Niphru awoke to the bed shaking, opening his eyes and glancing towards the source.  He saw that Dawn had just laid down beside him, looking a bit guilty as she met his eyes.  She reached over to scratch his ears as she whispered to him, “I’m sorry for waking you up.  Since you are up, though, Monti said I’m recovering quickly and should be free to leave in a few days.  And since he can’t do anything for you, I can take you when I leave so you won’t be stuck here.”

Niphru put significant effort into nodding his head before putting it back on his paws.  Dawn reached over and hugged him for a moment before they both attempted to get to sleep.

The next several days passed with little of note occurring.  Amilya came by to speak with Dawn at least a little every day, sometimes talking about the journey to the capital that Dawn had agreed to, other times just speaking of the village.  On one of the days, Monti left early in the morning, then returned a while later with a child.

After introductions and explanation, it was revealed that this was Billy, and that he had been the one to bring Niphru’s mana stone to the infirmary.  Due to his actions, Niphru had recovered when Monti thought all hope was lost.  Hearing this, Dawn profusely thanked him, and gave him a crushing hug while saying she would try to find a way to reward him.

Billy opposed the idea, though, saying he did it because it was the right thing to do, and that Amilya had already decided to reward his family later when things calmed down.

Dawn released him and nodded, thanking him again.

The next two days were quite boring as well, but then Monti declared that Dawn was healed enough to maintain her own health and was free to leave.  Dawn hugged him and thanked him for the healing, offering to keep helping with the last remaining patient.  Monti however refused her offer, stating that he wasn’t overworked anymore, and it shouldn’t be long before they were recovered as well.

Following her talk with Monti, Dawn returned to Niphru, carefully stowing his mana stone back in her pouch before picking him up and heading to the door.  As she opened the door Dawn waved to Monti before leaving, then turned to head to the eastern wall.  As they arrived, Dawn climbed up the stairs, taking a look over the field outside.  It appeared that the cleanup had already finished so she turned back, returning home instead.

Upon entering the house, Amilya stood and quickly walked over to meet them, carefully hugging Dawn as she made sure to avoid touching the injured areas of her daughter’s back.  After being released, Dawn took Niphru back to her room and laid him on her bed, then returned to the living room to speak with her mother more about the planned journey to the capital.

As they were not trying to be quiet, it was effortless for Niphru to listen in on their conversation, so he did so as he laid there in bed.  It appeared that mages were treated as nobles once they had earned their staves.  With this reminder, Amilya mentioned that there were a few groups of bandits that sometimes stopped people between the villages and the nearby city, but that there would be no trouble if she had to use magic against them.

Amilya also brought up that most bandit groups would actively avoid targeting mages, for multiple reasons, depending on the group.  Specifically, she mentioned the Iron Quills bandit group, which had set up near their village, and had stopped her in the past.  Apparently they stopped everyone regardless of if they intended to steal or not, and had thanked her for her work in keeping the plains safe, as part of her duties as a mage.  Due to this, it was very likely that they would be meeting them as well.

They also discussed how to go about entering towns, which was easier for mages, it seemed.  From what he heard, normal civilians were supposed to have identification that proved who they were and why they were moving around, but mages only had to demonstrate their ability to use magic and agree to behave.  Additionally, sometimes there would be a guard assigned to watch over foreign mages to make sure they didn’t cause trouble.

After a while, Dawn stated she was getting tired, and Amilya said they would continue the talk tomorrow.  A few moments later, Niphru heard noises from the kitchen as Dawn came back and sat beside him on the bed.  She stroked his fur as she stared at the wall for a time, then hugged him before picking him up and bringing him back to the table in the living room.  Shortly afterwards, Amilya brought out a bowl of soup and two plates of food, placing the bowl beside Niphru, and the plates in front of herself and Dawn.

As Amilya began eating, Dawn grabbed a bite of food and moved over to Niphru, grabbing the spoon and carefully pouring small amounts of soup into his mouth.  Over the past several days, he had gained a little more control, and found it much easier to swallow now than he had upon first awakening after the accident.

As Dawn fed him, she also grabbed the occasional bite from her plate.  After a while, he was full, and with great effort, slightly shook his head, signaling to Dawn to stop.  She nodded and returned to her chair, finishing off her plate of food before taking the dishes into the kitchen.  Amilya followed her, and Niphru heard them wash the dishes before they returned.

Amilya said she had to go take care of some things in the village before she could go to bed, but that they should get plenty of sleep as they were still recovering.  Dawn nodded, then carried Niphru back to her room again, putting him back on the bed before closing the door and stripping to get into her nightclothes.  As Niphru was facing her, he could see that she did end up having scars on her back after all.  The center of her back seemed to have healed up fine, but the edges of her upper and lower back were ringed with burn scars, though they seemed to be very mild, not impeding her movements at all.

Staring at the scarring, Niphru felt horrible yet again about having caused harm to his precious Dawn.  He knew that it could have been far worse, and she could even have died, but it didn’t help him feel any better.  As Dawn finished changing her clothes, she turned around and spotted the look in his eyes, quickly rushing over to hold him, and telling him everything would be okay.  He eventually relaxed, and she carefully got into bed beside him, moving him to rest up against her side and petting his head for a time before they fell asleep.