Auntie looked around with wild eyes, focused on her daughter.

“What shall be thine decision, mortal? Would thou have me heal her, or shall she continue to waste away until oblivion?”

“We have to heal her, Auntie!” Addie said while she tugged on Auntie’s sleeve.

In response, Auntie turned her head to Addie sharply and took in a big breath. “This is happening so fast. Give me a second Addie.”

Addie tugged on Auntie’s sleeve a couple more times.

“Quit that!” Auntie forcefully pulled Addie’s hand off her sleeve, then she put her face in her hands. “Just, give me a moment. Everyone, just, give me a moment.” Auntie’s breath hitched.

“Miss Lomain, if you may allow me to speak.” Addie had never heard Christena use that most formal address, speaking to Auntie as a respected superior rather than a peer. “This is perhaps, Nettal’s only chance. And it came to you through what I believe is worthy of being called a miracle. A dragon? And an Impossible deer? There are no stories in the modern era that speak of people meeting one of these creatures, let alone two. And here we stand before them, both with the single purpose of healing your daughter.”

When she brought her face up, tears streaked down her face, pooling near her chin. “What if they fail, Christena? My little girl, what will happen?”

Christena reached out and tenderly but firmly grabbed Auntie’s hands. “Then we will be here to support you.” Christena smiled.

“Right now, she’s still alive, we can see her breathing even from here,” Auntie whispered.

Addie looked over to Sen, but he just seemed to be watching the scene quietly.

“She is alive right now, but if you do nothing, then as Sen already told us, she will waste away with no way to heal.” Christena gave Auntie’s hand another squeeze.

Addie had never seen an adult cry before, and she didn’t quite know what to do watching Auntie. Addie kept looking between Christena and Auntie, but she didn’t feel like this would be a good moment to speak, so she watched them talk patiently.

Auntie lifted her right hand out of Christena’s and used it to wipe across her face. She nodded and sobbed for a moment. Then, she raised her head and looked over to Sen.

“How likely is it?” Auntie all but demanded. “Give me a reason to say yes.”

A mountainous wing lifted up and readjusted as Sen seemed to fidget slightly. “Do not bet against a Dragon’s pride, mortal. I shall not endure the insult a second time.”

“Don’t be mean, Sen!” Addie scolded. If he wanted more friends, he couldn’t say things like that.

Christena looked over to Addie, aghast, and Sen lifted a clawed foot into the air. Christena gasped in reaction and tried to pull Addie back, but Addie didn’t budge. She could tell Sen was actually just adjusting his toes a bit. He gently placed his foot back down.

“I meant no offense.” Sen apologized, and for some reason, his face turned slightly orange which made him look funny.

His scales quickly turned black again, and he faced Auntie. “No other being within either Realm could help thine daughter as I. Choose, for it takes magic to sustain thee within my domain such that Realmspace cannot discover your presence.”

All of the tension released from Auntie in parts, her shoulders falling, her head drooping, and her arms going slack at her sides as she gave a long exhale. When she raised her head again, she looked over to Christena, who nodded, and then she looked at Addie who smiled.

She stood up tall and wiped all of the tears off of her face. “Sen, mighty Heart of Flame and Dragon of Realmspace. Please. Save my daughter.”

Sen gave a dragon’s grin, showing off teeth the size of spires. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his normally red eyes shone gold, brighter than any of the magical lights in his hoard. He flapped his wings once, then twice, and Addie heard the tornado of wind, but before it could hit them it broke apart on an invisible barrier protecting the three of them.

The fawn, who until now had been sleeping peacefully, rose its head into the air, its antler nubs glowing a bright yellow. The color was different than Sen’s magic, but somehow both colors melded together at the edges.

Sen inhaled, a mighty wind rushing into his outstretched mouth. He held his breath for but a moment, and then opened his jaws wide and released a beam of golden light, completely encompassing Nettal and the fawn within itself.

Both adults held their breath, and Addie watched with wonder in her eyes. For a moment, the only thing in the room was a giant sideways column, baptizing Nettal in its golden light. Addie couldn’t see Nettal at all, though.

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Somehow, the moment stretched, and even though he ought to have run out of breath by now, Sen continued to exhale the golden light.

The radiant beam of golden light surged forth, initially casting a direct path to Nettal. The light enveloped her in a warm embrace, then soared beyond, only to arch gracefully back towards her, beginning its first orbit. Then, it continued on its path, once again looping in on itself and directing itself back towards Nettal. Each subsequent loop of the luminous stream adjusted subtly in angle, crafting an intricate spherical cage of light around her. The continuous flow of magic wove around Nettal like threads in a celestial tapestry, each gigantic strand glowing as it crossed one another until she was encased in a pulsating orb of protective energy.

Sen stopped breathing out the light, but the now completed sphere remained behind, looking like a golden fractal pattern created expanded into the third dimension.

Then, the sphere began to beat like a heart, but opposite to what Addie remembered from Nettal’s ring, the sphere began to grow bigger after each contraction. As the sphere grew, the golden sphere slowly turned transparent despite how bright it looked. Interestingly, now that Addie could see inside, Nettal and the fawn also seemed to grow with the sphere. With just a handful of pulsing beats, the sphere grew large enough such that it would fit comfortably inside Sen’s massive palm—a miniature cosmos of intertwined light and energy.

As it touched down on his palm, it landed with a surprising quiet. Addie had thought it would hum like the HeartFlame ring.

No longer as distracted by the magical sight, Addie turned her head to look at Auntie, who stood mesmerized by the golden light and beautiful fractal pattern of the sphere.

Addie quickly looked back over to the fractal sphere. Sen was doing something to Nettal, but it was hard for Addie’s brain to make sense of what she was seeing. Nettal seemed completely huge, due to the expansion of the sphere, and Sen’s finger went through the fractal sphere and poked around inside of Nettal’s body, except it also wasn’t Nettal’s body.

Her body within the sphere seemed to take on another direction, that wasn’t up or down, left or right, or forward or backward. It looked like something within Nettal’s body had been stretched into some direction that Addie could only barely understand the edge of, and she had no context for things in reality that looked like this. Sen pushed and prodded at Nettal’s astral form in this other direction, making Addie’s eyes hurt as her mind struggled to understand what she was seeing.

“Better for thou mortals to look away for this, now, lest thine minds pop like grapes.” Sen’s emanating voice came to Addie and the others.

Then, the barrier that had protected them from the wind earlier became opaque, and Addie couldn’t see through it at all. The only thing she could see now was the Realmstone floor, Auntie on her right, and Christena standing beside her.

Addie ran over to Christena’s side, and pulled on her sleeve, “Christena, Christena! What was that?” Addie asked with excitement. Every time they visited Sen, he did something interesting.

Sen’s laughter came to them, reminding Addie that he could still hear them, even if he was focused on Nettal.

For once, Christena didn’t seem to know what to say, “I’m.. not sure, Addie.” Christena shook her head. “Let’s ask Sen once he’s done, ok?”

Addie dropped her jaw in shock. Christena always knew how to explain magic. Sen must be really amazing if even Christena didn’t know, Addie thought.

Though the magic really was amazing, Addie couldn’t help but be a little nervous. Especially now that they were all in this opaque barrier. All of Addie’s worries about healing Nettal came to the front of her mind, now that she had nothing to distract herself with.

Looking at her, Auntie seemed nervous too. No more tears dripped down her face, but there were still streak marks down her cheeks from earlier. At some point, Auntie had walked forward to place her right hand flat against the barrier they were all in. Now, she was just leaning against it like that, with her head slightly down and her eyes closed. Her breathing seemed calm, but Addie could see that she was clenching her left fist at her side.

“Auntie?” Addie asked.

Auntie exhaled, and then she said, “Yes, Addie?”

“Are you ok?”

For the first time since entering Sen’s domain, Auntie smiled.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Addie. I don’t know if I’ll be ok until we find out what happened with Nettal.”

“Can I do anything?” Addie asked.

Auntie smiled again. This time it was tinged with a bit of melancholy. “Maybe, Addie. Maybe.”

They waited in silence for a while longer, though Addie couldn’t tell how long exactly. Definitely, more than twenty minutes, if she had to guess. Christena seemed content to patiently wait, with her hands folded in front of her skirt. Auntie sat down on the floor after a while, and Addie sat down next to Auntie while holding her hand.

Finally, the barrier around them turned translucent. Addie immediately focused her eyes on the fractal sphere, still within Sen’s hand. Luckily, it no longer hurt her brain to look at it. It had also shrunk back down such that Nettal inside of it looked normal-sized. Addie tried to look and see if Nettal was breathing, but she couldn’t see anything. Addie’s breath hitched at the sight, but she didn’t lose hope yet. After all, she couldn’t quite confirm if Nettal was breathing since she was so far away.

Auntie stood up with a start, causing her brown ponytail to jolt, and focused her whole attention on the fractal sphere, too.

“How is she?” Auntie’s question came out in a rush.

“See with thine own eyes,” Sen said.

Then, the fractal sphere exploded into motes of light, themselves all dissolving in moments. Nettal’s sleeping form started to float back down toward the ground, with the small fawn still sleeping upon her chest.

They both touched down on the ground, just in front of Auntie, who immediately rushed over and bent down to put her hands around Nettal’s face. Addie still couldn’t see Nettal’s breathing.

Auntie looked distraught, and put her hand over Nettal’s mouth for a moment, maybe to check for any breaths. Auntie gasped and held her breath, her face tight.

With a slow movement, the fawn moved his neck up and opened his green eyes. He unfolded his legs from underneath himself as he stepped off of Nettal and to the side.

Auntie moved her ear up against Nettal’s now vacant chest and listened.

The fawn pushed his nose up against Nettal’s cheek and gave a lick, his antler nubs flashing yellow for but a moment.

Auntie finally released the big breath she had been holding in a controlled stutter, and Addie watched as Nettal’s now shining green eyes opened.

“Mom?” Her voice came out hoarse and weary.

A final tear ran down Auntie’s cheek, pooling at her chin for a moment before falling.

“It’s me, Nettal. Mom’s here.” Auntie said reassuringly as she cupped Nettal’s face in her hands. With a slow, deliberate movement, Auntie kissed Nettal’s forehead, then embraced her daughter tightly.

“I’m here, now.”