window open and leaned out. The street was dark and empty, the streetlights illuminating vacant circles of pavement below.
A knock at his door made Tauran jump, the sound loud in the silence. He pulled it open even before his heart stopped racing.
Tauran stared straight into Jinhai’s smiling face, standing a few feet back from the door. But the boy wasn’t the one who had knocked. Startled, Tauran took a step back, looking down at the old woman right in front of him. She was small and thin, but her eyes were clear and full of concern.
“I went up, and I asked many people!” Jinhai exclaimed. “And I found her.”
From outside sounded the distinct roar of a dragon, a statera, judging by the pitch, and Tauran’s lips parted. When Jinhai had said ‘up’, he hadn’t meant into the mountain, but into the air. He’d flown around the town and searched for Iako.
“You’re Aunt Iako,” Tauran said, looking back at the old woman.
“Kalai?” she asked, the name shaking Tauran from his momentary surprise. Her gray hair was pulled back, and she clutched a bag in her arms.
“Yes. Come in.” Tauran stepped aside, letting both of them into the room.
Iako went straight to Kalai’s bedside, murmuring soft words as she placed a hand against Kalai’s brow in the tender way of a mother, and Tauran released a sigh he’d kept bottled up for hours. He wasn’t alone, anymore.
Tauran went to the open window and leaned against it, letting the breeze cool his nerves.
Jinhai joined him and Tauran wrapped his arm around the boy’s shoulders and hugged him tight. “Thank you,” he said, meeting Jinhai’s eyes. “Thank you. You…” Tauran moved in front of him, taking Jinhai’s face in his hands. “You’re incredible.”
Jinhai’s eyes lit up like fireworks, his body shifting with pride he seemed barely able to contain. “Incredible,” he whispered, then swiftly brought his hands to his chest. “Shio, Tauran-Ahala.”
“You’re welcome, kid,” Tauran said, returning to the window. He angled his chin at Iako flipping open the bag and lining up items on the bedside table. “Does she speak Kykarosi?”
Jinhai shook his head.
“Damn. Okay. Can you teach me how to say ‘can I help?’”
* * *
Tauran half-ran to the hostel lobby, grabbed a piece of paper, a pen and an inkwell from behind the counter and returned to the room. He asked Jinhai to translate various sentences for him he thought might become useful, including ‘show me what to do’, ‘how is he?’ and ‘I want to help’, along with keywords for various replies he might receive. Jinhai wrote the Sharoani sentences on the slip of paper and Tauran scrawled them down phonetically so he’d remember how they were pronounced. If Kalai woke shortly, there’d be no use for any of them, but Tauran knew he had to prepare for the worst-case scenario - that this would be a lengthy process.
Aunt Iako and Jinhai exchanged words, Jinhai explaining to Tauran that Iako would like Kalai brought back home. Through Jinhai, Tauran explained to the best of his and Jinhai’s abilities what had happened - that Kalai had been taking addictive pills known as doroxian, and that running out of them had made him sick. Tauran winced as he said it. He was sure Kalai would have hated for Tauran to reveal to Iako what Kalai hadn’t wanted her to know, but he also knew Iako needed as much information as possible in order to help.
Tauran and Jinhai stepped outside to where the dragon still waited; Jinhai’s companion, Tauran guessed, by the way the statera greeted him excitedly.
“I will find… uh…” Jinhai made a circular motion with his hands. “With wheels.”
“A wagon?” Tauran asked.
“Yes!” Jinhai swung onto the back of his dragon, its reddish ashen scales nearly blending into the night as it spun, spread its wings and took Jinhai with it into the air, with neither saddle nor harness.
As promised, Jinhai procured a wagon within the quarter of an hour. His dragon was gone, and he sat beside the driver who looked as if Jinhai had woken him from a deep sleep, which probably wasn’t unlikely. Jinhai was certainly determined, and Tauran couldn’t be more grateful.
They transferred Kalai onto the back of the wagon, swathed in blankets and with the hostel pillow under his head. Tauran hadn’t asked to take it, but left coins in the lobby for the owners. Iako sat beside Tauran, her eyes never leaving Kalai. She spoke to Tauran and asked him questions he didn’t understand, and already,