Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to FFIX, He-Man, or R.A. Salvatore's works (such as Cadderly and his friends).

Also, sorry for the lack of updates. It's been harder than I thought to get broadband, but maybe soon...

Chapter 26: To Cure a Friend

Early the next morning, Zentarou and a still-awake Dregan were greeted to a very welcome sensation.

The cubes were shaking.

Zentarou awoke Orko as Dregan doused the fire with the rest of his water and bundles Vivi into his arms.

"I hope we appear near people," Zentarou prayed as the familiar sense of vertigo overtook them.

The sudden, bright light of the sun blinded them all, made them cry out and try to shield their eyes as best able. At about the same instant, they heard a plethora a voices, shouting, and heard the sound of running steps.

"Don't move, or I'll be choppin' ya in two!" Dregan peered through bleary eyes at the voice, only able to make out a shadowy shape before having to bow his head.

"Our friend," he managed to say, trying to force his eyes to adjust, "he's sick. He needs help badly." The speaker made a sound of confusion.

"What kinda drow are ya/'

"What's a drow?" asked Zentarou sincerely, also straining to see, but after a moment giving up and bowing his head, eyes closed.

"What's a drow?" came the same gruff response, albeit sputtering in surprise. Dregan interrupted, feeling the urgency of the situation as Vivi shuddered roughly in his lap.

"Please, we need a healer, a cleric, for our friend." A new voice piped up, with a very curious statement:

"Oo oi!"

"Yer right, that one's not human. And I'm not so sure about the other two either. Can't get a good look at 'em."

"What's going on?" The third voice was young sounding, and reflexively Dregan turned towards it, squinting.

"He could see a bit better, and made out a man, about thirty years of age, strolling towards them from what he assumed was a building before the mages. He wore white-tan clothes, a light blue cape, and a wide brim hat, also blue and banded in red with a plume on the right. There was something shiny set in the band's center, a crest or broach or something like that, but he couldn't make out the details. The man carried a silver-topped walking stick, although he didn't appear to need it in any way.

"Our friend... he's ill..."

"Careful," cautioned the first voice. "They appeared out of nowhere."

"A curse," Orko spoke up, rubbing his eyes. "The man thought, then reached out to help Dregan stand, the elf refusing to put Vivi down. He blinked hard, his eyes watering so it appeared he wept, and could just make out the man, who had brown hair, looking intently at him. Dregan recognized the look, from his paladin friend, and openly welcomed it, letting the man see whatever he wanted.

"There is no danger," the man assured the other two, then said to Dregan, "Lets see to your friend.

Dregan looked around. When at last his vision had cleared, he'd been in awe of the place their new ally had called the Spirit Soaring. Now the Bretheren Arcanum were in a guest room while the man, Cadderly Bonaduce, worked on Vivi.

"I'll say this openly, and please take no insult," said Cadderly, "but you are the strangest group of people I've ever met."

"No offense taken," assured Zentarou. "How's Vivi?"

"Your friend? He's resting. I was able to stop the progression of the venom, and the toxins from the infection, but it is very foreign to me. My magics have failed to repair the damage already done, and I'm afraid it is extensive." Dregan groaned.

"Is there nothing to be done?" he asked. Cadderly turned to face them directly.

"Perhaps. There are others more powerful than I, or more knowledgeable. Any one of them might have an answer. And the library here is quite large." he eyes them over. "But it appears to me that you three need food and rest, and you, my elf friend, need a bit of healing yourself."

"Huh?" At his responding gesture, Dregan looked at his hands, for the first time noticing their banged up state. "Oh." A lovely woman entered just then bearing a tray of food for them, a woman Cadderly had called Danica. She was obviously a warrior, but on a cursory glance wouldn't appear one with her strawberry-blond hair and almond-shaped brown eyes, standing a bit under Dregan's own height. She made the Dunedi think a bit of his sister, as the two women were about the same height and build. And by the affectionate look the humans shared, the mages could guess their relationship.

"Eat up," she encouraged, before turning to Dregan. "And I'll see to your hands."

"It's really nothing - " he started to reply, but the no-nonsense look he received silenced any protects. He knew that look. So he just sat in a nearby chair, and Danica sat nearby, taking his right hands and peering at it, as the other two mages suppressed chuckles.

"A few splinters," she commented, looking at the top before turning it over to check the palm. When he saw his palm, however, she gasped. "What's this? A brand?" Dregan chuckle as the others looked, seeing for the first time the distinct image of a snow-white, crossed rose and sword.

"Sort of." He reached with his left hand to pull a necklace into view. "The Crossed Rose and Sword is the symbol of Tavannes Mournbringer, the Giver of Magic on my world. My brother, Evarion, gave me this holy symbol, and a doctrine, a long time ago. Soon after I first touched them, my palms began to itch and burn, and when it stopped these marks were there. Evarion says it's a mark of Tavannes' blessing." He shook his head to clear it. "But it's not important. We only have ten hours before we're transported away."

"I'll look in the library," promised Cadderly as he left the room. Danica stayed with them, removing the splinters from Dregan's hands and listening to the mages tell of their quest. It wasn't long however, maybe half an hour, before Cadderly returned, beaming triumphantly.

"I found a solution!" he announced, holding out a scroll. "A poultice that will cure your friend. But there's one catch." All gathered around.

"What's the catch?" asked Orko.

"One of the components grows only underground, and we have none in stock here. It's a rare moss."

"Where can we get it?" asked Dregan without hesitation.

"Are you sure you want to risk it?" asked Cadderly in response. "It's very dangerous." Dregan's simple answer took none of the Bretheren Arcanum by surprise.

"We're brothers."