D&D Cartoon On-Line Fan Club Newsletter #8, Part 4
September/October 1998

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Players
by Maureen S. O?Brien

This story is rated either G or PG-13. It begins in 1997; Scully has
recently learned she has cancer. Hope you like it!
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Part 5: Trial by Fire

"A healer's greatest magic lies in the patient's willingness to believe.
Imagine a miracle and you're halfway there."
-- Dana Scully, "Miracle Man"

The Forest of Nightwinds moaned and howled, as it had done for
hundreds of years. But tonight, the eerie noise was augmented. A
hellhorse neighed as it rose through the trees. Its rider shouted
orders, insults, and curses, while orcs yelled out answers to
him and threats to each other. A short distance away, the rustling
of dead leaves and underbrush marked the passage of the party that
that was pursued.

But loudest of all came the crackling of fire.

Another body ran past Bobby. "Eric?"

The Cavalier slowed his run. "Yeah," he panted. "Mulder's...over
there. Seen Presto?"

"Here," came a weary voice not far behind Bobby. "Hank's up ahead.
Wish...we...had...horses."

"Try the hat?"

"Yeah. Got a herd of deer."

"Mm, mmm. Barbecue!"

"Ewwwwww," said Presto. "Don't say that around Uni!"

Bobby agreed. "Shut up, Eric!"

"Meh, muhmuh, Merih!" Uni chimed in.

A tall dark form loomed out of the gloom ahead of them. They
skidded to a stop and readied their weapons.

"Save your breath for running," said Mulder. "The fire's flanked us
on that side." He gestured left. "We've got to get out of here."

Hank skidded out of the darkness. "Follow me! I found a path out of
this part of the forest, but we'll have to hurry before the fire
cuts us off!"

Bobby's legs churned, and he wished desperately for a little more
height. Mulder had dropped behind him and Presto. Keeping an eye on
the slowpoke and the baby, he thought with disgust. Well, I'll keep
up. You'll see.  He raced ahead, and Uni bounded alongside him. In a
moment, he was out of sight of Presto.

Just then, the nightwinds whipped up the fire and carried a flaming
branch directly into their path. Bobby desperately pushed Uni out of
the way, and the branch landed full on his arm.

Bobby threw the branch off his arm, scarcely able to breathe in its
heat. Gotta be forgewood. Nothing else burned that hot.

Uni meh'd anxiously.

"Don't worry, girl. I didn't even feel it!"

But he couldn't see his arm, and Uni could. It glowed even to her
dazzled infravision, and she knew something was very wrong. She
meh'd more insistently.

Bobby got up and began to run again, a little more slowly. Presto
came into sight, and he tried to run faster. But instead,
everything went dark.

Scully ran grimly through the woods, making her legs continue to
pump despite the pain. The last day had tested her endurance more
than she intended to reveal to anyone. She had no medicine with her.
And her head hurt, reminding her that a silent killer waited insided.
But since it seemed more likely at the moment that orcs or evil
wizards would be her killer rather than the tumor, she put aside
her pain and pushed on.

Besides, she'd be damned if she couldn't keep up with a bunch of kids.

Scully heard someone puff a little in front of her, but saw nothing.
Warily, she stopped dead, looking and listening for danger. Suddenly
she saw a hooded purple cloak appear, seeming to hang midair in the
clearing before her.

Yes, they had demonstrated the magic weapons that afternoon. Yes, they
even had gotten in some combat practice. But it was disconcerting to
see the cloak appear first and then Sheila a moment later, grinning
like some mutant variant of the Cheshire Cat.

"I think we've lost them, Dana!" the thief announced brightly. She had
to speak rather loudly to be heard over the noise of the forest's
eponymous nightwinds.

Scully came out of cover. "Yes, but I think we've also lost each
other."

Diana and her pole did a midair somersault and landed in the clearing
next to them with a move the Olympic women's gymnastics team could
have used in Atlanta.  Or rather, in LA and Seoul. "I'm not lost."

Sheila rolled her eyes at her friend's showmanship. "What took you so
long?"

"I got caught in some crosstown squirrel traffic." Diana's brow
furrowed. "I hope Venger didn't start a forest fire. That'd be all
we'd need."

"Did you see Bobby?"

"Presto's got him. Those two should be along any minute," Diana told
her. "Relax."

Sheila sighed. "I know, I know. Bobby's a tough kid and he can take
care of himself. But I can't help worrying. He's the only little
brother I've got."

"Speaking as a little sister to Missy and Bill, and a big sister to
Charlie," Scully began, "I can tell you that it is equally hard to be
the worrier and the worried over. But it doesn't stop when you get
older. You just collect more people to worry and worry about."

"So I should just get used to it?" Sheila said. "That's not very
helpful, Dana...." She paused for a moment. "Hey, did you bump into
a tree or something?"

"Why? Was my advice that bad?"

"No. Your nose," she said, gesturing at her own. "It's bleeding."

Scully bit back a curse and pinched her nose with one hand as she
fished around in her belongings for a tissue with the other. Her
medicine was back in their BuCar; but she never dared leave behind her
supply of tissues these days, so at least it had come with her to this
strange world. Grimacing, she managed to block off the flow long
enough to stop pinching her nose for a second.

"Hey, that's a pretty nasty nosebleed you've got," Diana said as
Scully used two hands to wind bits of tissue into tiny plugs and stuck
them up her nose. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said, hating their worry, feeling smothered by it. "I
can take care of myself." She turned away from them and stood on
guard, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"But Dana...." Diana took a step towards Scully.

Sheila put a warning hand on Diana's arm. "Better let her be."

Diana resisted for a moment, then stopped. "All right," she said.
"But as soon as Mulder gets here, I'm going to ask him what's wrong."

But a moment later, when the male contingent arrived, she did no such
thing. Because Mulder was carrying Bobby in his arms, and Bobby was
not moving.

Sheila flew to her brother's side, calling his name. Scully and Diana
followed.

"What happened?" Diana asked, clenching her staff.

"I don't know," Presto said. "Hank and Bobby and Mulder and I were
booking out of there, and suddenly Bobby just...collapsed."

Uni meh'd disconsolately.

Scully took off her blue cloak and spread it on the ground. "Lay him
here, Mulder." He obeyed, and she began to examine Bobby. "Need some
light on this," she announced, and it came unbidden, shining from
her hands.

"Thanks," she said vaguely. She was too busy observing Bobby's arm
wound to notice that anything strange had happened.

"Third degree burns," she said finally, looking up. She did not
mention his charred skin, and she hoped the kids hadn't noticed the
smell of cooked meat. "Damaged his nerve endings, so at least he
didn't feel any pain. He probably got hit by a burning branch or the
edge of one of Venger's fireballs; I'm not really familiar with
magical fire patterns. He needs a hospital with a good burn unit."
Her hands' glow faded.

Hank held Sheila, but his own eyes were haunted. "This is my fault. I
should have ordered him away sooner."

"I was the closest to him," Presto was saying morosely. "I should have
noticed that Bobby needed help."

"This is nobody's fault," Mulder said, grasping both boys' shoulders
from behind. "You can't expect to know everything and save everybody
and always do the right thing."

Scully just looked at him. Mulder, listen to your own advice.

Eric brought up his head. "There must be something we can do! Bobby
can't just...."

"I am a doctor and a...paladin," Scully said levelly. "And I will do
what I can."

She was already kneeling by Bobby's side. Inside her head, she was
praying in the insistent way she had learned in med school. *Don't
let him die, damn it! Get him to fight! He's only a little
boy!* But she had learned in med school that God doesn't always answer
prayers with a yes.

What am I doing here? she wondered. Her thoughts raced. Conventional
treatment...I don't have the facilities.  Dungeonmaster said things
would be getting more dangerous...I'm a paladin. Fighter and healer.
But it all depends on belief.

Do I believe in God this week? And if I do, do I believe in His
benevolence? Her eyes darkened as she thought of cancer, conspiracies,
and all that she had lost.

Then she thought of the oaths she'd sworn. As an FBI agent, to
protect the public. As a doctor, to save lives. Her face turned
determined. This was another universe, where the laws of physics she
knew did not quite apply. She would do what had to be done and worry
about the implications later.

*Fine. A truce for now,* she told God. *Till we get these kids back
home safe.* Then she folded her hands and bowed her head.

Mulder watched uneasily. He could deal with psychic surgery, aura
manipulation, crystals, and unconventional medicine. But religion
usually gave him the creeps. It was too easy to lose yourself in
that stuff, or give yourself into the power of someone not worth
trust. Scully doing religious stuff was even creepier. He remembered
that time before, when she'd decided she had a mission from God to
protect the stigmatic boy Kevin Kryder. She'd almost gotten herself
killed over that.

But this time was worse. She wasn't just being a lawful good fighter
with some extras, as he'd expected. She was throwing herself into her
role, turning to her prayers with the same focused concentration she
usually bent on the view through a microscope. Her eyes closed, and
her face took on a strange look of peace. Then her hands began to
glow again. The cross around her neck glowed as well.

Mulder swallowed hard. What are you getting into, Scully?

After a moment, she unfolded her hands, opened her eyes, and drew
her sword. It did not just glow; it shone as if it were white-hot
from the forge. She carefully held it above Bobby's arm.

"No!" cried Sheila, horrified. "Don't cut it off!"

But the sword was not moving. The light from the sword was, expanding
to surround Bobby's arm. Arm and sword grew too bright to look at.
Hank threw his arm over his face, and Sheila had to close her eyes.
The light grew brighter still, until Mulder could see Scully's form as
a shadow against the sword's light, even through his eyelids.

And then, the light began to die away. Mulder blinked against the
purple and black spots on his retinas. Sheila pulled away from
Hank and raced forward to her brother, while Scully, her eyes still
open, sheathed her sword and leaned forward to examine her patient.

"What did you do to Bobby?" Sheila demanded.

"I didn't do it," Scully said. "But the treatment would seem to
be effective." She stood aside and let Sheila see.

Bobby's arm, so deeply burned before, looked good as new.

"All right," said Hank softly. As he pressed forward to get a better
look, he seemed to stand a little straighter -- as if he had finally
rid himself of some heavy burden of care.

Bobby opened his eyes. "Hey, guys, what happened?"

All the Young Ones were suddenly swarming around him. Scully let
them. She walked away a little distance and watched, fingering her
cross necklace. Her face was troubled again.

Uni danced with glee and then leaned gratefully against Scully. Scully
smiled tiredly and began to stroke the little one. Mulder joined them.

"How did you manage to keep your eyes open through all that light?"
Mulder demanded.

"What light?"

"The light from the sword, your necklace, your hands...."

"I didn't see any light. I just brought out my magic sword and
it healed Bobby's arm."

"That's not what we saw."

Her eyes dropped. "I guess that's what I get for negotiating."

"What?"

"Never mind. We'd better get the kids moving. We still have Venger
and a forest fire after us."

The kids were already on it.

"We can't keep depending on Dana to save us," Hank was saying. "We
need to do something about the fire."

"Without letting Venger and every orc in the forest know exactly
where we are," Diana pointed out.

Sheila looked doubtful. "I dunno, guys. The hat's likely to give us
a garden hose."

"See if it'll give you a bunch of smokejumpers," Eric suggested.

Presto looked unhappy. "Geez, I'll see what I can do." He took his
green wizard's hat off and started making passes over it. He was
particularly careful not to use too much twiddle. But he really
wished he was better at coming up with rhymes.

"Presto change-o, ice and snow,
All this fire has got to go!
As long as it works, even if it's a dumb thing,
C'mon, hat, and give me something!"

Nothing happened. Mulder looked disappointed. Presto looked
humiliated.

Eric edged away from Presto. "Uh, Presto? Didn't we have a little
talk about being more specific?"

"But I didn't know what to ask for!"

"Who cares? You could've asked for a...a pumper truck. Anything, as
long as you're specific. Because every time you let that hat decide,
it does something weird..." His eyes shifted to the hat. "...like
smoke starts to pour out of it."

"Smoke?!" Presto dropped the hat and ran to a safe distance before
turning to see more smoke -- no, steam -- coming out. And more.
And more. Soon, the entire clearing was a high humidity zone.
Then the steam began to coalesce into distinct clouds.

Then the clouds spoke. "You called us here, wizard. What is our
task?"

Mulder stepped forward, his dark hair and cloak dripping but his eyes
gleaming with curiosity. "What are you?"

"We are cloud elementals," they said, their voices as wispy as their
bodies. "What are you? You are not the wizard."

"That's me," Presto said, stepping forward reluctantly. "Hey, can you
guys make rain? Put out fires and stuff?"

"We can."

"Then I'd like you to split up. Some of you can go and put out the
forest fire," he waved in its direction, "and the rest of you
should stick with us, because we're headed onto the Flaming Plain."

The clouds considered for a moment, then began to move.

"Just what I always wanted -- my own personal raincloud."

"All together now...." Diana announced.

"Shut up, Eric!" came the chorus.

Hank squished back to them. "I scouted the edge of the forest, and
there's no sign of Venger or the orcs. Assuming the cloud elementals
can keep us safe on the Flaming Plain, we'll be way ahead of him."

"Then let's get going," Sheila said from underneath an apparently
unmanned cloud. "I hate standing around in the rain. Coming, Bobby?"

Bobby picked up his club with little enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah."
He started walking, but slowly. Uni nudged him with her nose, trying
to get him to pick up the pace. He ignored her.

Scully and Mulder traded glances.

"Looks like your sword didn't heal all the damage," Mulder said.

"You're the Oxford-trained psychologist," she said quietly.

"Yeah, but I was trained to deal with serial killers, not kids."
He thought for a moment. "On the other hand, I do have some experience
with pyrophobia. And being an over-protective brother."

"And partner, and employee, and...."

"Hey, _I'm_ the shrink around here!"

Then Mulder walked up to Bobby's side. "Psst."

Bobby looked up reluctantly. "What?"

"I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

Mulder turned his head to see if anyone was watching. Scully gave him
a worried look, but nobody else saw. Satisfied, he turned back to
Bobby. "Look, I know we're going to be perfectly safe on the Flaming
Plain. But I've got this fear of fire, and sometimes I freeze for a
minute. My partner knows about it, but we decided that in case things
get hairy, somebody else should know, too."

Bobby couldn't believe it. "You're afra...."

Mulder shushed him. "Yeah, I am. Ever since I was a kid. Really fun,
especially since the guys we investigate love to destroy evidence
with a little arson." Beautiful thing was, it was all true.

"But you didn't freeze under Venger's fireballs," Bobby pointed out
in a whisper. "Or when you saw the forest fire."

"It's not so bad as long as I don't stop and think about it," he
whispered back. "If I just keep moving and keep my mind on the job,
it keeps me from getting too scared. But just in case, be ready to
give me a yell or a shove, okay?"

"Don't worry. Me and Dana'll keep an eye on you," Bobby said
reassuringly. "And Uni will too. Right, Uni?"

"Meh!"

"Thanks, Bobby. That's good to hear." Mulder turned to walk back
to Scully. As he did, Uni walked right behind him. Mulder didn't
hear her unicorn-light footsteps in the rain, and when he turned
around, he was startled to see her so close.

"Keeping an eye on me?" he inquired dryly.

"Meh!" she said, with a wink. Then she trotted back to Bobby as
the woods fell away. Beyond, there was a strip of bare rock and
then a vast expanse of smoke and flame.

"Underground fires," Scully said, sniffing the air. "Coal? Oil?
Something of that nature. I don't know if water can quench this kind
of flame."

"I don't think it has to," said Hank. "It's not all on fire. If the
cloud elementals can cool down the rocky parts so we can walk on
them, and keep the smoke away, I think maybe we can get through."

"The flaming part of the Flaming Plain is only a few miles thick,"
the cloud elementals said. "We have seen the open space inside. We
can lead you there."

"Then lead on!" said Hank. "We're too visible out here."

The small procession disappeared quickly into the Flaming Plain, the
cloud elementals lost among the smoke like raindrops in the sea.

Venger cursed and cursed again. His orcs dodged with practiced
speed. "You fools have allowed the Young Ones to escape, as well as
their new allies! Return to my castle! I will have to take steps in
the matter myself. Shadowdemon!"

"Yes, master?"

"You will accompany me to the Flaming Plain."

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Continued in Part 6 -- The Mirror of Ages