Almost a week passed by since that incident, and thanks to the elixirs Esther made, the injured eagle was visibly getting better.

After having her evening meal, Esther appeared inside Lady Tyra’s chamber to check on that young eagle.

“How is he doing, Tyra? Any changes?”

Lady Tyra greeted her with courtesy as usual first before answering, “He seems to be recovering faster than we expected. His wings were broken and his ribs fractured so I thought it would take him at least a month to recover with medicine, but the bones have already mended themselves in only a matter of days.”

“That is only for ordinary animals.” Esther shook her head. “This one is a shapeshifter, and the blood he carries has a trace of divinity in it. In fact, as a descendant of an ancient divine bloodline, his healing is quite slow. My guess is that his lineage is similar to yours, Tyra…”

Esther removed the energy barrier from the nest and caressed the wings of that eagle. “Poor child.”

Just as Lady Tyra was about to speak, Esther did something and that eagle flew around the room as if it was trying to flee in panic after being restrained for so long. However, it could not go out as Esther had created a barrier inside that room. Though he was a divine eagle, shapeshifters could not use magic, merely the talent in their bloodline—even an ordinary witch could trap him, let alone Esther.

“You should transform,” Esther commanded that eagle. “Flying around is useless.”

The eagle merely let out a screech, but after some time, it gave up and transformed into his human form. A teenage boy with golden brown hair appeared in place of the eagle, his slender body covered with only a feather cloak the same color as his hair and short pants.

Esther was not surprised by his half-naked bare-footed appearance, but Lady Tyra was startled as it was the first she had seen a shapeshifter transform. Not only that, his body was covered with scars that made him look pitiful.

Under their gaze, the boy shrunk his scarred body into a ball in one corner of the room.

“Don’t be scared, child.” Esther smiled warmly. “We are not humans, but witches. We know what you are, and we won’t harm you.”

With brown eyes tinged with sparkling gold, he looked at the blond young woman and the middle-aged woman who seemed to be patiently waiting for his response. Though he was injured, for the past week, he had observed these two and could see they were not a threat to his life. Still, they were strangers and they forcibly kept him here. He didn’t know where he was nor who these women were. As a child who had gone through a traumatic incident, his reaction was a given.

Esther slowly approached him and kneeled in front of him. Looking straight into his eyes, she offered him her hands. “Such a beautiful child.”

The boy only stared at her and she said, “Do you know I have a son and he is beautiful like you. Do you want to meet him?”

The boy didn’t reply.

Esther simply smiled and asked calmly, “Let me check your wounds. Will that be all right?”

The eagle did not nod but he didn’t reject it either when she moved her hand towards him. Esther checked the wounds on his hands and his chest. “They are almost healed now. Such a strong child you are.”

Her way of talking and that motherly warmth from her reminded him of the woman he called his mother. Tears welled up in his eyes but he tried to hold them back.

Esther noticed it and said, “What are you feeling? Are your wounds hurting?”

The boy shook his head.

“Can you get up? I think it is more comfortable for you to sit on a chair rather than the floor.”

After gently persuading him, they managed to let him sit beside Esther on the bed, while Lady Tyra sat on the only chair in her room.

Esther asked, “Can you tell me what happened to you?”

Tears finally rolled down from his eyes and Esther heard his weak voice between the sobs, “They…killed…” He could not say anything further and simply let his tears roll down his cheeks.

Esther wiped the tears from his cheeks. “Do you have a family or relatives you can return to? A guardian or a friend? Someone you can trust? I can contact them and let them know you are safe so they won’t worry about you.”

He shook his head each time she asked, and he turned even sadder. Esther could guess he was left alone in this world without having anyone by his side.

“I’m…alone…” he confirmed her doubts.

Esther and Lady Tyra looked at each other.

“Until we find something for you and a way to keep you protected, you can stay here,” Esther said and the boy looked at her, not knowing how to react.

“But as long as you are here, you cannot transform into your human form. Understood?”

He nodded.

“I am keeping a spell on you so you won’t transform. You must know that until you are an adult, you cannot control your transformation.”

Her words somewhat scared the boy but he nodded hesitantly.

“Don’t worry. It won’t harm you but you can transform in front of Tyra when you are alone with her. By the way, my name is Esther and she’s Tyra. What is your name—”

However, her sentence was cut short as Esther sensed something and immediately she forcibly turned that boy into an eagle and put him directly inside his nest.

“Mother!”

As soon as she turned around, the smiling face of her son greeted her.

“Dray, you found me again,” she said with a smile.

She could not do anything about him following her, his strange ability to know her whereabouts. She didn’t know how his powers managed to get him directly to her position. It would be problematic in the future. She needed to find the solution for it soon.

Unaware of his mother’s thoughts, Drayce giggled. “Yes, Mother. I found you!”

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