Firebrand

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. We all heard the stories of course, tales told to us at bedtime. Long ago battles fought on the backs of massive dragons, villages burning beneath giant winged shadows. In the safety of our beds the dragons were just fodder for our childish dreams, sometimes nightmares. Nothing more, nothing real. That is why we weren’t prepared for what I found that day.

“Six! D’you see that? I just got six!” I turn to see Kai’s back is to me with his head looking down at the stones along the riverbank. “Weren’t you watching?“

“Nope, I was picking out this beauty.” He holds out a flat stone with rounded edges. Kai cocks his arm back and throws it low, skipping across the river. The sun’s reflection on the water makes me squint, but I’m still able to count as it hops eight times before hitting a tree root on the opposite bank.

Being older, Kai has two more years of experience skipping stones, not to mention a much stronger throwing arm. Everything seems to come naturally to him. We used to play hide and seek but when he realized he could stay underwater by breathing through a broken reed it made him impossible to find. Just for once I’d like to beat him at something.

Knowing I won’t be able to skip more than eight, I nevertheless turn back to look for my next stone. At the river's edge I nudge a rock with my foot and unearth it slightly. Even half buried in the sediment I can tell it’s no good for skipping but for some reason I still squat to pull it from its resting place. It takes both of my hands, not because of the size, it wasn’t much bigger than my ten year old hand, but because it weighed twice what it ought to. Unlike most of the river rocks this one was rough, not worn down by the current, and yet it was nearly perfectly round.

“You can’t skip that,” Kai said, noticing the rock in my hands, “It’s too big for your twiggy arms to throw more than a few steps.” Normally, I’d have risen to the bait and we’d have ended up wrestling in the water. But I was too focused on the rock to pay much attention to his comment.

“This one’s not for skipping.”

“What are you gonna do, keep it?” Kai came over and grabbed it from my hands. He studied it appraisingly, “It’s not much to look at, ugly even.” He tossed it back into the river where it splashed and clattered against the other rocks before disappearing into the water. “Come on, It’s getting late, we best be getting back.”

Sure enough the sun had dropped behind the canopy of trees that surrounded the river and the light was streaming through the branches. I waited until he was running along the wooden boardwalks back towards our home before scrambling into the water to recover it. Moments later, I emerged again, soaked but clutching my rock. As I ran after Kai, the evening air was cold and water flew off my clothes behind me.

“Yer half drowned child!” Ma scolded as I stepped through the doorway of our hut. The heat from the brazier was a welcome relief, as was the smell of the stew Ma was stirring. “Why’s it every time you two are playing, Mira comes home worse for wear?”

“Don’t look at me Ma, she was dry when I left her at the river. How’d you get so wet Mira?” Then he saw the bulge in my pocket. “Wait, was it because of that stupid rock?”

“I’d be dry if you hadn’t thrown it back in!”

“What rock?” Ma demanded. I reluctantly pulled the rock out of my pocket.

“She thinks it special or something, but it’s just a rock–.”

“Let's see it.” Our dad put down the book he was reading and was now focused on the stone in my hands. He studied the rock in the light of his reading lantern. I watched his eyes narrow and then flick over to Ma who mirrored his look of concern.

Kai must have noticed their interaction too because he asked, “What is it Dad? Something wrong with the rock?”

“It’s no rock–" Dad began.

“Kallen no!” Ma interrupted, “They’re too young and it’s not safe to talk about it. I say we put it back in the river where Mira found it and forget we ever saw it.”

“For someone else to stumble across it? Besides, we both know Mira will search every stone in the river to find it again.”

“What then? We need to get rid of it before word gets out and they come. Mira, did anyone see you find this?”

“No it was just me and Kai. What’s going on Ma?”

She shared another look with Dad before relenting. “Fine!” She hissed, “Tell them.”

Dad leaned in to speak in an undertone, “This isn’t a rock, it’s a dragon’s egg.”