**Dragonhealers**
 
*My rider, there's a sick dragon heading to you.*

Timbolo looked up from the herbs he was rearranging. <A dragon? Which one,
and what's wrong with it?>

*Amethyst, and apparently she was shot by a poisoned arrow.*

<Amethyst..Amethyst> Timbolo pondered.

*The healer's dragon?*

<Ahh yes! Noni's dragon.> He frowned. <She's been shot? With a poisoned
arrow? But who would do such a thing?>

*I don't know, but they're getting ready to land outside. I'd suggest you
come quickly.*

"Yes, yes," Timbolo murmered, then turned as the door was thrown open and
Leycho entered the room. "Tim, they've found a downed dragon."

"I know, Kimith told me. I'm coming now." <Contact Klopru and have him tell
his rider to meet us in front of the hall. Give him the basic details.> With
that, he grabbed his bag, put in three bottles of a poulstice that would
help leech out the poison, and rushed out the door.

He got there just as the large dragon was being set down. "Where's the
wound?" he asked one of the riders as they dismounted.

"As far as we can tell, the right shoulder, just behind the shoulderblade.
It's gotten larger, we think, and it's still oozing."

"What, you didn't even try to stop the flow of blood!?" Timbolo grumbled
under his breath about stupid dragonriders as he headed over to the dragon
and examined the wound. Sure enough, he could see the arrowhead sticking out
of the hide; the wound had definately opened more as the dragon had no doubt
struggled.  "Leycho! I need your help over here."

His mate came running over, and Timbolo said, "Get the poulstices from my
bag. You know, the legwood root one. Yes, that's it." He grasped the arrow,
and prepared to pull it out. "Now, when I pull this out, be prepared to jump
away; she might hurt us without meaning too."

"Tim, I know this already."

"Just a warning." He counted 1-2-3, then pulled the arrow out in one quick
jerk. Incredibly, the dragon didn't move a muscle, making Timbolo even more
worried. "Spread the poulstice over the wound, here," he directed, reaching
down to get another jar as his mate wiped the foul smelling cream over the
wound.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the older dragonhealer Bentriv moving
towards him. "How is she?" the older man asked, scrutinizing the wound in
the dragon's side.

"We don't know yet. She's been exposed to the poison for who knows how long,
and it's probably spread to her liver. We applied legwood poulstice to leech
out any remaining poison, but I don't know if she'll pull through."

Bentriv moved over to the dragon's head while the other two healers
continued working on the wound. "Her eyes are dialated," he called to the
other two. "And the skin around them is growing pale." He shook his head
sadly. "It's going to take a miracle for this dragon to pull through. A
miracle..."

**Medical Hall**

The healers moved a comatose Noni into a room, shooing away any unneeded
personnel. Since Gweish was tending the other dragonrider, Herin looked in
on this one.

His expert eyes moved down her body, taking in the pale, sweaty skin and the
bloody gash on her arm. "She's going into shock. Herm, get some of the
blankets out of the closet, and hurry. Leia, bring me my bag, as well as a
suture kit. She's going to need it for that arm."  As the orderlies moved to
do their assigned jobs, Herin grabbed some anticeptic and, pouring it onto a
cloth wiped away any dirt and grime around the wound. He went and grabbed an
ointment that would take away any pain as well as clean the wound and
liberally applied it to the wound as the two orderlies arrived with their
objects.

"Okay, lay the blanket on her. Yes, good. Now, Leia, string the needle for
me and get ready with the clamps. That wound isn't going to heal on its
own." Another orderly began wiping the girl's face with a damp cloth,
removing any excess sweat that was on the skin.  "She's getting warmer," she
told Herin, feeling the girl's cheeks.

"Damn. Leia, hurry with that needle!" He turned to the only dragonrider in
the room, Ja'ks, and asked, "What happened?"

"She and her dragon were attacked by renegades who shot her dragon with what
we think is a poison arrow. She herself was shot by a crossbow in the upper
arm."

"Yes, we saw that. How's the dragon?"

"Last I saw, not too good. We took her to the dragonhealers, and they were
treating her as I came here."

Herin thought for a moment, then cursed silently. "We have to make sure that
dragon's okay. It could be that it's because of her that we're losing the
girl. Go and get info on the dragon, then come back and tell me. Please."
Without even waiting for an answer, the healer moved back to the girl,
heedless of the dragonrider as he left.

"She's coming to," an orderly shouted, and Herin cursed again. "Damn, but
this is going to hurt then. I need a local anethestic ASAP." 

Noni groaned, then opened her eyes slightly. Her body spasmed, and she
whispered "Ammie," before settling back onto the bed.

"Hurry up!" Herin shouted, concern bubbling up. He liked this girl; she was
a good healer. It'd be a real shame if they lost her. A real shame...



Submitted by

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The Dragon Queen
(a.k.a.)
Ens. Taerin S'ral, USS Orion
Lt. <jg> Leanna Vere, USS Magellan
Rezsia and Jezebel, queenrider and queen of Daere Warren
Lyonnia and Dianthus, rider and dragon of Telnor Warren
Agent Sandra McCormick, Delta team, X-Files
Cynedra/Jakob*the dog*/Louie*the ferret*, Mysterra
Sarah Matthews, Amber