Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
His eyes went to the two other people who’d been injured, but they had already been treated and carried away it seemed. He saw no sign of them now. Someone was cleaning up the glass with some brisk cleaning spells, and two dragons had already shifted and were perched just outside, standing guard.
The wind blowing through the broken windows carried with it a hint of smoke, and Sora nearly smiled. Fire dragons. Angry fire dragons. He’d never thought he’d see fire dragons in his life, and now two red beasts were sitting just a few yards away, little curls of grey smoke trickling from their mouths as if they were barely controlling their rage. Not that Sora blamed them. Their home had been attacked. Their family had been hurt. If he were a fire dragon, he’d be breathing smoke right now, too.
King Alric jogged up to him, taking in the sight of Ravi with a pinched expression. “How is he, Mage Vo?”
“Injured, but nothing that he can’t recover from. Sadly, several bones in his wing are broken, and I cannot advise moving him until they’ve healed.” Knowing that this man needed a firmer timeline, Sora offered, “Depending on his rate of healing, anywhere from three to five days. Then it will be safe for him to shift without compromising his recovery.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Alric passed a hand over Ravi’s undamaged hide, looking on the point of either murder or tears. “Of course he’d be the one most hurt out of everyone.”
“Can I ask what happened?” Sora still had no idea how Ravi had been hurt.
“Someone snuck in. A Jaeggi, we think, coming in with the other new mages. Ravi caught some hint of her intentions, and he chased after the woman. We believe that, when she realized she’d been caught, she chose to ignite the bomb here. Ravi shifted and used his wind to blow the force of the explosion out of the castle, minimizing the damage.”
Sora regarded the little wind dragon next to him with renewed respect and heartache. Wind dragons were always teased about being impulsive and mischievous. They weren’t the responsible ones. He thought Ravi rather fit the type of his people, but clearly he could be very responsible when the situation called for it. And brave, as that had to have been terrifying, to face off with a bomb and know that you were in the blast radius. No wonder King Alric trusted him so much, as clearly the man knew the true nature of his bodyguard.
“His speed and wind saved him. Possibly saved a lot of mages and dragons today.”
“I believe that’s true. That and his intuition. It’s seriously uncanny. You’ve come to the aid of one of mine, Mage Vo, and it’s truly appreciated beyond what words can express.”
Sora gave the man a smile. “I’m very fond of Ravi, you know. I don’t want him hurting. I’ll do everything in my power to aid his recovery and keep him comfortable.”
Tori returned at that moment, his arms full of a folded white sheet of some kind and two long poles over one shoulder. “Can we make a makeshift cast out of this?”
“I think so.” Sora eyed the offerings with a judicious look. “I have a spell I can use to cement it, keep it flexible but firm. You won’t be able to use those things again afterwards, though.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I filched this from storage, no one will miss it.”
“Excellent.”
King Alric motioned for them to go ahead. “I’ll let you work, but I’ll swing back by soon.”
He probably had castle security and a hundred other things to oversee. Sora didn’t need his help here anyway. He focused on holding the bars steady as Tori wrapped the cloth around the wing, then fastened it in place. Sora enacted a plastering spell on top of that, turning it slightly more rigid so the bones underneath had no chance to shift. Good, that should hold.
Tori gave him a nod and said, “I’ll fetch blankets and pillows, maybe a couple of mattresses. Do not leave him alone; the first thing he’ll try to do is move.”
“I believe that.” Sora stayed planted, watching Ravi carefully for any sign of wakefulness. As he stared at this beautiful, amazing dragon, his heart ached.
This shouldn’t have happened. The Jaeggi shouldn’t still be terrorizing people. Ravi shouldn’t have to be alert against them. He shouldn’t have been forced to sacrifice his own safety to protect his clan. Shifting in this foyer, using wind power, he’d basically had no real room to maneuver.
What if it hadn’t worked? What if his attempt had been too late, or a little off? He would have borne the full brunt of the bomb’s effect and might not have survived it.
This entire clan was filled with good people just trying to live and find some happiness. They’d done nothing to deserve this. And it enraged Sora that history was once again trying to repeat itself.