Yilina hesitated. The building Nim had scried her from was huge and intimidating. She had never left her home before, except the one time she accidentally transported herself to the desert, and that had not gone well. She wasn’t used to all the humans and the place reeked of dragons. Nim had told her dragons wouldn’t eat her, but she had been raised to believe otherwise. They ate horses. There wasn’t much difference between a horse and a unicorn. But Nim had a horn. It needed to be destroyed and she had been asked to do it since she knew him. She was also supposed to look into the man who had used it. Who was he? Did he get more? How did he get it? She made sure her bangs covered the mark on her forehead from her horn and approached the building. Some people came and went freely and others talked to a man who seemed to be helping them. The place was huge. She would never find Nim on her own so she approached the man. “I’m looking for a dragon named Nimitinas. He scried me from here the other day,” she told the man. He frowned. At first, she thought she’d done something wrong. Then he spoke and she realized he didn’t understand her. Nim had the same accent as the Ertonians and he spoke Ertonian so she assumed that was the local language. The man saw she didn’t understand him either. He held up a finger. She looked up but saw nothing. He laid a hand on her arm. “Ertonian?” He pointed at her. She shook her head and pointed at herself. Then she put a finger to her lips and drew away. “Ertonian.” She hoped he understood that she spoke it. He nodded. He motioned and a child came. He spoke to the child a moment and the child nodded and hurried off. The man had her step aside and wait while he dealt with others. It wasn’t long before the child returned, followed by a young man who was pale as a white unicorn, though he didn’t bear a horn mark. The pale man spoke to the other man and then turned to her. “Are you Ertonian?” He asked. She shook her head. “No, but it’s close to my own tongue, so I understand it.” He nodded. “Are you looking for Nimitinas?” “He scried me the other day and I need to see him.” The pale man turned to the other man and spoke, then he turned back. “Nim’s not here right now. He’s at the college.” “The college? Where’s that?” “Is this your first time in Sen-gan?” The man smiled. “It’s the other group of large buildings you passed to get here.” “I transported here. I didn’t see much,” she admitted. “Transported? Are you another white wyrm?” “I don’t know what that means.” “A white dragon?” “No.” She hesitated, not wanting to say what she was. He didn’t seem to notice. “Nim will be here in a little bit. He’s teaching a class. My name’s Tercala. What’s yours?” “Yilina.” “That’s an unusual name. At least it is here. I grew up in Ertonia. I find names are unique to areas. Come, we can wait in there.” He pointed to a door. Reluctantly, she followed. He sat and so did she. “This is your first time in Sen-gan. Is it your first time in Menthanla?” He asked. “I don’t know what those are.” “Menthanla’s the kingdom you’re in. Sen-gan’s its capital, this city.” “It’s my first time anywhere.” Kritalla nodded. “I know what that’s like. When the man who raised me died, I came here to live with my dad. It was quite an adjustment. Where are you from?” “Ventara.” “Ventara?” He frowned. “Are you a unicorn?” She nodded, hesitantly. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t eat you,” he assured her. Her eyes grew wide. “Eat me? Are you a dragon?” “I’m half dragon. I don’t even like horses. Besides, there are laws about eating people.” His frankness was surprising but appreciated. “Can I ask why you grew up in Ertonia if your family lives here?” “It’s complicated. My parents were away for a long time, so I didn’t meet them. When I did, I found out I have a brother and two sisters, and several more by marriage. Most dragons think everyone is family. I bet if we look hard enough, you and I are family.” “A unicorn and a dragon? Doubtful.” “If a dragon can find a connection, you become family. It doesn’t matter who you are.” Soon, Nim came. “Yilina? What are you doing here?” She hesitated, looking at Tercala. “I should get going,” Tercala excused himself. “I have work to do.” “I came for the horn. It needs to be destroyed,” Yilina told Nim once Tercala was gone. “I gave it to the prince-general.” “To use as a weapon?” She guessed, frowning. Nim shook his head. “For safekeeping,” he assured her. “We have no use for it as a weapon.” “What about making mages?” Nim frowned. “You told me that didn’t work.” “It doesn’t but people don’t believe it.” Nim waved it off. “We have plenty of mages.” “What about Augmenters?” “There’s plenty of those too. I train them.” “You’re an Augmenter?” “I thought you said you were a healer. You couldn’t read what I was?” Every healer Nim met knew. “The last time we saw each other, I was almost spent. I’d been days without food or water. I was using what little healing I had left just to keep me alive.” “I’m sorry,” Nim told her. “So, will you let me destroy it?” “It’s not my choice. But I’ll talk to the prince-general.” “Thank you.” “He’s busy at the moment,” Nim said after a moment. “We’ll talk to him as soon as he’s free. Come, meet my family.” Yilina followed him. She was starting to relax. She trusted him, despite all she had been told about dragons. She wondered what kind of families dragons had. Her husband had seven wives. She was rather low ranking among them, but they had grown up together and he found her attractive, so they didn’t give her much grief. He was one of the herd's lead stallions, so others showed her respect because of that. If she returned successfully, her status would improve. But that wasn’t why she came. She came because it was needed. She was surprised when she saw Nim’s wife. She was human and by the looks of it, Wilmar. She spoke a little of their language and greeted her in kind. But the woman looked confused and turned to Nim for help. “What did you say?” Nim asked. “I said I was happy to meet her. She’s not Wilmar? Her features are similar. I’m sorry.” “It’s okay. I hadn’t known there were other humans here like her. Most around here assume she’s part elf,” he explained. “Her name is Joanne, but most people call her Jo.” He turned and said something to Joanne in another language. Yilina heard her name, so she assumed he was introducing her. “She doesn’t speak Ertonian,” he explained. He picked up a baby. “And this is our son, Koritin James.” “He’s adorable.” “Thanks,” Nim smiled. She could tell he was proud of the child. “May I hold him?” It had been a while since she’d held a child that small. Her own children were older and she didn’t get along with the wife who had just had one recently. The other children in the herd she only saw in true form. Nim handed her the baby. “How are the injured doing?” She asked. “Of those he attacked recently, most have been healed to the point they aren’t in pain. One had a number of wounds and is being kept in a coma until they can heal her more.” “And what about the mothers you mentioned?” “One is the one in the coma. Another is almost healed. She only has one scar left. She told the healers to focus on the others first. The other said she can wait. All of her scars are fifteen years old so they aren’t troubling her.” “How many healers do you have working on them?” “We had three that are strong enough and another just came who is now helping.” “Would I be permitted to help?” Yilina offered. “We can talk with the healers.” Nim nodded and translated to Jo who also nodded. A large man joined them. Nim introduced him as Prince-general Remtani. “Jaidu said you were looking for me?” He asked and Nim translated it. Nim nodded. “My friend Yilina came to destroy the wand and help heal the damage they caused,” he said in both languages. Yilina was going to need to create a translation charm so she could talk directly to people. “How would you destroy it?” Remtani asked in halting Ertonian. “Burn it and then encase the ash.” The prince looked to Nim who translated it. The prince nodded and spoke to Nim who shrugged and said something. “He suggested using dragon fire to burn it since it doesn’t leave ash. I told him that it only works for things that burn easily. However, we have some unbelievably powerful mages here. Their fireballs would be enough to destroy the ash.” “If I don’t have any ash, I won’t have proof, I succeeded. I could be accused of lying. It would hurt my family.” Nim started to explain, but Jo interrupted. Nim nodded and cast a spell. “I’m sorry, I should’ve thought to do that,” he said. “What’s the problem?” Jo asked. Her lips didn’t match her words. Yilina realized Nim had cast a translation spell. “If I don’t bring back the ash as proof, I could disgrace my whole family.” “We could scry your superiors and allow them to witness,” Remtani suggested. Yilina nodded. “That might work.” “How far away is your kingdom?” Jo asked. “Beyond Ertonia and north of it. Why?” “It’s evening here. It’s probably in the middle of the night there.” Yilina nodded. She’d noticed the sun was in a different location each time she transported. “How about some dinner?” Remtani suggested. “You can stay with Nim and Jo tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll get Tercala to burn it in front of your people.” “Tercala is heading up to Dragon Castle with his parents and Pt’this tomorrow,” Nim reminded him. Remtani frowned. “Morina is away and Chapado shouldn’t handle that kind of magic. Right now, I’m not sure I trust Raylee. How’s Ann doing?” He looked at Jo. “No change. I’m not sure if she should be released.” “What’s wrong?” Yilina asked. “Do you remember the girl I told you about that I was teaching magic and was trying to figure out her heritage?” Nim asked. Yilina nodded. “She went power-mad,” Nim explained. “When that spell had me thinking I was mad, I found if I convinced myself of an outcome that my madness would approve of, I could avoid problems,” Remtani explained. “Ann wants to protect her family. If we point out that by destroying the horn, she would be protecting them and the only way she would be allowed to do it is if she did exactly what she was told, she might cooperate.” Nim nodded. “Talk with your dad.” “I will,” Remtani agreed. “Do you have any dietary needs we should let the chef know about?” he asked Yilina. “Dietary needs?” She frowned. The spell didn’t translate that well. “What do you eat? Is there anything you can’t?” Jo told her. Jo looked at Remtani. “Go, talk to your dad. We’ll make sure she’s taken care of.” Remtani nodded and left. Yilina was surprised. The prince was listening to the directions of the wife of an underling? It would never happen back home. “She eats plants, no meat,” Nim told his wife. “What about eggs and cheese?” Jo asked. Yilina shook her head. “Do you prefer cooked or raw?” “Cooked? You cook plants?” “Some can be good that way. But we can get you raw ones.” “Thanks.” “And what do you drink?” Jo asked. “Water. There are other things?” “Plenty but if you want water, that’s fine.” Jo went to the door and summoned a little girl dressed similarly to the boy who had brought Tercala and instructed her that there would need to be one meal that was to be only salad, with no dressing.