As they were coming closer to where Ha’na was leading them, Larisa came over to Farre, who since meeting her friend Rowena looked a bit happier but still pretty down at their situation. At least that’s what Larisa thought - that they were friends. The woman didn’t look that much older than Farre and definitely too different to be related to her in any way. She looked like she could be related to Larisa which filled her mind with many questions that gave Larisa a mild headache.

“Hey.” Said Larisa as she came up to Farre. She wasn’t sure what she should say. Throughout the days they spent together in the jungle it was mostly Farre that would start a conversation. Larisa wasn’t quite sure what to say most of the time so she usually just stayed quiet which seemed to suit Farre just fine then. But now Larisa felt the need to hear Farre again. She wished Farre would feel more unrestrained, much like she acted when they were still in the jungle.

“What do you want?” Asked Farre with a disgruntled voice.

“Are you alright?” Farre’s head turned towards Larisa at lighting speed.

“Why are you asking me, kur?” She whispered the next part. “Am I stinking up your Essence?” Her dried lips curled upwards. Larisa had a feeling Farre wasn’t really in a talkative mood.

“No. You look down. Aren’t you happy to be back with your people?” Larisa asked tentatively. Or at least she tried to. She wasn’t sure how she appeared to be.

“Of course I’m down. Some sort of noble lady asked us to follow her. Usually when that happens the noble lady has bad plans for you. At least from my experience. One person who could help us actually has no power, since this girl-” She pointed at Ha’na. “-had more power than the captain even when she was a toddler.”

A toddler? A noble? Larisa wasn’t sure what a noble was but that much power as a toddler? Larisa didn’t think she knew what a toddler looked like, actually. It was a small human, that she could say.

“I’m stuck with you, and you look at me like I’m speaking a foreign language most of the time so my hope of us getting out of this is diminishing with every second.” Farre sighed.

“For now, just do anything the lady asks, alright? Rowena will meet me soon and then we’ll see if we can sneak to the captain or something. If we push hard enough he might help us get out of this mess.” Farre whispered this part to Larisa.

Larisa wasn’t quite sure why Farre was so convinced that Ha’na had bad plans for them. It was true that she behaved like there was more to what she was saying, but Larisa couldn’t feel anything mean coming out of her. It looked more like she was excited with something and Larisa and Farre were a part of that. Larisa wasn’t sure if she should trust Farre’s assessment of Ha’na. She wanted to find out what Ha’na was about for herself.

And now came the time as Ha’na and the guards stopped outside one of the bigger tents Larisa saw around the camp. It was quite tall, even for Larisa, and made out of what looked like to be a shiny but sturdy piece of cloth. Some poles, probably wooden ones, made the fabric fall into the shape of a circle with a cone for a ceiling. It didn’t have any adornments except two long cloths that hung on both sides of the entrance. They were red with two grey triangles on both sides with a green circle in the middle. It was the same pattern that Larisa saw on Farre’s pack.

“We’re here.” Said Ha’na as she pushed the flap open. “Follow me. Guards, stay outside.”

“But, ma’am-” Started one of the guard.

“Outside.” Ha’na repeated. The guard obeyed

The three women went inside.

The place looked so colourful to Larisa. Wherever she looked there was something lying there and it all looked soft. In one corner of the place there appeared to be a desk with stacks of books on it. Larisa was familiar with such setup as she saw the same one in the cave she spent the wet seasons in. Actually, many of the books she saw here, in Ha’na tent, looked similar to those in the cave. They had the same blue mark on their spines. It was a warped square sort of. If it was supposed to look like something then Larisa had no idea what it might’ve been.

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“Make yourselves comfortable. We have much to discuss I believe.” Ha’na gestured for us to sit on something that looked like a dangerous plant to Larisa. It was soft, of that she was certain, and had some fringes hanging from the corner. It appeared to be a plump square of some sort.

As Larisa was still deliberating sitting on such a thing, Farre pushed her down on it and Larisa’s butt has never felt such comfort. What wonders did these people have! She touched the thing she was sitting on and was amazed how softly it brushed against her fingers. Like a fur of a little cienja. Only once was Larisa able to pet a little cienja and it felt just like that. Unimaginably soft.

“Once you stop stroking that pillow we may begin.” Ha’na voice brought Larisa from her wonderland. A pillow? That was the name of this invention? She wanted this pillow.

“I stopped stroking.” Said Larisa as she turned her focus to the two women before her. Ha’na was simply staring at her with raised eyebrows and upturned lips. Larisa had a feeling she was amused with her or something. Farre on the other hand, Larisa could not read, as she hid her face in her hands. Maybe her face itched?

“Alright.” Said Ha’na. “You both might wonder why I brought you here with me. You see, when I heard from the other side of the camp that a scout thought to be lost in the jungle came back miraculously alive, I had to investigate. Then I heard that she came back with one of the cold people. You can see how that could be interpreted, yes?” Ha’na didn’t wait for Farre’s response.

“And then, another thing I heard was that this cold woman was apparently dressed strangely, walked strangely and acted strangely.” She took a breath.

“You see, I’m one of the people in charge of strange things like that around here so I had to take you for myself. And will wonders never cease, the cold woman is actually a bestian! One in a million of such a specimen found itself to be here purely by chance. What would you say to that, sergeant? Or even you, bestian?”

Silence followed Ha’na’s talk. When she looked at Farre again, Larisa saw that a layer of sweat broke out on her forehead. What would she be nervous about? Ha’na literally described what happened.

More importantly, Ha’na said she was a ‘cold woman’. What could it mean?

“What is a ‘cold woman’? Larisa asked.

The question seemed to surprise Ha’na if how her face looked like was anything to go by.

“You don’t know?” Prompted Ha’na.

“No, she doesn’t know anything, my lady. I’ll tell you what happened, but it’s nothing that interesting.” Then Farre proceeded to describe pretty much everything that happened between them in the jungle. She left some details here and there that Larisa thought she simply deemed less important and then it was Ha’na’s turn to speak.

“She showed you her markings unprompted? Without shame? And she knew about the wildlife? This seems unreal.” Spoke Ha’na as she got up from her sitting place.

She started to walk around the tent space and Larisa wondered what was there to think about. These people were more complicated than she anticipated and they spoke of strange things. What did it matter how she looked liked? She could fight and was healthy and Larisa thought herself to be quite reasonable. All the things that mattered in the jungle seemed to be less sought after with these people.

“Come here then.” Said Ha’na as she gestured for Larisa to get up. She really didn’t want to but Farre said to listen to anything the lady said so she did just that. Farre didn’t seem to ask people to do stuff unless they should do them.

“Strip yourself, bestian.” Asked Ha’na.

“What? What you want her to do? Hal no.” Said Farre as she got up.

“Calm yourself, sergeant. I need to see her markings. Things like that can tell you more than words could.” Ha’na said quite loudly, but not enough to irritate Larisa’s ears, though it was close.

Larisa wasn’t quite sure why Farre got so worked up at what Ha’na has asked of her. Apparently she needed to see Larisa’s scales for something. And if Larisa was to be honest with herself, the thought of that, kind of made her feel warm inside. She began to take off her leathers.

She took the bear skin off, then her bracers for arms and legs. Then she unfastened her vest and stripped out of her under shirt. The trousers came off quick and the weapons Larisa put close enough for her to grab if needed to be. She didn’t think she'd have to but it was always better to be careful. Always be careful.

When she looked to both Ha’na and Farre, one was looking at her quite intently and scrutinized every inch of her scales and the other hid her face in her hands again.

When Larisa looked at Ha’na the warm feeling came back again and she could feel the tips of her ears heat up. The more she stood there undressed, the more she felt exposed and she’s never felt like this. She wasn’t quite sure if she liked it or not.

“Sergeant?” Ha’na asked Farre slowly.

“Yes, my lady?” A muffled voice came from where Farre hid herself.

“Why didn’t you tell me that her scales were red?” A coiled snake ready to strike managed to lodge itself into Ha’na’s throat if the hissed out words were anything to go by.

“Huh?” That prompted Farre to look at Ha’na but still not at Larisa. “So what?”

“So what, sergeant, is that only one creature has red scales. Do you know what that creature might be?” Asked Ha’na. It seemed to be another one of those questions but not.

“What do you-” Farre started to speak, but then her whole body froze up and Larisa got instantly worried as she felt an immense amount of fear shot up into the Essence.

As she was about to go up to Farre and ask her what was wrong, her eyes looked into Larisa’s and she said one simple word. An answer to what Ha’na asked about earlier.

“A dragon…”