Sky Child (4 page)

7

"Lagan, stop!" I yell as loud as I can.

I don't mean to scare the other hunters, but they need to know what they are up against.

"Hunters, do not move," yells out Lagan. "Sam, is that you?"

"Yes."

"Come to me, quickly. Follow my voice."

Lagan continues talking as I bring Flot and Jet with me. The fog is clearing some, which makes things more dangerous. We could have hidden, buried deep within the fog. But now we will be out in the open, and the dragon will see us. There are no rocks to hide behind, no caves to run to, for we are in the middle of a grassy field.

We reach Lagan as the sound of the dragon gets louder.

"What is it, Sam?"

"Can't you hear it?" I ask.

Lagan stops talking. I can see fear on his face as he listens. His skin pales, and his hands shake.

"We're losing the safety of the fog," he says. "And there's nowhere to hide."

He looks around, unsure of what to do. I stare into his eyes, but it seems like he has disappeared. I try to shake him, but he won't look at me, won't talk to me.

I do the only thing I can think to do, and hope that the others will listen to me. I yell out orders to the hunters.

"Everyone, I need you ready to face what comes. We have no choice but to fight. You need to move away from each other, and set down your kill bags. Those that throw rocks, as soon as you see our enemy, I want you to try and hit it. Do not stop throwing rocks. Those with sky spears, as soon as you think you can hit the enemy, throw your spear. Pick it back up then throw it again. Do not hit your fellow hunters. Those of you with big spears, I want you to form a circle outside of the rock throwers and spear throwers. Make sure that no other predators break the circle while we fight our enemy."

"What is our enemy?" yells one of Lagan's protectors.

"A dragon," I growl.

Most of the hunters follow my orders. A few panic, and stay exactly where they are.

"Now, hunters; you must move now!" I bark.

The hunters that were frozen now move, as does Lagan. He realizes that he's a soldier now, and not a leader. He turns and looks at me with tears in his eyes, asking for forgiveness for his weakness. I have to turn away, because he was the person I looked up to most. He is still a good man, but he let his fear overwhelm him.

I look at our circle, and I see that both Jet and Flot have their spears ready. I did not send the hunters that carry big spears to the edges of our group to protect us. I spread them out so that the dragon won't kill them as easily. They will be useless in the fight, for the dragon moves swiftly, and will rain fire down on us from above. The hunters with big spears will not be able to throw them high enough to hit the dragon.

Those of us that carry stones will not do much better. We will be able to hit the dragon, but its skin will protect it from our rocks. The only chance we have is with the sky spears. I have to hope that some of the hunters that Lagan gave sky spears to can hurt the dragon.

The decision that Lagan made, to give the sky spears to people who are dangerous, was done to protect me. I pray to the Sky Gods that Lagan's good deed does not cost us.

8

The ground shakes beneath us as the dragon approaches, as if it were living sky fire. I can make out its glowing eyes, casting light through the thinning fog. My breath catches, and my knees weaken. The rock I have resting in my sling falls out, and I hurry to put it back in place.

"When the dragon gets close enough to breathe its fire, I want everyone to run away from the path it's flying in. Dragons move fast, but cannot turn well," I shout.

As the dragon draws nearer, one of the rock throwers launches a stone from their sling. The rock flies straight at our enemy, but misses because it's still too far away. Thankfully, there are many good stones under foot that can be used to battle the dragon.

Its eyes grow bigger, searching the ground for something to kill. That's when it sees us. I spin my sling, while a few more hunters fire rocks at the dragon. One rock flies way below it, another strikes it in the chin and bounces off. Knowing that it's now close enough to hit, the other rock throwers launch their stones at the dragon.

It is breath-stealing to watch; seeing so many rocks flying together. The rocks land against the face of the dragon and bounce off. Now I fire, hoping that my shot will count. I aim, and it hits one of the dragon's eyes, blinding it. The eye no longer glows, but more fear enters me as I realize that the dragon seems unhurt by it.

I start to move out of the path of the dragon, as do the other rock throwers, and the hunters that carry big spears. The hunters that carry sky spears throw them at the dragon, and I hold my breath, hoping that one of them is lucky and finds a weakness. I watch in disappointment as they just bounce off the dragon's tough skin.

The dragon flies upward, avoiding the few sky spears that haven't been thrown. As it passes overhead, I can feel the heat pouring from its massive body, and feel the ground shake from its roar. We watch as the dragon dives deep into the fog. It becomes harder to hear the dragon, as if it's flying away.

"Quickly" I yell. "Find your sky spears if you have thrown them. I want everyone ready for when it comes back!"

The hunters hurry to gather and ready their weapons. We look around, but the fog still makes it impossible to see very far. Half of our people are still hidden from me. But we can hear. Thankfully, that frightening sound has all but disappeared.

I look around in every direction, trying to see through the fog, but find nothing. Holding my breath, I listen, waiting for the rumble that will mean our deaths. We wait. Silence. None of the hunters speak. Finally, once everything seems calm again, one breaks the silence. A young man named Beacon yells out.

"Maybe it's gone!"

I hear it before I am able to see it. It is the dragon, and it is now very close. It had dropped through the fog from high above, its roar almost silent as it cut through the sky. It pulls up at the last moment, just before it would have crashed into the ground, and flies into the middle of our group. Its roar hurts my ears, and makes everyone panic and run.

Some of the sky spear throwers try to run away from the dragon, but aren't quick enough. It flies through a group of them, burning them to the ground.

"Regroup around the fallen!" I yell.

The giant circle reforms as the dragon passes overhead. I run as fast as I can to the dead and wounded. That is when I see Lagan's lifeless body on the ground, along with more hunters than I have fingers on one hand. Tears start to form in my eyes, but I can't cry now. I need to be strong, and brave, and lead these people.

Before, I was the Leader of the Hunt because I had to be, because Lagan was not leading us and someone needed to lead. Now, with Lagan's death, I am the true Leader of the Hunt. I would give anything to have Lagan back.

I realize that Lagan's sky spear is on the ground, outside of the circle. He'd managed to throw it during the dragon's first pass, but he did not injure the dragon.

"Hunters that carry big spears, can you see any sky spears around you? If you find one, bring it to me," I yell.

I watch a few hunters break the circle and then come back carrying sky spears with them. I send a hunter back to the circle, keep his sky spear, and have the other big spear throwers ready the sky spears instead.

"This time, try to stay away from where it breathes fire. Aim for a place you think is weak on the dragon. And if you find a weakness, yell it out so that the rest of us can aim for it next time", I say.

The dragon approaches again. A few rocks fly, then more. None of them do any damage. It is now our turn, only I decide to do something different. As the dragon flies over our heads, the hunters throw their sky spears. I wait until the dragon has passed all the way over us then throw my sky spear.

It hits the dragon from behind, in a place that seems to shoot fire. That doesn't make any sense. I hear a strange noise as the spear gets pulled inside the dragon. Smoke comes out of the back of it, and I watch as the dragon flies off into the distance and crashes to the ground. We can feel the ground shake as it hits, throwing up dirt and clover into the air.

I look around for Flot and Jet. I start to panic because I don't see them.

"Flot! Jet! Are you still alive?" I yell.

"Sam! I'm alright!" comes a voice from the circle.

I watch as Flot comes running up to me.

"Where is Jet?" I ask, worried that he might be among the dead.

"I am here," comes another familiar voice.

Thank the Sky Gods, they are both alive! I cannot show my happiness, because many of our people have died. All hunters are my brothers and sisters now, and their loss is my loss.

I speak to the group.

"Hunters, you have fought bravely. We have done the impossible, and killed a dragon. We have lost many, but many more of us still live. Let us honor our dead, and the Sky Gods, by covering them in a blanket of grass and clover, so that they may sleep well forever."

Everyone comes to help bury the bodies. There are tears, because brothers, fathers, sons, sisters, mothers and daughters were lost. Though they fought bravely, and they are now with the Sky Gods, we feel the pain of their loss, because we have lost something by not knowing them better.

I look out at the hunters who survived and speak.

"Everyone, pick up your kill bags and weapons. We will go back to where we started the hunt, and find our way home from there."

"How do we get back to the killing place?" asks a hunter.

I look around and notice that the fog has almost disappeared. The sky is still gray, but it is easier to tell where the sun is. I stare for a moment at the ground that covers our dead, and realize we can never return to this place. There might be other dragons here, and they are still too dangerous to fight, even after killing one.

"Follow the blood trail that has dripped from our kill bags. That will lead us back," I say.

Everyone listens to my commands. I am surprised that none of the hunters has tried to kill me yet. It would be bold to attack the Leader of the Hunt with other hunters around, but it has happened before. That is why Lagan used his friends. They were people he could trust to protect him. Now those same people are sworn to protect me too. I should find them.

"Mast, Port and Helm, I would like to speak with you," I yell into the moving crowd.

It is a bad thing that I don't know many people's names, and that I could not easily tell who had died in the dragon's fire. I do not know if any of Lagan's protectors have survived the attack.

I see a pair of hunters break away from the rest of the group. They are Mast and Helm, our biggest hunters. I am glad to see that they are alive, but I do not see Port anywhere.

"What has happened to Port?" I ask.

"She died trying to protect Lagan. As he threw his sky spear, she saw that the dragon was coming right at him. She knocked him down, trying to cover his body with her own. The dragon's fire was too much for them. She gave her life, hoping that he would survive. Remember that, young hunter. A leader that treats their people well, and does right by them, will have their loyalty," says Mast.

"I will pray to the Sky Gods that I am as good of a person as Lagan, as honorable and as just. Lagan was the best of us, and I will spend every day trying to be more like him. I will work to earn your trust and respect, and show you that I'm worth protecting," I say.

I can tell they worry if I will be a good leader. Whether I am telling them the truth, and whether they can trust me.

Even though they don't know me well, Mast and Helm stay by my side, making sure that no one tries to hurt me. It would be stupid at this point for someone to try, now that I have people protecting me.

We eventually make it back to the grounds where we killed the wolves. The blood there is sticky, but not yet dry. I look around for signs that another predator has been there, but can't find any.

I stare at the drying blood, and think back to when we were attacked. In my head, I can see people dying, killed by the dragon. I feel dizzy, and my knees bend. I fight the images, pushing them out of me. I understand now what Lagan went through when he saw the dragon. Although I want to be the leader that he was, I do not want to let fear rule me. So I fight it. I know that the next time I start feeling dark thoughts, I can push them out of myself.

I look up and point in the direction of the Crag. It's much easier to tell where it is, now that we are somewhere familiar. I want to get home so I can eat, and then pull my blanket over my head and sleep.

Our army of hunters moves in the direction I point. They are an army now; for instead of hunting, we fought, and we have fought bravely. There is no telling what will happen when we return to the Crag, nor how the battle has changed us.