Stories from Burundi

  Just a heads up here, I think that every five chapters or something I'll do something like what I did in the prologue where you hear some people that you don't know talking about things you don't understand, so this isn't really essential to the story and you can skip this if you want. Okay? Good. Chapter Five Staying Hidden     He was waiting. He didn't usually leave his charge very often, considering she might try to kill herself again without him watching, but this was important. He had been watching her for sixteen years now, and he was going to be visited by the Leader. He shifted uncomfortably, thinking about it. Would he be displeased by his performance? She had  almost killed herself, anyway. But he had saved her, so she wasn't dead, right?     He rubbed his forehead. He had to stop worrying. Calm yourself. His mother's patient voice echoed in his ears, although it had been ten years since she had left him, with the occasional visit to c...

  This is kind of a short chapter. Sorry. Chapter Four The Scavenger Observatory     All in all, I was pretty sure I was hiding my nervousness from Winter pretty well. It probably helped that he couldn't see me, too. We had decided that the fastest way there was for me to ride him, with much misgivings from each of us. Mostly when I thought of riding something, I thought of riding a horse or donkey. Now I was riding a dragon about 100 meters in the air. I guess that's why they invented the phrase, "Expect the unexpected." My whole life has been full of unexpected things. Speaking of which, who was the boy in my room? It seemed kind of suspicious.     But anyway, the reason I was nervous was because I was going to see people. I had never actually had a conversation with anyone besides Winter before. I could hear the word "nervous" repeated uncountable times in Winter's wingbeats. Nervous, nervous, nervous, nervous,  nerv-     "Here." Winter'...

Chapter Three Like an Injured Bird     Winter's reply hit me harder than anyone, even me, could have guessed. Not only were my high hopes shattered, but it felt like something in my chest was too. I had always wondered why people relate feelings to their heart, and know I knew. There was an iron hand gripping my chest with superhuman strength. I hadn't realized how much I had relied on the dragons helping me.      Death  would be better than this. That was what I was thinking when I finally made my way back to my house which consisted of a large hole in the ground in between two roots of the tree I had been climbing when I saw Winter earlier that day. I curled into a ball on the thick moss floor. I didn't exactly have a soft feather mattress I could sleep on. And I waited. Waited to die. The world didn't want me. I  didn't want me. I was a disgrace to the people and the dragons. I didn't fit anywhere. My parents tried to kill me, the dragons couldn't ...

Chapter Two Meeting Winter     I watched the dragons for a long time. Around three years. By then I was about fifteen. I almost seemed like another person. My time watching the dragons brought a huge change in me. I was happier, and woke up each day with a sense of adventure. My awesome quick-learning skills actually made me fluent in dragon by now. I was climbing a tree. It was the tallest tree in the forest and the best spot for me to be a lookout. No one knew I was doing it, but whatever. I emerged above the treetops and found myself covered in sunlight. Not a cloud in the sky today.     I shielded my eyes against the glare, looking towards what I now learned was called Jade Mountain. Where was Winter, the blue dragon I had seen the first time I followed him? He usually came alone now, his friend Kinkajou off doing something somewhere. I gathered that usually he was collecting people for his "scavenger observatory". Where was he, anyway?     Wingbeats be...

Chapter One Before Our Story Starts     I am cursed. That's the only explanation for what happened to me. Why when my parents took one look at me, they threw me out into the snow to die. I wasn't even a day old. Not even an hour old, actually. Just born, then BAM! Lying under a bush under a hazelnut tree. I don't remember much about that night. I was hungry, tired, and alone. Two days later I had already taught myself how to grab the berries hanging from the bush I was under. Then how to roll over. Somehow I managed to survive eating berries and not milk. Soon, maybe a week after, I could already crawl. Just a tiny newborn struggling along in the snow. Thankfully spring came soon. Maybe a month after I could crawl, I could walk. Then climb trees. I may be the only person ever who was able to do that so fast. I'm a fighter. No one will stop me.     My curse isn't a bad luck curse or a curse that turns me into a witch or something. It's a disfigurement curse. Once...

  Before I start, this is the last story I have an idea for, so I would be happy for more. I give more information at the beginning of chapter five of the Fire Islands. It's called Glowsnakes. Prologue Raised by the Mother     The bell sounded through the still night air. Summon,  it seemed to whisper.  Summon the mother of the Guardian.  The two of them heard it and paused. There were three bells, each with a different ringing. Danger with bold, loud bells, summoning for community events or announcements with light tinkling, but still loud, and summoning for discussing a future Guardian, which seemed to be both at the same time. This was for the Guardian. Three short bells followed by two long ones. The first figure pursed her lips. She knew what this was. She wasn't sure whether to rejoice or dread the meeting. Either way, she must go.     She got to the meeting place faster than most people would. The other figure was already there, waiting for...

  Yes, this is the end. Very long, too. A whole four chapters longer than the Fire Islands. And they were longer. My next story is Cursed about a girl (or scavenger) named Hazel. The opening line? "I am cursed."  You probably could have guessed that from the title. Of course, that's not including the prologue. Anyway, a little side note here, Makele isn't a real word, but one that I made up in the Ancient Language of the dragons. The Ancient Language isn't real either. Makele means peace. So you could interpret the title of the epilogue however you want. Peace reigns as in Makele reigns, or Peace Reigns, as in, there is peace. And the peace reigns. Epilogue Peace Reigns     Freedom was busy, as usual. Dragons from both Pyrrhia and Pantala were there, chatting and laughing together and going about their business. There were significantly more Pyrrhian dragons than Pantalan, since Operation Metamorphosis had only been in action two to three years. Mind y...

Chapter Fifteen Dragonfly's Secret     Wasp had black and yellow stripes, kind of like a bumblebee, with black horns and ovals of yellow scales surrounding her eyes. She held herself tall, with a glare to match Dragonfly's, which was saying something. But the most startling part was her eyes. They were pure black, like the night sky. Not a single dot of brown or blue or anything else. Just black. She was also talking to Dragonfly. "Well. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Her voice was sinister, quiet, echoing through the corridors, deadly, and making you want to run all at the same time. "How long ago was it I saw you last?"     "The last time you  saw  me was, maybe, ten years ago? Although the last time you were trying to kill me was more like five, when you hired our friend Beetle here to try and kill me by pushing me off a cliff. That didn't work so well, did it?" Dragonfly's voice was calm, but infused with anger. "But no...

Chapter Fourteen Dragonfly at Last     "Hey, you!"     Julia froze. They were almost at the du ngeon. Just a few more hallways. She slowly turned. A HiveWing guard was striding down the corridor towards them. "Moth," she whispered. "Peacock."     Her brothers turned and they all saw him. He stopped and frowned at them. "What are you doing here?"     "Keep calm," Makele said behind them. "Don't act guilty."      Easy for you to say,  thought Julia. "We're going to the jail."     The guard snorted. "And why are three SilkWings going to the jail without a guard? What business do you have there anyway?"     "We're replacements," Peacock replied. Julia could hear he was trying to keep the quiver out of his voice. "For, uh, a prisoner. There was a HiveWing who was supposed to be undercover in, um, Mantis Hive, but then there were rumors about some rogue SilkWings there. To try and keep ...