Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
It was growing dark, so dark that I could barely see my ministrations, and that was when Huntley ordered me down.
“Ivory.”
“I’m almost there.”
“You can finish tomorrow—”
“Just shut up.” I bent the wing slightly, trying to gauge the force it could handle at this point. Regrowing the wing was easier in the beginning, because there was only one direction for the growth to take place. But now that the bones had branched off and the wing had become wider, it was a lot more challenging. It was like painting an image from memory—but a memory I didn’t have.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my wrist before I focused my thoughts once again. I closed my eyes, tapped into the energy at the very edge of the wing, and pushed.
Crack.
Groooooowl.
“Sorry, sorry.” I opened my eyes and looked at the difference.
The wing was complete. “Pyre…look.”
He turned his head over his shoulder and examined it.
I let go and backed up so he could move it around.
At first, he just raised it up slightly then back down again. But then he opened the wing wider and gave a hard flap down.
He nearly tipped me off.
“Does that feel right?”
He flapped it harder again then gave a loud cry.
“I can’t tell if that’s a good sound or not….”
He gave a loud growl before he moved his face to mine, putting his teeth right in my face. A wall of hot breath hit me, blew my hair out of my face. Then he curled his lips over his teeth and rubbed his snout against me.
I realized what it was—a hug. “Aww…you’re welcome.” I reached my hand out and felt the scales of his face, seeing that they were even harder around his large teeth. “But let’s not get too excited. We’ve got to do the other side now.”
He got back on the ground so I could climb safely down.
It was really dark now, and without the sun, all we had was the starlight. It glinted off his scales, giving a faint glow. I felt him before I saw him. Huntley. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away.
In the darkness, I could hear the flapping sound, Pyre testing his wing, too excited to wait until tomorrow.
Huntley took me to our camp in the jungle where we left our supplies during the day. Without our usual fire, it was dark, so dark I could barely see in front of my face. He guided me to the bedroll.
“We should make a fire. I can barely see.”
“No fire tonight.”
There was something in the sound of his voice that caught my attention. “Why?”
“We don’t need one.” He dropped his equipment to the ground beside him and got into the bedroll.
“Huntley.”
He pulled the covers back and guided me inside beside him.
“Why do I feel like there’s something you aren’t telling me.”
“I didn’t anticipate us staying here so long.”
“And what does that matter?”
“Because having a fire in the same spot for an extended period of time implies there’s a camp. And if someone thinks there’s a camp, it’s only a matter of time before they come to investigate.”
All the excitement of today evaporated into thin air.
“It’s just a precaution, baby. No one is coming to get us.”
“For now…” I lay in the bedroll beside him, afraid of what lay further in the jungle, what could creep up on us while we slept.
His hand cupped my face, his fingers brushing the hair from in front of my eye. “I’d never let anything happen to you.”
“It’s not just me that I’m worried about…”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to me either.” The backs of his fingers lightly grazed over my skin. “We’ve got too much shit to do—together.”
“You would think I’d be faster this time around, but…nope.” I’d been working on Pyre’s other wing for a full week, manipulating the bone and tissue to grow back to their usual size, but it took a lot out of me every single day. I was losing weight, not because I was moving around a lot, but because I used so much energy with my mind and hands.
Pyre was getting anxious. His head was permanently turned over his shoulder to face me, to watch me manipulate his wing a little more each day. Sometimes, he flapped the wing involuntarily, and I almost rolled to the ground headfirst. “Pyre, you need to chill. It’s going to take me longer if you keep moving.”
Huntley was nowhere to be seen, somewhere in the jungle. He might be refilling our canteens or hunting. Or he might be cooking our dinner over the fire, since a fire was far less risky during the day as opposed to at night.
Pyre gave a quiet whine.
“I think I can finish this today…so just stay still.”
The blue dragon emerged from the cave and watched Pyre be worked on. He sat there and watched, as if he were standing in line, waiting his turn. I pushed my mind over and over, regrowing veins and nerves, getting the structural stability back.