Young Writers Society

Chapter 8

Slaves and Saviors

Shadow had heard about the terrible ways many slavers treated their captives from Jarid; raiding villages or isolated homes and taking the people who lived there away to sell them as cheap workers. The worst part was that they often separated children from their parents and sold them separately. These men would gladly capture or kill a group of dragonets without question.

Shadow slowly crawled away from the camp. He had to get Hailstorm and warn the others. Once he was far enough away, Shadow stood and crept back to where Hailstorm was waiting. Shadow was nearly on top of Hailstorm before he noticed, slightly startling him.

“What took you so long?” Hailstorm whispered with a hint of annoyance.

“I needed to be quiet and wait for them to give some clue as to who they were or what they were doing.”

“Well, did they?”

Shadow nodded. “Yes. I’ll tell you more when we get back.”

When they arrived back at the clearing, Tempest glared at them. “You took so long, we were about to go find some food ourselves. You’d better have a good reason for making us wait so long.”

Hailstorm grinned. “We sure do. We found a group of humans in the forest and spied on them.”

The other dragonets eyes widened. Then Tempest growled.

“You idiot! What if they caught you?” I wouldn’t be able to protect you.

Then Hailstorm smiled smugly. “Well, they didn’t, and now we know who they are.” And I did it without your help.

Shadow wondered if Hailstorm was intentionally forgetting that he had been the one to tell him about the human’s camp. The others leaned in and even Tempest looked curious.

Hailstorm motioned for Shadow. “They are about a ten minute flight away. I’ll let Shadow explain the rest since he knows more about humans.”

Shadow sighed but avoided commenting on their respective roles if obtaining the information.

“They are called slave traders. That means they capture humans from other towns and villages and sell them. That means they probably have weapons and other things for capturing. Dragons are worth a lot of money so I’m sure they would try to catch us if they could. They seemed to have a little girl captive with them and were planning to sell her.”

The other dragonets nodded. Boulder spoke up. “I think it should be relatively safe to sleep here tonight. They are far away and if they are sneaking through the forest they probably won’t go near the road.” And even if they do find us we can just fight them off, he thought confidently.

Shadow knew better than to underestimate humans, but they probably wouldn’t run into each other so it would be fine.

“Um, Shadow?” Aurora asked shyly. “Was the little girl ok?”

Shadow was surprised. He didn’t think any of the other dragons would be concerned about a human. Even he hadn’t given her much thought other than feeling sorry for her.

“Well, I couldn’t see her, but she sounded scared and confused. They probably took her away from her parents and made her work for them without much food.”

There was no way he could describe the fear and despair he had felt in her. And it probably was better if he didn’t try.

Aurora looked down. That’s so sad. She thought as images of Kaida wounded and with a sad look on her face flashed through her mind.

Shadow put a wing over her. He agreed but there wasn’t much they could do. Then he heard a growl. He looked up to find Tempest frowning. They took her from her parents just like us.

Then Tempest looked around the group with a look of steely determination on her face. “I’m going to go rescue that girl and claw those evil slavers’ faces off. No one should ever be taken from their parents!”

“These guys need to pay for what they did.” Boulder agreed.

“So, these are the evil humans Shadow was talking about. I’ll freeze their fingers off so they can’t ever grab someone again!” Hailstorm declared. Even Gale and Aurora nodded with fierce looks in their eyes.

Shadow looked around at each of them. They were all determined to save this little human girl they’d never even met. He felt a heroic hope and determination welling up inside him as well. They were going to save her, and she would never have to be afraid again!

At the same time, he was also worried about trying to attack a group of armed slavers head on. But he didn’t have much time to worry about that as the others were already taking off with Hailstorm leading the way.

As they flew towards the slaver’s camp, they talked about how they were going to fight them.

“Why don’t we just have Shadow fly in and grab the girl then we burn the camp to ashes?” Gale asked.

“Because idiot, we don’t want to burn the whole forest down,” Hailstorm replied.

“We can’t just fight them in claw to claw combat either. If one of us gets hurt, we don’t know anyone who can heal them. It might be best for one of us to sneak in and release her while the others distract the slavers,” Boulder suggested.

“Ok. That sounds like a solid plan.” Tempest agreed. “Shadow. You will release the girl while we distract them. Me and Boulder will fly over them and land somewhere on the far side of the camp. Aurora, Gale, and Hailstorm. You be ready as backup in case we need it.” If we need it. Ha! Me, Boulder and maybe Gale can handle a fight against some squishy humans. Besides it’s too risky letting those two fight. Then she turned to Shadow.

“Once the girl is free, roar that you’ve freed her and fly back here. We’ll meet up back at our sleeping spot.” Shadow nodded. He could do that much.

As they finished talking Shadow saw the flicker of the slaver’s campfire up ahead. He nodded to the others, gesturing to the camp, and found a spot to land. He crawled closer while he heard the woosh of the other dragonets as they flew overhead. By the time he reached the camp he could hear frantic whispering and the clink of weapons as the group quietly tried to get ready.

“…dragons seem to be resting nearby. We must be quick and quiet if we want to catch them before they move on,” one whispered.

“What about the merchandise?” Another asked.

“Don’t worry. The boss left a couple guys to guard her and she’s on the other side of the camp anyways,” the first replied. Then on some signal they all rushed into the trees.

Shadow silently thanked the random thug as he no longer had to search the whole camp for the captive girl. The camp stank of human sweat and filth as well as the strong scent of metal and ash. There were a few campfires spaced out among the trees and the flickering flames cast shifting shadows on everything. As far as Shadow was concerned it was the perfect environment for sneaking around.

Halfway across the camp Shadow noticed the two remaining guards eating by one of the fires and quickly crouched in the bushes nearby. It was easy to overhear their casual conversation.

“Do you really think we can catch a dragon?” One asked excitedly.

The other shrugged. “Heck if I know. All we need to do is make sure the merchandise is safe till the others return. Lets go. If the boss comes back I want to at least look like we’re watching her.” They both chuckled.

Shadow rose from his crouch and followed them quietly. The slight rustle of the leaves was covered by the cracking of the campfires and the clinking of the slaver’s small swords against their iron studded leather armor.

They quickly reached the edge of the camp where their captive was held. It was a little girl only a few years older than Kaita. The girl was tied with rope to a tree and had a gag around her mouth.. The two guards stopped just in front of her. Ogling her and commenting on her future beauty before laughing.

Shadow crept up behind them. With his belly to the ground, he stayed on the soft pads of his talons. Carefully placing each one to avoid making the slightest noise while also moving swift enough to give the slavers as little time as possible to react. Then he rose up behind the slavers as they laughed heartily. Appearing as if he had just silently risen from the darkness itself.

The girl spotted him, and her eyes widened in terror while her mind went blank in shock. Shadow felt sorry to scare her, but he was grateful her fearful thoughts weren’t clouding his mind.

Looking at her terrified face the slavers laughed one final time. “Look at her. She’s scared by the mere sight of us.”

Shadow growled at their mocking laughter and stood on his hind legs looming over them. These dirty men would laugh at a poor girl’s suffering?!

They turned around in confusion to find a dragon towering over them. Their faces paled in fear and before they could react Shadow slammed their heads together with a sickening smack. They collapsed to the forest floor as Shadow continued past them to the little girl.

She sat there frozen in terror. Shadow reached out his claw. She was bound by a rope around her wrists that was tied to the tree. He cut gag, then the rope, and she jerked away from him. Confused and still full of fear she tried to run but she had been beaten many times by her captors and fell before she had even made it a tail length away. Shadow knew they would just catch her again if he left her there, so he quickly made up his mind. He wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her legs and jumped into the sky.

“I’ve got her!” He roared.

Almost a minute later he heard a roar from Tempest in response. Confirming they were safe and heading back to the clearing. Now all he had to do would be to explain why he had brought the girl with him.

As Shadow flew he began hearing the girl’s thoughts again. Where’s it taking me? Is it going to eat me? Or maybe feed me to its babies? Wow, it’s a long way down. I hope it doesn’t drop me. Oh, why didn’t it just take those mean men and leave me alone. Why me? Well, I suppose it can’t get worse though. Right?

The longer they flew the calmer she got as she accepted the new circumstances she found herself in. But when Shadow landed in the clearing, and she saw the other dragonets her fear instantly returned. Shadow tried to ignore what she was thinking and focus on the conversation ahead.

Of course, it didn’t take long before Tempest noticed his cargo. “What are you doing? I thought we were just going to release her. Why bring her here?”

Shadow set the girl down where she curled into a ball. Crying pitifully.

“I was going to but she was too hurt to run away and they would have just caught her again. We can just drop her off somewhere close to the next village we come across. One of the villagers will take care of her.”

“Well? What do we do till then, huh?” Tempest retorted. Boulder walked over and put a talon on Tempest’s shoulder causing her to wince.

Shadow now noticed that Tempest had a few cuts on her arms and one near her shoulder was trickling blood. He quickly looked at Boulder but his gaze was on the girl and had just a few scratches. The girl was peeking at him while shivering with fear.

“We’ll take care of her ourselves. The ones in charge of getting food will grab some for her as well.” Then he turned to Shadow. “What kinds of food do humans eat?”

Shadow shrugged. “A few different types of berries, nuts, fruits and most prey as long as it’s cooked.” The other dragonets looked at him, a bit unsure. “Don’t worry I’ll cook some prey if we need to.”

The other dragonets nodded and found different spots to sleep. Shadow couldn’t help hearing the little girl’s thoughts.

I guess they finally decided on who gets to eat me. At least the one who found me gets to eat me. But it looks like they’re going to sleep. Maybe I can sneak away when the black one falls asleep. Then I can…what? What am I going to do? She was almost crying in frustration.

Shadow didn’t know why he hadn’t talked to her yet. Maybe it was just caution drilled into him by Jarid to never let humans know about him, but this was definitely not a time to stay quiet. She had to know she was safe with them.

Shadow gently picked her up and sat her down with her back to a tree and lay down facing her with his head on his front talons. She looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he was doing. Then Shadow spoke in the human language.

“Hello little girl. My name is Shadow what’s yours?”

Her eyes widened in shock while her mouth formed a big ‘O’. She tried to talk but no words came out. Is this dragon really talking to me?! They can’t do that! I must be dreaming. No way this is real. A dragon who can talk? But if this is a dream I’m not sure if I want to wake up.

Shadow smiled. “I assure you I’m real. Not a dream or anything. I just want to know your name.”

With a nervous gulp the girl she tried to speak again. “Um, m…my name is… Asrial… Mr. Dragon. Um…are you going to… eat me?” She stammered.

Shadow shook his head. “No. Me and my friends saw you were being held by those slavers and decided to rescue you.”

Asrial relaxed a little but now looked very confused. “But why would dragons care about a little human girl like me?”

Shadow glanced at the sleeping forms of the other dragonets. “We all got taken away from our parents too. We couldn’t stand to just let someone who had been taken away from their family get hurt anymore.”

“Oh,” was all Asrial could think to say. Shadow pulled her in close, so she was lying next to him and spread a wing over her. She gave a small cry as he did so but relaxed once she felt the warmth and realised he truly didn’t intend to harm her.

“We are going to keep you safe until we find a human village where someone can take care of you,” Shadow whispered in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

Asrial nodded. After all the action she was very tired. With Shadow’s warm side at her back and his wing over her like a blanket she soon fell asleep.

Shadow looked down at her with an empathetic smile. It somehow felt nostalgic to feel the warmth of a human under his wing. He remembered Jarid sleeping next to him like this whenever they had the chance. The warm memories and excitement of the late night had taken their toll on Shadow. With a final exhausted sigh, he laid his head in the soft grass and fell asleep.