Disclaimer: I own nothing. All credit goes where it is due. Again a good portion of the credit for the ideas in Ella's dreams goes to Charles at Yahoo Answers.

Author's Note: Here is the last chapter and then there will be an Epilogue to complete this portion of the Magic Chronicles series and begin guiding us to the next portion. Please read and review. I will ask that you sign in when you review if you are not signed in already. You people get too comfortable being mean in guest reviews and I am tired of reading them. To those of you who are respectful in guest reviews I apologize for the inconvenience. I did receive a lot of constructive criticism in from a guest and I will reply to that after the epilogue. As always constructive criticism is at least considered and a response will always be given to explain why I did or did not apply it to my writing.

Ch12. Loss

It was the middle of the night. Everyone was asleep. Jareth was in his own bed by his daughter. Toby had taken the couch by the fireplace. The two healers slept soundly in the sitting room, just off the bedroom. Malachai had fallen asleep with a book in one of the chairs in said sitting room. Yuki slept curled into a ball at the end of the bed, as always staying close to her witch. Ella lay still, dreaming once again.

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She felt weak. She was crawling down a road, unable to gather the strength to stand. Suddenly she heard a roar behind her. She looked back to see a horrible dragon chasing her. She crawled as fast as she could and stumbled each time she tried to get up and run. She felt like she was crawling too slow though the dragon never caught her.

Switching tactics she changed into an owl and began picking up speed on her taloned feet before taking flight. Unfortunately the dragon could fly too. She flew as fast as she could and almost got eaten a few times but managed to avoid the dragon's sharp teeth. Pain coursed through her wing as she was hit with a blast of fire from the dragon.

As she fell to the ground she felt herself change and land on all fours as a cat. She hit the ground running but soon realized she wasn't going anywhere. Looking back she noticed the giant troll holding her tail. The face of her grandmother again flashed into memory. Meanwhile the dragon was closing in. She let out a frightened yowl.

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A broken scream escaped her throat as she sat up. She gasped and calmed down a little before realizing how dark it was. She couldn't see anything. Fearful of the dark she pulled her knees up to her chest to go into the fetal position and felt something tugging on her arm. She didn't know what it was so she pulled it off and threw it away from her. It felt like it bit her and she tried to back away from it only to feel something pulling on her head. She whimpered an pulled that off too.

Scrambling to get away from it she felt herself land on some kind of body. Now she let out a full out scream and tried to move away. Suddenly she felt arms around her trying to keep her still.

Toby dashed up off the couch at hearing the scream and grabbed Ella before the situation could sink in. He kept making shushing noises to try and calm her down. She struggled for a while and started crying when she found it was useless. Finally she settled enough to hear him.

"It's okay Ella. You're safe now. It's okay," he rocked her gently as she cried helplessly.

Alessa got a fire going in the fireplace. She and her sister waited off to the side in case they were needed.

"Where am I," Ella finally asked.

"You're in my room," Jareth spoke up, reaching out to tie a piece of material he had ripped from his shirt over the broken vein on her arm where she had pulled the IV out none too carefully, "You've been sleeping for a month."

"Why is it so dark," she whimpered.

Confused, Jareth waved his hand in front of her eyes. When she didn't react he turned to his sisters, "Alessa, something's wrong."

She instantly rushed over and began sensing for problems. A look of sorrow overtook her features, "Her visual cortex is destroyed. I see no way to repair it. The virus is gone from her systems completely and the shields are down."

Ella didn't fully understand that but she was old enough to try. Visual sounded like vision and Uncle Toby had often used that word when talking about eyesight. Was this lady with the strange voice trying to say she's blind?

"Am I ever gonna be able to see again," she clung to her uncle and turned her face away from the hand on her forehead.

"Not physically," her Father spoke gently, "But I can teach you to see with your magic. It won't be the same but it's better than nothing."

Regardless of her Father's promise she began crying anew. Toby rubbed her back and continued rocking her. It took much longer for her to settle down again.

"Ella," she turned her head just enough to let her Father know she was listening, "Do you want to learn?"

She nodded. He reached out to hold her but she flinched when his hands toughed her. Toby whispered to her that it was just her Father and she let herself be drawn into Jareth's embrace. The IV had been taken out of his arm a few days ago when Ezmerilda determined that he was strong enough to no longer need it.

"Does she still need the needle in her arm," he asked, looking directly at Alessa so she could read his lips.

She wanted to say it was best but the poor child looked so scared and helpless. Now that she was awake all it could do was help her recover faster and trying to put it back in would only scare her more. As long as she ate three healthy meals a day she didn't need it, "No, but she'll need to eat. Are you hungry little one?"

The child nodded and Alessa rushed off to get some food for her. She wept on her Father's chest as she did what Toby had taught her to do when something was hard to deal with. Just think of one good thing about the situation, cling to it and look for more. She was safe from those who tormented her. That was one. Her Father and uncle were here to protect her along with others so she had a loving family now. She also had a teacher who knew by experience how to control magic.

Soon Alessa returned, "Alright goblin princess," the deaf healer sat down and placed the bowl of fruit in her hands, "Your Father's favorite. Peach slices and raspberries."

Okay. Now she had food. Food was good. Food was nice. She liked food. Soon the bowl was empty and she yawned, cuddling into her Father's arms, wanting to sleep. Jareth handed Alessa the bowl and gently sang the child to sleep.

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Ella found herself back on the beach soon after she's drifted off. She knew soon she'd have to get used to being blind but right now she was tired and the blue water of her ocean was a welcome sight to her.

"Good morning Jarethella of the goblin realm," a familiar voice behind her echoed through the dream.

She turned around and smiled, "Hi Spirit. Am I safe now?"

The dark skinned figure nodded, "Yes, you've done very well. Your family and I are very proud of you."

"Thanks to you. I wouldn't have known what to do without your help," she walked over to him, slightly embarrassed by her lack of know how.

He smiled and knelt to her level, "Yes, but you had to choose to let me help or I could not have done so."

She cocked her head to the side, "Why?"

"Your magic is tied to your free will. It may be capable of many things but only you can decide what it does. You needed to allow me to use your magic to help you fight," he explained.

She nodded. He held her hand as they walked and talked. Much of their conversation consisted of her getting used to the idea of blindness. She had known when he'd asked her to let him help that she would have to sacrifice something to save herself. He had told her. She just hadn't expected it to be her sight.

TBC…

Author's note: Thank you to Souleater and AlphaProlix at Yahoo Answers for helping me decide how Ella would react to the machinery when she first woke up. Thank you to my readers for taking the time to enjoy my stories and thank you to the reviewers that bothered to sign their reviews. Questions always welcome.