The images and sounds sent by Astera had calmed down in Arun's head, along with the black vulture that seemed soothed after telling him about her past. He understood better now why she was doing so much for Naal, the beaten little girl she had helped to get a normal and happy life.
And Arun would respect her will to the end. He would help her, both as a veterinarian who helps his patients, and both as a friend who helps his friends. Alden would pay the price for his actions.
Breathing a big blow, Arun focused again on the spear that penetrated the flesh of Astera, sinking deeply. Alden had probably sent it in full flight, and he must have an impressive strength to get a projectile as far into the body of his opponents. Arun just hoped that the spear that was planted in the wing of the raptor was the only one that the boy had in his possession... The veterinarian had already tasted it too, and preferred to avoid getting stabbed again.
The young man grabbed the weapon by the handle, trying to be as gentle as possible, and was forced to push it deeper into Astera's wing if he wanted to remove it. The end of the spear was stuck, and if he just shot at it, he might cause even more harm than necessary.
At the moment the pain reached the bird, images and shrill sounds ran through Arun's mind again. He knew it was not the pet's fault, but it was still quite embarrassing... He had to hold on to her feathers a little harder to pull the spear out of her body, releasing a trickle of blood that stained the ground at the same time. Getting up quickly, Arun grabbed the wet clothes that he had brought with him and pressed them with all his strength on the open wound. He felt Astera's body tremble under his arms. It was probably pretty painful, but she could not afford to give up here.
After a few minutes in the same position, the young man moved away a little and inspected the wound. The blood had stained all the tissue as it had flowed in abundance, but at least the hemorrhage seemed to have stopped ! Now it was necessary to act quickly since the wound was likely to reopen or become infected.
"It's amazing... If I had known that doing this was enough to stop the bleeding from an injury, I probably would have took less time to heal when I was hurt..." Shuu said approaching with wide eyes, full of admiration for the vet.
"It doesn't work all the time, unfortunately... Sometimes the wound is too big and even using a compress isn't enough to stop the bleeding. The most effective method is to sew the wound, but I don't have my material with me, so I did as I could." The vet replied, wiping his forehead with his arm. Given the size of Astera, he had to press with the forces of his whole body to hope to make the compress effective. He was already exhausted, and he still had an opponent to stop.
"In any case, it worked, and that's all that matters." Astera straightened, flapping her wings a few times to test her limits. She was still hurting where the spear had sunk, but still less than before.
"Get on my back, Arun, we have no time to lose. We have to go get Naal." She reminded herself without bothering to rest for another minute. They had already accumulated far too late, and who knows what had happened to the woman...
"I'm coming !" The vet did not waste any time either and approached the raptor to get on her back. The meerkat colony, which until then had been kept a little apart because of the black bird, approached timidly. Arun gave them a big smile, and waved to thank them.
"Thank you very much for your help, without you I would never have done it !"
"Don't forget to bring us the baskets of insects that you promised us !" Meng shouted a little grumpily, hoping he would keep his promise. The young man laughed a little and nodded. When he promised something, he did his best to stick to it. And not thanking those animals that had helped him so much would make him the last of the rogues.
"Arun !" Shuu approached, as Astera started flapping her wings.
"Can... can I accompany you ?" Asked the meerkat with a little hesitation. He had taken a long time before daring to ask him, not wanting to clutter him.
"I'm small and I don't know how to do much, but... I'm sure I could help you ! I want to help you as much as you helped me !"
"Are you sure, Shuu ? Even if this one is particularly nice, he remains a human... And then what will we do, without you ?" Meng had grabbed the meerkat paw and looked at him anxiously. He really wanted to leave them all to go with the vet ?
"I thought about it a lot... And yes, that's what I want. I realized that the world had a lot more to offer than our desert or savannah. I want to discover these new things, I want to live to go explore the unknow ... So please Arun ! Take me with you !"
The young man seemed to hesitate a little, then finally smiled at his meerkat friend, whose eyes cleared understanding the answer.
"Of course I accept ! Come on, go up, we won't be too much to face the one I'm looking for, and you've already proven to me that you're braver than anyone. It's a lot better than knowing to do something else !" The vet answered, reaching for the meerkat, who leaped to catch it. Arun hoisted him in front of him, telling him to hold on to Astera's feathers to avoid flying to other skies.
"Can we go ?" Asked the raptor who was only waiting for the vet's signal to take off.
"I think we're good !" Astera fluttered her wings and quickly gained altitude, taking the meerkat and the human in the air. In a second, the colony on the ground had reduced to the size of ants, and Shuu could put his eyes on the immensity of the place where he lived, a desert of sand and dry land which extended as far as the eye could see.