Page 117 of Phoenix's Fire

"I understand that!" Meri gasped.

Kanik was grinning. "And look at that," he said in English. "All I needed was to put you ladies in a room and now we're making progress."

So Meri turned to Lessa. "Does this mean yi unner-stand me now?"

"Whoa," Brielle breathed from Meri's other side. "That's not bad."

"I do understand you," Lessa admitted. Then she shook her head quickly and tried that again in English. "I do unda-stond you."

Which made Meri giggle. "I got that!" she squealed.

"Shh..." Saveah told us. "This is a library. We can't make too much noise." Meri just shook her head, so Saveah tried again in English, but it was a bit of a mess.

"Why no noise in a library?" Meri struggled to ask in Vestrian.

"Because people are reading," Lessa said in English.

Which made all of us giggle again. They were now using each other's languages - well, if these were actually separate languages, and not just variations. I wasn't sure which was the right way to say it, but that didn't matter. The important thing was all of us were able to say words and be not only understood, but also to understand the things going on around us.

"But if they talk too fast," Meri said, looking at Kanik, "I can't keep up."

"I had to think about it," I assured her. "In my head, I'd change the Vs to Ws, and on and on. After a few days of using it all the time, it started to feel more like an accent than a new language, and then I could understand other people."

"And," Brielle told Meri in English, "Jeera and I will gladly speak in Vestrian around you so you can learn how to listen, okay?"

"Me too!" Lessa offered.

Saveah just tossed her head back and groaned. "Everyone just blew past me, didn't they?" she asked in Vestrian.

"Yes!" Meri said, sounding a little too excited about that. Then she realized what she'd answered to. "Oh, I mean..."

"Yes," I told Saveah. "But it's okay. I can speak English for you the way Brielle is going to for Meri."

"I just want Tamin and Taris to learn it," Saveah admitted.

"But you can learn too," I assured her. "Then, when we get Callah out, you can help us teach her."

"And she won't feel as lost," Meri said in Vestrian, but slowly, "because everyone is saying things that she doesn't understand."

"Because we'llallknow how to speak English," I clarified.

"One more way to stop them," Kanik said, glancing over at me. "If we understand them, but they don't understand us? It'll save lives."

"I hope so," I agreed. "Dragon lives."

Thirty-Six

Tobias

We gathered up in the compound in the morning. Gear was assigned. Duties were dictated. Weapons were handed out, along with the extra magazines of bullets. This wasn't much different than what I'd done as a gatherer, but anxiety was already creeping in.

The entire team of hunters was given a hand-held meal, then sent out just before most of the Righteous would be making their way to the dining hall for their breakfast. And yet, when I stepped through the heavy metal door that secured the compound entrance, the sky was already turning dark.

Streaks of blue and purple still tinted it, and the clouds were clinging to the last rays of pink. Around me, a few of the first-timers murmured in surprise at the brightness. Others were looking around as if trying to take it all in.

"Don't worry," one of the team leaders called out. "The fires of Hell are fading. We'll stay under the trees as we travel, which will block much of the heat and brightness, and when we stop, you'll need to secure your shelter to block it out or your skin will be cooked by it while you sleep."

That caused a murmur of concern, yet the group was already on the move. By the time the sky had turned black, the compound was far behind us, even though we were moving slowly. Our pace was set by the six men hauling the three carts we used for both our supplies and to carry back the harvest.

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