Dev collapsed in the library, out of breath and his back beginning to throb. He swore in the common language and started shaking, curling up on his side and writhing. Fifer whipped open her smoldering robe and fished out the healer’s kit. “Lie on your stomach,” she said, glad that she’d spent at least a little time in the hospital ward learning from Henry and Carina. “I’m going to remove what’s left of your shirt, okay? I’ve got some medicine. It’ll make you feel better pretty quickly, but I’ve got to clean you up first.”

Dev’s teeth started chattering. Fifer ran for a blanket and covered his lower body, then pulled out the wooden dagger Dev had carved for her and started ripping through his shirt to get it off. Some of the fabric had melted onto his skin, and when Fifer tried to remove it, Dev squealed in pain. She cringed and removed it anyway, trying to hold him still. Then she found a clean shirt and wet it down with water from Dev’s canteen. She dabbed Dev’s back to clean it. He screamed.

It was the most horrible thing Fifer had ever had to do, and the way Dev was screaming rattled her, but she continued diligently. Finally she applied the salve from the kit and silently thanked Henry for making her carry it with her. It had come in handy multiple times already.

Dev’s moans quieted as the salve numbed the pain and began to heal him. Fifer fetched her canteen for Dev to drink from and gave him a capsule of herbs to swallow, then she brought him a pillow from the sofa to rest his head on. When she had done all she could, Fifer sat back and wiped the sweat off her brow. “That could have been disastrous,” she murmured. She shook her head slightly, looking at Dev lying on the floor facing away from her. She pleaded silently for the medicine to work fast, because she was going to need him. They’d already lost the birds. Now this. Was everything going to fall apart? She hoped things were going better for Thisbe than they were for her.

A Moment of Weakness

The team from Artimé was approaching the Island of Fire when Fifer’s latest message arrived. Before she read it, Florence directed everybody to land on the volcanic island so they could wait for it to submerge and take them to the crater lake in Grimere. Sky and Seth planned to lead the way for those who hadn’t traveled in this fashion before. It would shave a day off their travels, and the mouth of the volcano was big enough for the ghost dragons to travel through as well. While Sky gave instructions to aim for the first portal, Florence opened Fifer’s message and had a look.

“Simber!” Florence called. Rohan and Maiven came quickly as well.