David lay on the medical bed, A'rillia sitting close by as well as the 
healers, ready with another sedative to sedate him should he arouse.  Two 
straps had broken already, the strong muscles used to working metal 
making short work of the leather.  His voice was the un-real part, 
echoing like some serpent with a thousand mouths.  It was the sound of 
nails on glass.

Minty had gone out when he had come to the first time, sickened to see 
her love reduced to a mindless host of whatever haunted his mind.  Waking 
drowsily again, he/they lay still, remembering the sedatives.  He/They 
spoke up, filling the room with their insane voices.

"Wwwhhheeerrreee iiisss ssshhheee?" The voice asked, the face a twisted 
contortion of rage and agony.  It looked around, seeing the healers 
fingering a syringe lightly.  He/They laughed in spite of it.  A'rillia 
was the first to speak.  

"David.... no, you're not David." She corrected.  "Who are you?" She asked,
realizing the entity was taking over David's very soul.  She could see it
from her viewings, the starlight web surrounding his body turning 
blacker every muinute.

"Wwweee hhhaaavvveee tttooolllddd yyyooouuu, Hhheeeaaallliiinnnggg 
Bbbiiitttccchhh!  Aaannnddd wwwhhheeennn wwweee aaarrreee fffrrreeeeee, 
yyyooouuu, aaannnddd ttthhhiiisss pppiiitttiiifffuuullllll lllaaannnddd, 
wwwiiillllll DDDIIIEEE!" The entity screamed, causing everyone to cover 
their ears.  The blackness spreading across his soul moveing faster, and a 
soft keening could be heard from outside.  Kaylin was prepareing to die.  
The black dragon, in his distress, wondered where Kirimith was...

Finally D'sarrian shot David up with another dose of sedatives, knocking 
him out again.  He paced across the room, wondering what was going on.  
Turning on A'rillia, he shook his head.  "Can't you help him any more?" 
He asked, an almost pleading look on his face.  A'rillia thought the 
options, the whole idea of touching David's now almost blackened soul 
again made her stomache curdle.  

He was now tossing restlessly, and David's true face appeared for a brief 
second, the look sad and lonely.  His eyes, now human, focused on
A'rillia, and he spoke.  "Have mercy... and kill me." He whispered, and 
the humanity was gone, replaced by something inhuman.  A'rillia grew 
angry, knowing now that David, the true David, was giving up.  Standing 
up, hurling her chair backwards, she ran over to the entity, and grabbed 
David's head between her hands, extending her mind.  

"I WILL NOT LET YOU DIE!" She screamed, both out loud and with her thoughts, 
letting her soul merge with what was left of David's, the white seeking 
desperately to push the darkness away.

David threw his head back, screaming loudly, with both a human and alien 
voice.  From his body it seemed that his soul was ripping out, tearing 
away from his mind and heart, A'rillia unable to let the bond between 
their minds break.  
Further the evil ripped away, tendrils clinging desperately to whatever 
they could on his body.  White lay underneath, exposing a totaly 
different soul, a soul that was real.  

A'rillia watched with terrified eyes as the entity was forced out of
David's body, the millions of voices crying out in a surge of death, 
clawing at anything near them.  The air around David began to shift, the 
colors becoming blurry, like they were seen through a sheet of rippleing 
water.  The force flung A'rillia from David's side and she landed on the 
floor across the room.  She winced, and looked over at the healers.  
They too were witnessing this.  

The ripple encompased David, and it seemed as if he were viewed 
from a kaliedoscope, his body splitting from itself and yet still 
attatched.  The entity became real for a brief moment, its hellish gaze 
turning on the three people, reaching to take them with it.  Light, from 
what seemed a million stars, filled the room...



C'tain, who had fallen against one of the walls, lowered his arms from 
his face.  He had shielded himself from the light, and as his eyes became 
accustomed to the dim illumination, he looked around.  David was lying 
still on his bed, his face peaceful, breathing normally.  D'sarrian had 
already gotten up to see to A'rillia.  She was helped into a chair, and 
C'tain walked cautiously over to David, checking his vitals.  He couldn't 
believe it, everything seemed normal.  

A'rillia, slumping tiredly, smiled.  "He's fine, I can see it.  For some 
reason, he's perfectly fine..." He voice held a tinge of madness, her 
mind desperately seeking to understand what she did.  D'sarrian gave her 
a mild sedative.  C'tain shook his head and put a hand on Arri's 
shoulder.  "My dear, you did it..."

David woke up, yawning slightly, shaking his head.  He blinked and looked 
around.  "D'sarrian, ye would think that those drugs ya put me on would 
get rid o'headaches too." He said, making a small joke.  The healer 
laughed, and looked at the other two.  "That's the David I remember!" He 
said, and went to check his patient's shoulder.

Opening the bandages, the wound seemed to have healed considerably, the 
scar tissue a pale white against his skin, but that was all.  David 
looked over to A'rillia and made a confused look.  "Do I know ye?" He said.

(Betty, if you want to add some more stuff? *g*)

Between the three, the healers recounted the story of what David had went 
through since for some reason he didn't remember any of it.  It took a 
while, and after they were finished, David just shrugged.  "I still don't 
remember a thing, and from what ye all have told me, I don't want t'."

Suddenly, David heard a keening.  Kirimith was calling out to any who 
would listen.  *Please, someone help me!  Minty is dying!*

David's face turned pale white, and he jumped out of bed, unconcerned 
that he was wearing just some loose shorts.  C'tain tried to hold him 
down, and he shrugged the hand off.  "Minty is in trouble!  You've got to 
save her!" He told C'tain, and as he was running out the door with the 
healer, he found out where Minty was.  

****** IN THE MEDICAL CENTER: LATER *******

"Do something... don't let her die..." David said as he paced back and 
forth in the room.  He looked over to the bed where Minty lay, the healer 
monitering her, and A'rillia could see tears form in his eyes.  

"..... hearbeat's getting stronger." D'sarrian said, and nodded towards 
David that he could come closer.  He knelt next to the bed and took one 
of Minty's hands in his own, gently caressing her face, hopeing to see 
some sort of emotion in it.  Laying his head against her chest, he 
struggled against the emotions pouring through his soul, not wanting to 
break down when Minty would need him the most.  

After a while, C'tain pulled David aside in the nearly barren hallway.  
His face was grim, and David turned away, not wanting to face the 
news.

"David, Minty will live.  We got to her in time, though she lost alot of 
blood..." The healer said, and David sighed in relief, leaning against 
the wall.  "But that's not all.  David..." He said, and looked into his 
eyes.  He wasn't sure how to do this to him.  "Minty lost the baby." 

David looked confused for a second, and then he closed his eyes, and 
walked into the room.  Sitting next to Minty, he looked at her, and 
cried.  At first the tears came slowly, falling down his cheeks as he 
watched the woman he loved.  The woman that would have bared his, their, 
child.  He crumpled against her, the tears coming faster as he clenched 
the sheets over her.  "Why..." He whispered, oblivious to the world 
around him.  "Why did it have to happen?" He said, turning on the 
healers.  "Why did the baby have to die, after I lived and Minty lived, 
when I would have given my own soul for it?  What did she do to deserve 
this?" He yelled, motioning towards Minty.  "All she ever did was want 
happiness, and now... now..." He fell to his knees, and Arri knelt next 
to him with an embrace.  He struggled at first, and then relented, sobbing 
in her arms.  

D'sarrian and C'tain walked out of the room.  There was nothing more they 
could do, and as they left, C'tain looked over his shoulder at David. 
A tear drifted down his cheek, he couldn't answer David's questions, as 
much as he wished he could.
The door closed behind him.

********EARLY IN THE MORNING ********

*She will stay with us now.... she said to tell you she loves you*  Kirimith
told David.  He had taken up a vigil next to her bed, waiting for her to 
re-gain consciousness.   He smiled, and squeezed her hand.  "I love ye 
too love." He said quietly.

*Does she know she lost the baby?*  he asked the Dragon.  

*I thought it best to wait until she is stronger.*  Kiri replied  *Did I do
wrong?*

*No, you did right.  She needs to hear it from me.*
David kissed Minty's white face, and waited for her to wake up, eyes 
cloudy with welled up tears...

*********** SUBMITTED BY ***********

	      Justin
NRPG:  Well, that seems to conclude 'The Circle'...

      /\     /^---_---^\     /\     "Pain?  What do you know of pain?  I've
     /  \    > |_\ /_| <    /  \     experienced anguish at the molecular
    /    \   |         |   /    \    level.  Let me show you what it's like."
   /      \   \  o o  /   /      \  "Dragons exist my friend, for the sheer
  /        \  |\_____/|  /        \  fact that in all cultures they are
 |          \ | \/ \/ | /          | present, weather separated by land
     ----------       ----------     sea or air."----  Justin Almeida