Once I was finished, I collected all of my supplies and leaned back, daring to look at her face one more time. Our eyes met, and then she did the last thing I would've expected: the girl smiled. Maybe it was forced, but she made the effort, and while she might not be able to use words to thank me, that one gesture worked well enough.

So I smiled back.

Never, in all my life, would I have imagined myself smiling at the enemy. I generally just killed them. Then again, those had all been men, and unlike some of us, I wasn't sure I could kill a woman. Maybe that made me weak, but I didn't care.

Even weak, I could defend myself. I simply hoped this girl never made me prove it.

SeventeenAyla

Once my feet were wrapped, the Wyvern returned. This time, he held a container of some kind. I wanted to call it a jar or a bottle. He opened the top and then offered it to me. When I paused for too long, the strange dragon-man lifted it to his own lips, took a drink, and then offered it again.

This time, I accepted. After the tuber, I was starting to understand their gestures. He was saying this was safe for me, and then proving it. Still, I paused to sniff at the opening first. Smelling nothing, I tilted it carefully, until the fluid touched my lips, sampling it.

Water. Sweet, cool water! Gasping in surprise, I tilted the bottle a little more and drank. My throat was so dry after running so hard. Gulp after gulp, I sucked back the fluid, sighing when I had to pause for a breath.

Above me, the Wyvern watched, a strange curl to his lips making me think my reaction was a good one. Hopefully that didn't mean he'd put something in here! Then again, even if he had, what could I do about it? I had to drink something, and this was the only option I had.

When the bottle was empty, I offered it back. The Wyvern took it with one dark hand, then nodded in a gesture which was almost appreciative. That was it. He didn't try to speak to me, didn't ask me for anything else. The massive man-like thing simply turned and walked back to where the packs waited.

He wasn't the only one. All of the Dragons grabbed one of the bags and then shoved their arms through the straps. For most of them, the bag rested against their backs, with a strap over each shoulder. All except the yellow man wearing pants. His bag was different. It had one strap that went across his chest, with the bag settled against his lower back and hip area.

The men exchanged a few words in tones too soft for me to make out. Not that it would've mattered. Their language was crushed and rushed-sounding. Maybe because of the shape of their vocal cords? I'd read something about that in one of my books, but it had been long enough ago I barely remembered what it had said.

Distracted by my thoughts, I didn't notice the solid green Dragon approaching until he grabbed my arms near the elbows. Without thinking, I pushed at him, trying to force him to let go. I wasn't going to let him haul me where he wanted. Not without a fight!

The beast snarled words at me. I merely pushed again, flailing my hands as fast as I could to keep him from getting a good grip. That was when the creature had enough. He swung, using the flat of his hand. The impact landed on my cheek, rocking my entire body to the side.

I went with it, curling up in a vain attempt to protect my belly and hooking my arms over my head. I knew what came next. This was what men did when a woman didn't cooperate. They punished us, and from the burning on the side of my face, a "light" slap from one of these muscular creatures hurt so much worse than the punishment of a mere human.

But the Dragon didn't kick. He never got the chance. The yellow one shoved between us, his tail whipping over my body even as he pushed the green man back. Their words were loud and angry. The pair gestured wildly.

The rest were no better. The tan one was snarling at the brown one, and the Wyvern was yelling back. Clearly, these monsters were nearly feral, ready to attack each other. I could only imagine what they'd do to me if I didn't obey.

So I uncurled myself and climbed to my feet. The wounds hurt when my weight settled, but it was bearable. In truth, my feet didn't really hurt that much more than the rest of me. I was sure the abuse of my body by both Mr. Morgan and Mr. Saunders was a part of it, but so was landing on the wood in the forest, running as hard as I had, and even sleeping with my arms so high.

But pain was fleeting. It could be ignored.

Yet the Dragons had all fallen silent and were looking at me. I had no idea what they wanted. I could see little more than their general shapes, so wasn't sure what I was missing. Confused, and feeling like I was doing something wrong, I reverted to the only thing I knew: I dropped my eyes to the ground and folded my hands before me.

Meek.

Submissive.

Terrified.

But it seemed to work. The yellow Dragon mumbled something to the green one, then reached over to press gently on my back, guiding me forward. My first step was careful, testing out my feet, but each one got easier.

The group walked. I wasn't sure where we were going, but the five Dragons fell in around me. The Wyvern was to my left. The yellow one kept his place to my right. The dark brown one followed behind me, but the tan and green ones led the way.

At some point, I realized the floor - ground? - under my feet had shifted from grass and sticks to hard-packed dirt. Confused, I looked up to find a gap which looked a lot like the paths I'd seen in my books, but it was wider.

Maybe this was a road? But the roads I'd read about had been more like stone. Humans had packed rocks and other substances together to make a solid surface that would be good in all weather. This? It was just dirt, or maybe clay.

It also wasn't perfectly smooth. With the light changing as I moved, momentary brightness often blinded me. I stubbed my toe the first time and staggered. The yellow one caught my arm, helping me for a moment until I was stable again. The next time, I tripped in a low spot. This time, it was the Wyvern who caught me.

And we walked. Then we walked some more. The chain hanging from my arms was heavy. Worse, it was long enough to drag on the ground, so I had to carry it. The muscles in my arms were burning. Soon enough, my entire body was.

It was almost as if the very air around me was on fire. Sweat poured from my skin, soaking my chemise and likely making it transparent. I wanted to cover myself, but my arms hurt too much to lift any higher. Never mind that the Dragons all wore much less.

Four of them had their entire legs bare to the world. I could see their thigh muscles flex with each step. The yellow one wore pants, but that was it. All of them had bare chests. None of them had shoes. All of them had those strange feet that made it look as if they were walking on their toes, and all of them were much taller than me because of it.

Yet as the air grew hotter and my shadow got shorter, my steps became slower. Beside me, the Wyvern looked over a few times, but he didn't complain. Instead, it was the tan one.

"Ats gouna deik ous du deiz agi baek ut das peis. Kaent tu meik ar vok eni thasdar?"

The Wyvern huffed in annoyance but didn't respond. Instead, it was the yellow one who reached over for my chain. His orange fingers touched the metal, lifted it slightly, and then paused. When I looked at him, the Dragon tilted his head almost like he was making a request, but since I had no clue what it was about, I had no idea how to respond.

He seemed to take my silence as consent, though. Gently, he lifted the chain up and over my head, settling the weight of the chain on my shoulders. Like this, I could relax my arms.

Blood began to rush to my fingers, making them tingle as soon as I did. Shaking my hands, I tried to get feeling back into them, but it was as if the Dragons didn't notice. The Wyvern said something to the yellow one. The yellow one called words forward to the pair up ahead. The brown one behind me just chuckled.

But the reprieve from holding the heavy chain? It was enough to let me walk again. Thankful for the relief, I leaned my head back, stretching the aching parts of my neck and back just as we passed under a thicker portion of trees.

The light dimmed. My eyes felt like they could finally open without a struggle. Unwilling to waste the chance, I looked around, blinking furiously to force out the last of the moisture. What I saw? It was absolutely amazing.

On either side of the dirt path were trees. Massive ones, even bigger than where I'd been chained up. The trunks were so big, I was sure three of these Dragons couldn't reach around them. And tall! The leaves and needles went up and up and up! It was as if the tips of them must be all the way up in Heaven!

Underneath them were even more plants. Vines, bushes, and more. We kept walking, and I kept looking, but I didn't have words for all the things I could see. Some had flowers. Some had thorns. I recognized briars from a book, but little else. Among all of that, there was movement. Tiny things, which I could only assume were insects, flitting among the plants.

A smile began to grow on my face. Colors were everywhere. Bright ones, like the shades of green. Even the many tones of brown were more intense than I'd expected. I saw red berries and pink flowers. When a bird flew across the trail we were on, I gasped, shocked to see yellow under its quickly moving wings.

Beside me, the Wyvern chuckled. Then he made an announcement. The four others made agreeable sounds, and all of them simply stopped walking. As I tried to figure out what was happening, most of the men shrugged off their packs and dropped them to the ground, easing themselves down right after.

The Wyvern, however, reached over to lightly touch my shoulder. "Orin?" he asked, gesturing to the side.

I didn't want to go. I really didn't want to be alone with him. I also wasn't quite brave enough to refuse. If the slap from the green one had hurt that much, what would this man's punishment feel like?

So dropping my head, I allowed him to steer me off the hard dirt and under the trees. On the third step, I found something sharp and winced. Immediately, the Wyvern caught my waist, steadying me. I tensed, but he merely guided me a little further forward, and then helped me to sit down at the trunk of one of those massive trees, joining me a second later.

With a heavy sigh, the most terrifying of the Dragons leaned back to let the tree hold him up. Then he pointed. "Arioul."

Following his finger, I saw a small bird with a dark back and blindingly yellow belly. Sucking in a breath, I leaned forward to see better - not that it helped. My reaction made the Wyvern chuckle.

Then he pointed to something else. "Boudderthlai."

It took me longer to see that, but when I did, I found an insect with wide black wings with white spots on them. Confused, I looked over at the Wyvern.

"A butterfly?"