Curupira knelt at Dar's side.  Once before, she had
taken Kyra's form, and had kissed the boy Dar.

He was sleeping, would never know it wasn't her.  And yet, even as she gently stroked his light hair back from his closed eyes . . .

She couldn't do it.  She whispered, "Damn you, you worthless thing . . . what have you done to me?  I cannot kiss you, I'm afraid I might kill you.  Even when you're not awake, when you won't know what I feel, I can't do this.  I hate you, BeastMaster.  I hate you for making me care about you, and I didn't want to!"

Dar remained still, his breathing labored and his face ashen.  Curupira fought back her tears.  This wasn't right, this wasn't natural.  The man lying on the blankets wasn't really Dar, because he was too quiet.  He wasn't supposed to be this still, this silent.

The guardian spirit gently caressed his hair, murmuring, "You cannot die, Dar of the Sula.  I won't permit it.  You are needed too much.  I won't let you go."  It shattered her, seeing him so limp and lifeless.

Curupira had pushed Dar into action in the past with insults and barbs, by hurting him.  There had been a part of her which hoped she could do the same this time.  It hadn't worked.  Which left only one more card to play, one more possibility.  The truth.

Curupira wondered why it took more courage to speak the truth than to face that foul little creature she had to kill twice.  But, she found the courage to whisper, "You can't leave me, BeastMaster.  Think of Kyra.  She still needs you.  I need you.  You were right, BeastMaster . . . I do need humans.  Especially you.  And I've hated you as much for that as anything.  Maybe even more than making me care about you."

There was a gentle breeze in the sickroom, and Curupira knew before the words were spoken that her mother had arrived.  The Mother Goddess Pelagia said quietly, "He can hear you, little one . . . but he must rest.  He has driven himself, until he is on the verge of collapse.  He forgets to take care of himself, which is why he needs Tao."

Curupira didn't argue with her mother.  Telling Dar the truth had taken too much strength.  Instead, she blinked back tears and asked, "Mother, why must it hurt so much?  When you gave the animals to me, to protect them, you told me that it would hurt when they were harmed.  But you never told me how much it would hurt if I allowed myself to care for a human."

Pelagia put her arm around her youngest daughter, murmuring, "In a way, the animals are your children, as you are my child.  But Dar is something completely different.  He is yours, but at the same time, he is not.  You came to care for him, because of who he is.  What he is."

Her mother paused, stroked Curupira's hair, then continued, "I remember when he was born, you know.  I warned his mother what would happen if she became pregnant again, because Mira had been such a difficult pregnancy and delivery.  But she insisted.  Sometimes, Curi, the mortals which you claim to hate so much are much wiser than we are."

Curupira didn't answer her mother's statement.  She welcomed her mother's counsel, welcomed her comfort.  It was her mother, after all.  She could accept things from her mother that she couldn't have accepted from Carrin.  While a divine spirit, Curupira could be killed.  But she had already lived longer than any human or animal, with the possible exception of Sharak.

Pelagia reached out to touch Dar's cheek, then continued, "Dar isn't foolish or worthless or stupid.  Willful, yes.  Stubborn, yes.  And human, yes.  He makes mistakes, he is vulnerable.  But he learns from his mistakes.  Perhaps that is why I have such faith in the humans, child.  No, not all men are like Dar, or his father.  But they do exist.  And that's reason enough for hope."

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