Page 98 of Phoenix's Fire

I nodded, taking that all in. "But his looks red." I pointed at Lansin to show who I meant.

"Mine's red," Rymar told me.

"Orange," I said.

He chuckled. "Okay, reddish-orange, better?"

I nodded, because I could agree with that. "And the dog is brindle. The other is black too, but its hair is different from Lansin's."

"She has a point," Irrik said. Then he jerked his chin at me. "What do you call yours?"

"Blonde."

"And the other girl's?" he asked.

I felt my brow crease. "Blonde."

Which made the guys laugh, but Lansin reached over to rub my shoulder. "See, same thing. We're used to dark hair. You're used to light. That means we tend to see the different shades as variations of normal, right?"

"So what do you call his skin?" I asked, gesturing to Irrik.

Because it was human-colored, but much darker than mine, yet not as dark as Naomi's. Lansin's seemed "normal" to me, but I'd already seen we were paler than most people on the surface. I was pretty sure Dragons and Reapers would have words to describe such things, and since we were already talking about colors, it felt like a good time to ask.

"I'm brown," Irrik told me. "Lansin is white. Naomi is black. There are some people who call themselves olive, or yellow, or red, or copper. Most people just use black, brown, and white, though. The rest is like Dragon-black or natural-black. Just nuances of shade."

I nodded, deciding I liked that. "And Tamin is teal?"

"Definitely teal," Rymar agreed.

"But you're turquoise?" I asked.

Which made Rymar grin. "Yep. Lighter and a bit more blue than Tamin."

"But mostly yellow," Lansin pointed out.

"And orange, and red," I added. "But those colors are easy. It's all the rest."

"Moles have poor lighting and washed-out colors," Zasen explained to theReapers. "Everyone down there seems to have blonde hair, blue eyes, and that orin skin."

"Because God chose the best people to save the world," I explained. "I mean, that's what we were taught, not what I believe."

"Seriously?" Irrik asked. "What was that called back in the day?"

"Racism," Kanik answered. "They thought the color proteins in someone's skin, hair, and eyes made people smarter or better. I'm not sure which."

"Probably both," I grumbled before turning to Lansin. "And we don't have dogs."

"Well..." he said, reaching into his pocket. "I have something for you, since I knew you were coming."

"Oh?" My stomach clenched as old anxieties hit me.

Immediately, I wondered if I'd given him the wrong impression and led him on. Right on the tail of that, I wanted to groan - but didn't. It seemed old habits died hard, and it felt like every time I was sure I knew better, something happened to remind me just how ingrained my reactions were.

Then Lansin pulled a small yellow ball from his pocket. "For you, Ayla."

"A ball?" I asked.

He nodded. "Now, let me show you what this ball can do. Go over there..." He pointed to the grass, and waited until I walked to an open space. "Now throw it at the back fence and tell the dogs to fetch."

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