Astra Witnesses the Drawing of Blood

Astra had the grace and easy sense of command that comes to those who are aware of their natural superiority to others. This was not arrogance - she was born to the Aquaralian nobility, had great skill with the sword and the bow, was beautiful, quick-witted, and athletic. Although impulsive and headstrong at times, she had a natural optimism that made her easy to both like and respect. She had always assumed that others would be deferential to her, and therefore made herself the mistress of every situation she had met.

Recent events had shaken her confidence. Betrayed and kidnapped while hunting near the Shreken, mocked and ransomed to the dragon, taunted by a lercherous old man, who tried tortures both crude and subtle to break her will, Astra was frustrated. She could not bring her virtues and abilities to improve her lot. This morning she was a plaything of the dragon, in the form of a filthy old man, who had twisted her body and clothing to fit his purile desires. Somehow the knight and ... whatever Checkers was ... had freed her, but the dragon further mocked her by casting her as insane, and she could literally make no effective reply. She had fallen in love with Lord Fred - just like that - another thing out of her control, but she definitely had. While they were alive, they provided her with a faint glimmer of hope against the foul and petty-minded greatness of the dragon. Now Fred was clinging to life, despite her best efforts with the sword, and she was helpless to save him. Adding to her troubles, she had offered to become the dragon's slave if he could save Fred. Either way, her lot would be worse.

Belboz gave her some hope that at least Fred could be saved, and not being bound by her vow, perhaps he could slay the dragon. He seemed determined, and the dragon had to slip out of his form sometime. She would gladly give three measures of blood. Belboz certainly had motive not to harm her. He needed two more. Checkers had pitched in with the work, and always seemd eager to help. Surely she could have no real objections?

When Belboz made the request, Checkers stood stiffly, with the lower corners of her mouth tightening slightly. "What is she thinking? What can be the problem?" Astra asked herself. The only thing that would make sense would be that she distrusted Belboz. Perceptive enough, but in this case Belboz already had his victory - he was not going to harm Checkers to get it. What did Checkers see? She then asked some questions that did not seem to be very relevant, and time was wasting.

"Exactly how would you be extracting the blood?" Checkers asked.

Belboz replied, "I would use magic. I have a couple of vessels that will remove the blood without touching you."

"No," Checkers replied. Astra's body, already at low ebb, felt numb. She felt as if Checkers had pronounced a death sentence. Why was she doing this?

"It will not hurt, Checkers, and you should be able to recover after a few hours. Your fears are irrational."

"I will not give you permission to do that, Belboz," she said sternly.

"I do not have any good alternatives, Checkers. I could try hunting for another donor, but I do not know if Fred has that long."

Checkers looked at Belboz, and then Astra. Astra felt anger welling within her, and in her unaccustomed position of powerlessness lashed out at the Glider. "If you are going to let Fred die, could you at least explain?"

Checkers looked at Astra with an infurating blank stare for what seemed like minutes, although it was only ten seconds. Instead of answering directly, Checkers turned to Belboz. "Are there alternatives to use of magic?"

"None that do not involve some danger and certainly some pain. I can cut you and drain the blood directly into the bag, but the blood might get dirty and do more harm than good. I also have another bit of magic that involves jabbing you and sucking the blood out of you...."

"May I see device?"

Belboz withdrew into a far corner of the lab, and within two minutes, that seemed like twenty to Astra, he brought out two bronze needles, with a small, crystal-like cylindrical tube at the top.

Checkers motioned to Belboz to bring the tubes to her. "What is she doing? And why is he being so deferential to her?" Astra thought. "What is to prevent him from just extracting the needed blood from Checkers, and sealing my bond of slavery? Something is going on that makes no sense. What went on in the Arsenel?"

Checkers examined the tubes, and made another unfathomable request. "You need Astra's blood. I would like to see how this works on her."

Astra shook her head, giving her consent. At last, some progress! Why Checkers required her to undergo the pain of being punctured, though, she did not understand. Checkers was not being very helpful, she thought. It seemed to her that the Glider wanted to see her suffer. Belboz passed the needle through a flame in some sort of ceremony and jabbed the needle into Astra's wrist. Astra's fist clenched as a flash of pain ran down her arm. She involuntarily kneeled down and exhaled before slowly rising again. Checkers stared at the tube, observing as if something in the operation was of vital importance. All Astra knew was that she did not care how Fred got the blood, she just wanted him to have it if it would save his life.

The first bag was filled within a minute, and Belboz had prepared the table.

"Are you satisfied, Checkers?" asked Belboz.

"Does it have to come from the wrist?" the Glider replied.

"That is most convenient, but it could from anywhere, I suppose."

"I think that that I can use that device, then, provided that I do everything, from burning the needle to sealing the pouch."

"You have never done this before Checkers. Why don't you let me do this?"

"It is my blood, Belboz. If you need it, I would like to give it in my own way."

Astra was not in a position to argue the point. She could not in all good conscience insist that Checkers just trust Belboz, although she was in the unwilling position of having to do just that. She wished that Checkers would hurry! Fred was still breathing shallow breaths. There was still some hope.

Checkers finally made an odd observation, addressed to both Belboz and herself. "I do not know Fred's people. Are we really doing him a favour? According to the beliefs of some groups that I observed, death in battle is one of the highest honours. Are we cheating Fred by trying to save him?"

Astra was near tears, from both the pain in her arm and from what she perceived as an unneeded and continuing delay delay. "No, Checkers. I can tell you that Fred would rather live, all things considered."

Checkers then turned to Belboz. The cool front that she had assumed seemed to Astra to crack just a little. There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice, and her eyes glistened a bit. "I ... I just wanted to make sure that we were not acting selfishly. I shall take the sampling device. While you are analyzing it, then I will fill your bags with blood. That should save a little time, and if it is good, you can start doing what you need to do."

Belboz gave Checkers another small, silvery needle, and asked her to jab herself with it. Checkers passed the needle through a fire, and jabbed herself with it. She winced, but handed it back to Belboz. "This has to be as hard for Checkers. Does she not mind the pain, or does she even feel it as badly as Fred and I do?" Astra thought, as Belboz sealed the second bag of her blood, and attached the last empty bag. Checkers' strange behaviour seemed to accent the alienness of her race in Astra's eyes. She appeared to handle much of this drama so casually. Yet she seemed to feel sympathy toward Fred. And herself, maybe? Astra hated the idea of someone feeling sorry for her, but at this moment, also hoped that she had read Checkers right. Whatever happened, she was not sure that she could face the near future alone.

1. Belboz completes his analysis of Checkers' blood.

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