A long night

Karmina.

I'm starting to get nervous, big brother Kairi is never this late. Mother and father have been asleep for a couple of hours. Should I wake them? I don't want Kairi to get into trouble and I am not supposed to be up this late. I think I should go and wake up brother Raymus. I don’t have time to even go to his door before I can hear the front door slam open. Did anyone else hear it?

I run into the entryway and I'm shocked by what's in front of me. Kairios is standing there with a woman in his arms. She has almost no cloths on except for rags and Kairios' shirt. She is so skinny and has a lot of cuts on her. It was terrifying to look at. I stood there starring with my mouth open until he spoke to me.

"Karmina, go wake Mother and Father. I need help, she was lost in the woods. I don't know how long she's been out there, but she's in bad shape. Go Karmina, please." How could he speak so calmly?

Kairios turns to take her upstairs and I go to follow, I can't think of what to say to mother. Is she going to be mad at me? All the noise has mother awake as I walk in, she was already putting on her robe.

"What is it Karmina? Did you have a bad dream? Where is all that noise coming from?"

"Uhm Kairios brought an unconscious woman home. She's been hurt." I blurted out. Her face is blank at first then she turns to Dad who is still asleep somehow.

"Xander wake up there's and emergency!" She shouted as she shoved him awake.

"What's going on, what did Fairor do now?” Father says as he jumps out of bed with wild eyes looking around the room.

"Kairios seems to have brought an injured woman home and needs our help, they're in his room." Mother and Father are gone so fast I can't keep up. When I get to Kairi's room, I see he's sitting on the side of the bed staring at the woman lying there. Brother has a strange look in his eyes. For some reason I'm afraid...

"Karmina please shut the door and wake your brothers. Tell them what's happened and to wait in the kitchen. Get one of my night dresses and be quick." Mother commanded with a stern tone.

As I'm running through the house waking my brothers, I can't help but think that big brother Kairi will have to leave. I don’t want to lose my big brother.

Michalina

The look in Kairios' eye had me in awe for a moment, I've never seen so much passion in one of my children. Even when Fairor has hatched a new plan to disturb the town. I try and push those thoughts away. I need to focus on the dragon girl my son brought home, every mother's dream. I can't believe she's here. No one has seen a shifter around here for years.

"Why is she still so hot? Is it a fever? I tried to cool her with the river water but it didn't do anything." His voice is laced with worry.

"Shes a dragon shifter, son. Her temperature is higher than any I have ever met though. We will just have to wait and see how she is, if your still determined to not take her to a healer?" I was still against this choice, she clearly needed medical attention.

"Shes not leaving this house or my sight, ever." I was shocked at the growl in my words. What was it about this woman that he had never met before, she has him consumed by some spell...

"I don't know what else I can do for her, at least she's clean. You did well with her wounds, all we can do is let her rest for now. I'll leave you two alone. Come get me when she wakes up." I had to see the other children.

Xander is waiting on the other side of the door, there is such a worried look in his eyes. I give him a hug and a soft kiss on the cheek and we walk to the kitchen together holding hands. He is as worried as I am about what all this will mean for our family.

"Mother, father what's going on? Karmina said there is a girl injured upstairs. Should we get a healer?" Raymus asked ready to step up into any role necessary to help, so like his father. I was surprised that he hadn't gone already.

"No Raymus, your brother has healed her nicely. We're just waiting for her to wake up. We need to be ready though, she's a dragon shifter. If she shifts in the house it will be destroyed. We need to make sure we don't scare her in any way. It looks like she's been mistreated for years, she's so skinny and has scars all over her body. I want you boys to take what you need to the empty house down the street, Raymus you know where to go. Take what you need to stay for a few days until we know more about our guest. Don't tell anyone what's happening, there may be someone looking for her." I was grateful that my children recognized the tension in my voice and moved without having to ask again.

It takes a little while to gather enough food and clothing for a few days. We don’t know how long they will have to stay away before its safe again. After I know my children are safe and in the empty house, I decide to take a moment to reflect on what I saw tonight. Firstly, I know that my son's life will never be the same. He was already so dedicated to this woman's safety. He put us all at risk for her. Secondly my son was completely in love with a woman he found in the woods and I was sure I knew who she was. My son would never be safe again, my greatest fear that his skill and dedication would take him away from me had been realized.