[ WP ] As a child , you were kidnapped by a roving gang of marauders . A year later , you were saved by a dragon , who now seeks to raise you as her own .

“ Raising a human is going to be more difficult than I thought. ” 
 
 Mother ’ s voice was as deep as the mountain lakes. It must have been a tough admission for her, a thousand years old and wiser than any living thing. Her eyes burned with an intense fire as she stared down at me, small and pink and so un-dragon-like. 
 
 The pain of the weeping burns along my right arm and thigh slowly faded as her hypnotic gaze worked its magic. 
 
 She turned to my brother, Essk, beside me. 
 
 “ He needs a human healer. Take some gold and take him to the outskirts of the village. Do not let yourself be seen. ” 
 
 With two great talons, she delicately picked a shed dragon-scale from the floor and placed it in my hand. “ When you enter the village, find the old man, Neeko. Give him the scale. He will take you in. Trust no one else in the village. ” 
 
 
 Essk and I walked through the passage towards the horde to get a few gold pieces. My shirt was only half on because the cloth against the burn was excruciating. I still wore my pants despite the burn on my thigh- because of my pride- and walked with a flinching limp. 
 
 “ This was no accident, ” he said to me. “ Ortch meant to hurt you. ” 
 
 “ I thought he was my brother. ” I wanted to wallow in denial, but I was growing afraid. 
 
 “ He is jealous. You are not like us. He fears that mother favors you and he wants to point up your vulnerability. ” 
 
 “ What am I going to do? I AM vulnerable. I have no scales, no fire, I can not fly. ” 
 
 We walked for a moment in silence. We had all been playing, the brood of us. My brothers Essk and Ortch, and our sisters Flessa and Cirra. I had been riding on the back of the sunset-hued Flessa. Ortch was “ it ” and banked in towards Flessa, trailing flame. Her wing dipped and the fire swept across my right side. I remember Ortch had laughed as he twisted away. 
 
 I begged Flessa to land and she seemed to not sense my distress until Essk and Cirra flanked her and nearly forced her to ground. Ortch approached at one point and the sky-blue Cirra put teeth marks on his wing. 
 
 Essk spoke again, shaking me from my recollection. 
 
 “ This is a difficult problem, ” he said, echoing mother. “ I will think on it. ” 
 
 No idle offer from him. Though we were both just 13, he seemed to have been born with a hundred years of wisdom. 
 
 “ …my brother, ” he added. 
 
 
 At the aerie ledge, high on the mountain, I carefully shrugged on my tunic, three gold coins in the pocket. I hoped the cold wind of the flight would be soothing, but it was predawn in the mountains and more than just cool. I struggled onto Essk ’ s shoulders. 
 
 I presumed the rest of the brood was asleep still, which was fine with me. I wanted no trouble on this flight. I was nervous anyway about being among humans again. But after Essk launched from the ledge and began a gentle glide down the valley, I spotted Cirra circling in the high clouds, keeping watch. 
 
 
 Essk dropped me off just before the sun rose. He paused before taking flight again. 
 
 “ There is a thing that you can do that we can not. ” 
 
 He had a sly half-grin in response to my puzzled look. After letting me wonder for a moment, he finished: “ You can whistle! ” 
 
 He grinned wide, scaly lips showing dagger-like teeth, and he was right. I could put two fingers to my lips a blow a piercing note that would scatter the sheep on the hillside. 
 
 “ If you run into any trouble in the village, blow. Cirra and I will be listening not far away. ” 
 
 And then he was gone. 
 
 
 In the village, I stopped at the well in the square and waited. Not long, and an old woman came for water. In truth, she wore the haggard look of a difficult life, masquerading as years. Over that lay suspicion. 
 
 “ Can you tell me where Neeko lives? ” 
 
 By the way her face twisted, the name confirmed her worst thoughts. Nevertheless, she replied, pointing a finger across the small square. 
 
 “ Go down that street. Go until the cobbles end and the road is dirt. Count three alleys on your heart-side. That old sorcerer lives in the third alley. ” 
 
 Her bucket full, she sloshed away. She looked back several times with that twisted face as if memorizing details to recount to others. It gave me a bad feeling. 
 
 I found alley, as the village was slowly awakening to greet the day. There were many deepset, ramshackle doorways and no way to know which was Neeko ’ s. But one of them opened as I passed and a small wrinkled man inside appeared, a thin cloud of white hair about his pate. He smiled a snaggle-toothed grin and beckoned with a single word. 
 
 “ Changeling! ” 
 
 I entered his domicile and he leaned out and glanced furtively up and down the street, then shut the door tight. My eyes adjusted to the dark room, lit only by the embers in the hearth. 
 
 “ Why are you here, dragon-boy? ” 
 
 I slipped the scale from my tunic and handed it to him. His eyes grew large. After turning it in his hands a couple times, he looked back at me questioningly. He knew that something was expected in return. In response, I peeled away my shirt. 
 
 Again his eyes grew large. 
 
 “ I see, adopt of dragons is not the wonder I might have thought! ” 
 
 He rummaged among the busy shelves and finally pulled down a small crock labelled ‘ dragon scales ’ and dropped his payment inside. By the sound, it was the only one. Replacing that crock, he rummaged again, coming forth with a somewhat larger stained and greasy crock. 
 
 With three fingers, he scooped out an ointment and began to gently rub it into my raw skin. I flinched as it stung at first, but then began to sooth. 
 
 “ I can not imagine wonders you have seen, among the dragons, ” he spoke with a whispery voice, like the rustling of leaves, as he administered his care. “ But it seems some danger you are in. Scales you need more than I, but not one… your whole body! ” 
 
 He smiled ruefully, then seemed to lose himself in thought. The analgesia of the salve made me sleepy. He may have continued speaking, but I was drifting away. 
 
 
 At some point, I opened my eyes to see him kneeling before the fire. He held tongs in one hand, which in turn held the scale of the dragon over the coals. A gold piece lay in the concavity of the scale and glowed bright yellow. His other hand worked a bellows. I felt the warmth on my face with each gust of air, but my body was relaxed and painless seemingly far off. I had no idea how much time had passed. 
 
 
 My next awakening was not so peaceful. There was pounding on the door, and angry shouting outside. Neeko was dodging about his small room, hiding things, or looking for something. I sat up and a sharp pain shot up my side. The door burst open and rough hands dragged me from the bed. 
 
 “ There he is! ” 
 
 “ The dragon-boy! ” 
 
 “ Let ’ s see if he will burn! ” 
 
 “ Ransom him for dragon gold! ” 
 
 The rough handling was tearing at my burns. I was pulled into the street, eyes squeezed shut trying not to yell out from the pain. We were headed back to the square. I wrenched free with a great searing flash of pain and raised my fingers to my lips. The piercing note quieted the mob for just an instant. A distant part of my mind noticed a gold ring was on my finger. They quickly seized me again and momentum carried us onward to the square. 
 
 A great post had been set into the ground, with brush and kindling piled around it. I scanned the sky desperately as the tone of the crowd began to take on a malicious excitement. 
 
 It was difficult to concentrate through the pain of my burns, and it was all a mish-mash of impressions. Unwashed bodies hemming me in, pushing me onward. Neeko being brutally pushed along behind us. A grasping hand tugging at my finger trying to remove the gold ring. 
 
 And suddenly a shadow swept over the crowd. The excitement turned to a dread urgency. Ropes suddenly appeared and were being wrapped around me. Those with torches crowded close. 
 
 I was looking up as the shadow flew past again. My thudding heart dropped as if into a pit. It was the black scales of Ortch. 

