Chapter 20

Evelyn slept through the rest of the evening into the early morning. She was grateful no one woke them up, though it was startling how long they both slept. Not even Foto’s loud trudge to his post woke them.

When she finally awoke, she slowly lifted Lumin’s head off her thighs and placed her pillow under his chin. He groaned and stirred, but remained asleep.

Her legs wobbled as she stood while proper blood flow returned to them. With Lumin growing so much, even his head was becoming too big for her lap. While she did not want to leave Lumin alone at night, she knew new sleeping arrangements were needed.

While stretching her legs, she noticed they were alone. Even the eggs were gone. Assuming the eggs were with the riders, Evelyn pondered what she should do with her day. Isak hadn’t given them orders beyond resting, but it felt wrong to do nothing.

She leaned against the nightstand next to the nearest bed and felt a folded note under her palm. As she started reading, Lumin’s lifted his head and yawned. His eyes opened slowly, gleaming as he blinked away his sleepiness. “What is that?” He asked.

“Well, good morning to you, too, sleepyhead. It’s a note from Norah asking us to help her at the clinic.”

Lumin perked up and stretched his wings. “Shouldn’t we ask Isak first?”

He was right. It would be appropriate to make sure they weren’t expected to be somewhere. But between wanting to help and the selfish desire to learn more about healing, she elected to ask forgiveness rather than permission. “I’m sure Norah wouldn’t request this without telling Isak first. Besides, he never told us to go to training today anyways.”

She could tell Lumin was hesitant; his anxiety over disappointing Safir again. came through their bond. In the end, Lumin relented. “That is true. I do want to learn more from Norah.”

After a quick breakfast, they went to the clinic. The receptionist looked up from his desk and muttered something in Faiyan. Simultaneously, Evelyn and Lumin tilted their heads. With frustration in his voice, the receptionist repeated himself and pointed at Lumin, then at Evelyn.

Still confused, Evelyn shrugged apologetically and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“He is asking you to fuse.” Norah peeked around the corner from the hallway, startling everyone. She chuckled and said something in Faiyan to the receptionist, who sighed and went back to writing in his notebook. “Come on back, you two. I promise this won’t take long. No need to fuse, I told him you’re both needed.”

As they followed her, Evelyn noticed a couple of ichneumon occupying other rooms, being treated by a veterinarian… healer… whatever term fits them best.

Norah’s room was the furthest back. It was split by a wall recently formed by an ichneumon. The right side was tinted red by multiple space heaters and heat lamps pointed at the flamebreath egg in the center which was propped up by a circle of rocks. On the left was a dimly lit room with fans and a humidifier. A glass aquarium stood seven feet tall in the center with the aquafin egg submerged in water, accompanied by a fish.

Each room was sealed by a clear tent door for isolation, but the heat and humidity seeped into the hallway. Lumin winced when he got close.

“You didn’t do this to me, did you?” Lumin asked.

“Absolutely not.”

Norah chuckled. “Be glad you didn’t. You would’ve made a hardboiled dragon egg of him.”

After a moment of surprise, Evelyn reminded herself of Norah’s own way of understanding dragons. “Your note said you needed help with something. Is it with the eggs?”

“Indeed. Your timing is perfect. Both eggs need checkups done, however, these intense environments wear on my old bones. Usually one of the slated riders would help, but Isak insisted on having them all today. My compensation for that was you.”

Evelyn’s shoulders slumped. A part of her hoped she was requested because of her veterinary background, but it made sense this task was meant for the riders who may bond with the dragons.

“But it also gives me a great opportunity to see what you already know. Let’s start with the flamebreath. Here,” Norah handed Evelyn a pair of shiny, metallic looking gloves that extended to her elbows and a jacket with similar material. “Flamebreath eggs must spend an average of five hours a day in extreme heat to properly develop their fiery abilities. This one was deprived of that for too long, so we are making up for lost time. You must stay here, Lumin. While your scales will shield most of the heat, it would be mighty uncomfortable, and your eyes and nostrils will still be exposed.”

Lumin pouted, but Norah did not budge as she handed Evelyn a stethoscope. She was instructed to insert the eartips before entering so as to not burn her ears. The instant Evelyn opened the flap, she was blasted with a wave of heat unlike any she’d felt before. She wondered if this is what it felt like if the rider had struck her with his flame attacks. The heat increased as she approached the egg. Sweat her body produced instantly evaporated.

From the doorway, Norah said, “there are three areas you must check with the stethoscope. Do you know what they are?”

With little knowledge of dragon eggs, she used her general knowledge. “I would imagine getting a heartbeat and making sure gas exchange is occurring. Though I do not know where to listen for those, and I do not know a third thing.”

Norah smiled, “Much better than the others, dear. Measure the first two.” Norah told her where to place the diaphragm on the shell, which matched general eggs. Evelyn called out the readings, which Norah jotted down on her clipboard. “Heartbeat is a tad elevated, but nothing to worry about. Now put it back on the heart and slowly move to the left. Tell me what you hear.”

She listened to the pounding of the flamebreath’s heart again. The energetic thump of their heartbeat slowly faded as the diaphragm inched away. When the heart went quiet, Evelyn expected to just hear the sound of the heaters around her, but something else replaced the pounding heart instead. She thought her ears deceived her, but the sound was unmistakable.

From the egg, she heard the crackling sound of fire. It sizzled and cracked like a blazing fire contained in a small shell. It was ethereal in nature and pulsated as if it were a second heart.

“What you are hearing is the flow of magic. It flows like blood in your arteries. Measure it just like you would with a pulse.” Evelyn did so and relayed the information, which Norah jotted down. “Perfect. Now just a quick visual examination. Look for any deformities, cracks or anything abnormal.”

Satisfied with the health of the shell itself, Evelyn returned to Lumin and Norah. The healer sealed the entrance as soon as she could and wiped sweat from her brow. Evelyn threw off the gloves and jacket. Despite the protection, her skin was still lightly burned. She tried to wipe away her own sweat, but only tugged the irritated skin, making her cringe.

“I didn’t know humans could turn that red,” Lumin said, stepping forward to examine her.

“Normally… we don’t. Thank the drake gods… you were not… a flamebreath,” she said between breaths.

Lumin’s eyes were glowing with concern. “Are you alright? Should we take you to a cold room?” Evelyn shook her head.

“Take a moment, you do not want to cool your skin too quickly,” Norah said. Lumin tilted his head at the healer. “If we cool her down too quickly it would do more harm than good. It would be the same with your scales, though for different reasons.”

Evelyn’s skin slowly returned to normal after a few minutes, though a few patches of blisters remained. When her breathing returned to normal, she gave Norah a thumbs up.

“We will need your help this time, Lumin.”

Lumin gleamed as Norah opened the aquafin door, bounding into the room after the healer. Lumin and Norah looked chilled, but otherwise normal. To Evelyn, it felt like she was entering an ice storm. As she shivered, she tried to stand straight, but her body would not listen. The smell of seasalt burned her nose as well. Lumin looked back at her, but Evelyn waved her hand to dismiss his concern.

Norah pointed to handles on either side of the aquarium. They were magnetically connected to a platform underneath the egg. “I need you two to carefully lift the egg with the handles and hold the egg just above the water so I can do the evaluation. Do you think you can handle that?” She asked, looking at Lumin. He lifted his head and grunted, almost offended by the question.

When she was satisfied, she climbed a ladder to the top of the aquarium. Evelyn and Lumin took their positions on either side and grabbed the handle, Evelyn gripping it with both hands while Lumin grabbed his with his mouth.

“Ready, sweetie?” Evelyn asked. Lumin nodded and they started lifting the egg. Evelyn watched carefully to make sure her and Lumin stayed level. Halfway up, Lumin placed his forepaws on the glass. Evelyn hesitated, but continued when the glass held.

Once the top half of the egg surfaced, Norah began her examination. Evelyn’s muscles began to ache in the uncomfortable position, and it felt like her skin was being constantly scratched, but she was determined to keep the egg in place. She was grateful that Norah seemed to move as quickly as possible, memorizing the results instead of writing them down.

“All done. Slowly lower the egg, please.” As they did, Norah rushed to her clip board and wrote down the results. They had a scare when Lumin’s paw slipped off the glass, but he caught himself in time and the aquafin egg was submerged successfully.

To their delight, Norah shared the results with them. Also on the sheet were the ideal range of stats. Both eggs were slightly out of range, most notably with the magic flowrate, but Norah assured them the eggs were fine. Norah suspected the eggs were not properly cared for in the power plant, and the numbers were far worse previously. That gave Evelyn confidence they were doing the right thing and wanted to tell Benjamin.

When they left the eggs to their habitats, Norah said, “I assume you did not do anything extravagant with Lumin’s egg.”

“To be honest… I was clueless with his egg. I worry I inadvertently harmed him. So I played it safe.”

“Shockwing typically requires stimulus from electrical currents, but nothing strenuous like these two. And I’m sure his mother provided a sufficient amount of electricity in her time with him,” Norah reassured.

Evelyn still felt worried, but Lumin sent a wave of love through their bond. She smiled, but that worry lingered. In an attempt to suppress it, she thought of questions to ask Norah. “This may sound weird, but would I be able to hear Lumin’s magic like I did with the egg?”

Norah chuckled. “In theory you could, my dear. Though, you’ve already heard it.” Before she could press further, Norah raised her hand. “I would love to answer more of your questions, but Isak told me he wants you in the cavern when I am done with you.”

She was disappointed, but nodded. Her and Lumin thanked Norah for the opportunity to learn and started toward the exit.

“While you’re going,” Norah said, “listen to your heart. That is where you can hear Lumin’s magic.”

“Zero.”

“Wh… what?” Evelyn complained while holding herself parallel to the stone below. “But I did one.”

“You did one incorrectly, lass. Yer back must be flat. You’re raising your bottom like the Drekavog Arch,” Isak said. It was bad enough he had her doing push-ups on the cave floor, the hard, gritty floor dug into her palms. His nitpicking her form only irritated her further.

When they arrived in the cavern, the other riders were already doing their exercises. After sending them on a run, Isak put Evelyn through a course of exercises to test her physicality. Based on his grunts and complaints, she was not doing well. Lumin tried to cheer her on, but it was futile. With each failure, her confidence faded.

With an exasperated sigh, she adjusted her form and tried again.

“Zero,” Isak repeated. Evelyn let her frustration show with a grunt. “You did not even go halfway down. Have you ever done a push-up?”

Through gritted teeth, she said, “I’ll admit, it has been a while.”

“Aye, well, let me show you.” As Isak got into position, Evelyn placed her knee on the ground for support, giving her arms a rest. “Back straight, hands shoulder width apart, down all the way, like so.” He performed the push-up and stood again. “Just like that, lass.”

“But…” Lumin interjected. “Your belly helped you, did it not?”

Isak couldn’t help but look at his rounded gut with a thin layer of gravel on it, then back at Lumin. He let out a gruff grunt while wiping it off. “I will try to ignore that.”

Evelyn let out a soft snort and gave Lumin a tiny smile. Lumin tilted his head, oblivious to the implication of his comment. It was slight, but Lumin managed to lift her spirits and help her relax.

With newfound motivation, she refocused and tried again, going down until her chest was an inch above the ground and pushed up. Finally, a repetition that counted, but the stress on her shoulders and biceps was intense. She repeated the motion for what felt like forever with Lumin cheering and Isak calling for her to push her limits.

Eventually, her arms gave out and she collapsed onto her chest. She rolled onto her back, arms sprawled to either side. As she heaved, she tried to recount how many she had done. Definitely less than forty. Maybe around the thirties? That sounds about right.

“Twenty-one. Not great, but not as bad as I feared.”

“Couldn’t even crack twenty five, huh? And I thought Violet was bad at push-ups.”

Evelyn sat up to see Landon waddling toward them, drenched in sweat after his run. Violet and Riley were close behind him, all of them with bottles in hand. Upon their arrival, Lumin leapt from his perch and let Evelyn rest on him, putting himself between her and the trio.

“Explains why she couldn’t save the egg,” Violet said. Her words stung because she was right. If she had been stronger, then she might’ve fought through the fatigue and saved the egg.

“She’ll improve, just watch,” Lumin said. Landon and Violet chuckled, but Riley just sipped from her bottle, averting her eyes. “But why do they need to do these… workouts? Shouldn’t she just practice with magic?” Lumin asked.

Isak turned to the group. “Do any of you care to answer him?”

“You only share your magic when you are fused, and you won’t always be there. Riders must be able to fend for themselves,” Riley said without looking up from her water bottle.

“Exactly,” Isak said. “If there are no more questions, let’s—” Isak trailed off and turned to the sea. Everyone seemed to hear it before Evelyn: water splashing and rushing over something hard. Safir emerged from the depths, staying in the deeper part of the bay. “Welcome back, love. I hope yer hunt went well.”

The aquafin scoffed and rolled her eyes. “There was far too much ship activity. Blasted motors scared away the majority of prey.”

“‘Tis a shame it is unusually busy. But you are back in time. Your protégé hath arrived.”

Her eyes narrowed at Lumin, snorting water from her nose and flicking her tail. “Follow me, little one.” The aquafin strode through the water toward the side of the cavern that was hidden from ocean view. Lumin was reluctant, but Evelyn gave him a reassuring nod.

As he left, Evelyn stood up and brushed the dirt from her clothes and joined the others around Isak. “Now that evaluations are complete, Evelyn will join you lot every day for training.” He stopped their groans with the wave of a hand and started giving them instructions.

The workout lasted an hour. While they did exercises as a group, there were times which they would all do individual work. For Evelyn, her workouts revolved around core and leg strength. Even though she spent time playing sports in school, she struggled. She thought her athleticism would carry over, but the training Isak was putting them through was harder than she ever imagined.

By the end, all of her limbs felt like jelly. She could barely hold herself up. The others were exhausted as well, but they seemed fine compared to Evelyn.

Ignoring the jabs thrown her way by the other riders, she tried to watch Lumin train with Safir. She previously tried to get glimpses during her own training, but Isak scolded her, emphasizing her need for focus.