Adventures of Jessa: the Adventures Continue

1

"Jessa, I love you." Dhiren tells Jessa, but his voice is fading.

"Jessa, if you don't want Dhiren to die you need to listen and listen closely. You don't have much time." The Ancient Ones voice breaks Jessa from her comfortable floating in the comforting dark.

"What?" Jessa asks disoriented at this point.

"Prince Dhiren isn't going to live much longer if you don't help him. You need to listen and pay attention, you don't have much time to get this spell right. If he dies, then you will as well."

Although, at this point Jessa doesn't have a problem dying, she doesn't want Dhiren to die. She pays close attention to the spell the dragon god gives her. Immediately she tries it out. She gets it wrong and the Ancient One corrects her.

"Now, see yourself as your human self. You can change into an elf if you would rather as well, and you can also remove your scars when you change. But right now, whatever you are going to do, you need to do now or he won't make it."

Immediately, even before the god finishes speaking Jessa starts the spell once more. The image of herself firmly in her mind and she can feel herself changing. She forces her eyes open and is aghast at how much blood is covering her from Dhiren.

She immediately starts taking care of her mate. Those watching do so in fascination. Lady Zira turns her head away. She doesn't forbid her children from eating meat, indeed at times that is all there is. But watching Jessa licking the blood from Dhiren is more than she can stomach.

"Princess Jessa, would you please do the same for my child?" Lady Fey is all but begging her.

"I'm sorry, Lady Fey, but isn't he dead already? It wouldn't take long for the blood to reach his heart. It has taken me some time to go through the transformation." Jessa manages to get out. She's holding onto Dhiren and talking to him through her mind. So it's rather distracting also talking to the Goddess of Chance.

"No, I put him in stasis on the chance that you would survive your change."

"If Jessa does this, she will have a closer tie to your child, one closer than he'll have with you." Alaric warns once he's done with his part of the spell.

"That is the chance that I'll have to take, just as he'll have to take his chance on being strong enough to survive."

"Let me see the wound, please." Jessa refuses to let go of Dhiren during all this.

"This isn't going to work," Jessa tells them as the wound is too big for her human body to easily clean.

"I'm going to have to change back to dragon, I think I'm going to be rather hungry and thirsty before long. I'm not going to tolerate many around me with Dhiren vulnerable. I'm sorry, Lady Fay, you won't be allowed to be near me." Jessa looks around, "Father, will you be able to stay near me and hold Jasper so that I'll be able to clean his wound?"

Kallen swallows heavily. "Yes, Jessa, I can do that."

"The poison has spread beyond my reach, Lady Fay." Jessa says inspecting the wound now that he's closer to her. "The only way I'll be able to save him is if the poisoned blood is released and my healing closes up the wound. It should get whatever blood doesn't release. There is a good chance, Lady Fay, that it could be necessary for him to change to dragon."

"If he survives the healing he'll be half way to the change." Fay says resigned.

"You are rather calm about this Fay," Zira and Jethro both say looking at their queen in shock.

"My child has his own part to play, and how it plays out will depend on Jessa."

"Another one of those cross roads I keep coming to?" Jessa says more than a little cross. She wants to concentrate on her husband, she doesn't want her friend to die, but neither does she want Dhiren to do so either.