Dream Walker✔️

5.2

Shoveling food in my mouth with one hand and holding Ori's note in the other, I began the laborious task of translating it. I had to translate each symbol individually, holding their sounds in my mind as I tried to form them into words. The first one was four letters, pronounced n-eh-z-ah. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what the word meant. It was followed by another word I couldn't remember, v-oo-l-k-ah-r-ee-s. Whatever that meant, it was on its own line, probably something important. The next line started with several numbers followed by "red-fern street," which meant it was probably an address.

"Neza Vulkaris," I murmured aloud. Was it some kind of direction, or a proper noun—like a name. I palmed my forehead. Neza was the dude I sold my feathers to, and as much as he had protested that he only dealt in smuggled baking goods, it seemed like he was just as well-known for for his illegal draconic artifacts. We would have to stop by his place and get a translator amulet or two. He might even have a fire artifact that could help me heal.

"Don't bother asking Ori about where to find a dragon hospital, Ast. I think this might just be the place."

I stabbed absentmindedly at my plate with a fork, and it clinked against the glass. My second plate was empty. Sure, I'd eaten more in this meal than I had the last two days, but it still wasn't enough to keep up with my roaring appetite. I glanced at Izzy, who still hadn't eaten much.

"You going to...?"

She huffed and pushed the plate over to me. As I started in on it, Aster chuckled.

"At least you've got your appetite back."

"Never lost it." I quickly finished off the plate and stacked it with my others. "I've always had a fast metabolism."

"Yeah, but you haven't been eating much recently."

I didn't really want to point out the obvious, that I'd been eating a small portion of whatever our entire group had managed to collect because I was too injured to hunt myself, so I just went back to fingering the note. "We're going shopping after-" I glanced at Vance, who'd already finished his meal. "-right now, I guess. We need more supplies, and I think I know where to find something to help me get better. There's no point in you two and Fleck coming with us, so I want you to go shopping for the non-magical stuff. I'll write a list in Bontair so you can read it out to Fleck, and she'll deal with the haggling, you'll hold the stuff, that kind of thing."

"Great," Izzy muttered.

I relayed the same message to Fleck, who sat up, ears perked.

"After we get all the stuff, we'll go save my family, right?"

I gave her my best confident smile. "I can't go after Merlin, Fleck. I've got to get my friends home safe. But I can add that to my list, okay? You can use as much money as you need to hire a soldier, a trained fighter, to save them."

Hissing, she reared up on her hind four legs. "He's got plenty of fighters with him. If some dumb soldier attacks him, he'll kill my mom and my littermates. I need you and your gray lovemate. You're the only ones who can save my family."

"Fleck, I'm not what you think I am. I'm not some perfect dragon warrior. I'm really sick, and if I don't get better soon, I could die, maybe even permanently. I can't save anyone."

"Then I'll take your egg to Merlin and get my family back."

We stared down for a long minute, every possible comeback snapping through my mind in small bursts. But there was nothing I could say, not really. If I died without enough magic in my system, I wouldn't come back. My egg would be useless to anyone except Fleck. She could use it as leverage to get her family back, and by the time Merlin realized my egg was dead, she and her family could be long gone.

I took a deep breath and pressed my hands flat against the table. "If I die and revert to an egg, my friends will try to hatch me. If I don't hatch within a day of roasting in a fire, I'll never do it. Then and only then, you have my permission to take my egg and try to trade it for your family. Steal it if you have to. But as long as there's a chance that I'll come back alive, I have to do it and save my friends."

"Save them from what? They're free. They're not locked up with a crazy guy saying he'll kill them or cut them open and use their insides for freaky experiments." She yowled, extending her claws and scratching the air. "If you're so afraid of getting your friends hurt, leave them here, and we'll go save my family alone, just the two of us."

"I- I can't, Fleck. I just can't leave them. It's my fault they're even here, and-"

"Stop." Her wings drooped. "Stop telling me why you guys going home is more important than my family not dying. It's not. It's just not." Whimpering, she slunk off the table and back toward the stairs.

Aster squeezed my hand, a wondering look in his eyes.

"What was that all about?" Izzy asked with a little laugh, like she'd just witnessed a literal catfight in the school cafeteria. "She mad they don't have any milk or something?"

"Don't, Iz." I closed my eyes for a moment to reformulate my thoughts. "Change of plans. I'll write the list in English and Bontair, and I'll ask Ori to estimate the costs so you don't get overcharged. Just go up to a booth that seems to be selling what you want and say the word for it. Hopefully, that'll work."

I opened my eyes and stood, looking around to see if Ori was bussing the tables or if people were bussing their own tables. Ori wasn't doing it, but another borin girl wearing an apron was, so I left my dishes behind as I headed back to our room.

Up in my bedroom, I found the pad of paper and calligraphy pen Aster had mentioned. It did use an ink pot, but as I wrote the list, I found that the pen held ink for a lot longer than I would've expected. It was definitely nicer than the quill pen I tried to make out of a goose feather as a child.

When I finished, I collected the coins Neza had paid me for my feathers and took them downstairs with the list and Aster on my heels. Ori was finishing up with the breakfast rush. I waited in the hallway by the stairs until she finished in the dining room and took off her apron. She kept a hand over her necklace pendant as she covered it with a colorful scarf and left the kitchen. Before I'd even stepped forward to draw her attention, she turned to me.

"What can I help you with?" Her voice was cool with a hint of nervousness, like she thought I was going to ask her for something else illegal.

"I've got a shopping list, and I was wondering if you could tell me about how much everything would cost in the shops around here? I don't want to get scammed, so it would be nice to have a frame of reference."

"Sure." She took the list and frowned. "What kind of drake scratch is this?"

Right, translation amulets worked using on mild telepathy; they couldn't read a paper's mind. "It's English. I'll read it."

I read each item, and she gave me the estimates. By the time we'd finished and I got a list of currency conversions and a sketchy map from her, I was already doubting that we had enough money for the whole list. When I added up how much it would all cost, I only confirmed my suspicions. If we subtracted two additional mounts from the shopping list, we would barely be able to afford the rest. I would have to try and sell more of my feathers when we went to Neza's shop, or else we'd be walking all the way to the interdimensional portal spot, and we might just not make it on time.

"Thanks." I nodded at Ori. But something else niggled at the back of my mind. "Around here, in the shopping district and stuff, is it safe?"

She shrugged with a half-coy look. "In the middle of the day, it's safe enough. 'Snot like you have anything to worry about with him at your side." She nodded at Aster. "But if you're talking about going alone and flashing a lot of cash down dark alleys, I wouldn't suggest it, even during the day."

"Right, thanks again."