A crushing pain bloomed in Mason's legs and in his back from his body trying to support him. Whatever this thing was, it was a lot heavier than himself. His legs failed him, and he crumpled to the ground. His head slammed into the ground, and the sound that followed was like the strength of 200 men combined into hitting a wooden gong. Bright spots appeared in his vision and he gasped from the pain. Mason lay there for a few seconds before a male voice spoke from the hole in the ceiling.
“That looked like it hurt,” the voice said. The thing that had fallen on Mason slid from his body.
“I didn’t get hurt,” a more high, feminine, but slightly raspy voice said. “But I’m pretty sure that this giftless kid got a nice concussion. Did you hear the sound that his head made when it hit the floor? Doesn't really sound like anything is up in that noggin.”
Mason guessed that the female who was speaking was the thing that had knocked him to the floor. Speaking of being on the floor, Mason was getting a nice view of a centipede and a couple of ants having a nice fighting session. Mentally, he rooted for the ants because of their smaller size, and the fact he was terrified of centipedes after a one-year-old in the town got bit by a centipede and died 2 hours later.
Just as Mason lost his fictitious bet with himself and the centipede bit and killed the ants, a hand grabbed a fistful of his hair and hauled his head up.
“Hey you with us?” the woman asked, and Mason got a good look at their face. She had black hair cropped to her shoulders and dark brown eyes. She had a slender body and was only a couple of inches taller than Mason. Which considering how small Mason was himself was a surprise to him.
“I think he’s a mute!” She called up to whoever was still on the roof.
“I can talk,” Mason said weakly, hoping that these people weren’t here to kill him. Thinking about it, Mason relaxed. If these people were here to kill him, they would have done it already.
“Ah that’s good,” the woman said dryly. “Now can you tell me why a big dragon wanted to find you? Because it really took me off track from where I was going.” She said the whole thing in a dry tone.
“Wait wait wait,” Mason said. “What wanted to see me?”
“A dragon,” she replied in that same bored tone, but her gaze sharpened until it looked like she was trying to see through him.
“What is that?” Mason asked, trying not to shrink away from her stare.
“I’ll just show you,” she said with a sigh. Letting go of Mason’s hair, the woman started walking towards the door. Ignoring the pain in his legs, back, and skull, Mason stood up and followed her.
Exciting the front door, the woman turned to Mason and pointed towards the roof.
“That is a dragon.” Mason’s jaw dropped. On the roof was a creature that had a main body with the length of a carriage and horses combined, with the width of about two horses. It had purple scales that were so dark they almost seemed black. Two ridges ran along the top of its body until disappearing on a long thrashing tail that added another 10 feet onto its build. It had legs that were about three-fourths the length of Mason’s body. There were scales on its head that were a slightly brighter purple that seemed to make the symbol of a flame. Its eyes were dark and beady, and small tongues of dark flame burned from its nose with each exhale. But the thing that set the whole picture was the wings. It had bony wings that sprung out of the beast’s back with the same almost black scales stretched over the structure. Oddly enough, the wings seemed to be small compared to the rest of the dragon’s body.
“Hello,” the dragon said, its voice higher than Mason expected it to be. Mason was shocked.
“It can talk!” Mason said in surprise. “The dragon can talk! How is this possible?”
“I was just as surprised as you were,” the woman replied. Her face made it look like she hadn’t been surprised at all.
“Yes, I can talk! Why are you so surprised by that?” Mason flinched. This dragon looked and sounded like it wanted to eat him.
“Well I just thought animals couldn’t talk,” Mason replied. Today had been very confusing, so this dragon had just made it even worse.
“Well dragons must be different from most animals,” it countered.
“Uh-huh,” Mason said, still not convinced.
“It doesn’t matter why dragons can talk,” the mysterious woman said. “Jeigir, come down here we need to figure out why we are all here.” The dragon, or Jeigir, apparently, jumped down from the roof before the woman continued. “I am here because this dragon said he needed me, and he needed me because he wanted a human guide to come West with him.”
“I was going West because I felt a calling…” the dragon paused. “A calling to you,” he finished, pointing at Mason.
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“Me?” Mason questioned, “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Jeigir said. “But I feel something dangerous stirring, and I feel you will have a part to play in the future.”
“I know what’s happening,” the dark-haired woman said. “The Kingdom of Kandor started attacking towns two weeks ago. This is the first one.
“Wait two weeks ago? That was yesterday.” Mason said.
“No, that was two weeks ago, you must’ve just passed out from fear or something.” She said.
“Oh,” Mason said quietly. “That must have been why I was so hungry.” But he still thought it was yesterday.
“Also, what is your name?” He asked the small woman.
“First yours,” she replied. “I don’t trust that this is just a hoax set up by this dragon just to eat us.” Slightly spooked by her words Mason decided giving his name couldn’t hurt anything.
“I’m Mason,” he said, deciding that he didn’t want to give his status as a giftless away. He didn’t want either the dragon or the woman to think that he was worthless.
“Well Mason the giftless,” Mason wilted, “I am Harriet, official ranger of Meilwin Kingdom. I was on my way to provide my services for King Merlin until the dragon came. The only reason I’m here is because I don’t want this dragon to eat me.”
“I wasn’t going to eat you,” Jeigir put in.
Harriet still did not look convinced, but she dropped the subject. After a few moments of awkward silence, Mason got bored.
“So are we just going to stand here or are we going to do something like eat more cheese?” Mason really hoped that he would get to eat more cheese, even though his stomach still hurt, the cheese before had just tasted so good.
“Let us go to Meilwin to help fight in the war against Kandor. With a dragon on our side, it would give us a good chance to win against them.” Harriet said. Mason shivered at the thought of seeing the possessed, purple Gathoric again, but he didn’t quite know what else to do. Once all the food in this town ran out, he would starve to death. And besides, he wanted to prove that he could be more than a worthless skinny boy without a gift.
“Let us go right now!” Mason said excitedly and started sprinting down the road. He would be leaving Smegenbieg for the first time ever! Dirt sprayed behind his sprinting form as he ran down the road. He felt the wind on his face and he smelled his freedom from this awful town. This was the most confusing but best day of his life!
Mason didn’t get too far before a hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him to a stop.
“Mason!” Harriet barked. “You are going in the wrong direction. Besides, we need to plan this out, we can’t just go skipping through the forest in the middle of the night, there are bandits, trolls, and much much worse.”
Mason deflated. He was so close to freedom, but this dragon and a random woman from far away were stopping him. Why couldn’t they just let him go out into the world, he deserved it after all these years of pain. He could start new! Try to find a way to get a gift! This was a twist in fate that could turn out for the better. But… there was no way he could escape from a fly creature. And Harriet would shoot him in the back if he tried to run.
“So then what should we do?” He asked. Mason had just slept and eaten a lot of cheese, so he supposed that they were ready for the road. “Actually,” Mason said before any of them could respond. “I think that we should go beat that big purple king right now. Why wait for a better time? We're all fresh, full, and ready to go!”
Harriet pointed towards the West, towards the sun. Its light bathed the skyline in hues of red, purple, and pink. Mason had never noticed the sky like that before. Most of the time he was inside somewhere getting beaten, or was paying too much attention to his slave work to ever notice the pretty sky. Negative people would think that the sky was mourning the slaughter of the town, but that’s not what Mason thought. This setting sun represented the end of his slave-like life. It was time for a new beginning, a new Mason. He could be whatever he wanted to be.
Mason’s thoughts were interpreted by the high raspy voice of Harriet.
“You may be all nice and fresh, especially after we saw you down that cheese. But Jeigir and I have spent the last week traveling to find you, so we need a break. Now show us the houses that have food and good beds to sleep on so we can get going in the morning.” Harriet said in a demanding voice.
Mason nodded and started walking to the other big houses, but inside he burned with anger. These people, well if you would count a dragon a person, they had come promising to take him with them to go kill a king, to give him a purpose. But Harriet still treated him with no pity for his past. She just expected him to serve her because she had a gift, while he did not.
Mason tried to control his anger, but he just couldn’t. This was too much. He would lead her to a nice house, and show her the mats, but when she fell asleep the fun would begin. He would take her sword and slay her with it, and while the dragon was still asleep he would escape. Though he was angry at Harriet, he didn’t want a dragon coming after him in a fit of revenge.
So with a fake smile plastered on his face, Mason led Harriet to a nice mat and watched her as she fell asleep. The only thing that plagued his thoughts was something with what Harriet had said. What was a bed?
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Mason crept towards Harriet, a dozen things running through his mind. What if she woke up? Would she hear him trying to kill her? What was her gift? Mason reached towards her sheathed sword laying a few feet away. Slowly, he picked up Harriet’s sword, which was still much too heavy for him. As he unsheathed her sword, a quiet scrape echoed through the small room they were in. Mason froze. Harriet made no sign that she was waking up. Stepping up to her side, Mason swung.
Then before his strike was completed, in her sleep, she struck. Her fist flew out from her side and into his stomach.
Mason flew backwards. He hit the door with a loud crack! Ignoring his pain and not waiting to see what Harriet herself was doing, Mason ran out the door. How did she attack him in her sleep, and how did she send Mason so far with just a punch?
“Jeigir,” Mason yelled to where the dragon was sleeping on the roof. “Help! Harriet is attacking me!”
The dragon didn't wake from it”s slumber, but only saw a blazing Harriet walk from the house. She walked up to him and brought up her sword for a swift decapitation.
“Wait” Mason whimpered. “What about Jeigir’s calling to me?”
“I don't care what he felt,” she snarled, her voice no longer dry but filled with anger. Then she pulled her sword back, and Mason closed his eyes.
He waited for the strike that would wipe him from existence, but it never came. Mason tentatively opened his eyes. Harriet was lying on the ground, her sword a few paces away, and a dark purple dart sprouting from her neck. Neat! Mason thought. He stood and turned to walk away before he felt a sharp pain in his throat. He reached to his neck and pulled out a dark purple dart. That's
not good, he thought before being overcome with darkness.