"Audiva?"
No response.
"Audiva!"
"Huh? What?"
The girl from Telgar Hold stirred, roused from her rapt enjoyment of the music being played by the Harpers performing at the Ruathan Gather. She gasped, sitting bolt upright when she realized it was Lord Jaxom himself speaking to her.
"I'm sorry, my Lord," she apologized, straightening her clothes before meeting his gaze.
"Enjoying the music, eh?" Jaxom chuckled, glancing briefly over at the performers.
"I only wish I could play that well," she sighed with genuine regret. Then, remembering once more who she was speaking to, she asked, "How may I serve you?"
"Lord Sangel got called away to Lemos Hold on urgent business," Jaxom explained, gesturing to the young lady standing beside him. "I'm hoping I can impose on you to escort Lady Pona back to Southern Boll Hold."
Standing tall and proud, an aristocratic air practically oozing from every pore, Pona sniffed, peering down her nose at the Telgar Hold girl as she remarked, "How by all the Hells did you make Journeywoman, Audiva? Did you bribe one of the Masters?"
"Peace, Pona," Jaxom ordered, raising a hand. "There'll be no pulling rank here."
Pona bristled, the fact that Jaxom had not used a proper title for her all the more infuriating. Still, he was the Ruathan Lord and she was his guest, so she bit her fiery tongue and remained silent, though seething at the perceived slight.
"If you'd rather not…" Jaxom began, taking note of the clear animosity between the two women, "no one would think any less of you… at least not in this Hold."
The tension between the two women was palpable. You could practically cut it with a knife it was so thick and menacing. However,…
"You have been a gracious host during my stay here, Lord Jaxom," Audiva said as she rose from her seat. "I would be honored to be Lady Pona's escort back to Southern Boll Hold."
Sighing, Jaxom nodded.
"I will need your finest conveyance for the journey," Pona demanded, once more assuming her aristocratic air.
"Brand!"
"Yes, Lord?" the Ruathan Hold steward responded as he came running up.
"Lady Pona and Journeywoman Audiva will need runnerbeasts for their journey back to Southern Boll Hold," Jaxom explained, gesturing to the two women. "See to it that they have the fastest ones we have. Fall is due soon. They will need to make all possible speed south if they hope to avoid it."
"A runnerbeast?!" Pona wailed, all semblance of politeness gone. "That's the best you can offer?" Wheeling about, she gazed up at the Fire Heights. "What about the watch dragon? Surely, he can…"
Jaxom shook his head. "Can't be spared with the upcoming Fall so close."
"Surely, you have a carriage and a team…"
"Too slow to escape the coming Fall," Jaxom argued, losing his patience with his quarrelsome guest. "It's either runnerbeasts now, girl… or you sit around here for another sevenday until the Threadfall patterns have eased."
Fuming and furious at being denied what she felt was her due, Pona ground her teeth, stomping the ground impotently. "Fine. The sooner I leave, the better!"
Spinning about, the Southern Boll Hold girl stormed off in the direction of the Ruathan stables.
"You spent time with her at the Harper Hall, didn't you?" Jaxom asked, turning to Audiva once Pona was out of earshot.
"Yes, my Lord," she reluctantly admitted, averting her gaze.
"I'd heard stories…" Jaxom muttered, shaking his head. "Has she always been like this?"
Silently, head down, Audiva nodded.
"I see." Laying his hand gently on the journeywoman's shoulder, he told her, "I'll find someone else as her escort."
Audiva squarely met his gaze, saying, "You have no one else you can spare, my Lord, not with overseeing the Gather and with Threadfall due soon."
Glancing in the direction of the stables, she adds, "Pona's been spoiled her whole life. She doesn't know any other way." Turning back to Jaxom, Audiva said, "Give her time. She'll come around."
Smiling, Jaxom nodded. "You are a fine Harper, Journeywoman Audiva. Robinton would be proud of you!"
"Thank you, Lord Jaxom," Audiva replied, bowing in gratitude… and to hide the blush that fills her cheeks. "Now, please excuse me. We'd best be going if we want to beat the Fall."
The poor runnerbeast Pona was astride was already foaming at the mouth from his rider's rough handling of the bridle and reins. Quickly mounting her own, Audiva took the reins from the Hold steward, Brand, and with a quick snap of the reins, yelled, "H'yah!"
The two women galloped out the gates then down the road leading out of Ruatha Hold, soon vanishing in a cloud of dust.
Nearly eight hours down the road, having just crossed the river at Fort Sea Hold, Pona steered her mount down a fork that led off to the southwest.
"Lady Pona!" Audiva called out, reining her own mount to a stop. "Southern Boll is the other way!"
"We're going to Peyton Hold, little witch!" Pona shrieked, her face livid with rage.
"But that road takes us closer to the path of the Fall!" Audiva argued, gesturing to the northeast.
"You'll do as you're told!" Pona roared, thoroughly incensed as she pulled her mount's head around viciously with the reins before burying her spurs into the poor beast's sides, sending it whinnying at a gallop down the road to Peyton.
All speechless Audiva could do was nervously follow, her gaze occasionally glancing back to the north.
Three hours further on down the road, having just passed a spur road that led up to a mountain mining hold, Pona quickly found her hands full with a frightened runnerbeast. Whip and spurs did nothing to get it to move forward. Which only infuriated Pona further, venting her rage on the poor beast with her whip!
"Pona, stop!" Audiva begged, reining her own nervous mount to a stop nearby. "Don't you see? Thread's coming! That runner knows it and doesn't want to go any further into danger!"
"It'll go where I tell it to go!" Pona shrieked, once more flailing the poor animal ruthlessly with her whip.
Abruptly, either terrified beyond reason or at the end of its patience with the cruel human, Pona's runner suddenly reared up on its hind legs, sending the hapless Pona flying out of the saddle! The granddaughter of Lord Sangel came down hard on her backside, stunning the breath out of her. The runnerbeast, crying out in terror, took off back down the road, trying to get back to a place it felt safe.
"Are you alright?" Audiva asked, dismounting to check on the Southern Boll Hold girl.
"Vicious, undisciplined beast!" Pona muttered, grimacing in pain as she struggled to her shaky feet.
"Take it easy," Audiva urged, laying a hand on Pona's arm. "You might've hurt yourself in that fall."
Audiva's own runner snorted, whinnying nervously, pulling his head around to the north. One look in that direction turned Audiva pale with fear.
"Thread!" she hissed, recognizing the tell-tale curtain of silver low to the northeast… along with the flashes of dragon fire that were visible!
"But your runner!" Pona wailed, suddenly fearful at the sight of the Fall.
"We can't outrun Leading Edge!" Audiva argued, frantically glancing about. "This way!"
She had spotted a small cave opening nearby, seizing Pona's hand and taking off at a run in that direction, her runnerbeast nearly dragging them by the reins as it also sought out cover.
The threesome made it with seconds to spare, Thread hissing and splatting as it struck the damp ground just outside the mouth of the cave. Fearing the wriggling death, all three occupants of the cave backed up as far as they could go, putting as much distance between them and certain death as was physically possible in the restrictive confines of the cave.
Occasionally, they would see a strand of Thread suddenly burst into flames, charred to impotence by one of the dragonriders swooping and roaring in the skies just outside the cave. This went on for nearly an hour before…
"Looks like the Fall is over," Audiva remarked, peering down the cave's passageway to its entrance.
"Finally!" Pona huffed, gathering her things. "Prepare my runner, now!"
"Your runner?!" Audiva sputtered, spinning to face Lord Sangel's granddaughter. "But he's …"
"You'll do as you're told, girl!" Pona demanded, getting right up in the other girl's face. "Now be quick about it!"
"But we can both ride Brownie back to the hold!" Audiva protested, hardly believing the Southern Boll girl was trying to pull rank on her.
"Oh, get out of my way!" Pona screamed, shoving Audiva backwards.
The Harper journeywoman stumbled and fell, the impact knocking the wind out of her. Pona seized Brownie's reins and was running toward the entrance when an almighty roar filled the cave. Weakened by the saturating rains just before the Fall, the hillside above the cave gave way, showering dirt and rocks into the entrance.
Coughing, cursing, Pona backed up, Brownie aiding the retreat. Without warning, the ceiling of the cave gave way, burying the Southern Boll Hold girl in the sudden collapse!
Time passed, but it was impossible to guess how much. Pain was the first thing Pona finally became aware of. But why? Opening her eyes, she found nothing but darkness. Well, not entirely. A faint glow reflected off the wall nearby. She tried to rise, but a restraining hand kept her down.
"Lie still," Audiva quietly urged, her face dimly lit. "You'll hurt yourself further if you don't."
"Where… what…" Pona stammered, glancing around.
"The roof collapsed," Audiva told her companion, changing the cool compress on the Hold girl's forehead. "Took me hours just to dig you out."
Pona tried to rise so she could look around, but the stabbing pain in her arm, leg, and head made her cry out.
"Lie still!" Audiva once again urged, a restraining hand on Pona's shoulder adding emphasis. "We don't have any medical supplies with us, or I'd splint up those broken bones of yours."
Fear joined hands with pain, sending shivers up and down Pona's spine. Tears coming to her eyes, the Southern Boll girl whimpered, "How bad?"
"Not sure," Audiva candidly admitted, rearranging the runner's saddle that now served as Pona's pillow. "I'm no healer, but I could feel breaks in the bones of your arm and leg."
"What?!" Pona gasped, her face turning pale even in the dim light of the cavern glows.
"I cleaned up the blood from the wound on your head," Audiva went on, offering Pona some water from a canteen. "Bandaged it the best I could with strips from my skirt, but we need to get you to a healer as soon as we can. There might be other injuries I couldn't see. The light in here is pretty weak."
Once more lifting her head ever so slightly, Pona glanced at the mound of rubble now blocking the cave's entrance. She gasped, the hind hoof of their buried … now deceased… runnerbeast just barely visible. There were tons of rock and dirt choking off their escape; the sight of it filling Pona with despair.
"Try to stay calm," Audiva urged, once more laying her hand on the girl's shoulder.
A tiny shower of dirt and rocks fell on the two girls. Instinctively, Audiva jumped in, shielding the Southern Boll girl from harm. Lord Sangel's granddaughter stared back, speechless. She had treated this Telgar girl as inferior, demeaning her at every opportunity. Now, here she was, shielding Pona from harm. The girl from Southern Boll glanced briefly at the rubble sealing the entrance. This girl from Telgar had even risked her own life freeing Pona from the cave entrance collapse. After the way she'd been treated… why would she do that?
Tears falling, a totally unforced smile coming to her lips, Pona whispered, "Thank you."
Audiva smiled back.
"You're welcome," she replied, reaching for her belt… and what was clipped there.
Meanwhile, at the Harper Hall, an urgent meeting was underway in the Masterharper's office.
"They were supposed to reach Hold Gar hours ago!" Lord Sangel wailed, wringing his hands.
"What could've happened to them?" Menolly wondered, gazing over my shoulder.
"AIVAS reports showed a Fall in that region around the time they went missing," I responded, tweaking the scanner controls of the Yokohama terminal pad I held. "Were they planning any stops on the trip south?"
"No," Sangel muttered, staring helplessly out the window. Suddenly, he whirled, gasping in the same instant. "Wait! Benis was visiting someone at Peyton!"
"That means they would've had to take the mountain trails south of here," Sebell remarked, consulting maps on his office wall. "Problem is, that area had heavy rains recently… and we've had reports of mudslides in that vicinity."
Lord Sangel's eyes got positively enormous, his face noticeably paler.
"Audiva's got a good head on her shoulders," I responded, tightening the focus of the scan I was running. "She would've found shelter, possibly a cave along the route."
"Not a good idea," Masterminer Nicat grunted, joining Sebell at the map. "Geology in that region is unstable. Wouldn't take much to cause a cave-in."
"Like the heavy rain there recently," Sebell groaned, slapping his hand on the map.
"Hold on a sec," I whispered, adjusting the scan pad's settings. "What's this?"
"Find something?" Menolly wondered, leaning closer.
"I'm picking up a faint radio emission… here!" I replied, pointing at the blinking cursor on the screen.
"Bah!" Nicat grunted, waving a dismissal. "Another of the thrice-cursed Ancients' remnants."
"This isn't the right frequency for one of them," I countered, my excitement growing. "Fandarel made some new walkie-talkies recently."
"The ones that were used during the Exiles crisis!" Sebell exclaimed, leaning on the edge of the table beside me. "Are you certain?"
Faint sound could be heard coming from the scan pad. "… there… any… me… in… hear…"
"That's Audiva!" Menolly exclaimed, seizing my shoulder. "I recognize the voice!"
"That location's about 30 miles north-northwest of Hold Gar," I reported, checking the map.
"Some rugged terrain there," Sebell noted, following my gaze.
"And right in the middle of the region where mudslides were reported," Menolly gasped, meeting her husband's gaze.
"Not to mention the recent Threadfall," I sighed, sliding the scan pad into my belt holster.
Unclipping the satphone from my belt, I dialed up Robinton Cove.
"Robinton Cove, Ryeena speaking," I heard.
"Code Red emergency, Ryeena," I reported, my gaze sweeping the room.
"We need triage teams sent to the mountains 30 miles north-northwest of Hold Gar," I explained as I raced out of Sebell's office. "We may have two holders trapped in a cave-in. I'm heading out now to recon the site. Meet me there!"
"Roger that," Ryeena replied, her tone urgent but calm. "We're on our way!"
I leaped down the entryway stairs, Goldie sounding a challenge as she winged along overhead. Tarnaa was there, her foreleg extended. A quick leap, a grab of her harness, and I was astride her neck ridge, buckling myself in with practiced ease. Then we were awing, rising quickly skyward before turning south toward the mountains.
Friend in trouble? Tarnaa rumbled as we streaked through the Pernese skies.
Yes, my heart, I responded back, giving her neck ridge a thump. We have to hurry!
Without a word from me, Tarnaa began beating her great golden wings even harder, forcing me to lean against her neck to fight the fierce wind rush. She'd never reacted like that before on any of our medical runs. And she had addressed Audiva as friend! What was going on?
Then Tarnaa did something even more unexpected. Without a word to me, she took us between, emerging seconds later directly over the site of a recent rockslide.
Friend below, she reported, slowly circling downwards.
The rubble pile I could see was massive… nearly half the hillside had given way from the heavy rains.
How did you know where…
Friend has a good heart, my lifemate rumbled, coming to a gentle stop on the ground a short, safe distance from the rockfall.
Goldie, meanwhile, was circling over the cave-in, calling out distress. Clearly, she, too, had been somehow touched by Audiva. I'd have to worry about that later. At the moment, I had work to do.
The Yokohama scan pad came out of its holster even as I slid down Tarnaa's side. By the time my feet hit the ground, I was already running a detailed scan of the rubble pile. While I was doing that, my golden lifemate was busy relaying our position to the triage teams coming to assist. Goldie's cries of distress never let up.
Disturbances in the air above distracted me from my readings. As I looked up, the skies fairly exploded with dragons and their riders. But I was more than a little surprised to see…
"Kara?!" I gasped as my Exiles friend, now an Eastern Islands queen dragonrider, landed nearby; a host of Robinton Cove healers and their dragonmates landing right behind her.
"I stopped by the hospital to visit," she explained, sliding down her lifemate's side to give my hand a welcoming shake. "Thought you might need an extra hand."
"We'll need all the help we can get for this one," I responded, gesturing toward the pile of rubble completely obscuring the entrance to the cave.
"What happened?" Kara wondered as the two of us drew closer to the slide.
"Audiva and Lord Sangel's granddaughter, Pona," I explained, once more checking the Yokohama's scan readings through the control pad I had, "were on their way to Hold Gar a few hours ago. We think they diverted through the hills here in order to reach Peyton Hold."
"I'm not sure I follow," Kara sighed, glancing at the control pad in my hand. "Who's this girl, Pona? And who's Audiva?"
"Harper Journeywoman Audiva," I replied, tucking the control pad back into my belt holster. "And Lady Pona, Lord Sangel's granddaughter. They'd been at a Gather at Ruatha Hold, but Lord Sangel got called away on some urgent business. As a favor to Lord Jaxom, Audiva agreed to escort Pona back to Hold Gar. There'd been heavy rains in this region…"
"Which would've weakened the hillside," Kara concluded, looking up at the rubble pile. "We had similar issues with the storms and rain in the Eastern Islands."
"There was also Threadfall in this region about the time the two went missing," I went on, unclipping the walkie-talkie from my belt. "The Yokohama's sensors show two humanoid life forms inside the cave there."
"Seeking shelter," Kara muttered, drawing the obvious conclusion. "Think they're alive?"
"According to the scanner," I said, raising the walkie-talkie to my lips and keying the mike. "Audiva, do you read? Audiva, come in!"
"Dana?!" we heard over the walkie-talkie. "Where are you?"
"Just outside the cave you're in," I replied, moving a little closer. "What's your status?"
"I… I'm okay," Audiva wept, her voice breaking. "But Pona's… Help us, please!"
"Stay calm, Audiva," I urged; Goldie circling over the cave-in rubble pile, calling out distress. "What's Pona's condition?"
"Bad," the Harper journeywoman groaned. "She got caught in the collapse. Took forever to dig her out."
I pulled the scan pad back out, narrowing the Yokohama's focus to a tight beam life signs scan. Audiva's pulse was racing, though by the sound of her voice she was trying to stay calm. Pona's pulse was slower, but her blood pressure was low, and I could just make out multiple fractures of her right arm, left hip, and left shin.
As Goldie backwinged to my shoulder, I tweaked the scan settings yet again, analyzing the rubble pile that now blocked the entrance.
"Shaffit!" I cursed, Goldie twittering nervously at my agitation.
"What's wrong?" Kara wondered, seeing the frustration on my face.
"We can't dig them out," I muttered through clenched teeth. "The main portion of the cave ceiling is just barely being supported by that rubble. We try to shift that debris to get at the girls…"
"You'll bring the mountain down on them!" Kara gasped, grasping my arm. "What'll we do?"
The walkie-talkie interrupted us. "Dana?"
"Go ahead, Audiva," I radioed back.
"There's some natural glows in here," she explained, her voice betraying her nervousness, "but they're starting to dim. I don't know how much longer they'll last."
"Crackdust!" I spat, seething with frustration.
"What's wrong?" Kara wondered, clearly confused.
"Bioluminescence is an oxygen-dependent process," I muttered, staring at the hillside. "That's what the glows are. They depend on oxygen to produce the glow. If they're getting dimmer…"
"Their oxygen is running out!" Kara gasped, whirling to stare at the hillside.
With an excited trill, Goldie leaped from my shoulder, flitting over to Tarnaa nearby… or more precisely, to the first aid emergency pack still attached to my lifemate's harness. Fumbling with the closure, she reached in and pulled out the oxygen cylinder I always carried. Looking straight at me, her eyes an excited whirling red, I gasped when I realized what she was suggesting!
I ran over to Tarnaa, lifting Goldie to my shoulder and retrieving the oxygen tank.
"Dana?" Kara had no idea what was happening even as I hurried over right to the edge of the rockslide.
I pulled up as detailed a scan of the cave as the Yokohama could manage, using it to create a mental image of the cave's interior… and the locations of Audiva and Pona. I added one item to the oxygen tank… a chem-stick light that was now glowing a bright green before I handed the tank back to Goldie and said, "Go!"
With a defiant squawk, cylinder clutched tightly in her claws, I flung Goldie into the air. A heartbeat later, she and the cylinder vanished between.
"Where'd she go?" Kara wondered, hopelessly confused.
"Dana!" Audiva radioed, clearly excited. "Dana, she's here! Goldie's here!"
"Use the oxygen, Audiva," I radioed back. "You and Pona. You'll have to buddy breathe, taking turns."
"I don't understand," we heard the journeywoman Harper respond.
"The glows are going out because the oxygen available in the cave is running out," I explained into my walkie-talkie. "So, please, use the mask. It'll keep you two alive until we can get you both out!"
"Understood," Audiva acknowledged. "And thanks for sending in the thing giving off light. It was getting pretty dark in here!"
"Just hang on," I radioed her, glancing about. "We'll figure something out."
On cue, I felt a disturbance above us and looked up in time to see Ruth pop out of between. Jaxom and Sharra were with him. They came running over the moment the little white dragon touched down.
"We've got mining teams on the way, Dana," Jaxom reported as we shook hands.
"Won't do any good," I informed him, pulling out the scan pad and showing Jaxom the analysis of the cave-in. "The cave roof is barely being supported by the rubble. We try to shift that to get to the girls…"
"And the whole thing will come crashing down on them!" Sharra gasped, her face turning pale. "Oh, Jaxom!"
"My fault they're in this mess," the Ruathan lord groaned. "I was the one who asked Audiva to be Pona's escort. Hold on a sec!"
Jaxom leaned closer, scrutinizing the Yokohama's scan. "How accurate is this?"
"Down to half a centimeter," I replied, fine-tuning the scan results.
"Can you display measurements of the cavern the girls are in?"
A few tweaks of the pad's controls, and…
"It might work," Jaxom whispered, glancing from the scan to his white lifemate.
"I think I follow," I spoke, double-checking the scan readings.
"Just like what you did for T'ledon and Serith," Jaxom reminded me, grinning at Ruth.
"Goldie's with the girls now," I said, my smile matching his. "Think Ruth can take a fix from her?"
Easily, the white dragon rumbled.
"You're going to try and send Ruth into the cave?!" Sharra gasped.
"It'll be a tight fit," Jaxom mused, looking over the scan results more closely, "but it's the only way we can get to the girls and get them out safely. How about it, Ruth?"
Let's do this! Jaxom's lifemate rumbled, his eyes an excited whirling red.
"Ryeena, we're…" I began.
"Going to need a stretcher and splints," she responded; her and another Robinton Cove rider holding a rescue basket filled with supplies between them.
"The way we anticipate each other's needs," I chuckled, giving my young friend's shoulder a grateful squeeze, "someone might think the two of us had Impressed!"
"Who says we haven't?" she responded with a wink.
"Help Jaxom," I directed her, nodding in the Ruathan Lord's direction. "I'll explain to Audiva."
"You got it."
As Ryeena and her assistant hurried over to where Jaxom was fitting supplies to Ruth's harness, I got on the walkie-talkie and explained to Audiva what was about to happen.
"Are you sure that's wise?" she gasped, clearly worried about Jaxom's lifemate.
I always know where and when I am, Ruth responded.
"It was Jaxom's suggestion, Audiva," I explained, glancing over at the bustle around Ruth. "He feels responsible after asking you to be Pona's escort."
There was a long pause on the walkie-talkie before we heard a different voice.
"Not her fault, Masterhealer," Pona spoke over the device. "It was my insistence on going to Peyton Hold that got us in trouble. I… I'm sorry… so very sorry!"
Given all the stories and rumors I'd heard about the young lady from Southern Boll Hold, I was more than a little surprised by the genuine contrition in her voice.
"We can discuss this after we've gotten the two of you out," I calmly replied. "For now, try to relax and keep buddy breathing from that oxygen tank, alright?"
"Alright," Pona whimpered. "Please hurry!"
"Jaxom?"
"We're ready," he reported as he escorted his dragon over to where I was standing.
"I'm going, too," Ryeena insisted. When I turned to protest, she added, "Audiva might need help getting Pona ready."
With a nervous sigh, I nodded.
"Audiva?" I radioed.
"I'm in position," she called back, verified by the display in the Yokohama' scan pad.
"Ruth?"
Goldie is very good at sending images, the little white dragon reported, nodding approval. I know precisely where I need to go.
Jaxom helped Ryeena up onto Ruth's neck ridge, fastening her riding belt into the white dragon's harness.
"Keep your head down," I urged Ryeena as Jaxom stepped back.
"Count on it," she responded, flattening herself against Ruth's neck.
Keying the mike on the walkie-talkie, I said, "Beginning teleport in three… two… one… NOW!"
In the blink of an eye, Ruth vanished between, emerging seconds later exactly dead center of the cave; settling to the ground with a modest 'Thud'.
Ryeena didn't waste any time. In quick succession, she activated several more chem light sticks, scattering them about the cave. Then, she carefully slid off Ruth's back and retrieved the rescue basket that had been fastened across Ruth's back just behind his wings.
"You have got to be crazy coming in here," Audiva muttered, shaking her head. Smiling as she looked up, she added, "I'm glad you did!"
"You hurt?" Ryeena asked, giving the harper journeywoman the once over.
Audiva's response was a quick shake of her head.
"Pona's hurt pretty badly," she informed Ryeena, kneeling beside the Southern Boll girl. "Took me hours just to dig her out."
At that precise moment, another fire lizard joined the party.
"Bolter?!" Ryeena growled, glaring at her fire lizard. "I told you to stay back at the hospital."
The little brown dragon merely snorted, taking up his accustomed perch on Ryeena's shoulder.
"Well, as long as you're here, you can help me," Ryeena sighed, passing another chem stick light up to her winged friend.
Goldie followed the example, flitting over briefly to pick up one of the chem stick lights Ryeena had already dropped. Once in hand, she scurried up Audiva's arm, perching on the girl's shoulder while she held out the light.
"Compound fracture of the right radius," Ryeena spoke, checking her patient. "Simple fracture of the left hip. Simple fracture of the left shin. Let's get to work… and then get the hell out of here."
While Ryeena bent to patching the skin punctures on Pona's arm from the bone fracture, Audiva used her own limited healing knowledge to bandage and splint Pona's left shin. Then, the two of them helped Pona lift her broken arm just enough to bandage the wound, splint the arm, put it in a sling, then bandaged it into place in prep for transport.
With that out of the way, the two girls then tried to roll Pona on her side to get her into the rescue basket, but she cried out in pain, begging them to stop.
"Ruth can support her in his front claws," I decided as Ryeena relayed the difficulty. "Mount up, girls. Get the hell out of there!"
Nervously, I watched the activity in the cave through the Yokohama's scanners. Once Ryeena and Audiva were atop Ruth and belted in, he gingerly slipped his front claws under Pona, gently, tenderly cradling the Southern Boll Hold girl. Then, abruptly, they disappeared from the scanners!
"Stand clear!" I ordered, waving everyone back.
Seconds later, Ruth reappeared mere inches above the ground, settling to earth with nary a bump. Carefully, he lowered Pona to the ground as Ryeena and Audiva unbelted and slid down his side.
And not a moment too soon. A deep throated rumble reached our ears; others in the group gasping and pointing as the hillside where Pona and Audiva had taken refuge from the Fall collapsed in on itself!
"Nice work, Ruth!" I congratulated Jaxom's lifemate, giving him a couple companionable slaps on the neck.
Naturally! he smugly rumbled, almost seeming to grin.
That was followed seconds later by the proud and boisterous carols from Goldie and Bolter as they, too, rejoined the group.
"Yeah, you did good, too," I chuckled, scratching Goldie's eye ridge once she'd backwinged to my shoulder.
"Ryeena?" I spoke as I knelt beside my assistant.
"She's in a bad way," my Misty Hold friend sighed as she continued to examine her patient. "If Audiva hadn't been there, we'd be bringing home a c…"
"Maybe," I interrupted, hoping to minimize any stress on the Southern Boll Hold granddaughter of Lord Sangel. "Fortunately, we got to them in time."
Looking up and across at Audiva kneeling on Pona's other side, one of the girl's hands in her own, I asked, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Audiva responded, her gaze never leaving Pona. Then, as if it suddenly occurred to her, she looked straight at me, asking, "How did you find us?"
Smiling as I pointed to the walkie-talkie clipped to her belt, I told her, "Because of that."
"I don't understand," Audiva mumbled, shaking her head. "How could you possibly…"
So, I explained to her what transpired at the Harper Hall.
"If you hadn't been trying to call for help," I said, giving her shoulder a companionable squeeze, "we'd've never gotten a fix on your position… never gotten here in time to rescue you."
"Barely made it in time," Jaxom added, smiling as he patted his lifemate's side. "Thank you, Audiva, for all you did."
"Yes, thank you," Pona wept, squeezing Audiva's hand. More tears falling, she added, "I've been so stupid…"
"Yes, you have," Audiva chuckled, laying a reassuring hand on Pona's shoulder, the other holding the girl's hand, "but I think you're finally on the mend. For now, just relax and take it easy. We'll get you patched up in no time!"
"Lord Jaxom?" Pona called out.
"Lady Pona?" he responded, kneeling by her side.
"Is there a way to name Audiva as my sister?" Pona asked.
"What?!" Audiva gasped, clearly not expecting this.
"Lady Pona, you've been through a very stressful experience," he quietly told her. "You're in shock and not thinking clearly…"
"I've never been thinking more clearly in my life!" Pona argued, glancing from Ruatha's Lord to her once Harper Hall companion. "I thought that, because of my birthright, I was better than you… that you were beneath me, not worthy of respect. Shards, I have been so blind for so long!"
"Lady Pona," Audiva began.
The Southern Boll Hold girl shook her head.
"I don't deserve to be called that," she muttered, tears falling unashamedly from her face. "In spite of how I treated you… at the Harper Hall and now here… you behaved more properly and regally than I ever have."
Blushing slightly, Audiva turned away, inexplicably warmed by such unexpected praise.
"I don't deserve your friendship, Audiva," Pona wept, squeezing the girl's hand. "I… I wish you and I had been sisters as we grew up. Somehow, I know I would've turned out a better person than I did."
"You are too hard on yourself, Pona," Audiva softly spoke, meeting the girl's tearful gaze. "Maybe it took a while, but I have a feeling that you just took the first step in the journey to becoming the person you were meant to be."
"I didn't have any siblings as I was growing up," Audiva confessed, leaning closer. "It would've been nice to have had a sister as I was growing up. Maybe we aren't related by blood, but there's really no reason we couldn't call each other sister… if that's what you really want."
Sobbing, tears running like rivers down her face, Pona nodded.
"Heard and witnessed," I said, bowing to the girls.
"Heard and witnessed," Jaxom added, smiling and bowing to the two women. "So be it!"
"Now let's get you to the hospital at Robinton Cove," Audiva wept, giving Pona a hug, "dear sister!"
With Ruth's help, Pona was carefully transferred to the rescue basket, strapped in, then whisked off to the waiting med facilities at the teaching hospital at Robinton Cove.
Audiva never left Pona's side, staying with her new sister through the minor surgery to repair the fracture damage to Pona's arm. The special surgical equipment we retrieved from the three colony ships allowed me to quickly mend the breaks in Pona's hip and leg without having to cut her open to do it. I could've done the same for her broken arm, but Pona insisted on letting it heal naturally… penance she said for her past behaviors.
There were tears in their eyes as Pona and Audiva bid each other farewell down at the docks that supported Robinton Cove. Pona boarded a sloop to return to Southern Boll Hold. Several healer-riders offered her dragon transportation back to her home, but she refused; apologizing to the healer-riders, explaining that she had a lot to atone for. It would be a long while before she felt she deserved to ride adragonback again.
Audiva waved from the pier as the sloop departed. She had chosen to remain at the teaching hospital. The cave experience had shown just how limited her healing knowledge was, and, after watching how I had healed Pona, she felt a calling stronger than anything she had experienced before.
"Are there such things as Healing Harpers?" she asked me the day I had mended Pona's injuries.
"Never heard of one before," I commented, meeting her gaze.
"Then, I'll be the first!" she proudly declared, hesitating a moment as our eyes met. "That is, if you don't mind teaching me… Master."
Chuckling, I told her, "I'm not as firm or formal about titles around here, Audiva. If you want to learn, then I'll teach you. Titles just get in the way."
"Thank you!" she replied, bowing to me.
"You handled yourself well during that cave-in, Audiva," I told her, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I think you'll make a fine Healing Harper!"
With that, her training began in earnest. Audiva never shied away, no matter how severe an injury was. She turned what she had learned as a Harper into a powerful and comforting bedside manner when dealing with patients of all sorts… human and dragon. She was going to make an exceptional addition to the healers of Robinton Cove!