An Owl's Rise

"How is everyone doing?" Evelyn asked when she reached her companions.

"We are all alive, but Verrader is in a pretty bad spot. I managed to close his wounds, but his wing is severely damaged and a part of his chest is now missing." Bylur replied, looking back at the unconscious Verrader on his back.

He had used his life magic to the best of his ability, but he was still far from being at the level where he could restore completely missing part of a body.

By some miracle, Verrader had not had any of his organs destroyed so he was not in danger of dying thanks to Bylur's healing, but without some very powerful magic he was never going to be able to fly again.

"Before we address his injuries further, we should return to the burrow. It is unlikely we run into an equivalent threat out here, but we are in a vulnerable state right now. We need to get somewhere safer and recover." Evelyn said, keeping calm and doing her job as the leader.

However, before they left Rehni looked down at the ground where the corpses of the wyverns they had killed were.

"Should we not collect our spoils first? If we leave it is unlikely they will be here when we return."

After a moment of contemplation Evelyn shook her head.

"No, we need to head on. It will take time and leave us exposed to another ambush. I understand we are giving up getting anything from the battle we just endured, but it is best that we do not take any risks until we have recovered."

With Evelyn making the decision to leave, the five of them took off towards their temporary base in the desert.

Fortunately, they managed to arrive without encountering any other dangers and were able to rest Verrader on a large cushion Evelyn had taken out of her storage cuff.

"How is he doing Bylur?" Evelyn asked while he did a more though inspection of Verrader's body.

"His breathing is a bit labored, and his pulse is slower than what I would expect. He did lose a part of his chest, so I imagine that blood is not flowing as well as it should. His magical energy and natural toughness are keeping him alive though. I do not think he will die if we leave him as is, but he likely will be labored just walking around, let alone flying. It is also possible he may never wake up. He is probably going to need a very powerful restorative medicine or healing from a someone ranked far higher than any of us to recover." Bylur said, giving his assessment of Verrader's condition.

Hearing this, Aralee, who had been quite up to this point, let out a restrained sob, and was clearly on the verge of tears.

She was closer to Verrader than any of the others.

Evelyn was likewise feeling a pain in her chest, but it was less to do with her care for Verrader and more for the fact that seeing him like this reminded her of Mason.

"Everyone stand back. I have a way to fix him." Evelyn eventually said.

Se had really needed to think about if it was worth using this item to heal her brother, but descried it would be in the best interest of the group.

Naturally, Bylur and Rehni were surprised that Evelyn had anything potent enough to heal such an injury, while Aralee thanked Evelyn profusely for being willing to use such a powerful item to fix their brother.

"He took the injury as part of this group that I am the leader of. It is my duty to make sure he recovers. Plus, our family just came back together, I do not want it broken up again so soon." Evelyn said, looking at her sister with incredibly kind eyes uncharacteristic of her.

She then pulled out a small glass vial that had a single drop in it.

'I never expected to have to use the Minerva's tear so soon and not even on myself.' Evelyn thought as she broke open the vial and allowed the drop to fall on her brother.

This was an emergency restorative that Melisandre had gifted her by way of the Roost's leader and something that was meant to only be used in an emergency to safe her own life.

Still, she had the means to heal her brother and felt it would be wrong to allow him to suffer.

The moment the tear hit Verrader his body was engulfed in a shining light and an immense amount of magical energy converged on his wounds.

Watching what happened next was a bit unsettling, as the bones, tissue, muscles, skin, and feathers that Verrader had lost began to reform.

Like life had been breathed back into him, Verrader awoke with a great gasp, and he began frantically looking around.

Last he could remember they had been in a life or death battle which he had been severely injured during.

"How did we get back here?" Verrader asked, recognizing the burrow.

"We brought you back after the battle ended. You were in pretty bad shape, but Evelyn used a potion or something to heal you." Aralee said, happy to see her brother doing well.

Verrader nodded his head towards Aralee, before turning towards Evelyn, a conflicted expression on his face.

"Thank you for healing me, Evelyn. You must have used something truly valuable to do so."

"Yes, it was not something easy to obtain and not something I can make myself. But I think that the three of us have lost enough family. I was not about to let you live cirriped or be comatose." Evelyn said, a slight smile on her face.

Yet the warm expressions she was wearing did not last long and was quickly replaced with one that was completely serious.

"Verrader, there is something we need to talk about. We have both been avoiding it since we met up, but I think we need to get it off our chests."