“He doesn’t look so good.” The girl put the back of her hand against Colin’s forehead. Before I could manage even one clear thought, I shoved her away. I put myself between her and Colin like a rabid animal. She was shocked, and so was I.

“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” I let my body go slack. All of my muscles were tensed as if those men could come back at any moment and hurt Colin again. I moved out of the way, and wiped the blood from my lips. Colin must have looked twice as bad as I did. He must have really pissed them off with that mouth of his.

“It’s okay. Dragon’s are protective when they are scared. I won’t hurt him. I am a nurse,” She explained calmly. The girl moved more cautiously as she bent over to check for a pulse. I resist the urge I felt to put myself between them again. The force pulling at me to protect Colin was unlike anything I had ever felt before. The feeling was primal, and I could feel it down to my very core.

I study the girl as she hovers over Colin, checking for God knows what. She was young, and couldn’t have been any taller than me. Her hair was long, and braided flawlessly to keep the hair from getting in her way. She wore traditional troll clothing, and her tail swung proudly behind her. Alalai never let his tail swing freely like that.

She picked Colin up as if he were no heavier than a sack of potatoes and deposited him into another room. The room gave off the impression of a sterile, white hospital room. The walls and all of the furniture, including the bed, all gleamed a bright white. The smell of cleaner stung my nose.

“No broken bones. I can give him a few herbal remedies, but there isn’t much else we can do until he wakes up,” She concludes with an air professional judgement. She went back into the other room and gathered a few leaves and other ingredients from her cabinets. A few of the things were unrecognizable, and I knew better than to ask what it was.

“Thank you. And not to sound rude, but… why are you helping us?” She was helping us without even asking who we were running from. The troll’s tail whipped around behind her as she turned to face the window of her shop. She took out a grinder, and began mashing herbs together. She stared out the window of her shop.

A young boy planted both hands on the troll’s counter and lifted his small body up to peer over her counter.

“Mam, it’s my older brother… He’s coughing, and he won’t get out of bed. Can you help me?” His voice whispered out in nervous fear. He shoved a bill forward that read “Five Marks” in a fancy cursive font. That would be about ten dollars in human currency. In the human world, ten dollars would get you very little in the way of medical help.

She didn’t accept the money, and simply handed him a jar from under the counter labeled “Flu”.

“Twice a day for a week. Make sure he takes it.” She instructed the young boy. He took the medicine, and the money back off the counter and sprinted away like the doctor might change her mind. The girl then went back to grinding up Colin’s medicine.

“I’m helping you because it’s wrong not to. Otherwise, I wouldn’t put myself in the middle of something that clearly wasn’t my business.” I frowned. I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful, or upset. She wasn’t helping us because she wanted to do something good. She just felt like she had to step in and help like some kind of marauder.

“Whatever. Thanks for the help either way.” I pushed Colin’s hair out of his eyes. My throat tightened. What if he didn’t wake up? What if he left me all alone in this world? I would have no idea what to do with myself. Or how to be a Zodiac without him.

My phoenix landed beside me, and I wiped my tears before anyone could see them. I wouldn’t even let the phoenix see them. I was the leader of an entire faction of magical creatures, and here I was, crying over a guy I met hardly three weeks ago.

“He’s going to be fine. Keep those tears for when you fail to find Carmen.” The girl lowered the bowl to Colin’s mouth and helped him drink the mushy plant medicine. He wasn’t really awake. His eyes were still closed, but his breathing was too ragged to be asleep. Colin’s face contorted from the taste of the medicine as he forced himself to swallow.

“How do you know I’m looking for Carmen?” The phoenix lowered his head onto Colin’s chest. The troll doctor smiled sadly and took care of the bowl.

“You’re bird is a big talker,” She laughs when I knit my eyebrows together in confusion. “Word about Carmen and Alalai are big news around here. I grew up with them, so I make it my business to know things.” The girl picked up Colin and carried him into the room.

As I walked around, I took in the building. The walls crumbled with a thick clay, and almost reminded me of a desert adobe. The windows were small and basically just holes in the original slab of clay walling. I thought the rooms felt cozy though. The room she deposited Colin in had stairs that lead to another floor. She probably lived on the second floor and made this a makeshift doctors office. She was young, and probably living on her own.

“I am Doctor Maize. Nice to meet you.” She bowed her head down slightly.

“Nice to meet you too.” I held out my hand. She stared at me. She gave the same scared expression that Alalai had when I offered my hand to him. Only this time, she didn’t even attempt to shake my hand or make any gestures to respond at all.

“You won’t be able to find Carmen though.” Her face didn’t look so nice anymore. Dr. Maize turned to walk away but I stopped her.

“Why not?” My voice cracked in exasperation. She furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes.

She wet a cloth with cold water from her sink and brought it over to dab Colin’s forehead. She was using this as a way to avoid the conversation at hand. It wasn’t going to work, even if every bone in my body wanted to take the cloth from her and do it myself. I wouldn’t break that easily.

My self control lost the battle and I took the cloth out of her hand like a jealous idiot.

“Don’t thing you’ve won! I still want to know why you think I can’t do it.” I growled. How was I so easy to manipulate. Dr. Maize laughed and sat near the foot of the bed. She folded her hands over her lab coat, and stared down at them.

“The men who took her…” She paused to take a deep breath. “There’s nothing any of us can do against them.”

“So even a Zodiac couldn’t beat them?” I pulled my sleeve down low to show her the mark. Maize smiled sheepishly at me. Sadness wrinkled from the corners of her eyes. She took the cloth out of my frozen hand, and rinsed it out in the sink again. She hung it over the towel rack.

“So… what would you do?” I bowed my head in shame. I was so bad at everything. Why couldn’t I just do one thing right? I was so determined, and yet all it did was get Colin hurt. She looked down at the ground, and I could tell she didn’t really want this.

“I would go and get her anyway. I would put consequence to the wind, and rescue her or die trying.” She said with an angry laugh.

“Why haven’t you then?”

Her shoulders sagged. Her eyes melted holes in the floor as she made her way back to the foot of the bed. Maize sat down with her head in her hands.

“Because… maybe… if she weren’t here, and the witches and warlocks went to war…” Her voice cracked with a painful sob. “The witches would win. And all of the trolls would go free.”