Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles (24 page)

Galirras turned his head around and snapped his jaws at the curious Peadar.

Raylan felt the dragon tremble beneath his touch. He quickly stroked along his flexible neck, whispering soothing words.

“It’s okay. He’s a friend…they’re all friends. You’re safe here.”

Galirras quickly put his head against Raylan’s arm.

“You are nice and warm. I am so cold…and hungry.”

Raylan looked up at Gavin.

“Can we make a fire? He needs warmth. And food. Food would be good. I think I have some dried meat in my pack, still.”

Seeing the serious look his younger brother had in his eyes, all of a sudden, Gavin decided not to intervene.

“Let’s do what he says. Ca’lek mentioned an overhanging rock a little further down the path. It will provide us with some basic shelter. Harwin, you, Rohan, and Kevhin go and prep a fire. After that, you two go hunt,” said Gavin, pointing to Kevhin and Rohan.

In the meantime, Xi’Lao passed Raylan his dried meat. Holding it in front of the newly hatched dragon, Raylan spoke softly.

“Here, eat this. It’s not much, but it’s all I have, at the moment.”

Galirras flicked his tongue along the dried meat, sniffing it carefully. Satisfied by the smell and driven by his hunger, he scooped up the piece of dried meat and swallowed it whole.

“More. Is there more? I am still hungry.”

“I’m sorry. It’s all I have, little one,” Raylan said, regretfully.

As the others started their climb up the slope, to make the preparations for the fire, Harwin turned and called out.

“One of the horses became untangled and did not go over the edge with the stone wolf. It was already dead, but we should still be able to use the meat.”

Raylan looked Galirras in the eye.

“Would that work? Do you eat horses?”

“I do not know. What does it taste like?”
he asked, curiously.

It seemed to Raylan that the young dragon had somewhat recovered now that he had eaten a tiny bit, since Galirras looked around with a sudden jolt of energy. Raylan pointed out the carcass of one of the horses that had pulled the wagon. It was a ways down, near the edge of the ravine. As soon as he had spotted it, Galirras moved toward it. Pushing off, he did what came naturally and spread his wings, but then let out a yelp of pain.

“Something is wrong. I want to fly. Why can I not fly?”
Galirras exclaimed, in a panic.

Raylan quickly moved forward, sitting next to Galirras again, to see what was wrong. He noticed the position of his left wing was all wrong. It appeared not to be in the same spot as the right wing, and it looked swollen at the place where it was attached to Galirras’ body.

“It’s your left wing, little one. It must have been injured during the wagon crash. We’ll need to let Peadar have a look at it.”

Noticing a nervous feeling in his gut that was not his own, he quickly added, “It really is okay. Peadar takes care of all our birds and has experience keeping our animals healthy. He knows what he’s doing. He studied under the royal animal physician back at Shid’el. He’ll help you get better, I promise.”

Feeling Galirras give in some, he beckoned Peadar, who had moved away to give them space.

“It’s alright…he’ll let you come close now.”

As Peadar moved closer, he slowly crouched next to Raylan and Galirras. He carefully picked up the wing. Galirras let out a low rumble from his throat. Peadar instantly froze.

“It hurts.”

“It’s okay, little one. He needs to have a look. He’ll try not to make it hurt too much,” said Raylan, soothingly, while nodding for Peadar to continue.

“Fascinating, I’ve never seen anything like it. The bone structure is similar to a bird’s, but much more solid. There is a lot of strength and flexibility in the framework of the wing. The skin is flexible and thin, but seems very durable.”

“Can you see what’s wrong?”

“It looks like the joint near the shoulder has been badly dislocated. It must have happened during the crash. Luckily, none of the bones seem broken. But we’ll need to set this upper bone correctly into its socket, or it will never be able to use its wing.”

“His wing…”

Peadar looked at him, confused.

“You said it, he’s a he…”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. His name is Galirras. He told me.”

“It…he talks to you?” said Peadar, looking at the completely unknown animal species in front of him.

“Up here,” said Raylan, tapping on the side of his head, “I don’t yet understand it myself.”

“Stop talking. I am hungry,”
squealed Galirras, while squirming underneath Raylan’s arms.

“I’m sorry. Please, hold on just a while longer, little one.” He turned back to Peadar. “Quickly tell me…the wing, how do we do this?”

“There is no easy way. We need to stretch it and let it pop back into the socket. There’s a lot of muscle, even if he’s still small. We’ll need to use some force.”

Raylan felt his stomach turn as he explained to Galirras what was needed. The little dragon did not understand why they had to hurt him to heal him. He asked Raylan if they could let it be.

In the end, Raylan could do nothing but ask Galirras to trust him. If he ever wanted to use the wing properly, it had to be done. It took Raylan’s most soothing words, while stroking the dragon’s neck and jaw, and using all his warmth and open friendliness, to win over Galirras. Eventually, Galirras reluctantly gave in, but not until he had been bribed with another two pieces of dried meat that Xi’Lao offered from her own rations.

Raylan sat down and took the little dragon in his arms, locking his legs around the dragon’s shoulder. He made sure the other wing was properly folded up against the dragon’s side, while holding Galirras’ head gently but securely in his arms. He saw Galirras’ tail moving back and forth, nervously.

“Will it hurt?”

“I’m afraid so, little one; but it must be done, if you ever want to use that wing. I wish there was a different way. Please, be strong. We’ll do it as quickly as possible.”

Peadar excused himself to Galirras, before pulling the wing outward and moving the bone up. Gripping it securely with two hands, he pushed his weight backward to maneuver the wing into its correct position.

Galirras let out a long whine, as Raylan felt the poor creature tremble from the pain. He whispered more soothing words, as he felt his heart ache because of the pain that they were inflicting on the little dragon.

“Sssh…it’s okay, my brave one. You’re so strong. It will be over soon. Try to hold on a little bit longer. You can do it.”

It seemed to take ages, as Raylan held Galirras firmly locked in his arm. He felt the little dragon squirm, surprised by the power this little creature already had in his body. He had seemed so weakened, but now he felt the large muscles move beneath the scaled skin. Finally, with one last yelp from Galirras, the bone shot into place.

Peadar quickly took a step back, to give them some space again. Raylan slowly loosened his grip.

“Are you alright? Does it feel better this way?” he asked.

“It does not hurt…that badly anymore,”
Galirras said, as he swung his head around, nudging the wing carefully with the top of his nose.

Raylan let out a sigh of relief, when he suddenly saw Galirras sink through his legs, going limp. Raylan felt all the energy drain from the dragon’s body.

“No. Galirras? Wake up!”

Raylan immediately lifted the head that had ended up on his leg. He looked up to Peadar.

“It must have taken too much energy to reposition the wing. He needs food. We need to get some food in him. Where’s that dead horse?” he asked, with fear in his voice.

He looked around frantically and began to stand up.

“Hold on. Stop, don’t move. We first need to tie his wing, securely, before you start dragging him around,” Peadar quickly interrupted, “the wing needs to be supported—and then completely rested— for at least a couple of days for it to heal properly, I expect. Let me grab some of the weapon belts.”

Raylan held Galirras close as Peadar sped off toward the wagon wreckage to grab belts. As he pulled him closer, he noticed the little dragon felt colder than before. Xi’Lao, who—along with Gavin—followed things from a distance, seemed to sense the same thing as she came over with one of the fur coats to put around Galirras.

“Thanks,” Raylan said, quietly.

“Just keep him close and give him your warmth. We will get some food in him and get him to the fire they are preparing, soon,” Xi’Lao replied, with a soft voice.

As soon as Peadar returned, he carefully and skillfully put the wing in a resting position against Galirras’ flank. He secured it with two weapon belts, one around the shoulder and torso and the other around the waist of the little dragon.

“It’s the best I can do at the moment, but at least you can move him now,” he added, apologetically.

With Galirras firmly in his arms, Raylan got to his feet. Slowly, walking downhill toward the horse carcass, Raylan made sure each step had a firm foothold before he placed weight on it. He felt Galirras breathe heavily, as if in a deep slumber. The reality that Galirras might be too weak to survive, coming out of the egg before he was ready to hatch, dawned on Raylan more with every step he took. His heart felt heavy when they finally reached the dead horse. As he carefully put down Galirras, he spoke clearly.

“Here is the horse, little one. Please eat. You need to eat. You need the strength.”

There was no reaction from Galirras. Picking up the dragon, Raylan put him on the horse’s stomach.

“Here, feel it. It’s still warm. You’ve got to eat, please.”

A low rumble rose from Galirras’ throat, as the smell of the dead horse entered his nose and sparked his senses. But he was still too weak to lift his head, barely having the strength to flick his tongue outward.

As a last resort, Raylan grabbed his sword and stabbed it deep into the horse’s carcass. Slicing open the entire belly, the guts spilled out. Throwing his sword to the side, he took his dagger from his belt and slashed the inside of the horse, feverishly. Its blood was still warm enough to flow; it poured out.

Cupping his hands, he caught as much of it as possible. Lifting Galirras’ head with one hand, he let the blood trickle into the dragon’s mouth. Raylan saw most of it spill out of the corner of his mouth, but Galirras’ eye crept open and swirled around, trying to focus.

Another handful of blood elicited an approved rumble from the weak dragon, after which, it slowly shifted his head. Raylan used the opportunity to cup blood with both hands, increasing the amount of blood poured into Galirras’ mouth.

Slowly but surely, the dragon drank more, waking up from an almost comatose state.

“More…I need more.”

“Don’t worry. I’m here for you. Just drink. Use your strength to eat, you need the energy.”

Raylan took his dagger and cut off a small piece of muscle from the horse’s hind leg. Cutting it up smaller, he put the smallest pieces in Galirras’ throat, allowing the little dragon to instantly swallow them.

With each bite, it seemed Galirras became more alert. He moved his tail first, then his legs. Eventually, he had enough strength to lift his head, and to crawl across the horse and take a few bites by himself. It still took effort to tear off the meat from the horse’s bones, so Raylan helped rip up the meat for him. After a few bites, he sank down again.

For a brief moment, Raylan felt alarmed; but then, he felt the now familiar voice in his head say,
“So full….so sleepy…”

He stroked the back of the dragon’s head. “You did well, little one. Go to sleep. I’ll keep you warm.”

It took Raylan the remainder of the afternoon to carry Galirras back up the hill, while the dragon entered a deep slumber. Raylan stopped, every now and then, to check if Galirras was still breathing, while he kept the creature as close as possible, wrapped in the fur coat that Xi’Lao gave to him.

Back at the road, the sun was already leaving the sky, making room for the moon. By the time they arrived at the campfire, the night had fallen completely.

Exhausted from everything that happened that day, Raylan sat down against the rock wall, as close to the fire as he could manage. He was careful not to bring Galirras into contact with the open flame; but he figured the dragon could withstand more heat than a human, remembering that as an egg, Galirras lay unprotected on hot stones and embers.

After the feeding, Gavin had worked together with Peadar, cutting up the remainder of the horse, taking big parts with them to the fire. They agreed that they would save large parts for the dragon, but prepared a well-sized meal for them all, since they did not know if tomorrow would provide them with the opportunity to eat.

The group was quiet while eating. The events of the day obviously had a big impact on them all. Not only had they lost another member of their group, but they had seen an amazing new creature come into this world. Unimaginable things compounded, as they had encountered the black stone horrors, for a second time. Plenty of unnatural things today were hard to accept.