Vale Bush's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Vale knelt at the edge of the clearing and pressed the record button. The meadow stretched out before her, ringed by black pines and split by a crooked stone wall the lord had forgotten. Frost clung to the grass. A flat slab of rock sat at the center, scored with old claw marks. This was the patch she wanted. A sanctuary. A safe place for every rare creature she had pulled from traps and storms. She lifted the device on its leather strap and aimed the lens at the slab. The pale wyvern circled down through the mist, wings catching the gray light. It landed on the stone like it owned the place. Vale held her breath and let the reels turn. Yellow eyes. White scales. Proof no lord could laugh off. She clicked the recorder shut and tucked it under her coat. Tomorrow she would find the steward and lay it on his desk. The wyvern lifted off behind her, and Vale started walking.