Physicker Jarrans expression turned serious. Youre asking about dragons. Where do they live? If there are any left out there, they live beyond the realms of men, in the fire places. They are powerful, powerful enough that the kingdoms were separated in the war against those who ruled using them. But they are also not a subject you should waste your time on, Nerra.

Why not? Nerra countered.

Because we both know how little time you have. How bad is your sickness now? Are the herbs I recommended slowing it?

The suddenness of the question caught Nerra by surprise. So did the sharpness of it. I…

Show me your arms, he insisted.

Nerra rolled up her sleeves, letting him see the scale sickness there. Pulling on gloves, he poked at the flesh, apparently watching the way the dark lines there distorted at the touch.

In spite of our efforts, the sickness has progressed, he said. I am sorry, but at this rate of progression, you will either die or be transformed in a matter of weeks.

Transformed? Nerra said. Shed heard of the things the scale sickness could do, but she hadnt believed them to be real until now.

Physicker Jarran went back to his chair. You have heard the stories.

Nerra nodded, buttoning her sleeves once more. Whats the truth, though? I thought that it was all made up, that it was just that people had seen the scale pattern and thought it meant something.

You thought that people did what they always do, and surrounded the truth with so many stories and half-truths that it became obscured?

Yes, Nerra admitted. I thought… when they sent people away, I thought they just died. I thought that all the fear was because of the way it could spread.

You thought, or you hoped?

I… hoped, Nerra admitted.

Physicker Jarran shook his head. The scale sickness is a transformation. People die when their bodies are not strong enough to complete it. The results… you have heard of the horrific beasts of legend, the things that populate Sarras.

It wasnt a question, but Nerra nodded her agreement anyway. She had heard of them, the things that were not even close to being human. Yet if what the physicker was saying was true…

Was everything to the west once human? she asked. Fear was already running through her at the thought. Would she become something… else? Something not human, not kind, not able to do as she wished?

That is a question that is better saved for Master Grey, Physicker Jarran said. He knows more of the truth of these things than I.

Nerra could only admit that he had a point. Master Grey knew as much as anyone alive about the strange and the unseen, yet she didnt want to talk to him about this, couldnt risk it.

I must ask again, Physicker Jarran said. Why are you asking about things like dragons, Nerra?