Page 96 of Of Steel and Scale

Pair, Kaia commented.

“Are they part of an aerie?”

No room. Forced out.

I glanced at her, surprised. “Does that happen often?”

When no room.

If a young breeding pair had been kicked out because the aerie was at capacity, that meant Esan’s drakkons were more numerous than we’d thought. And that was definitely a good thing.

I limped over to grab my pack and pulled out the last of my rations. In all honesty, I wouldn’t have minded a well-roasted kayin or even a capra to boost my energy reserves right now, but I didn’t like raw meat and I couldn’t risk creating a fire, even though it would be easy enough to make a firepit in these sands, and there certainly was enough broken wood within the forest to fuel it.

Once Kaia’s wings had dried, she shifted position, digging herself a little deeper into the sand so that I could reach her wings more easily and check the full extent of the damage. Several phalanges on both wings had been broken, but they were an easy enough fix if I had enough straps. It was the right wing’s broken radius bone and the large amount of torn membrane on the left wing that were the main problem. Without those two things fixed, she definitely wouldn’t fly.

I took a deep breath and then said, “I need to realign the bones on your right wing. This will hurt.”

Know. Do.

I hesitated, then got down to work, carefully positioning the bone, then wrapping half a dozen straps around the break to hold it in place. Then I retrieved some silk webbing and strung it between the phalanges on either side, attached the leathery membrane to it, then sealed it on. Broken patches remained, but at least the membrane had a framework to regrow on.

With that done, I moved over to the left wing and the larger swath of membrane that had been torn away from the area between her shoulder and elbow. I repaired the nearby phalange first, then strung the webbing between it and the remaining patches of membrane, sealing it in place before unraveling the large sheet of torn tissue and attaching it. I didn’t have a whole lot of sealer or straps left after that, so repaired the worst of the tears, then spread antiseptic cream over her other wounds, particularly her raw tail. When I’d done as much as I could, I stepped back and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

“That’s all I can do, Kaia.”

She pushed out of the sand and warily closed her wings, and then opened them again and lightly fanned.Is good. Can fly.

“Not yet,” I said hastily. “We need to give the straps a little more time to set, otherwise we risk them popping during flight.”

Need leave before light fades. Not safe here.

I glanced up sharply and realized noon had come and gone. “We will, but in the meantime, we should find that hollow Tarn mentioned and get out of sight.”

Not safe in hollow.Rather fly.

“And I’d rather you get back to Gria in one piece, thank you very much.”

It was tersely said, and amusement ran through her thoughts.You in heat?

“No, I amnot.”

Sound like.Her amusement fell away.Fly now. Safer. Bones heal fast.

“Bones don’t heal that fast, Kaia, especially when you’re putting them under the stress of flight.”

Our bones different.

I sucked in a breath and released it slowly, torn between the need to get out of here and the desire to keep her safe.

I good. We go. If wing fail, Rua and Tarn catch.

“How? You’re almost double their size.”

I trust you. You trust me.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “We go.”

She immediately shifted and extended her leg. I grabbed the pack, then clambered up, positioning myself behind her spine before attaching the harness. The minute I had, she bellowed, a sharp command aimed at the other drakkons, then hunkered down and launched into the air, her wings pumping hard, sending a storm of sand flying all around us. I closed my eyes, tugged my undershirt up over my mouth and nose to stop breathing in the muck, and waited, heart in mouth, for wings to tear and bones to break.

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