"She will die soon if we don't do anything," said the lizard healer to Gia softly after examining Carla's injuries. His bright green scales glinted in the lingering rays of daylight.
"What do you want?" asked Gia, panic fighting to claw its way out of her chest as she clutched her hands tightly.
The lizardman before her glanced around and leaned in to speak even more softly. "Do you have another of those scales from the great one?"
"Yes," she answered, hope flaring. Could it be that simple?
He nodded and turned to enter the room again. "I shall heal her and everyone in this room for that payment. Come, all of you sit around her. I shall do this quickly before anyone comes to investigate what is going on."
Gia quickly ushered everyone to the seat where Carla was laying, breathing shallowly.
Chanting under his breath, the lizardman's hands started glowing, just like the elves' hands had when they used their healing magic. Except, instead of touching one of them, he clapped his hands and the magic flew out over them, covering them in a type of glowing dust. It sunk into their skin and clothes almost as soon as it landed, leaving behind a slight soothing sensation. The cuts and scrapes, bruises and sore muscles all disappeared.
Carla opened her eyes wide and sucked in a sharp breath of air.
"Are you alright?" asked Tom, unable to keep the slight wobble in his voice from escaping.
"I haven't felt this good in ages!" exclaimed Carla, sitting up and looking around.
"The healing affects will fade long before you are brought forward to have the eyes fixed of your companion. The scale?" asked the lizard, looking at Gia expectantly.
"You traded a scale for me?" whispered her mom, as she handed it over.
"Yes," Gia said forcefully, turning to look at her mother. "And I would have gladly paid more, if it meant you were healed."
The lizard snatched the scale and gazed at it for a moment in reverence, before shoving it into a pouch and rushing out of the tent.
"I don't have a good feeling about that lizard," said Vonn, glancing at Gia.
"We don't have a choice," she said. "None of us know magic, and he did. I'm just grateful the scale was all he requested. I was willing to pay whatever I needed to, to make sure my family is safe."
"Don't say that," said Carla, shaking her head. "These people are supposed to eat people, remember? What if they asked for your arm, or your leg?"
"Mom! That's horrible!" cried Gia, looking at her mother in horror and confusion.
"Are you feeling alright?" asked Tom, noting the difference in the way Carla was acting.
"I feel better than I have before we met. Do you remember when I fell down and hurt my knee the first time we met as kids?"
"I remember," Tom said slowly, frowning in thought.
"My knee was twisted horribly, and the town healer thought I would never walk again. Yet I did? Well, that knee has always bothered me, even after drinking that tea from Bob. It doesn't hurt anymore. In fact, I feel as if I could climb a mountain and run down the other side!"
"I don't think that would be a good idea," said Mikey, shaking his head. "You don't like heights."
"Well, that's true," Carla conceded, nodding in agreement.
"I never knew," said Tom softly, reaching out for her hand to hold it, but Carla bounced up off the stone platform and danced around for a moment in glee.
Everyone watched her in silence, stunned at her change in behavior. Tom lowered his hand when he realized she wasn't there, and sat in silence.
"You're acting weird, mom," said Mikey, petting his pouch where his Limcheez was sleeping.
"Well, I feel great! Tom, do you want to dance? You know, like we used to do when we were younger, before the kids."
He shook his head and said softly, "I don't think so. I can't see to lead you around, and I would hate to step on your toes like I used to."
Carla laughed and said, "Oh! That's right! I forgot you did that. I think that's why we stopped dancing, actually. Oh, well. That's a shame."
"The magic must have done something to her," whispered Vonn to Gia and Tom. "She doesn't act like this normally."
"He said the magic would wear off before they came to fix my eyes," said Tom, leaning down to grab his bag. "I'll carve something while we wait."
"That's a good idea," said Gia, looking over at Vonn with worry in her eyes. She didn't like how her mom was suddenly so energetic and disregarding the hurt she was causing to Tom. Her mom never did that!
"Mikey, let's start something cooking," said Carla, poking at the fire Vonn had started. "Do we have anything to cook?"
"Only rations. I don't have any fish anymore. I dropped them all when we were running from the big wave."
The ground shook slightly, and they all paused and waited for screaming and shouting to start up, but it never did.
"Maybe some of the lizardmen will have some fish I can cook," said Carla, rushing out of the tent before anyone could stop her.
Gia darted after her, unease making her feel sick to her stomach. These people would only be nice to them if they didn't make them upset. She had to stop her mom!
Carla was chatting to a tall pale green lizardwoman, who was gazing down at her with a raised eyebrow. The lizardwoman had an ax in one hand and a thick bladed sword in the other. It was clear from the leather armor she wore, that she didn't have any fish to trade.
"Mom!" cried Gia, rushing up to Carla and smiling at the lizard before grabbing her mom's arm. "I am so sorry to have bothered you!"
The lizard shook her head as Gia dragged her mom back towards the tent.
"Giavanna! What are you doing?" demanded her mom.
"I am trying to keep you from messing everything up! We can eat rations for tonight. Tomorrow they're going to fix dad's eyes and then we can head out and start working our way through the mountains. If you mess everything up, I don't know what these people will do to us!" hissed Gia.
Her mom stared at her in shock as she dragged her back to the tent where the others were waiting.
"I can't believe you just spoke to me in that way," said Carla, shaking her head.
"I can't believe you're acting like a child!" barked Gia. "You've hurt dad's feelings, and you never do that!"
"I did?" asked Carla, looking over at Tom, who seemed intently focused on his sculpture.
"Yes," said Mikey, nodding his head. "Even I know not to say mean things."
"I… I don't know what came over me," said Carla, confusing and uncertainty on her face as she sat down gently next to Tom. "Dear, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you!"
"I never knew you loved to dance so much, or I would have tried harder to learn," he said softly after a moment.
"I loved to dance, yes, but my knee would hurt so bad, I didn't mind when you stopped," she murmured softly. "Do you forgive me? I was a little taken by the sudden energy I had and the fact I could move so well, without anything hurting."
"Of course, I forgive you!" he reassured her, setting his carving down. "I love you!"
She leaned in as he turned towards her, and lay her head on his shoulder, her face inches from his. "Are you sure?" she asked softly.
"That I love you, or that I forgive you?" he asked, just as softly.
"Both?" she asked, as he kissed her.
"I'm pretty sure," he said, coming up for air. "Though, I think there's more fun things we could be doing, other than dancing."
"Oh, yeah?" Carla asked with a grin.
"Totally," Tom grinned back.
"See," said Vonn, pointing at them as he looked at Gia. "This is why I want our room to be as far from their room as possible!"
Tom and Carla laughed as Gia's already pink face deepened to a dark red and she sputtered, unable to answer him.
Mikey was too busy covering his ears and closing his eyes to put his personally feelings into the discussion, but a tiny green head poked out of the top of his pouch and blinked at them.
Everyone was so startled, that Mikey opened his eyes to see why it had gotten so quiet, and glanced around quickly when he realized everyone was staring at him, except of course Tom.
"What's going on?" asked Tom, "You stopped kissing me."
"That's because Mikey's little pet just poked its head up out of its pouch," said Carla.
"Oh! Sprout woke up!" cried Mikey, looking down in excitement.
"I wonder if the healing magic had anything to do with that?" asked Vonn quietly.
"I don't know, but I bet the lizardman didn't know Mikey had it," replied Gia.