"Hold," I yell, telling the hunters not to attack. "But stand ready!"
Even stranger than it landing in the middle of the field is that the dragon's mouth opens, and a person walks out.
49
The dragon's eyes make it hard to see the person. They are a shadow, surrounded by bright light. The shadow walks towards us, very slowly. Then the mouth of the dragon closes.
I look over at Ebb and Mast, and point at the knives. They hand both of them back to me, and I quickly slide them into their sheaths. I also take my bow and put it over my shoulder and head, so that my hands are still free, but the bow will stay with me if I need it.
"What do we do?" yells one of the hunters.
"Hold until I tell you otherwise. If this person hurts me in any way, you may attack. Do what you can to save yourselves. Just make sure that it doesn't follow you back to the Crag," I say. "I am going to try to talk to them."
"You are what?" asks Ebb, already knowing the answer.
"I'm going out there. I need to see who they are and how they survived being inside a dragon. If they are able to control dragons then maybe we can learn from them. I also don't think this person is dangerous. If they were, they wouldn't be walking into a place where we can easily attack them, while they are unarmed. I don't see them carrying any weapons."
"You don't know that it's safe," says Ebb. "They might have a hidden weapon."
"I'm not going to send someone else in my place. This is my risk to take, my decision," I say.
I walk away from the rock I was hiding behind and put my hands up in the air. I am hoping that the stranger understands that I am not a threat, because I am not holding any weapons. I walk slowly toward them, as they continue walking slowly toward us.
It takes a while to get close enough to see them clearly. It looks like a man, but it is hard to tell through the helmet he is wearing. His armor does not look that different from ours, except it seems harder and stronger.
Finally, he is close enough that I can see his face. He stops, and I can tell that he is just as worried about me, as I am of him. Carefully, he raises his arms and takes off his helmet.
His skin is light like mine. He looks like he could be someone from the Crag. Brown hair and blue eyes. Young. I doubt he has seen a handful of snows more than me. I slowly take off my helmet so that he can better see my face. I do my best to smile, hoping he understands that I will not attack him.
He does not smile back. Instead, he speaks.
"Are you Sam?" asks the stranger.
My stomach suddenly feels strange, like someone poured boiling soup into it. How can he possibly know my name, and how does he know how to speak like we do? It takes me a moment to calm down to where I can speak again.
"Yes. I am Sam," I say, wondering if I should have told him.
"Hello, Sam. I'm Carter."
I stare at him, not knowing what to say next.
"Hello," I say stupidly.
He finally tries to smile, but I can tell it isn't easy for him. He's looked at my knives many times now. I think he is worried that if he says the wrong thing, I will use them on him.
"I don't want to hurt you," says Carter.
"I don't want to hurt you either," I say.
"That's good. Sam, I've come to ask for your help."
"My help? You can control a dragon, and you need my help? How do you even know who I am?"
"It may be difficult to understand, but we've been watching you for a while now, ever since you brought down what you call a 'dragon'," says Carter.
"How could you be watching me? I would have seen you."
"We have ways of seeing and hearing farther than your eyes and ears will let you."
My thoughts argue with each other, not making any sense. It takes me a moment to fight through the noise in my head, to try to understand and believe what he's saying.
"What kind of help do you need?" I ask.
"We are at war, and we are searching for someone to lead us. We believe that person is you, Sam."
"And you want me to come with you? Inside your dragon?" I ask.
"Yes."
"Won't the dragon swallow me? Won't I die?"
"No, it's a very special dragon," says Carter.
"What about the hunters? They need me. And my brother needs me."
"There are millions of people that need you too, Sam. You don't know this, but your people are not the only people in the world. And if we fail, if we don't win this war, your people will die too. The people we're fighting control the dragons that killed your people."
I feel my body become stiff. It takes me a moment to realize I'm holding my breath. Could he really be telling the truth?
"Please, come with me," says Carter.
I think about his words carefully.
"What are millions?" I ask.
Carter looks surprised, but his face relaxes and I can tell that he's figured something out.
"You know all the people that live with you in the cave?" asks Carter.
"Yes."
"Now imagine that each one of the people in the cave had their own cave, filled with that many people."
I close my eyes and try to imagine it, but it's difficult.
"I think I can see it," I say.
"That's about a million people. And there are many, many millions of people out there. Good people. And they need your help," says Carter.
I turn around and look at my own people. The people I tried so hard to hide from before seem like the only thing important to me now. They are all my brothers and sisters. They are my family. How can I leave them?
I look at Flot and I am sure that he doesn't need me anymore. He is strong now. I can tell that he would fight this stranger, and this dragon, to save me. I look at Mast and Helm. They look as surprised and confused as I feel. I look at Ebb, my one true friend. The only person I trusted with my secrets.
I turn back to Carter.
"How can I trust you?" I ask.
I can see in Carter's eyes that he's thinking. He reaches behind him, to his lower back. Fear rushes through me. I spread my legs and bend my knees, and get low to the ground. I pull out one of my knives, ready to attack if I need to.
"Whoa!" says Carter. "Sorry, I'll move more slowly. I'm getting something from my back. It's a weapon, but I want you to have it. So that you know that I'm not armed. That I won't hurt you."
I watch Carter slowly pull something metal and shiny from behind his back. He carefully places it on the ground, and takes a few steps back from it.
"I'll stand here. You can pick it up, but be careful; it's very dangerous," says Carter.
"Before I pick it up, tell me how it works," I say.
"Do you see the longest part of the gun?"
"Gun?"
"That's what that is. It's called a gun."
"What does it do?" I ask.
"You know the bow and arrows you use?"
"Yes."
"Well, imagine a very small arrow, about the size of the tip of your finger. A gun fires small arrows, called bullets, very fast. So fast that your eyes can't even see them moving," says Carter.
"I can make rocks fly that fast with my sling," I say.
"Bullets move even faster than that."
"I don't believe you," I say.
"Well, I'll let you try it for yourself. Do you see the long part of the gun I was taking about? It has a hole at the end. That's where the bullets come out."
I look down at the gun, and I have to move a little to see what he's talking about.
"That long part is called the barrel. When the bullets come out, whatever you aim that at will get hit. So make sure not to point that at yourself when you pick it up," says Carter.
"What makes it fire the bullets?" I ask.
"There's a small, curved piece of metal called a trigger. Do you see it?"
"I think so. I think I see where your hand is supposed to go then."
"That's good. That's called the grip. When you pu
ll the trigger toward the grip, and you pull it hard enough, a bullet will come out. Why don't you go ahead and pick it up now," says Carter.
"Why are you trusting me with your gun?" I ask.
"So that you know you can trust me."
"Is this the only weapon you brought?"
"Yes."
"You aren't very smart," I say.
"Not the first time I've heard that," says Carter.
I pick up the gun and make sure to point the gun's hole away from myself. I aim it away from where all of the hunters are, and away from Carter and the dragon. I point the gun at a rock that is many steps away, and I pull the trigger back like Carter told me to. Nothing happens.
"It didn't work," I say.
"Oh, that's because the safety is on. Do you see the metal piece just above your thumb, that looks like it might turn?"
"Yes."
"Take the tip of it and push down. It should show you a red dot. That means it's ready to fire," says Carter.
I twist the gun in my hand, so that I can see the metal piece he is talking about. Using my thumb, I slide it down, and I can see the red dot. Turning the gun so that the barrel is now pointing at the rock again, I carefully pull the trigger. The gun makes a sound like sky fire, and it moves back at me so hard that I almost drop the gun on the ground. I do see the rock I'd been aiming at, and a big chunk is missing from it.
"So now that you know you can kill me with the gun, and I gave it to you willingly, do you trust me?" asks Carter.
I look him in the eyes. I raise the gun up toward him, then pull the trigger.
50
Carter grabs his shoulder, then falls to the ground. I can see drops of blood coming out of his armor where I shot him. I look up, and I see the dragon. It starts to move upward, as if it's going to attack us.
I watch as Carter turns toward the dragon, and with his good arm waves it away. The dragon stops for a moment, waiting, then rests back on the ground.
"Why did you shoot me?" asks Carter, his teeth held tight together from the pain.
"If you gave me a weapon that couldn't actually hurt you, then you really wouldn't have given me control. You wouldn't have shown that you trusted me at all. I had to see how important I really am to you. To see if I can trust you. That you really don't mean us any harm," I say.
"Yeah, well, I wish you could have done it without shooting me. I don't feel so good."
"I'm sorry I hurt you Carter, but I had to know that I could trust you with the lives of my people. It was the only way I could know for sure. I will go with you, but you must take another person with us," I say.
"Sam, would it really be fair to ask Ebb to go with you?"
"How do you know about Ebb?" I ask.
"Like I said, we've been watching from a distance."
"Can I at least say goodbye?"
Carter groans in pain as he slowly stands up.
"It would make things harder for you, and it would make things harder for them. I don't suggest it."
I look back at everyone. Mast and Helm, standing still, not knowing what to do. Flot, confused. Ebb...
I place my right fist over my heart and slide it downward. The hunters drop their weapons to the ground and return my salute. With tears in my eyes I turn away from them, and walk with Carter back to the dragon.
In the wind I hear something that sounds like my name, but I cannot make out the words that are being said. It sounds like Ebb's voice, but it is so far away that I cannot tell.
As we near the dragon, its mouth opens again. I follow Carter inside, and the dragon swallows us whole.
Acknowledgements
I would like to personally thank the following people for helping in the development of this story. They provided feedback that made SKY CHILD a much stronger book. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
Nicole Vesper
Tess Watson
Lisa Sauerwein
Renee Moore
Jennie Hulgaarde
James Thomas
Brandy Kribbs
Zak Kribbs
Michael Kinney
Special Thanks
I would also like to thank the people who backed the Kickstarter project and spread the word about this story.
You are my Sky Children.
Nicole Vesper
Renee, Tom and Riley Moore
Jordan Bennett
Tess Watson
Patty McCalister
Brandy and Zak Kribbs
Michael Kinney
Mandy McCalister
Chrystal Clifton
Elizabeth Betts McCarty
Jessica Warren
Holli Rapp
Brandon and Robin Reese
Dawn Angela Martin
Deborah Brenner
Donita Brenner
Lisa Sauerwein
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Brittany Thompson
Amy Church
James Thomas
Moses Stickney
James Scharmann
Dan Heinig
Rolla Selbak
Blake Eckhoff
Jenna and Jona Sagapolutele
Chris Batchelor
Kirby McCauley
Josephine
Cherie Huber
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Heather Beam
Jonathan Bisbee
Gary Powers
Erica and Lee Potter
Mckenzie Fritch
Fabio Pigagnelli
Ana Imelda Yerkes
Alyssa JoJo Barger
Natasha Welch
Asta Staal
Steve Gayler
Chloe Jacques
Marie-Christin Holler
Rocio Carter
Rosie McFaul
Ashley Zema
Varity Schwartz
thatraja
David McCready
Christi Bruce
Carolyn Wolfram
Nicole Hall
Kelly Marie McLeod
J. R. Wagner
Melissa and Nick Nelson
Michael Newlyn Blake
Ashley Oswald
Francis Waltz
Brittni Evans
Katie McFarlin
Calum Webb
Jonathan Stevens
The Riggs Family
The Brenners
Andrea Munson
Jane Meade Glanville
Jason Anderson
Lani Ambitious Brownett Shepherd
Cosmic Lovegood Love
Christopher Glover
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Kathy Houston Ziglar
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Kathryn Jacoby
Sif Hagelskær Jensen
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Swordfire
Matthew Lowe
Blazing Works
About the Author
T. M Brenner lives in Oregon with his editor/fiancée Nicole Vesper. He spends most of his free time feeding his writing addiction. When not typing away feverishly on his laptop, he enjoys visiting the coast, watching re-runs of Psych, and spending time with his family.
To find out more about T. M. Brenner's current projects, visit www.tmbrenner.com.
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