Page 86 of Fallen Nocturne

Coral shifts and turns around before settling down.

It is so quick I almost miss it. Her head snakes back and her teeth catch the edge of a scale. She worries at it, pulling until it comes free. A bead of blood wells up in its place.

“No!” I lunge toward the room but Landon catches my arm.

“Don’t,” he says, shaking his head. “She’ll just do it when you’re not looking.”

I stare at Coral who has already turned to another scale, picking at it with the edge of her teeth. My stomach turns. “Why is she doing this?”

Landon’s hand is still on my arm. His grip is warm and steady but I barely feel it.

“Frustration.” Tarian’s voice is flat.

“She can feel something is wrong with her. The other wyverns fly and she can’t, so she...” Landon trails off, watching as Coral picks another scale loose. “She takes it out on herself.”

“Make her stop.” My voice cracks. “There must be a way to make her stop.”

“There isn’t.” He releases my arm and moves closer to Coral.

I follow him back inside.

“I’ve seen this before,” Landon says, examining the damage. “In wyverns who are injured and can’t fly anymore. The frustration builds and builds until...”

“Until what?” I demand, even though I’m afraid of the answer.

Landon looks at me and his eyes are full of sorrow. “Until it kills them slowly. They pick themselves raw, stop eating, and waste away.”

I sink down beside Coral, my hand finding her neck. She leans into my touch, and I feel the tremor running through her body.

“It’s one of the most tragic things I’ve ever witnessed.” Tarian’s jaw tightens. “A creature meant for the sky, destroying itself because it can’t reach it.”

Outside, I hear the cry of a wyvern in flight. Wild and free and everything Coral will never be.

“There has to be something we can do,” I whisper.

Landon is quiet for a long moment. “In cases like this, most of the time we...”

His voice catches. He looks at Coral, then away, unable to finish.

Hope sparks in my chest. “What? Anything. I’ll do anything.”

But he won’t say it.

“End it.” Tarian says it instead. “Now. While she’s still young. A quick death, painless and merciful. Better than watching her suffer like this for months, maybe years.”

The world tilts. I stare at him, certain I’ve misheard. “What?”

“Rhianelle...” Landon starts.

“You want me to kill her?” My voice rises.

“It’s not murder,” Alys says carefully. “It’s mercy.”

“No.” I’m on my feet now, putting myself between them and Coral. “Absolutely not. I won’t do it.”

Tarian steps forward. “Listen to me—”

“Don’t touch her!” The word echoes off the stone walls.