The narrator spends the day working through Allume’s wing stretches, singing softly to keep the dragon calm while extending the delicate bones almost to full reach. Although Allume’s injured wing has improved, Allume grows unusually restless, nudging the narrator, staring with intent, and even tossing a small flame toward the entrance.

That behavior proves to be a challenge rather than agitation. Allume suddenly beats her wings so hard that her bad wing strikes the narrator’s head and throws the narrator backward into Haedeon’s chair area and a pile of ice boulders recently brought in by Mah’s Moonplume Náthae.

After blacking out briefly from the blow, the narrator wakes to find Allume gone from the space. Looking outside, the narrator sees Allume in the sky, flying on her own despite the uneven motion of her recovering wings, throwing aqua flames upward and shrieking in what feels like a triumphant cry.

The narrator immediately turns to Haedeon to see his reaction. Haedeon smiles, meets the narrator’s eyes, and painfully says, “thank you,” making the moment not just a victory for Allume’s healing but an emotional breakthrough for Haedeon as well. For the narrator, it becomes the first truly remarkable happiness felt since climbing into Haedeon’s sleigh long ago.