Lyra Dracorider's Arc

Chapter 13 of 15

Lyra checked the creature's wing one last time before Carson arrived. The bone had set cleanly, and the tissue around it was soft instead of swollen. She'd done what she promised, even without supplies left to spare. The wyverns in the stone den would need her next, but first she had to finish what she'd started here. Carson came at midday with a saddle slung over his shoulder, gold leather gleaming against the snow that blanketed the hospital grounds. He didn't smile, but his eyes went to the enclosure first, then to Lyra. "Wing healed clean?" he asked. Lyra nodded and opened the gate. The creature stepped out carefully, testing its weight on both wings before stretching them wide. Carson knelt and ran his hand along the healed bone, slow and deliberate. "You saved it," he said quietly. "I wasn't sure anyone could." Lyra watched him fit the saddle onto the creature's back, adjusting the straps with practiced hands. The creature didn't flinch or pull away. It knew him. Carson mounted and the creature spread its wings again, wider this time, catching the cold air. Lyra felt something loosen in her chest—not relief exactly, but proof that what she'd chosen to do had worked. The creature lifted off the snow-covered ground near the hospital entrance, wings beating steady and strong, and Carson guided it higher until they were both gone over the trees. Lyra turned back toward the stone den where her three wyverns waited. She had no supplies left to treat them with, only her presence and her voice. But she'd just proven she could save a wing injury without anything but patience and trust. The work wasn't finished, but now she knew it was possible. She started humming as she walked, low and steady, already planning which wyvern she'd sit with first.