Page 30

CHAPTER 30

W hen the vet and the farmer arrived, the area around the dragon dissolved from tense waiting into a rush of activity. As the vet walked over, Pan kept a hand on her neck, reminding the dragon to be calm because these people were here to help. The dragon had drunk all the water the centaurs brought, and they’d scurried back and forth three times.

Beard demanded his tents before leaving and was unimpressed that the human boys were carrying them, so he needed to wait for them. So, while the vet unpacked her things, and the farmer assessed the tree piercing the wing, with one eye on the dragon, Beard sent a centaur to meet Liam and Web and collect the tents.

Pan was surprised Meredith wasn’t there. “Where is your aunt?”

“Working. She organized this…or delegated someone to sort it. Either way, this is all we have as everyone is rather busy.” Noah was careful to stay back from the dragon, even though Pan was sure the dragon wouldn’t hurt him.

The vet finished her lap of the dragon and stopped near Pan. “I’ve never treated a dragon. And this is not a situation I trained for.” She kept looking at the dragon as if unable to believe it was real. “However, I am a farm vet, which means I am trained and dealing with large animals…they aren’t typically this large.”

“If you have questions for her, keep them simple and I will translate.” Pan smiled, glad that the vet wasn’t pretending to know anything.

“Of course.” She nodded. “I’m not used to talking animals either. Is she an animal, or is that offensive?”

“A dragon is considered an animal, as they cannot learn another language.”

The vet thought about that for a moment, her eyebrows drawing together. “And the centaurs…how horse-like are they?”

“They are not animals, and I know nothing of their inner workings. They do not speak your language yet, so I will translate.” And he was getting very tired of doing all the talking. He really needed Noah to learn Tarikian.

Perhaps his friends could too, then they may be of some use.

“Let’s start with something easy. Can she tell me how she is feeling and what hurts aside from her leg and wing?”

The vet spent what seemed like forever touching various parts of the dragon and asking questions that didn’t do anything. Noah brought him a bottle of water and a muesli bar, which was like eating sticky horse food. “Do you not have any chocolate?”

Noah laughed.

The dragon asked for something to eat.

The vet said no, and the dragon thumped her tail in disgust.

“Why can’t the dragon eat?” Pan muttered, not wanting to be caught in the middle of an argument between the dragon and the vet.

“If the vet needs to operate, it’s usual to not eat before anesthetic…um…” Noah frowned. “It’s a drug they give you to make you unconscious during surgery.”

The vet had mentioned something about operating on both the wing and the leg. Something about metal rods to hold the bones in place, but she didn’t seem keen, calling it a last resort. “Is it dangerous?”

“It can be. Being cut open carries risks.”

Pan sighed and stared up at the sky. The day was sliding past far too quickly. “If there was magic?—”

“Well, there’s not. And you’ve already used what I tapped into.”

“There wasn’t enough to fix a broken leg.” There’d been enough for one small blessing out of the thousands of cries for help that he’d heard in that heartbeat. He responded to the one that would do the most good. It hadn’t been the most desperate one. And while it wasn’t the first time he’d weighed the various pleas, or even picked the one most beneficial to him, it was the first time he’d responded with someone else’s magic. He had no idea how the blessing would behave.

“Can you tell the dragon I want to straighten and splint her leg and that it might hurt? Also remind her that if she eats me, no one else will treat her injuries.” The vet gave him an entirely justified nervous smile.

Pan murmured in the dragon’s ear. Her claws flexed in the dirt.

“I am in great pain. I do not want to hurt the thin skin healer, but I may snap.”

“I do not want to ask this, but will you let her tie your muzzle closed so you cannot?”

Her tail thumped and the ground beneath his feet reverberated as if the world might collapse again. Standing by her neck, she couldn’t bite him, but she still had claws on her rear legs and was capable of tearing him apart.

She huffed a breath out of her snout. “I do not trust myself, so yes. You will make sure it is removed.”

“I will. You have my word.” He told the vet, who then handed him a length of rope as if expecting him to tie the dragon’s mouth closed. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“If I have to risk being eaten, I thought you might enjoy sharing the fun.” She lifted her eyebrows. “At least you can soothe her.”

Between the two of them, they tied her muzzle closed, and the farmer tied the end around a tree to keep her head out of the way.

Because he was the only one who spoke Dragon, he was told to remain by her neck and relay instructions. He attempted to argue that he didn’t take orders, but this wasn’t actually about him, even though it was his deal being fulfilled.

It was Noah who helped the vet straighten the leg and steady it with metal splints and bedsheets, while Pan stood there talking to the dragon, hoping she didn’t kill anyone by accident.

And it was Noah who explained the chainsaw and had the farmer give a demonstration, so the dragon understood how they would be cutting the tree that pierced her wing, not her wing even though she might feel the vibrations.

It was an awful noise and had to be done in several stages to prevent more damage. Each time, he reminded the dragon not to move. And she dug her claws into the earth and made noises he’d never heard a dragon make and never wanted to hear again.

The noise finally stopped when everyone’s lungs were full of sawdust. That didn’t stop the vet from shouting more instructions.

“The healer is going to check your wing. She doesn’t want you to move it.”

He watched the vet as she worked, as she ordered Noah around and he obeyed without question, then as the vet, Noah, and the farmer carefully lifted the wing free of the stump. The vet walked underneath and popped out next to him.

“It’s a mess. Two broken bones and ripped skin. Not only that, it’s been stretched out for several days, and the skin has dried and shrunk. I don’t think I can fix that.”

Pan patted the dragon’s neck, not wanting to deliver the bad news. “But someone will be able to? You have birds and creatures that fly here? Can no one repair wings?”

“Usually, I’d say that I’ll call my colleagues or speak to a specialist at the zoo but…”

“But everything and everyone is hurting.” Which meant no one had the time to worry about one dragon who may never fly again.

“I’m sorry. The only reason I’m free is because the farm animals have already been put down or helped. There is a dead cow on the trailer for her. It was killed yesterday. If you have beings who need meat in large quantities, the farmers are disposing…” Her eyes became glassy. “It’s the worst part of the job. It’s why when I got the call, I figured I had to try to save the dragon, right? I had to do something. I don’t want to be remembered as the vet who refused.”

“You will not be remembered that way. Even though you are afraid, you did everything possible,” Pan said softly. There was only so much that could be done without magic, and he hated it. Why did everyone need to suffer because he couldn’t do the one thing he existed to do? “Can she fold her wing, or do you want to do something with the bones?”

“With birds, the usual treatment is to stop the wing from moving, but if I do that, she won’t be able to maneuver out of the clearing. I don’t know anything about dragon flight either. If I can examine her mate, I might be able to figure something out.”

“So what you’re saying is get her out of the clearing, and reunited with her mate, and then you will visit with another cow tomorrow, and see if there is more you can do?”

She nodded. “I’d like the opportunity, and I will arrange a cow. Her mate is at the pub…which is also the palace, I’ve been told. Is that where you’ll take her?”

Pan nodded. “Noah will go with the farmer. I will stay with you to examine the centaurs. There is a car a quarter day’s walk out of the camp.”

Her fair eyebrows pulled together. “Quarter day? Is that like three hours or six?”

“The time it takes for the sun to complete a quarter of its path.” He pointed at the sky and moved his finger in an arc. “I will tell the dragon that it’s time to go.”

“She shouldn’t put any weight on the broken leg.”

Pan nodded. “Pack up. We will walk with the dragon to the trailer and then go to the centaur camp.” And hopefully they’d both be able to leave when the vet was done.

With Noah and the farmer’s help, the wing was folded, and the dragon stood for the first time since the collapse. It took several steps to learn how to walk on three legs, and she seemed uncomfortable. The walk to the trailer was slow, although her interest, and speed, picked up when she smelled the meat.

Trying to explain she was getting a ride into the city took a bit of effort, as did getting her up onto the trailer. She ended up sitting with her chin resting on the tractor, and the cow between her feet, ready to share with her mate.

Web and Liam had returned to the vet’s vehicle as asked. Pan was surprised they were still there.

The vet gave them the key and asked them to drive it around to where they’d left their car, and showed them where to hide the key so that it would be waiting for her when she was done.

Pan took Noah’s hands. “Thank you for your help. I could not have done this without you.”

Noah glanced away and shrugged. “I’m sure you would’ve figured something out.”

“No. You know the people in this world who can help, and you know how this world works.”

“And you know how magic works. It seems like a fair trade.”

Pan considered him for several heartbeats. “Are you making a deal with a god?”

“Maybe? Is that a bad thing?” Noah held his gaze as if unafraid.

“It’s not a done thing.”

“Maybe not on your world, but you’re in my world now.”

As unsavory as it was, Noah had a point. “Very well. You will teach me of this world, and I will teach you magic.” He smiled as he realized he had the perfect gift for Noah. “As a thank you, I have a magical object for you, since you are a collector.”

Noah grinned. “Is it a cursed object?”

“No, though it is the last of its kind.” His voice caught as if the loss of the selkies was still raw. No one would’ve mourned the loss of all the centaurs.

“Come on, I want to deliver this and get home before dark,” the farmer called.

“I will see you at the palace.”

“The pub,” Noah corrected, even though both were true.

Pan nodded. “Safe travels.”

“You, too.”

Pan wasn’t sure who was going to face the most difficulties, Noah taking the dragon into town, or him and the vet dealing with more fucking centaurs.