‘No!’ she cried in her mind. ‘It’s too early for this.’

Lady Iredys whined and squirmed.

Ponderosa shifted her hold and sat on the cot to keep herself from dropping Lady Iredys. She didn’t squirm for long before Lady Iredys coughed. She coughed hard enough that she gagged. Ponderosa grabbed the nearest pot and set it on Lady Iredys’ lap as she threw up. Lady Iredys whined and threw up some more.

So much for the wheat meal with the alfalfa. Maybe she needed to try a different nutrient dense herb next time. Lady Iredys’ head started to lower. Ponderosa shifted her into a very supportive hold and carried her to where she could get a damp cloth to clean off her face and a glass of water. She assisted Lady Iredys’ in rinsing out her mouth and seeing if she would take in a little water before she lay her back on the cot. Once she was settled, Ponderosa steeled herself before trying to change back.

When she was successful in changing back, she closed her eyes as she let out her breath as gratitude filled her heart. The suddenness of the change made her think that the forced one had come early. She was glad such was not the case, but then why had she changed? Had Lady Iredys done something to make her change? It was possible, but if so, how had she done it? Ponderosa covered Lady Iredys most of the way with the blanket before taking a look at the stones once more. The skin around the Alexandrite and Emerald stones had changed from the black to deep red, also, but the skin itself remained too uneven to see anything that might be helpful. A transformation rune might make sense, but what rune would give someone the power to change someone else? Or was there a combination of runes at work?

Ponderosa lay her arms and head against the side of the cot. Why did this have to be so hard? Why couldn’t she find simple answers and solutions for how she needed to proceed? And with the two double burnings she had endured, there was no way that none of the runes had nothing to do with rebirth. So, which of the three possibilities would he have used? And which of the seven stones had he paired it with?

Out of the three runes that dealt with rebirth, Berkano seemed the most likely choice to Ponderosa, but she wanted to be sure. So, was it combined with one of the stones that the skin around it had started to show improvement? Or was it combined with a stone where the skin had yet to show signs of improvement?

Blowing out some of her frustration with her breath, Ponderosa got up to take care of the pot of vomit then kept her ears open as she returned to her grinding, doing her best to keep her mind clear while she worked. She paced back and forth between each measure of wheat she ground down and checked on Lady Iredys to make sure she was still okay. She stopped once one of her smaller jars had been filled. Her head ached now from over focusing. Closing the bag to keep the un-ground grain from spoiling, Ponderosa crossed the room and settled herself onto one of the chairs. The chair she was sitting on turned a quarter turn so it faced the cot. Ponderosa brought her head up.

Lady Iredys motioned with her fingers for Ponderosa to come closer. Ponderosa stood. Lady Iredys struggled to shift herself to the far side of the cot to make room for her. Ponderosa leaned forward to shift Lady Iredys a little more since she knew refusing was futile, but as she leaned forward, a dragon tail shot out from her tailbone. Ponderosa twisted her body so she would not fall on top of Lady Iredys as she lost her balance.

Her arms and legs crackled and crunched when she hit the floor. It didn’t take them long to become squat and fat, ripping apart the sleeves on her dress. Her chest felt tight and her heart twisted with her anxiety as her body bloated and touched the floor. Her neck elongated. Her fingers gouged the wooden floor as they turned into claws. Her head twitched and twisted as it flattened and elongated. Her shoulders cracked and shifted. Large leathery wings ripped open the back of her dress as they unfurled.

She tried to change back again, but this time she could not. She wasn’t supposed to change yet! Why was this happening? Why was she being forced to change when the moon hadn’t finished waning? A tear slipped from her eye. Lady Iredys patted the cot. The sound knocked Ponderosa out of her roiling emotions. Lady Iredys patted the cot once more and Ponderosa hesitantly climbed up. She was very small for a dragon, but still big enough that she wasn’t sure if she would break the cot or not. She slid her head under the blanket then let the rest of herself follow. She curled up next to Lady Iredys’ legs.

Lady Iredys tapped her head through the blanket. Ponderosa turned to look at her. She brought Ponderosa’s head to rest on her shoulder. Her fingers softly resting on the top of her head. Another tear left Ponderosa’s eye. Lady Iredys wiped it away. Ponderosa wrapped her tail lightly around Lady Iredys’ waist. She tried to rest, but found she could only let her eyes close. Her ears and nose were still very much on alert, despite being in the comfort and security of her own home.

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Only after many hours of being held by Lady Iredys’ unwavering embrace did Ponderosa’s awareness finally teeter on the edge of sleep.

A knock on the door the following afternoon put Ponderosa on full alert once more. Krissy stood on the other side of the door. Ponderosa recognized her scent. She wanted to flee, to hide, but Lady Iredys’ fingers twitched on her head in a way that kept her still. It took everything she had to trust her Lady to remain where she was since she knew Krissy would not leave until she had seen her or knew for herself that she wasn’t at home. The knock came a second time.

“Ponderosa, are you home?” Krissy called. “It’s Krissy.”

Ponderosa felt Lady Iredys’ other hand rest where the Pearl was embedded in her chest. She felt something strange and shuddered. She felt her body start to change back, but the shifts she experienced remained strangely silent. The warmth of Lady Iredys’ hand increased. It was hot, but not as hot as the stone would have been when she had been marked. A mark that made her become something she wasn’t every twenty-eight days. Ponderosa felt her breath catch a little as the Pearl was pulled from her breast bone and her bone and flesh knit themselves back together.

She shuddered and gasped softly as something crawled up her chest to her shoulders then around the back of her neck. An audible chink reached her ears before Lady Iredys’ hand fell away from her chest. Ponderosa brought her Human hand up to her bare chest. There was a chain around her neck now. A chain with no clasp that held the Dagaz rune with the Pearl anchored in the center. The skin where the rune and pearl had been was smooth and no longer black in color. Not even a scar marred her skin where the Pearl had been embedded seven years ago.

She felt… calm. She….

Krissy’s knock came again, startling her.

“Ponderosa? …I’m coming in.”

The door started to open and Ponderosa grabbed the topmost blanket. She wrapped it around her naked form while she searched for the ruined dress she had left on the floor last night. She did not see the ruined dress, but a dress that looked very much like the one she had on before her second, strangely forced, transformation had happened lay draped across the chair she had been sitting on. However, before she could puzzle out how the dress was fixed, Krissy poked her head in before stepping inside. She closed the door then stopped when her eyes landed on Ponderosa.

Ponderosa watched Krissy’s eyes dart to where Lady Iredys lay behind her then back to her face. Ponderosa motioned to the dress on the chair.

“Of course,” Krissy said. She turned her back so Ponderosa could dress.

She dressed quickly, grateful that the fabric covered the chain of her unbreakable necklace. She wasn’t ready for Krissy to know about the rune and Pearl. Once she was dressed, Ponderosa approached Krissy. She lightly touched her arm. Krissy turned to her, her eyes questioning as they flicked back to where Lady Iredys lay facing the fire. Ponderosa picked up her satchel and pulled out her writing kit. She took it to the table, not bothering to move one of the chairs over. Krissy started to reach for one of the chairs, but stopped when Ponderosa slapped a palm against the table.

“Is something wrong, Ponderosa?” Krissy asked.

She pointed to the chair and shook her head.

“I don’t understand.” She left the chair alone and approached Ponderosa.

Ponderosa pulled out what she needed so she could explain what she could to Krissy.

‘I found the woman naked and beaten in the woods….’ She paused, wondering if she should add only a few days ago, but decided against it. ‘While her physical wounds… are healing, I still don’t know if her mental and/or emotional wounds are healing. We are sharing my cot, nothing more, because it helps her sleep better. The change in furniture location is another thing that keeps her stable. I tried moving a few things while she slept and she had a fit.’

Krissy read over her shoulder. “Then why were you naked, Ponderosa? Do you have a secret you have kept from me?”

She shook her head. ‘I needed to wash the herb infused meal off of the skirt before it stained the fabric.’

“You still haven’t made yourself another dress?”

Ponderosa motioned to Lady Iredys.

Krissy nodded. “I got your message and I brought one of my books.”

‘Thank you.’

“You are welcome,” Krissy smiled, setting it on the table. “Can I ask about the sudden, and almost urgently worded, curiosity?”

‘A patient of mine is not doing as well as I would have hoped with the herbs. I didn’t know if infusing stones in a medium would provide an added measure of healing or not.’

“Yes. Alcohol or water is best, but how do you plan to acquire the stones you might need?”

‘She has a few. I hoped to learn about the ones she owns to see if any of them might work. She would have the means to get others if necessary.’

“Then I hope she is willing to pay you more. Enough to get a new dress at the very least.”

Ponderosa smiled a little more. ‘You know money means little to me.’

“I do, but it doesn’t hurt to indulge once in a while.”

‘I’ll keep that in mind, Krissy. Thank you for letting me borrow your book. I will return it when I have finished my research.’

“I know you will. Take care.”

‘You, also.’

Krissy pulled her into a firm embrace before letting go and leaving the cottage.