And then another Dragon rushed into the room. This one was dark blue, almost black, but had a vivid orange ring around the midsection of its tail, and hair to match. It also wore real clothes. A shirt, pants, and things I'd seen on so many men in the compound.

But when it leaned over me, I realized it was a female. The breasts were my first hint. The shape of her face was another. Sadly, that didn't seem to matter either, because the blue-and-orange Dragon woman simply pressed down on one of my shoulders, pinning me to the bed while the brown one secured the other side.

I still screamed. I yelled. I tried to hit, swing the chain, and kick out my feet, all at the same time. A few times, I felt their grip slip, so I tried even harder, but they simply adjusted to hold me again.

Then a third Dragon rushed into the room. This one was a soft grey all over. Her skin, her hair, and even her eyes matched. She was wearing a shirt that looked to be little more than a bra, but in colors as vivid as the canopies we'd passed.

And she started giving orders. I might not be able to understand them, but I knew the tone. I saw the looks she passed to the others and the nods they gave back. More weight was pressed down on me. More of my body was pinned by these three, making my struggles even less effective, but I refused to give up.

Then something sharp pinched my arm. Thrashing my head that way, I saw a needle buried in my skin and what had to be a syringe being emptied into my arm.

The thing wasn't shaped quite like ours. It was smaller, yet still glass. The needle was thinner and longer. The fluid had been clear, and within seconds, my mind began to slow, feeling like it was drifting.

I stopped struggling.

All three of the Dragons relaxed, leaning back but keeping their hands on me. That allowed me to see the human woman again. This time, I had the chance to actually look at her. Once, I'd told my friends about the colors of people in my books. I'd talked about skin as brown as tea, and this woman definitely had it. Strongly-brewed tea. She was as dark brown as the Dragon man who'd carried me in here.

Then there was her hair. By her face - especially around the temples - it was white. Scattered white hairs were visible in her many parts, because her hair was styled in dozens of long, slim braids that turned almost black by the ends. And when she turned to look at me, I realized her eyes were almost black too.

It made me smile. She was nearly as striking as the Dragons! I envied her for the bold colors God had given her, and a piece of me was thrilled to know my books had some truth to them. Plus, it meant the many kinds of people still existed. Some had evidently survived the battle between Heaven and Hell.

"Please?" I begged her, having to force the words through my meandering mind. "Make them let me go? I just wanted to grow plants. I was hoping to get away from the men. All I want is to hide, and if you help me, you'll never see me again."

That made the woman's brow crease, and she looked at the brown Dragon who'd walked here with me. "Vout iz sa sein?"

The brown one simply shrugged and replied with a much longer answer than I could keep up with. The words began to blur together. My eyes wanted to blink for much too long, but I couldn't fall asleep. I had to resist whatever poison they'd put inside me!

Then the human woman began unwrapping my feet. Sucking in a breath, I tried to lift up so I could see better. Immediately, the dark blue one pushed at my shoulder, but the brown one made a gesture. When the human murmured something which sounded like agreement, the pair of Dragons lifted me higher - and then changed the bed!

The part under my back raised up more like a chair. My mouth fell open in shock and I tried to figure out how it worked. I also wanted to watch the human, all three Dragons, and examine the room, but I couldn't do it all. My brain was just too muffled for that.

So I scanned the room. Glass jars held items which were somewhat familiar, even if not the same. One had puffs of something white. Another had rolls of cloth, similar to the bandages we kept in the infirmary. A third had wooden sticks that were flat, thin, and about as long as my hand.

Then there were cabinets above it all. When the human removed the last of the cloth from my feet, she tossed it to the side and opened one. Bottles of pills, vials of liquids, and more were revealed, just like in our infirmary.

Wait. Was this a Dragon infirmary?

"Where are we?" I asked. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Shh..." the human woman said, her tone gentle and sounding almost caring. "Tur goundabi juzd thain."

That made me blink. She'd answered me, so did she understand me? Or was she merely replying to my tone the way I had with the Dragon men on our walk back?

Collecting a few things, the human returned to my feet. Cold hit my skin, making me suck in a breath and flinch, but I didn't pull away. The grey Dragon woman looked over at me, then smiled in a way that made me feel reassured. Granted, she was still hovering over my legs, ready to lie on them again if I started kicking.

But the strangest thing happened. The pain in my feet faded. Not only the pain, though. All feeling, because I could see the human poking and moving, but I couldn't feel much. A little pressure, but that was about it.

It took a while. The whole time, the other three watched me. I wanted to close my eyes and sleep while she worked, but couldn't. No, wouldn't. I refused to surrender to the poison. I'd promised Callah I'd try, so I had to keep trying, even as my thoughts meandered.

When the human was done with my feet, she once again wrapped them, but this time it was better. The fabric was bright white and thick. The wraps went around many more times. And when she was done, she moved to look at my legs.

I felt her poke at my shin. The resulting ache made me grunt softly, having not expected it. That made the woman's brow furrow again, but she kept moving higher. When she got to my knees, she began to push up the hem of my chemise - and I tensed.

"Shh..." she breathed softly, carefully folding the cloth just above my knees before patting one of my thighs reassuringly.

Then she looked at the raw spots from where I'd crawled in the forest. A brown fluid went on those, and then more ointment. When that was good, she stepped around the grey dragon and moved to my side.

Her dark hands pressed at my belly lightly. Next, she checked my ribs. When I didn't try to resist, she pulled out something else and hooked it into her ears, then pushed the other end against my chest. All I could do was watch.

For the last five years, I'd been learning how to help in the infirmary. I'd gotten good at removing arrows and sewing up wounds. Mrs. Worthington had done her best to teach me all the things she'd learned, and she was the best healer we had, but not even she had used a device like this.

But except for being cold, it did nothing. The woman merely touched the skin of my chest with it before putting it away again. Then she reached for my arm.

The tsking sound she made was one I knew well. Ms. Lawton had been fond of it when we did something wrong, but this woman's eyes were on the metal manacles the Righteous had put on me. Grumbling words to the brown Dragon, she reached across my body with her palm open.

He let me go to retrieve something from the other side, then passed it to her. I had no clue what this device might be for until the human hooked one end under the pin securing the cuffs around my wrists and bent it. The pin snapped. The other end dropped out the bottom, and the shackle on that side cracked open.

With stern words, she gave the silvery device to the brown Dragon, who did the same thing on my other arm. And yet, even free, I couldn't quite manage to make my arms move. They felt heavy and disconnected.

It didn't stop the woman, though. She unwrapped my wrists, treated the abraded skin she found, and moved to my other side to do the same. When all of that was done, she leaned in enough to peer closely at my eyes and then opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue.

I looked at her in confusion, so she did it again. This time, she pointed at her face for a second, and then turned her finger towards me. Not sure what else she could be asking, I mimicked her strange expression, opening my mouth wide and sticking out my tongue.

That made her chuckle and pat my arm. Then she turned to the brown Dragon and it was as if I had never existed. Her words were for him. They were stern, quick, and in a tone of authority. I watched as she ticked off points on her fingers, pausing for him to nod in between.

And that was when I realized what she was wearing. Over her clothes, this woman had on a thigh-length white shirt. A smooth one made of a lightweight fabric, but cut like a coat. I'd seen things like it before in my books, but that couldn't be possible.

Because it seemed she was a doctor. Maybe a nurse? Women weren't allowed to be doctors anymore, but clearly this woman was at least a healer. She'd treated me. Now she was giving orders to a man, so this was definitely an infirmary.

Nothing else made sense. Then again, none of this did either. Why would the Dragons, the most vile of the Devil's minions, take me to an infirmary for my injuries? The Righteous never did that. If a woman needed to be treated, she asked another to do it in her free time. The infirmary was only for our hunters.

And yet with the addled way my mind was working, I thought of an entirely new option. What if the Dragons weren't as evil as Mr. Cassidy had said? What if they were just sinners like the rest of us? What if, maybe, these people were no different than the ones I'd known my entire life?

Finally, I let my eyes close, but a smile had begun to form on my disconnected-feeling lips.

Twenty-ThreeZasen

Leaving the hospital, Rymar and I headed back to our home and cleaned ourselves up. The orin girl would be getting treatment for a while, so we had time. Then, once the pair of us were presentable, we left again, this time heading for City Hall. As we passed the market, however, people had to call out.

"Zasen, did you really bring a Mole back?"

"Rymar, why are you letting one of their kind come here?"

"Why didn't you two just kill the bitch?"

And more. So much more, but it was all about the same. Beside me, Rymar smiled at the people in that way he had. I wasn't sure if he'd misheard what they'd said or simply didn't care. Probably the latter, knowing him. The asshole was too good at his job, but it worked.

Thankfully, no one stopped us. Once we reached the building where most things in town were run, we aimed for the Mayor's office. Unfortunately, when we walked in, we weren't the first ones there. Wearing loose and light pants, proving he'd also cleaned himself up, Drozel was sitting across from Jerlis, the Mayor.