Chapter 19: Showdown

"Lindsay!" Donil cried. "Here, have a seat." She guided Lindsay to a chair and sat her down.

"Of course, take her first. I'm only the leader of your entire race, standing here bleeding out onto the floor," Sirix said, sarcastically.

"And if it wasn't for me, you'd be dead," Lindsay shot back. "What, three times now?"

"Two."

"I'm sorry, Bona Serat Corsar, you can't sit until I examine you. Otherwise you might tear something," Donil said in her most professional tone, writing board in hand.

"Oh sure, take her side."

"Can you take off your shirt, Lindsay?" Lindsay did as Donil asked. "And that other thing, too." Donil indicated to her bra with her writing tool.

Lindsay blushed; her eyes caught Donil's. Donil's cheeks whitened slightly and she quickly turned to Sirix as Lindsay removed her bra, allowing her breasts to hang freely in the cool night air. She could see Sirix's eyes on them, hungry.

"Raise your right arm, Sirix." She glared at him as he failed to move, still staring at Lindsay. "Sirix!"

"Oh, right." Sirix raised his arm and Donil carefully removed his shirt.

Oh that body! Lindsay wanted to stare but found her eyes drawn to the dripping patch of liquid gold where Sirix's hand was. Blood was running between his fingers. It was both beautiful and terrible. Donil frowned. She put her board down and grabbed a gauzy substance and a tool that looked like a large pair of pointed tweezers.

"Let me see it," Donil said.

Sirix tilted his hand away from the wound so it was still cupped against his side to catch any blood. Lindsay winced. Donil didn't. She went right in with the forceps. Sirix grimaced as she slowly extracted a long sliver of wood and placed it on the gauze. Then back in and soon a shard of rose gold followed it. Two more came.

"I hate these Nobillo spear heads," she said, clearly to Lindsay, though her eyes were focused on Sirix's wound. "They make them with these intricate gold designs that are meant to break off in the body of anyone who gets stabbed with one. So even if someone survives, they often get infections. Ugh." She returned to the desk and grabbed what kind of looked like a pair of glasses and put them on, returning to Sirix's side.

Oh hell. She looked even better in those! Especially with her beautiful mouth all tight in concentration. Those kissable lips pursed as she searched the wound.

"What are those?" Lindsay asked, trying to get her mind out of the places it was dying to go.

"Magnifiers. Sirix's grandfather invented them. Something he picked up from the human and changed to be useful for us."

"Ouch!" Sirix exclaimed.

"Don't be so dramatic just because Lindsay's here, I've seen you not even bat an eye with much worse than this."

"Is he being a drama queen to get sympathy?" Lindsay asked, teasingly.

"Normally, I'd be dragging him in here to get this treated." Donil pulled out a swatch of cloth. "Hold this on it. And if you even think of whining that it hurts, I'll just stitch it instead of giving you a skin graft." Donil turned her attention to Lindsay, taking a swab on a stick to her back.

"Chicks dig scars," Lindsay said, not sure who she was trying to provoke. Maybe Donil, maybe Sirix, maybe both of them.

"She makes a good case," Sirix said.

"Good, she can dig her own, then. Lindsay," she said, gently, "your wounds aren't very deep, but they are wide. I can either use the medical paper like I did for your arm and side, or we can try a skin graft."

"Do you think it will work?"

"I've done some tests and it is promising. Unlike the paper, it will only take a day or two to heal. The process won't leave a real scar, but the skin will be blue."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"I'll have to take it out and we can use the paper."

"How long with the paper?"

"Two weeks. And you wouldn't be able to train."

"I can't be out of the field that long." Lindsay shook her head. "See if it works."

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute."

"Won't they have questions when you go home?" Sirix asked.

Of course he was right. A giant ragged blue patch on her shoulder would certainly grab people's attention. But what irritated her more was that he'd said it. The last thing she wanted to hear from him was about her leaving. Yes, it was going to happen, of course it would - but he could at least do her the favor of pretending their time together wasn't on a ticking clock.

"I have to live long enough to get home. I'll think of something. Maybe get a tattoo. Why do you care, anyway? It's not like you want me to go."

Sirix stepped to her, leaving a trail of golden drops on the floor. "It's one of the last things I want, but it is reality. And I love you enough that I want you to be happy when you go back."

She rested her arms on his shoulders. "Go to hell, Sirix. How am I supposed to be happy without you?"

He looked at her through hooded eyes. "You'll find a way." His hands found her waist. She leaned up for his kiss.

"There'll be none of that here," Donil said, striding into the room carrying a few blue colored sheets and two bottles of transparent liquid, one clear and the other a light yellow.

They quickly separated, Lindsay with a slightly embarrassed smile, though Sirix didn't seem the least bit ashamed. Of course not. He was shameless.

Donil put down the blue sheets. "Sirix, are you carrying?"

"What do you think?" he said with a smirk.

"The rastoran root, then." She shook the yellowish bottle, poured the contents onto a gauzy square, and began wiping his wound.

Carrying? She means an egg, doesn't she? Lindsay thought. Probably with that messenger. The image of the face of the messenger lying lifeless in the dirt flashed through her mind. "Corlan's dead." she said.

"What?" Both Donil and Sirix's heads turned from where she was applying a patch of what looked like blue skin.

"Corlan. He's dead."

Sirix looked concerned. "You saw more than just the patrol, didn't you?"

"The Nobillo were attacking the camp. It was on fire. They tore apart babies... and ate them. I saw it!" She began shaking. "It was horrible! And one of them picked up this old Corsar, which must have been Corlan, and tore his egg sack out and then they dropped him. It must have been from two hundred feet. I watched him die!" She couldn't control her tears.

"Oh Lindsay!" Donil rushed to embrace her. "I'm so sorry!"

"Poor Nol," Sirix said, eyes cast to the ground. "And Veralosa. He was their father."

"Really?" Lindsay asked. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"No, they really take after their mothers."

"I would never have guessed they were siblings. What should we do for them?"

"What we are doing. They'd want nothing more. Were there any survivors?" Sirix asked.

"I don't know."

"Look at the eyestone and concentrate."

"What?" Lindsay asked.

"Please, don't ask, just try."

Lindsay looked at the eyestone on her wrist and concentrated on the camp. Suddenly, she was there. It was just a blackened shell. She heard noise, movement. From beneath the burned-out showers a woman and two children who looked like they were maybe nine or ten emerged.

They heard a sound, turned toward it. A horrible shriek filled the air. They ran into the woods just as a Nobillo crashed into the area, thrashing about. Lindsay could see his wings were badly broken. He sniffed the place the woman and children just came out of, then scented the air. He quickly ran off on all fours after them.

"Indsayee."

She jolted back with a light shake. Sirix and Donil's concerned faces filled her vision.

"What did you see?" Sirix asked.

"There are survivors, but they aren't alone. There are Nobillo after them."

"We'll have to stage a rescue. Argh!" Sirix tried to move too fast. He crumpled slightly, clutching his side.

"You're not going anywhere," Donil said. "You need to rest."

"I'll go," Lindsay said. "My shoulder's not too bad, by the time we get there it should be healed."

"I'd rather send Nol, you don't know those woods."

"You know we can't spare Nol, she's the best fighter in the camp and the leader of our troops. I can take Veralosa. You said he and Nol were from there. He should know the area just as well and he's strong enough to carry anyone too injured to walk. Besides, apparently, I can find the survivors. If anyone needs to go, it's me."

"And me," Donil said.

"No, send Regar," Sirix said.

"Regar can handle things here, I'm not letting Lindsay go on this mission without the best doctor we have and we both know that's me. You wanted to use the eyestone; this is what you get."

"Wait, what?" Lindsay was lost and she felt it wasn't in a good way. "Wanted to use the eyestone? Sirix, did you know I would be able to see things?"

"No," Sirix answered.

"Yes," Donil said.

"It was a theory."

"And you didn't tell me?!" Lindsay could feel her anger rising. "So it was all just an experiment?"

"Indsayee! No! I thought we might be able to use it to control your powers."

"To control my powers?!" She was furious.

"Your visions were out of control! If we could focus you on the stone, I hoped maybe that would stop them."

"And that maybe she would be able to use the stone to focus her powers when you wanted to use them. Don't forget that part," Donil added. She looked as furious as Lindsay felt. "I was against it from the start and now it sounds like you didn't even tell her?"

"I didn't think it would actually work that well. It was your theory, afterall."

"It was just a thought!"

"Sirix. You. Leave." Lindsay's words were failing her at the moment.

"There's a room down the hall," Donil said, guiding Sirix out. She turned to Lindsay. "Do you want me to go as well? Regar can finish up if you like."

"No, you can stay."

Donil took the clear liquid and began wiping down Lindsay's shoulder. It felt abnormally cold and burned against her flayed flesh, just like she wanted it to do right now. "This is an enzyme that will help the flesh bond to your skin," Donil explained quietly. She took one of the blue sheets and peeled it from some sort of clear material. Like some kind of skin sticker, Lindsay thought.

Donil lay the skin graft on Lindsay's shoulder. "Try not to move too much, I'm going to cut it so it's even."

Lindsay felt the slight pressure of the knife as it slid along her skin. "I can't believe I let another man use me for my powers like that. To try to turn me into a weapon."

"It's a war," Donil said.

"I don't care! I thought he loved me! I really believed him! But he was just using me."

"He does love you."

"Because I'm useful to him."

"No, Lindsay." Donil sat down next to her on the bed and took her hand. "He came to me in a panic because you were having visions inside the Nobillo castle. He said you'd been sick from it. And that you'd been seen by one of the princes. He wanted to come up with a way to stop the visions."

"To stop them?"

"If the princes catch you, they can invade your mind. They could use it to find out where we are. They could use it to control you. They've done it before."

"They have?"

"Yes, with the planewalkers. Humans who can travel the astral plane. That is how they were able to convince them to reopen the gate to Earth, and to sacrifice their fellow humans through it. I first suggested a tranquilizer, but he didn't want to drug you. Then I thought if you could focus your mind... He suggested the eyestone. But there was the chance that if you got used to focusing on an object, when you saw it, you might be able to use it at will and I knew if you could..."

"I would," Lindsay finished.

"It was against my explicit orders to use it. It was too risky. I advised him to try meditative techniques. If I'd known he'd done it behind my back..." She glared at the door Sirix had gone out of. "He should've have at least told you."

"So, he wasn't trying to make me a weapon?"

"I won't lie and say he didn't see the use in it, but that was never why he wanted to. He just wanted to be able to love you the way you wanted without risking your life." Donil wiped a tear from her eye.

"Are you done with my back?"

"Yes." Donil looked absolutely miserable.

"Thank you for telling me, Donil." Lindsay clasped her arms around Donil. She felt Donil's body melt against hers. If what Sirix had said about her liking Lindsay was true, Donil had just done the most selfless thing: she'd defended Sirix when she could have thrown him under the bus.

Lindsay shut her eyes, feeling the softness and warmth of Donil's body, neither making any sign of wanting to break the embrace. "Thank you," she whispered.

Donil's body stiffened and she backed out of the hug, turning to her board. "I can send him in, if you want. You can... talk. Just nothing too strenuous, give your shoulder another day. Nothing hard on him for a week."

"Okay."

She left the room, moments later Sirix stood in the doorway, looking rather worse for the wear.

"Sirix, I'm sorry."

He stepped forward, closing the door behind him. "No, I should have told you. Who knows what could have happened as a result of my... I just wanted to protect you. I've already made you a soldier, a killer, I didn't want you to know you could become a weapon... Because you might choose it. I put your mind in danger-"

"Sirix, shh." She placed a finger on his lips, her other hand guiding his to her shorts. His fingers slid under the pink denim waist. She undid the fly and he slid the shorts down her hips, letting them fall to the ground, revealing her nakedness, her panties still on the floor of his tent. His palm nestled into her pubic hair, groping, massaging, fingers brushing into the labia.

"Donil said nothing too strenuous," she breathed into his ear.

He kissed her, gently pushing her back onto the bed with the force of it. His tongue slipped between her lips, finding hers, showing her exactly what his intentions for her would be as his palm found her breast. She moaned softly into his kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck.

His lips traveled down her jaw to her neck, sucking her collarbone along the way, down to her bare breast where they found the nipple and sucked so gently she felt all her tension leaving her, until one nip brought it right back. She gasped. Her hands tangling themselves in his hair. His lips continued their journey down her stomach.

"Sirix," she said as he was about to cross the line to her thighs.

He raised his head.

"I love you."

He smiled, continuing down. He kissed the top of her labia, following them down. She sighed as his tongue slipped inside of her, eyes closing as she let herself get lost in the feeling of it. There was no hurry. Her fingers combed through his hair, massaging his scalp. It was wonderful. She wrapped her legs around his shoulders, hooking the ankles at his midback as he pushed forward, through the inner labia to her clitoris.

She moaned softly, twisting beneath him as an orgasm began to form within her. Not a storming sudden one. Just a slow, soft one, like a spring rain. Her legs shook, her hips pulsed and tightened. He pulled her in harder. Thunder rolled within her. She let out a long, low moan as her body convulsed in a slow-burning ecstasy. He pulled up on her, his body covering hers, eyes filled with love. She could see her own adoration reflected back in them. She wrapped her arms around him and, within moments, was lost in a deep, black slumber.