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Can you move?

Stuck.

I slowed but continued to follow her path of destruction into the deeper shadows of the forest.And the acid?

Burns.

Then you need to get back into the ocean and soak it.

Will when not stuck.

That comment definitely held more than an edge of bite to it, and relief slipped through me. If she could snap back, then she wasn’t any more seriously hurt than she had been before crash-landing.

I clambered over the trunk of a fallen tree, ran around its thick crown, and followed the crack of wood and heavy grunting till I found her. She was partially upright, her body lodged between two trees, but it was the long stream of membrane from her left wing that had wrapped around the trunk of a third tree that appeared to be anchoring her in place. The position of her body in the trees meant she couldn’t twist around and free herself, and if she simply tore it completely away, she might never fly again. Phalanges and membrane could be repaired and healed, but I doubted it was possible for the latter to be torn free then successfully reattached.

Help, she said.

Trying, I replied, in the same tart tone she used earlier.

A rumble of amusement ran through our link. At least she saw the humor in the situation.

I stepped over the raw end of her tail, limped across to the tree, then walked around it until I found the end of the membrane. Carefully, trying not to tear it any further, I picked it up and began to unwrap it. It was a large piece, and it was damnably awkward to free it from the tree without causing any further damage, but I eventually succeeded. Once she was free, she tucked her wings in as much as she could, then backed out of the trees. There were gouges along the side I could see, and one of her back spines had been broken, but wings aside, she appeared unhurt.

From high above us came a deep bellow. Kaia raised her head and answered, and a heartbeat later, the two drakkons we’d seen earlier landed on the beach, the larger of the two peering curiously into the chaotic gap in the trees. The smaller drakkon, a male at full maturity from the look of it, kept to one side, his thoughts filled with wary interest.

The female shifted her weight a fraction, drawing my gaze again, and it was then I spotted the lightning-like slash of gold across her chest. It was the red drakkon who’d debated the merits of eating humans with me while I’d healed her.

Know you, she said.

Yes.

No eat.

Well, good, I thought, amused, though I wasn’t entirely sure if she meant she wouldn’t eat me now or that she hadn’t eaten humans since our discussion.

Is kin, Kaia rumbled.You hurt, I kill.

The younger female lowered her head, as if in acknowledgment and deference.What kin?

Kaia explained what it meant as she moved out of the forest, her broken right wing dragging on the ground and clearly still bubbling. The acid hadn’t initially taken out as much of the membrane on the right as on the left, but if she didn’t neutralize it, it soon would.

And until she did neutralize it, it was pointless for me to try to fix it.

The two younger drakkons moved apart to give her room, and she walked into the ocean, stopping when it was at her chest and spreading her wings out as best she could. The waves crashed over them, and pain rumbled through our link once again.

Can heal broke wing?she asked.

Possibly, depending on how bad the break is and whether I have enough strapping with me.

Where more strapping? Esan?

Yes.

Rua carry there.

Rua made a squawk that very much echoed her mentalWhat?

Kaia’s head snapped around, her teeth bared, and our mental link was briefly cut as she and the younger drakkon conversed. The young drakkon lowered her head again. This time it was very definitely deferential.