Kaitlyn was excited to repair the door. She started by picking the door up and trying to fit it into the frame. She wedged it into place and grinned, delighted to see it fit with only a little space at the top. That’s when she realized she had never really thought about how hinges work. She put the hinge along the door and along the frame and stared at it. She practiced trying to open the hinge like it was nailed to the door and realized there was something wrong with trying to put the door in place first.

She had to go around the house and throw her entire weight against the door to un-wedge it from the frame. It fell inside with a bang and she watched as a flock of birds flew up from the surrounding trees in fright. She looked carefully and saw where the old hinges has been on the door and on the frame. She had to remove the last of the rusted hinge from the door frame and then she nailed the new hinges into place where the old hinges had existed on the frame. She picked up the door again and tried to line up the old hinge location, but somehow the door wasn’t high enough. She stared at it a long time, even going out back to dig her bathroom hole for the day.

When she returned she tilted her head in consternation. She finally nailed the hinges where they seemed to go and then she learned why it wasn’t aligned. The door scraped the floor loudly. She threw up her hands and determined to ask Master Garthis for some advice when he came back. In the meantime, she would leave the door open most of the day, which helped make the room cooler and air out the musty smells which had accumulated over the years.

Kaitlyn made sure to spend time meditating and practicing her fire starting magic every day. The exercise Master Garthis had her doing had her create and feed a flame in the air, using her magic to feed it instead of sticks. He wanted her to be able to keep it going through the entire day. She found this more difficult than simply casting the spell because she had to always keep a part of her mind on the flame, feeding it carefully so it neither went out nor got too big.

This task sounded simple, but it really wasn’t. She found the challenge frustrating at times, and the second day was actually the worst because she felt confident enough that she kept forgetting about it. She would get distracted while she was gardening and suddenly realize her flame was gone. She nearly burned down the house while she was spinning by feeding it too much.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn began by making a broom and a smaller brush with the worst of the nettles. With these she began the process of cleaning the hut from top to bottom. The cobwebs, debris, ancient rotting herbs, and lots of rags all ended up in a hole in the garden that she then burned with delight.

Using her new broom she swept the hut, then she used her hand brush to scrub the floor of the hut. The planks of the floor were surprisingly pretty once she could see them, a pale warm color without a single knot or crooked board. Kaitlyn thought it was a strange thing to admire, but the simple, clear lines of the boards made the floor quite beautiful.

She stepped outside when she heard something in the bushes. She froze, it was large and somewhat thrashing. Her heart pounding, she slowly backed up so she stood in the doorway of the hut, ready to slam the door shut if she needed to. Suddenly, a scream of pain and agony rent the clearing and the sound of fighting broke out, large growls and snarls pinpointing the fight in a large hawthorn bush.

Two creatures tumbled into the yard and Kaitlyn slammed the door shut quickly, listening intently as the fight continued. When there was a final cry of agony, she slowly opened the door. Both creatures lay on the ground. One looked something like a boar, the other more lizard-like but with feathers.

Neither were moving, and Kaitlyn finally opened the door more completely and stepped outside slowly, ready to dash back to her hut if either moved. She used her broom handle and poked the boar. When she did, she noticed its throat was bleeding profusely. If it wasn’t dead yet, it would be very soon. She turned to look at what it had been fighting.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The other creature was new to her, slender like a lizard, but with a wider head surrounded by feathers of green with slightly silver tips. They were currently stained crimson with blood. Laying along it’s back were two beautiful, feathered wings, currently laying akimbo beside it. Kaitlyn finally found a deep gash from the boar’s tusks on the lizard’s flank. She wasn’t sure why the lizard was unconscious until she noticed several feathers torn out from above it’s eye. It wasn’t bleeding there, but it must have been struck in the head as well.

Kaitlyn began the work of butchering the boar, but left most of it for the lizard who had killed it. She nervously took a bucket of water and poured it over the wound on the flank. As she feared, this woke the creature up. It yelped and tried to scurry away, but that leg didn’t move. It gave a sharp squeal of pain and half-collapsed again, short gasping sounds like sobs.

She carved off a piece of the boar’s rump with her larger knife and set it on a flat rock near the lizard. She said, “I don’t know what you are, but this is your kill and I think you need the meat.”

The lizard looked at her and then nodded. She gasped and asked, “Can you understand me?”

It whistled as it nodded and reached for the haunch of meat. It whimpered and turned it’s head to look at it’s hurt hip. Kaitlyn said, “If I look at it, will you bite me?”

The lizard shook its head vigorously and tore off a piece of boar. Kaitlyn moved towards its side and then knelt down to look at the flank. Her stomach tightened at the sight and she carefully swallowed so she didn’t lose her own last meal.

The scales had been shredded and she could see the cut all the way to bone. She frowned and went to get a fairly clean cloth. She pulled water from the well and soaked the cloth, then began to gently clean the blood from the lizard. Her stomach roiled as she slowly revealed the extent of the damage.

“Why on earth did you try to take on that boar? It’s nearly bigger than you are,” Kaitlyn muttered.

The lizard snorted rudely and she looked up. It nodded and began whistling, growling, and other nosies she knew meant it must be explaining. She held up her hands and laughed a little, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand you. I’ll have to ask Master Garthis what you are speaking. He should be here today or tomorrow.”

The lizard sighed and used a foreclaw to pull the meat closer. Kaitlyn looked at the wound and then closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She said, “I’m going to try tying the leg up to keep it clean. If you were human, a surgeon or healer would probably sew it closed. I don’t know how to do that and I’m worried I’d hurt you more than help you.”

She stood and said, “Let me go get some of the feverfew. I don’t know it will help you, but I know it’s what my momma used to use for our scrapes and cuts.”

When she returned, Master Garthis was standing in the clearing. He was whistling and hooting slightly to the lizard, crouched on the ground. Kaitlyn stopped and said, “Master?”

“Oh!” Master Garthis noticed her and grinned, “Aren’t you the lucky lady. This little lad recently left home. He was looking for a good rabbit or deer when this boar apparently took slight to him. He tried to hide in your bush but the boar found him and got his leg. He thanks you for the help so far.”

“So the whistles and stuff…?” Kaitlyn prompted.

“Dragon language,” Master Garthis said. “Fapallo here… am I saying that right?”

The lizard, Fapallo, half-shrugged and nodded with a whistle. Master Garthis laughed and tried the name again, sounding like he was trying to swallow the “p” sound. Fapallo made the noises and Kaitlyn then tried. Master Garthis nodded appreciatively and said, “So, he can’t see out his right eye right now and you already cleaned up his leg a bit. He wants to tell you thank you.”

Kaitlyn said, “He doesn’t look…. I’m sorry master but he doesn’t look like a dragon.”

“Ah!” Master Garthis chuckled, “There are approximately two dozen dragon sub-species. It’s a bit like looking at a hunting hound and a rat terrier and knowing they are both dogs. Unlike dogs however, dragons are basically all intelligent.”

Fapallo’s whistle was slightly insulted and Master Garthis eyed him and said, “Then you’ve not met the grey sea serpents.”

Fapallo muttered dark noises and Master Garthis turned to Kaitlyn, “If you let him spend a day or two resting, he’ll be completely healed.”

“That fast?” Kaitlyn was surprised.

“Well, the scaled won’t grow back that quickly, but he’ll be able to hunt again,” Master Garthis shrugged.

Fapallo whistled again and Master Garthis said, “He’s asking if you would like him to stay for awhile, he’d be glad to help protect you in return for a safe place to sleep.”

“Well, there isn’t a lot of room…” Kaitlyn began uncertainly.

Fapallo whistled again and Master Garthis replied quickly. After a short exchange the mage said, “He said he’ll usually sleep on the roof. He prefers to be outside unless it’s raining really hard.”

“Well, in that case…