MIR, the sentient Wyvern.

Surgery

I knew nothing of the kingdom or the empire around us as we were focused on survival and above all stabilising our way of life.

So with the little contact we had with the human race, I hoped to gain time and save our little tribe from suffering and misfortune.

It was small but also huge from a human point of view.

And I had no idea of the intrigues that were going on right now that would affect us so much.

Nobody could have predicted it and it was a puzzle. I was still the "Professor, in memory, but I had not escaped reincarnation. I had not been "Summoned" but perhaps I was wrong. One certainty was that I had come out of an Egg and that Mummy Wyvern had nurtured, loved, fed and protected me.

Even if they were to remain animals or semi-conscious or conscious beings, it did not change the fact that I had to protect them.

It was another life for me. And... I didn't regret anything about the old one.

Everything I had been deprived of, the tribe gave back to me a hundredfold and they were worth all the gold in the world.

I adored my brother and my two sisters above all else, without preference, and they followed me and copied me all the time, and that made them really grow into nice little people.

Blanche also followed me like her big brother. We were "cousins" but when the heat came on, I don't think I'd have any problem with us having fun. And there was no shortage of candidates.

It was also a game of flirting and licking and it was fun.

I could say that I was happy and that these were certainly my best years. I prayed to fate that it would continue.

The goods were then sorted and carefully protected by wooden crates and everything was collected.

Mum and Dad set up the forge for me in a cave by the river because the ore was heavy and if later humans had to unload it without us, it would be easier.

And the wounded wyvern craftsmen could also take advantage of the anvil and the furnace I was building.

Meanwhile Kroa, Krii and Kraa were busy putting away the barrels of wort and setting up the shelves and cupboards in which they would store the horn and wooden wyvern-sized cups.

There was also a trickle of water running through, which would be used to clean but also to dilute the wort, which was highly concentrated and in a sense dangerous if the wyverns sank into the alcohol.

Torch holders were installed and a sort of table was set up in the immense cavern.

A fire pit was installed to kill animal odours and a nest used as a room with hay gave a vaguely tavern-like feel. There was an idea. It started out as a game, then after a well-deserved round of drinks for everyone, the tavern started to become a trading and bartering centre, a bit like a guild.

The wyverns were to bring skins, gems, tusks that would be used to barter and replenish the small tavern.

At first it was a game, but soon it became a strategic place for the wyverns to rest and chat with their comrades.

While Mum and Dad tidied up the anvil and put the blocks for the stove according to a simple plan drawn on a skin with an ash pencil, I went to see "DOC", the wyvern who looked after the medicinal plants.

A chest was laid out with everything she needed:

Pestles, working marble alcohol disinfectant, mercurochrome, and thread and needle kits, bandages and bags of magistral preparations to make ointments, salves and a book with drawings of plants, their properties, and the proportions to make medicines and preparations. Obviously, we couldn't read them but that was for later.