Chapter 9
EDEN
“I need more salve!” I called down the hallway, knowing Nisse would hear. She’d been crushing herbs and mixing up new batches of salves and creams since last night. I’d slathered so much of it onto burns in the last twelve hours, my palms now permanently smelled of calendula and honey.
Honestly, it was making me feel a little sick.
I ran the back of my hand along my brow, the exhaustion finally creeping up on me.
A yawn itched at the back of my throat, and I fought it, determined to make my way through the rest of the patient exams. The moment I was finished, I was going to find the nearest horizontal surface and curl up for a nap.
For now, that wish was far and away because a group of children had accidentally stumbled upon a nest of wyrms on their way to the schoolhouse.
Shaking off thoughts of slumber, I finished coating a small burn, then handed the child over to Matty to finish applying the bandages. I washed and dried my hands, then turned back to the crowded waiting room.
The fact that I could even consider sleep when the place was this noisy told me how underslept I really was. “Who’s next?” I called as loudly as I could.
“Over here!” A hand shot up and Seraphine appeared, leading a little girl with matching braids toward the exam table. Her eyes were red, the tip of her nose still twitching with sobs. She couldn’t have been more than six. Her mother trailed after them, handkerchief held to her face, eyes weepy.
“The children always play on the rock wall. It just happened so fast,” she blubbered to Seraphine. “Before I could even do anything, the bloody vermin were shooting sparks everywhere.”
“The influx of bigger dragons in the mountains is probably chasing them closer to town, looking for new nesting spots,” Seraphine said, patting her shoulder. “You couldn’t have known.”
“Hi, sweetheart,” I said, leaning down to speak to the girl. “What’s your name?”
She sniffled, wiping her arm across her nose. “Lila.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Eden,” I said, patting the exam table. “Mind if I help you hop up?”
She dutifully held her arms up, and on the count of three, I boosted her onto the table in front of me, checking her over.
“That’s where they got me,” she said, wrinkling her nose. She pointed out a tiny, superficial mark from the wyrm’s sparks. “And there. And there, too!”
“Little buggers,” her mother said.
“Little boogers!” some child cried, laughing hysterically before rushing off across the exam room. Lila and I traded amused looks.
“Well,” I told her. “Good news is these look quite superficial. We call them first-degree burns.” I picked up a small container of salve. “With Nisse’s handy ointment here, you’ll be well on your way to healing by the end of the week. Think you can handle putting that on every morning and night?”
Lila nodded.
“Perfect.” I turned to her mother. “She’ll be all right. I’m going to put some salve on before you go, though. Just to start you off.”
“I cannot wait for this wretched migration to be over,” her mother said, sounding haggard. “Every year, all these people flood the town, and suddenly there are all these dragon incidents.”
“I like the dragons,” Lila whispered.
“Do you?” I asked.
She gave me a conspiratorial smile. “But only the big ones,” she clarified. “I hate these little ones. They’re so slithery.”
“That they are,” Matty said, coming over. “But they’re kinda cute, too.”
Lila pursed her lips, considering that. “Maybe they just got scared when I was jumping on the rocks.”
“You are quite a bit bigger than a wyrm,” Matty said. “Maybe they thought you were trying to break into their new home.”
Lila giggled.
I popped the pot of salve open, then set to work, dabbing at the tiny burns on Lila’s legs with a cotton swab.
“Bandages?” Matty asked.
I shook my head. “They’re too small.”
“I want to be a dragon rider,” Lila said suddenly.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” her mother cut in. “We have quite enough run-ins with dragons as it is.”
Lila lifted her hand to whisper to me. “I do.”
I shared a secret smile with her, then left her in Matty’s capable hands. “Can you give her mother instructions on infection signs and symptoms? If she notices anything—”
“I’ll have them come right back to the infirmary,” he said with a nod.
I squeezed his arm. “Thank you.”
While Matty took care of that, I flitted to the side of the room, taking a quick break to sip the lukewarm tea Seraphine had made me earlier.
My stomach grumbled, gnawing on itself, and I pressed my hand to my gut.
Now that we were so busy, I regretted skipping breakfast to mess around with the armor.
“Was that Vaela I saw landing out by the meadow this morning?”
I looked over to find Seraphine standing there with her own mug. Her tone was curious, eyebrows slightly raised.
“It was,” I confirmed. There was no use in denying it. If Seraphine had seen Vaela, it meant she’d already been bopping about the infirmary, preparing for the day. Hopefully Vaela had been the only thing she’d noticed and not the purple smoke.
“What was she doing here so early?” Seraphine asked lightly.
Not minding her business. I lifted my shoulder. “Just making the rounds, I suppose.”
“Making the rounds out to your cottage?” she said, a wry grin crossing her face.
My next gulp of tea went down hard. “I guess she saw some smoke and was concerned.”
Seraphine wiggled her eyebrows. “I bet she was concerned.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t know how much she remembered of the silly things she’d said at the pub.
But I remembered. She’d told me I was looking for something fulfilling.
And then she and Nisse had not so subtly hinted that that fulfilling thing could be Vaela.
If only I could tell her that the last thing I needed was a nosy wrangler and her dragon poking around my cottage.
A scream cut across the room.
We both turned to find a kid on the exam table, clutching a jar of salve in his hand, preparing to lob it as Talani, Reo and Matty all closed in.
“We just need to clean your burns,” Matty said calmly.
“C’mon, kid,” Talani said. “Get down. Nice and easy.”
“Don’t touch me!” the kid bellowed.
I sighed, shaking my head and handing Seraphine my empty mug.
* * *
“Were they the last ones?” Reo asked, pulling open the front door of the infirmary for a newly patched-up brother and sister to exit. His dragon tattoo winked from where his forearm rested against the doorframe. He glanced up and down the path outside. “I don’t see anyone else waiting.”
“They’re the last ones I had on the list,” Seraphine said, crossing the names off a piece of parchment on her desk.
“Thank the stars,” Talani murmured. She slumped against the wall, arms crossed, eyelids fluttering closed. “I’m just resting my eyes,” she grunted when Seraphine told her to lie down in the back. “I’ll be good as new in five minutes.”
“Why don’t we call it a day?” I said to the team. “It was a long night before this.” As I glanced around the infirmary, I saw more than one yawn. “We’ll put the after-hours sign out early. If there’s an emergency, I’ll just be down in the cottage.”
“I’m not going to argue,” Reo said, closing the front door. “Feels like I could sleep for a year.”
The door flew open suddenly, and Poppy came rushing through, stumbling into Reo. They both went careening to the floor.
“Ooof!” Reo grunted. “You’re heavier than you look, kid.”
“Sorry!” Poppy squealed, jumping to her feet. She had twigs in her hair and sunflowers poking out of the pockets of her apron.
Matty reached down to help Reo up. “You know what, just leave me down here,” Reo said, yawning. “It’s kinda comfy.”
Matty smirked, latched onto the front of Reo’s leather vest, and hauled him up anyway.
“What’s got you moving in such a hurry?” Nisse asked Poppy.
“Look what I have!” she exclaimed, waving a paper at us as she hopped up on the exam table.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A letter from Gunther!” Poppy smiled widely, and it was clear how fond she was of the old man.
“No way. Give it here,” Matty said, reaching for it. Even Talani opened one eye.
“I’ll read it,” Seraphine said, swiping the paper first. She unfurled the letter, eyes scanning.
“Well?” Matty asked. “What’s it say?”
“That he’s been delayed again. The blockade is gone, but he’s attending to some injuries in Harper Falls.”
Reo laughed. “That’s almost a two-day ride from here. How’s the guy keep getting further away?”
My face fell. I was looking forward to having Gunther back, to finally giving that man the hug I’d been promising him, but it didn’t sound like he was in a rush to get here.
“He says not to worry, though, we’re in good hands with Eden,” Poppy said, reading over Seraphine’s shoulder. “And he’s bringing us presents!” She shouted that last part, jumping off the exam table.
“Last time he brought something back from his travels, it was that baby drake,” Seraphine murmured. “Do you remember?”
“I remember it wreaking havoc in the apothecary,” Nisse grumbled. “I spent weeks sweeping up glass and replacing my stores.”
“That’s because Seraphine kept chasing it around with a broomstick!” Matty said.
Seraphine huffed. “It chewed my boots!”
“And tore up our bandages,” Talani added.
“I miss the little guy,” Reo said.
I grinned as they reminisced. I’d never seen a drake before.
They were wingless dragons, known for digging holes to live in.
I’d actually heard that some cities near the western borders had tamed groups of drakes, riding them around like horses, but the way they talked about the creature, it sounded more like a puppy.
“Let’s hope it’s not another drake,” Nisse said, “or so help me, we’re taking shifts guarding the apothecary.”
“There’s a second page,” Seraphine said. “Oh, wait. This part is for Eden.” She passed over the rest of the letter to me. My eyes fell to that familiar scratchy scrawl. Gunther wrote:
My Dearest Eden,
I apologize for my delay. I was so eager to make my way back to you in a timely manner, I think I may have jinxed myself. First my horse ran off on an adventure of his own, leaving me stranded on the wrong side of the creek where I encountered a rather grumpy dragon.
I chuckled softly, hearing his pleasantly perplexed voice in my head. Gunther was always caught up in some sort of adventure, whether he intended it or not.
This required me to go quite out of my way, and by the time I found my way back to the road it was rather late.
Luckily I came upon a group of touring entertainers on their way to perform in Harper Falls for the migration.
Not only did they serenade me, but they also brewed up one of the best blackberry teas I’ve had in a long time.
I awoke invigorated, determined to make my way back to Ember Ridge, only to learn that a wagon of wounded merchants had been brought to Harper Falls, overwhelming their small infirmary.
I think perhaps now the stars aligned to leave me stranded exactly where I needed to be. And what is life if not a series of unplanned adventures?
The corner of my mouth curved at his words.
I shall endeavor to return to you soon, but I know the infirmary is thriving with you at the helm. There is no one I trust to stand in for me more than you.
With love and warm regards,
Gunther
Matty nudged me. “I’m starting to think that maybe Gunther tricked you into coming here so he could get a vacation from all of us,” he teased.
Talani snorted. “That tracks.”
I shook my head, smiling a bit. Gunther was a lot of things, but most of all, he was the kind of man who would never refuse someone help, even if it took him out of his way.
That’s what he’d done for me—rearranging his whole life in order to train me.
“Well, hopefully he sorts out the situation in Harper Falls and makes his way back here soon. I think that’s us for now, though. I’ll see you all tomorrow?”
Reo was the first one out the door. Talani hurried to catch him. One by one, the rest of the team filtered out. Once they were gone, I locked up and took myself back to Bramble Cottage.
The closer I got, the more cloying the scent of the burnt armor was. No wonder Vaela and her dragon had come to investigate. I needed it to rain or something to drown out the smell.
I hurried up the porch steps, eager to take a look at what remained of the armor, if anything.
Inside, I pulled open the stove, poking around in the ashes.
Glints of color stared back at me. I dug through the still-warm remains of the armor, my hand curling around intact dragon scales.
Curious, I pulled them out, wiping smears of black away to reveal bright red and pink and green.
The leather was gone, but if some of the scales had endured the flame, perhaps that meant my prototype wasn’t a lost cause after all.
Maybe some of the scales I’d used were simply too old. I’d collected them over the course of months while working at the rider academy, and who knew how long they’d littered the ground before that?
What I needed were fresher scales. The kinds of scales that were from newly fallen shed.
I turned and darted outside, racing across the meadow to the spot where Min had touched down this morning.
Carefully, I shifted through the wildflowers, following the trail of turned earth from her claws, scanning left and right.
Yes!
There, like a silver stone the size of my palm, was a freshly dropped scale. I knelt down and picked it up, running my thumb over the smooth edge. This would be perfect for a shoulder covering! But I needed more for my next attempt at the armor. Much more.
I needed… to get into Min’s nesting shed.
A horn sounded suddenly, and I jumped, twirling around. The sound cut through the air in three short blasts, echoing from the direction of the town square. Birds shot from the trees next to the cottage, taking to the sky.
My chest clenched at the sight.
Horns at the academy had always sent people running because horns meant danger. But these didn’t sound like warning horns. They were an announcement.
A welcome.
Someone had arrived.