18. Welcome Return #2
“Her heart rate, the way she has let me come this close to her. Most hatchlings would be feral for the first few days. I can tell by her scales that she’s not long out of the egg.” Master Ember paused, brushing his hand over all of her scales as he moved around her body. “I have so many questions.”
“Before I answer them, can you examine her wings? They look like they’re injured. They hurt Nyra whenever she tries to move them.”
“I see you have already named her,” Master Ember replied, moving around to Nyra’s side. “If you could ask her to kneel down for me.”
Aeden didn’t need to ask. Nyra nestled her feet and sat down, making her wings more visible. She shuddered and failed when she tried to stretch them out, letting out a pained whimper and clasping them tightly to her sides again .
“Easy, girl,” Master Ember said, patting her as he examined them. “This might hurt a little. I’d appreciated it if you didn’t try to take my head off.” He grabbed hold of one of Nyra’s wings and tried to flex it, pulling it out and up at the same time.
Aeden’s stomach lurched. He couldn’t feel Nyra’s physical pain, but through their bond he could feel that she was hurting, and hurting a lot.
“Stop,” Aeden called out, “you’re hurting her.” It was all he could do to stop himself running over and pushing Master Ember away.
“ It’s okay, Aeden ,” Nyra said with a croaked voice.
“Sorry,” Aeden said to Master Ember, who still had hold of Nyra’s wing. “It’s just?—”
“You could feel she was in pain?” Master Ember finished as he looked at the underside of Nyra’s wing.
“I’m surprised you’re that in tune with your bond already, especially when you’ve not had any training.
It’s – it’s . . .” Master Ember had apparently found himself lost for words. “Well, it’s just not possible.”
“Not possible or not probable?” Serene asked.
“Up until right now, I would have said it’s not possible.
This is unheard of.” He stretched out Nyra’s wing again, and she let out another pained whimper.
When he was done, he gently lowered her wing and patted her side.
“I’m sorry, Nyra, I just need to examine your other wing now.
” He was delicate in the way he spoke, similar to how Mistress Plato had spoken to Aeden in the healers wing, gentle and delicate.
Nyra appreciated this, as did Aeden, though he wasn’t sure if that was his own feelings or those shared with his Aer-Kin .
“ It’s okay, girl ,” Aeden said through their bond, “ Master Ember is nearly done .”
“ I hope so. It hurts so much when he moves them .”
“Be gentle, please,” Aeden said as Master Ember raised Nyra’s second wing. This one looked in even worse condition than the other. It seemed smaller, the wing itself withered and her feathered scales holding less of a shine to them.
“I’m being as gentle as I can,” Master Ember responded. He made strange noises to himself as he muttered under his breath. Finally, he lowered the wing and stroked Nyra’s side again.
“Attagirl,” he said, “your character is certainly strong.” His expression changed when he faced Aeden, from one of genuine concern to sadness. “I’m really sorry, Harrington. There’s nothing that can be done for her wings. They are damaged far beyond the capabilities of any magic that we know of.”
Serene gasped as Harrison shuffled around nervously. Vivienne continued to study Nyra and Lyric, her face unchanging.
The world seemed to slow down around Aeden with the gravity of Master Ember’s words. His blood ran cold, his heart sinking like a boulder falling from a cliff as he struggled to form words.
“There – there must be,” he said finally, swallowing down what felt like a rock in his throat.
“I need you to tell me everything, Harrington. How you found her, how you got back.”
“I was out on exercise. I fell off the track, hurt my ankle, and found a cave. That’s where I found her egg. ”
“Did you see her hatch? What was her egg like?” Master Ember was frantic in his speech.
The more Aeden thought about the egg, the harder it was to pick out any discernible details. He couldn’t remember any spots or patterns on the egg. “I don’t know,” he finally answered.
“Don’t know?” Master Ember replied, confused. “What colour was the egg? In all my years, I have never seen a breed like hers, I couldn’t tell you what kind of Aer-Kin she is.”
“She is mine, that’s all that matters,” Aeden said defiantly.
“I have no doubt Director Vale will be here soon with other members of the faculty. When that happens, everything is going to change, for you and for Nyra.” Master Ember looked to his side and rubbed his hand once again across the surface of Nyra’s scales.
“Any detail you can give me will help me to try and identify her breed.”
“I dunno,” Aeden repeated. The more he tried to remember, the further away the memory seemed, like every time he reached for it, he was pushing the memory deeper into the shadows. “All I can remember is that her egg was made of stone.”
“Stone?” Master Ember said in shock, he raised his hand to his thick beard while he mused on his thoughts. “That would certainly explain her wings, but that simply can’t be.” He shook his head. “Aer-Kin can’t hatch from stone eggs. That would mean the egg is consecrated, derelict, dead.”
Aeden remembered the conversation they’d had just the night prior. Master Ember had explained that unhatched eggs consecrate, turning to stone, never to hatch.
“You must be mistaken, Harrington,” he said .
“I’m not! I know what I saw.” Aeden could feel his frustration rising. He didn’t want interrogating like this, he just wanted to comfort Nyra about her wings. “When she hatched, it was like watching crumbling stone, I remember that part clearly.”
“This can’t be, it just can’t happen.”
“Yet here we are,” Aeden replied. He walked across to Nyra, who was beginning to shuffle around.
“ I don’t like the fighting ,” she said as she stood up and spun around on the spot, padding her feet on the soft ground. “ Please, don’t shout, it scares me .”
“ Sorry ,” Aeden said as he reached her. He could feel her calm as soon as he touched her. It had the same effect on himself.
Master Ember was pacing around. Finally he stopped and faced Aeden, Nyra, Harrison, Vivienne, and Serene.
“Whatever you are asked, you do not repeat this. When you are asked to go into more detail on Nyra’s egg, you just say it was grey, with no pattern. Do you understand?”
“Wait, what?” Harrison said, clearly confused by the strange request.
“Do you understand? If you tell them her egg was made out of stone?—”
“Stay where you are!” a voice called out from behind them. Aeden knew who it was straight away by the assertive tone.
He turned to see Director Vale marching towards them with a face like thunder.