Menda screamed as the coat seemed to swallow her whole. Once she was inside all sound seemed to stop. She tried to move and no matter how much she struggled she stayed in one place. She looked forward to find she could see what the coat saw and right now that was her sister. 

 

“Sorry,” she whispered but once she said it she couldn’t stop. “Sorry, I know this isn’t what you wanted but it was all I could do.” With that, the tears started to flow down her cheeks “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.” She heard him mutter something to her sister but she was too absorbed in herself to tell what. 

 

She watched as he took breath after breath of dragon fire without taking damage. With the coat drawing the attacks, the others could actually kill the dragon. She was glad to be a part of the fight even if she knew what was coming. Once the dragon fell and drew its last breath the coat nodded before floating up completely ignoring the townspeople.

 

She didn't know how long they flew for. It was like she kept falling asleep and couldn't tell how much time had passed. The most recent she woke up he was heading towards a sunset or rise she couldn't tell. 

 

“That's beautiful.” He looked up to see it clearly. “Can he hear me?”

 

“Of course I can. You are inside me.” He crossed his arms and looked away from the sun. “Why? Have something to say?”

 

“No…” He nodded and kept going down the road.

 

~*~*~*~

​

She didn't know how long it had been since they left Abingmar. She was trying but she kept falling asleep while Calbas didn’t. He seemed to be trying to get as far away from town as possible. “Where are we going?” Calbas said nothing and she looked out but it was only stars around them. “I wonder how big the universe is. Do you think there is more out there then?” 

 

“You're not like the others.” 

 

“How so?” But Calbas didn’t say anything just kept flying. Menda frowned.

 

Since then the two hadn’t talked, not a single word it had been some time, she guessed a few weeks with how many times she had fallen asleep. She was getting to the point that she didn’t know if she could speak anymore. 

 

When they got to the next town, she said the first thing she could think of. “Look at that lady’s hat. It's so pretty.” She trailed off on the second sentence, eyes wide as she lightly touched her throat. She looked around for something else to talk about. “This road is huge. I've never seen one so wide.” In the need to hear her own voice she started to talk about anything she could think of from the little she could see from his eyes, and with that a new routine was started. 

 

It didn't matter where they were or what he was doing she would say anything on her mind. It was something she needed to keep her mind about her. They went like this for a while, though with his schedule she couldn’t tell how long, until one morning they were given a letter demanding Calbas meet the writer outside of town by the lake. “No one ever calls me out.” 

 

“Will you be going?” he nodded and folded the letter, putting it into his pocket.

 

Calbas didn't need to sleep so spent the night wandering the town. He did this most nights, her talking about whatever she saw mostly about the stars. Once they saw a thief breaking into a room and she tried to convince Calbas to stop him but he refused. As always she fell asleep as they wandered, slightly wondering what tomorrow would hold. 

 

When she woke up, they were on the edge of town and heading east, there was only one thing that way. “Wait, you're actually going to meet the letter writer?” 

 

He nodded but said nothing more. They stepped into the clearing just as the sun was rising. 

 

“It's like when we left,” she muttered, he looked at it for a moment before looking at the lake's reflection instead. The letter writer didn’t put a time so the two stayed there even as the sun had moved to the middle of the sky. In that time Menda had gone from a question of who the writer was to what the next town would be like. Talking about whatever had come to her mind once again.

  

“You came.” He turned his head to see Algera entering the clearing.

 

Calbas stood up, fully turning to her. “I'm not usually called out. Who are you?”

 

Algera shrugged. “You wouldn't know me. I'm your battery's older sister.“

 

“And why are you here? To kill me?”

 

Algera gripped the handle of her sword shaking her head, “I know that is impossible. So I came to trade.”

 

“Came to offer yourself?” 

 

Menda gasped. “No. You can’t let her.”

 

Algera shook her head again. “That would improve nothing. I'm here to trade this.” Putting her hand into her bag she pulled out a gem with a deep red color with the center being a mix of orange and yellow around the edge. It glowed in her hand giving off an ever changing glow.

 

“Is that a Dragonheart stone? You actually went through the process of condensing that down?”

 

Algera nodded and closed her hand. “Yes. Will this be fair?“

 

“If it's a real one.” Calbas held out his hand. Neither moved, staring each other down.

 

“Give me my sister first.”

 

He shook his head. “And became powerless? Let me check if it's real first.” She didn’t move and he lowered his hand. “If not I can just leave.”

 

“No.” She put her hand out and he moved his hand under hers. She took a breath before letting the gem go. His hand curled around it and she watched his hand carefully.

 

“It seems you were telling the truth.” He chuckled and put the gem into his pocket. Algera watched him carefully holding her breath waiting to see what he would do, suddenly Menda came out of the front opening. Algera catches Menda before she could hit the ground. Menda opened her eyes looking up at the two and before squeezing her eyes shut clutching her head with a cry of  pain.

 

“What's wrong with her?” Algera glared up at Calbas who was starting to float up. 

 

“Such a sudden disconnect after so long caused a migraine” Algera looked back down at her sister and rubbed her back. “Then I'll be leaving.” He turned from them fully and started to head to the town they had come from.

 

“Wait.” Menda reached out to him but her sister hugged her. Menda looked at his back for a moment before hugging her sister. Burying her head into her shoulder helped keep the light from her eyes making her head hurt less. Soon after she was asleep holding her sister tight.

 

Menda remembered waking up on and off in a carriage but not much else besides the inside of it and the movement of its travel. She woke up sometime later with Algera holding her hand. “Where are we?“

 

“We’re back in Abingmar.” Menda looked around the room seeing it was the same as she had left it. Pictures on the wall with a little dust that hadn’t been taken down. She looked back at her sister who had been watching her. “No, I haven’t changed it. I knew I would get you back.”

 

Menda sat up with Algera’s help. “What...what did you give that coat?”

 

“Oh you saw that?” Menda nodded. “That was called a Dragonheart stone.” Menda blinked at her and Algera continued. “I had heard of it before and so we figured out how it works. Mostly you heat up a dragon heart and slowly add pressure till it is condensed into a small gem. I was able to convince the town to help me.”

 

“Oh... Where is that coat?”

 

Algera glared at the window. “We made a deal. You shouldn't see it ever again.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Oh? You should be happy you'll never see it again. You were it’s prisoner.”

 

Menda looked at her hands. “At the end it felt like we were becoming friends.” 

 

“Friends! you have got to be kidding me.”

 

“I mean it. He was answering me and we were starting to talk.” 

 

Algera put hands on Menda’s shoulder. “I know you think that but that thing can't care. It was tricking you and using you like a battery.”

 

Menda gripped the sheets. “I know.”

 

“Just like it ticked you to put it on.”

 

Menda shook her head. “It didn't trick me. I knew what I was doing when I put it on but the town needed it. You would have died without him.”

 

“You still shouldn’t have let him take over. I...We could have dealt with the dragon without losing you.” Menda was silent just looking at her hands. “Sorry, I just don’t want to lose you. I’ll go make you some food okay?” Menda nodded and Algera pet her head lightly.