegi stared at him blearily. Was he joking? No demon gave their quarry a choice, let alone give it some power, even if it was on how the demon was going to hurt it's captive. Alfeegi continued to stare as the chains were released slowly, and his feet touched the rocks for the first time in days. His bare feet felt the weight, and his legs collapsed under him, falling on one of his swollen, dislocated shoulders. Waves of nausea swept over Alfeegi, but as he had not had any food, and no strength any longer to yell out, he just winced, and lay still. From spending six days stretched above his head, his arms were cold, numb. His shoulders were dead, and cramped so badly that he thought that if the demon ripped out his arms, he'd be in no less pain. Kangrack kneeled beside him, and hoisted the White Officer into a sitting position, taking "care" of his shoulders. The chains grew slack, and Alfeegi's hands fell into his lap, still bound by the chains that lay on the floor. Just as "carefully" as before, the demon popped the Dragon's shoulders back into their sockets, and Alfeegi suddenly found his voice.

Breathing heavily, he leaned wearily against the demon in whose lap he was sitting in. He didn't care that it was the thing that had been torturing him for no real reason, all that he cared about was that his sore, bleeding, tired back was no longer stretched. He couldn't sit upright if he tried, but with a small amount of time, he would have been able too stand with something to lean against. The bruises that covered his bare chest were large, green, and throbbed slightly. The demon touched these lightly with long claws, and dug the tips into the thin blood-flooded skin, only to have his prisoner gasp and groan, struggling to remove himself from the clutches of the Yokai.

"I'll not ask you again, little one. What do you want me to do today?"

"I, I want to go home." Alfeegi whispered, barely audible in the stone room.

"Wrong, answer." Kangrack whispered in Alfeegi's ear, removing his claws from Alfeegi's chest, and racking them down the Chief Secretary's back, letting them cut through the little remaining mussel like a hot knife through butter.

Alfeegi writhed, but could no longer scream. He had told Tetheus not to come looking for him, but now he was regretting it. He didn't think that the Secretary of Security would actually let him get lost, but apparently, they had all hated Alfeegi enough to leave him in the grips of the Yokai. They weren't coming. He had been missing for six days, and they hadn't come to find him yet. They probably weren't going too. A large shadow loomed above Alfeegi, and the thing behind him slumped to the floor. He shut his eyes, waiting for the blow to fall on him too.

He was suddenly outside, the sun shining in his eyes. He tried to sit up, while trying not to scream from the dirt that was imprinting itself into his wounds. His mussels burned, and his eyes seemed to melt from the intense light. Claws gripped onto his arms carefully as he was hoisted upright, and he clung to the black cloth under his fingers. His wrist protested violently, yet it was shaded by the pain in his back, and the pure nausea that he had felt since finding the floor.

"Shh now, caallm down, yes?" Said a voice, and Alfeegi's head snapped up as fast as it could, only to meet the sky-like eyes of Sæph, and tried to struggle.

"Now now, don't do that, no. I healp you, yes, I healp. Your friends, the Dragon Clan, yes? They need your healp now, yes. There is a gang of human and yookai, and they well be attacked at the meeting, yes. You need to let them know, you go sav them, no?" Sæph smiled.

"W-Why… why are you doing this?" Alfeegi breathed, feeling his legs stiffen and grow stronger to support him.

"Kangrack took it too far, yes. So I het him, and I set you free, klike you wanted, no? Kangrack well hurt me later, yes, but right now, your friends need you, klike you need them, no?"

"But why?"

"I'm not klike Kan, no. I neever wanted to hurt you, no. That was him, and he told me to find one from the Dragons, yes. He savd my life once, yes, so I do what he wants, yes. But now I don't want to, no. Run that way, yes?" he pointed off north, and smiled with the long fangs again. Being so much taller than Alfeegi, Sæph had to crane his head down, but - in being taller - he was able to hold Alfeegi up until he was able to stand on his own. But that meant that he had to help Alfeegi walk away a bit until Alfeegi could do so on his own, using the trees whenever possible. Turning, Alfeegi knew that it would be hard to run, but that he had no choice.

"Come with me. I'll talk to Lord Lykouleon, we can let you stay at the castle, and Kan can't hurt you." He told Sæph, just before he had to leave. Sæph caught him as he swayed, receiving a bloodstained be-clawed-hand in the process.

"Soon, I well, yes. After I get rid of Kan, yes. I have to be sure that he doesn't come to get you, no. Go, and I well come to healp the Clan, yes." The demon turned, and ran back to the stone tower.

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Running proved far more difficult than originally thought. As Alfeegi raced through the trees, he continually fell, and often had to stop to breathe. He had lost a lot of blood, had having just re-gained his arms it was hard to maintain his balance. He leaned up against a tree, and gasped for air, feeling his head grow lighter and lighter; he had fallen and hit a rock with his forehead – his wrist throbbed and twinged, his shoulders aching so much it was hard to think – and helplessly stood there as his vision slid in and out of focus. After a few moments, he parted some branches, and saw that he had found a town. Not the small one that he had thought that the castle representatives were going to, but a huge one, about the size of his hometown, though that one had burned down centuries ago.

There was a giant crowd of Dragon Fighters standing in the town square, surrounding one side of a table; while on the other side sat one lone man, dressed all in silver, and reading over a heavy parchment document. The townspeople were watching from windows. Alfeegi knew that peace talks between the country of Draqueen and its neighbor had started, and that Lykouleon was sitting, shielded from his view by the hundreds of Dragons present. Stumbling out into the open, Alfeegi gasped out the warning that Sæph had told him.

"My Lord! W-Wait, don't sign that y-yet! They're g-going to attack you! They've p-p-p-planned an am-bush!" he breathed once he reached Lykouleon's chair.

"Alfeegi! Where have you been? What happened?" Lykouleon shouted, bewildered as he gripped Alfeegi's shoulders unknowingly, and had the White Officer collapse into his strong embrace, his back bleeding and throbbing. Alfeegi suppressed a scream as Lykouleon's fingers clutched his shoulders tighter.

"We've been found! Attack!" shouted the ambassador on the other side of the table just before he ducked under the hard oak that had been brought out for their use. Confusion covered every inch of the square as human and demon archers appeared in the windows of nearby houses.

Running on complete instinct, Alfeegi threw his arms around Lykouleon's neck as the Dragon Lord stood, and squeezed Lykouleon as tight as his sore shoulders and broken wrist would allow. The first volley of arrows was loosed upon the crowd, and Lykouleon stumbled back from the force of the wooden shafts, shock evident on his fair face as three arrows seemed to suddenly grow out of Alfeegi's torn back. Another volley hit the crowd – which was now in complete chaos – and Lykouleon heard with a horror the tipped pieces of wood thwack into his friend and employee. Volley after volley continued until there was a roar overhead; three Fighting Dragons soared over the crowd, and began removing the gang from the buildings. In the ruckus, the traitor ambassador had escaped, and the Dragon Lord had been forgotten. Forgotten by all, that is, except for Alfeegi, who Lykouleon was holding tightly.

Alfeegi had become limp in Lykouleon's arms. The life oozing from both the claw wounds, and now from the arrow piercings, stained the yellow sleeveless shirt that the Dragon King had been wearing, as well as the tanned arms of the Lord. He sank to his knees, removing the arrows as quickly and as carefully as he possibly could. The unconscious Officer slumped against the man that he had thrown himself on to save, blood trickling from his lips and from a head wound he had received from running through the forest as his heaving chest pressed against the yellow cape of His Highness. Eleven arrows came easily, having nothing to hold onto; no flesh left to hook in, and no cloths to catch on. The twelfth and final arrow was harder though. As Lykouleon removed the shaft from Alfeegi's lower back, he fond that the arrowhead did not come with it. Panic had settled in after the first volley, but now Lykouleon was strangely placid as insanity ruled the people around the pair. He sat on the cobblestones, a limp Alfeegi bleeding and unconscious – dull eyes starring unseeing at the sky - on his lap, Lykouleon's cloths stained in a radiant crimson, and a headless arrow held in his hand. He sat and stared, unmoving, as people tripped over each other in an attempt to find a constant. A certain elf-turned-Dragon tripped over the Lord. Sitting up dazed, Rune turned, and blanched as he saw whom it was that he had tripped over.

"My Lord! I'm so sorry, Tetheus sent me to find you, and I guess that I did. I didn't mean to fall on you Your Highness. Please f-" he stopped as he saw why Lykouleon was sitting on the ground. His eyes widened as they fell on the bloody mass of Alfeegi.

"Please, Rune." Lykouleon pleaded. "Help him, Rune. You have to. He'll die if you don't, he can't die, please don't let him!"

With out a word, Rune did as he was bid, golden energy pouring into Alfeegi's unmoving body like it had before. The bleeding stopped, and the bruises faded. Rune was especially careful of the bruise and cut on Alfeegi's neck from the demon's claws when he had choked Alfeegi. Soon, all that was left of the past few days on Alfeegi were scars, for the wounds were too large for the elf to erase completely. Rune was sure to heal the organs that had been hit by the arrows, but when his hands and energy came to Alfeegi's lower back; he looked at the Dragon Lord apologetically.

"Sire, I'm sorry, but there are somethings that I can never heal. One are the scars in his mind, from whatever made these gashes. I can't erase those. Neither can I erase the scars on his skin. But I can't heal paralysis either." Lykouleon stared at him.

"What do you mean?" Lykouleon whispered, holding the ragged form of Alfeegi tightly to him as he shook his head.

"My Lord, that arrow head did more than you thought it did. It severed his spinal cord, here, at the waist. He'll never walk again."

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Alfeegi opened his eyes, and found that the scenery had not changed. He was still on a Darna, Tetheus was still behind him, and they were still on the road that led through a forest to the castle. He had awoken three days ago, and found Ruwalk sitting besides his cot, in a tent, gripping Alfeegi's hand in vice-like fingers. After sometime, Alfeegi was told of his new plight, and slipped into what could only be called a depression. He had stared at Ruwalk, disbelief written on his face; tried to stand, found that he could no longer feel his legs. No tears had come to his copper eyes; no sound had passed his pale lips; only a blank dullness that covered him like a fine mist. Ruwalk had touched Alfeegi's shoulder lightly, then pulled him to his chest tightly, only to find an undressed Alfeegi limp in his arms. Dazed, cold, uncaring, Alfeegi still sat – not a word had passed his lips since that moment – and now he was on the back of a Darna, with Tetheus holding him upright, and only days away from the castle. A small breeze picked up, tussling his blue/green hair, and blowing the black jacket that covered the white shirt beneath. Lykouleon had lent Alfeegi the cloths, which were too big for him. The trousers were far too large, as they had to be rolled up a good three inches for Alfeegi's boots to be put on.

"Oh good, you are awake. You have been asleep most of the day, and we will soon be setting up camp." Tetheus said, slipping his arm from the reigns to around Alfeegi's waist, shifting the silent Officer a bit so he wouldn't slip off. Once that was completed, Tetheus placed his hand carefully on the teal hair under him, glad that it no longer turned to dust, but remained hair. He took in the scent of roses that wafted up from Alfeegi as the wind died a little, as well as the smell of soap. But there was something beneath the sweet scent, there was something bitter. Tetheus knew that smell well, he had smelled it in the ranks of Nadil after their leader was beheaded. It was the smell of despair.

"You will be alright Alfeegi, none will hurt you while I am here… You know that we stayed for two days looking for you. I am sorry that we did not find you, but you must know that we spent as long as we could searching for you. Sæph told us what happened yesterday, and how he managed to take you so far from us so quickly. This demon has powerful magic, he is a useful ally to the Clan. The Lord would like to thank you for saving him, and more than some of us are worried about you. We need you Alfeegi. All you need to do is come back to reality." Tetheus had tried this many times that day whenever Alfeegi woke up, as had Kai-Stern the first day, and Ruwalk the second. Nothing would snap Alfeegi out of the self-imposed slump, and they all knew that it wasn't helping him at all.

Not only did Alfeegi refuse to talk or look at anyone that was speaking to him; he had refused to eat as well. He wouldn't eat anything that they gave him. Sæph had offered herbs that he had found thinking that they would help the poor Officer, only to leave the herbs on the Dragon's cot, and feel dejected. Thatz had tried to hand feed the man one night, while Alfeegi was sitting in a chair by the fire ring, and found that the soup only ran down the pale chin, and not pass his lips at all.

Now, under-nourished, dehydrated, and in a trance, Alfeegi just wanted to curl up and disappear. He remembered that after he had returned Zoma to the boy's room, he had decided that he wasn't going to give up, that he was going to fight any and everything, like he always had. That was why he wanted to escape the demons so badly, why he came to protect Lykouleon. Now, he only wanted fade away. Every time he tried to answer one of the voices that hovered above him, he was held back by the feel of claws on his back, ripping at all he knew, and forcing him to remain silent.

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Ruwalk opened the tent flap as he heard sounds from inside, and immediately regretted it. Alfeegi lay on the cot, tears running down his temples, and starring at the canvas ceiling. His soft weeping was what had drawn Ruwalk into the tent, and it was the small cries that Ruwalk was now trying to calm. Kneeling beside his friend, he felt his chest tighten, and tears prick his own eyes. Alfeegi was so frail and thin, now he was torturing himself by not letting anyone help him. Ruwalk brushed the blue/green hair from the dull copper eyes, and wiped the tears away.

"Al, it will be alright. Just tell us what happened, we're here to help you, let us." Ru helped Alfeegi upright. Alfeegi didn't struggle, but fell into Ruwalk's arms as the man sat on the edge of the cot, and held Alfeegi tightly. Holding the delicate frame – feeling how small and deathlike it was – Ruwalk wanted that moment to last forever, for nothing to happen to Alfeegi; to let the teal-haired angel that he had brought to that castle so long ago to stay safe, in his arms, where nothing would ever happen to what he viewed as a brother. After a few moments, however, Alfeegi breathed deeply, sniffed, and relaxed a little more into the warm embrace of his closest friend.

Ruwalk held him away just a bit to gaze at him, and to know that Alfeegi hadn't fallen asleep. He hadn't, and for the first time since finding out that he would never walk again, Alfeegi looked into someone's eyes. Ruwalk gave him a small smile.

"Better now?" he asked, and Alfeegi nodded, looking back at the ground. "You're going to be alright Alfeegi, I know it, you'll be fine. Would you like me to get you something to eat?" Alfeegi nodded again. Ruwalk pulled up a chair, hoisted Alfeegi from the bed to the chair. He straitened the man's cloths, and rebuttoned the shirt that reviled his thin, weak chest. Ruwalk hugged him briefly, and went to find some food.

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Ruwalk entered the tent with a tray of bread, water, and soup. Alfeegi looked up from the ground with darkened eyes, and Ruwalk tried to smile again. He failed.

"I got soup! I hope that you like vegetable, 'cause that's what I got!"

Alfeegi shrugged. His small shoulders raising a fraction and drawing his arms closer to his torso. "I guess. I'm not really hungry." His voice was small, barely above a whisper, and raspy. Something in Ruwalk died as Alfeegi spoke.

"What's the matter?" Ru asked.

"Are we going home?"

"… Yes, why?"

"I really want to curl up in my room, and have everybody leave me alone."

"… Alfeegi?"

"What."

"… Please eat, you need it." He kneeled in front of Alfeegi, and held a cup of water for him. Alfeegi tried to hold it, only to have it slip through his fingers and Ruwalk catch it just before it fell in his lap. "Okay, looks like I'm gonna haffta help you with this." So Ruwalk fed him, Alfeegi barely had any energy (or will) to eat, and was unable to hold anything without his fingers losing their grip.

After Alfeegi had some food, he told Ruwalk all that had happened. Ruwalk had heard it all from Sæph, the demon that had captured – then released – Alfeegi. Ruwalk hated the demon for taking the Officer from them in the first place, but learned to forgive him after he found out that he hadn't hurt Alfeegi like the other had. Ruwalk let Alfeegi tell all, knowing that it would help the Officer, and maybe even pull him out of the pit that he had been in the last few days. Now that he had had food, (he hadn't had any since he came into his claws) Alfeegi had a little more oomph to him. Unfortunately, that "oomph" came in the form of tears, which cut as hard as knives down his thin cheeks.

Ruwalk held him tightly, Alfeegi was silent, but the tears wouldn't stop. Alfeegi mentally berated himself for giving into the tears, and Ruwalk was silently calling himself an infinite number of obscenities because he had made Alfeegi tell him what had happened. Ru knew that it had helped, and hurt Alfeegi more than anything else would have, he felt the tiny skeleton-of-a-person shiver beneath his arms, and he tightened his hold. Alfeegi's arms were still sore, and he was afraid to move them, lest they fall off – or refuse to respond – so he kept them at his sides.

Alfeegi hated himself; he had to rely on others now, and after just gaining his own belief in himself again after his time with Nadil. He couldn't feed himself, he couldn't dress himself, and he couldn't walk. What good was he to the Dragon Lord? Ruwalk could feel these thoughts going through Alfeegi as the man rested his forehead on Ruwalk's shoulder, and a small sob shaking his scrawny frame. He rubbed Alfeegi's back a bit, trying to calm him down, to let him know that people were still there for him, but nothing worked, Alfeegi still felt miserable.

Tetheus stood outside, looking through the small gap between the tent flaps, wishing that he could help. He had known Alfeegi for most of the White Officer's life, now, when Alfeegi needed someone the most, it was Ruwalk filling in the spot, not Tetheus. The Black Officer didn't hate Ruwalk, just envied him. Stepping into the tent, he quietly kneeled down, picked up the tray of food, looked at Alfeegi, and left without a word.

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Tetheus carried Alfeegi from the stables to the castle doors two days later. The entire party had left their Darnas at the stables, and trudged up to the palace. In the middle of the large group was Tetheus, with Alfeegi on his back, and a small smile on the lips of the Dragon Lord. The doors opened, and the welcome party; consisting Kitchel, Cesia, Zoma, Raseleane, Cernozura, Tintlet and the rest of the castle; greeted them. Raseleane pecked her husband on the cheek while he wrapped one arm around her waist. Kitchel threw herself onto Thatz, burying her face into his shirt, and his fingers intertwined in her hair. Cesia grabbed Rath's hand, and dragged him up the stairs of the Great Hall, and disappeared down the corridor. Cernozura promptly latched herself onto Ruwalk's arm, and would not be pried off. Tintlet and Rune were not to be found, but the castle residents had a feeling that they were somewhere in the garden, doing more than strolling. Zoma tugged on Alfeegi's pant leg, and Tetheus looked down and saw the worried look on the demon boy's face.

"Alfeegi." He whispered quietly. Alfeegi looked down at Zoma.

"Yes Zoma?" Alfeegi muttered.

"Are you alright Alfeegi?"

"I'm fine Zoma, you should go see if the Lord needs anything." Zoma nodded, and ran off.

Tetheus shook his head, then started up the stairs, heading towards Alfeegi's room. Halfway up the stairs, Tetheus turned at the sound of Raseleane's voice.

"Tetheus? Where are you off to? And why are you carrying Alfeegi?"

"Milady, Alfeegi is not feeling well after his travels, and I have offered to bring him up to his room to rest." Tetheus responded, shifting Alfeegi a little higher on his back. Alfeegi just kept staring at the floor in front of Tetheus, and tightened his arms around his neck. With a nod to his Queen, Tetheus continued towards Alfeegi's room.

Once inside the room, Tetheus carefully placed Alfeegi on the ground, leaning him against the wall. Then he pulled the covers of the bed away, and dug through the drawers to find some night cloths for the White Officer.

"You don't have to you know." Came a barely audible whisper from behind him. Turning, Tetheus saw Alfeegi sitting up from the wall. "You didn't have to lie to Lady Raseleane, you didn't have to bring me to my room, and you didn't have to fix my room up for me. I can take care of my self." With that, he leaned forward, and tried to drag himself over to his bed using his arms, but without much luck.

Tetheus shook his head, feeling a ghost of a smile grace his features. He closed the drawer, stepped over to Alfeegi, reached and pushed him up against the wall again. Alfeegi glared at Tetheus, but was powerless to stop him. Tetheus sat beside him, and put his arm fondly around Alfeegi's frail torso.

"Alfeegi, what do you mean by lying to the Queen?" Alfeegi was stunned not only by the ease in Tetheus' manner of speech, but in his informality towards his superior Officer. "You aren't feeling well, and as for bringing you to your room, did you really expect to crawl up the stairs and down the halls with everyone staring at you and with only your arms? I highly doubt that. And no, you can't take care of yourself, and you know that. With time, you will, that's true. But right now, you can't and you need help from others, like Ruwalk and Kai-Stern and me. You just got over a major shock, and healing from that requires time." Alfeegi looked away from Tetheus, feeling the tears return to his eyes because he knew the truth behind Tetheus' words.

Tetheus felt Alfeegi shake a little under his fingers, and he held Alfeegi closer. Alfeegi pressed his face into Tetheus' shoulder, and the tears fell again. Tetheus picked Alfeegi up carefully, and placed him in the bed, pulling the covers up around his shoulders.

"I just want to be useful." Alfeegi said faintly, turning away from Tetheus.

"I know Alfeegi, I know." Tetheus responded. He had seen this man grow from a toddler that had just lost his family to the responsible White Officer – now to be withering into nothing. He had admired him for some time, and had always wanted to be help to him with anything that he could. That's why he "ratted out" Kai-Stern, why he kept military expenses from getting too high, and wanted the Officer to know that he had helped him. Lightly, he took Alfeegi's chin in his fingers, and held Alfeegi's face still, and his eyes looking into Tetheus'.

"Alfeegi, calm down, alright." He muttered, Alfeegi blinked up at him, and hiccuped slightly. Calmly, Tetheus stroked the aqua-colored hair that tasseled every-which-way on the scalp of the small man in the bed, until Alfeegi had fallen into a dreamless slumber.

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Tetheus stepped into Alfeegi's room a week later, trying and – for the first time – failing, to hide a smile that presented news of the highest caliber. But the grin disappeared as soon as he caught sight of the "eating-but-not-getting-as-well-as-he-should" figure on the floor. Alfeegi was trying to drag himself in and out of the bed continuously for the past three days. So far, he had managed to turn completely over in the bed, get onto the floor with minimal bruising, and pull himself into a sitting position. Yet, he couldn't pull himself into the bed again, or drag himself across the floor, but he was getting there.

Tetheus had caught Alfeegi in the act of sitting on the ground and pulling on the sheets to try to get back into bed, only to wind-up having the mattress pull up, and over the bed frame, pinning him to the floor. Despite the severity of the situation, and the fact that Alfeegi was officially stuck… the squawk that Alfeegi gave as the mattress covered him put Tetheus in stitches for ten minutes, and by that time, he was rolling on the floor, renewing each peal of laughter with each glance of teal hair that poked out from beneath the fabric. Tetheus finally calmed down enough to pick the mattress up and off Alfeegi, who was very flushed with shame, and rubbing his shoulder that the bed had landed on.

"It wasn't that funny Tetheus." He muttered, glaring at the floor.

"Yes it was, but that's not what I came in here to tell you." Tetheus told him, scooping him off the floor, and holding him like you would hold a five-year-old when you carry them to their room when they fall asleep on the couch.

"No, then why did you come in here?" Alfeegi asked, though he didn't really care to know the answer.

"Close your eyes." Tetheus said simply. Alfeegi glared at him, then complied. Smiling again, Tetheus stepped out of the door, then placed Alfeegi down in the item that he had been constructing all week with Zoma's help. "Open them." Alfeegi opened his eyes, and looked at the contraption that Tetheus had put him in.

It was a chair. A wheel chair, to be precise. The silk/leather that was spread over the wooden frame supported him comfortably, and the large metal wheels with rubber tires around them were within his reach if he reached down. The small wooden platforms beside two smaller wheels in the front were where Alfeegi's unfeeling feet rested, and the polished handles of the chair were perfect for him to slump his elbows against. Leaning back in the chair, he looked up at Tetheus, as expecting the chair to disappear beneath him.

"With a little practice, you can 'storm the castle in this instead of lying here all day', as you put it yesterday. But right now, I'm going to roll you down to dinner, and then you can see what else there is for you." he handed Alfeegi a pair of leather gloves. They were half-gloves, so they didn't have any fingers on them, but they still protected the palms of the hand when they would rub against the rubber of the wheels. Standing behind Alfeegi, Tetheus gripped the handles on the back of the chair, and pushed Alfeegi towards the stairs. Waiting there, on the steps – a little wider than the chair itself – was a wooden ramp. It was right beside the wall, so that Alfeegi could grab the hard surface if he needed to.

"…And there's a ramp on almost every stairway in the castle for you. Just not the one that leads to the basement… you remember, the one that Rath pushed you down… it was too narrow to put a ramp on, so we'll have to figure that one out later." Tetheus continued, not without a hint of amusement at the look on Alfeegi's face as he started down another staircase.

Tears filled Alfeegi's eyes as Tetheus pushed him to dinner, and as soon as the double-oak-doors opened revealing the residents of the Dragon Castle, Alfeegi was sobbing happily at his new found freedom. Within a month, he was back to his normal screaming, tiradeing, hard-working self – with one minor change – now he got around the castle faster, and couldn't be heard coming down the halls like he had before. Kai-Stern had to hide in the basement the first time that he brought back an inadequate report. But when Alfeegi found out that he hid there in hopes of having the Chief Secretary unable to find him, Alfeegi found great pleasure in sitting just in front of the steps that he could not travel for lack of a ramp, and shouting down into the darkness where his piercing tenor not only increased in volume down the shaft, but also echo around the damp corners. Oh yes… Alfeegi was quite back to his normal self.