The Dragon Hunter

Chapter Six

Today I go before the council. I don't know what they want to talk about, but I know I want to ask them if Tobin can be a warrior. I dress in my brown leather pants, a white cotton shirt and my dark blue vest corset. I put on my black knee-high boots. Gavina braids my hair in three and coils two of them in a bun. I put my dagger in my belt and made my way to the house.

I arrived at the doors and pushed them open, which was a little hard since I didn't have any muscles. I walked in, told the man why I was there. He waved me through. I walked the stairs by myself and once I stood before the door, my heart hammered profusely. I kicked the door three times, the locks disengaged and I walked in, stood front and center, and then kneel.

"Good afternoon Malvina. How are you feeling?" Mrs. Zax asks. I stand with legs apart and arms behind my back.

"Quite well your council. How are you today?"

"Fine dear. We've asked you to come today because we need to tell you of an important task."

"The task is that you will go with Becken and his men to find the Dragons nest." Kion says. I pretend to be surprised.

"You want me to help them? But I-I feel like that-"

"Would you rather us get someone else?" Kion asks, his eyes narrow.

"Malvina, this is your one chance to show the village, to prove to us that you aren't some kid." Voodie states. I can't believe she just called me a kid.

"Then, your council, I accept the task." I replied, bowing my head.

"Very good child. Becken will meet with you later to discuss the plans. That is all we have, you are dismissed." Zax ends the meeting. I bow and walk out. Why me? Couldn't Byron go? Then again they did call me a kid, and I hated being called a kid even though I really was one.

I made my way to the white bridge and sat on the river bank, I took my boots off and dipped my feet into its cold depths.

"How was the council?" Tobin asked as he came to sit by me

"Good. They were just filling me in on how I will be working with your father."

"My father!? What do you mean?"

"Your father has requested that I go with him to find the dragons nest."

"But you can't, not alone at least." I laugh as he puffs his chest up.

"I won't be alone. I will have your father and his men."

"Not me?" He asked, his chest deflating.

"Well, I never got the chance to ask." I say quietly looking up at him apologetically.

"Eh it's okay." He skips a rock, it skips three times.

"Maybe I can go back and talk to them?" I say hopefully

"Nah that's okay. I've waited this long, I can wait longer." He gives a shrug of his shoulder.

"Want to learn how to shoot a bow?" I say tauntingly

"Really!? I would love that." He says standing quickly. I dried my feet off and threw my socks back on. Then my boots. I told him to stay there and then I ran to the stables to get my bow and arrows. I ran back, when I got closer, I saw that Tobin was making something out of daisies.

"What ya doing?" He jumped and hid it behind his back.

"Uh nothing." His face turned red. He looked at me sheepishly and pulled it back out. I saw that it was a daisy chain. He held it out to me. I set my bow down and took it from him. Then I placed it on my head.

"Where's yours?" I ask him. Sometimes we play prince and princess. Yeah it's a kid game, but he dosen't seem to mind.

"Uh right here." He pulls up one made of just twigs. "I made it a while ago."

"It's nice." I reply smiling. Then I gave him my extra bow. "Come on, let's go to the training ground.

"But isn't that forbidden?"

"Yes and no. It's forbidden to villagers. But not to Hunters and Warriors." I winked at him. Then we walk over the white bridge and onto a dirt path. The trees surround us, the birds sing and the sun shines through every so often.

"I'm sorry that I was too weak to save you." Tobin says quietly

"Save me?"

"Yes. You know, when we went to pick berries, and the dragons came."

"Oh that. It's alright. In all honesty, I felt so scared because I had nothing to protect us. I would have felt awful if I had gotten you killed."

"Well, the same goes for-Oh my gosh it's beautiful! I chuckled. We had just made it to the training grounds. The training grounds were inside a stone wall, a black net was over the top. Glorious pine trees surrounded the outside of the circle. There were dozens of seats inside on either side of the arena. There were fake dummies of both people and dragons. There were wooden walls that you could put up to practice hiding and ducking. There were fake swords, and shields.

"Come on silly." I creaked open the wooden door and we stepped onto the packed dirt. The targets were at the far end. I put my bag over my shoulder and walked into the large closet to get a bow and arrows for Tobin. These ones were black with blue stripes and a gold tip.

"It's beautiful!" Tobin said cradling it.

"Okaay. Come on Tobin. Put them in the bag and stand over here." He put them inside and stood next to me. For the next half hour, we practiced putting the bow on and how to draw back, trying to find a comfortable way for him to draw it back. At the end of practice, I let him fly one. It landed in the dirt a few feet in front of him.

"Oh man." His posture slumped.

"It's alright, it takes time. Come on, we need to get home for dinner." We packed up and walked home in silence. We said our goodbyes in the middle of the village. Walking into my hut, it smelled of rice and drunkin.

"Ah Malvina dear. How was the council?"

"Good. I'm to meet with Becken some time to discuss things."

"A few things to know about Becken. He tends to talk loud. He's not mad. It's just in his nature. He can be very stubborn, but I'm sure you will be the one to change that."

"How?"

"Well, your kind. You don't talk down to others. And you fight, you fight for what's right, you fight to save others." She patted my head as I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you Mother. I just-I don't know if I'm ready for it. This big of a task."

"Tut-tut young one. This task will help you to see who you will become in the future. It will give you strength and courage to face the many years to come."

"I guess you're right mother." She sat down and we began to eat. Rice with butter and a sweet herb. The drunkin was spicy, but the bread helped calm the tongue. After dinner, I washed the dishes, and then Gavina and I sat outside by the ponds and fed the ducks some bread crumbs.

I wondered how my meeting with Tobin's father would go. I've heard that he's a big brute and doesn't care for me. He calls me a child and doesn't like that I'm a hunter. I wonder why he would want me to come with. Maybe Gavina had something to do with it.

"What are you thinking?" Gavina asked me.

"Oh, well I was just wondering did you have anything to do with me going with Becken?"

"Yes, I did. I want you to show him that you are worthy of your title."

"Thank you, Gavina."

"Your welcome." We spent the rest of the night outside watching the sunset. Then we headed inside for bed. It was a good day, I knew that I would make a warrior out of Tobin yet. We would have to train everyday undetected. If we were caught, I could have my title stripped in the blink of an eye. But I wasn't too worried. I fell asleep with happy thoughts.