Foreign Visitor

Kallista gasped as he placed his hands on her body, one on her chest and the other on her stomach. The energy he was channeling was more intense than the last time, and she could feel it reach all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes as he bent over her.

She felt light, almost weightless. She couldn't understand the words he was saying, but his voice was strong and clear, and she mentally latched onto it, keeping herself grounded as her mind threatened to float away into the ether. His hands roamed over her entire body, carefully molding and correcting her body's energies, and she felt an incredible sense of release and tranquility as the pain flowed out of her broken body.

Finally, after minutes or hours, the glow of his eyes faded and the chanting stopped. Kallista moaned, half from contentment and half in disappointment that the sensation was over. It was almost a full minute before she was able to speak again.

"Fu...fu... fuck. That... yeah."

Merlyn leaned against the side of the cot and smiled when she finally spoke. He looks a little tired, but pleased. "Yeah, that. You can keep lying there for a little bit if you like, but I want to try some things out before they kick us out of here."

Kallista lifted her hand off the cot and looked at it. Slowly she squeezed her fingers into a fist and then relaxed them one at a time.

"Gods... I can make a real fist again without my fingers feeling like they're made of broken glass. I can't imagine what you do for an encore..."

Merlyn laughed, pushing himself back up to standing. "I thought that *was* the encore!"

Kallista chuckled.

"Mmm, We'll see" she said, closing her eyes and relaxing once more, "What did you want to try, then?"

"Mmhmm," Merlyn agreed with a wink. "We'll see what you feel up to after we get out of here, maybe. Right now I just want to go through some range of motion exercises so we can figure out the best way to get you back to normal. The damage is fixed, at least as well as it can be, but your body is still week, and you have some muscular imbalances from relying on your canes to get around as well."

Kallista nodded and pushed herself slowly up to a sitting position. He was right. The pain was almost gone, but she was still weak. Her muscles had ben unused for too long, and she knew it would take a lot of work to get them back to what they had been.

"Ok," she said, once she had gotten uptight. "Where do we start?"

---------------

An hour later kallista was already exhausted, and all they had really done was some arm excercises and a walk around the room with Merlyn stopping her at times to test her ability to raise her legs and arms and her balance.

"I liked the massage part better," she said as she finally sat back down on the cot, a sheen of sweat covering her body.

"You'll have to get Brenn to earn his keep on that front I think, but I can probably show him a few things." Merlyn smirked. "Maybe. Anyway, I can show you some things that will help - another day I think - and I'm happy to put myself at your disposal while I'm still in town."

Kallista smiled.

"I suppose I should get dressed, then." She bend down to retrieve her shirt from the ground. She tried to lift her arms up to pull it down over them, but found that she didn't quite have the strength left for such an undertaking. She blushed again.

"I guess I'm not toally out of the woods yet, huh? I don't suppose you'd be willing to give me a hand?"

"What," he smirked again, coming around to give her a hand, "You don't want me to carry you naked through the halls of the Explorers Union, out into the streets of Highmark, leaving everyone to wonder what we've been doing to leave so co exhausted and content?" he paused. "I mean, that is probably for the best, I don't know if I could really carry you that far."

"Hell, I don't mind a bit," kallista teased, "But I think the other adventurers might. Monti would probably kill me. It would almost be worth it to see the look on her face. People can be so weird about nudity sometimes."

With Merlyn's help she managed to pull the shirt down over her chest and then she stood up while he helped her step into the loose-fitting pants she had worn in.

"You don't seem to have a problem with it, though. I like that. It's refreshing to meet someone else with similar... priorities."

She grinned mischievously at him.

"Although so far you have me at a disadvantage in that department."

Merlyn laughed again. 'hey, I said 'anything that would make you feel more comfortable,' didn't I? I'll just remember for next time - naked massage."

"You laugh," Kallista said, grabbing up her canes and standing, much more easily than she had before, "But I'll hold you to it."

Merlyn helped her walk to the door and she leaned on him as they went.

"Come on, after all that I'm starving, and I know a Shawarma place not too far from here that you're gonna love. My treat."