Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [54]
Bealomondore kept up his encouragement. “Laddin will be here soon, and he’s a remarkable healing dragon.” Now he was chattering just to keep her alert. “I don’t know many dragons, so I wouldn’t know if one healing dragon is better at healing than another. I have heard other singing dragons sing, and some are better than others.” They walked across the lawn to the shade of a large tree. “So it stands to reason that some might be more gifted than others of the same talent.”
He eased her down on the grass. Tak settled beside her on the less injured side.
Bealomondore explained what he wanted done. “We need to keep your arm elevated and still. Lie down, and I’ll sit next to you with your hand propped on my leg.”
Once she was situated to his satisfaction and before he took up his position, he asked if he should go back and get the glass of water.
“I’m fine. Keep talking. Tell me how you got into the bottle city.”
“All right.” He thought for a moment as he loosened the tourniquet and applied a new pad of cloth. He then lifted her arm to rest along his thigh. “I told you I was on the way to Ragar to do the painting, right?”
“Yes.”
“I was traveling by cart, with a splendid old nag named Stemmore pulling it. I stopped to give her a rest. Across the glen, the landscape turned rough. Green grass ended among a scattering of boulders, and just beyond, an interesting ridge of stone rose out of the ground. I thought the contrast would make a fascinating painting.
“I left Stemmore grazing and walked around the glen, looking at the prospect from different angles. I went back to the cart, pulled out my painting supplies and my case of clothes. If I was going to paint, I would protect what I had on with a smock.”
“But you needed to get to Ragar.”
“Yes, well … I often get distracted when I see something that must go on canvas or paper.”
“So you decided to camp and draw?”
“I don’t think I decided anything. I just followed an instinct.” He rubbed his chin. The notion to paint the ridge that thickened into a dominant hill and then just as quickly diminished to another string of protrusions from the earth had been too much to resist. He’d thought a number of times that the lure to that area had been more than a whim. Something pulled him.
“Bealomondore?”
“Oh, where was I? Returning to the glen with my things.”
“Yes.”
“When I got to the place I had previously chosen as the best angle, I saw something I hadn’t seen before. The bottle. Of course, I didn’t recognize what it was at the time, only an anomaly that I simply had to investigate. I approached the glass obelisk and realized it was much bigger than I originally thought. I could see a countryside, green and lush, inside. I had my hands full, so I leaned forward. Some invisible force pulled me straight through the glass.”
Ellie nodded and closed her eyes. “The force that pushed me in was Tak.”
“Maa.”
She grinned. “He won’t deny it.”
Bealomondore concentrated on a sound coming from a distance. A chorus of chirps and chitters sounded like an assembly of squirrels voicing their opinions. The entire watch of dragons flew into sight.
Laddin reached them first. He landed on Ellie’s stomach and stretched out so the front side of his entire little body pressed against her. Ellie turned startled eyes to Bealomondore.
“He’s checking the function of your vital organs.”
Her eyebrows went up. Bealomondore almost laughed at her reaction to the minor dragon’s methods. But he noticed the color returning to her cheeks, and that was more satisfying than humorous.
Laddin hopped up, ran to her head, and draped himself over her forehead. Ellie giggled. The minor dragon frowned. A few seconds passed, and he skimmed down her side to the injured arm. There he stayed.
“Now you can just relax, Ellie,” said Bealomondore. “Laddin has assessed your injuries and has gone to work on the one he deems most urgent.”
“I feel something,” she said.
“You feel better, I hope.”
She looked at him with a puzzled frown.