20. Report #2
“That is for another day,” Lyric said, waving him away.
“For now, just know that Nyra is safe and comfortable. When she wakes, I’m sure she’ll let you know.
Try not to worry about her. I assure you she is safe with me.
” Lyric turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks.
“Oh, almost forgot. Figured you would want to see my report on Nyra. I made a second copy from the one that I passed on to the director.” He reached into the inside pocket of his thick jacket and took out a second letter. This one was sealed in an envelope.
“Thank you,” Aeden said as he took the letter. “You didn’t have to do this.”
Lyric waved it away again, playing down the gesture, but Aeden was so appreciative of everything he was doing for them.
“Just do me a favour?” Lyric said as he turned to leave. “Don’t die. There’s something different about Nyra, and I think you and her are a partnership worth keeping an eye on.” With that, he disappeared back towards the direction of the hatchery.
Aeden looked down at the two letters grasped tightly in his hands.
“Well,” Harrison said, “which are you going to read first?”
As eager as he was to learn about what his new training schedule would look like, his first and foremost priority was Nyra.
He passed the training schedule to Harrison, who watched on in anticipation as Aeden opened up the report from Lyric. The wax seal cracked on the envelope as he opened it to read over the report.
Dragon Name: Nyra
Status: Hatchling
Bonded Rider: Cadet Aeden Harrington
Bloodline: Unknown
Breed: Unknown
Class: Support
Magic Type: Healing
At the time of report, I am unable to ascertain the breed if this Aer-Kin.
Further time will be needed to explore the literature I have available at the hatchery.
With no discernible data, I am of the opinion at this stage that Nyra is a mixed-breed Aer-Kin, which would not usually be sanctioned at the academy.
I will need more time with her to ascertain her lineage and will seek to acquire a scale sample to examine closer.
I estimate that this process could take me ten to fifteen days to complete.
I have held a brief conversation around the egg from which Nyra hatched.
Cadet Harrington was unable to recall more detail other than the egg being grey.
This offers little insight for us to work with, but at least it is a start.
My intention is to try and mark a location for where the egg was found and seek to receive a sample for further examination.
Lyric Ember
Aeden read over the letter a second time, then skimmed over it a third.
The more he read over it, the more he wanted from it.
It was concerning that the master of the hatchery had no clue what breed Nyra was.
The less information they had on Nyra, the more at risk she was from Director Vale’s attention, and that was the last thing Aeden wanted.
He had so many questions that he wanted to ask Lyric that he considered for a moment running after him, but he decided not to.
He would catch up with him tomorrow when he was free from his training sessions.
Lyric had omitted one major detail from the report, and Aeden was unsure if it was deliberate.
Aeden had told Lyric that Nyra had hatched from a stone egg, but that wasn’t in his report.
Was that on purpose or something he had simply missed?
One thing was for certain: Aer-Kin didn’t hatch from stone eggs.
They were considered dead and consecrated.
Was it a detail that Lyric didn’t believe himself?
As far as they all knew, this simply wasn’t a possibility.
Aeden’s mind whirled as he considered what details he could remember from her hatching. He was certain that her egg had been made of stone. Eggshells didn’t crumble into ash when they hatched.
“What does it say?” Harrison asked. He was chomping at the bit for more information.
“Not much.” Aeden sighed, staring at the ink on the parchment. “He doesn’t know what breed she is yet.”
“But he’s the master of the hatchery! He knows all the Aer-Kin breeds.”
“Exactly.”
“Does it say anything else?”
Aeden skimmed over the letter once more. “It says that we have healing magic through our bond.”
“Holy shit, you have magic?” Harrison’s tone became instantly more excited. He was practically vibrating on the spot. “Like actual magic that you can draw on. This is incredible. None of us should have our magic until next term, after the hatching ceremony.”
“I guess so,” Aeden said. Of all the powers they could have gotten, healing was not something he wanted. He had never entertained the thought of being a healer, in the healers wing or on the front line.
“Is that what your parents are?” Harrison asked.
Aeden’s shoulders slumped as a knot formed in his stomach. He wasn’t ready to talk about them yet. Even after all these years, it was still too painful. Each fragmented memory of his childhood brought a measure of sadness that he couldn’t tolerate in his current headspace.
“No, neither of them were.”
“Oh,” Harrison said, thankfully getting the cue that Aeden wasn’t interested in discussing this any further. “Magic usually passes down the bloodline though.”
“I know. Lyric says in the letter that it will take time to carry out the tests that will help him establish Nyra’s breed.” He didn’t know why, but not knowing what breed she was affected him greatly. Hopefully they would know more details soon.
Folding up the letter, Aeden placed it in the back pocket of his trousers before turning to face Harrison. “Best find out what my new schedule looks like then.”
Harrison passed the folded parchment over, and Aeden opened it to look over the schedule.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”