Summon the Elven Mage by Barbara Ferrier (which ebook reader TXT) 📗

With the words full-blown, the biggest gust yet picked Kris up and threw him off the plateau and over the cliff, painful moments replayed again. Kris hoped a river would catch his fall. Everything went black.

Chapter 6

Kris woke at the bottom of the canyon in too much pain to move. He had no idea what to do. He wondered if his back had snapped, and he could barely feel his legs. Am I dead? Kris wondered. Then he drifted back to sleep.

Every so often he would regain consciousness, try to move, and feel excruciating pain. He’d will himself back to sleep. Time passed, and his body felt weaker. He forgot to eat and drink. Kris worried that vultures were the only thing that would find value in him now. He was too exhausted to care.

Shantini, a beautiful white wolf, came racing along the riverbed and noticed the crumpled man’s body covered in dust near the river. She went up to him and licked his face a few times. Kris stirred and raised his hand, petting her soft fur. He was weak and exhausted but happy for company. She licked his leg and the wound in his rib cage. Then she turned and howled.

I’m going to be eaten by wolves. Figures. I want to be healed and surrounded by nice people. Kris tried to move. It was too painful.

Jetson arrived next. The small wolf had jet-black fur with golden accents on his tail and ears. He and Shantini both looked at Kris and nodded. The two worked together. Shantini’s eyes flashed and a stretcher appeared midair. She concentrated and lifted Kris’s body onto it, then magically strapped him in. Shantini led and Jetson followed, keeping an eye on the barely conscious man.

Shantini blinked and a wolf trail opened through the cliff wall. The ancient wolf trails provided short cuts to cross Kalendra quickly. The trail led them from The Divide, where he’d fallen, across Kalendra to the Outer Plateaus.

Hazily Kris opened his eyes to see moons and large planets above him. They looked orange against a deep-turquoise sky. Two moons? I’ve never … He dozed off.

The wolves brought Kris’s stretcher to Sylvia’s Inn of the Outer Plateaus. Shantini opened the door. She and Jetson brought him to Sylvia.

“Oh my gosh! Oh no! The poor man. Is he all right?” She ran and put her hand on Kris’s forehead to check his temperature. “He’s so thin. I wonder how long he was out there,” she said aloud to herself. “And look, his leg is broken. Come, follow me. Let’s take him to a quiet room.”

Sylvia ran, and grabbed several colored crystals from a drawer. Shantini moved Kris to the bed in a large hotel room. “Jetson, will you please contact Ivy for me?”

In a flash, Jetson was gone.

“Shantini, you know what to do,” Sylvia coaxed.

Shantini licked Kris on the hand and gently rubbed against his arm that was hanging off the table.

“Here we go, you can do this,” Sylvia said to Kris. She took his hand and placed it on Shantini. “He doesn’t know your presence amplifies any healing he does in his own mind. I hope he’s feeling positive. It’ll make a difference.”

Shantini blinked and willed Kris’s happiest thoughts to dominate his dreams, and a smile crossed his face.

Sylvia pulled out three crystals. One was a clear blue stone that she placed in his hand and closed his fingers around it. “I haven’t seen someone this weak in a long time. I think we can raise his spirits before Ivy gets here. At least get him clean. I wonder where he’s from.”

Sylvia removed Kris’s clothing and saw his body was bruised all over. She carefully gave him a sponge bath. Shantini brought pajamas. Sylvia examined the bruising on his back, his legs, and his ribs. She took a flat green crystal and laid it on his leg. “Shantini, can you help with this?”

The white wolf looked at Kris’s leg and licked it. Then, using her eyes, she amplified the light shining through the green crystal. The bruising decreased immediately, his leg looked less swollen and the bone repaired.

“It’s a relief when they respond to magic,” Sylvia said.

Shantini licked Kris’s hand.

Jetson and Ivy arrived. “The only word I understand in wolf is ‘urgent.’ Is everything …? Oh no! How is he?”

“They found him in the Divide, at the bottom of one of the highest cliffs. I’m not sure of much else,” Sylvia said.

“The winds?” Ivy sighed.

Sylvia lit candles around the room and prepared Ivy’s crystals on a tray.

“Thank you.” Ivy pulled out a large clear stone and brushed it across Kris’s forehead. Then she looked at the crystal. “There’s a trace here. Something I’ve not seen before.” Then Ivy looked at Sylvia. “He’s not from anywhere near here. He wears the trace of someone who only recently entered our world.”

As she continued to examine Kris, she mixed up a variety of herbs and powders, then gently placed some in Kris’s cheek. She also used the crystals on Kris’s back and leg, helping the bruising to dissipate.

“I think he’ll wake soon,” Ivy said. “It’s unusual for someone from another world to arrive without an escort. Isn’t that interesting?” Sylvia nodded.

“I’ll get a meal going,” Sylvia said. “He’s so weak; that ought to strengthen him. I think he’ll enjoy the view from the bay window. Hopefully, that’ll help him adjust,” Sylvia said.

“He’s going to be okay,” Ivy said. “At least, his physical health will. If he needs help adjusting to this foreign land, call Kokona. He’s the most skilled shaman I know for assisting the human mind.”

Sylvia nodded. “Thank you, Ivy. I appreciate your skill.” She smiled.

“Perhaps, when he’s a bit stronger, you can bring him to the Waterlands. I’d love to check on him and run a few more tests. The mist from Kinizar Falls is a must.”

“The minute he’s strong enough,” Sylvia said.

Ivy and Jetson left.

Sylvia set up a candlelit dinner for two in the bay window of Kris’s hotel