Dragon Guide

Chapter 5: Separation Anxiety

Raven whimpers in my arm and I drag my eyes from the blood on my hands to look at her. Carefully I extend her wing to see, with relief, that the damage is not as great as I feared. The wing has several small punctures with dark red blood oozing out in thick ling streams. It's bad but it hasn't pierced through and through, they can be saved. I see a rather long abrasion under her belly and it too is oozing streams of thick blood. I feel a headache coming on as I think about what needs to happen next.

I raise my head and look into the darkness at the very back of the chamber, near the ceiling a nearly unnoticeable glint can be seen, the camera. I tap my hands to my mouth and then wait. Shortly after, Nova's voice rings in my ear as she connects telepathically to me. "Yes, Rivia? How is she?" Nova asks with concern dripping from her voice.

"She'll be fine but I'm going to need you and Gram to prepare chambers for each of them separately. I can't have them all together just yet, I made a mistake thinking they would be fine like this. Please prepare food and water for each of them in their quarters and also prepare the medical ward, I am bringing in Raven and Gerald for inspection." With that, I block her out of my head and resume my tender inspection.

Although I'm not too concerned about Gerald, I still look for him. Other than some shallow scratches and a bit of blood, I can see that he is in better condition than Raven. I shoot him an irritated look that causes him to run back into the flock and duck his head under Yuki, burrowing down to hide. I sigh and call him forward. " Come Gerald". I extend a palm outwards inviting him to come forward from behind the flock.

" It's okay, I am not mad at you,” I say soothingly to him in the ancient tongue of dragons. He hesitantly slithers his way over and pushes up under my palm and I bring him in close to my side. As he comes closer Raven whimpers and lets out a low growl, instinctively warding him off. My heart sinks and I feel the tears pricking the back of my eyes, the source is Raven and she is hurt and cautious of Gerald. I feel her pain and it intensifies my own despair to see that my children are at odds.

I take Raven into my arms and scoot Gerald in, soothing them both. Gerald pushes his muzzle up against Raven's tummy and he gently licks her wounds, his dragon's magic slowly healing the wound as he cleans her. I feel her tense body relax in my arms as her brother tends to her injury, injuries that he caused I think to myself while rolling my eyes.

Not long after, Nova and Gram come in holding a tray of meat. As they approach slowly, the whelps and I jump to our feet. I slowly hold out my hands to Nova and Gram and in turn, they each extend a hand to me. I watch as the whelps assess the level of threat, they twist their heads to the side and I watch as their pupils dilate and rotate in their sockets as they adjust, taking in every detail of the intruders. I swell with pride as I see how intuitive and intelligent they are. Suddenly, all their little eyes are looking at me as they assess me in the same manner. I feel the joy coming from them, and I realize that they are starting to differentiate between my emotions and their own. I shake it off and move to take the meat from Nova and Gram and watch as they take their leave. I give each one a piece by placing it in their mouths personally. Armin, it's always he who fights me and now refuses to eat the meat. By this time all the others have already devoured their own portions and now lay satiated and calm on the ground, becoming drowsy from the sleep medication secretly placed in the meat.

I sigh in defeat before bending down to take Armin into my arms, hoisting him onto my chest. I grunt as I settle him atop my breasts, he weighs about 19 kilograms at the moment. He nudges his head until he is tucked into the fold of my neck. I shake my head in disbelief as I roll my eyes and move to leave the chamber. Nova and Gram will move the other whelps into their assigned chambers and when they awake, they will have food and water to eat and recuperate. I take Armin into his chamber where a low fire is burning, a fountain that was built into the wall has been turned on, and a stone platter of meat is set on the ground. In the far left corner is a nest made of molten gold in the shape of an open egg. Underneath it, I can see the glow of a fire burning as it reaches out its yellow-orange fingers to caress the golden nest. Dragons like gold and warmth, which makes this the ideal bed for them. I walk further into the chamber where the ceiling gradually inclines towards the center to create the feel of a much larger room. Armin slithers away towards the food and I quietly retrace my steps until I am back outside the chambers. I place a seal over the entrance and after one last look at my little golden dragon, I make my way toward the infirmary.

As I walk further into the Cavern, past all of the other chambers, I arrive at a dark doorway. I pass through the threshold and begin to descend a stairwell, switching on lights as I go. The environment here is very different, the walls are porcelain white and the artificial light is bright overhead. I smell the bleach in the air, but luckily it is not so strong that my nose burns, it is just a faint smell of floral-scented bleach. Modern technology sure is making things a whole lot more convenient I think to myself as I remember the damp, stale air of the alms-houses and hospice we used to occupy for basic nursing, but no medical treatment in the old days, nope, or else we would have been deemed witches right away and hung or burned alive. The memory of that brought with it the smells of rotting limbs and flesh and it made my stomach queasy. I shake off the feeling and make my way down the corridor at the end of the stairwell. I take a turn at the first left and after passing two swinging white doors I am standing in front of a large pressure sealed door. I place my hands on the touchpad to the right of the door and wait as I see the green lights move up and down, scanning my hand. I see the full pad light up completely green and the air hisses loudly as the door pulls back slightly and slides open, granting me access. Even here, I can't use my mages' power to break in, the protection magic that Merlin cast over the entire facility really is a piece of work.

As I step further into the room, I see the burly figure of Merlin. He stands over Gerald who lies asleep on the table in the middle of the room. As I approach, Merlin lifts his head to watch me with his ash-mauve eyes full of lust. I watch as he takes me in from head to toe and I shiver a little under his watchful eyes. I blush as he sniffs the air and in an instant, he smirks at me with that devilish smile of his. I know he can smell it, my arousal. Ugh! damn him for making me feel this way, I hate that I can't control my body's response to him, I'm a sucker for strong assertive men. I drag my palm down my face and groan in irritation. I'm mostly irritated with myself as I still feel the hairs rise on my arms, a shiver running down my spine, and a not-so-unexplained weakening in the strength of my thighs takes a hold of me. Even the hair on my scalp prickles with anticipation. If slapping myself hard in the face wouldn't make me look more of a fool, I certainly would have fiery red cheeks right about now.

As if the Gods took pity on me, Nova's voice came over the intercom and I could hear the screeching of many whelps in the background. My heart constricts as I hear the despair in their voices, I feel tears prick my eyes, my earlier mood, is now long forgotten. My head whips back to the Merlin, "I'm sorry, I have to go, you can handle this yourself, right?"

"Just go, I have things covered here. Raven will be asleep for a bit longer, I gave her another dose to give her a chance to rest easy. Just go and do what you need to do. I’ll come to see you later in the night, leave the door unlocked for me" says Merlin.

I don't respond and turn to leave, my walking a little off as my nerves get to me. I can feel the smile on his face and I sense the amusement coming from him. As I reach the top of the stairs again, the noise is deafening and I quickly head in the direction of the 'personal chambers'. As I approach, the sight takes me by surprise and I quickly clasp my hands over my mouth as a stifle a sob and I feel the tears roll down my face.