Then the Wyvern smiled and lifted the two pieces of his stick. With the first, he pressed it against his chest. The other, he gestured towards me, exactly like he had yesterday when he'd asked to carry me over the tree. Clearly, he was once again going to demonstrate something, so I nodded.

That made him smile again, and then nod. Slowly, he held up the bigger stick with his fingers poking past it. Again, he put the little Ayla piece on them, then moved the stick away. In other words, he wanted to carry me again. Then, just to make it even more clear, he reached down and tapped at the top of my bandaged foot as if explaining why.

I nodded, because what else could I do? The poison made me feel so heavy. Even if I wanted to fight back, I'd be only half as effective as normal - and I hadn't been able to even hurt them then! But before the Wyvern could pick me up, the grey Dragon began rambling off those strange words they used.

On the other side of the room, the yellow one murmured as if he agreed. So, holding up one finger, the grey one hurried from the room. Nothing else happened. Confused, I looked between the three men, not sure what they expected, but before I could wonder too long, the grey woman was back with a piece of cloth in her hand.

Like everything else around here, it was vividly-colored. This time, it was made from the brightest white, a pale pink, and a soft orange. Little hints of blues and greens were mixed in, but she moved too fast for me to make out what they were. And, without asking, the Dragon woman draped the fabric over my head, reached around to the back to tuck up my hair and then tie the cloth on - but not in a way that covered my eyes.

I tried to reach up to check what she'd done, but the grey woman cupped my hand, stopping me. "Juzd druzt mi un leev ud der. Diziz thur tur oun goud."

And while my attention was on her, the Wyvern slipped his arms behind my back and under my knees, lifting me up to cradle me against his chest. Tired, confused, and with the poison making me so heavy-feeling, I didn't fight. I couldn't. The best I could do was flop my head against his shoulder and simply accept my fate.

I'd been captured by the Dragons. I was now theirs to do with as they wanted. Still, they had humans here - like the doctor - so maybe they wouldn't kill me? Maybe Callah had been right, and I might be able to survive with them? I didn't want to worship the Devil, but I was pretty sure I could fake it if I had to. After all, I'd learned how to convince the Righteous men I was meek and submissive.

Held in his arms, the Wyvern carried me from the room. Then we left the hall and kept going out of the building. Sunlight slammed into me, assaulting my eyes once again, so I shoved my face into the monster's neck to protect it. That created enough shade that around the edges of him, I could see the brown, yellow, and even the grey Dragon moving to walk at his side in a line, almost like a wall.

And we were walking fast. Much faster than we had on the trek here, but my feet had slowed us down. I knew the Dragons could move quickly, though, because they had when they caught me!

The bouncing of the Wyvern's gait rocked my body. The daylight prevented me from looking around, because without the cloth on my head, my eyes were once again weeping in protest. And yet, when we turned, the other three did not. A few words were shared, but the Wyvern didn't slow at all. If anything, he walked even faster.

Before I knew it, we were climbing the few steps to the very last house in a long row of them. I was pretty sure this was the first one I'd seen on our walk in. The one with the cute bushes, right beside the entrance to the city, and the Wyvern carried me onto its adorable little porch. Shifting me in his arms, he twisted the handle on the door and pushed, then stepped in with me still in his arms.

Inside, it was cool and dim, just like the infirmary had been. That allowed my eyes to relax, but while they were doing that, the door shut behind us. I jerked my head up in time to see his tail on it. Clearly the Dragons used that thing like another limb.

Then the Wyvern carefully set me down, letting me get my feet under me before he let go. With another of those smiles we'd been using as language, he gestured around us. What he didn't do, however, was bother speaking. That would've been pointless.

So I looked. I'd never been inside a building like this, but it was definitely a home. The compound was a single structure, but a massive one. People lived in halls, not separate buildings. This place was more like the books I'd read, and the room we were in seemed to be designed for conversation and relaxing.

Beside the door was a bench. Next to that was a small table. In the center of the room were two large, padded chairs, covered in leather. Against the far wall was a longer padded place to sit that I was pretty sure would be called a couch. Maybe a sofa? I honestly didn't know the difference between the two.

And they weren't the only interesting things in the room. On the walls were pictures of things I couldn't have imagined before I started this journey. Beyond all of that was an opening and another room. Awed, my breath fell out in a rush. This was the biggest living space I'd ever seen, and it was so luxurious!

The Wyvern chuckled and stepped forward, gesturing for me to follow. I did, carefully testing out my newly bandaged feet. Thankfully, there was no pain. None at all. In truth, I could barely feel the bottoms, but that was a blessing, so far as I was concerned.

But why had he carried me if I was allowed to walk on them? Maybe it was because the home had wooden floors? Dark ones that shined like they were highly polished. In some places, there were carpets, but only small ones.

When I reached out with my toes to feel the one by the chairs, I heard the Wyvern chuckle. Nervously, I pulled my foot back and looked at him, expecting punishment for my curiosity. Instead, the brute of a man gestured for me to go ahead.

So I pushed my toes down on the carpet. It was soft, but the fibers weren't long. I was pretty sure it was merely the thickness of it that created the softness. Yet with my feet wrapped the way they were, I couldn't quite feel as much as I'd hoped, so I gave up.

Hoping to make up for my lapse, I clasped my hands before me, ducked my head, and made my way to where the Wyvern was waiting. Yet as I got closer, the man merely stepped back, all but inviting me into the next room, and then he waved for me to look around again.

That second room was clearly for food preparation. There were cutting counters and a large preparation table. Pots and a stove were visible on one side. Seeing that made me slightly nervous, but the Wyvern simply opened a cabinet and found a glass. Grabbing a pitcher from the counter, he filled it, sniffed, wrinkled his nose, but handed it across. Once I took the weight of it, he reclaimed the pitcher and left through a door at the back.

Taking a careful sip, I realized it was water, but stale. I took another drink, then he returned. With a smile, Wyvern pulled the glass from my hand, poured it out onto something in the center of the table which looked like a plant, then carried both it and the now-empty pitcher to a depression in the counter.

Pushing at a lever made water flow from a spigot. No, a faucet! Maybe a crude one, but that was definitely what it was. Using that, he filled the glass first, and then set the now-empty pitcher under it. While the larger container filled, the man turned and offered me the glass proudly.

My next drink was better. The water was now cool and fresh. I guzzled the entire thing, only to have him refill it. I drank that as well, but when he made to fill it a third time, I waved him off. He nodded, turned off the water, then set both the glass and the full pitcher aside before motioning for me to follow him one more time.

Walking up a short hall, he opened the door to the third room, showing me a bed like I was used to, but much larger. When I stepped back nervously, he simply walked away, opening yet another door. This room was different, but I recognized it as toilet facilities. What caught my attention was a large stone basin in the corner. It was large enough for my entire body. Okay, it was even large enough for his, including his tail!

He saw my expression and nodded. Lightly touching my shoulders, he guided me past a set of stairs that went up, back to the first room, and then towards one of the leather chairs. After gesturing to it like he was inviting me to sit, he then walked out the front door before I could ease myself down. For the first time in nearly two days, I was completely alone. My body wanted nothing more than to drop into the chair and rest. My mind wanted to investigate.

My mind won.

Twenty-FiveAyla

Finally alone, I snooped without shame. Carefully placing my feet, I meandered through the spaces I'd been shown. Every room held a plant. Some had more than one. The kitchen was a smaller version of what we had at the compound, but there was no refrigeration. Food was stored in a cabinet, but it was all plants and powders. In the drawers were knives and common utensils, so now I at least had some idea of how to get a weapon. The shocking thing, though, was that they weren't secured out of my reach.

For a moment, I considered making my way up the stairs, but decided against it. The Wyvern hadn't taken me up there for a reason, and I wasn't brave enough to push. Maybe I wasn't allowed? Right now, my body ached enough I wasn't sure I could tolerate any punishment - especially not from a man as large as him!

So I kept my inspection to the level I was on. In the hall was a door he hadn't opened, so I did. Inside were what at first looked like sticks and feathers. When I saw blue feathers, I realized those were bows and arrows, so I shut the door quickly.

Those were men's things, and I didn't want him to know I'd seen. I certainly didn't want him to use them on me! Too many times, I'd pulled those blue arrows from hunters, and now to be so close to the cause of those injuries? I wasn't quite sure how that made me feel.

So I kept snooping. The toilet facilities were straightforward. Across the hall from that was a section of decorated wood placed against the base of the stairs. It had a little depression in it, so maybe it was a door? But what kind of room would fit under the stairs? Deciding it was merely decoration, I continued on.

Oddly, it was the bedroom that impressed me the most. Since the Wyvern wasn't here, I felt safe enough to actually go in. One entire wall was covered in shelves and filled with books! My eyes scanned the spines. Some were like those I'd known in the compound, made with hard covers and faded wraps, but most were different. Their bindings weren't as precise and their titles looked to be hand-painted. Pulling one out, I opened it, disgusted to find the words inside twisted and confusing. None of them were English. The letters were also a bit different. They were similar to what I knew, but a few - like A and W - were bent in strange ways, rounded instead of sharp.

But one at the top caught my eye. The title was boring, but it was in a language I could understand: The Flora and Fauna of Idaho. I had no idea where Idaho was, but it was better than staring at the walls. Moving back into the first room, I carried it with me, flipping to the first page. Few of the images looked like anything I'd seen on my walk here, but I managed to figure out that the strange animals they'd cooked the day before had been squirrels.

I was well into it before the Wyvern returned, smelling like woodsmoke. He paused at the doorway, making me hurry to put the book on the table. I wasn't even sure if he'd allow me to touch something so ancient. For all I knew, it could be very valuable, and women weren't supposed to read for entertainment. His eyes dropped to the book, his head tilted, then he shrugged.

For a moment, he disappeared into the food preparation area. When he came out, he was carrying a chair, but headed toward the room with the toilet facilities. Okay, that was strange.

For a moment, I heard him moving around, and then he returned, gesturing for me to follow. I debated telling him to go away, but I wasn't sure I could convey that through gestures and still get my meaning across. Instead, I obeyed, reminding myself I didn't need more punishment.

He led me to the toilet facilities, but this time, the stone basin was filling with water, and now there was a chair beside it. The Wyvern reached his hand under the faucet, made a face, then stepped back. Carefully, he clasped my shoulders and guided me over, right for that chair.

I sat.

That earned me another smile, and then he knelt before me. My heart began to hammer faster, confused and worried until he merely reached for my feet. Then he began to unwind the bandages the doctor had just put on them.

"Quit," I hissed, trying to pull my foot away.

He looked up, those orange eyes finding mine. One more time, he smiled, but he didn't stop unwinding the cloth covering my injured soles. Yet when I realized he was rolling the cloth the same way a healer would, I stopped trying to pull away.

First, he exposed one foot, then the other. The used fabric was stained with both blood and dirt, but he simply set it aside. Then he inspected the bottoms of my feet. Nodding and murmuring to himself, he finally let me go and stepped back, pushing himself back up in the process.

Carefully, I put my foot on the ground, testing to see if it would be sensitive or still numb. When I pushed, there was nothing, so definitely numb. Yet the sound of the Wyvern clearing his throat made me look up.

He pointed at the fabric lying on the counter. Unfurling one, he held it out. The piece was just a large rectangle, but I understood immediately what it was: a towel. Lifting another - still folded - he placed it beside the first. Then he reached for something else.

The fabric was almost the same, but this one was shaped like clothing. It had sleeves for the arms, and was long like a dress, but opened in the front. Strung through loops at the waist was a belt made from the same material.

While I watched, he pushed his arm into a sleeve, wrapped it around his own body, and then folded the flaps over his chest. Securing the belt held them in place. With a dip of his head, he watched me as if expecting some reaction.