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April 1998—June 1998
When Ariana went back to Flint's house, Calan was nowhere to be found. The next night she went to the inn, wondering where he could have gone, and found Flint there. Flint had been thrown out of the Dreamworld at the same time Ariana was the first time, after her confrontation with Ramiel. He was glad to see that she was all right, and he listened to her story with an understanding ear. In the middle of their conversation, however, the door to the inn swung open, and there stood Calan, alive and well.
Flint gave Calan a hearty greeting, but Ariana was a little uneasy. She hadn't seen him for a long time, and after everything she'd been through and all she'd learned, she felt a little awkward. Calan did not seem to feel the same, however, giving her a hug and telling her he'd seen everything that happened. While it had confused him, of course, it didn't seem to trouble him much. The three sat down to talk, but only a little while later someone entered the inn, carrying on about a murder that had taken place in the gardens moments ago.
The murderer was actually Nibel, a young man who was (at the time) fairly new to Rivendell, but the three friends didn't know this. So when Hiddukel came in with his face and hands streaked with blood, suspicion naturally fell on him. A confrontation followed, and while the identity of the real murderer was eventually revealed, Hiddukel grinned and admitted that he had just killed one of the city guards. Tensions were already high, and Calan had known the guardsman in question, so the matter was quickly taken to the arena to be settled. During the fight that followed, Claudius came to give his aid to Ariana and her friends, and a villain named Vassago came and offered aid to Hiddukel. The fight eventually turned in favor of Ariana and her friends, and Hiddukel gave up and disappeared into the shadows before he was hurt worse than he already was, and Vassago soon vanished as well. But the battle had taken its toll.
Flint was unhurt, but Claudius had suffered multiple injuries, and Calan had quite a few deep sword cuts. As for Ariana, she had broken off an attack on Hiddukel to help Claudius, who was being attacked by Vassago. When she turned her back, Hiddukel hurled a blade at her, cutting into her side as it flew past. It wasn't life-threatening, but it was enough to make Calan, frantic with worry, scramble over to see if she was all right, once Hiddukel was gone and Calan could see Ariana on her knees and doubled over in pain.
While Calan bandaged Ariana's wound, ignoring her protests about his own injuries, Claudius began yelling about a murder about to take place in the gardens, which he somehow knew about all of a sudden. Ariana wanted to help but was injured, and Calan wouldn't let her go. Calan himself was also hurt, but he started to go and changed his mind, deciding he needed to stay with Ariana and protect her from further harm. So Flint rushed off to the gardens to see what he could do. Meanwhile, Calan helped Ariana over to Claudius so she could heal him of his injuries. When she finished, Claudius rushed off after Flint, and Ariana fell backwards in exhaustion and was caught by Calan.
Soon after, Vassago returned and Nibel wandered through the arena. By now Calan and Ariana had heard that Nibel was responsible for the murders, so they believed they had two enemies before them, and they were hurt. However, Nibel was only interested in escaping, knowing he was being chased. Vassago only hurled a few taunts before leaving. Flint returned and harrassed Nibel until he left.
Meanwhile, Ariana and Calan had an interesting conversation. They argued a little about Calan's injuries; he claimed they weren't bad and wouldn't let Ariana heal them since she'd exhausted herself healing Claudius. She apologized for falling apart on him, and he told her, "You're the strongest woman I know." So from there things got really sweet and yechy (*G*), with Ariana telling him she wasn't anything special and him telling her she was. Finally (by this time the only other person in the arena was Flint), the conversation moved to Ariana's saving Calan in the Dreamworld, and whether it was really her or her double to be thanked for that. Ariana said that after all that had happened, she really didn't know who she was anymore. Calan told her that he knew who she was, and he knew he loved her.
Ariana had been afraid that maybe Calan didn't really love her and had simply been confused by the dream version of herself, but now that he knew the truth it seemed that he felt no different than before about the real, true Ariana. So she nervously told him that she loved him in return, and she was sure of that, even if she was sure of nothing else.
This was apparently one of the last things the completely shocked Calan had expected Ariana to say. Flint, however, was very happy (and apparently not too surprised) that the two had finally "confessed their love," as it were, but he left them alone and disappeared for the night. Things got a little mushy, Calan and Ariana had the inevitable first kiss, and then Calan helped Ariana back to the inn. There she ignored Calan's protests and did her best to heal his injuries, at least a little. Not long after, she fell asleep on a couch in the common room, where Calan propped her up with pillows and covered her with a blanket before leaving for the night. (Aw, isn't that sweet? ;) Heehee.)
Ariana did two more emergency healings in the days following, despite being weak and injured and exhausted. Soon she had such a terrible fever that she could no longer leave the Dreamworld without extreme effort, and since the nightmares were growing so strong, she was needed there. Besides, as long as she stayed in the heart of the Dreamworld, she was relatively safe. But she was still very ill, and it took her a very long time to manage to return to Rivendell again...
The Dreamworld Saga ©2001 by Amy Unfred