Page 5 of Phoenix's Fire

"Step back!" I roared in Vestrian, surging to my feet to shove a hand out at the mayor while looking around at everyone pushing in to see. "All of you! Get back!"

"Ayla?" Meri whined, sounding like she was sure I'd just done the dumbest thing ever.

"Move back, Mayor," I said again, but nicer this time. "She's terrified. She thinks you'll eat her."

"But - "

"They don'tknow," I told him. "The women aren't told what happens here. They have no idea what they're being fed! The Moleslieto us. They do it to keepus too scared to fight back - and you are terrifying. Please, Mr. Mayor? You're huge. Please step back?"

The man's tail hit the ground and he lifted both hands. Slowly, predictably, he moved away, giving Meri and me some space.

"Ayla?" Meri asked again. "He'll kill you."

"He won't," I assured her, starting to get confused with all the language switching. "It's okay, Meri. It's all going to be okay. I'm going to take care of you, and I won't let anyone hurt you, okay?"

"Okay," she said, finally sitting straight enough for me to realize it wasn't only excess cloth in front of her. No, that was her belly. A very round, very pregnant one.

"Oh, Meri! Are you...?"

"Yes," she said, her eyes flicking over to the mayor again. "And he'll eat me. Ayla, I can't run."

"No..." I breathed, bending down so I could look at the clasp on the manacles. "You're going to be okay. Let me get these off, okay?"

Meri's eyes were too big. Her skin looked so very pale, but I couldn't be sure if that was her natural color or from fear. The bigger problem was the pin holding her manacles on. Yet just as I was about to give up, a metal tool was shoved towards me by one of the strange men.

"To open her cuffs," he said in Vestrian with an odd accent.

I didn't stop long enough to think about that. I merely accepted the tool, nodded in appreciation, then got to work removing the pin on the shackles. Once they were free, I slid the tool along the surface of the stage, hoping it would get close enough to the man to count as returning it.

The guy didn't reach for it, though. His eyes were on me. His brow was creased in confusion or thought - I couldn't tell which. Then there were his clothes. Everything was leather, much like my own attire, but the cut was very different. I'd never seen anyone like him in Lorsa, which meant he was likely a Reaper, but I didn't have time right now to worry about him.

I turned my eyes back to Meri. "If you can stand up, we're going to walk right out of here, and I will explain everything, okay?"

"Okay," she breathed, clearly still terrified.

Meri still trusted me, enough that she let me pull her up. Then, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Hers went around my waist and she huddled close. Tears lined the girl's cheeks, but the sun was just starting to set, which meant her eyes had likely been weeping from both the brightness and her fear.

The fear I could help with. The sun? Hopefully, she wasn't completely blind anymore. She'd clearly been able to see the mayor, after all, but I would guide her out of this either way.

"We're going to the stairs," I explained, leading her down them.

The mayor couldn't hold his tongue any longer. "Where are you taking her?" he demanded.

"Home," I said.

"What?" Meri asked, unable to understand.

"It's okay," I promised. "It's going to be okay, Meri." And I helped her make her way down.

For a moment, I thought this was actually going to work. Enough people in Lorsa now understood the sound of English that a path had been made down the middle of the walkway. Some pulled others back. Many got the hint and moved on their own. Step by step, I guided Meri forward, thinking that if I could just get her home, out of the too-bright sunlight, then I could explain everything.

We made it only a few steps when Zasen stepped into the street, his brilliantly blue tail lashing behind him. "Do you know her?" His words were in Vestrian.

"No!" Meri screamed before I could even answer. Spinning, she tried to pull free, choosing to run back towards the mayor rather than face Zasen. "The Wyvern! It'shim!"

I tried to grab her arm, but my fingers slipped on her slick skin. The next attempt was better. I caught her wrist on the other side, pulling her around and halting her panicked flight.

"It's okay. He won't hurt you."

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