that rather large man who brought you here make you drink it if you prefer.”
She scowled at him but quaffed the potion with a sigh of resignation. A chill flowed into her, filling her with a coldness that seemed to encompass her entire body, yet without discomfort.
He led her to a battlement where Izzulft was waiting and shackled her to his saddle before mounting up behind her and launching into the cold grey sky.
Chapter 10
“Jack, come quickly,” Chloe said, “he’s starting to wake. I can hear his thoughts again.”
“Go easy, Alexander,” Jack said. “You’ve been through a lot. There’s no rush.”
Their voices sounded far away, muffled. He couldn’t open his eyes but he was starting to see things anyway. It didn’t make any sense. Nothing made any sense. Confusion swirled inside his cottony mind. Consciousness slowly started to take hold, thoughts began to form, pushing aside the gauzy feeling in his head.
He mumbled something unintelligible, then realized his tongue was swollen and dry. Someone drizzled cool water into his mouth. He struggled to swallow, working the muscles of his throat to overcome the scratchy dryness. More water allowed him to swallow, but he choked, coughing weakly until someone helped him sit up.
Images of his surroundings were becoming clearer. He was in a room. It looked familiar. Jack and Chloe were there with him. A small dragon sat at the foot of his bed, resting her chin on the footboard and looking at him with big, golden eyes.
Someone put a cup to his lips. He grabbed it and tried to tip it back, but the hand holding it resisted.
“Slowly,” Jack said. “Drink a little at a time.”
The voice sounded familiar. A small swallow sent him into a coughing fit. As soon as he regained his composure, he reached for the cup again. His vision was sharper now, even though his eyes were still closed.
“All right, Alexander, lie back and try to get some rest,” Jack said. “Now that your fever has broken, you need to sleep.”
He wanted to protest, tried to resist, but the hand gently pushing him back into the bed was too strong for him, and he couldn’t seem to form words. Moments later, he was asleep.
***
Alexander woke feeling groggy and thirsty and hungry. He tried to open his eyes but they were crusted over with dried tears. Carefully, gingerly, he started to rub them clean, but before he could get them open, the room around him came into clear focus. Jack was there, sleeping in a chair next to his bed. Chloe was there as well, sitting on the back of another chair, watching him intently. The dragon was there too, sleeping at the foot of his bed.
He cleared his throat and worked up enough saliva to swallow. Chloe buzzed into a ball of light and floated down in front of his face.
“Can you hear me, My Love?” she asked out loud.
“Chloe, what happened? Where are we?” he mumbled.
“You were stabbed through the leg,” Chloe said.
Jack woke and sat forward.
“My head’s so fuzzy,” Alexander said.
“You’ve been in a delirium for over a week,” Jack said. “Lady Bragador said your wound became infected, causing a fever that nearly killed you.”
“Bragador?” he mumbled. “Dragons … We’re on Tyr.”
“Yes,” Jack said.
“Where’s Isabel?” Alexander asked.
“We’ll talk about that later,” Jack said, after an uncharacteristic hesitation.
Reality slammed back into Alexander. His mind focused as the events leading up to his current predicament played out in his memory. He sat up, ignoring the stab of pain in his leg, and his vision sharpened. He could see more clearly than he’d been able to see since Shivini blinded him. His all around sight was more detailed and vibrant than he remembered it.
“Jack, tell me where Isabel is,” Alexander said.
Jack sighed. “She left. We’re not sure where she went.”
“What?! Why would she leave? How did she leave? We’re on an island!”
“She took the ship,” Jack said, answering the easiest of his questions.
“I don’t understand,” Alexander said. “Isabel wouldn’t leave me like this.”
“She left to protect you, My Love,” Chloe said. “The darkness within her was becoming a danger to you. So she left.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Chloe buzzed into a ball of light and started flying in a circle in front of him.
“Tell me, Little One.”
She stopped and hovered in front of him. “The night you were wounded, you slipped into a fitful and feverish sleep. I woke to find Isabel standing over you with a knife in her hand, poised to strike. Her eyes were