**(⚠️TRIGGER WARNING⚠️: Surgical Content, ect)**

~~-This is a story about Chalcedony when she lost her wings-~~

"Keep her still would you, darling? The more she squirms the worst she'll bleed."
"Yes, sir."
"No! No... Not like that, dear. Here, let me show you. You apply pressure on the main artery like this...-"

The voices were muffled by the merciless ringing in her ears, sending hot pulses down her stomach and a violent lurch of nausea up her throat. My stomach. Is that... Where I'm cut open..? No, I'm not bleeding.. This is a dream.. I just have to wake up..
A new sharp jab in the ribs brought her focus back to the present. This was not a dream.
Where am... I... Wha-What were they saying...
Any attempt to move was futile; she tried multiple times, whether it was to move her talons or to twitch her tail. Each speck of motion nearly knocked her unconscious, but the pain was nonexistent, or at least subtle enough that she could barely feel the numbness of her limbs. Her ears tilted ever so slightly to pick up a few words from a familiar voice, "Wings... Blood loss... Still... No..."
As she slipped deeper into her thoughts for the fifth time since regaining awareness, darkness clutched her mind once again. This time keeping her from resurfacing. So she drifted away from the voices and the warmth and the smell of iron to her quiet, contempt mental state of numb.

"Chalcedony-"
Dont make me get up...
Her head ached, her chest heaved, and every inch of her body seemed to recoil at the sound of her name.
It doesn't sound like hers anymore.
"Get up, Chalce, or Killdeer won't be too happy."
Talons scraped against the concrete Chalcedony was laid upon, the familar clink and clank of gold rings against silver scales rang clear and musically in her ears. Talcum wasn't the sweetest dragon; actually they were the complete opposite. But unlike the others, they were the only one to treat Chalcedony as if she was a dragoness; not a monster or a jewel.
Talcum was the only dragon Chalcedony would consider to be a friend.
"I cant get up..." Chalcedony answered as strongly as she could, though the fatigue was more clear on her tongue than she had first realised.
There was a heartly chortle; one that Chalcedony would define as 'amusing', and soon strong talons gripped the edges of her shoulders. Talcum could be trusted enough to not kill Chalcedony, but how far will that be taken... Theyre trustworthy... They havent killed me yet, even when Killdeer gave them a chance...
Yet something felt off when Chalcedony took a few steps out of her cell. First off, she couldnt feel the usual weight of her membraned wings, or the gentle breeze from the air holes in the walls that washed her wings backward. Secondly, Talcum had remained quieter than usual, which was either the best day of Chalcedony's life... Or her worst nightmare.
"Talcum, are you alright?"
The silver-sounding dragon growled. "Yes. Now pick up your pace."

"My wings are WHAT?!" Chalcedony cried to the opened dome of the main channel, the scent of panic and amusement rising from the dragons seated somewhere around her.
"Your wings were priced very high, and for a bargain that good I couldn't resist," Killdeer said, his usual honey-coated tone never failing to bring a sense of unease to Chalcedony. "So we took them off while you were down. Simple as that. A few wing membranes for more gold than you could ever imagine."
Chalcedony could barely speak. Could barely process the hours upon hours of conversations she had with Killdeer that evening.
The feeling of the air, the feeling of finally having a chance to be free... It was gone. Taken from her like the gems from a protective geode.

"I do hope you don't mind, Chalcedony... They were magnificent to see in the sunlight. A true beauty. If only you could've witnessed it.." Killdeer's voice had its usual tone of 'remorse' and 'sympathy' for the limbs that had been stolen from her, but she knew deep down this was the best moment of his life to see her in such a state.
He took my wings... My one ticket to finally feel the air...
Well.
If he took my gems.
Ill take his whole geode.

(The ending was a bit weird and oddly set-in-stone, but I hope it was enjoyable to read none-the-less! Im really happy with how this turned out! :D )