INFERNAL - 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

FIFTEEN

Ndette marveled at her feet.

Nestled into a long tube of thick, warm material, it was further encased in a covering of woven leather that was not only durable; it was as immune to the weather as dragon-hide. She stuck her foot out, stretching her toes this way and that, admiring the way the object cradled her limb and accentuated the strong shape of her human legs.

Amazing!

"Where is she from?" A man was asking the old woman who had brought her here, who had said her name was Anna.

They stood outside the doorway of the square room she'd called her humble abode. Ndette shaped her mouth around the words in the darkness.

"Don't know. She hasn't said a word, poor thing."

"Probably from the Saranac reservation. That's where the last one was from."

Last one?

Ndette's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean – last one?

"Maybe," Anna let the word linger.

"What?" The man's voice was flatter, tinged with skepticism. "You think this is proof of the drifters?"

Drifters?

"I think it makes a certain amount of sense. Outside of a reservation they'd be easier to pick off. Plus she's the same as the others have been. No clothes at all. She was shivering and half frozen when I found her."

The man grunted. Whether that meant he agreed or was unconvinced it was hard to tell.

"Bring her around to meet Jacob when she's thawed out. He'll want to meet her and ask a few questions."

"Of course."

Anna came back in through the doorway with a smile. "How are you feeling, dear?"

Ndette smiled up at her, hoping it was answer enough. Trying to speak the way they did worried her. They used more than words. Their language was filled with terms she had never heard before. They seasoned it with sounds. Grunts and clicks and snorts. They sounded more like animals than dragons, yet they referred to the dragons as beasts.

"Warmer?"

Ndette nodded.

Anna shook her head. "You're surely a quiet one." The woman froze suddenly, her eyes going wide. She spun to look at Ndette. "They didn't do anything to you, did they? To your tongue or your throat?"

Do anything? What would the dragons have done to a human to make them unable to speak? Confusion and dread mingled in her guts as she shook her head no. The woman let out a relieved sigh, her shoulders loosening.

"Saints be praised."

Ndette could only stare. She didn't understand the words, but what she did understand was the panic that had filled Anna at the thought. Where did such panic come from? Was it all mere presumption, or was it founded on something more? The acid continued to roil in her stomach.

"You must be hungry. A little soup will warm you from the inside."

She pulled open one of the stacked wooden boxes that lined the wall. It opened at the front, somehow managing not to spill the contents when the lid was opened. Anna pulled out a round, covered object that looked like metal but was black as basalt. She set it on a hook over a small pit before pulling a slender stick from a drawer. This she scraped over the stone surface of the pit. Ndette gasped as a flame sparked to life from the stick.

What strange magic was this? The humans had no inner fire, yet they could spark a twig to flame? Ndette watched in awe as the woman touched the stick into the base of the pit and a larger flame grew. The woman pulled open more boxes, taking out small bundles that revealed leaves and dried herbs. She dumped these into the black stone object.

"Shouldn't take long for the pot to heat up," Anna said as she stood straight and pressed her hands against the curve at the base of her back, pressing.

Several loud cracks filled the air.

Ndette held her breath, waiting for the woman to cry out in pain, but she did not. Whatever had cracked obviously hadn't hurt her, although it had sounded painful.

"I'm glad those boots fit you," Anna said, nodding at the foot coverings. "They were my daughter's."

Ndette understood well enough both the words and the look of sadness that came into Anna's eyes. It captured the same feeling that ran through her when she thought of Pina.

Loss.

Anna sniffed and rubbed at her face. "I have more things of hers that might fit you. I'll go and grab them. Wait here."

Ndette took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The feelings evoked in human form were more than just physical. The thought that Anna would so willingly give her coverings that had belonged to her daughter made her chest ache and her throat tight. She listened to the woman moving objects in another room, cordoned off from this one with a piece of fabric strung across a pole. The fabric, gold with deep red threads depicting roses, was beautiful. She wondered what could be in the other room that made Anna want to hide it, yet obviously not protect it.

"Ah, here we are."

She'd already covered Ndette in a sheath of fabric tied off at the waist, but now she brought out longer pieces, some that looked as if they would fall all the way to her foot cover—her boots. Anna pulled one out and held it up. It was thick, and trimmed with white fur. Probably rabbit, or fox. She motioned for Ndette to stand up, and held the fabric out near the holes that were meant for her arms. She moved to put her arms through, but Anna laughed and spun her around so that the covering went across her back. Her arms slid into the holes, wrapping all of her exposed skin in soft, plush warmth.

"There we are." Anna brushed at the fabric although Ndette could not see anything on it. "It fits you well." Her dark eyes gleamed. "This was one of Marissa's favorites."

Her voice caught on the name.

Marissa.

"Your daughter?" Nadette asked tentatively, hoping the word was right.

Anna's eyes widened. "She speaks!" Then she smiled. "Yes, Marissa was my daughter." Her eyes misted over. "She died in childbirth a few years ago. Even with all of our knowledge of herbs and plants, we are still sorely lacking in our medical treatments."

Anna laid the rest of the coverings over the back of a chair.

"Marissa had been in labor too long. The doctor said he could save one of them, but not both. Marissa chose her child, as any mother would."

"As you would," Ndette said softly.

Anna met her eyes as tears rolled down her weathered cheeks. She gave a firm nod. "If it were my choice to make." She smiled, even through her tears.

Ndette was beginning to marvel at the way the humans could hold on to joy, even in the midst of their pain. Fayal had said they were stronger than most believed. It seemed that he was right.

"Look at us," Anna said with a sniff. "Just a couple of silly girls, crying together." She moved toward the fire. "The soup should be done soon."

Ndette frowned. Slowly, she lifted a hand to her face. Wonder filtered through her body like morning mist as her fingers found the wetness of tears on her human face.