Up to this point his heart had been pounding with a sense of adventure, but now his blood ran cold and his heart seemed to stop beating altogether. The only dragons in the land were Iumenta dragons, and they were cruel and clever. The deep breathing caught for a moment. Legon stood stalk-still, hoping beyond hope that it couldn’t hear, smell, or see him. Then a new dread tore through him. Dragons can read thoughts! It doesn’t need to smell me! He had to run. He turned on his heels and bolted away from the sound, his legs and lungs burning as he sprinted. There was a snort and a grumble from behind him and from above there came a resounding thud… thud… thud. The other dragon.
Legon felt the air in his chest catch with every thud. The sound was at first far away, then over him… and now in front of him. The ground shook and he heard the sound of claws scraping against rocks in the field. He was trapped. One dragon was behind him and the other in front. He wondered if dying was going to hurt. Then the fog parted and Legon saw a flash of bright blue.
He sat bolt upright in his bed, covered in cold sweat from head to foot. He could almost hear his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. He was trembling almost uncontrollably and his breathing was heavy and labored. The dream was slipping through his memory like sand. Soon he remembered none of it and began to calm down. “It was just a dream, nothing more,” he said in a whisper. “You’re fine. Go back to sleep”.
He lay back down, more tired than he had been when he went to bed. His legs ached as if he’d been running. The room was dark. He felt himself drifting again. He soon fell asleep and by morning would not remember even waking up in the night.
Legon woke to the warmth of the sun’s rays on his face. He slowly sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms above his head. “Hmm, I feel tired still. I must not have slept well,” he thought with a yawn. He lay back down and considered going to sleep again, but an image of Sasha and a bucket popped in his head. “Maybe I should get up,” he said aloud to himself.
He got out of bed, walked over to the dresser, and pulled out a blue shirt and brown pants. He pulled on some socks and boots and walked out of his room into the hall. Sasha’s door was open and he could hear her downstairs. When he got downstairs he could see her flitting around the kitchen, making breakfast and humming to herself. Her red dress spun as she turned to smile up at him. He could tell that she hadn’t slept well last night either, though it didn’t seem to slow her down. Maybe I was snoring really loud last night and kept us both from a good sleep, he thought.
He walked in front of the mirror for his normal pre-day inspection. There was a dark spot on his chin, and for a moment his insides squirmed with excitement. He reached up to feel the stubble… and his fingers slid across his smooth face and smudged a spot of dirt. Feeling stupid, he looked at Sasha in the mirror to make sure she hadn’t seen his mistake. She was too busy scooping eggs onto plates. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“You look tired this morning. I didn’t keep you up snoring, did I?”
She looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed in thought, and said, as if she was having a hard time remembering, “No, I just had a hard time falling asleep. You weren’t snoring… although I kept hearing you say something like ‘Sasha is the most beautiful girl in Airmelia and so smart and funny and…’ oh, I can’t remember the rest.”
Legon shook his head. “No wonder I’m so tired — I was delirious last night.”
Sasha laughed and said curtly to him, “Rude!”
They sat down and Legon ate his eggs. They were good, but not as good as Sasha’s pies were. After they ate Sasha washed the dishes and took off her apron, then went upstairs to get her money pouch. Legon walked to the space under the stairs to get their bows. Kovos was always up for shooting, and they hadn’t gotten the chance yesterday. Legon grabbed Sasha’s hunting bow and his combat bow.
Legon, like most of the men in town, had two bows, one that was for hunting and the other for combat. A hunting bow usually had a fifty to sixty pound draw weight on them, perfect for bringing down all but the largest animals but underpowered against armored targets. Chain mail was expensive, so very few people had it, but bandits and soldiers that didn’t have chain mail wore a thick doublet that was made of layered cloth and leather. The doublet would not be able to stop an arrow cold at close range, but it could from a distance. For a hunting bow to penetrate the armor at close range the shooter had to be about ten feet away. It was for this reason that combat bows were significantly stronger.
The average man had a bow with a draw weight of one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty pounds, which gave it an effective range of about two hundred yards and the power to go through leather armor and punch through chain male from about eighty yards away. Combat bows were too over-powered for hunting but were a necessary precaution. With them, most men got to the point where they could fire between ten and twenty arrows a minute.
Legon, however, was unusually strong, and his bow had a two hundred pound draw weight. A beautiful weapon, it was made of yew and as was as tall as him. He could hit a head-size target nine times out of ten from one hundred and eighty yards away and could fire eighteen arrows a minute. Only two other men in town, Brack and Arkin, could fire such a bow, but neither could claim Legon’s accuracy.
Legon walked over to the door and waited for Sasha. She came down the steps and they walked outside. The town was alive at this time in the morning, and people were moving in all directions in the streets. They began to walk in the direction of Kovos’ house. They waved and said hello to townspeople as they passed, and soon they were walking by the town carpenter’s house and shop. As they passed, Sasha touched Legon’s arm. “Let’s go say hello to Arkin. I haven’t seen him in awhile.” Sasha liked Arkin. He was the only one in the town that was truly kind to her, and Legon liked him too. He had always been a good family friend.
“Ok, that sounds good.” They walked up to the door of the shop and walked in.
As Legon opened the door their noses were filled with the scent of oak, cherry, pine, and other kinds of wood. They skirted around the counter and headed into the open work area. Sasha walked to the center of the room and ran her hand over a large table.
“He’s inlayed a checkered pattern on this. What do you think-cherry and oak?” she asked, inspecting the unfinished wood.
Legon glanced at it. “Yup, looks like it, and big too. I’d say for a family of eight. Looks like he’s got the chairs in that corner. It doesn’t look like he’s here, though. His tools are on the wall.” Way too many tools.
“You’re right. The back door is closed, and there isn’t even any dust in the air. Odd. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place like this. Do you think he’s in today?”
She was right. Normally dust motes filled the air, swirling up to the skylight high above them. Lighting a place like this was difficult. Fire was an obvious liability with everything being made of wood, and more important the air usually being filled with sawdust. It was rare but not unheard of for a carpenter’s shop to burn down from a fire stated by stray sawdust. Arkin’s shop was well lit with the two skylights and large windows on either side of the door.
A smooth, warm voice greeted them. “Sasha, Legon, how good to see you. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Arkin said, stepping into the room.
He was tall and of a medium build, with long blond hair and hazel eyes, a thin jaw line, and a small nose. He was wearing a white shirt and brown pants, over which he had on a leather apron with three pockets built into the waist. He walked with a smooth gait and perfect posture. He was not what you would envision a carpenter to be; he was refined and confident, qualities that shined through not only in his countenance but also his work. He was not an arrogant man, however. He was kind and fair, slow to anger and had a balance of sternness and patience. Legon and Sasha had always liked him and had gotten along with him well. There was a smile on his face that revealed straight white teeth.