Page 16 of Dream Reaper

The skin on the back of her neck prickled as she recalled her close encounter with those violent creatures only a couple of nights ago.

“I don’t think so.” Jerrid stood and let his trembling fingers lightly rest on the outermost curve of the dragon’s wounded wing. “Those gashes are too long, too deep. I don’t think a myrk hound could do this.”

Ava wasn’t so sure: she and her friends had barely escaped with their lives when Talos set a pack of his hounds on them.

And Omarie…

Her heart twisted in her chest, drawing unexpected tears to her eyes.

She pursed her lips, not sure if she really wanted to ask the next question burning on her tongue. “Another dragon, then?”

Jerrid shot her a sharp look, his eyes narrowing in a dangerous way that reminded her of the reptilian gaze of his dragon self. “What are you implying? I didn’t think there were wild dragons in these parts.”

“No. We don’t have dragons in Gelaira.” Ava drew a shaky breath but forced herself to continue. “Other than you.”

His lips parted in something that resembled a snarl. “Are you implying that I did this to her?”

“Not necessarily. But you yourself said this is not the work of myrk hounds, and you’re the only other dragon around at present.”

“I didn’t do this!”

She took a step away from them, her jaw tightening. “But you also said you don’t remember what you do when you’re…when you’re not yourself.”

The dragon whimpered, a puff of smoke erupting from her nostrils. Ava’s heart gave a sharp twist, and she forced herself to step closer to the wounded creature again. It didn’t matter who or what had done this—as a healer, her job was to help the wounded dragon.

They could worry about what happened later.

She ran her hands over the dragon’s wounded wing, analyzing the depth of the jagged gashes in the thin membrane that ran between her wing bones. Several places had been ripped clean open.

“She needs stitches,” Ava said in a low voice, “but I don’t have any supplies. We need to find help.”

Jerrid laid both his hands on the dragon’s head, cradling her face in his fingers. “I saw some ruins a couple of miles farther north of this clearing.”

Ava froze, her hands also resting on the dragon. “Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”

“It wasn’t important. We were looking for a clearing, not abandoned ruins.”

She frowned but glanced to the north. She couldn’t see anything beyond the trees towering around their little clearing. Then she turned toward the south, toward Eroth.

Toward home.

She didn’t want to go farther north, farther from Peregrin and the safety that must surely lie behind them. But she couldn’t abandon the dragon, could she? As badly as she was injured, the beast wouldn’t be able to defend herself.

And Ava didn’t stand a chance of finding her way home on her own.

“Do you think she can walk that far?” She hated how her voice trembled.

She didn’t have a choice. As loath as she was to admit it, she needed Jerrid in order to survive. And they needed her.

“No.” His tone was equally low, and he lifted his head to peer into her face. “But we can’t just leave her here.”

Ava drew a stabilizing breath and considered their options. “Well, I doubt I’d be able to find the ruins you saw by myself. And I’m not sure if you would know what supplies to look for. We’re going to need needles, thread, bandages, and salves to ward off infection. Do you know much about plants?”

He shook his head.

Of course not. Even if he did, he’d be familiar with the fauna of Haldor, not Gelaira. Finding anything salvageable in the Shadewood would be almost impossible as it was. Everything was sick and dying.

They’d only been able to find the nightblood flowers that Persis needed because she’d used her sand magic to reawaken the forest.