Silenced Voice

Chapter 17 Winter

Winter stood with trembling legs in the muddy water. It felt as if the bedrock rocked beneath him - like he was floating on the waves of the ocean - and he pressed his claws tighter against the rock. He was startled by the reaction of the others. He turned his eyes to his left wing, which was dripping with water, and was dismayed. He had known and feared the damage would be bad, but he hadn't guessed it would be this bad.

Can I fly again? He carefully lifted the wing a little more, and despite the excruciating pain that nearly knocked out consciousness, the bones didn't seem to be broken. But flying required more than intact bones...

Wren got up on the rock and leaned against him, wrapped her arms around his neck and asked something. Can I fly?
"I guess... If I can clarify my head for a moment. Now... I'm dizzy", Winter managed to answer. He felt a trickle of blood running from his temple to his cheek. His head was throbbing and his body, battered by stones everywhere, was so numb that he wasn't sure if he had any intact scales left.

He slowly sat back in the water. Wren waded in to examine his wing. Undauntable looked sickened and moved away.
"It's a shame that we don't have clean water here. Those bruises should be cleaned", Wren said in human language. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible. If you can't fly, then in that case we have to leave through the entrance of the gorge, but there may have been a guard left there, and during the day we will surely be seen from the city."

"I'll try to figure out if I can get up. Is there anything here you can put on my back so you can sit on the ride?" Winter asked in a broken voice in dragon.
"I will not come to your back under any circumstances!" Wren was horrified. "You can barely stay on your feet! Good if you can get yourself up with that wing. You can take the rope to Moon and she can pull me up."

Undauntable began to regain color in his face.
"Will you come with us? Your father may be angry when he wakes up", Winter asked him in human language. Undauntable looked shocked.
"W-where are you going?" He stammered in confusion at having a conversation with a dragon.
"To the Sanctuary. It is a city for dragons from different tribes, but there is also a village of humans. Wren lives there", Winter explained in a hoarse voice, winking at Wren, who was glaring at him murderously.

"I-I don't think I'm ready to live next door to dragons yet, thanks", Undauntable glanced at Wren as if pleading for help.
"It's a safer place than Indestructible City because it's protected by dragons and doesn't have the same villains, but you're right, you wouldn't survive without your luxuries, so forget it", Wren snapped.

"Wren", Winter said significantly. "If Undauntable needs shelter, he's welcome at Sanctuary."
"Uh, thank you. I'll think about it if things go badly here", Undauntable said hesitantly. "How long do father and the general sleep?"

"Moon, do you know better how long the sedative effect of tranquilizer darts could last on humans?" Winter turned his gaze up to the edge of the ravine.
"Hmm, the dose will stun the dragon for a couple of hours to about half a day, so the scavenger - human - will probably sleep for at least a few days or maybe a week.." Moon guessed and Wren interpreted it for Undauntable.

"Huh. Well, at least it's peaceful for the time being...", Undauntable glanced at Winter's wing and turned pale greenish. "Umm, are you sure you can fly...? That might need treatment first..."
"If you don't have a first aid kit with you, I doubt we'd have a long wait for treatment here", Wren pointed out.
"You're right... I hope you get home safely."
"I hope you don't get into trouble because of this. Thanks for helping us", Wren said, hugging Undauntable so suddenly that he almost fell over and the green gave way to a blush.
"At any time..." he barely managed to say.

Wren selected a couple of long ropes and gave them to Winter, who hung the ropes around his neck.
"Moon! I'm trying to fly up. Do you back off a little so I don't tackle you by accident", Winter shouted, his voice still distorted by pain.