Allies of Plaxas

Chapter the Twenty Third: Ruby

The dragons swoops low and my stomach flips. I shut my eyes and force myself not to look down. It's not that I'm afraid of heights. I'm not afraid of anything. It would be ridiculous to say such a thing....okay. I'm afraid of heights.

"Hey, dragon! You know where you're going, right?"

The dragon snorts as if to laugh at what I said. I shake my head, chastising myself. Of course the dragon doesn't know where it's going. It's a dragon.

I peer below the clouds, holding onto the dragon as tightly as I can. I think I spot something, but....I'm not sure. Instead I pull myself back onto the dragon and swallow, trying not to lose my lunch.

The dragon roars and I jump. It swoops underneath the clouds and my stomach dips with it.

"There!" I shout, hanging on for dear life. "I see the town!" I pull it into a dive and shut my eyes as we coast to a landing.

We stay like that for a while, the dragon and me. It stands on the grassy land right outside the village, tossing its head and snorting as it stands there waiting. I lie on its back hugging it's scaly neck and willing the ground to stop spinning.

"Are you okay?" asks a voice.

"No," I whimper, not even bothering to look up to see who it is. "No, I'm not,"

"That's a pretty large dragon you have there. It doesn't look like it's the right size for you. Is that the problem?"

I look up then. "What do you mean? Is my dragon too large for me? Would my fear of heights go away if I had a smaller dragon?"

The girl laughs. She's small, maybe around ten years old. She wears a brown dress that's patched up with colorful fabrics and that bags at her knees. Her legs underneath are scabbed and bruised and she's barefoot. In one hand she carries a bucket and she stares at me from under dark hair, her eyes wide and intelligent.

"My goodness," I slide off the dragon as I stare at the girl. "What....why are you wearing....whatever you're wearing?"

She smiles and sticks her hand out in front of her, offering it to me. "I'm Selina Campos. It's very nice to meet you,"

I continue to stare at the small girl. "How....what is the town of Sanlow like? Is it....a poor town?"

"Mommy says that we're very fortunate to have what we have and that we should never complain. She says that there's people in much worse shape than us. I should know. My teacher is in a wheelchair because he lost a leg when he was younger. So he's not a full human shape!"

I can't help but laugh even though this town is a mess from what I've learned so far.

"Selina, where are you heading off to?" I ask.

She raises her head. "My school teacher always calls me Miss. Campos. And I'm off to get some water at the well. Mommy says that I'm old enough now that I'm ten years old!"

"Mmm. Nice. Uh....Miss. Campos, what....what state is your town in?" I ask. I can't help it, her clothes look so bad and ripped up and her town doesn't even have running water!

"We're in Plaxas, but that's a country, teacher always tells me. I didn't think that Plaxas has states! What state do you live in?" she cocks her head at me.

I cover my hand to make sure I don't laugh because I don't want to offend her. "I meant to say, how is your town doing? Do you think it's neat enough, that you always have enough to eat? I....I'm from the Plaxas Department of Town Well-being and I'm checking on your town," the lie comes out of my mouth so easily it was like it was put in there beforehand.

"Well...." she seems to have to think about this question very carefully. "Sometimes I'm hungry still after dinner but Mommy always says that--" I cut her off mid sentence.

"Thank you, Selina. I....do you want to bring me on a tour of your town?"

She looks at me honestly and then shakes her head. "I still need to get water. And mommy tells me not to trust people like you. She says that you can do magic and that you're dangerous," she frowns. "I don't know why I'm talking to you right now, even,"

I sigh. "Well, is there a place that I can tie up my dragon?"

She ignores me and continues past me, heading to the well that lies at the end of the field.

I lead the dragon to the side of the field where a forest looms. Tying it to a tree I look it in its face. "Now you stay right here. I have work to do but I'll be back,"

In response it tosses its head and snorts so I have no idea if it understands me or not.

I pull off the cloak that the school has begun making people wear. The fabric is very rare, I guess, so if an imposter comes they can tell. But the cloak also makes it much easier for me to be recognized so I place it on the dragon's back.

The village looks old and ragged andas I approach it I can tell that even without my cloak I will look wildly out of place here. The clothes people wear are torn and patched like Selina's while mine are mostly neat, if not a little grass stained.

People begin to watch me as soon as I enter the town. I pause, framing myself in a doorway as a large crowd of people run past, heading for some place unknown to me. Almost none of them have shoes on and I can tell that they're hungry just by looking at their expressions.

Is this what Greya wanted me to see? She wanted me to see how Plaxas is treating their towns? That we aren't so great after all? I almost sigh with relief, with the fact that I'm done with my mission, but a feeling in my gut tells me I'm not. Not yet.

I continue walking, heading to the center of the town. It's so small that it doesn't take me that long to get there and I figure that being in the center is probably the best place for me to be.

A crowd has begun to gather, watching me as I look around and someone pushes through it. My breath catches in my throat. I thought that I'd never have to see this lady again yet here she is.

"Hello, Ruby. What a surprise to see you here," she says.

I force a breath. "Hello, Mistress Kali,"