Chapter 7
The Proper Place For Me
We slept that night in Clyte's room. Quortay started to get more food then me. His feathers were stroked by the hand of Clyte more often than mine. I wondered why this was. I didn't know what Quortay had done that I hadn't. Maybe nothing. Clyte was soon forgetting about me. Two days passed, and Clyte forgot to feed me the second day. I screeched and squawked when Quortay was brought out of the room and the door closed behind the two. I hated being alone. That night, Clyte sat down to do some reading. He was reading a book called "The History of Dragons". He looked up from his book when I screeched in irritation. He stood up and walked to my food dish. It was empty. He rubbed my feathers roughly and walked to Quortay. He gave Quortay a gentle back rub for about five minutes. Clyte looked back to see my head drooping. "I don't have time for two of you. You'll go back to Zalon." He grabbed me from my perch and set me on his shoulder. I sat there with my head held high. I was going out of the room tonight. Clyte opened the door and shut it gently behind just the two of us. He walked across the room silently and gave a gentle knock on Zalon's door. She answered and welcomed us warmly, asking us to come inside. Clyte shook his head and extended his arm. Zalon reached out and smoothed my feathers down. "What sir?" "I don't have time for two of these creatures. I've bonded nicely with Quortay. You may have Zxerette back." Zalon held her arm out and I gratefully climbed on it. Clyte turned and walked out of the room. Zalon shut the door and walked over to my perch. She let me walk onto it and waited while I ate my supper. "We must talk. I don't care what time it is. You have a lot to tell me, no doubt." I shook my head sadly as I finished my dinner. "I've not been in the room with Clyte for two days. At least, not when he's saying anything important." I shook my head again and stared at the floor. Zalon looked curiously at me. When she was silent for a moment more, I began to tell her of my mission. "The mission went as planned. I delivered a message to the dragons and to the unicorns. The unicorns agreed to help us. I told Clyte of the message before I slept the day I delivered the other messages. He only nodded his head and stroked Quortay's feathers. I'm quite jealous of Quortay, but I will be needed here." Zalon tilted her head to the right and peered at me through the dim light. Her lantern didn't cast much light in the small room. "How can you be of help when you are in here?" I sat up from my food bowl and began cleaning my feathers. I told her of my plan in between feathers. "Well, it starts with communication. Brian and I couldn't get any information back to you because we were always with Clyte. Now, he'll be able to tell me the important stuff and I can relay the messages and info back to you." Zalon nodded her head and quietly clapped her hands. "Bravo! You are remarkable at thinking and devising such plans. I guess I will bring you to breakfast tomorrow morning. I find it odd that you are jealous of Quortay." I slowly shook my head and smiled. "It is the creature's nature. It is always jealous when another gets more attention. I have been jealous of most people and creatures myself, but the Clyuire only adds to my jealousy. I hate being left in a small room all day when Quortay gets to go out for hours at a time on Clyte's shoulder and listen to conversations." I laughed at my own selfish wishes to not be so lonely. Zalon only nodded her head. "I have felt the same, my friend. The exact same way. I want to share each day with someone, but I am kept in this room. I am told to stay in here and stamp Clyte's name on the top of every paper they have. See?" She pointed to a stack of papers that had Clyte's name on the top of every page. Then she pointed to a stack that reached halfway up the wall that didn't have his name on them. "They will give me more after I am done with this," she said sadly. "It seems females have no real purpose in this awful place. We either make little dragons or work at the smallest duties. I don't want children. I certainly wouldn't want my little children, if I were to have any, fight against the unicorns. So, you can very well see why I am stuck with a stamp, a pad of ink, and thousands of papers." She smiled up at me. I smiled back and said,"I can help. We'll just have to listen for any knocks on the door so I can change to Clyuire before anyone sees me." Zalon nodded and waved her hand across the top of the lantern. The wind from her hand blew out the flame and the room grew dark. "Goodnight," she whispered. "Goodnight," I whispered back. I heard her get into bed and pull the covers up. We both slept soundly that night.
I woke to a stinging pain in my wing. Everything went black.
Dazed, I tried to raise my head to look around. I couldn't see anything. The world spun before my eyes. I closed them for a moment, then reopened them. I could lift my head about an inch off the table. It was cold and white. It looked to be made of marble. I was lying in an empty room that was about the same size as Zalon's room. I closed my eyes and tried to remember what had happened. My head throbbed. A door opened and closed. I jerked my head up in surprise and tried to see who had entered. A girl about fifteen years old walked towards me. She stroked my head and lowered her face to my wing. I tried to reach up to comfort her, but my hands were clamped to the table by metal clamps. I resorted to purring in the strange way that only Clyuires can do. She lifted her head and managed a smile. Slowly, cautiously, she looked around the room while pulling a key from her jean pocket. She inserted the key in the clamps and unlocked them. Gently, she lifted one of my wings and set it by the rest of my trembling body. She walked around the table and did the same on the other side. I fluttered my wings, but the girl quickly held my neck down. I relaxed instantly. She calmly picked me up and cradled me in her arms. I heard not a word from her, but I knew I should be silent. She walked me to the door and quickly opened it, shutting it behind us. We were in the Main Room. Dragons were waddling around and were laughing at each other. Many looked drunk from the wine they must have had. The girl rushed me across the room and through the drunks to a door. She opened it and slammed it shut. The girl ran to her bed and lay me on it. I lay where she put me. She ran to the door and locked it. Then she went to a night stand and opened a drawer in the back of it. She ducked behind it for a moment and reappeared with a bread crust. "This is all I could save," she said. The girl pushed the night stand back into place and laid the crust on the bed. She helped my stand on the soft bed and held the crust for me. I ate it anxiously, still wondering what she was doing and who she was. When I was finished, I opened my beak to speak. She shook her head in panic and covered her mouth. I closed my beak, and she smiled. I took in the sight of her room. It was much smaller than Zalon's room. It was at least half Zalon's room's size. There was a night stand by her bed, which was across from the door, a perch in the corner by the night stand, and a small dresser at the foot of her bed. There was enough room to do jumping jacks in the room and that was it. No cartwheels, somersaults, or even pushups! I shrugged my shoulders and watched the girl as she started stroking the feathers on my wings. She had black hair and soft brown eyes that went perfectly with her small smile. She was oriental and looked to be Japanese. She had her hair just above her shoulders and I wasn't happy at all when the smile faded. I could tell when she was worried. Her mouth would stay in a straight line, and she looked as if she were about to cry. I smiled at her, hoping to make her smile again. She gave me a quick grin, then was worried again. I looked away, not being able to bare her unhappiness. Finally, she spoke up. "My name is Quint." I looked at her in surprise. She was smiling at the look on my face. "Quint? ‘The' Quint?!" Quint nodded her head excitedly. "Yes!! You remember me? The white unicorn?!" "Yes! How could I ever forget you, Quint?!" I squealed and screeched at the same time. Quint put a finger to her lips. She had a beautiful light pink shirt on that made her lips pink and black blue jeans that made her lips and shirt stand out. Around her neck, she wore a clear crystal, and she had her hair parted perfectly down the middle. "I lied. You are not the first to have come here. I am the first. I did not want you to know at the time. I was the very first human to turn unicorn. I discovered an injured unicorn and hid it away in my barn. It asked me to come with it, and I did. That's how people got involved with unicorns. I am not old in human years, but I am very wise. It is still hard for me to hide my emotions from people. I am so used to the almost no emotion showing unicorns. Know what I mean?" I nodded my head and waited for her to continue. "Anyway, your time with Zalon is up. You can be of no more help here. Quortay, Brayan, or Brian, whichever name you choose to use for that one person, will take over what you have been doing here. You must come back to help us plan. We will be starting an attack in two days. Sooner than any of us expected. Will you be able to plan in that short a time and with such short notice?" "Yes! Of course! I would love to come back!" I whispered excitedly to Quint. She smiled a big smile and began talking like we were going to the mall or something. "I can't wait! You can come with me! We'll go together! We can go to the Sparkle to plan! That is where all of our maps and everything is." I jumped up and down in my Clyuire body and said,"I can't wait to see the Sparkle!!" Quint laughed a silly laugh, and I had to join in. "I must get you back to Zalon tonight. You will explain to her that you are coming with me tomorrow. Then we will have her tell everyone that her beautiful Zxerette flew away. Word will be spread that you flew away from her, and you will soon be forgotten. Make sure to tell Zalon to tell Brayan of this. Got all that?" I nodded my head and flew to the perch in the corner. "One question for you, Quint." She sat on the bed and ran her hands through her hair. "Yeah?" She asked. "What happened? My wing hurts very little, but I blacked out. Then I found myself in a room on a white table. What in the world went on?!" Quint's face clouded over as she told me. "A dragon got drunk last night. He said her would kill all the Clyuires in the building. He didn't know what he was doing. The dragon knew that there was a Clyuire in Zalon's room and that's right where he went. He ran for Zalon's room before anyone could stop him and stabbed your wing. The men pulled him off you, but you lost blood quickly. The dragons have a special sugar like medicine that was poured on the wound. It would all sort of melt together and keep the blood from escaping. It's much more effective than bandages or cloths. They also have a special pain killer that they call ‘Menenthrop'. It's amazingly good at killing pain and lasts for twenty four hours. Then we'll give you more. I'm sure you didn't notice any of that. We had you clamped down so that you wouldn't jump up and hurt yourself. You can bruise yourself easily and even the slightest bump of that wing will send you rolling to the floor with pain. That's why." She shrugged when she was finished talking and nodded to the door. "Yeah, I'm ready to go. Do you have any salve for my human arms?" I asked her. She nodded, then she held up a hand. "The medicine won't be on your Clyuire body if you change to human and back. Best wait until the medicine on the Clyuire wears off, then you can change to human and we'll get your arms all fixed up." I smiled and nodded excitedly. I had just remembered that we were going to the Sparkle! "Lets go!" I screeched. Quint laughed and opened the door. She walked to me and let me walk to her shoulder. I was barely able to contain myself as we walked across the Main Room. "Zxerette!" I screeched. Some people looked at us, but most just continued talking. "Clyte! Zxerette! Quortay! Zalon!" I yelled the names I knew. Some people turned and laughed, others gave Quint and I annoyed looks. I smiled and danced on Quint's shoulder until she had to tell me to stand still. Quint quickened her pace and was almost to Zalon's door. We were three feet from the door when a dragon grabbed Quint's arm. "Why are you out of dragon form?!" He hissed. Quint looked up confidently and said,"I was told by Clyte to walk around as a human for a while." The dragon loosened his grip and I watched him relax a little. Then he tightened his grip and stood up straighter. "Let's make sure this is true. Come on, if you tell the truth, you won't mind me asking Master Clyte." He yanked her by the arm. I let out a high pitched scream. Everyone in the room covered their ears. I ended my scream and began another longer higher scream. Dragons ran for their room while covering their ears. The dragon who had grabbed Quint was now kneeling on the floor in pain. His ears must have really hurt. I stopped screaming and he looked up with a face of agony. I tilted my head to the side and stared up at the ceiling. Then I looked at the dragon and at Quint. "Clyte! Clyte! Clyte! Master Clyte!" I yelled. Clyte ran into the room with an irritated look on his face. "What's going on in here?!" He roared. I looked over at him and said,"Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Clyte! He hurt me! He hurt Zxerette. Dragon hurt Zxerette. I looked fearfully at the dragon that was standing up and hid behind the little bit of hair that Quint had. Quint picked up on it and also put a face of shock and fear on. "It's so true! He grabbed for her and she screeched loudly. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt anyone. But this dragon wasn't respecting your orders, Master Clyte! What are we to do?!" She let tears stream down her cheeks and buried her face in her hands. I cuddled closer to her neck and purred in her ear. She turned her head sideways and let one of her eyes look at me. She winked, then went back to her acting. "Don't cry, my dear. We'll take care of this scoundrel. Guards! Take him away!" The dragon was facing Clyte with anger clearly etched in his face. "Master Clyte! They are lying! Lying, I tell you! Neither of them speaks the truth! They are lying!" Clyte's guards hurried to the dragon and dragged him away. The dragon screamed and yelled at Clyte and his guards as he was dragged toward a door and the door was closed behind all of the guards and the one ‘scoundrel' of a dragon. Clyte turned to get a look at who had been bothered so badly that they had to call out for his name. But when he turned, no one was there. Quint and I had already escaped to Zalon's room while Clyte had been watching the dragon being carried away. I turned and quickly explained everything to Zalon. "It is only for the best, I hope. Go and be happy, Saria. Sarah, Saria, Zxerette, friend." She opened the door and let the tears gently flow. I gave her a quick hug and our tears mixed. Quint hurried me out the door, and we closed the door behind us and in front of a lonely and sad Zalon. Quint ran across the Main Room to the big doors. I flew ahead of her and landed on her shoulder just as she reached the doors. Quint yanked one open and hurried through it. Then she turned and closed it behind us. She changed to unicorn and looked at me. I shook my head. "Clyuire will work best for me," I told her. She nodded and ran down the tunnel that led to the cave entrance. I flew ,with my wings barely skimming the ceiling, behind her. Quint ran into the forest and opened her wings. I swooped up and flew out above the treetops. Quint joined me a moment later, explaining that it was hard to fit big wings and a big body through the small openings between tree branches. I laughed and she smiled. We flew up to the sky and located the Sparkle. "I've never been there, but I've always wanted to be. Ever since I knew about it, that is," I told Quint. Quint nodded her head in understanding and flew faster. We were above Lake Fisher when it happened. I felt a sharp pain in my wing. "Aaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!" I screamed as my wing bent under the pain and I tumbled down toward the trees. "Saria!! I'm coming! Hold on!!!" She dove down after me. I rolled over so that I would hit back first, if I hit. Quint flapped hard and folded her wings to her side. She dove straight down after me. "Pull...up!" I yelled. It was hard to breathe, going down so fast. I saw Quint jerk her head to the left. She wasn't going to pull up! She was telling me that with her head! I yelled again,"Pull.......up! You.......have...to!!!" She was crying now. I could see the tear streaks going up her face. She gave her head a jerk down and pulled up. I smiled, but that quickly faded. I was going to crash! I was going to injure myself! I was going to die!
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