Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I've been really stuck. However, I now know where I'm going (at least for a while), so I'll put up what I've got.
Insert usual disclaimer
As the sun rose, its light crept in through the windows to fall on Elena's face, bringing her to full alertness. Sitting up, she stifled a gasp as pain shot through her, and carefully laid herself back down again. Glancing around her, she saw a room that looked like an infirmary, and sitting in a chair next to the bed, still asleep, was a man.
He looked to be about forty, his black hair starting to silver, and his face was weather-beaten, like that of a man who spent most of his time outdoors. From what she could tell, he was tall, and though lean, he looked strong. He wore a patch over one eye, and from the scar that ran from his hairline to his earlobe, passing under the patch, she realised that he was missing that eye. Instinctively she checked his hands, but they were normal.
A roar from outside made her whip her head around, and when she turned back, the man's eye was open, and he was watching her. Elena reached for her knife, but the pain the movement caused her made her gasp and forget it.
The man reached out and Elena flinched, but all he did was stroke her forehead, and say something she couldn't understand.
"What did you say?" she whispered.
The man looked confused. He made the same sounds he had before, and Elena guessed that he was trying to calm her.
x
"Please, be still," D'ron repeated again. The woman continued to stare at him warily, and D'ron was reminded of a trapped animal.
"You are badly hurt, but do not worry. We will take good care of you," D'ron said, trying to make his voice as reassuring as possible. "Where are you from?"
x
Elena's eyes widened. She had almost understood the last thing he had said! She mimicked the sounds he had made, and he smiled, and said them again, more slowly. This time, Elena understood, though his strange accent made them all but unintelligible.
"I am from the Hispania," she said slowly, spacing everything out to see if he could understand her.
x
"'Hisspangya'?" he repeated, puzzled. This woman was very difficult to understand, but according to F'nor, AIVAS had been just as difficult at first. Maybe that meant that AIVAS came from this 'Hisspangya'?
The woman nodded vigorously. "Hisspangya," she repeated.
"Well, now that we can understand each other a little bit," D'ron sighed. "D'ron," he said, pointing to himself.
"D'ron," she said awkwardly, pointing at him. "Elena," she pronounced, pointing to herself and smiling.
"Elena," he repeated, smiling. She nodded in delight.
"Elena," came Helida's voice. Elena jumped in alarm, which made her cry out in pain.
"Careful, Helida! She's really jumpy! Talk to her quietly for a while. It calms her down," D'ron said, grabbing Helida by the arm.
"Fine," Helida said, not taking her eyes off Elena. "Helida," she said, pointing to herself.
x
"Elena," Elena replied warily. Her new friend Deron was protecting her from this new woman, but she didn't alarm him, so maybe she was a friend too. "Friend?"
"Friend," said Deron reassuringly.
"Can you please help me to sit up?" she inquired, making the appropriate gestures.
Deron looked at Helida, who nodded, then carefully lifted Elena from the bed and settled her in the chair he had slept in. As he moved away, Elena noticed that he limped.
"Why do you limp?" she asked, pointing at his leg.
"Do not ask," he said briefly, and sat in another chair.
For the first time, Elena saw the boy in the other chair. "Your son?" she asked Deron, gesturing to him.
Suddenly, the boy woke up, and after looking about for a second, seemed to remember what had happened. He jumped up from his seat, and seeing her, began to talk very fast, too fast for her to understand.
x
"Kirkai! Slow down!" D'ron said, holding up his hands. "Elena doesn't understand us unless we speak slowly, and I had trouble understanding you then, you were talking so fast!"
"Sorry," he said apologetically. "Her name is Elena? Where is she from?"
"Hisspangya," D'ron replied.
Kirkai's brow creased. "Where's that?" he asked.
"We'll look it up on the maps on the computer later," D'ron said.
Kirkai nodded, then turned to Elena. "I'm Kirkai," he said.
"You are D'ron's son?" she asked.
The boy shook his head. "I'm M'kai's son," he said proudly. "D'ron is my uncle."
Her face clouded for a moment, then cleared. "Ah! His brother-son, yes?" she asked.
"Yes," Kirkai said with a grin. "Brother-son."
"Where is your brother?" Elena asked D'ron.
D'ron's face fell. "Dead," he said briefly.
"That is sad," said Elena sympathetically. "Gongadu?"
"Gongadu?" D'ron repeated awkwardly. "What is Gongadu?"
Elena scowled. "Evil!" she said. "Gongadu attacked us, killed my friends."
"Gongadu are like Thread?" D'ron asked.
"Gongadu are not clothes," Elena said with a frown. "Gongadu are like us, but have six fingers."
x
D'ron leapt from his chair. "Six fingers?" he said hoarsely. "The people who killed my brother had six fingers!"
"We came to study the Wanderer, but we were attacked by creatures we named Gongadu," Elena explained with a shudder. "They hurt me, then cast me into what they called the void."
"What is this void you speak of?" asked D'ron, frowning.
Elena shrugged. "I do not know," she responded. "But it was very cold. I thought I would die, but something helped me to where you found me."
D'ron frowned. "What sort of something?" he asked.
Elena shrugged. "I do not know," she replied. "All I know is that I would not be alive now if it had not helped me."
x
"Well, it looks like you're fully healed," Helida said, smiling at Elena.
Elena had been confined to the sickroom while she healed, and the restriction made her itch. D'ron, sympathetic to her restlessness, spent as much time with her as possible, even turning control of his wing over to his wingsecond S'nor so he could devote every spare moment to her.
"Really? Does that mean I can get out of this room?" Elena asked eagerly.
"You can, but you must only take short walks at first, to build your strength up," Helida warned. "If you try to do too much too fast, you will ruin your recovery and have to stay here even longer."
"No! I promise I'll take it easy!" Elena laughed.
D'ron helped her to her feet and offered her a shoulder to lean on. "I'll just take you as far as Drianne's quarters," he told her. "It's about time you met the leaders of this place."
Elena nodded, and let D'ron help her to the door. "I have heard you mention this Drianne before. She is the wife of B'kennor?"
D'ron frowned. "I don't understand what you mean by the word 'wife'," he said, puzzled. Elena had mastered the Pernese speech, but she still occasionally used words he didn't recognise.
"Life-partner," Elena supplied.
"Ah! Spouse!" D'ron exclaimed. "No, Drianne and B'kennor are not espoused, but they may as well be. They have four children together: Kennoran, Riannor, Bria and Kandriken. You've met the three older ones, but Kandriken is very shy, and he stays close to Drianne."
"Oh, you mean Kirkai's friends?" she asked. "The boy, and the two little girls?"
"That's them," D'ron said, nodding.
Suddenly, Elena saw something from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see it, and found herself looking at a huge scaly beast, taller than the buildings. She stifled a scream, and tugged urgently at D'ron sleeve.
"D'ron!" she whispered. "What's that?"
D'ron looked where she pointed, and smiled. "That's just Dioanth. B'kennor hunted him this morning, so he's sleeping off his meal."
He looked back to Elena, and was surprised to see that her face was filled with fear. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"It is a monster!" she said fearfully.
"A monster!" D'ron exclaimed. "How can you call a dragon a monster?"
Elena stared at him, and mutely shook her head. She never has seen a dragon before, D'ron realised with a shock. How can that be?
I have another chapter pretty much ready to go, but I'm still in need of some help. Ideas, please!