“Strange,” Anders muttered. Thomas felt the same sensation in his back and Anders asked, “Anything?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Where is Rune anyway?” Anders asked.
Thomas could see Ophelia working as best she could on a soldier not far from them. He wondered if she could hear Anders and was ignoring him, trying to hold back her emotions.
“He didn’t make it,” Inama explained.
Thomas sat by listening to her explain what had happened.
When she finished, Anders said, “I’m so sorry for your losses. I didn’t know your father well, but he showed great bravery here today.”
“We all did,” Inama said. “Especially him,” she patted Thomas on the shoulder and left him and Anders together.
“You can’t heal me?” Thomas asked.
Anders shrugged, “I know how to mend bones, stop bleeding and heal skin tissue, but I don’t know why it’s not working on your back.”
“Maybe it’s because of this,” Thomas said lifting the sapphire off of the soldier he’d placed it on.
“I don’t see how?” Anders said.
“It heals, keeps people alive. Maybe I’m already healed by magic and there’s nothing more you can do to re-heal my legs.”
“There’s got to be something,” Anders said. “I’ll keep trying and learning until we figure it out.”
Thomas smiled, “It’s okay, Anders. I’m just glad to be sitting here, with or without working legs. This might slow me down and keep me from beating you in the next Grandwood Games, but I’ll be able to live my life and that’s a lot more than many others can say today.”
“You’re full of surprises, Thomas,” Anders said.
“Have you seen Kirsten?” Thomas asked.
Anders paused, then nodded solemnly.
“She’s not...” Thomas asked, feeling a wave of dread sweep over him.
“No,” Anders replied. “She made it, but Bo...”
“No,” Thomas gasped. “No, don’t say it.”
“Bo was killed saving his brother,” Anders said with tears in his eyes.
Thomas looked into the sapphire in his hand. “I shouldn’t have taken this from him,” he whispered.
“You didn’t take it from him. He gave it to you willingly. Bo knew the risks as well as any of us,” Anders said.
“He might be alive if he still had it,” Thomas said.
“And you would be dead,” Anders said. “Dragon fire hot enough to melt the leather armor from your back, that isn’t something anyone can walk away from.”
“I know. I saw,” Thomas said gloomily.
“We can’t change what’s happened,” Anders said. “We can choose to shape what happens next.”
“We can live our lives,” Thomas said.
Anders nodded.
“How are Kirsten and Max taking it?” Thomas asked as he wiped away tears.
“Max is pretty shaken up. I guess after Tony found out about Evans, he was the one who tried to, um.”
“That bastard,” Thomas muttered.
“He died shortly afterward,” Anders said with a nod. “And Kirsten, I don’t know that she’ll ever fully heal from this.”
“Just like the goblin’s bite, but this one took a chunk of her heart,” Thomas said.
“Yeah,” Anders said. “But like her shoulder, the wound will heal. I just hope she can learn to trust that she deserves to be vulnerable again.”
“I can relate,” Thomas said.
“Yeah. Theodor was a blow to all of us,” Anders said.
“Him, too, but I’m talking about Wren.”
“Wren?” Anders asked.
“The Lumbapi I met. He was with Inama and the dragon, got him.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Even though we won, we still lost a lot,” Thomas said.
“Without their sacrifices, we would have no future or freedom,” Anders said.
Thomas watched Anders wave Zahara over. He spoke to her with his mind, leaving Thomas in the awkward silence of guessing at their conversation.
“She’ll take you to Kirsten, Max and Britt,” Anders said, holding out his hand for Thomas to take.
Thomas looked at the wounded surrounding them and said, “They need my help.”
“Don’t worry about them. Maija and I will handle it.”
Thomas took hold of Anders’ hand and let him hoist him onto his shoulder. Climbing Zahara’s side and helping Thomas into the saddle, he said, “There. The saddle’s magic should keep you from falling out.”
“Remember the last time I was on Zahara,” Thomas said nervously. “We thought all of this was coming early,” he motioned to the destruction around them.
