by Resa Nelson
The man spoke to her, extending a warning hand in front of her as if meaning to protect her.
But the woman with the strange blue eyes smiled and stepped forward to accept Killing Crow’s gift. She took his shirt and shrugged her way into it.
Killing Crow smiled. Even if she belonged to this man, he could still admire the way she looked in his shirt.
The toddler girl now tugged at his leggings, babbling incoherently.
Killing Crow looked down, even more startled to see the color of the little girl’s eyes. They were the same color as the lavender flowers that grew in the woods surrounding his home.
A sign, Killing Crow thought. These are no invaders. What enemy would bring so young a child into battle? It is safe to welcome them.
He placed a gentle hand on the child’s curly, pale hair.
She reached her hands high toward him, and this time Killing Crow understood her perfectly. He looked at the child’s father and saw permission on the man’s face.
Killing Crow knelt down to pick the child up in his arms, and she threw her arms around his neck.
* * *
That night, everyone in Killing Crow’s tribe brought all they needed to the beach to prepare a welcoming feast for the pale man, woman, and child who had landed on their shore.
While working with the other young men of the tribe to build a large fire, Killing Crow noticed his mother glancing back and forth between him and the strange young woman who had washed ashore. The pale woman hovered around the women shucking the season’s final ears of corn, seemingly entranced by the sight of them before rejoining her own people.
Leaving the fire for a moment, Killing Crow approached his mother and knelt by her side, speaking quietly so no one could overhear. “She belongs to that man,” he said.
His mother shook her head. “I believe them to be brother and sister. Look closely. They have the same eyes. The same shape of face. The same look of family.”
The truth struck Killing Crow like a punch between the eyes. His heart leapt with sudden hope. “But the child?”
His mother shook her head again. “No woman treats her child the way she treats that one. The woman trembles and keeps her distance from the girl. But the man, he is the girl’s father. His face comes alive when the girl calls to him. He has great love for the child and will do anything to protect her.” She ripped a husk free and tossed it in a growing pile of other husks. “The child belongs to him.”
Killing Crow dared to look at the ocean’s edge where the strange man held the drowsy child in his arms, speaking to the woman who Killing Crow now realized looked so much like him.
“She still wears your shirt,” his mother said. “We offered her a woman’s dress that would have fit her well, but she refused. She does not want to let go of what you gave her.” His mother shot a glance at the other young men building the fire. “They all eye her. Now is the time you can take advantage of her fondness for you and teach her your name.” She paused. “Before your friends decide to teach her theirs.”
As always, his mother gave him confidence and hope. He patted her shoulder in appreciation before walking away.
Approaching the strangers, Killing Crow cleared his throat to get their attention. The strange man’s expression had softened since this morning, but he still held his daughter close to his chest.
The strange woman beamed, turning to face Killing Crow.
How to go about this? Since giving up his shirt, Killing Crow had found a simple fur to drape across his shoulders to keep warm. But he’d draped it strategically so that his bare chest would be presented in the best possible way. He placed his hand on his bare chest, thrilled to see the woman’s gaze follow his hand and linger on his naked skin. “Killing Crow,” he said. He repeated his name a few times, speaking slowly and cleanly.
The woman bravely attempted to repeat his words. “Kill Me Claw.”
Suppressing his urge to smile, Killing Crow repeated his name more slowly and more clearly until both the woman and man could say it correctly.
The woman placed her hand lightly upon her own chest, covered by Killing Crow’s shirt. “Peppa,” she said. Pointing to the man who must be her brother, she said, “Trep.”
Killing Crow repeated their names, making sure he understood how to say them. He pointed to the little girl.
Trep beamed. “Margreet,” he said.
The little girl looked up sleepily at the sound of her name.
“Margreet,” Killing Crow said.
The little girl rested her head against her father’s chest and gave Killing Crow a coy look.
Killing Crow gestured while he spoke, hoping they would take his meaning. “We welcome you to the Shining Star Nation, Peppa, Trep, and Margreet.”
The little girl giggled.
“We have fire, and we cook food in your honor. We believe you have come from another shore and have no home here in the Great Turtle Lands. We would be most honored for you to join our nation. Our tribe.”
Killing Crow extended his hand to Peppa, who immediately took it, staring into his eyes.
Could I be so fortunate? All these years I have sought a good woman among my own people. Could this peculiar-looking Peppa be the one I’ve been waiting to meet?
He held her hand firmly in his and led the pale people and the shapeshifting child back to his own kind.
* * *
Although saddened to realize the other Northlanders on board their ship must have perished, Trep felt better after eating a fine meal. Some foods tasted familiar while others he had never seen the likes of before.
Although at first suspicious of Killing Crow, Trep enjoyed watching his sister come alive again. The Peppa he remembered from the days before she married the wrong man kept emerging in most delightful ways. Trep enjoyed the way she clung to the shirt she’d been given, refusing to give it up. She held onto it the way he’d seen some children cling to a blanket. He loved the light that grew in her eyes and the way her face softened.
Who could have guessed that bringing Peppa to another land could lead her home to who she used to be?
Holding little Margreet on his lap, Trep grinned, watching their new friends sing and dance around the tall, blazing fire. He noticed it took little encouragement from Killing Crow to convince Peppa to join the dance. Trep grinned, watching his sister follow the steps of strangers, laughing and holding hands with them.
Trep kissed the top of little Margreet’s head. “Maybe Peppa’s not the only one who’s found her way home to herself.”
Margreet yawned wide, letting her head drop back. “Da DAH!” she exclaimed, pointing toward the sky.
Trep looked up at the black sky with stars shining bright beyond the light of the fire. “Yes, Margreet. Those are stars.”
Margreet wriggled out of his arms and toddled on her chubby legs away from the fire and the celebration.
Trep followed her. “Wouldn’t you like to dance? Look at everyone dancing.”
Margreet picked up her pace to a run, every step a near disaster. “Ma MAH!” she shouted.
Trep stopped in his tracks, looking all around him. “Astrid?” he whispered.
“Ma MAH!” Margreet shouted. Stopping, she jumped up and down until she lost her footing and collapsed on the sand. Giggling, she pointed up at the night sky. “Ma MAH!”
Trep followed Margreet’s gesture to look up at the stars. Walking slowly, because each step brought a near disaster, he eventually lost his footing and collapsed next to Margreet.
The little girl turned toward him, her face beaming with joy. “Ma MAH!”
Perhaps the stars are different in this land.
Trep pulled Margreet back into his lap.
Perhaps this land lies under a different part of the sky that is too far away for anyone in the Northlands to see.
Trep had never been an expert of the night sky. His knowledge lay in fire and iron and smoke and heat. He recognized some patterns of stars: the Anvil, the Plow, the
Necklace of Silver. So how could he be looking at a different part of the sky when he recognized all those patterns of stars right now?
Margreet reached up for the sky, and in that moment she reminded Trep of her mother.
With a whooping laugh, Trep lifted Margreet onto his shoulders and stood on his feet.
Margreet squealed with delight, reaching up for the stars.
Trep spun slowly in place, remembering the stories Astrid had told him of how she’d done the same. How it had made her feel she belonged to the world and knew her place in it.
“That’s it,” Margreet!” Trep said. “Reach high!”
The blacksmith and his daughter spun under all the bright shining stars.
Some of those stars formed the shape of a dragonslayer’s sword.
You have just completed SERIES #1 in the Dragonslayer World. Continue the journey with SERIES #2: The Dragonfly Series:
Dragonfly (Book 1) – FREE on Amazon
Dragonfly in the Land of Ice (Book 2)
Dragonfly in the Land of Swamp Dragons (Book 3)
Book 4 (final book) TBP in Fall 2016
Sign up for the author’s no-spam newsletter and get “Astrid, the Dragonslayer’s Blacksmith” and lots more exclusive content, all for free.
Click here to get started: www.resanelson.com
Read the short stories that launched the Dragonslayer World:
Dragonslayer Stories: Two Short Stories
Other novels by Resa Nelson:
Our Lady of the Absolute
All of Us Were Sophie
The Dragon’s Egg
Copyright © 2016 by Resa Nelson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Cover Art © 2015 by Eric Wilder
Second Edition January 2016
First published by Mundania Press, 2012
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the invention of the author, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, event, or locale is entirely coincidental.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A very big thank you to Tom Sweeney and Carla Johnson for reading and critiquing all of my novels and especially for helping me figure out how to make the final draft of this book work.
A special thanks to the real-life Glee and Fee for letting me name characters after them.
Finally, many thanks to everyone who embraced Astrid and read the entire Dragonslayer series. I think about you a lot and hope you enjoy the way the series ends.
Table of Contents
The Dragonslayer’s Sword
PART 1: BLOOMS OF IRON
PART 2: THE CHARACTER OF IRON
PART 3: TWISTING THE IRON
PART 4: THE DRAGON EMERGES
The Iron Maiden
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
The Stone of Darkness
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
The Dragon’s Egg
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER
51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
