>Minty spun around at the scream, seeing her lover fall to his knees, 
>blood covering his hand as he ran his head into the nearest wall.  "Make 
>them STOP!!!!!" He cried out, hitting his head again, trying to stop the 
>splitting pain that had begun to bombard his mind.


She ran to him, the letter fluttering unnoticed to the floor.   She hung on
to him, using her slight weight to try to stop him hitting his head against
the wall once more.  "Stop love please!"  she begged him tearfully,
frightened that he'd do himself some serious harm  "Please love... we'll
get you to the Med centre.  Just stop....."


As she tried to restrain him they overbalanced and fell.  David's stiff
body, eyes wide and unseeing, fell across her and she cried out in pain as
the air was driven from her lungs.  *Kirimith get help.*  she mind-called
as she tried to move his weight from her chest  *David needs help....*  


She struggled from beneath him, hearing the sound of beating wings recede
as Kiri went to fetch help.  She cradled him in her arms, wiping the blood
from his face when the hem of her skirt.  When he suddenly went limp in her
grasp she checked frantically for a pulse, convinced he was dead.  The tiny
gasp that issued from his lips as he slid into unconsciousness reassured
her slightly, but she didn't relax completely until Kirimith reappeared
with C'tain.


He came bustling in, and his cheerful demeanour as he examined the still
form finally set her mind at rest somewhat.


"So what happened Minty?"  he asked as he checked David's bloody head
"He's had a fall obviously... what did he hit his head on?"


"He ran into the wall."  Minty said tearfully, still kneeling beside
David's prostrate body, her fingers twined in his  "I think he was trying
to make them stop..."


"Them?"  C'tain looked up at her


"The dragons."  she explained quietly  "He wanted the dragons to stop.
They were all mourning the loss of Gagnon and Perion, and he couldn't stand
the pain and sorrow after everything else that happened today..... not
after the strain of co-ordinating the battle to rescue Carie and Fiera this
morning, then the shock and loss when Sarathain suicided at Margate this
morning."


"He's been overusing his talents again."  C'tain nodded to himself  "I want
to do some tests on him, so I'll need to keep him in the Med centre at
least overnight."  He opened out the stretcher he'd brought with him and
carefully positioned it so that he could gently roll David's body onto it
without too much movement. "If you'd help me....."


She lifted one end and with C'tain supporting the other they carefully went
out to the ledge. They strapped their burden to Kaylin's back, and C'tain
seated himself astride the dragon's neck, steadying the stretcher.


"If you'd be so kind as to ask Kiri to ask Kaylin to fly us down."  C'tain
asked her  "I'll meet you at the Med centre."


Kaylin carefully spread his wings, launching from the ledge with scarcely a
bump, concerned for his rider's comfort.  Minty followed them down on
Kirimith.....  


<..>


"You should wait outside until they've finished looking him over."  Mabe
told her, trying to steer her away from the bed  "You'll only get in the
way....."


She shook her head stubbornly, and dodged around the woman.   She clung to
David's hand as Mabe tried to tug her away from his side  "I'll stay out of
the way, but I'm not leaving him."  she insisted fiercely  


"Let her be Mabe."  C'tain said with a sigh as he examined David  "We've
been through this with these two before.  Just stay out of the way Minty...."


She nodded quickly, and moved to the end of the bed.  Her eyes sparkled
with unshed tears as she waited for C'tain to tell her how much damage had
been done this time.....


<..>


"We're using some tinted lenses to reduce the photosensitivity that caused
the blinding headache, and I've given him a sedative to keep him out of it
for the rest of the night.  It's hard to tell what the full effects will be
until he wakes up but.... "  C'tain hesitated, looking to see whether Minty
was strong enough to cope with what he had to say to her  


"But?"  Minty asked tensely, frightened of what he might say, but wanting
to know all the same  "Please... whatever it is then I *need* to know."


"There was some bleeding into the brain.  Not much..." he added hastily as
Minty gasped and sank back into her chair  "As I said we won't know what
the full effect will be until he wakes up.  He has a few small numb patches
on his face, and that may be all the damage there is if we're lucky."


"But it will get better won't it?"  Minty begged 


"I'm sorry Minty, "  he shook his head  "The brain and nerves can't repair
themselves the way the other organs in the body can. Each time he strains
his talent this way the same thing will happen.... The weaker blood vessels
in the brain will rupture and bleed into the surrounding tissues causing
some permanent damage."


"Can't you stop it from happening, or give him something to stop the
telepathy all together?" the tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks as
she looked at her sleeping lover  "There are other telepaths in the Lands
and this doesn't happen to them when they use their talents.  Why should it
happen to David?"


"We're not really sure why.  It's possible that the way he discovered he
was a telepath had something to do with it.  Most of the telepaths that we
know of start hearing the dragons at a very young age, it gradually becomes
stronger as the years go by, and by the time they reach David's age they
can use the gift reliably and safely.  But with David....."  He put his arm
round her, trying to comfort her.  "It didn't happen that way with David.
His talent was latent until he Joined with Kaylin'sha..."


"I remember it caused some consternation at Keldarra"  she wiped her eyes
with her sleeve, and pushed C'tain away, taking David's hand once more. "He
collapsed and was unconscious for a time after he Joined with
Kaylin.....but why would that make a difference?"


"Maybe because the pathway was forced instead of being formed naturally.
We don't know that much about why some are telepathic and others aren't.
Whatever it was David's gift is also a curse.   We can keep a careful watch
on him, and warn him not to overuse the ability...."  C'tain shrugged
helplessly


"I've tried."  Minty murmured.  She brushed the damp hair back from David's
forehead and dropped a light kiss on his lips   "Believe me I've tried, but
he's such a stubborn man."


"We'll talk to him again in the morning.  He may be stubborn but I don't
think he has a death wish.  Will you be alright if I leave you to it?  I've
others to see to."


"We'll be fine."  Minty settled back in the chair  


"Call if he needs anything.  You should know the drill by now, you two have
been in here often enough since you came to Marrid."


Minty smiled at the weak joke and C'tain left, closing th door quietly
behind him.....


<..>


>"Please, not too fast." The voice said again, and David saw that it was 
>C'tain with a very worried Minty looking over his shoulder.  "You gave us 
>a scare last night, David." He said with a smile, "Minty got you here 
>quick enough, so you'll be all right soon."  He turned around and nodded 
>to her, and she sat on the bed carefully as he backed away.
>
>"You've got to stop over-exerting your abilities, David.  I don't want 
>to see you in here every time you go to battle..." He began, but David 
>interrupted.
>
>"It wasn't just that." He said, sitting up, and was hit by a wave of 
>vertigo.  Minty put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him.  "It was 
>everything put together.  The deaths, the battles..." He shook his head, 
>trying to clear his mind.
>
>"I understand, but I still want to see you once a week now so we can see 
>how to treat your malady."
>
>"But..."
>

"No 'buts' about it.  I'm sure Minty will agree with me." He said, 
looking with a conspiratorial smile towards the young woman.  She nodded in
quickly in agreement, and sighed with relief when David made no further
protest.  


>David sighed, and nodded.  "I'll be there."
>
>"Good, now I'm going to leave you two alone while I go check on another 
>patient."  He said, and before he left the room, he turned around.  
>"You're part of the Guild of Swords, right?"
>
>"Aye." David said, "Why?"
>
>"We had an incident last night, so you might want to talk with Waylene 
>and Z'lec about it.  It involved a guild memeber." C'tain said.
>
>"When can I leave?" David asked, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere unless 
>the healer said he could.
>
>"About an hour.  The pain killers should have worn off by then." He said, 
>and with a smile and a wink, closed the door behind him.
>
>David looked at Minty.  "I'm sorry love..." He said, and she shook her 
>head.


"Don't.  I'm just grateful you're alright."  she hushed him quickly,  her
tears still very near the surface.  "Just promise me that you won't over
exert yourself that way again.  Please?"


"I'll try not to love."  he held her close, running his fingers through her
hair, soothing her.  She relaxed into his arms, knowing that this was the
nearest to a promise she would get from him.  He kissed herr deeply, wiping
the tears from her damp cheeks.  The silence between them was warm and
comfortable.  She caressed his face with a trembling hand, knocking the
glasses he wore to protect his eyes, and he put his hand up to his face as
he realised why the light in the room was so dim.


>"What are these?" He asked, and began to remove whatever the contraption 
>was.
>
>"No!" Minty cried, and stopped his hands.  "They're special glasses, 
>tinted to keep the light down."
>
>"But why?" He asked, keeping them in place.
>
>"Your medication, and the injury, make your eyes sensitive to light.  
>C'tain said if you take them off prematurely, you could have a relapse of 
>last night." Minty said, and held up a small mirror.
>
>The lenses were circle, and gave off a reflexion from the black glass.  
>"Well, if I have to wear them, I have to wear them." David said with a 
>smile, and looked at Minty.  "So, how do I look?"
>
>Minty giggled, and shook her head.  "Strange, but still handsome." She 
>said, and put the mirrior down to cuddle next to him on the bed.
>
>"So, I have about an hour in here eh?" He said, and made a very 
>suggestive look towards his mate.  She looked up at him, and blushed 
>deeply as he kissed her, moving her underneath the covers....


"Are you sure an hour will be long enough?...." she whispered as she
nibbled his ear lobe


<..>

<Later that evening>


Minty cleared the last of the supper dishes from the table and just dumped
them into the sink to soak.  Tomorrow would be soon enough for chores, she
decided... for now she had something she wanted to discuss.  She opened the
bottle of wine she been chilling all afternoon, and took that and the two
glasses into the main room.  

She poured the wine, handed one of the glasses to David, and then settled
on the couch beside him with her feet tucked beneath her.  Sighing
contentedly she leant softly against him, and laid her head on his
shoulder.  She was quiet for a while as she sipped the wine, but finally
she said tentatively;


"I spoke to C'tain this morning...."


"I know ye did love.  I was there ef ye remember."  his tone was light and
teasing, and he pulled her closer  


"No I mean after you were gone.  I had something I needed to ask him about,
something about me I mean."  she tried to snuggle closer to him,  but he
pushed her away so that he could look into her face.


"Are ye alright love?"  he asked seriously, as he searched her face for any
sign of illness  "Are ye sick?"


"No...I'm fine.  I just needed a question answered before I could talk to
you about it.  I had to know if it was safe."  Licking suddenly dry lips,
she said quietly   "I wanted to find out if it was safe for me to try for a
baby."


"A baby?"  his voice was a shocked whisper


"I want us to have a baby."  she said shyly, as she gazed at him with huge
purple eyes.......


Submitted by

Araminta, Kirimith's rider



-- 
Mint,  the voice and soul of

Timi Caplain  FO   USS Javelin       Caliban & Lute,          Dragon Lands
Lillith the Mage     Broken Lands     Minty, Kirimith's rider  Dragon Lands   
Naomi, QueenRider to Amethyst, Norwall's WarrenLady,  Dragon Lands

http://www.netkonect.co.uk/l/lovers/mint/norwall.html
http://www.dragonfire.net/~Mint/