She grasped the linen, pulling the cloak tightly, and letting the tattered leather top fall to the ground.
Tressa turned around. "Thank you," she said with a smile.
The toothless woman cocked her head and winked. "We've all done it, sweetie. I already sent my daughter to get a shirt for you from our cottage. It won't match your pants, but it will cover you."
A voice cleared behind her. Tressa turned back to the semi-circle of three men and two women.
"Do you truly mean what you say?" a man asked. His brown hair fell across his brow. Freckles dotted the bridge of his nose. He couldn't have been much older than Tressa, yet he spoke for all of them.
"I do," Tressa said. "I know what the Red and Yellow did to you. I've been to the Meadowlands before and three of your children escorted me to the border, asking me to help set you free. They insisted I was a dragon and could do it, but at the time I didn't know I had dragon blood in me. I've only recently learned to change. I promised them if I ever learned how to free your people, I would."
"And you know how?" a blond woman with pale skin asked. She set her hand on the shoulder of the freckled man.
Tressa shook her head. "I do not. I was hoping one of you could tell me. I'll do whatever it takes."
"We don't know either," the freckled man said. The others shook their heads. "If we knew, we'd have lifted the barrier long ago. They used mages, and though we are plentiful with dragons—” laughter spread through the crowd, "— we have no mages."
"If I can find someone to break the barrier, will you fight with us?" Tressa asked. "Honestly, the war may come to you whether you want it or not."
"It is true," the woman said to the freckled man. She gazed at Tressa, her green eyes piercing. "I am sorry. We haven't introduced ourselves. I am Blythe. This is Renny," she said, glancing at the freckled man. "The others are Valdus, Wyman, and Sage." Blythe looked at Renny. "Should we tell her?"
He nodded. "Come." Renny held his arm out. "We have something to show you."
Chapter Thirty-Six
The toothless woman tossed Tressa the shirt she'd sent her daughter to fetch. Tressa pulled it over the cloak, shoving her arms through the sleeves, then pulled the cloak down. She handed it back to the woman with a smile and a whispered thanks. Renny led Tressa away from the town center. The other four followed Tressa while the rest of the city went back to its day.
They approached a large barn. Renny motioned Valdus over. Together, they lifted a heavy wooden bar from two iron brackets.
Renny grabbed a torch from inside the barn, lighting it on the brazier just outside. Tressa followed him in the huge doorway, orange and yellow light bouncing off giant structures made of silver.
"We were afraid war would come to us," Blythe said. "So we decided to be prepared."
Tressa held out a hand, resting it on the cool steel. Her fingertips followed the edges, coming to a point at the end. "It looks like—”
"It is. Armor. For dragons," Renny said. He clapped Wyman on the shoulder. "Wyman and his men in the forge made it for us. They started the day after the barrier was raised."
"Tis true," Wyman said. "Every last scrap of metal we could salvage was melted and used to create this armor. It was our only protection. Without the ability to send our people to other lands for training with mages, we were left defenseless."
Blythe nodded. "Everyone thought we were changing our people into dragons to prepare for a battle. That's not why we did it."
"Then why did you?" Tressa asked. "It's not a comfortable process to undergo. I've had a lot of trouble adjusting." She picked up a series of steel spikes with a leather belt hanging from the sides. Imagining what it would have been like to have armor like this during the battle with the Red, Tressa couldn't help but wonder if they'd have lasted longer than they had. Instead, many had lost their lives. Too many to count.
"We did it so we would all be equals. And if someone didn't want to be changed, we left them alone." Blythe sat on a nearby bench. "The last thing anyone wanted was to take away the freedom of choice."
"But what about the children?" Tressa didn't mean to press,