“Why did you come to the temples?” Mahin asked.
“Victor...” I cleared my throat, “My man was severely injured. I had to save him.”
“I see. And how was he injured?” she asked.
For some reason, I had this strong feeling that our lives depended on this conversation and what I was going to say would determine our destiny.
“Crawler dragons attacked our city, many died. Victor was trying to save me.” I responded.
“And you came here alone?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She scrutinized my face, but I was telling her the truth. I had nothing to hide.
“To be honest, we never would have stepped in, if not for you,” Mahin said at last.
“Why?”
“Because of who you are.”
“A dragonborn?”
“A woman.” I must have had a puzzled expression on my face because she continued. “This community existed before the outbreak. But back then, it was a divine city for the ones who cherished the first dragon, filled with priests and worshippers. After the outbreak, people tried to find shelter here, and the head priest let some of them in. But since it was a settlement made up of only men, they were only interested in women. For years we were enslaved by the ones who claimed to execute the will of the gods. I was one of those women. We were mistreated, overworked, physically abused. We had to give them our bodies to earn food and safety. Then one day, the goddess came to me. She said that we could free ourselves, and create a safenew world for her daughters. And because I listened, because I believed her, everything changed. We fought hard to reclaim the settlement, and in the end, we won.”
She picked up her cup and slowly took a sip. Then she carefully placed it on the table, raising her enchanting eyes to me.
“We killed the worst of our oppressors, and we banished all the rest. They went and made a settlement on the surface. How they live, I have no idea, but they are still there. They have attacked our entrances to steal our food, but there was no threat to our safety. Then last week they took a group of young girls with them. I don’t know if they are still alive, it may be too late for them, but I don’t want that to happen again.”
“Why didn’t you go after them?” I asked.
“We don’t know where their lair is. It is too deep into wastelands and none of us has ever made it that far. But, you could fly there. If you do that, we will heal your man and give you enough food and water to fly back to wherever you came from,” Mahin said.
That was an interesting turn of events. I hardly knew what to think about this woman, this community, this secret underground city. But doing what Mahin wanted would give us the chance to live another day. And frankly, that option was better than any other.
My first instinct was to agree and enjoy the meal in front of me. But, for some reason, I thought about Victor. He would distrust every word and want me to look deeper into every little detail. He would never commit based on a short conversation. But Victor was too weak to make any decisions. I had to make sure he had enough time to recover. Every moment we had in a safeenvironment restored his energy, bringing us closer to our goal of returning to Darragh.
“Alright. We’ll do it.”
“We?”
“Me and Vic . . . my man.”
“No. It has to be you, and only you.” Mahin nodded her head.
“What do you mean?” I glanced at Amira.
“I don’t trust any man,” the priestess said.
“In other words, you want me to handle an entire group of savage males?” I peered at her.
“Of course not. I only want you to find my sisters,” she said.
I stared at the baked chicken. The golden brown crust called to me, making me weak, nearly delusional with hunger. Did I even have a choice? Helping them seemed like a good thing to do. If what she was saying was the truth.
That was exactly what Victor would say, but again, he was not here.
Mahin was patiently watching me. She entwined her fingers, leaning closer, scrutinizing my face.
