The Dragon Hunter

Chapter Three

I hear him gasp as I continue, shifting myself to face the water for I can't bear to look at him.

"I hunt the dragons, and the warriors kill them. I do my fair share of killing though." I say the last part quietly. Minutes and then seconds tick by. Not one peep emerges from the left. I turn my head and see his eyes scrunched close, his face red. Then he un-scrunches his face and opens his eyes. They are dark. Murderous looking.

"Why you?" He breathes out finally, sticking a finger to my chest.

"I-well- I. Can I let Gavina explain? I don't have the words right now." He removes his finger and brushes past me.

"Let's go!" He growls out. I run to keep up with his long strides which are longer now since he is angry. He flies through the village, people stare at him and move out of the way, they give me sympathy looks as I trail after him. He goes to my hut and throws open the door.

"Mom!" I shout before he can say anything. "Mooom!" I shout squeezing past him. Three sharp whistles come from outside. I scurry out, but as I hit the first step, I'm thrown sideways by Tobin. From my position, I see him march towards Gavina. I stand, brush myself off and sit down on a log to whittle.

I watched him walk to Gavina. She greeted him and then sat down on the white wooden bench that faces a little pond. She was calm the whole time they conversed, but Tobin kept flailing his arms about. He now took a seat next to her after refusing it the first time. He was now calm and I figured everything was going to be okay. He looked back at me once, but I quickly ducked my head. I watched them without raising my head, just my eyes. Gavina stood and strode my way.

"Everything is alright now. You needn't discuss what happened before, it is in the past."

"Yes Gavina." She disappeared inside and now Tobin was in front of me.

"I'm sorry about earlier. It just caught me off guard." He said quietly

"No, I'm sorry, I should have told you." I smiled up at him, putting my whittling away. Then I stood, "Mother invite you for lunch?" I asked him.

"Yes, I hope that's okay."

"It's fine with me. The more the merrier." We walked to the pump and washed our hands, then we made our way inside. Lunch consisted of venison, noodles and drunkin with an herb that made it spicy.

"So Tobinson, what will you do with the rest of your day?" Gavina asked him.

"I'm not sure. Do you need me to do something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do. I need you and Malvina to go pick berries."

"Aren't the bushes in a forbidden territory?"

"Yes. But that is why it will be a secret. And if you do it, I will make pióg caora!" She wiggled her eyebrows up and down. He glanced at me, I knew that my face was glowing with happiness. I gave him a nod to tell him that she wasn't lying.

"We will Givana! Right after lunch." Givana chuckled at his enthusiasm as she plopped a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table and put goat milk in front of us. I ate one cookie and Tobin ate three. I saw him sneak two more into his pocket. As a woman, I was not allowed to eat more than one of a treat. It would not be good for my figure. After lunch, Tobin and I set out on our horses, over the bridge and through the grassy fields. The sun was shining and birds filled the air.

"Nice day eh Tobin?"

"Yes, it is. I'm sorry about earlier M. I didn't mean to get so angry." He said, sounding disgusted.

"It's alright. I understand completely. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away." I reply, casting my eyes downward.

"But you didn't need to. It wasn't my place to know. I was just curious because-"

"Did my mother tell you my story?" I cut him off before he could continue. I had an inkling that she had because he kept going on and on about how sorry he was. I stared right at him and watched him gulp.

"Y-yes. I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to know.

"It's alright. Because now it is easier for you to know why I am a hunter at such a young age."

"It's just awful though. I know I complain about my father, but I really shouldn't. I at least have him." I nodded my head in understanding.

"What else did she say?" I asked him as he shifted in the saddle.

"Well, she thought that maybe you could talk to the council. Put in a good word for me."

"What about your father?"

"She will take care of it."

"Well, do you think you will be up for it?"

"I'm not sure. I would need some training."

"Yes, you would." I nodded my head in thought.

"Would you be willing?" Would I be willing!? I thought to myself laughing.

"Me! Really Tobin, I myself am still learning. I will ask Akelade if he'd be willing to train you alright?"

"Yes. That's fine. Does he train you?"

"No, Byron does."

"Oh." His face fell with sadness

"Why the long face?" I asked him. Afraid I had hurt him somehow.

"Well, I was hoping we would train together, so I- well I don't know."

"Now don't you worry, Akelade is the best, he had top marks in training class and Byron was just below him. I don't need to learn as much as you do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your dream has been to be a warrior right?"

"Is he one?" Hopefulness laced his voice.

"Yep! Byron trains me because he is a hunter." His face bloomed with a smile and eagerness.

"Thank you M! When will you tell him?"

"As soon as we get home." We lapsed into silence. I was thankful that my secret was out. It didn't go how I had wanted it, but that is alright. Now we could talk about my hunts. Well actually, if the council approved, he would be joining the hunts now too. I hope that they would approve because if they don't. I'm not sure what Tobin would do. Hopefully nothing too rash.

We left the grassy fields and the sun for cold dark woods. The wind whistled through the needles making it very eerie, we were now on the path to Munkded. The place of bad creatures, bad people, but the yummiest berries in the world! We made it out of the woods. It was cloudy here, no light shone except for the torches around the huts that were abandoned because the villagers were out this time of day. We rode through the village and to their own bridge with whole dragon bodies. Their heads and tails nailed into the ground with giant spikes.. It was an odd thing to be upon a dead dragon, but we crossed the bridge and came to a grassy area. There up ahead in tiny little rows were the bushes. The branches were covered with red, blue and gold berries.

We dismounted and walked to the bushes. We began to carefully pluck the berries, for if we touched a thorn, we would surely die for they were poisonous. We had three jars full when I heard a rustling behind us.

"Don't move Tobin." I whisper

"Why?"

"Something or someone is behind us." The rustling sounds again. I turned and saw familiar beady green eyes, a brown body and a long head with two horns.

"Move Tobin! Move!" I shouted, pulling him behind me, trying to find coverage. The ground began to tremble and we were thrown to the ground. We rolled over to see the beast coming towards us!