Dragonspell - Donita K. Paul [48]
Now the dragon’s hope soared and invaded Kale as the o’rant touched Celisse’s thoughts. Kale trembled as she tried to sort through the dragon’s turmoil.
In addition to the emotions transferred from the dragon, Kale’s heart responded to the story of Risto’s callous destruction of the honest farmer and his family. She had to deal with her own feelings of disgust and anger. She understood Celisse’s desire to join forces with those who opposed Risto’s evil. She, too, felt an outrage against his crimes.
However, one aspect of Celisse’s determination to seek revenge puzzled Kale. The o’rant girl had never heard of the “mighty Dragon Keeper” and could only guess his identity.
Paladin? she quizzed the dragon.
The dragon’s thought pattern rippled with laughter. “You are the mighty Dragon Keeper.”
Kale’s mouth dropped open, and she closed it with a snap.
“That’s ridiculous. I haven’t even been to The Hall yet.” She spoke sternly to Celisse and moved closer. In the murky gray light, she could see an odd spiny growth on Celisse’s back, over the left wing, and behind a shoulder blade. She studied it for a moment and then let out a horrified gasp.
The poisoned arrows! Long barbs stuck out of swollen flesh like pins in a cushion. Kale’s stomach turned just the way it had when she had to pull a fishhook out of little Dubby Brummer’s thumb.
This would be worse, much worse.
19
HEALING
Kale’s memory latched on to one of Leetu’s instructions.
The purple root cleans a wound and kills the pain.
Kale tore the buttons of her cape out of the buttonholes and whipped the special garment off her shoulders. She turned the cape inside out and laid it on the barn floor. Kneeling, she began to empty the two side hollows. Gymn poked his head out of his pocket-den and watched intently as Kale sorted through the many different items.
“Where is it? Where is it?”
Finally, she pulled a purple tuberous root out of the pocket.
“A knife. I need a knife.”
Gymn darted out of his hole, dove into a hollow, and came out seconds later with a pocketknife in his mouth. He dropped it in front of Kale and lunged back into his own pocket.
Kale muttered, “Thanks,” and picked up the knife. By scraping the root with the edge of the blade, Kale made a pile of creamy violet powder. When she had a handful of the precious medicine, she took it over to Celisse.
“I think you’ll have to lay on your side in order for me to reach the wound,” she told the huge beast.
The dragon, already in a prone position, shifted, and her bulky torso rolled over. Exhausted, she stretched out her neck and closed her eyes. Her shallow breathing barely stirred the bits of hay on the dirt floor. Occasionally, a moan escaped her throat.
Kale went right to work. She spread the powder over the swollen flesh, around the protruding arrow shafts, and put an extra amount where heat radiated from pus-filled sores.
“I suppose it would have been better to make a poultice, but we don’t have what we need.” She spoke aloud, but when she looked at the dragon’s face, the huge beast seemed to be unconscious.
“I’m doing the best I can, Celisse.”
I really hope it’s enough. Granny Noon, you should be here.
Kale remembered something the old emerlindian had said as they parted at the gateway. “My hope goes with you.”
Kale leaned against the ailing dragon’s side.
“Will that help? Will Granny Noon’s hope help?” she asked in the cool, dark barn.
Kale waited. The medicine needed some time to work, but not much. Leetu had said powder from the purple root worked quickly. While the minutes ticked by, Kale went over some of the other medicinal objects Granny Noon had put in her hollow pockets. She remembered a brown vial with a cork stopper. She returned to the cape to rummage through the collection.
“Here it is.”
She walked back to the dragon, pulling the plug out of the neck of the bottle as