Page 141 of Phoenix's Fire

"And he's a fucking Mole!"

"I left her a pocket knife," Tobias said. "It's for her sewing, but it has a little blade. I thought that if I don't make it back, she could use it to stab her husband, and it worked for you, Ayla, so they'll throw her out. You just have to make sure she gets off the tree before the beasts find her."

Zasen slowly turned back to Tobias. "You're not trying to talk me out of killing you?"

Tobias swallowed hard. "Would it help? I came up here knowing I probably wouldn't make it back. I just..."

"You like the girl," Zasen realized.

Tobias nodded. "She's my friend. I've never had one before, and I know what will happen to her in November. She shouldn't have to dothat. She's too soft and kind. The men who'd be willing to propose to her? They'd..."

"Fuck!" Zasen grumbled. Then he made a gesture to me that looked like I should get on with it. "Fine. He gets one chance."

"Which means you get to live," I told Tobias, "but you have to come back. If you don't, the next time we see you, wewillkill you."

"I need a way to find you out here," Tobias said. "That was the part I couldn't figure out, but I saw him." He pointed at Zasen. "And they said you'd tamed him, so - "

Zasen barked out a laugh. "Tamed?"

"They believe you are an animal, sir. We've never been able to understand you before, because you didn't know God's language. That's why we..."

"Eat us?" Zasen offered.

"Yes..." Tobias breathed.

So Zasen leaned toward him. "The Phoenix taught us. Now many of us can speak English. What will you do with that?"

"Pray I find one who understands when I ask to find Ayla?" Tobias tried.

"And tell your friends?" Zasen asked, but it sounded like a warning.

"Them?" Tobias scoffed. "These men are not my friends. They beat me for being too big when I was a child. They laughed at me for being stupid because I said women were smart. They do nothing but torment me. They are not my friends, Wyvern. Callah is, and yes, I will tell her."

I reached over, touching Zasen's arm to guide him back. "Tobias was always kind to me. He held the men for me in the infirmary, and he never complained when I gave him orders. Zasen, he listened. I mean, they said he was too stupid to be offended."

"No, I just knew the men were as cruel to you women as they'd been to me," Tobias said. "Ayla, being dumb kept me from being punished when I said the wrong thing. I'm too stupid to know better, right? I started that when I was a boy, and it worked, so I kept doing it. Now, I just want to get Callah and myself out. I need to know where to go. I have to find a way to make sure we'll make it there without the wild men killing us - or the Dragons."

"The arrows," Zasen said. "You said you had one, right?"

"Just the feather part," Tobias admitted. "Well, here. I have the tip in my room."

So Zasen reached over and pulled a new arrow from my quiver. Without hesitation, he snapped the shaft in half and passed the fletching to Tobias. Then he pulled one from his own quiver and did the same.

"Hang them from your belt like a trophy," he said. "I'll order the Dragons to look for it. That doesn't mean they'll be nice, but they will demand a password from you before bringing you to us."

"What word?" Tobias asked.

"Zasen," I said. "Z-A-S-E-N. That's the Wyvern's name. The Moles don't know it, but they know mine." I looked at Zasen. "Tobias will remember it."

"Zasen," he said, nodding. "I can do that. What else do you need?"

"I plan to destroy the Moles," Zasen snapped at him.

"I'm trying to help you do that!" Tobias shot back just as intensely.

Which made Zasen pull back in surprise. "I need to know how to get in. We need a count of how many men are in there, plus women and children. Separated out. I need a map, but I'm going to guess that isn't likely."

"And we need a way to get the women out," I told him. "Tobias, they don't know. I had no idea what my meat was made of! Neither did Meri."

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