Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 21

I glowered at the world from the back of the transport carrier. Not that I could see the world easily since it was a solid box with several air holes. I crouched in the back corner as I tried to ignore the presence of the harness.

Three days had passed, and I was still unable to get it off. I had no clue where we were heading, and we had just entered a building that smelled like cleaning chemicals. Many of the smells were strange, and various voices and sounds reached my ears as Taureen kept walking. Suddenly, most of the noise cut out with the sound of a closing door.

"Put the carrier on the table, and we will get a scan."

I felt the cage being lifted and carefully placed on something. A whirring noise sounded overhead and on both sides, bright white light pouring in every air hole. I crouched down and pinned my ears back in fear. I had never seen anything like this before.

The light and noise disappeared as a woman spoke, "Okay, let's take a look. Ah, there are the breaks. It looks like both of them are healing well. We can probably remove the cast in two weeks. It will be around two weeks for rehabilitation before we can consider a release attempt."

A veterinary clinic? That was my best guess at any rate. Four more weeks minimum, and that amount of time sounded like forever. I had already been in his care for three weeks, and I was already itching to fly free.

Two breaks? No wonder my wing had hurt so fiercely. I wondered how bad the original damage had been. The release attempt sounded like it was almost a guarantee from how the woman was speaking. I was almost at the halfway point, and the end was finally in sight. I will be counting down the days...

The trip back was swift enough, and I suspected that Taureen used one of those hovering vehicles. The carrier opened up, and I could see the living room again. I didn't move, opting to remain in the cave-like shelter. The leash attached to my harness gently tugged, and with a gusty sigh, I got out of the carrier.

He gently picked me up, and I growled lightly at him. He ignored the growl as he had numerous times before. After that encounter with Maria, he seemed to be concentrating on trying to get me used to being handled.

I had made my objections known, and he had obtained several light scratches on his hands and arms despite his quick reflexes. Not that the tiny injuries had done me any good. Each time I managed to land a swipe, he had turned his full attention to me for several hours.

During those times, he had kept me constantly at the edge of slashing him as he worked on whatever had made me retaliate until I was exhausted. The stress, unease, and general mental state during those long hours were the cause of most of the exhaustion.

I didn't really want to cause serious harm since that would probably land me in hot water. On two occasions, he hadn't really expected my reaction, and I had pulled the blows that would have otherwise sent him to the hospital for stitches. Those light scratches that barely broke the skin caused me enough trouble; I wasn't sure what he would do if I inflicted a larger injury.

As much as the cage would have kept him away from me, I had grown accustomed to having the run of his house. I knew that being in a cage would make it nearly impossible to enjoy the Morning Song. I really didn't want to be cooped up in a cage...

He placed me on his gloved arm. It looked like a hawking glove, only more lightly built and streamlined, being made from a material similar to my harness. I dug my claws into the glove for balance while he held his arm at his side.

The light and flexible leash was clipped onto a clasp on the front of my harness. At the moment, it was being held by his gloved hand. I wasn't able to go anywhere until he gave me more slack. I watched him with annoyance; just because I was putting up with this did not mean that I enjoyed it.