The Land of Dragons

Chapter 23

After Chapter 22

"Soo, which one of you should I begin with?" Lewis asked the two boys in front of him.

Alex and Charles looked at each other. Both of them could wait, but also both of them were in pain.

"Let's start with Charles," Alex finally said. The Monegasque shrugged. There was no point in arguing.

"All right. Charles, please show me where are you injured."

Considering the behaviour of Charles' dragon, Lewis was fairly sure where the injury was located, but there was no proof that it was the only injury.

Charles pulled his left wrist from his pocket and laid his hand on the table. He winced as pain shot into his arm with the movement. Lewis looked concerned when he saw his grimace. He carefully pushed back the sleeve of Pierre's borrowed hoodie.

Charles's wrist was in no better state than when they last checked it at the Devil's place. The softer inner side was grazed, with dried blood around it and the outer side, where he hit it three times in a day, was a purplish-bluish colour with a hint of green in it. In a nutshell, it didn't look good.

Lewis felt the anger well up inside him. You will pay for this, Devils, he thought. One thing was to fight skilled Dragonriders and another was to torture innocent people.

"Can you move it?" Lewis asked Charles.

The Monegasque tried to move his wrist, but he could only manage minimal movement. The pain was too strong for him to do any more. His dragon couldn't stand seeing him in pain, and it moved closer, wrapping its tail around Charles's uninjured arm for comfort.

Lewis gently lifted Charles's wrist from the table and felt with his fingers for the bones inside. Charles grimaced, visibly in pain.

"Sorry," Lewis said when he was finished. "I had to check the bones to see if they're in place." he apologized. "How long ago did the injury happen?" he asked.

Charles thought back. "A little less than a day ago, I guess." he replied.

Lewis pursed his lips thoughtfully. "You're lucky, it's probably not broken, just bruised. Although pretty badly bruised."

Charles let out a small sigh of relief. He really didn't want a broken wrist right now.

"I'll clean that wound, then put some bandage around it to help it rest." Lewis said.

He moved to a shelf and returned with some kind of liquid in a bottle and a bowl with some water. He cleaned most of the dried blood with a cloth, then put some of the liquid on a tissue and wiped the wound with it.

It felt as if a bee had stung him, and Charles grimaced. He wasn't prepared for this.

"Oh, sorry," Lewis smiled when he saw his face. "Forgot to warn it feels like that."

Charles didn't reply. There was nothing he could have said.

Lewis wrapped some bandage around Charles's wrist. It had a gentle but firm hold, and Charles felt the pain lessen as the battered muscles and tendons weren't straining to keep the weight of his hand. Just to make sure, he put his arm back in his pocket.

"Better now?" Lewis asked him. Charles nodded, then a thought occured to him.

"The dragons can lessen the pain, can't they?"

Lewis smiled. "They can when they're very young, but unfortunately they grow out of it with time."

Charles nodded again, and crouched down so his dragon could climb into his hoodie.

"When we arrived here it helped me a lot." he said.

Lewis smiled. "Go through that tunnel and keep to the right!" he told him, pointing to the tunnel Seb and the others disappeared into.

Lewis then turned back to Alex.

"Well, where are you injured?" he asked him.

"I think I sprained my ankle," he said.

Lewis pulled another chair next to Alex.

"Put your leg up here!" he told him. Alex obeyed and put his right leg on the chair. His shirt was still wrapped around it. Now Lewis unwrapped it and took off Alex's shoe and sock.

The Thai's ankle was in a similar state to Charles' wrist, although a bit less discoloured. It was also swollen. Not too much, but it still made Lewis give it a concerned glance.

"Can you move it?" he asked Alex the same question as he did with Charles.

Alex moved his foot, although it hurt. Lewis traced the bones with his fingers, stopping when Alex winced from the pain.

"When did it happen?" Lewis asked.

"Around an hour before Charles's," the Thai replied.

"It's just bruised," Lewis said. "Less than Charles' wrist, but it's still a big bruise. We'll put some ice on it for the night and tomorrow I'll bandage it so you can walk if you need to."

Alex nodded. Lewis helped him up, lifting his dragon and dropping it in his hoodie. He also grabbed the Thai's shoe and sock, then supported him as they followed the others into the sleeping room.

The room was a little more than half the size of the hall. It had a big hole around three metres up the wall, which was now covered by a thick curtain. Light came from some torches on the wall. Their minimal smoke escaped upwards, where they exited the cave after a sharp turn.

Around the walls stood six beds, which were definitely tempting after sleeping on the bare ground for four nights. On one of the beds lay Lando, face down, still in shoes and dirty clothes. He was clearly asleep. His dragon was chewing on his shoelaces, trying to pull of his shoes. Carlos noticed it and went to help him, which the dragon thanked with a cute meowing sound.

Next to each bed stood a nightstand with a basket on top. Carlos' dragon was already curled up in one of them, about to sleep.

Seb was standing at a closet at the wall, handing clothes to Charles and Pierre.

"Here, have some clean clothes so you won't have to sleep in the dirty ones!" he said.

Alex sat on the first bed he saw. It was covered by a plain green blanket to keep the dirt off the sheets. Seb handed him a hoodie, a shirt and pants. Alex quickly changed, then climbed under the cozy blankets. Lewis brought a wet towel and wrapped it around Alex's ankle. Then he wrapped his leg in a dry one, so it wouldn't wet the bed. Alex glanced at him thankfully, then watched with dropping eyelids as his dragon found a comfortable position in its basket.

Charles and Pierre had also finished changing and went to bed. Seb, satisfied that everyone was in bed, gathered the torches and blew them out.

"Good night," he said softly as he left the room.

Charles closed his eyes and felt himself relax. His arm still hurt, but it faded into the background. For the first time in four days, he felt safe.

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I'm on fire, new chapter again 😁

As for Lewis' methods to find out how serious an injury is, I am not a doctor and never had a broken bone, so it might not be too realisctic - please just go with it.

Edited 14.04.2024