#kelsus

They had not lost a full twenty dragons. Frip’s and Boolean’s travels had kept them out of harm’s way -- the former Aridatha knew of from Acrux’s account, the latter from Isildur’s records. Boolean would return in about a week’s time, and of course Aridatha doubted that the incident would have inconvenienced Frip even if she had been present. By pure bad luck, however, the catastrophe had caught the familiar-trader Nilith on one of her visits, and several dragons had seen her fly up over the treetops with that motley fire in her veins.

Surviving dragons had witnessed similar scenes with Weythran, Xylia, and Moros, and of course Aridatha had seen the infections of Iburel, Rakgi, Cobalt, and Kelsus for herself. And Talva, whose case had been their one inadequate attempt at a quarantine … Other dragons were simply missing: Arven, Zura, Sovari, Halamshiral, Gavin, Sunfall … and Nessa. That last name on the list of the vanished tore at Aridatha’s heart more than she cared to admit. No one could say whether these dragons had succumbed to the disease or simply become lost in the woods, so a painful thread of hope continued to spin in Aridatha’s veins …

And she had to act on that hope. She made a decision: even with everyone tired, they needed to do at least a quick check of the lair. If it was safe, they would rest far better in their own home than in the middle of the woods -- unless, of course, the infection lingered invisibly, or they were too haunted by the images of their fallen friends … Regardless, Aridatha needed information. She turned to the rest of the clan and called for their attention. “Everyone! I know you’re tired; I know you’re hurting. But we need to know what the current state of the lair is, and … it may be dangerous to investigate. I’m not going to order anyone to go back in there, but I would appreciate volunteers.”

The entire clan -- excluding Delemont, Zarya, and Luna, who had gone off to find food -- stared blankly at Aridatha, clearly not enthused by the idea. Even Lioska appeared less than thrilled. Maybe Aridatha really should have waited until the next day.

Then, a voice from behind Aridatha: “That won’t be necessary. The lair is fine. The infection’s cleared out by now.”

Aridatha spun to see, of course, Frip, sauntering into their temporary camp as if she hadn’t just conveniently abandoned them in their hour of greatest need. Bile rose in Aridatha’s throat, and clearly not only in hers: Acrux lunged forward, snarling, “Where were you?”

Frip paused and surveyed the scene: fourteen faces angry, like Acrux’s; or sad, like Cypress’s; or simply contemptuous, like Isildur’s. As she looked at the others, Aridatha felt her own rage fade away, replaced by despairing exhaustion. “You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you, Frip?”

For a long moment, the nocturne said nothing. Then: “Doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?” With a single abrupt movement, Geras lifted herself from the spot where she’d lain listless and silent ever since they’d gathered, clearly suddenly furious. She stalked across the clearing and loomed over Frip, teeth bared, and even Acrux stepped back. “Half our clan is gone. Kelsus is dead. And you just -- How can you just come marching back in here like nothing’s -- ”

“Oh, right.” Frip held up a talon before Geras, ordering her to wait, and Aridatha could see the guardian’s entire body shaking at the casual insult of the gesture, but she seemed baffled into compliance, too surprised to either continue her tirade or take more physical action. Meanwhile, Frip lifted one wing and appeared to search under it, as if she had far more hidden there than her relatively small wingspan would suggest. Finally, after an agonizing moment, she turned back to Geras, pulling out from under her wing and rather disheveled, very confused green fae.

“K … Kelsus?” Geras jerked back in shock. “But I saw him -- I saw you -- ”

“Don’t say I never did anything for you,” Frip said, setting Kelsus on the grass, where he blinked and looked around blankly. Geras slowly, carefully, reached out a talon towards him, and he grabbed it -- both of them looked like they could not quite believe the other was real, or perhaps it was his own existence Kelsus struggled with -- and then, in a quick motion, he scampered up Geras’ leg and sat on her shoulder, nestling into her haori. Carefully, Geras twisted her neck back and nuzzled him gently with her snout.

Aridatha looked at Frip and felt a strange cocktail of emotions, not all of which she could identify. Relief was in there, and joy -- of course she was glad to have Kelsus back, so glad -- but also something sadder, something like disappointment, and then shame that she could greet such a boon with anything negative. “The others … ?”

“Don’t get greedy,” Frip said, as Aridatha had rather expected. “We broke the rules just to bring back Green Bean. Everything else is as written. Nobody else is coming back.”

“Kelsus?” Geras asked, cautiously. She was large enough to reach him on the ceiling -- in fact, she was rather cramped trying to fit into Talva’s quarters, which the snapper had generously offered in this emergency -- but she made no attempt to touch him, since that had apparently set him off. “What are you doing?”

“Stop fussing over me!” There actually was some emphasis on these words: startling, for a fae. “I’m fine! In fact, I’m better!”

“Kelsus, can you tell us what’s going on with you? What do you feel? When did this start?” Nesita’s voice was calming as ever, but Geras had known her for a long time, too: she was worried. That distressed Geras more than her own anxiety, since Nesita was usually so unflappable.

But the words seemed to have the desired effect on Kelsus: he folded his wings slightly, head tilting as he considered the questions. “I was insect-hunting and I saw this tree -- it was glowing. And then it, sort of, flashed … I feel so alive, Geras. It’s wonderful.”

Kelsus paused, and in that moment Acrux poked his head into the room, eyes wide, neck curling slightly around Nesita and Bartos.

“Nesita, Bartos, Geras, could you come out here for a moment?” The panic in the imperial’s voice startled Geras, since Acrux was usually even more levelheaded than Nesita.

“You go,” Geras told the smaller dragons. “I’ll stay here and watch Kelsus.”

“No!” Acrux snapped. “All of you need to come with me. Now.”

“But Kelsus -- ”

With a frustrated cry, Acrux threw his weight against Nesita and Bartos, bodily shoving them out of the chamber. Outraged, Geras leapt after them, and that was when Kelsus’ light flashed blindingly behind her, almost audibly impacting the wood by her head, as if it were solid -- Bartos threw up a protective magic automatically; the daggers of illumination shredded it but went no farther --

Kelsus was gone. Cracks of that awful rainbow light spread across the ceiling-supporting branch he’d hung from, the grass under his last location.

“Kelsus?” Geras said. “Kelsus!”

She started to run back into the chamber, to look for him, to find him -- she didn’t know what she was going to do -- but Acrux restrained her, wrapping his sinuous body around her and holding her back with his own weight.

“It’s contagious!” the imperial said. “Talva’s eyes are glowing!”

Acrux sagged to the ground, abandoning his attempt to peer into Frip’s arboreal abode. The question came from Talva, standing on the ground next to him: she lived directly beneath.

“I’m looking for Frip. Have you seen her? It’s important.”

Perhaps something of the desperation he felt entered Acrux’s voice, because Talva gave him a long, searching look before answering. “No. But that doesn’t mean she’s not around. You know Frip; nobody ever sees her unless she’s decided to meddle.”

I resemble that remark. Acrux whirled around, hope briefly ignited by the nocturne’s voice in his mind -- but there was no sign of her, not even a swirl of white cloth or glint of silver wings. Acrux did not, habitually, swear, but he found himself biting back some withering words at the moment. That -- that dragon! He heard Frip’s laughter in his head, and, rather incoherently, directed at her the sentiment that if she was somehow reading his mind right now, then she’d better get out here and help.

No answer, but a slip of paper fluttered down from the branches, despite the lack of any wind or movement that would have logically dislodged it. Acrux snatched it out of the air and barely restrained himself from snarling as he saw the message scribbled on it -- in large letters, so that even he, an imperial, could read it.

Gone shopping. Be back soon. Love you ~ xoxoxoxo Frip

“Is everything all right?” Talva looked up at Acrux with distant concern; she didn’t seem genuinely worried, perhaps even a little amused by his antics.

Acrux crumpled the note in his claws. “No. Telyn’s gone -- she had a vision … I need to see Aridatha. Be careful, Tal -- ”

With a soft cry, a fae fell from the branches above onto Acrux’s snout. Of course, Acrux barely even felt the impact, but he was startled -- and further startled when he caught the limp body as it slipped off and found Kelsus, eyes open and shining, everything shining, a harsh multicolored light tracing its way across his body like veins …