by Mark Mulle
Later that night
Getting to the spot where I had woken up took a lot longer now that I didn’t feel as dizzy. Whatever was affecting me yesterday seemed to have worn off. Maybe I had been attacked and had been hit with a poison or something? But I don’t have any marks on my body or wounds. I don’t know what could have happened.
I stood at the spot where I had woken up. It was easy to find. The snow had stopped over the night and there were still some impressions in the snow of where I had been. I looked around the area slowly, hoping something would jump out at me and jog my memory.
But the woods were still. It was still cold out here even though the snow had stopped. I sighed. I realized I had been hoping for something to click if I had come back here. But there was nothing.
I trudged off through the snow, heading off in the opposite direction of the cave. For a while, nothing happened. I just walked through the snow and tried to keep my ears alert for any sounds.
After what felt like an hour of this, I heard something. It a long, loud howl. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. A wolf. Not good. I fumbled in my bag and yanked out my bow. It was made of iron and looked as if it had been used a lot.
I hoped even though I couldn’t remember how I had gotten here; I would still remember how to use a bow.
There was another howl as if a wolf was replying to the first one. That meant there was going to be a group of them. The howls began to grow louder. Every muscle in my body tensed. I notched an arrow swiftly and had it ready.
Yet it felt as if the howls were all around me. I realized that snow was starting to fall again. Just my luck. With the snow starting to fall, it made it more difficult to see. There was a flash of something behind one of the trees. I let my arrow fly. I knew instantly it was a mistake. But I was trigger happy and nervous.
The arrow lodged into the trunk of one of the trees. The wolves seemed to sense my attack. Two of them burst out of the tree line to my right. They were snarling at me and pacing around me. I was trapped.
My hands fumbled for another arrow. But my fingers were chilled to their bone. It made it hard to notch the arrow. As I struggled, two more wolves appeared and began to circle around me.
“Not good.” I mumbled aloud.
The wolves seemed to sense they had me trapped. I finally got my arrow notched and raised my bow. None of them cared. They knew when they had their prey. I gulped and fired the arrow.
My aim was off. The arrow flew over the tops of one of the wolves and landed in the snow. But it distracted them enough for me to turn around and take off running. I ran past one of the wolves who tried to bite my hand. I managed to snatch it away just in time.
Running in snow was difficult. The wolves were used to this. They were gaining on me quickly as I ran. There was a tree ahead with a low branch I could grab onto. I had to get off the ground. They had the upper hand here.
Behind me, the wolves gave chase. I could hear them snarling and howling. It felt as if they were going to tackle me to the ground at any point. The branch came closer. I stuck out my hands and grabbed it.
I propelled off the ground and flew upwards. I landed on the branch awkwardly but didn’t stop. I didn’t even bother to look at the wolves. Instead I began to scale up the tree. I grabbed the next branch followed by the next one easily. The branches were slick with snow but I was too focused on getting away to let that bother me.
I was halfway up the tree before I looked down. The wolves were circling around the bottom of the tree, hissing and snarling at me. But they couldn’t reach me. I was hoping they would lose interest soon so I could go.
But they didn’t lose interest right away. Each second I clung to the tree felt like a year. My grip on the tree grew weaker over time. My body heat had melted the snow on the tree branches which made it slippery.
Finally, just when I thought they would never leave, the wolves finally turned around and took off. I stayed still for a while longer just to make sure they had lost interest.
Luckily, it seemed that they had. I slowly climbed down the tree and landed in the snow on my butt. Graceful. I got to my feet and looked around. I was deeper in the forest now and had gone off course of where I had wanted to go.
Everything looked the same. I set off again but it didn’t take long for me to get completely turned around. I was close to panicking again. This was not good. If I was stuck out here when night fell, I would have no protection against hostile mobs of creatures.
That was when I saw it. At first, I thought it was a mirage. But no – there was a light in the distance! It looked like a fire of some sort. Without a second thought, I took off towards the light. It was very far away. It looked more like a little pinprick of light than a full blown fire. But it was better than nothing. Whoever had a fire going on during the day must be well protected and have a camp set up.
I set off towards the camp. But it was farther away than it looked. Before I knew it, the sun was setting. I was going to be out in the forest after dark. Not good. I picked up my pace. But my stomach was grumbling for more food. My body was so cold that every movement seemed to take more and more effort. If I didn’t get to the camp, and soon, I was going to be in some serious trouble.
The light had grown brighter in the darkness. I became fixated on that flicker of the light. I had to get to it before it was too late…
I heard it before I saw it. It sounded like a clanking noise. Something about it was familiar to me although I couldn’t pinpoint where I had heard the noise before.
It came out of the trees. A skeleton! It was holding a sword and saw me instantly. It took off at a run towards me. I didn’t have my bow out. I was too slow anyway. I made myself break out into a run. If I could get to the camp…
But the camp was still too far away. The skeleton was gaining on me. It was right behind me in no time. I heard the swing of its sword and I rolled forward. The sword hit the ground instead of me as I scrambled to my feet.
From behind one of the trees another skeleton appeared. This one had a bow and arrow. It quickly raised its bow and fired one at me. I stumbled backwards and landed in the snow. My brain tried to come up with a plan but the cold seemed to have sunk into my head as well.
Was this it?
It came quickly – a flash in the night. It struck the first skeleton and sent it flying back against one of the trees. The second arrow soared through the air easily and hit the skeleton with the bow. It fell down to the ground and struggled to get up.
I looked behind me, trying to see who had come to my rescue. Out of the darkness of the night came a figure cloaked in some sort of black robe.
“Get behind me.” The voice said.
It was a girl. She was tall and holding a bow that looked as if it was made out of diamond. I quickly got to my feet and went behind her. By this time the two skeletons had gotten up and were lunging towards us.
But the girl didn’t seem to be bothered at all by them. The skeleton with the bow shot an arrow at us. I stiffened, getting ready to push her out of the way. But I hadn’t needed to worry. The girl fired her own arrow.
Somehow, amazingly, it struck the arrow flying towards us. The two arrows hit the ground. I couldn’t believe I had seen such a shot. That had been amazing! Before I could say anything, she fired two arrows quickly. Her hands moved so fast that they were almost a blur. The skeleton with the bow turned to ash in front of us.
The other skeleton with the sword was closing in on us. It raised its sword. Panicked, I pushed the girl out of the sword’s reach. Then I tackled the skeleton to the ground. We fell on the snow and rolled around. The skeleton’s bony hand went around my neck and tightened. I was trying to kick it off of me.
Then the skeleton went very still before turning to ash. I yelped and brushed the ash off of me, getting to my feet. The girl grabbed my hand and spun me around.
“What were you doing?” She snapped at me.
“Are you okay?”
> It was hard to see her face in the moonlight. The hood of her robe was still over her head. I couldn’t see her eyes in this light but she hesitated before answering.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I was going to be fine anyway. I had the shot lined up on that skeleton before you pushed me out of the way. What were you thinking?”
“What? I saved you.”
“I didn’t need saving. I was saving you.”
I wanted to tell her that the skeleton was going to strike her…wasn’t he? But she just looked at me, annoyed. I was starting to feel dizzy again. I must have swayed on my feet because she put her bow away and grabbed my upper arm.
“Come on. We have to get back to camp before you get in more trouble.”
I was going to reply. I even opened my mouth. But I felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me like a wave. Suddenly, everything was dark.
When I woke up, I was staring at a wall. The room was so warm that I thought I must have been dreaming. How could I go from being so cold it felt as if my bones were going to snap to being so warm I wanted to kick the blankets off of me? I turned my head to the other side and looked around.
I was in an actual bed, not a cave floor. A fire was roaring in fireplace. There was a book shelf against one of the walls along with a crafting table. A window was closed so I couldn’t tell what time of day it was. There was another room off to the side which looked as if it had a small table to eat at.
The house was very small yet somehow cozy. It looked live in. There was a chair in front of the fireplace that looked as if someone spent a lot of time in there. A book was placed in it. Even from here I could see the bookmark, shoved in between the pages.
Where was I? The last thing I remembered was a cloaked figure saving me from two skeletons. I could recall how cold and hungry I was. Then there was nothing. Had I really fainted? How embarrassing!
I slid out of the bed and peeked out the window. It was dark outside. I couldn’t see anything. The snow was coming down hard. It made me glad that I was inside. I looked behind me and saw my bag was next to the bed.
That was when I pulled this journal out and began to write down everything that happened today. Wherever I was now, it was safer than being out there during this storm. I do feel a lot better now that I am in this house. Is this the girl’s house? She must have taken me back here after I fainted.
Now what do I do next? My stomach is grumbling. I wonder if she left food out? I –
Day 3
I got interrupted last night by the door to the house opening. I quickly shut my journal and shoved it back in my bag. Then I flopped down onto the bed. I didn’t want whoever it was to think I had been up and snooping around the house. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.
The person entering the house was very quiet. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the sound of the door opening, I probably wouldn’t have heard them at all. I opened my eyes just a little.
The girl’s back was turned to me. She was tending to the fire. Her hood was pulled down. I could see her brown hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her bow had been placed next to the fireplace. I could see it glimmering from the light of the fire. It was definitely made out of diamond.
“I know you’re awake.” She said.
“How did you know?” I asked, opening my eyes fully.
“Your breathing wasn’t like someone who is actually asleep.” She said and turned to face me.
She had bright blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dim lighting of the room. They were a size too large. They looked as if they belonged to a cat or something. Down the right side of her face was a thin scar. It went from her forehead to her chin. I wondered what had caused that.
“Where am I?” I asked.
Before the girl could reply, my stomach grumbled loudly. It sounded more like an earthquake than my stomach rumbling.
“You should eat,” She said, “You got some rest but you need food too. Come on.”
She went to the second room. I got out of bed and trailed after her. The kitchen was narrow. The dining table was bare. There was a small storage area to one side and cooled milk in a bucket. She poured out some of the milk and rummaged around until she put down some food in front of me.
I didn’t waste any time. I began to stuff my face almost instantly. She sat down across from me with a glass of milk. I ate for a bit in silence, too consumed by the food to talk.
Finally, after taking a swig of milk, I looked up at her, “What’s your name?”
“Blue.”
“Blue?” I repeated, wondering if she had been named that after her eyes.
“Yours?”
“Ziggy.”
Blue wrinkled her nose, “Weird name.”
“Really? Like Blue isn’t?”
“What were you doing out in the snow fields anyway?” Blue asked, ignoring my remark, “It’s dangerous out there. If I hadn’t been out scouting, I never would have seen the skeletons going after you.”
“Thanks for that, by the way,” I said, “You’re right. I was in a bit of trouble.”
Blue crossed her arms and stared at me, “So? What were you doing out there?”
I shifted awkwardly in my seat. How did I tell someone that I had no idea what I was doing out there? Even now, I couldn’t remember anything at all.
“I was just out exploring.” I lied.
I could tell instantly Blue didn’t believe it. Of course she didn’t! She obviously was pretty skilled with her bow and knew the surrounding area.
“Really?”
“Yeah,” I kept going, “I heard there was like, treasure out here.”
“Out here?”
“Yeah so I thought I’d find it. For myself. Get all that glory.”
Blue snorted and shook her head, “You’re lying. There is absolutely no treasure around these parts. No one has explored these lands in ages.”
“Well, what about this place?”
“You mean, my home? My village is secluded,” Blue replied and frowned, “No one can know you’re here. If they knew I let an outsider through the walls…”
Now I was the one who was interested. I leaned forward.
“Secluded? You mean, I’m not allowed in here?”
“No, of course you aren’t. My village is the only one in this area. That’s how I know there isn’t any treasure around here. I know how hard it is to live in these conditions. This village isn’t even on any maps. If they knew I helped you or brought you here, they’d be furious with me.”
“Who?”
“The village elders. So you have to stay hidden, okay? You can leave tomorrow.” She got up with her milk glass.
Panic filled me. Leave? But to where? I had nowhere to go! All I knew was my name and that wasn’t going to help me at all. The thought of being sent back out into the wilderness was terrifying. I definitely didn’t want to head back out there.
I got to my feet hastily and went over to Blue.
“Hey, listen, I mean, you’re joking, right? Your village elders or whatever are okay with outsiders, right?”
“What? No. Why would I lie about that? I told you. My village is secluded. We live here away from everything else happening from the Over World. I don’t even know how you got so close to our village.”
“But why are you guys out here away from the rest of the Over World?”
Blue narrowed her eyes at me, “You haven’t heard of Snowfall Village?”
I wanted to tell her no but judging by her look at me, I was apparently supposed to have heard of it. I probably did – if I had my memories. But Snowfall Village meant nothing to me. I had no memories regarding a village out in the middle of nowhere that didn’t take kindly to visitors.
“What? Of course I know of Snowfall Village,” I said quickly, hoping I sounded convincing, “Who hasn’t?”
“Right.” The way her eyes were narrowed made me think that she didn’t believe anything I had told her since we started speaking.
“I just hadn�
��t realized that this was the Snowfall village. That’s all.”
Blue rolled her eyes, “Sure. Listen, tomorrow morning I’ll smuggle you out the way we came in, okay? Should be easier this time since you’ll be…you know. Awake. Then you can go finish exploring or whatever you’re doing out there.”
She moved past me and went back out into the main room. I was trying very hard not to panic again. Part of me wanted to come clean with Blue and tell her that I had no idea who I was, where I was going, or how to get out of this area. If she led me out of the village, I’d be in deep trouble.
But would she believe me? Also, would it even matter? If she was telling the truth about her village, I couldn’t stay here anyway. She would need me to go for her own safety. She would get in trouble if the village elders saw me.
I followed her back into the main room. She was pulling a bunch of blankets out of the closet and tossing them onto the floor.
“This is your bed,” Blue said, gesturing to the pile of blankets, “I let you have my bed for a few hours already.”
“How long was I asleep for?”
“Five hours. It’s the middle of the night now. Get some sleep. I’ll wake you up shortly before dawn so I can get you out of the village before everyone else is awake.”
I nodded although my mouth had gone dry. I really needed to figure out a plan. I didn’t want to ask Blue to keep me here. She had already gone above and beyond what she needed to do. I didn’t want her to get into trouble because of me.
Blue put out the fire and crawled into bed. With a mumbled good-night, she brought the blankets up close and turned away from me. Her breathing slowed down and in a matter of moments, she was asleep.
I curled up in my own pile of blankets and tried to fall asleep. Instead, I stared at the glowing embers of the fire. Maybe if I smacked my head on something. Doesn’t that jog memories? Knowing my luck, it wouldn’t bring back any memories at all. I’d just have hurt myself for nothing.
It took a while but I fell asleep. It felt like five minutes had passed before Blue was shaking me awake.
“Time to go.” She said.
I sat up. My heart was beating rapidly. Blue was wearing a dark robe and tossed me one. I slid into it. She handed me something.
“What is this?”
“Food. You can put it in your pack.”
I hesitated for a second before I mumbled a thank you. I went over to my bag. Still rubbing sleep out of my eyes, I opened it up. I wanted to try to find a place for it where it wouldn’t get crushed. My bag was so full of junk. I started rummaging around, wondering if I could leave some of this junk here.
Blue was looking out the window, frowning, “Did you hear that?”
“No.” I said and then my fingers brushed against fabric at the very bottom of the bag.
Blue was still staring out the window as I pulled the object out of the bag. It had been shoved at the very bottom and wrapped in black fabric. I hadn’t noticed it at first. To be fair, I had other concerns out in the snow fields than going through my bag.
“I can’t believe it,” Blue mumbled, “The village elders are up. This is bad. Really bad.”
I barely heard her. I had pulled the fabric off the object and was staring down at it. I ran my fingers over it, marveling at it.
Blue kept speaking, “Ziggy, you have to hide. They look like they’re going up to the houses. Searching for you, probably. I never should have brought you back –” It was then she turned around and saw what I was holding.
Her eyes almost popped out of her head. If they looked large normally, now they looked like giant marbles pressed into her. She came over to me. For the first time, her normally bored sounding voice was higher pitched.
“Where did you – how did you – I can’t –” She stuttered over her words before she finally regrouped, “How did you find a snow dragon egg?”
I looked back down at the dragon egg. It was freezing cold to the touch. My fingers were already feeling numb from just holding it this long. I put it down and stared at it. It was pure white with ridging all over it. It looked like a very large, bumpy snowball. Blue reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Ziggy, what are you doing with that? Did you take it from the dragon at the mountain?”
“I don’t know.” I admitted, unable to come up with a lie for such strange circumstances.
Her eyes widened, “You don’t know? How do you not –”
There was a knock on the door. We both went perfectly still.
On the other side of the door, someone said gruffly, “Blue. Wake up.”
Blue scampered over to where the chair was in front of the fireplace and shifted it over quickly. There was a door underneath the chair. She swiftly opened it. The smell of dank basement rose up to my nostrils. She was motioning for me to go down there.
“Blue!” The man’s voice was louder this time, “Wake up!”
Blue cleared her throat and then replied in a voice that sounded groggy with sleep, “Okay, okay! Geez, hang on!”
I grabbed my bag, shoved the dragon egg back inside of it and hopped down into the basement. Blue shut the door after me and I heard the chair move back over it. The basement smelled of mold and was pitch black. Whatever reason Blue had it, I could tell she didn’t use it very often.
I heard the front door open. Though it was muffled, I could still hear what they were saying.
“Blue, sorry to wake you.” Said a woman.
“We’re inspecting the homes.” The man who had shouted through the door said and I heard him push past Blue to get into her house.
“Inspections? For what?” Blue asked.
The woman replied, “Have you seen an outsider in the village?”
“An outsider? Last time I saw an outsider in the village, I was five years old.” Blue replied quickly.
I could hear the heavy footsteps of the man walking around the small room. The woman spoke next.
“I know it sounds crazy. But the elders are going around and checking with everyone.”
“What makes you guys think there is an outsider in the village?” Blue asked.
It was the man who replied, “There is a group waiting outside the village. Said they were attacked and lost one of their own. Said that they were betrayed by this man. They want to take him back to Riverspire and turn him over to the king for stealing.”
My head spun. People were waiting outside the village for me? Had I really stolen the egg from them? That couldn’t be true. Riverspire didn’t ring any bells but I didn’t have to have my memories to know that I didn’t want to speak to some king.
Blue didn’t get a chance to reply because the man spoke up again, “Why all these blankets on the floor?”
Drat. In our haste, we had both forgotten that the blankets that had made up my bed were still by the fireplace.
“What, you think the outsider used the blankets as a place to sleep, Garrett?” Blue asked boldly.
“Then what are they here for?” He demanded to know.
“I had them on the bed. It’s freezing, in case you didn’t notice. I kicked them off when I got up to answer the door.” Blue replied.
“Come on. Let’s go to the next house.” The woman said.
But Garret replied, “No. Not until the entire house is searched. You know the rules, Mary.”
I heard Garret walk away. Most likely he was heading to the kitchen. Above me, I heard Mary whisper.
“Sorry about this Blue. You know how…seriously Garrett takes these things. To have a group of people tell us an outsider might have gotten in and they want to take him to the king – well, it’s been a long time since something like that happened.”
“I know,” Blue said, “Did they say how the guy betrayed them?”
“Said he stole something of theirs.”
I looked at my bag, thinking about the dragon egg. Had I really stolen it? What if I wasn’t a good guy? Maybe I was one of the bad guys.
I was starting
to not want my memories back, to be honest.
“Did they say what it was?” Blue pressed.
“No. Blue, I know it’s exciting to have outsiders show up but you know why we don’t want a part of the outside world. The rest of the Over World and their concerns are not for us. Our village has one purpose. To protect the snow dragon and the children it hasevery two hundred years. Anything not concerning that is of no importance to us. Including these outsiders and their issues with people in their group.”
I gulped. Snowfall Village’s purpose revolved around the snow dragons and the eggs. I had one of the eggs in my bag. Blue would have to turn me over now. How could she not?
Maybe it would be okay if she did. I mean, seeing the group again might jog my memories of what happened. Maybe there is another reason that I have the egg. Maybe I didn’t steal it at all. Some misunderstanding, perhaps?
I held my breath, waiting for Blue to turn me over. I heard Garrett come back to the main room.
“Ate a lot last night.” He remarked.
“I was on patrol almost all night,” She snapped, “I was starving. I can’t eat now?”
“Mighty defensive tonight.” Garrett said.
Why wasn’t she telling them about me? She could open up the basement and pretend to find me. I’d go along with it so she didn’t get in trouble. Then I guessed I’d go meet the king and…be what? Locked up in a dungeon?
But before Blue could say another word, a bell started to toll. It cracked through the air like a lightning bolt. It was so loud that it felt as if I was standing right next to it. What in the world was that?
Above me, I could hear Mary exclaim something in surprise.
“We’re under attack!” Garret said loudly, “Mary, come with me. Blue, grab your bow and help us!”
“I’ll be right there!” She said.
The front door slammed shut. The bell was still ringing. I heard Blue move the chair and open the door. She looked down at me. I looked back up at her. I wanted to ask why she hadn’t turned me in but she was handing me something.
“What is this?” I asked.
“A sword, fool,” She snapped, “Put on your robe and come help me fend off the enemies. We haven’t had creatures breach the walls in years. Everyone is going to panic.”
I grabbed the sword and climbed out of the basement. I marveled at it. Blue had lit up a torch when Garrett and Mary had come by. The light bounced off the diamond sword. It glimmered in my hand.
“Wow, diamond sword too?” I asked her as she snatched up her bow.
She ignored what I said and turned around to face me. The bell was still ringing. But now I could hear the rest of the village outside. I could hear the clang of weapons.
“Hold onto your bag, understand?” Blue snapped at me, “Ziggy, do not let that bag out of your sight.”
I had a thousand questions to ask but no time. She had already turned around and swung her door open. I took off after her.
The sky was still dark. I could just make out a slight color change of where the sun was starting to rise. Torches were lit around the village in an attempt to ward off the enemies that were attacking. The bell was still ringing. It was giving me a headache. It was still snowing. My feet sunk into the snow.
In front of us was a pathway. Small homes, looking identical to Blue’s, lined the pathway. There were a group of skeletons on the pathway. Some were trying to break into homes. Others were battling with the villagers.
“The village square is up ahead,” Blue said to me as she notched an arrow in her bow, “But we need to clear out this section first. Everyone here is a fighter. Do you understand? To blend in, you need to look as if you know what you are doing. Can you fight?”
I thought back to my botched attempt at firing arrows at the wolves. I hoped that I was better with a sword than the bow.
“Uh, yeah.” I said, hoping she couldn’t see my face in the darkness.
She nodded once and then turned back to the skeletons. Two of them had seen us and were barreling towards us. Quick as ever, Blue sent an arrow flying. It smashed into one of the skeletons and sent him to his feet. Before I could even blink, she had sent another arrow flying into the skeleton. It turned to ash.
“What are you doing?” She shouted at me.
I had been so entranced with how well she had been firing that I hadn’t been paying attention to the second skeleton. It was nearly on top of us now. It was too close for Blue to fire an arrow towards it.
Quickly, I swung my sword upwards. It smashed against the skeleton’s sword and locked. The skeleton pushed forward. My feet were slipping on the ice. Blue had taken off and was climbing up on a nearby roof. My guess was she was trying to get a good vantage point to start shooting arrows at the rest of the skeletons. I would hate for her to think she had to save me yet again from a skeleton. No, I was going to take care of this guy on my own.
I pressed forward. My feet slipped against the ice but I managed to push as hard as I could. The skeleton backed up. It lost its footing on the ice covered pathway and fell backwards. I attacked rapidly and before long it had turned to ash in front of me.
I looked up, thrilled that I had taken care of a skeleton without needing help. My excitement was short lived, however, when I saw Blue had taken down about five skeletons with her arrows. She hopped down the roof of the house she had been standing on and collected her arrows. Then she looked over at me.
“You okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m great.” I said and she gave me a strange look.
“Glad you’re doing so well then,” She rolled her eyes, “Come on. We have to get to the square. We can help everyone there.”
As we took off running down the pathway, I couldn’t help but ask, “How did you learn how to work a bow so well?”
She glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes, “My dad taught me.”
She didn’t say anything else and I didn’t want to press the subject. The village was small and it didn’t take too long to find the square. There was a large building here and a fountain in the middle of the square. The water in the fountain was frozen. I can’t imagine it ever not being frozen with how cold it was here.
The rest of the square was thrown into chaos. There were skeletons everywhere. The villagers were defending themselves and trying to push them back out the gate. For the first time, I saw the walls that surrounded the village. Since I had been passed out when Blue had smuggled me in here, I hadn’t seen them. The walls were tall and looked almost impossible to break through. How had skeletons gotten through?
The villagers fought like Blue. No matter what weapon they were using, they were skilled. Not only did I see the normal usage of bows and swords, but I even saw some people using magic. For a second I was stuck to where I was standing, watching the scene unfold in front of me.
But Blue smacked me on the back to push me forward and said, “Stick close to me, okay?”
Right. I needed to remember that I had been smuggled in here. If the group of people searching for me were in the village, they could easily cart me off to the king. Even though I didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle in regards to why I had a snow dragon egg, Blue hadn’t turned me in for a reason. I would stick by her and try not to get into trouble.
The battle that followed felt both incredibly short and incredibly long somehow at the same time. The skeletons seemed to be determined to get into the village. Blue took charge of the other archers. Together, they climbed to the roofs and began to fire. Even in the middle of the battle, I could see that Blue was the best archer in the group. Her arrows never missed.
Meanwhile, I was trying to fend off any of the skeletons that were trying to climb the roof to get to the archers. It was to keep them safe and also to stick close to Blue. The longer I fought, the more that my body seemed to remember how to swing the sword. I wished I had a shield but in the meantime I kept swinging open the doors to homes and ducking behind them for protection.
When the skeletons were almost entirely taken care of, a man on a horse barreled through the village doors. I was half expecting one of the archers to fire but no one did. Instead the man took off his helmet and cried out:
“Skeletons over the ridge! Will be here in an hour!”
Garrett pushed through the crowd, deflecting a blow from a skeleton and shouted, “Push the gates closed! Move forward!”
With the crowd of skeletons thinned out it was easier for everyone in the village square to surge forward. Together, the last few of the skeletons turned to ash under the swords. The heavy doors slammed shut with a loud noise. The bell stopped ringing. I hardly heard it during the battle.
Silence settled across the village. The sun had risen by this time. Through the snowfall, it shone down on us. The snow was ruined from both the ash from the skeletons and the signs of battle. It had turned dark and muddy from the battle.
The archers were coming down from the roof tops. Blue landed down next to me and shoved me behind her. I made sure my hood was pulled up over my face. Garrett was looking at everyone.
“I want everyone to report to the elder house. We will bunker down in there. I’ll select a team to help repair the wall and fend off the second round of skeletons coming. You guys,” He pointed to a group of men I hadn’t noticed before, “Get into the house.”
I watched the group. They must have been the ones looking for me. They were clearly outsiders. They were dressed in iron armor and held swords that looked weak compared to the diamond equipment everyone else had. I couldn’t make them out too much at this distance. But seeing them hadn’t jogged anything in my memory.
“Stay with me.” Blue repeated quietly to me as if she was afraid I was going to take off after the men.
I followed her at a safe distance. Most of the village was moving towards the elder’s home. Others were bickering with Garret, saying they wanted to go back to their own place and defend it. Blue and I were swept into the home quickly and silently.
This house made Blue’s look like a little hut. Everything was beautifully decorated. There were swords on display and paintings along the walls. Bookshelves lined the walls. A fireplace was roaring in every room. One room had a display case filled with creeper heads. There was even a meeting room with a large oak table. The second floor had bedrooms. People with children claimed the bedrooms first.
Blue and I ended up in one of the smaller rooms in the back. It had a very small fireplace and a crafting table. A painting of a field was on the wall with a window that overlooked the garden. Someone shoved the chairs to one side and people began to fill up the room.
Blue and I positioned ourselves near the window. My guess was she would shove me through the window if there was trouble. I wouldn’t put it past her.
For the first time in ages, I had a chance to write in here. Blue was busy cleaning off her bow and counting how many arrows she had left. Then she dozed off. Any moment now the second wave of skeletons will come around. Most people are trying to nap but others are offering to help the elders get ready.
Where do I go from here? Somewhere around here are the men that I apparently stole this dragon egg from. Blue didn’t rat me out to Garrett and Mary. This village is here to protect the snow dragon and their children from…people like me, I guess.
Nothing is clear. My mind is still a blank. Not to mention my entire body is aching from the battle.
Maybe I can take a quick nap too…
Day 4
I woke up to that annoying bell tolling again. Around me, people were taking off. Some were going off to battle again. Others were staying behind to tend to the wounded or make sure the house would be safe to stay in.
I looked over at Blue, “We going back?” I said groggily.
She looked torn, “We should stay here and keep you out of sight but…”
I knew she wanted to go back into battle. Of course she did. This was her village that she was protecting. Not to mention she was obviously the best archer in the group.
“I’ll come with you.” I said, getting ready to stand up.
It was then one of the other elders came into the room. I had noticed each of the elders wore a small brooch on their clothes. This man looked very old and had a long beard.
“You two,” He said to us, “Blue. Get out there. We need you there.”
I shifted slightly so my hood covered more of my face. My heart beat quickly. Did the elders know everyone by name? If so, I was going to be in serious trouble.
The man barked out, “Tell your friend to help out in the back. We need help reinforcing the fence. We have too many children in here not to protect this place the best we can.”
“Yes, Elder Xan.” Blue said quickly.
Xan barely glanced at us as he left the room. Blue’s shoulders sagged with relief and she turned to face me.
“I have to go out there,” She whispered, “You just help patch up the fence in the back. Don’t talk to anyone. Keep your head down. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Blue, wait,” When she stopped impatiently and looked back at me, I asked, “Why didn’t you turn me over?”
Her eyes flicked around the room as if to make sure no one was listening and then she sighed, “We don’t have time to go over that now, Ziggy. I just think there is more to the story than what you are telling me. We will talk when I come back, okay?”
She took off without waiting for me to answer. I watched her go and then went out to the backyard. The fence here was very tall, almost like a smaller separate wall. It went around the elder’s house. Groups of people were working on patching it up. It looked as if the skeletons had tried hard to get in here.
I kept my bag close to my side and went to one of the sections that needed to be fixed. Around me, the villagers were talking in low hushed voices.
“Those outsiders come along and suddenly we are attacked. How did the skeletons get through the wall anyway?” One person whispered.
“I don’t know. There hasn’t been a breach in over ten years. I’m sure those outsiders are behind it.”
“Probably want to get permission to scale the mountain. You know sometimes people try to ask for permission to scale the mountain to see the snow dragon.”
“There hasn’t been anyone asking to see the snow dragon in years.” Another person replied.
The first man shrugged, “Always going to be people trying to get the snow dragon eggs.”
I thought of my own egg in my bag and my face flushed. I began to work on the fence, listening in on their conversations. I learned that the snow dragon lived on a mountain near here. Snowfall Village was here to protect the dragon from the rest of the Over World. The dragon was too powerful to be allowed to be kidnapped by a power-hungry king. The dragon laid eggs once every two hundred years.
“It will be laying eggs soon,” Someone said, “That means we will have to patrol even harder. I’m sure that the skeletons attacking is so someone can distract us and steal the dragon’s eggs. Imagine if one got taken back to the rest of the Over World.”
The second wave of enemies must have been a lot less than the first because Blue was back quickly. She found me fixing up a patch on the fence.
“Hey,” She mumbled, pulling me away, “You okay?”
“Yeah. You?”
She nodded once and then lowered her voice even more, “That group of men…the ones looking for you. They’re in the house now.”
“What should I do?”
“I don’t think any more skeletons are coming back today. It was strange enough they attacked during the day. The elders are going to have us stay here the rest of the day for safety reasons. But you can sneak out. Go hide in my house.”
“Okay,” I said although I wished she would be coming with me, “I’ll sneak out.”
“It’s too dangerous for you to stay here with those men looking for you. And I could get in trouble too. So, take the bag and sneak out to my house. Do not get caught, understand? I
mean it.”
“I won’t get caught.” I swore even though I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to make sure that happened.
We went to the side of the large house, pretending to be checking for more holes in the fence. The fence looked mostly intact. No one was around here. Blue stopped in front of a large rock and nudged it.
“Underneath here you can shimmy out.”
“How did you know about that?” I asked her.
A funny look crossed her face, “I used to sneak out this way when my parents got stuck in meetings with the elders. They never found out how I did it.”
The thought of her parents seemed to be making her sad so I changed the subject, “Blue, I have to tell you something.”
“Well, hurry up.” She said, looking around.
“I don’t know how I have this egg. Or why those men are looking for me. Or anything, really. All I know is my name.”
“What?”
“I don’t remember anything. I woke up in the snow and I don’t know why. I don’t know who I am or why I have this egg that apparently only comes around every two hundred years. I don’t know why those men are looking for me. I lied because I didn’t think you’d believe me but I can tell you know something is off. Can’t you?”
“Yes. I can tell something was off. No offense but you’re a bad liar. That’s why I didn’t turn you over. I could tell there was something else going on.”
“Blue?” Someone shouted for her – it sounded like Mary.
“Hurry up!” She said to me, pushing me down into the dirt, “I’ll meet you at my house, okay?”
I moved the large rock. There was a hole underneath the fence. It was large enough that I could wiggle through it. I shoved the bag through first and squirmed through it. Behind me, I could hear Mary calling for Blue again. As soon as I popped out on the other side, the rock was shoved back into place.
“There you are. What are you doing?” I heard Mary ask.
“Making sure this didn’t need to be replaced. Most of the patches look to be completed.”
I didn’t waste any more time. I took off down the side of the house and peeked around the corner. The village square was a mess. With the bright sunlight, it looked even worse. Snow and weapons were everywhere. The fountain had been smashed by something and looked broken. At least the heavy snow had stopped falling.
Some of the villagers were making the rounds, looking for any other enemies. To my right was the front doors of the village. They were closed. Three people were making repairs on it.
I waited until it looked as if the coast was clear and darted down to the nearest street. I flattened myself against a house and held my breath. The men fixing the walls hadn’t seen me.
I darted on. At one point I got lost. Everything looked the same in the village. I knew that Blue’s home was on the edge of everything with the smaller homes. I was among the larger ones – the ones for families.
I turned left and ducked behind a tree when two people passed by. They were holding swords and shields as they looked around.
“The snow dragon is going to lay an egg soon. Maybe we will get lucky and there will be more than one.” A short man was saying.
The other man shrugged, “Either way, it is our job to make sure the egg stays safe. I’m sure this insanity with the skeletons and those outsiders are to try to get the egg.”
I could feel the coldness of the egg against my leg even now through the bag. My head is spinning. Why did I have this egg? If the snow dragon really only has one or two eggs every two hundred years, then what I had in my bag was a priceless item. One that is supposed to be protected by the Snowfall Village not in my hands.
The two men passed by me and I took off down the street. Another turn and I realized I was where I needed to be. I ran down the pathway towards Blue’s house. It looked untouched. After we had taken care of the skeletons here, they must not have come back to this area.
I ran up to Blue’s house and tried to open the door. It was stuck. I frowned and looked closer at the door. It looked as if someone had tried getting in here. The lock was jammed. I pressed my weight against it, wanting to hurry up before I got caught.
Then I heard a crunch in the snow. I turned around, trying to come up with a lie. But as soon as I saw the group of outsiders, I knew it didn’t matter. They were trying to get a good look at me but my hoodie was pulled low over my face. I avoided their stares and turned back to the door.
“Trouble, sir?” The tallest man said. He was so skinny it was almost creepy. He sort of looked like those skeletons that attacked. He had a pickaxe and sword hanging off his belt.
“My door was damaged in the attack,” I lie quickly and tried to ignore how fast my heart was beating, “Just trying to get in.”
“Why don’t we help you?” The man said.
He pushed me to the side and tried to jimmy the handle. I thought they had been in the elder’s house not here. The man was looking at me. His eyes were flicking to my bag. The rest of the group was closing in.
“What’s in the bag?” One of the men asked.
“What? Just my things.”
The leader reached out and grabbed the bag away from me. His eyes were gleaming.
“Let’s see about that, Ziggy.”
He reached into the bag.
