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Alassëa bit her lip anxiously. "I should have been more careful," she scolded herself. "Take me to him, please, I need to make sure he's all right."

"We're already on our way," Aethos assured her, leading her to where several people had crowded around the man. The crowd parted for Aethos and Alassëa, and Aethos led her forward to where the lieutenant was still lying.

Alassëa knelt next to him. "Still out?" she asked in general: she didn't know who was there and who had been looking at him already.

Caranthir glanced up at her from where he was kneeling. "Out cold," he said solemnly. "I don't know if I'd believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, Alassëa, but you just knocked out the best fighter on this island."

Alassëa blushed hotly. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Nevertheless," Alassëa murmured, though she was touched by Miyuki's words.

She ran her fingers over Randir's neck and the back of his head, her sightless eyes pointed up at the sky as she concentrated, and within a minute, he was awake and sitting up.

"What - what happened?" he asked, blinking dizzily and looking around at the faces that surrounded him. He paused when he saw the blood that covered Alassëa's face. "What happened to you?"

The man frowned. "Wait ... what?"

Alassëa smiled. "We sparred," she said gently, recalling what Miyuki had said about him possibly having a concussion. And she knew firsthand that after getting knocked out, one's memory could be a bit patchy for a while. She kept her hands on his neck and head, continuing to heal him.

He just stared at her intently, until at last his eyes grew wide as recollection and understanding dawned on his face.

"Ohhh .... was that what happened?" He looked deeply chagrined. "I had no idea ... I thought it was just a bad block ... I mean ... you being blind and all ..."

Alassëa smiled. "It's all right. I'm sure it looks worse than it actually is. It's already healed, though I'm told there's quite a bit of blood."

The falcon, after Alassëa had hit it, had landed on the ground with a broken wing and had been unable to take to the air again. One of Miyuki's friends, Rayne, had picked it up, and was now holding it near the group, a few rows back.

"Even if he were," Alassëa broke in gently, "he was coming from above and behind Lieutenant Randir. He was not thinking of an attack from that direction, so he would not have been able to prevent it."

A moment later, she asked, "How do you feel?"

Randir felt the back of his head. "Fine. As if I was never hit," he replied with a smile.

Alassëa smiled as well and stood up again. She whistled for her bird to return to her, but there was no rustle of wings to reply. She frowned and whistled again, and this time there was a soft scree from a few rows back.

She turned sharply in the direction the sound had come from. "Where is he?" she asked, tilting her head to listen for him.

A look of concern came over Alassëa's face, and she turned in the direction of the falcon's weak cry. "Rayne?" she called out softly.

Rayne stepped forward quickly but carefully, holding the bird firmly in her hands. "Here he is," she said quietly, touching her hands against Alassëa's so that the blind woman would know exactly where to find the bird.

Alassëa took the falcon in her hands and ran her fingers lightly over its body in sightless examination. It squawked pitifully when she touched its wing, and she cooed to it softly, stroking its head with her thumb to calm it. She used her other hand to hold its wing in its proper position and began to heal it.

"Next time," she murmured, sounding slightly angry, "he needs to have his jesses put on."

"He will be fine," Alassëa replied quietly. "But I ought to have known better. He has always come to my aid if he knew I was in danger, how many times has it happened since I met all of you? I ought to have known better. And been more careful in diverting his attack!"

Tears were pooling in her eyes. "I just made a mess of it all," she muttered darkly. "Hurting him like this ... and hurting the lieutenant far more than I would ever have done on purpose ..."

The bird's wing mended before their eyes, and Alassëa hugged the falcon gently to her chest.

"Yes, we do," she murmured softly.

Aethos came up beside Alassëa, holding her staff in one hand, and took her gently by the elbow. "Come, let's get you washed up," he smiled.

Alassëa continued to caress her falcon gently, and she smiled in Miyuki's general direction. "Until later," she said warmly before heading off with Aethos.

Miyuki's friends appeared behind Miyuki, and Selene said in an awe-struck tone: "That ... was ... amazing."

"And she really is blind," Yacob said, sounding a bit dazed.

Rayne laughed. "What kind of comment is that?" she giggled. "She told us so yesterday!"