Young Writers Society

Arwen ¬

My head pounding as if a drummer was using my skull to practise with. I groaned and rolled over, curling into a ball, clutching my throbbing head.

"Ow..." I groaned.

"Are you OK?" I uncurled myself and looked up. A young man was knelt beside me, looking at with with corcern etched across his features. I nodded, and the movement sent of sparks of pain exploding inside my head.

"I'm fine," I lied. He obviously knew, because he sighed.

"Let me help you,"

I sat up, and he held out one hand. I took it and pulled myself up, wobbling slightly. The dragon's were still locked in battle- us underneath them. The green dragon lunged for the white, who slashed with the green's wing. It snarled as her claws tore the membrame. I grimaced. I walked slowly backwards, avoiding the dragons feet. They trampled ever closer to us, and the man pushed me behind him. I rolled my eyes and tugged him backwards quickly as the green's foot slammed down as he attacked the white one.

I grabbed the young man's hand and darted away from the fray. I sat down heavily and laughed.

"Thankyou," I said, "But I never got your name?"

Chusi | The Storeroom

Little lizard? Chusi shot the human a disapproving look. Dragons and lizards were scarcely similar to one another! Ignorant little-

Another wave of commotion came from outside, catching Chusi's attention almost instantly. Her head snapped back, driving a shaft of pain down her neck and through her spine. She moaned, squeezed her eyes shut and tried her very hardest not to topple over again. Never again. Never, ever again would she use her head as a battering ram. The human said something that Chusi didn't catch. He was human, wasn't he? Well, either way, that was the name she had given him; and either way, his language was hard to decipher when her head was throbbing so badly.

She hobbled over to the nearest wall, using it in an attempt to massage her forehead. Great, now her blasted scales hurt. Stupid idea number two. And so far, both of those stupid ideas had been witnessed by a human-thing. Well, wasn't that discomforting? At least it was only one human, as opposed to... more than one.

Chusi turned back to the sheet, avoiding eye-contact with Human this time around. She was humiliated enough as it was. She flopped back onto the sheet, stuffing her face into the fabric. Soft was better than hard, at least. A dragon shriek from outside made her head pound harder. She ignored another utterance from Human, shooting him a quick glare before burrowing further into the sheet. Human said something else- Human needed to stop talking. Human really, really needed to be quiet.

And he was- for a while at least. She heard him shift, and then the door creaked open... wait. He was leaving? Why was he leaving? What if he was getting more of his inferior race... it had been predetermined that the people here didn't like dragons. But, if he had wanted her dead, he would have killed her before, right? Unless she had done something that had disturbed him... the glare wouldn't have been taken as too much of a threat, would it have? She flicked a bit more of the sheet over herself, whimpering pathetically. She should move- she really should. Move, run, hide in the wall. Before he came back.

Human's voice said something else, making a startled Chusi look up. Oh God, there were two of them! Human One had never left... Human Two had just entered. This one looked female. Females has things like maternal instincts, didn't they? That was good, wasn't it? Chusi let out another pained noise, scooting backwards a bit. It would probably be in her best interest to make herself as unintimidating as possible right now... as much as it bothered her to do so.

Emperor Zarin Lysanae | Northern Courtyard - Palace

What had she done? I'd felt something settle into place, I'd felt the beginning of a vast peace caressing my mind and had known the word bond, known it like it was the only word worth knowing. But now I clung to my head and groaned as I felt great waves of pain ripping through me. I had to help- but how could I help when my head felt like this?

"You should not have done that," My White said. "Stupid beast." Her voice seemed louder than life and I clung to it to find my bearings, raising my eyes, trying to watch. Was she winning? Surely my White was winning? And my generals were fighting and my son was looking up at me with wide, worried eyes.

"It's nothing," I forced myself to say, breathing deeply and glancing up again. "Stop worrying and keep watch on those creatures. The Generals appear to be ... otherwise occupied." I gasped and clutched my head again, crouching inwards in some futile hope that if I made myself smaller, the pain wouldn't find me. The pain wouldn't know where to look. But of course it did.

"Save her!" I cried out when I could steal enough breath to speak again. I looked up and through the blurry edges of my vision, an arrow broke through. I saw it strike the green dragon in the eye, through the eye! I followed the line of trajectory back to its owner. Violet! I'd never been more pleased to see her. "Again!" I tried to raise my voice above the sound of the fighting. "Attack!" Behind me some of my men must have heard for they rushed forward, toward my White. "No!" It came out as a roar and my guards froze. "The green." I wasn't any closer to finding control over the pain but I propped myself up, leaning on my sword for support.

The green was desperate. It didn't care if it died, it took no notice of the wounds it received. It fought like a rabid dog and many a time I had seen a rabid dog take down the biggest, strongest wolfhound. I could not allow that to happen to my White. I had to shut the pain away. I had to save her, whatever the cost.

Daniel Armtisan | Storeroom

Daniel shot up when he heard the first clack of a shoe on stone. Whirling around, he half reached for his sword. Then –

“Healer,” he said, slowly dropping his arm back in place. And that was the thing about the blue hair – it always reminded Daniel that, the healer, whoever it might be, was the son or daughter of a god. How was that for intimidating? And what was more, this was a royal healer, close to the family. Daniel had seen her before on guard duty – although he could normally hear her first; it was those high-heeled shoes on the flagstones.

“What brings you here?” He asked, trying to pretend that having a crippled purple lizard cooped up in a storeroom was a perfectly natural thing to do.

Behind him, the little dragon whimpered.

“Why,” said Sanura, “is there a dragon – a dragon in pain, I might add – in a castle storeroom?”

Well. That was sharp and to the point. Daniel felt himself standing at attention almost without thinking.

“I found it busting through a door Ma’m. I am guarding it until the trouble with the larger dragons is over, Ma’m.”

Sanura | Storeroom - Inside the Palace:

I raised an eyebrow at that. So that explained the door down the hall. Interesting. And 'guarding it until the trouble with the larger dragons is over'? Hmm. Did that mean that all the noise in the courtyard was from dragons being attacked? Probably. Shaking my head, I moved further into the room, brushing past the guard and dropping into a crouch. I cursed and took off the heels when they almost got caught up in the skirt of my dress.

The little dragon was whimpering softly. I tossed the shoes to one side and knelt down to the little thing's level. "Hey," I said softly, completely ignoring the guard. "Come on out of there." The dragon looked past me, at the guard. I frowned. "I can feel your pain, little one," I added, voice soft, cajoling. The dragon's eyes came back to mine. She was all dark purple and pretty pink with what appeared to be blue eyes. Beautiful, if anything. "I can help you with the pain..." I trailed off with a sigh and looked towards the guard. He just stood there, staring at me.

Fine. I'd do it myself. I scooted closer, trying to be slow and gentle, not look like I was in a rush. I reached out a hand, expecting... I don't know what. But it certainly wasn't the warm feeling in the back of my chest. What was that?

Celosia | Northern Courtyard - Palace

I howled, twisting in the green dragon's grip, the pain slipping through the bond. The Emperor could feel my pain. I had to get out of this, I had to. The green was hellbent on killing me. Even the men attacking it looked nervous. It paid no attention to them, it's full focus was on me.

"Take it out!"

The yell come from somewhere to my left. I felt bones crunching as I was slammed into the wall again. I couldn't shift enough to see who it was--the green was blocking my view. He looked angry now. With another roar, he turned on the men in the courtyard and I caught a glimpse of the Emperor. He was leaning on his sword and behind him, the general and another man were arguing. If I could have scowled right now, I would definitely be doing so. How could those men completely ignore the man I'd bound myself to?

An echo of pain came back at me from the bond and I crumpled into the wall. He could feel it, all of it. I had hoped he wouldn't. Just then, I saw the green's tail come flying towards me. I tried to move, failed, and the tail knocked my head into the wall, making the scene before me darken dangerously. Another swing and my head went back into the wall, much harder than before. I saw the Emperor go to his knees as everything went black.

Orelia-outside the Palace walls

Orelia stared as the elf girl scaled the walls as easy as anything and felt a pang of jealous. If she can do it, why can't I?

She had broken into hundreds of houses in her lifetime. A tracker in the city became a sort of private detective, finding wives cheating on their husbands, business partners making dodgy deals. A palace was just sort of... a big house? Right?

Of course, had you asked Orelia why she was breaking into the palace, she couldn't tell you. It was half morbid curiosity, half reckless courage and half... she was out of halves. She stopped thinking and instead looked for a handhold on the rough wall.

Nobody but someone with elfin blood could have done it. She swung herself onto a handhold about eight feet up, found purchase with her feet then dragged herself up. Thankfully there was ample opportunity to grab onto the wall as she went. Inside there was roaring and shouting, but from this vantage she couldn't see anything.

Finally she found purchase on top of the wall and swung herself over the battlements. A guard looked at her shocked, but clearly Orelia didn't pose a threat compared to what was going on below.

"The dragons are fighting each other?" she asked, too shocked to say anything else.

"One of them seems to have taken a liking to the Emperor," a guard said, clearly as stunned as Orelia was.

She could see the Emperor, leaning on his sword, watching the green and white dragons intently. There were a thousand other things happening, generals shouting, soldiers running, the dust of the courtyard being picked up and swirled over and over. "Well, surely that's a good thing. Surely we should keep that one around."

It was fascination, pure and unadulterated, that had Orelia moving towards the dragons at this point.

"Elfling, that's a mighty foolish thing you're doing!" the guard shouted.

"I'll be fine!" she shouted back and knew that she would be. A tracker never lost her footing. She took the steps and reached the flat of the courtyard where, slowly, chaos was unfolding.

Isolde | Northern Courtyard

Isolde rushed to her father, who was propped up on his sword by now. What had previous been a simple mess had turned into a jungle of disaster right before her eyes. Half-worried and half-annoyed, Isolde rushed to her father, and grabbed one of his arms in an attempt to pull him up. "Father, are you alright?"

He stood up shakily, almost glaring at her from the corner of his eyes. "Do I look alright to you?" He raised his other hand to his head, his eyes scrunching up into an expression on intense pain. "And what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be--"

"I have every right to be here as Bristan does!" Isolde propped him up, putting his arm on her shoulders. "And look at you! You're hurt. Why won't you listen to me for one second?"

She saw a flicker of frustration wrinkle his brow; but it passed on so quickly Isolde wondered if she'd imagined it. "That's...none of your business--"

A roar erupted from the injured dragon as it lumbered towards them--her and her father. Isolde attempted to pull away. "Father, hurry--!" when suddenly the white dragon stepped in its way, shielding them from its advance. Isolde looked up at it.

What was going on?

Northern Courtyard - Palace

Arwen ¬

My head pounding as if a drummer was using my skull to practise with. I groaned and rolled over, curling into a ball, clutching my throbbing head.

"Ow..." I groaned.

George ¬

George didn't like this at all, five burnt faces, three injured men and one dead. Could his day get any worse? He noticed what looked like a woman falling out of the sky, he rushed over to where the two dragons were. His sword vibrated fiercely as he looked towards where the emperor was standing his breath edged, his fear rose.

Just then when he thought that he was just imagining things her body landed upon the scales of the dragon standing between the emperor and the green dragon, suddenly out of the corner of his eye he noticed a man had dropped his sack and rushed over to where she had landed.

"Are you OK?" she uncurled herself and looked up.

"I'm fine," she replied. A sigh came from his lips... then George realised who it was.

"Let me help you,"

She grabbed the young man's hand and darted away from the fray. She laughed, the cloaked man shivering from fear that he might get hurt.

"Thankyou," she said, "But I never got your name?"

Mark ¬

"Mark" He replied slowly helping her to her feet, he began to walk her towards the nearest healer. Bristan lifted her other arm, "Need some help?" Mark nodded as the three of them slowly but steadily headed towards the door.

George ¬

George worried that the tracker and the prince might be killed and he was not about to let that happen. His sword unseathed as he headed towards the dragons. "Sir! What are you doing you're too old to slay another Dragon!" he kept on walking ignoring what had been said to him, his sword flashed green as he slowly approached.

His eyes watched slowly as Mark, Bristan and Arwen walked in the opposite direction, after which he turned towards what could be his death a green dragon westling a white dragon. Though slightly smaller, it looked vicious and deadly. "STAND DOWN STOBBART!" The emperor boomed.

George's eyes watered as he remembered the last memory of his dear beloved wife, anger filled his scream as he raised his sword and took a running slice at the dragon. His sword flashed white as the green dragon cried out in pain.

Three days ago

Library - Inside the Palace

"That rune is only supposted to be used in emergencies! Why on earth did you let the boy use it!" The libarian slammed a book at George's desk as he looked up.

"The castle Guard needed more meat, the cook had recently ran low on supplies - the trade that is coming in isn't good enough. You think all we survive on is weapons and armour?" the libarian looked into his eyes with distaste, this man knew the risks of letting people use the rune without the emperor's orders.

"And what of the farmers? Have they no bread or crops that the guardsmen could eat?" George chuckled, "I suppose they would if we weren't in this drought - it hasn't rained for days people have desperatly banged at the castle doors asking if we had any food to spare... do you think it wise to let them know about what little food we have left?" The librarian looked surprised.

"What about the taverns they- "

"Have refused to serve our guards due to the high tax rates they have recieved from the emperor: people have families. If it was my choice: we'd have farmers in the fields planting apple trees, various other fruit and berries bushes. But, since we have no such seeds... we're stuck with the dry stuff: bread. And that is why I ordered Mark to use the rune and hunt for food - simple."

"And the emperor has not noticed this?"

"The emperor has better things to do than stand in the courtyard all day staring at a stone tablet! No-one has used it for months, only elves can speak the password and as my father said before: it is not worth worrying over unnecessary details. Give the boy a break he's had a rough life." The librarian took a moment to let this sink in, this man had disobeyed the emperor's orders and yet he hasn't a care in the world what could happen to him.

He coughed as he took the book from the desk and placed it under the section called Folklore.

"Then I expect you will take full responsibility when the emperor finds out" The librarian muttered.

"Till then I will enjoy reading in peace" George turned the page as the librarian got back to alphabetising the books into the appropriate sections. He knew that he was probably lying but he was too afraid if he were to ask the emperor about this: they would have his head, no-one likes tattletales nor do they like people wasting their time.

Name: Rhaego
Age: 291
Gender: Male
Race: Dragon
Alligence: The Darkness in his mind/ Occasionally himself.

Appearance:

Rhaego is about 350 feet long with a wing span of 210 feet. He's small for his kind but what he lacks in size, he makes up for with an abundance of spikes running down his head and back. Even his tail has a nice scattering of pointy points. Rhaego has dark green scales but they're matt and dirty; his hide has certainly seen better days. He's even got a spike or two broken off halfway down. His eyes are a golden brown.

Picture:

Personality: Rhaego was once a fierce and determined dragon, intelligent and quick to make the right alliances. He was diplomatic, jovial and possessive. Some of that is still there, but it's hard to reach him now. He's been taken over by the Darkness. Only the dragons have any idea of what it is and it hunts them, it corners them and then it grinds them down. Rhaego is insane and filled with a deep blood lust. When he has lost control it is the blood of others he lusts for, but during his brief moments of sanity, he pleads for his own destruction. Rhaego recognises that in his current state, he is no more than a worm; a parasite. It goes against the proud beast he used to be.

Flaws: Rhaego is insane and as such he has little concern for the wounds he takes, making him a liability to himself. He's rash and he can't think through the Darkness in his mind.

Power/s: Like many dragons he is a fire breather, but he also has the ability to grow spikes. When under great stress he can expel the spikes from his body, sending them out in every direction. It does however take him weeks, sometimes months, to re-grow each one.

History: Hatched and raised in the forest, Rhaego wasn't with his mother long before she abandoned the babe, the runt of her group, to fend for himself. He hunted the forest creatures for food and was late in learning how to fly, not picking it up until he watched another dragon from afar. The other dragon was older than him and bigger and it was invading his territory. Rhaego watched her for weeks, learning what he could from her and trying to decide what to do. In the end he realised that it was in his best interests to befriend her and thus started the first of many alliances.

In his youth, Rhaego was a very charismatic young dragon and made many friends and allys. He was soon able to cut out a territory for himself and defended it fiercely, expanding it slowly to include more areas and more dragons. Rhaego was far from the strongest of his pack but he was well loved and the others valued his intelligence and determination. Whenever there was trouble, they rallied around him to drive the enemy dragons out.

That was all during the good, prosperous years. But when the dark gone, Rhaego lost many of his kin. He watched some die and others kill, driven insane by their grief as the land darkened and turned to ruin. Rhaego tried to keep the peace but he wasn't strong enough and eventually he succumbed to the darkness too. His last sane act was to fly as far from his homeland and his kin as he could, as far away from harming them as the wind could carry him.

Up for love: Yes. He has not yet taken a mate.


Rhaego | Northern Courtyard - Palace

He hurt. He hurt bad, fierce like, but the other dragon hurt too. That was good. That was how it should be; they were well matched. The other dragon was bigger. She was big and icy, from the mountains. Why was he fighting her? Was she in his territory? Yes, that had to be it.

The Green wrestled with the white dragon. He had her backed up against the pallace wall and was lashing his spiked tail against her scales. They were shiny scales. His were dull. The Green knew that his scales were worn and dirty. He couldn't remember the last time he had washed. He couldn't remember his name.

A man thing stuck a steel spike in him and the Green cried out. He snarled and backed away, trying to see both the dragon and the man thing. The dragon was big. He couldn't turn his back on her. But the man thing had a steel spike and those hurt so he had to eat the man thing. There were other man things around. He kept forgetting. One had hurt him in the eye, yes it was hard to see because he had something in his eye. The Green let out a shrill whine and backed further away. He glared at the man thing. It was the man thing's fault that he hurt. It was the man thing's fault that he couldn't remember his name.

The Green felt sure that if he could remember his name he'd remember something else as well. Something important.

Violet | The North Courtyard (Still)


My mind was in shock, leaving my body on autopilot. Without thinking, my fingers drew another arrow from my quiver, and shot it.


The arrow, agin struck true, catching the green in it's thigh muscles.


It bellowed in pain, and thrashed, it's tail knocking me sideways onto the floor. Pain lanced through my left shoulder, and my side was grazed as well.


I clambered ungainly to my feet, my hand reaching instinctively over my shoulder. But my quiver wasn't there. A surge of panic flooded my mind, and I looked around wildly. My bow was only a few feet away- I dodged a flailing leg and grabbed it, but my quiver...?


There...on the green's tail...dangling precariously..could it be?


Yes. That was my quiver, and all my arrows.


A little inconsistant with previous posts there...sorry.

Chusi

Help. The blue-haired human had said it. Unless Chusi had interpreted It wrong. But Blue (her newest nickname) was moving towards her, and she did not like such a large-looking hand coming so close to her face. She shuffled backwards a ways, making a nervous sound in the back of her throat. If her head didn't hurt so badly that she could hardly stand, she'd rip both of these Humans to shreds and make a run for it. Unfortunately, that didn't seem like much of an option right now.

"I'm not going to hurt you- do you want me to help or not?"

Chusi swallowed uneasily, glancing from Human to Blue and back again. Human still had that blasted sword at his side, and that in itself was frightening enough. There was still the chaos outside- chaos that was causing her own species pain- and now Blue was either offering help, or Chusi wasn't understanding her right. She was stuck in a tiny little room with two possible dragon-haters (even I'd they did seem to like her), and it was all just a little overwhelming.

Blue was trying agin, moving her hand slowly towards Chusi's head. She states intently at that hand, waiting for it to sk something that would hurt, and made another scared noise. Still, she couldn't bring herself to move, just incase she really could make it atop hurting. Even so, the little dragon was tense, ready to dart if she had to, and prepared to fall over again of she tried.

The hand touched her head softly, and Chusi foun herself leaking into it. She didn't know what it was, but something felt much better. She shot one last warning glance at Human before closing get eyes. Something definitely felt better.

Zaair

"I am uninjured, but-" he ducked a swipe of the green's tail- "you shouldn't be here."

Amelia took in the scene and shook her head. "Then neither should you." While the battle raged, she sat hunched under his wing. Both Celosia and the stranger were hard at it- no chance to take off.

It was only when Celosia blacked out that he was roused to action. With a roar, he sent a gale-force wind at the stranger. It shrieked, loudly enough to deafen the humans. Hopefully it won't last...

Sanura | Storeroom - Inside the Palace:

"Oh, wow," I breathed, eyes closed. That warm feeling was growing, and I was pouring it into the little dragon. Her head had been hurting, that was what was causing the pain. I healed it enough to stop the pounding, but not enough to give me a nasty headache myself. I rubbed the side of my head with my free hand. Now my head was aching, but it was better than the little dragon hurting. Pain of my own, I could deal with. Watching someone else in pain? Not so much. "That should be better," I said, pulling my hand back.

A spark shot between my hand and the dragon's head and I yelped, shaking my hand. What the heck was that? I shot the guard a glance, then looked at the dragon. She was still all tensed and curled up with her eyes closed. She hadn't moved since I'd removed my hand. I frowned and sat back. She was an old little one. And an interesting little dilemma. What to do with the dragon? She was a baby, that was clear. And I wasn't sure about what was going on outside. I abruptly stood up. I had to check on the situation outside the palace. People could be hurt.

The world span and the pounding grew worse. I abruptly lost my balance and fell straight into the arms of the soldier. "Are you alright?" he asked. I pushed away from him, shoving hair out of eyes.

"I'm fine," I muttered, grabbing hold of a nearby shelf to stay upright. "I need to know about what's going on outside. There..." I leaned against the shelf, rubbing my head again. Wonderful. I had made my headache worse by healing the dragon. Now my pulse pounded in my ears with every heartbeat. My head was already hurting because of my memories coming back, and I just had to heal the dragon? I was an idiot. "There could be someone hurt....outside."

I looked the little dragon. She had opened her eyes and was now watching me. She was smarter than she appeared. Most animals were. That was something we overlooked a lot of the time, and dragons were something we could learn from. Weren't they very wise and intelligent? And not to forget, ancient and fierce when enraged? Oh, yes. Definitely something we could learn from.

In the background, I could hear dragons roaring, men shouting and all the noise soldiers mad when they attacked something. Don't tell me they were attacking a dragon! I pushed away from the shelf and rushed to the door, my head spinning. Maybe I had overdone it? Nausea was setting in. I really didn't need that right now.

"Ma'am?" the guard called after me as I rushed down the hall. I ignored him.

I reached the courtyard in time to see the white dragon collapse and the green turn on the men attacking it. Pain bloomed in my senses and I clutched my head. "Stop!" I yelled, but my call went unheeded. I swore. Somehow, I knew this wasn't going to end well.

Daniel Armtisan | Storeroom

“Ma’am? Healer!” Daniel yelled after Sanura’s retreating back. “Lady Sanura!” It was no good. She was tottering away at a decent pace, and Daniel knew that if he let one of the Royal healers get hurt on some hare-brained scheme, he’d be done for.

“Stay here,” He told the dragon, already on his way out. He slammed the door to the storeroom behind him. What he didn’t see, as he raced down the corridor after the healer, was that the door bounced back on its hinges, and swung wide once again.

“Stop!” He heard Sanura yell from down the corridor. He skidded to a halt next to her, his sword in one hand, dagger in the other. The courtyard was in sheer chaos. Dragons were fighting, soldiers were panicking, trying to hold formation. The emperor and his generals were somewhere in the throng as well. Daniel could see the swirl of capes within the fight.

Beside him, Sanura clutched her head, groaning involuntarily, and swore.

“Lady,” said Daniel, feeling the healer’s distress for the dragon’s plight. “Please, don’t do anything stupid. That’s my job, I believe.” He took a started forward, towards the ongoing battle.

“Stop,” Sanura said, grabbing his arm. “Don’t fight them!”

“What?”

Bristan | Northern Courtyard

"I don't think I even need to ask your name," The elf said, her eyes glittering teasingly as she looked up at me, "Prince Bristan, isn't it?"

I nodded once, surprised, and she let out a soft laugh before pulling away and straightening with a slight grimace of pain. "Well?" she asked, still trying to hide her injuries whilst she retrieved her fallen knife from the ground. "Are you two coming back or are you just going to wait on the sidelines?"

I hesitated, and Mark shook his head at the woman. "You need a Healer. Come into the palace, or you're going to get injured again." He stepped forward as if to reach for her, but she skipped away again, the smile still playing on her lips.

"What would be the fun in that? I'm going to fight, and you can't stop me." A dangerous tone had entered her voice, a challenge behind the playfulness in her eyes. I nodded wearily, then gestured to the dragons.

"How do you intend to-"

A woman's shout cut across me, and the three of us turned to see a Healer run into the courtyard, her expression one of distress. "Don't fight them!" she called out again, and I saw the elf's eyes narrow as she continued to watch the woman.

"She has no idea," the elf muttered to herself, the words barely audible amidst the noise of the courtyard, and set off in the direction of the woman. Waving, I watched her uncertainly for a moment before noticing a heavy limp in her step, and running forward to walk beside her, holding back the urge to pick her up and lead her to safety where she could be healed. "What are you doing?" I asked her, noting belatedly that Mark had followed, his steps tracing mine as we moved.