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Chapter Nine

Masama's eyes drifted open lazily. It was very early morning. The sky was still dark and the air was crisp and cold. She looked around and saw that all of her friends were still asleep. She smiled, thinking of all the adventures she had had with them, even though they had only met a few days ago. It was nice to finally belong.

She was about to tuck her beak back into her wing when she noticed that one of her feathers was glowing. It was towards the end of Masama's tail, right against the black line of feathers.

Masama noticed something strange happening. Her feathers always had a sort of glowing element to them, but right before her eyes, all of the life seemed to be sapped out of it, living a cold, lifeless...black feather.

Startled, she fluttered backwards, squawking. Her friends woke up slowly, looking at her in confusion.

"What in Mystic are you doing?" Mallumo questioned, looking very cranky.

"Oh, um...I thought I saw something. It's nothing though." Masama reassured them. She wasn't a very good liar, but everyone seemed to exhausted to care.

"Whatever, just keep it down," Mallumo said, curling back up into a ball, facing away from her. Everyone else dozed off once again.

Masama frowned. What did this mean? Would it be kinder to talk to her companions about everything that had happened before she joined their cause? No, if she did that, they would surely abandon her. Besides, Masama didn't fully understand it herself.

She tried to rest since she knew that they would have a full day of travel tomorrow. However, Masama couldn't help but think that they would find out eventually...

Jillia was awoken with a jolt by a hoof striking her softly. It didn't really hurt, but it surprised her. The sleepy walkese looked up and saw Shika standing over her.

"Oops, sorry Jillia." the clumsy alicorn apologized.

Jillia yawned. "It's fine," she said, "What are you up to you?"

"Well, Masama is going to teach me how to fly." Shika explained. Jillia noted that her wings had grown quickly. They used to just be small tufts of feathers, but they were now about the size of Shika's head.

"Watch me, Shika." Masama called, walking over to them. She seemed somewhat nervous, maybe because of the battle they had had in the treasure room.

The phoenix propelled herself into the air with her legs and flapped her wigns, soaring up towards the sky. "Just jump up and flap your wings. It should come naturally." Masama instructed.

Shika nodded and donned a look of determination. She took a running start, came dashing forward and then leaped. She beat her wings once, then glided for several seconds, getting at least a foot of the ground. Mallumo and Sirak joined Jillia as she watched.

Masama fell back to fly beside the alicorn. "That's it, you're getting it." However, as Masama praised Shika, Jillia noticed one of her black feathers brushing against the alicorn's shoulder. Shika let out a yelp of pain and fell back to the ground. Sirak caught her just in time.

"Are you okay?" asked Masama worriedly, landing back on the ground. Shika retreated away from Masama. Her eyes were filled with a terror for a short moment. Shika blinked and shook her head. She became more relaxed, but still quite rattled.

"Um...I-I'm fine. I don't believe I want to try flying for a little while though..." Shika said. Masama nodded in agreement.

No one else seemed to be curious about what had truly happened. Maybe it was just that Shika was an inexperienced flyer, but Jillia felt that there was something more.

"I shouldn't be so suspicious." murmured Jillia. Shika trotted over to her.

"Did you say something, Jillia?" Shika asked.

Jillia shook her head. "No. Nothing important."

"Okay." said Shika. As the alicorn turned to walk away, Jillia noticed something strange on her shoulder where Masama's feather had touched her. It was a black cut-like marking. On most creatures, this would be normal, but Jillia had never seen any sort of impurity on Shika's coat before.

"So Jillia, where are we heading next?" Mallumo asked, approaching her.

"I think I see a village up ahead!" Sirak announced. Jillia followed his gaze and noticed a grouping of buildings not too far away.

"Let's start walking, and try to figure out who lives there." Jillia decided. She looked back at Shika and noticed that the slash was gone. Yeah, she was just imagining things.

"Let's start walking, and try to figure out who lives there." Jillia decided.

"I just hope they're friendly, unlike our pleasant visit to the unicorn herd." remarked Mallumo, trudging towards civilization.

As they traveled, they found that the town was much closer than they thought. They were able to see more of the buildings.

Mallumo squinted. "The architecture looks phoenix to me. Hey Masama, what do you think?"

As soon as Mallumo said "phoenix", her eyes widened. She shifted on her feet. "Um, I...I don't think so. I don't think we should go there. They don't look friendly."

As they neared the town, Jillia noticed a sign.

"Kytea" it read in clear black letters. The text below was written out in three languages. One was walkese, one was dragon, and she assumed the other to be phoenix. "Population: 78, Travelers Welcome"

"City? More like a grouping of buildings. The dragon capital, Fajrego, now that's a city Why, I..." Mallumo began. Jillia cut him off, not wanting to sit here listening to him ramble about dragons all day long.

"Well, let's go. Maybe these guys will listen to us." Jillia hoped. Masama continued to look uneasy.

"Um, I think I'll stay out here, and...keep watch." she said.

"I think they've got that covered," Sirak reassured her, motioning to two guard posts with some guards on each, keeping lookout. Well, at least they were supposed to. The right tower only had one phoenix, who was asleep. The other had three, who were playing some sort of gambling game.

"Well, I want to keep an eye out, in case Bianca shows up, or the phoenixes give you some trouble, or...or something." Masama explained, "I mean, we phoenixes are a rough bunch, I don't think we should be going in at all."

"Masama, what has been troubling you so?" Shika asked empathetically. The others nodded in agreement.

"Seis! Kuka siellä?"

Jillia looked up to see that the right guard had woken up. He looked a bit sheepish of the fact that it took him so long to notice their presence. Jillia looked to see Masama flying away. Well, maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea after all.

One of the watchmen who had been gambling with his friends flew back to the right tower. The two guards began arguing as Jillia and her friends looked on.

"Väärä kieli! Tuo on maakoira, tyhmä!" said the older looking one.

The younger one replied. "Mutta on lohikäärme ja lintu-leijona liikaa, joten en ollut varma!" Jillia tilted her head in confusion. Should they just leave? Shika walked past her, towards the towers.

"Anteeksi, herrat, toverini ja minä puhun niitty kieltä." Shika shouted over their bickering. Jillia had never seen her get her voice so loud.

The two phoenixes looked at eachother and shrugged. "Sorry for that, madam. Are you travelers?" the elder watch asked.

Mallumo stepped forward this time. "We seek an audience with your leader."

"Shall we let them in? They're only children..." one phoenix whispered. The other one replied.

"Sure, it isn't like Patun is terribly busy these days anyway! Why, I-"

"Sh! He'll have our tailfeathers if he catches you saying things like that."

After they were done with their side conversation (again), they nodded and agreement and called back down.

"We'll let you in to see the boss. Hey guys, open the gates!"

Jillia looked around. What gates? She heard a creaking sound and saw an old, rickety wooden gate in front of them. It seemed like it should be protecting a garden from pests, rather than a city from soldiers. It opened slowly, revealing the contents of the town.

There was a cracked cobblestone path with small plants growing up out of it. It led to a large square that had several stands selling various items. On the sides were somewhat lopsided houses made out of sun-baked brick.

Most of the inhabitants of Kytea were phoenixes, but she saw a few dragons and other creatures that she did not recognize. They shouted the names of their wares, citing all of their various uses.

It was a lot to take in. Jillia had never been to such a large settlement, even if Mallumo claimed that it was tiny.

"So...where's the town hall?" Sirak wondered.

"Does anyone here speak walkese? Ĉu iu ĉi tie parolas drako?" Mallumo called.

"I do." said a green, finned equine that looked like it could related to a unicorn. It had a strange accent that seemed foreign. It was running a booth of exotic spices.

"Where's the town hall?" asked Jillia. The creature glared at Jillia with cold contempt.

"Just around thee corner." he said. He then went back to selling his wares.

"Thank you, good sir." Mallumo said. They followed the salesman's directions and reached a large-ish building. It was so patched up with different materials, everything from wood to plaster, that it was difficult to tell what it had been originally built out of.

There was a sign with a message written in three languages as usual. It listed the visiting times. It was apparently open, but there didn't appear to be many people inside. Mallumo opened the door slowly.

The ground floor of the town hall was a large, mostly empty room with dusty wood floorboards. There was a phoenix sitting at the desk whose feathers were light blond, almost white. She had huge purple eyes.

"Do you have an appointment?" she inquired in an irritable, nasally voice. The tag on her desk read "Secretary".

"What's an appointment?" asked Sirak.

"What he means to say is," Mallumo interrupted, "We would like to make one."

The phoenix looked through the schedule that was on her desk. She sighed, as if they were an obstacle to her taking a nap. Jillia noticed that the schedule was pretty much entirely empty.

"No, no meetings. We're very busy. Now get going. I…" the phoenix secretary was interrupted by a large bird swooping down the stairs that lead to the second floor. He landed right next to the desk. He was bright red though a large crest on his head and long, trailing tail feathers that ended in purplish tips. Jillia thought this phoenix looked quite regal.

"Mesa, who are these fine folk? Ambassadors?" he asked. The phoenix jumped around excitedly and flapped his wings as he spoke.

"I was just explaining to them how very busy you are, sir." replied Mesa sarcastically. The red bird was not at all put off by his secretary's attitude.

"Mesa, that's not how we treat our guests! I'll speak to you all now, I happen to have an opening."

Mesa rolled her eyes. "Whatever." she said.

"Oh, pardon me, it seems I have yet to introduce myself. I'm Patun, and I run Kytea. Right this way!" He hopped up the steps.

They shrugged to eachother and followed Patun. They reached a messy room with a desk that was almost completely covered in paper.

"Please excuse all this clutter, I tend to make a mess when I'm working." Patun said, fluttering over to a perch behind the desk. "Well, what can I help you with?"

"Let me do the talking." Mallumo said quietly. Jillia rolled her eyes, but allowed him to step forward.

"Good sir, my companions and I would like to impress upon you the importance of the walkese resistance movement." the dragon prince explained. Jillia sighed inwardly. Mallumo always seemed to try to talk very fancily when he was trying to show-off, but really it just made him sound stupid.

"Really, now?" replied Patun, looking somewhat surprised, "I didn't realize they were resisting."

"Er, well...it's all still in the preparation stage, and we'd like your support." Mallumo said.

"Oh!" exclaimed Patun, "I see, you're with the dragons. Well, we're unfortunately lacking in supplies right now, but we'll send what we can to aid you in fighting the rebels."

Mallumo shook his head, looking a bit frazzled. "Not exactly, sir...the revolution is-"

"What he's trying to say is," Jillia said, "We're fighting for the resistance,"

Patun cocked his head to the side. "Wait, why is it that you need my support?"

Sirak, who had been dozing off in boredom, woke up. "Hey, do you have any food? I'm starving." he said.

Suddenly, they heard wings beating heavily. Mesa came soaring up the stairs. Her feathers were slightly ruffled from flying so quickly, and she seemed frightened by something.

"Patun, there is someone else here who wants to see you. Immediately." said Mesa.

"Excellent, we were just about to break for lunch."Patun said, "I'll have an assistant bring you up a meal. You're welcome to wait here if you like." With that, he followed his secretary downstairs.

Jillia began to pace the floor. This was turning into a disaster.