Girl who Speaks to Birds

Chapter 44

We flew for a few minutes, until Tyler glanced at me. I stopped, still staying in the air.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We're right above Jackson's cabin. Look."

He pointed to an area below several branches, and I looked. There was an old looking shack. "Is that it?" I asked.

"It is." he answered "He might not be home, though. We'll just have to hope that he is. And if he isn't, we can wait."

I nodded, then landed. Glancing at the cabin, I said "Anyone home?"

I heard footsteps as a boy stepped out. He glanced behind me, at Tyler.

"So this is the girl you told me about."

I glanced at Tyler, who smiled at me. I smiled back, then looked at the boy. "Tyler says that you can get the tracker out of me."

"I can. Follow me."

He walked into the cabin, leaving soft footprints in the dust. I followed, and Tyler was behind me. The cabin was dark, with faint outlines of objects all around me. Then, I saw a dim light appear. It was Jackson, who was holding an old, worn out looking flashlight.

"Sorry about the lack of light." he apologized "I don't get access to electricity out here, so I have to make do with this old thing." He gestured toward the flashlight.

"Why can't you go out in public?" I asked. After all, he did look normal. Even if he did have something, it wasn't nearly as obvious as my wings. He turned around and shone the light on his neck. There were red scales the color of fire, and they shone against the light. Alright, now I saw why. But what type of shifter was he?

"There aren't many anymore, after the hunters killed the majority of them off."

"So what shifter is he?"

"Dragon." She answered, as if it were nothing at all. I felt my heart beat faster, in nervousness.

I glanced at Jackson, who had turned around and was now looking at me. "So... uhm..." I paused for a moment "You're a dragon shifter..."

He nodded. "I have been for my entire life."

I looked at him. "Are you going to... I don't know... shift and destroy me? Because you have the capability to turn me into a Madelyn-kabob."

He face-palmed. "Most dragons and dragon-shifters don't do that. It's those rebel dragons who think they're better than everyone else who burn entire kingdoms to the ground. But I'm not like that."

"Good." I said, relieved. I relaxed a bit, then focused to the more important situation. "So, like I said earlier, there's a tracker in me, and Tyler says you know how to get it out."