The sealed drain kicked beneath Varn's knees.
One kick lifted the stone. A second cracked mortar along its edge. On the third, green water spat through the gap and ran straight toward the brood rest.
Pava dropped her coat in its path.
Wool drank the first wash. Green light climbed through the cloth and shone between her fingers.
"Higher stone," she said. "We need the chick higher now."
The unnamed male lowered his brood fold until it nearly brushed the floor. A tiny beak clicked beneath him. He answered without lifting his feet.
Jiang tried to stand beside him.
His injured foot folded before it took his weight. Pain went through his belly, up the soaked shoulder, and into the crack in his beak. He landed hard enough to bite stone.
Pava caught his shoulder wrap before he rolled into the water.
"You have one useful foot," she said. "Insulting the floor will not grow another."
