A sharp yelp echoed across the training yard.
Sera paused mid-step.
It came again—high-pitched, pained.
Ignoring Mira's protests, she veered off the corridor path and slipped into the yard, where soldiers practiced blade drills despite the frost. Near the far corner, a young dire‑pup lay curled by the fence, leg twisted unnaturally.
“No one touch it!" a captain barked. “Warbeasts aren't for petting."
The soldiers turned away, indifferent.
Sera knelt beside the pup anyway.
Its black fur trembled with every breath. One golden eye blinked up at her.
She reached into her pocket—dried herbs. Crushed them with bare fingers. The scent of pine and honey filled the air.
The pup didn't flinch.
Sera murmured soundlessly and began wrapping its leg with a strip torn from her underskirt. She h
