Page 52 of The Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps

When she straightened out, I saw something in the shadows that made my heart stop.

“Vaela!” I shouted, focusing my gaze enough to watch her slump to the side as Min soared away, dragons chasing in their wake.

I started running. Stars-above, hang on.

17

EDEN

I stood shivering and dripping water onto the floorboards as Matty and Reo wrestled Vaela onto the exam table in the infirmary. Each time she opened her mouth it felt like someone had driven a stake between my ribs.

Tears gathered behind my eyes, my cold fingers curling against my palms.

She screamed and my heart stuttered unevenly, my pulse rushing in my ears. This couldn’t be real. It had to be another dream—a nightmare.

“What happened?” Matty asked, lighting candles and lanterns, filling the space with warm yellow light. Despite that, all I felt was dread.

“Eden!” Reo snapped, pulling me from my shock.

“I—I don’t know.” I clutched at my wet hair, my icy fingers getting tangled. “The Wretch came and the kingsguard fired arrows into the herd. Vaela and Min took off to try and fend some of the smaller dragons off, but there was a collision and…” I gestured helplessly at her. “Vaela was injured somehow. But I couldn’t see properly. Everything was so dark. Then she was falling and the next thing I knew, I was running⁠—”

I felt like I was going to be sick.

“Min did well to drop her in the lake,” Reo said. He took a pair of scissors to Vaela’s tunic, cutting her free as she writhed. Her eyes were wide, her brow creased with lines of pain. I tasted bile on the back of my tongue as snot poured from Vaela’s nose.

“Where is Min?” Matty asked, bringing a light closer.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “She wasn’t there when I found Vaela.” When I’d dragged her out of the water by her arm, hauling her onto the bank.

“Stars!” Reo hissed, stumbling back from the exam table. He brushed at his bare arms as he revealed a wound along Vaela’s side.

There was something yellow mixed with the blood. Something that bubbled like a hot spring. I reached for her.

Matty snatched my hand back before I could touch the wound, and I realized at once what it was. Venom.

Vaela released a haggard scream as it dripped down the unmarred skin covering her ribs. I resisted the urge to slam my hands over my ears. I wanted to burst into tears.

Matty looked horrified, his massive frame seeming to shrink with fear. “The Wretch was traveling with Banes.”

I swallowed hard. I’d never dealt with a Bane before, but I’d heard about them. They were fireless dragons. Instead of a raging inferno of heat, their bite and their claws were laced with venom. Now it bubbled against Vaela’s skin, burning without fire. If enough of it was absorbed into the bloodstream, it was lethal, burning from the inside.

“Gloves,” Matty said. “We need leather gloves before we touch her.” He and Reo wrenched open drawers. “Eden, you didn’t get any on you?”

I stared down at my hands. “No, I… I pulled her out by her arm.” I never touched her side. “It didn’t get on me.” Another ragged scream rattled around the room, and I snapped into action. “We need to clear the venom. Someone get me a bucket of water. Nisse!”

Vaela needed something for the pain.

“Water won’t remove the venom,” Nisse said, walking into the infirmary, shawls slipping off her shoulders as she carried an armful of jars. Her eyes were heavy, like she’d been hauled out of deep sleep. Talani walked in right behind her, looking more alert. “It needs an oil-based cleanser.” She uncorked a jar. “Use this.”

She passed me a concoction of castor oil. Matty handed me a pair of leather gloves. I donned them quickly.

“Eden!” Vaela hissed between her teeth.

“I know,” I said, voice trembling. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Nisse!” I stared at her pleadingly. “Something for the pain. Please.”

“On it,” she said, racing out of the room.

“Quickly,” I croaked as I rinsed the yellow venom from the wound with the oil, catching it with fresh linens to save her unmarred skin. The more I washed away, the more I could see how the venom burned her flesh. Vaela screamed.