Chapter 12
Sora felt the entire castle rock, the shudder of a massive shockwave rumbling through the stone and wood.
He staggered a little under the unexpected blow of it, then stayed perfectly still, ears searching for the source.
What was that? It had to have been an extraordinary force.
Not even a dragon landing on the castle would have this effect, and it would have sounded different.
On instinct, he gathered up his work bag and dove out of his bedroom, running toward the front of the castle, as the noise and shockwave had come from somewhere in that direction.
As he ran, he could hear people crying out in alarm, their voices echoing through the hallways.
He could smell the distinct sulfuric scent of something burning.
And his gut clenched in anxiety. Had the castle suffered an attack?
He doubled his speed, racing down the stairs now, running for all he was worth.
The damage became more apparent as he reached the main foyer of the castle, the pictures hanging cock-eyed or on the ground entirely, windows shattered, and the smell—he could smell it clearly now, the scent of gunpowder.
And the moans of pain.
The healer in him snapped to attention as he skidded through the door, taking stock. The front windows of the foyer were completely blown out, leaving a gaping hole where a wall of them had once stood. Glass and debris were sprayed in every direction.
Three people lay on the floor, limbs askew like discarded puppets.
Two of them were out cold, and then there was Ravi—it could only be Ravi.
The slate blue dragon was lying on his side, his legs splayed, one wing at an odd angle, resting up against the staircase balustrade.
He looked completely unconscious, unnaturally still.
Ravi was life, movement, spontaneity. To see him so still and bleeding shook Sora’s heart in a way that he hadn’t expected. Oh Kami-sama, please do not let him be badly hurt. Sora’s heart couldn’t take it if he was.
He dove for the dragon first, yanking open his bag as he moved to draw out the elements he needed. Moonlight and fairy’s kiss, the two combined were enough for him to run a quick diagnostic so he could understand what to treat first.
Putting a hand to Ravi’s side, he spoke quickly, “Ziik gabo gev adi.”
Every injury on Ravi lit up in clear, glowing lines of red, some of them with numbers and quantities written out next to the wound, telling him the extent of the damage.
Sora winced at the total. The wing across the stairs had four broken bones; he suffered from three cracked ribs; and the gashes along his nose and chest were deep enough that something more than bandages was called for.
The burns, too, were painful but, thankfully, wouldn’t be debilitating once treated.
It could have been worse, but until those broken bones in the wing healed, there would be no shifting forms for Ravi.
He’d never fly again if he tried to shift now.
Sora dug grimly into his bag, yanking out yet more ingredients.
The bones could wait a moment; he had to stop the bleeding.
Japanese honeysuckle to promote healing, captured dragon’s flame to seal the wound, rainbow mist to cool it.
He applied himself to every serious gash, letting the minor scrapes be for now.
He’d tend to them when he had more time.
He didn’t want Ravi to get an infection, but they weren’t the highest priority.
There, good, Ravi had stopped bleeding. Wings next.
He focused solely on the problem at hand, not giving himself room for emotions. They had no place on the treatment floor. Sora’s tears wouldn’t heal Ravi. Emotions were for after, when the crisis was over.
People started flooding in, Baldewin issuing commands in a brisk voice, mages arriving with their own bags in tow.
Pounding feet on marble, gasps of horror, shaking voices of anger.
The noise poured over him and then washed away.
Sora was relieved more help had arrived, but he paid them little attention, as he had to get Ravi’s bones set correctly.
A hand landed on his shoulder, Lisette’s voice in his ear. “Have you got him?”
“Yes, go tend to the others,” Sora encouraged, never taking his eyes off the work in front of him.
“Alright. Yell if you need help moving him.”
“I won’t, his damaged side is up.”
Lisette grunted in acknowledgement and then raced off to help someone else.
Sora threw himself back into Ravi’s treatment, carefully using magic to realign the broken bones, then reinforcing them with a multitude of spells.
He’d bind the wing in a moment, make sure it couldn’t be moved, but the bones themselves needed to be surgically glued back together.
Another hand landed on his shoulder, and Sora tersely said, “He’s alright.”
“I can tell.”
Sora blinked, turning his head to see who it was. Oh. “Tori?”
“Yeah. Good work here. Really, excellent work. Need a hand?”
He almost said no. Some dark, emotional part of him didn’t want anyone near Ravi, didn’t want another soul touching him while he was hurting and vulnerable, but the logical side kicked in again and he thought better of it.
“In a minute, I’ll need to bind his wing.
He absolutely can’t move it until it’s healed. ”
“Ravi? Not move? Shit, that’s going to be a tall order.” Tori grimaced but gave a nod. “Alright, I can help you with the binding. If he can’t move it, then I assume he can’t shift, either? He’s stuck in this form for a few days?”
“Unfortunately. He’ll be crippled for life if he tries to shift now.”
“Then we’d better make him comfortable out here. No way can he fit through the hallways.” Tori turned his head and bellowed, “Sasha! We need blankets and pillows for Ravi!”
Sasha turned out to be an incredibly well-built woman with blonde hair and as many muscles as any bodybuilder.
She jogged to them, protesting and shaking her head as she moved.
“No, this isn’t secure with the windows blown out like that.
We need to stabilize everyone enough to move them out, clean up, and do some repair work. ”
Tori immediately countered back. “Ravi can’t be moved. He’s got multiple broken bones in his wings.”
Backing this, Sora threw in, “If he shifts now, he’ll never fly again.”
“Well, shit,” Sasha growled. “Okay. I’ll update people on this and get some blankets and mounds of pillows over to you. Give me a minute. BALDEWIN!”
She jogged off, supposedly to update others on the situation and change the plans of clearing this area.
Tori left as well, to get something to bind the wing with. Sora focused on the burned skin as he did that, glad this clan knew how to work together in an emergency. Of course, it made sense that they had good teamwork. They’d only had each other to rely on for years.
He sat back on his heels for a moment, taking a breather and waiting for Tori to return.
He needed a second, anyway. Sora’s emotions were battering at him, and he stole a moment to wipe the tears from his eyes with the hem of his shirt.
Kami-sama, this was hard, seeing Ravi broken and bleeding like this.
He wanted to gather him up, soothe the wind dragon with kisses and soft touches, try to erase it all.
Even though he knew it was futile and impossible to do any of that.
Sora had suspected that Ravi was important to him.
That there might be something between them.
But right now, with his heart screaming at him, it couldn’t be more obvious.
Ravi was everything. Everything his heart had ever wanted and more.
And Sora would make sure he stood on his own feet again, that he could fly again. There was no room for error.
And when he had Ravi well and whole again, he’d do more to win this man. To confess his heart. There was a great deal that Sora needed to say, and not only to Ravi. This wasn’t the right time for it, but he’d create the right moment if he had to. There was no doubt about that.
His eyes went to the two other people who’d been injured, but they had already been treated and carried away it seemed. He saw no sign of them now. Someone was cleaning up the glass with some brisk cleaning spells, and two dragons had already shifted and were perched just outside, standing guard.
The wind blowing through the broken windows carried with it a hint of smoke, and Sora nearly smiled.
Fire dragons. Angry fire dragons. He’d never thought he’d see fire dragons in his life, and now two red beasts were sitting just a few yards away, little curls of grey smoke trickling from their mouths as if they were barely controlling their rage.
Not that Sora blamed them. Their home had been attacked.
Their family had been hurt. If he were a fire dragon, he’d be breathing smoke right now, too.
King Alric jogged up to him, taking in the sight of Ravi with a pinched expression. “How is he, Mage Vo?”
“Injured, but nothing that he can’t recover from.
Sadly, several bones in his wing are broken, and I cannot advise moving him until they’ve healed.
” Knowing that this man needed a firmer timeline, Sora offered, “Depending on his rate of healing, anywhere from three to five days. Then it will be safe for him to shift without compromising his recovery.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Alric passed a hand over Ravi’s undamaged hide, looking on the point of either murder or tears. “Of course he’d be the one most hurt out of everyone.”
“Can I ask what happened?” Sora still had no idea how Ravi had been hurt.
“Someone snuck in. A Jaeggi, we think, coming in with the other new mages. Ravi caught some hint of her intentions, and he chased after the woman. We believe that, when she realized she’d been caught, she chose to ignite the bomb here.
Ravi shifted and used his wind to blow the force of the explosion out of the castle, minimizing the damage. ”