Page 13 of Phoenix's Fire

"Some of my friends are worried about you, so they came over to check." I paused, expecting her to say something, but all I could hear was fabric. "Meri, some of them have tails. Well, most. They're Dragons, but everyone in Lorsa is. They call people like you and me 'tailless,' and ones like the Wyvern are tailed."

"They warned us about him," Meri whispered. "Callah said you'd make it okay, and I saw he listened to you, but that's the Wyvern! He eats us!"

"No, he doesn't," I promised. "Meri, that's a lie. A lot of what the elders and Mr. Cassidy told us were lies."

Her hands paused. "What?"

"I was so confused at first," I explained, "but I saw it. Like I said, the Earth isn't burning. God and the Devil aren't fighting. Dragons are not demons. They're just people. Everything you think you know is wrong, but it's okay. It'll take time, but we'll show you. They'll prove it, okay?"

There was a long pause, then she whispered, "I'm scared."

"I know," I assured her. "And that's okay. They know you are, because I was. But just trust me on this?"

"But they speak gibberish, Ayla. That part's true. They've lost the Lord's language, and the men who brought me here were not righteous!"

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"They..." Her rebuttal died quickly. "Butlookat them!"

"Look at me," I said, turning back to face her. "A lot of things on the surface are different, and their words aren't gibberish. It's a language, and it's close to English once it's explained. See, English isn't used anymore. It died hundreds of years ago.When I came up here, they couldn't even talk to me. I mean, they still read English in books, but they didn't know how to pronounce the letters like we do. It was confusing. But one of them showed me a book and pointed at a picture of a wolf. He called it awalf."

"But I only speak English," she insisted.

"And you can learn Vestrian," I promised. "It's not hard. I'll help! See, over time the accent changed, and some of the letters shifted. Like a W is now said like a V, and F's are pronounced like TH." I waved that off. "Never mind. We'll get to that. The important thing is that my friends are here, in the living room, and they want to meet you, but they're all nice, kind, and gentle people. They might look scary, but I won't let them hurt you."

She finished securing her dress, then smoothed down the fabric, yet her lips were pressed tightly. "What about my baby?"

"Naomi is a doctor," I hurriedly assured her. "A women's doctor." Then I grimaced, unsure if this next part would make things better or worse. "She's also the Wyvern's mother."

"So, a Dragon?"

"Yeah..." Crap, this was going to make her mind spin. "Do you remember how I once told you about people with skin the color of tea, and how not everyone was like the Righteous?"

"Yeah?"

"Naomi has dark brown skin," I explained, "and nearly black eyes. Her hair was once black but now is both dark and light from greying. She wears it in hundreds of braids, and she's very different from anyone you've seen before, but she's human. I mean, tailless. And she's the doctor I told you about. She'll make sure you and the baby are both going to be okay."

"Okay," Meri breathed. "Callah told me to trust you, so I will." Her voice pinched on the last word. "But I'm so scared and so confused, Ayla. I can't keep up with it all."

"These are my friends," I told her again. "All of them. They saved me, Meri, and they're going to save you now. That's why they came over. They all want to help, and they will. None of these people will hurt you. Not the ones in this house, okay? I give you my word."

"Okay," she said one more time, her eyes flicking over to the door. "Am I presentable?"

"You're fine," I assured her. "No one will care about the dress."

"Or that I don't have a bra?"

"Or shoes," I agreed. "You'll see. Things like that don't matter up here. Everything is different, but none of them will hurt you. I know they look very different, and maybe even terrifying, but they're nice. These people - even the men - are so much nicer than anyone in the compound. Well, except maybe Callah."

"Callah's not always nice," Meri reminded me, her voice tight, but it was clear she was trying to lighten the mood.

"Okay, true," I agreed, giving her a reassuring smile. "So are you ready for this?"

"Yeah," she breathed. "I mean, as ready as I can get, and it's a lot easier with you here. When those men unhooked my chain and then put me in that thing? I didn't know what was going on, and I kept asking them if they knew you, but they couldn't understand. At least nowyoucan speak to me."

"And the Wyvern, and Kanik - he's the Dragonfly. Jeera can too." I paused. "I don't actually remember her sign, but Naomi, her mom - "

"Whose mom?" Meri asked.