“She does. Whatever story she told you about how the vreki showed up in her village, less than half of it is true. We arrived just over three days ago and the whole village has been running in circles trying to figure out what to do with us. And we’ve been working just as hard to convince them that we’re not the embodiment of evil.”
“Three days!” He’d finally managed to crack her unflappable exterior. “Goodness… You work fast!”
“We had to. One of our vreki was injured, so we couldn’t just up and leave, and as Lynette probably told you, their mine had collapsed, trapping most of their men underground. We managed to save all but one, and that one died in the original earthquake.” Koradan’s eyes narrowed. “But what about you? Ashd says you’re a salas. Is that true?”
“I am,” Gosta said, smiling Ashd’s way. “He won’t talk to me. I’m not sure I should be surprised. Unicorns do, and I’ve had the odd chat with a fire-dog, but vreki seem to be more particular about who they’ll have a conversation with.”
Koradan shrugged. “Give him time. He might change his mind once he gets to know you a bit. Then again, he might not.”
Gosta smirked. “Sounds about right.”
“How did you come to be living in Minia?” Koradan asked her. “If Ashd hadn’t said anything, I would have sworn you were a human. How long have you been here?”
Gosta fingered her necklace with a sigh. “I crossed the gate twenty years ago. I didn’t intend to stay here. Too close to the warriors, too many stories of our people being killed. But in the end, that was what got me to stay. A lot of the people who make it across the gate are injured in the process. And having someone in the hospital who can arrange suitable treatment – along with connections to get obsidian for those who didn’t bring their own – proved a vital role to save a lot of lives. The down side is that I have to treat injured warriors at the same time. A lot of the humans think I’m grouchy. That would be a lot of the reason why. I don’t like helping people who are murdering my brethren.”
“It’s a bold calling,” Koradan said, admiring her determination, though he didn’t envy her position. “But since you mention it, that’s actually something that I need – not the obsidian, but a witch to enchant it. And a jeweller to carve some gems out of the raw stone. Do you know one in Minia?”
“I know a jeweller who is also a witch,” Gosta said with a grin. “We should start walking,” she added. “The others are far enough ahead of us, and it’s going to take a while to get to town.”
But instead of following her, Koradan hesitated, glancing back at Ashd and Bel, who had been listening intently to the conversation. “Uh… No, I don’t think I can leave the vreki alone,” he said. “Once word gets around the city, there’ll be people coming out here just to see the ‘dragons’, and I’d be too worried someone would try to do them harm.”
“I’d strongly suggest you don’t leave them here all day, with or without supervision,” Gosta said. “Because yes, people will start coming to see them, and I guarantee that some of those people will be looking to cause trouble. That’s just how humans are. The best idea would be to send them off into the mountains north of Minia. Get them to go wide of the gate so they don’t run into any trouble, then they can come and pick you and Lynette up this afternoon. I assume you’ll be heading home today?”
“Yes. It’s too much of a risk to stay here longer than that.” He checked in with Ashd, who easily agreed to Gosta’s plan with no need for further explanation.
Come back middle afternoon, Ashd told him.
“I will,” Koradan said. “Take care of yourselves. And stay away from the warriors.”
Ashd snorted at the obviousness of his advice, then the pair of them disappeared back through the scrub. A few seconds later, Koradan saw them rising above the trees. He watched until they’d disappeared from view, then fell into step beside Gosta. Despite her claim about her old age, she had a quick and even stride.
“So we were talking about obsidian,” she said, picking up the conversation again. “You came with your company, I take it?”
“Most of them. There are five of us, including me. And five vreki. The other two were killed – one back in Chalandros, and the other on the way through the gate. I have two more gems, but their spells weren’t designed for salases. And I’ll need to either buy or make two more.”
Gosta nodded. “I won’t be able to take you to the jeweller myself – I have to get back to the hospital – but I’ll get Nerik to show you where it is. Kit is the witch’s name.”
“Nerik?” Koradan frowned at her. “As in the young man who came here with you?”
“Yes.” A sly look came over Gosta’s face. “He’s an infernal.”
Koradan’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious? I haven’t seen an infernal in… gods, it must be at least five years now.” With the ever-increasing heat in Chalandros, most of the infernals had been unable to regulate their body temperatures, with no way to dissipate their heat, and had died as a result. It was sadly ironic for a species that lived on a diet of fire.
“Serious as a grave,” Gosta said. “He showed up here four years ago, looking like little more than a charred corpse. We nursed him back to health, and now he works as a messenger – ostensibly for the human businesses, but most of the time, it’s actually for the Chalandrian underground. There are dozens of us throughout the city, and hundreds more in towns across the country.”
Koradan nodded. “That’s actually a huge relief. We were worried about how to contact people, or whether any of us had survived. And while we’re on the subject, you know that that horse was actually a unicorn, right?”
“Yes, I know,” Gosta confirmed. “It’s an odd partnership. Stanley’s human. But he knows all about us. He’s been saving unicorns for years. Sends most of them up into the mountains, but that one decided to stick around.”
“What’s his name?”
“The unicorn? Heck, I haven’t a clue. Stanley calls him Rimdolen. But you know what unicorn names are like. It’s probably something like Rimdo-Leniana-Makka-Hutu-Veelen-Dash. I called him Rim one day and he tried to kick me.”
Koradan snorted, then it quickly became a hearty laugh. “Serves you right for insulting his majesty. Gods, only the unicorns could be facing the end of the world and still be such insufferable pricks.”
“Honestly, Rimdolen’s not so bad. He’s pulling a cart, for the gods’ sake. He can’t still have his head too far up his own ass.”
“What about the other two? Samuel and Henrietta?”
