Dragonsong Book 1

Chapter Five

The evening sun was setting when Fajiro and I reached my village.
"We're here Fajiro," I said welcomingly." Meet my crazy neighbors!"
"Don't call me Fajiro here. My human name is Nathan," Fajiro/Nathan reminded me.
He looked around with a look of surprise as if he'd never seen so many people at once, which is true if you live in a cave underground for most of your lifetime with dragons for company.
Then he asked a question out of the blue." Do I look fine? I mean, do I look stupid?"
I examined him for a few seconds and replied." No, not at all. You look like a perfect human!"
"Thanks," he said embarrassed and ran his hand over his hair." I'm not used to having human hair this soft."
That made me want to laugh then thought that Nathan might be redder than he already was.
"I'll show you my family!" I said as I skipped along and gracefully moved through the business people with ease.
I passed the Millers family who were the bakers and they looked at me like they saw a ghost.
When I reached the Johnson's doorstep, I halted to a stop.
"Ready to tell your amazing story to my mother?" I asked sarcastically.
"Yup," Nate said, sounding confident.
Without hesitation, Nate knocked on the door.
At first everything was quiet about the door, then with a squeak, the door opened on its hinges and from behind the wooden frame, a woman's face appeared. I instinctively looked down at my leather boots, finding it very interesting for a moment.
"Isabell! Oh my darling where have you been!" Without a warning my mother took me in a tight hug. My head was towards Nate and he gave me a sly smile.
Then my mother let go.
"Who is this?" She asked sweetly, gesturing to Fajiro.
"Nathan, he helped me escape." I said emotionally.
"She was kidnapped by bandits. All of the other people who were enslaved were unwilling to assist. We sneaked out when everyone was sleeping. I was already so far from my home I had to come here. I had better find somewhere to stay before nightfall." Nathan/Fajiro said.
"You can stay here if you'd like!" My mother said sympathetically. She hugged me and beckoned us into the dark wood house. I could tell my mother didn't know what to think of Nathan, but he had rescued us, so she was willing to give him a chance.
"Here is Isabell's room." My mother said, "Nate, do you need a bed or are you fine on the floor?"
"I will be perfect on the floor. Thank you for your hospitality." He said. My mother got a sleeping bag from the closet and she guided me to her and my father's room.
"I am not sure about him." My mother worried, "He's too polite, too strange. I'm not sure I like you hanging out with him."
"I am sure he is just traumatized, he should be fine in a day or two." I quickly explained.
"Oh, I see how it is. That explains a few things." My mom winked and exited the room. I just made it seem like we were immature. This might be more difficult than originally anticipated. I went over to Nate, grabbed his arm, and guided him into the woods.
"You were a little too good." I told him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You need to use smaller words and act slightly less polite. Try to watch the other boys in the village. Choose one you like and try to imitate the way he acts." I said.
"I'll try. What did your mom say?" He asked.
"I thought you would already know." I told him.
"To enter your head I need my seeing stone. I don't have it on me." He said. The way he acted confused and bewildered when in my company here was kind of cute. No! I couldn't think like this. It's just instincts. I had to remain reasonable. I was only fourteen, not old enough for that dumb stuff. I pushed the thought out of my mind.
"Nothing, it's not important." I said. It was starting to get dark, so we went inside and fell into a deep sleep. About one hour later, I awoke with Nate standing over me.
"Come on!" He whispered.
"Where?" I asked, sitting up.
"Armory." He said.
"We are doing that tonight!?" I asked a little too loudly.
"No, but we need weapons training." He said.
"Who's going to teach?" I asked.
"Someone... you should meet him first." He said suspiciously. He lead the way to the Armory where I grabbed a sword, three daggers, a bow, and eleven arrows. Nate grabbed a sword and crossbow. We ventured into the pine forest until we came across a circle of stones. Nathan muttered an incantation and a glowing blue spiral erupted from the ground. In the center of the spiral was a man. He had a bushy black mustache and was bald everywhere else. He had dark skin and strange yellow eyes. His pupils and eye whites had reversed; the whites were black and the pupils were white. When he smiled, he revealed rows of black teeth. The sight of him gave me shivers. Nate was the one who broke the eerie silence.
"Lithos." He said in a knowing voice.
"Do I know you?" The man said in a deep booming voice. Remembering his disguise, he replied.
"No, but I have heard stories about your treachery to the dragons." He said.
"You seem familiar..." the man said, ignoring Nate.
"We require your assistance, and as your summoners, we command you to do so." Nate said.
"What could you possibly want from a former dragon like me?" Lithos asked.
"Combat training." He said.
"Former dragon?" I asked.
"I was forced into a human form by Merlin himself." He said as if it were an accomplishment.
"What did you do?" I asked, trying to get him talking. Even though we could just command him to help us, it would be better if he did so willingly.
"Many things, along with waging war on you puny dragon riders." He said.
"You must have been a spectacular fighter." I said, "did you do any in human form?"
"Why yes, quite a lot. That is why I am stuck in a nine foot spiral if not in the prison of darkness." He said.
"I would love to be even half as good as you! Do you think you could teach us a few things?"
"I might be able to... for a price." He said, soaking up the attention.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Freedom!" He said, raising his hands dramatically.
"I can't do that, but I can provide you with things to entertain you." I said.
"That will do. Do you wish for me to train you?" He asked.
"Yes." I said.
"Then command me to exit the spiral and train you and your.... boyfriend." He said the last word disgustedly.
"He's not my boyfriend!" I said quickly.
"Yes, of course." He winked at Nate. We gave him a disgusted look ourselves. He tried to look innocent, which wasn't hard when you were a criminal.
"Lithos, I command you to exit the spiral and train me and my friend in combat!" I said. Lithos exited the glowing spiral, which faded into the ground. He stretched, flexing his grubby fingers.
"What would you like to start with?" He asked, sounding bored.
"Actually, we won't train until tomorrow. Lithos, I command you to find a comfortable place to lay down within five feet of where you stand, lay down, and stay there until we give you new orders." Nate said. "By the way, you would know me by the name of Fajiro." Nate added smugly. Lithos looked at him in horror. We raced to the house and jumped in bed. After the adventurous midnight excursion, we both quickly fell asleep.