Serena's POV:

It wasn't long before I was watching the waygate open. I was less nervous about passing through it, possibly because I knew what lay on the other side this time. Saphira walked up beside Darien, "The fighters who remained behind should still be guarding the waygate, but several Dranek will go first just to be sure."

Several heavily armed Dranek passed through the waygate and disappeared from sight. One swiftly returned, "The area is safe."

The rest of those waiting headed towards the gate. A glance back showed that the Dranek with the cataracts was being helped by her son. I leaned against Darien once more as we passed through the faintly glowing light that looked like water.

We moved away from the waygate to allow others to come through. It was almost strange to see the smaller trees of this world along with so much sky. Darien suggested, "We might as well have lunch. There should be a large clearing just on the other side of those trees."

Lunch sounded good to me and I walked beside Darien while holding his hand. Once we reached the clearing, we pulled out the food that we had packed early this morning. My sandwich was quite good, much better than the stale sandwiches I used to get from work.

Saphira was eating something that looked like a light blue apple, "Do you want to speak with the Dranek with the cataracts after lunch?"

She knew me well, well enough to know that helping someone would be at the front of my mind until the person had been helped. I smiled gratefully at her intuition, "Yes, please."

Saphira turned towards the trees and one of the usual Dranek guards left, probably to locate the woman. I finished my lunch and relaxed in the warm sunshine as I waited.

Saphira commented, "Your breathing is mostly back to normal. You no longer seem like you are out of breath."

Darien added his own commentary, "Her heartbeat has also slowed down, which is a relief for me." He held me a bit tighter at the end of his words.

If these two were so concerned about me being a bit tired and out of breath, then I would probably want to sneak away if I ever caught a cold or got the stomach flu. Although chances were that they would turn the place upside down looking for me. The mere thought of trying to avoid Darien made my heart hurt, so I was pretty sure that that plan was out.

It was kind of them, and their concern was touching, but I wasn't used to being the center of attention. A low whistle made me look over and I smiled at the three Dranek at the edge of the clearing. The guard took up his regular post, while the older woman was guided closer by her son.

Darien and Saphira had been in too much of a rush to get through the waygate for proper introductions. Saphira corrected that oversight, "Serena, this is Mindy and her youngest son, Reece. Mindy, Reece, this is the singer, Serena."

I wasn't able to judge the age of a Dranek very well, but her youngest son was probably older than I was. "Nice to meet you."

Mindy took a seat in the long meadow grass, "It is a pleasure. I had hoped to see a singer during my lifetime and now I have."

Her milky eyes could see well enough to keep her from walking right into a tree, but that was probably about it. "How about we see if I can't help you see better?"

She had looked hopeful before, but now the hope was easy to see, "Please, it would mean a lot to me."

"I have never tried something quite like this, please give me a moment."

Mindy faced my direction as she waited, "Take all of the time you need."

I suspected that she would be happy to wait for days if it was required, but that was not how my singing usually worked. Its potential abilities may have been somewhat limited, but it was usually not slow. A soft hum warmed up my vocal chords and allowed me to reach out my senses towards her.

The greyish cloudy cataracts looked quite odd on the Dranek when I was used to seeing their glittering yellow eyes. I didn't like the haze and focused on it as my hum strengthened and modulated into a quiet song.

A hum wasn't quite powerful enough for this, and a whistle simply didn't fit the required notes. A song was needed, but I didn't have to let my magic have free rein with something so small. I felt the shift of my magic and followed its conducting as it led me through the proper notes.

It also gave me a small warning, and I paused momentarily in my song as I relayed it to the woman, "Close your eyes." I resumed my song before I missed too many notes.

She immediately shut her eyes, and my song spiraled higher into slightly more complex notes for several moments before it trailed off. It was a small fix, and even a quiet song was far more powerful than humming, so it hadn't even taken half a minute from start to finish. I spoke softly, "You can slowly open your eyes, but the light may hurt for a while."

After having cataracts for so long, her eyes hadn't seen bright light in a very long time. It would take her eyes a bit of time to adjust. She slowly cracked her eyes open and blinked rapidly as she kept trying to get her eyes accustomed to the higher levels of light.

It took her some time, but soon enough a huge smile broke out across her face as her clear yellow eyes gazed around in wonder. "Thank you so much!" She was grateful and overjoyed to be able to see once more.

I smiled in delight at her happiness, "You are very welcome. I am glad I could help."

Her eyes focused on me as she got her first true look at me, "I will never forget your kindness."

We smiled at one another. She was healed and thrilled to be able to see, and I was happy to be able to help her. It was a win-win situation for both of us.

I liked helping people. It just felt so right.

I sat on Darien's lap on the porch swing as he opened a letter Saphira had brought him. The Dranek didn't seem to have any problems relaying messages between Alex and Darien.

Saphira leaned against the porch railing idly as she watched us. We had come back through the waygate yesterday and I felt better today. I was no longer tired, so Saphira must have been right. She told me that they would open up the waygate whenever I wanted to go back for a visit.

I commented, "I still can't understand how you manage to get these letters to Alex so easily."

Saphira found my observation rather amusing, "Tarulk rarely look up and we tend to travel through the treetops. No one has ever spotted us unless we let ourselves be seen, which is rare."

I simply didn't see how people could miss a pale blue creature even larger than themselves as it jumped between trees. If they were hidden deep in the forest, sure, but I was pretty sure that the Dranek were getting quite close to the Tarulk.

Darien sounded surprised, "The Dranek pulled back from the battle lines?"

That was news to me too, I hadn't heard anything about the war for quite some time.

Saphira responded, "The elders didn't see any point in continuing to push forward, neither did they see any good reason to field such a large force on this planet when it really wasn't needed. The Dranek have pulled back, but we are still guarding this entire region. A gatemaster is also unlocking all of the holds we put on their waygates."

Darien transferred his gaze to Saphira, "How large of an area?"

"It would take a Tarulk three days to reach this village from our new border if they were walking. At the moment, we don't plan to let any Tarulk past the border, but that call is up to you. So far, only a handful of scouts have dared to enter the area we previously held."

Darien's voice was hard, "Most would probably try to harm Serena."

I looked down the street at the empty houses and tried to imagine how this place would have been when the tiny village had people in it. Darien had originally figured that the people who lived here wouldn't have any problem with me.

As much as I didn't really want to have Tarulk sending me hostile looks, it didn't seem fair that Darien had to be outcast from his people because of me. Besides, I had gotten along well enough with Alex, which meant that not all Tarulk would react negatively.

I inquired, "What if they didn't know that the Dranek were here? The fighters wouldn't stop here for more than a few minutes, and I don't think those who grew up with Darien would try to harm me..."

Saphira remained silent as Darien looked down at me with an unreadable expression. I couldn't pick up anything from the bond to hint at the direction of his thoughts.

"The idea has merit, but scouts would come across us, and I am not willing to chance how they would react to you."

An idea came to my mind as I played the devil's advocate, "The Dranek would know when the fighters got closer, and I could hide with them. I can't see the fighters staying long, and then they would have no reason to come back if they never saw the Dranek or me."

Darien held me closer as he exhaled heavily, "I am not in favor of you having to hide, but you do have a good point." He looked at Saphira, "Can the Dranek keep out of sight and let us know of any company? The army will be looking for any sign of the Dranek and all of the forces will converge around that spot. I would rather not be in the middle of that area."

Saphira nodded slowly as she accepted his logic, "That is likely wise. I will spread the word. They will not see us unless we allow it." Her tone became low and a hint of a growl colored her words, "If any try to harm Serena, they will regret it."

I was once more reminded that I had met this normally friendly and easy-going lady in a war camp...