The Stone of Salazara (Book 1 of Saga of the Stones)

Chapter 2

The whole month I was at the dragon's caves, I never noticed the young dragon staring at me. I mean I noticed the dragon, he was kinda hard to miss. His scales were a shiny dark purple, and his eyes a bright sky blue. He was always sitting by the king during meals, chatting in hushed tones. I didn't know what he wanted with me until the day the king called me to a meeting.

It was a warm sunny June day, and Isabelle and I were helping out in the kitchens. We had become fast friends in the last month, and I was actually beginning to enjoy being a dragon's servant. It was better than living in an orphanage with kids who either wanted me all the time, or wanted me out of their lives. We piled up the lamb and beef on platters and placed them on a metal cart designed for carrying heavy food. As we entered the dining cave and started passing out food to the dragons, the king called to me.

"Young girl, may I speak to you?" I nodded and walked over to the king, bowing. He was huge, at least twenty feet tall! "You have served me well this passed month, and I would like to reward you for it. You too," he said, beckoning to Isabelle. "What are your names?"

"I'm Siv, and this is Isabelle.

"Isabelle, I am going to award you for your unwavering service by letting you go." Isabelle's eyes widened, and her smile was so large it covered her face from ear to ear.

"Thank you your majesty! Maybe I can see if my father is still alive!"

The king laughed heartily, and it shook the whole cave. "I wish you luck in your search." He turned to me again. "As for you Siv, my nephew Kansans would....well. He can tell you himself."

The purple dragon beside the king nodded respectfully to his uncle. I realized that he had very bright blue eyes, with pupils so black any light reflected in them looked like a star in the sky. The dragon faded, and I saw the lady from my vision with the other dragon. She was grabbing a bag and stuffing it with things, then shoving it into my arms, then pushed me out the door. I started running, and looking behind, saw the lady be crushed under a falling building. Then I saw a young redheaded woman with green eyes, smiling at me. Or, smiling at whoever this memory belonged to. The scene faded and the dragon was visible again.

"Thank you uncle. You see Siv, I would like to find a cave of my own and I'd like you to be my first servant in it." He smiled down at me. "I was thinking we could leave tomorrow morning, and find a cave across the valley."

"Thank you. I hope to make a good servant in your new cave. Should I go pack?"

"Yes, pack some clothes, some food and water, and anything else you may want."

Isabelle and I walked back to the sleeping quarters. We began packing our things and laying them out on the chests at the end of our bed's for both our big journeys the next day.

"Well, Siv. I guess this is goodbye. Well, tomorrow morning will be anyway, unless we don't get a chance to say goodbye."

"Yeah Isabelle. I hope we meet each other again someday. And I hope you find that true love you want."

Little did I know, I was actually going to meet her future true love before her, and just like she wanted, in the most unlikely person. Unlikely in a good way, just so you know.

Isabelle laughed and laid down on her bed. "Well, goodnight Siv. I wish you well on your journey." She said, yawning. In another moment, she was fast asleep.

Next morning, Isabelle was already gone when I got up. She had left early to start looking for her father. I changed into my tunic, made sure I had everything, and then walked out into the main cave. Kansans was waiting for me by the exit, and he led me out onto the large outcrop of stone outside the cave mouth.

"Climb on that rock over there and onto my back. Hold onto the spike in front of you and hang on!" I did as he told me, and in another minute we were flying across the valley. After a moment, I had gotten balanced and was able to look out over the view. It was beautiful. At one point, I could see my old town, far away in the distance. The people had seemed to have fixed up the village, and gone on about there lives completely forgetting about me.

Typical. I always knew that if something happened to me hardly anyone in town would care. Maybe except for the one guy who I always suspected liked me, but he wouldn't know I was gone. He had moved away about a year ago.

Suddenly, Kansans began to spiral down towards a clearing in the woods on the valley floor. I gripped tighter onto the spike in front of me as we got lower and lower. Finally we landed, and I slid down the dragon's scales and onto the forest floor. I turned to Kansans, and my eyes widened. He was glowing, and growing smaller and smaller, until suddenly, he stopped. The glow faded away, and in the place of it stood a young man, around the age of twenty. He was clean shaven, but his clothes were dirty and disheveled. His voice had changed too, gone from the deep growl of a dragon, to a voice that fit is appearance. His eyes still looked the same, and his brown hair was shaggy and messy.