"What's so funny?" Zasen asked, keeping to the same language.
"His tail!" I admitted. "It just..." I made a gesture with my hand because I wasn't sure how to explain the way it flowed behind him like a ribbon.
"They aren't as strong at his age," Zasen explained. "In a few more years, it will simply balance behind him, not bounce."
"Bounce," I repeated, because that was a good word for it. "So are Dragons born with tails and claws?"
"The tailed ones are."
I replayed that twice to make sure I really understood what he'd said. "Tailed?"
Zasen pointed at his own. "Tailed." Then he pointed at me. "Tailless."
"But I'm human," I said.
"We used to be." He waited until I looked up, then kindly switched to English. "Ayla, when the world warmed, a scientist thought he had a cure. Or she - I'm not entirely sure. Gene therapy, they called it. In those days, they mixed DNA from one thing and added it to another all the time. Bacteria genes into plants to kill insects, and things like that." Zasen gestured to his chest. "We got a wide selection of reptile genes, a few feline, and a bit more. It wasn't until the children were born that we looked any different from you."
I felt my mouth falling open. "You're human?"
He shrugged. "About 80%, I think, but all of that happened centuries ago. In the process, they ruined our females, so the only way for us to have children?" He tipped his head at me. "Is with unaltered women. The children often come out like me, as a Dragon. Other times, they come out like you, as a Dragon."
"But I'm human," I said again.
He chuckled and reached over for his drink. "Tailless." Then he pointed at himself. "Tailed. And everyone in Lorsa is a Dragon."
"Lorsa?"
"Our town," he explained. "That's the name of where you are. The Reaper farms have names too. So do other Dragon towns."
"So what's the difference between a Reaper and a Dragon?" I asked.
"The culture," he explained. "Reapers are mostly tailless, but there are a few tailed among them. The difference is they live a nomadic life. As the seasons change, the Reapers move to the next farm to reap that harvest. When they're done, they plant for the next year."
"So, farmers?" I asked.
He nodded slowly. "Farmers. Like us, they hunt too, but they built their culture around moving from harvest to harvest. They also grow much more food than they need, so we trade with them for grains, flour, vegetables, and such."
"Trade what?" I asked.
Zasen's eyes flicked over to me. "Tools, mostly. Bows and arrows are popular. Because Dragons live in the same place - a town - we can make large amounts of things easier. So, we trade our tools for their harvest. Our excess for theirs."
"And there are many groups of Dragons?"
"A few," he agreed. "None close. It would be at least a week of walking to get to the next closest."
I nodded, taking that all in. "And everyone who lives here is a Dragon? Even the people without tails?"
"They are," he agreed.
"So am I a Dragon now?" I asked hopefully.
He paused with his mouth open, then slumped. "No. I'm sorry, Ayla, but no, you are not. To many people here, you are still a Mole."
"But you told Tamin - "
"So he wouldn't be afraid," he explained. "Ayla, Dragons are scared of Moles. Children should not have to be scared like that, so I told a small lie. It won't change the fact that everyone else will see your orin coloration and decide you are a Mole." He paused. "They do not like Moles."
"So how do I stop being one?" I asked. "I don't like Moles either - except Callah and Meri. How do I get to be a Dragon? I can't change the color of my hair and skin!"
But my words made his head twitch. "You hate the Moles too?"
"The men," I explained. "I hate all of the men. I don't know most of the women, but they never helped me. They aren't allowed to, but they still didn't even try. No, only Callah and Meri were my friends."
Slowly, he began to rock his head in a slow nod. "So you aren't angry that I shot people you know?"
"Men," I repeated.
"And killed?" he asked.
That made me pause. I knew hunters died, but I'd never stopped to think about the fact that Zasen could've been the one to make it happen. And yet my feelings didn't change at all.
"You killed them before they could kill us," I said. "Well, most of us. Some of those men killed a few wives before a Dragon killed them."
He sat up. "They killed their wives?"
I gave him a confused look. "That's how all women die, Zasen. We get married and we are fruitful. We bear our husband’s children until our bodies can't do it anymore."
"Is that why you're so thin?" he asked.
