Elias hit the ground with a crash and made no move to rise. With the mage out of the picture, even the Wisp enhanced bandits were too slow to deal with the Ryukyuujin’s numbers. Most surrendered right away. A few of the Wisp Enhanced fighters tried to fight back, but Peter and Captain Yamada dispatched them almost instantly.

  “One of them got away,” Peter said, looking east into the woods. “Maybe I could run after him.”

  “I’m not sure that would be a good idea at the moment,” Andrew said, wincing through the pain of the arrow in his arm. “If you leave, the others might try fighting again. Besides,” Andrew looked over at the two dragons, both still with glowing flames blocking their vision. “You don’t want to leave those two alone, do you?”

  Peter shook his head. He walked over to the two dragons to let them know Anna was doing what she could to break the enchantment on them. Andrew stayed next to her while she worked. His eyes lingered on Captain Yamada and the soldiers Anna had somehow empowered. The Wisps had left them almost as soon as the fighting had ended. Now they were scattered throughout the clearing, bobbing near the soldiers and their prisoners and washing the whole place in blue light.

  Several dozen of them gathered near Anna as she worked. Andrew wanted to ask her what she’d told them that had gotten them to move the way they had but decided against interrupting as she broke the enchantments on the dragons. Elias, the Wisp Stealer mage, winced as she managed to break the first of them. Andrew’s eyes snapped over to the dragons, and he was relieved to see that Jarnvaror’s had been first. The dragon didn’t look happy, but he was sure Jarn at least wouldn’t go on a rampage.

  He was less certain about the emerald dragon. But she also seemed to calm down a good deal once her vision was restored. Peter insisted that the two follow him to the edge of the clearing as he spoke to them again. It reminded Andrew of when they were little, and he’d seen Peter wandering around with dragon’s tailing him as he rambled.

  With both spells broken, Anna sighed, and Andrew returned his attention to her. “Care to explain what happened with the Wisps?” he asked.

  Anna didn’t answer right away. All Andrew could see of her face under the brim of her hat was her frown. As he was starting to doubt she’d heard him, Anna said, “I’m not sure.” She spoke slowly. She turned to him, her frown deepening. “At first I was just worried about you and Peter. How’s your arm?”

  “It has an arrow in it,” Andrew replied. “I think it’s about as bad as it looks. But I can move it, so we’ll let the mage handle others for now.”

  Anna blinked and looked over her shoulder at the last of the Ryukyuujin mages. The spell caster was tending to the worst wounds among the soldiers using magic. He had a grim look on his face. Andrew’s thoughts drifted to the other two mage’s they’d brought along with them. Both had been struck down the moment they were recognized, the first before he’d had an opportunity to cast his magic. Anger at Elias on behalf of the soldiers boiled up within Andrew. But he shook his head and turned back to Anna.

  “You said at first. Did something change?” he asked.

  “Maybe,” Anna said. “I think I was able to match those feelings again, only for Captain Yamada instead of Peter. And Halcyon… I think he understood a lot of what was going on. At least compared to what he’s been able to before.”

  “What do you mean?” Andrew asked.

  “It’s like he was directing the others more intentionally,” Anna said. “Like his senses of us have improved a little more again.”

  An earie feeling overtook Andrew as he looked at the Wisps around the clearing. He knew he should want them to improve their senses, but he couldn’t help the feeling of discomfort at realizing these creatures seemed to be learning about Anna faster than she was learning about them now.

  Almost at once, he felt Halcyon’s influence. It was like the Wisp had noticed and focused on him to tell him things were going to be alright. It didn’t suppress his own feelings, the way his influence had done before. It existed alongside it, but separate. It was obvious that it wasn’t his own feeling. Andrew couldn’t tell if that was because he’d gotten used to the Wisp, or because that’s what Halcyon wanted.

  “Maybe,” Andrew managed, trying to distract himself, “you could try seeing if they still understand you. Ask them to do something else?”

  Anna frowned for a moment, then nodded. “I think I’ve got an idea.” She turned to one of the soldiers and asked, “Did you remove the gemstones from all of the enhanced Wisp Stealers?”

  The soldier nodded, and at Anna’s request, brought the collection of gemstones before Anna. He handled them with care. It was clear that the Wisps inside were still active, and it was only the blanket influence of the calm Wisps giving him the courage to handle the enraged ones inside. Andrew watched as Anna took the gems and laid them out in a semi-circle on the ground. There were fewer than they’d expected. Only eight containing Wisps, including two of Elias’s.

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  Then Anna stood still, clasping her arms in front of her, so the gemstone the Wisps normally stayed in was facing up. Nothing happened for a moment. Then, all the blue Wisps around the clearing drifted over and began hovering over the crystals. A moment later, Wisps glowing red and yellow emerged from the semicircle. Most of the gems had only one or two. Elias’s had five a piece. Twenty in all. More than twice that number had emerged from Anna’s bracelet.

  The Wisps began changing color to blue before the eyes of the soldiers and captive Wisp Stealers. When they were all calm, the old Wisps Anna had found guided the new one’s into Anna’s bracelet. When she was done, the clearing fell silent with everyone staring at Anna.

  “It’s alright,” Andrew said to the onlookers. “This is normally how it goes when we find Wisps.”

  Captain Yamada, who was standing nearby, recovered first. He nodded his understanding and turned back to the crowd. “Enough gawking, men. Make sure the prisoners are secure. We’ll be taking them back to the main camp, so the king might interrogate them.”

  Andrew saw Anna sigh in relief as the men started doing their own work again. Andrew leaned in next to her and asked, “Did you do anything different than normal?”

  “I told them the Wisps were in the gems,” Anna said. “They knew the Wisps were close, but I waited till all the gems were laid out to call them over and help. But I think I’ve done things like that before, so it’s not a real test.”

  “What’s the real test?” Andrew asked.

  In answer, Anna walked over to the Ryukyuujin mage. He was still tending to the wounded. Only when he was done with his current spell did he glance at them and nod to acknowledge their presence. “Wisp Seekers,” he said. “That was… an impressive display.”

  “I didn’t know they could do that,” Anna said. “During the battle I mean.”

  “It was new?” the mage asked.

  Anna nodded. “I’m always trying to get better at communicating with them. I think they’re trying, too. And I may have figured something out during the fighting.”

  “You have now? Do you need help?” the mage asked. From his tone, Andrew couldn’t tell if he was upset with them, or merely tired. Perhaps the Wisps were helping Anna, because she bowed her head before continuing.

  “I’m sorry we weren’t able to connect in time to save any of the others,” Anna said. “The other mages were your friends, yes?”

  The man nodded. “A friend and a brother,” he said. “If this can help stop that from happening to others, I will help.”

  He didn’t sound any happier to Andrew, but Anna nodded and explained her idea to him.

  “I want you to let the Wisps help you with your healing,” she said. “I’m going to try to tell them to help, and hopefully they will.”

  “How will you tell them?” the mage asked.

  “Wisps respond mostly to emotions,” Anna said. She gestured at Andrew. “I’m not sure I could put it into words, but if I focus on the two of you, I think they may understand, like they did while we were fighting.”

  “And I let them boost me,” the mage said. “I’m not sure that will do much for my healing, though. Maybe make it go a little faster. It’ll itch more,” he added, looking at Andrew.

  Anna nodded, a thoughtful frown coming over her face. “When the Wisps help me with magic, it feels like they’re partnering with me, like there’s another mage working on the same spell, improving it. Or clarifying it, when it comes to dispelling.”

  “You want me to let them do that?” the mage asked, now looking warry.

  Anna nodded slowly. “I know it isn’t… normal. But they aren’t dangerous. Not like this. They’re trying to help.”

  “Aren’t they still learning how to do that?” the mage asked. He seemed to take the look on Anna’s face as confirmation as he took a breath in. “Very well. Sir Wisp Seeker,” he said, turning to Andrew, “step forward. We’ll need to remove the arrow before I start the healing.”

  Andrew nodded. He stepped forward and braced himself against the pain. As much as he tried to hold still, his body gave an involuntary shudder as the mage put one hand on the arm around the arrow. “I’m ready,” Andrew said, holding his breath. The mage worked, fast, grabbing and yanking the arrow out almost in a single motion. It hurt almost as much as getting hit in the first place had. He wasn’t able to stop himself from flinching again and crying out.

  As soon as the arrow was out, the mage began his healing spell. He moved Andrew’s sleeve out of the way as he worked. Andrew felt him working on his arm, starting by dulling the pain. It wasn’t numb. He could feel the flesh moving as it knit itself back together. But it didn’t hurt. He was a little worried though. Whatever this method was didn’t seem like it would stop the bleeding until the wound was fully closed. And it was slow going.

  He watched Anna while the mage worked. Her jaw was set as she kept glancing between the mage and Andrew’s wound. Her bracelet flashed blue once. Then twice. On the third flash, three of the Wisps emerged and drifted over to the mage. They dimmed as before, and he began to glow. Andrew felt the speed of the healing increase rapidly. Suddenly, his arm began to itch, along with his forehead, and a few small points all around his body.

  It took him a moment to realize the healing was suddenly affecting everything. Every small wound, even a few bruises or scrapes he wasn’t sure how he’d gotten were being cured. In moments, the wound on his arm and the cut on his head had both closed. Even the itching was going away. Andrew blinked as he examined the new flesh. He glanced over at the other men who’d already been healed. Many of them had had worse injuries. But a few were similar. None of their healing looked quite as complete.

  “I think it’s done,” Andrew said.

  “It worked!” Anna said, grinning.

  “What now?” the mage asked.

  “Keep letting them help you with the others,” Anna said. “I think they’ll do it until all of the wounds are healed.”

  “You think so?” the mage said, still looking at Andrew’s arm, as if he couldn’t believe how thorough the spell had become.

  Anna nodded. “Yes. They want to be helpful. And I can tell they understand what the wounds are.” She smiled at Andrew. “We’re making a bit more progress, I think.”