Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 23

Twenty-Three

Ayla

I n the compound, I'd read about dogs. They'd been included in books about domestic animals, so I'd seen pictures of the small ones on people's laps. Others had shown black-and-white ones moving sheep. Some had protection animals biting people in padded suits.

This dog looked like none of them.

Yes, it was clearly a canine, but so were wolves and coyotes. But where all of those had hair long enough to grab, this one's coat was short and sleek. The hair felt silky. Also, its ears were floppy, hanging down to its cheeks. The coat was mostly brown, but there were tiny black lines running across it looking almost like wrinkles in the fur made of only color.

Never mind its size! Sitting on the ground, I had to look up at it. This animal had to be at least waist high if I was standing! It was slim and lithe, looking like it was made to run, but also broad enough across the chest to appear powerful, yet the warm brown eyes seemed happy as it looked at me.

The dog shoved its side against mine, wiggling its lean tail as fast as it could. The length hit me a few times, then Zasen caught it, making the dog spin to face him. Laughing, he rubbed its head again.

"Is it safe?" I asked, unsure why the thing would be here.

"Yes," Zasen said around a laugh. "Ayla, it's just a dog. She probably smelled the bear, saw us, and now wants to be petted. Reaper dogs are safe. She's fine."

That was enough to make my lips curl, and I dared to caress the beast again. "It's so soft!"

My words made the dog lurch in to lick at my face. Laughing, I pushed it back, but that only made the thing bounce on its front legs, looking thrilled at my reaction.

"Holly!" a man snapped, making both me and the dog look over. "No! Come! "

Immediately, the animal rushed towards him, but at the last minute, it spun to walk beside him, mirroring the black dog the man had on his other side.

"Lose your dog, Lansin?" Zasen taunted.

The man, clearly one of the Reapers, shrugged. "She's still learning." Then he reached down to pet the brown dog's head and his voice changed to something softer and sweeter. "Aren't ya, girl? Yeah, you're a silly puppy, hm?"

"Puppy?" I asked, because I was pretty sure that meant a baby dog. This one did not look small enough to be a baby.

"She's a year old," he explained. "So full-grown, but not necessarily grown up." He ruffled her ears, then tipped his head at the black one. "This guy's four, and he knows his manners."

"And they're both dogs?" I asked, sure that was a stupid question. "Why's that one black?"

Lansin's face immediately split into a grin. "Why is your hair yellow and mine's black? Same thing, just four legs." Then he turned and offered Zasen a hand. "You killed a bear?"

Zasen slapped his hand in the man's, then groaned when Lansin pulled him up. "It wasn't planned, trust me. I was supposed to be gathering meat for this upcoming cookout I was told I'd attend."

Then Zasen turned to offer me his hand the same way Lansin had done to him. I accepted, but when he pulled, all the muscles down my back protested. My shoulder burned as the new scabs on it cracked, so the moment I was up, I pulled my hand back and pressed the other as close to the injury as I could.

"Oh," Lansin groaned, stepping towards me. "You're bleeding."

I stepped back. "Yes, I know. Zasen is hurt too."

But Zasen shoved his hand out, pressing his palm against the man's chest so he couldn't invade my space. "She has reason not to trust men." The look he gave the Reaper was pointed.

Lansin just nodded. "Right. Moles."

"Exactly," Zasen said. "And speaking of Moles, how long are you and Irrik staying?"

"Your mother says - " Lansin paused as a small group began to walk up the hill towards us. He and Zasen looked over at them, then Lansin continued as if the crowd heading this way was expected. "Apparently Dragons now know when the Moles come?"

Zasen gestured to me. "Ayla taught us they have different calendars. They serve meat on their holidays, and come here to get it."

Lansin just nodded. "Yeah, well, we have some things to buy, which will take time to make. Naomi's worried we won't make it back before they're on the road, so we're staying to help. Irrik insists, and it's his cart, so yeah."

"Good," Zasen said. "You can use the dogs to help run messages."

"I heard you're going to meet them head-on."

"That's the plan," Zasen agreed .

"These are trained in protection," Lansin said. "Irrik knows how to use them too, so let us help?"

Zasen nodded, but before he could reply, a shrill voice called out my name. "Ayla!" I turned to see a flash of teal hurrying towards me.

"Tamin!" I called back, crouching down to his level.

But just as he was about to smash into me with his arms open, his mother's voice stopped him. "Do not hurt her, Tamin. They killed a bear!"

Tamin stopped just in front of me with his lower lip hanging out. "Mama!"

"How about a gentle hug?" I asked. "I have an owwie on my shoulder."

"Yeah?" he asked, looking from arm to arm.

"This one," I said, pointing to the front side of where I'd been hit. "So hug that side." Then I pulled him in and squeezed.

Tamin giggled. "Aunt Ayla's the toughest Dragon." But his attention was short. "You killed a bear?"

"Mhm," I agreed, pointing at it. "And we pulled it back."

"What were you thinking?" Saveah demanded, but her words weren't for me. "Zasen, that's too much for her!" She continued marching up the hill, holding the baby on her hip, not stopping until she was beside him.

"She's the one who wanted to bring it back," he told my sister. "Clearly, the stubborn streak runs in the family."

Saveah ducked her head and chuckled. "Good point, but still." Then she looked up and let out a heavy sigh. "Now you get to explain to Tamin that bears aren't pets."

"Holly, kiss," Lansin said, pointing at the boy.

The brown-striped dog rushed forward to start licking Tamin's face and head, mostly because it was head-high for her. The boy squealed in delight, then tossed his arms around the dog's neck. That only made the dog wiggle harder, that tail of its whipping from side to side like it was happy.

"Don't let it hurt him!" I insisted.

"Dog, sit!" Saveah snapped.

Immediately, the brown dog sat - but so did the black one. Lansin looked at my sister and nodded in approval.

"I've got a couple kids of my own," Lansin told her. "They know better than to get too pushy."

"Tamin doesn't," she said, then looked back at Zasen. "And Ayla's hurt? You're sitting here talking about dogs when she's been injured?"

"So was he," I pointed out. "The bear hit his side."

Thrusting her daughter towards Lansin, Saveah forcefully turned Zasen to inspect his injury. "How long ago did this happen?"

"Last night," I said. "Not long after the sun set."

The look Saveah gave Zasen made me want to cringe. "That's going to get infected if you don't clean it. Ayla's too. So go sell your bear, then take care of her, because if I have to do it... "

Bouncing baby Taris against his chest, Lansin chuckled. "Go, Zasen. I'll stay so the kids can pet the puppies."

"Puppy!" Tamin squealed as if on command.

The brown dog leaned closer, but her rump was almost glued to the ground. Still, her tail wagged, but Lansin saw me watching.

"Shadow, kiss," he ordered, pointing at me.

The black dog casually jogged over, but unlike the brown one, this one licked at my hand. It was enough to make me crouch down and reach out. I wanted to pet it, but this was an animal. Would it understand that?

"It's okay to touch it?" I asked.

"Pet away," Lansin assured me, giving Zasen a pointed look. "See, they're fine. Get a good price for that, because you didn't take down a little one."

"No, we did not," Zasen agreed, clasping the man's shoulder before walking off.

So Lansin passed the baby back to her mother, then made his way closer. "So these are the first dogs you've ever seen?" he asked, kneeling down behind the dog to talk to me.

I nodded. "I saw pictures, but not like these. They were old, from before the compound."

"The Mole base," Saveah clarified.

"Ah," Lansin murmured. "I grew up with them. My mother raised dogs, and her father before her. Now I do as well. Have a litter of puppies back home, and another on the way. See, they're born with people, so they don't know how to live without us."

"How does it understand Vestrian?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "They understand the sound and we show them the meaning. Kinda like this. Shadow?" Then he reached over and pressed on the dog's rump. "Sit, boy."

The dog turned its head to look at him, but it did lower its rump to the ground. To me, it was very similar to the gestures and communication I'd had with the guys before we'd figured out how to talk. Clearly, the dogs learned what the words meant the same way a child learned their language.

"So they just follow you around?" I asked, reaching in to finally pet the black one.

"And more," he said. "But this is Shadow. That one is Holly, and yes, they know their names."

"Hi, Shadow," I breathed, getting a little more brave with how I touched it.

"Also," Saveah said, "the Reapers use them to hunt, to bring things back, like messages, and to guard themselves against Moles."

"Yeah, and Shadow does not like Moles," Lansin said.

I jerked my hand back. "What does he do to us?"

"Them," Saveah reminded me.

"Definitely them," Lansin agreed, "because he bites Moles. They find them by the smell. Holly is the one who found that girl. Irrik had to call her off before she attacked. "

"But Meri didn't even know!" I insisted.

Lansin lifted a hand, holding off my horror. "Which is why we called her off. The deputy mayor asked us to bring sacrifices back - alive. We didn't know why, but Naomi has filled me in on you and the things Dragons know about Moles now."

"The women don't know," I told him, feeling the need to make sure he understood that. "The men lie to us. I didn't even know my mother was from the surface. They said she was possessed!"

"I heard," he soothed.

"And the girl you brought back is her friend," Saveah added. "There's one more, so make sure the Reapers know to keep an eye out for her?"

Lansin nodded. "Can do, but we'll be heading south at the end of the year. After that, no one will be there to look for them."

"Where is there?" I asked.

Lansin chuckled. "Just east of your Mole base. Maybe half a day's walk? Less for us. Maybe four hours?"

"I didn't know..." I breathed.

"The Moles do," he assured me. "We leave bags of food for them to take. Keeps them from attacking us the way they do the Dragons."

"The gatherers are given the plants?" I asked.

He rocked his head, then it shifted to a nod. "Yeah, close enough. Grains, potatoes, and the harvest we can't use. It's tradition to leave a tribute to them as protection, but they've tried to attack before. I mean, it's been a while. I was a boy the last time that happened, but we pushed them back, and the food keeps them from trying again."

"Another lie," I realized. "In the compound, they taught us the gatherers harvest the plants. We're told to respect the men for the hard work they do, but you do it!"

"Well, not me ," Lansin admitted. "I'm a dog trainer, so I guard the fields from predators. Other Reapers do the harvesting. Sadly, I didn't inherit a green thumb."

My eyes dropped to his hands, but Saveah saw - and laughed. "It's a saying, Ayla. It means those who have the ability to grow plants well."

"Oh." I nodded. "So they're not really green."

"Not at all," Lansin said.

The whole time, my hands were busy on the dog, but the black one didn't seem to care as much as the brown had. This one simply accepted my attention. The brown one had acted more excited about it.

"Do dogs get used to people as they get older?" I asked.

"They learn to stop bouncing everywhere," Lansin said, "but they still like us. Why?"

"Because the brown one seems happier about it." I glanced over to where Tamin was all but hanging on the other dog's body.

"She's a brindle," Lansin told me. "That's the name for the coloration with those little lines in it. Holly's technically a red brindle. There are black brindles too, but they have white or tan lines. And she acts like that because she's a silly puppy."

"Just like how Tamin is exuberant because he's a silly boy," Saveah added, raising her voice so her son would hear.

"Mama," Tamin whined. "It's a dog!"

"I know, baby," she agreed. "So pet her lots, because we still have to get diapers." Then she looked back at me. "And you make sure to clean that wound on your shoulder, Ayla. The back of your shirt is caked in blood or mud."

"Probably both," I said. "And I will. Zasen made me promise already." But a little smile took over my face, so I looked at the dog to try and hide it. "But we killed the bear before it killed us."

Saveah just sighed one more time. "I think those men are corrupting you, Ayla."

"Mhm," I agreed, "but I like it." I rubbed at the dog's ears the way the men had. "And I like dogs. Most of all, I like being able to choose for myself."

"Even if it's dangerous," Saveah grumbled.