Dusk Town

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Duskal is a town built by people, and for people as my father always says. My great, great grandfather founded this town, and every generation after him spent their lives surrounded by what we call the Burning Mountains which glow orange with the heat of the sun. I roll over in my bed and look out my window the same way I do every morning. The Burning Mountains almost completely circle the valley; they aren’t really mountains though. Just rising mounds of sandstone that we call Clockstone, a mineral that changes colour with the energy around it. Since Duskal is always hot, Clockstone is usually glowing orange like the sands of the desert. But one time I saw one of the mountains get hit with lightening in a storm, and it was glowing bright blue all night. These rocks keep all of the heat swirling around, like Duskal is a vegetable inside a bowl of Kickling broth Mom used to make that boils everything perfectly. The sun has started peeking through the cracks in the mountains, turning the clouds bright orange and red. The day will only get hotter from here. I’d love to just sleep in since I’m not working at the quarry today, but I promised Aiken I’d help at the ranch and there’s no time like the present. I keep looking to the clouds over the desert as I start getting up, when suddenly a large creature makes its way through them and begins its descent towards the town, flapping its huge wings and kicking up a storm of sand. Dragons. I rush to the window and stick my head out to get a better look as it lands before the entrance to the town and releases a large package that it had held in its claws. This dragon’s neck reaches above the highest building in town, and we’re using it to deliver packages. I’ve always wondered why dragons only just started coming to Duskal. The desert isn’t much of a place for humans, but it seemed perfect for dragons. You have to wonder what it says about my great grandpa if he’ll build a town in a place where even dragons won’t choose to go.

I start getting dressed, grabbing the shirt made of Flick that father got me for my fifteenth birthday. The shirt has strange symbols sketched right into the fabric, part of an ancient language. It’s a blessing meant to keep me cool in the heat, but I don’t like thinking about what it probably cost. That and brown pants that are sturdier for harder work. I tie the laces on my work boots and leave my room as quietly as possible. I have to walk past my sister’s room to get to the kitchen, and I don’t want to wake her. If I’m not careful, she’ll be up and wanting to come with me before I even get a chance to get out the door. As I enter the kitchen, I see my father’s boots are gone and he must have already left to start work for the day. I’d feel a bit better if he’d let me keep working at the quarry, but with all the changes happening there I get it. I’m happy enough working with Aiken until things calm down. I grab a quick croiter pastry for breakfast, and the satchel with the tools I’d put out last night by the door, and head out for the day.

My boots kick up puffs of sand as I head towards the main road through town. As I walk, I keep thinking about everything that’s changing since our Village Maister let dragons and their trainers come in to help the town. My father was the loudest and angriest about not bringing them in, but it happened anyway. Father says that Duskal is one of the last towns in the country of Ashier that hasn’t been ‘invaded’ by Utilaire and their dragons, which makes us special. Special seems like a bit of a stretch when we have to scoop sand out of our beds every day.

For me, the only saving grace from the heat and the dirt is when the sun finally sets, and the night shines across the land. The most beautiful thing happens here at night; the sand turns black, and little pieces of it start to twinkle, like there are shining diamonds stuck in ground. They look so much like the stars, sometimes you can’t tell where the desert ends and the night sky begins. I’d say our town was famous for it, but we don’t live close enough to any other village to tell people about it. It’s like it’s a miracle created just for us. A gift from Brinvae Kandae if you believe what Tamer Geoff has to say. We all began calling Duskal ‘Dusk Town’ after the desert nights.

I think that’s really nice, but me and my mates also call it ‘Dust Town’, cause what other name would you give a place that barely sees rain more a few weeks a year? Father would say I’m ungrateful, or that I just don’t understand how special it is that our entire family’s history is in one place. I’m alright with that. I don’t need to understand. I just need to earn enough to hitch a ride away from here before my feet are worn down to the bone. Aiken and I have talked about leaving to live on our own, but that takes some serious coin. And now with dragons here, they can do in one day what would take 20 men one week. I didn’t get paid much at the quarry anyway, and I help Aiken out of the goodness of my heart which he’s happy to accept. Maybe I could find work digging for water around the edges of the Westerlands, but father would never let me work that far from home, and every day more dragons show up and push me and the other workers to the side. I know father feels the same way and likes it even less. He’s argued with Maister Burjone about it a lot, but our family name doesn’t matter as much as it used to.

I pass by the last row of houses before reaching the main road and pull my shirt over my face because I’d learned what’s going to happen. Just as I turn onto the street a cloud of dust is kicked up and rolls over me. I quickly turn away, rolling my head down into my chest. I look up after I’m sure no other carriages are coming. Main street had always been covered in sand, and the hustle and bustle of people rushing to work. But now there are dragons.

Whether they were pulling the carriages or flying overhead, these creatures were everywhere. Even after months of trying to learn to live beside them, I still couldn’t wrap by head around what I was seeing. Real live dragons, bulky and scaly, folding up their wings as they travel down the road. There were smaller dragons with brown, dry skin and long snouts with short legs that made them look more like some of the lizards we see in the desert. They were hitched up with ropes and pulling carts quickly behind them, almost as if they were born to do it. There was one massive dragon with grey scales, a long neck and horns that had curled up in the alleyway beside the bank. When I looked up, skinnier yellow dragons were zipping through the air so quickly all I could see was a streak and a small glimpse of their tails. They were bringing in materials from other towns, and water that had been dug up in the underwater lakes of the Westerlands.

Each creature had a trainer with them from the Dragon Trainers Circle in the Great City of Utilaire, which was the first city to ever train dragons to use them for work. They had come to help us develop our town further, or at least that’s what Maister Burjone says is why he invited them here, but everyone else is just confused. We’ve been on our own for years, so why do we suddenly need to start doing things like the rest of the world? The trainers were dressed in black and white uniforms with cloaks that carried more symbols in a language I’d never understand. Along their leather belts they carried whips with a hooked metal end, and even a sword. I had never seen a sword in real life, but I had read some fairy tales to my sister about knights who had fought monsters to rescue the innocent. Now I’m wondering if those stories might actually have been true. Still, I’ve never read any story with swords like the ones these people had. They were curved at the end and almost glowed bright silver. A trainer once unsheathed it while I was nearby, and I saw it had even more symbols carved into the blade, just like on their cloaks. I want to know more about these symbols. Are they meant to be a spell of some kind? But I haven’t found the right time to ask, and father didn’t like me talking to them.

I walk past Town Hall towards Aiken’s farm, always keeping one eye on each dragon that lumbered by. It was so neat to watch them as they took heavy breaths and expelled small puffs of smoke. I could see as I walked by that both trainers and townsfolk were nervous around each other. No one in my town had decided yet if they liked the help dragons gave, or if they wanted Dust Town to go back to the way it was. I would never say it to my father, but I sort of liked being around them. I turn onto the road that leads to the ranch, when suddenly I hear a faint shout behind me.

“Bix!” a familiar voice calls out to me; same one I hear every time I leave the house on my own. I don’t know how her voice always carries over the racket of 100 people walking down main street. I sigh and kneel down to put my satchel on the ground as Ambie runs up from behind me and swings around my legs, putting her plump face right in front of mine. She can only do that if I’m kneeling. She stares daggers into me with her bright hazel eyes, and her mouth twisted down in a frown. She has her hands on her hips as well, just so there’s no confusion that she’s upset.

“You left me at home! You said I could come with you!” She puffs out as she tries catching her breath. Even for her age Ambie is small and can’t really be counted on to do much outside before she gets tired. But that never stopped her from trying, so I’m always the one who has to keep an eye on her in case she gets sick from the heat. The sun had only just started to climb overhead, but already my pants are sticking to my legs.

“I said if you got up on time you could come. I was up, and you were still sleeping. So, I left.” I move to the side and try to get moving again. Ambie runs up again beside me, jumping to try and catch my eye.

“Well, I’m awake now. So, I’m coming with you!” she shouts in my face and starts to walk confidently next to me. She always gets so stubborn for no reason. There’d be nothing for her to do at Aiken’s farm and I promised to help him with his work, so I can’t keep watch of her the whole time. But if I say that, she’ll only want to stay more.

“Look Ambie…” I stop and crouch down to her level so I can look her in the eye. “You won’t have any fun at the farm. Aiken and I have a lot to do, so I won’t be able to spend any time with you. You’ll probably end up just sitting there alone the whole time. It’d be better if you just stay home for today, alright?” She looked at me carefully and swayed a bit as she thought it over.

“I don’t want to stay home alone.” She finally said and began to give me the cutesy eyes I’d started to get pretty used to by now.

“Well, maybe you could go water the tree at the Karuna with Tamer Geoff? You like doing that, right?” I ask her, but at the same time I’m starting to slowly get back up from crouching. My sister has spent the last few months working with our faith’s leader, a man named Geoff. She has been helping care for one of the only living plants in all of Duskal; a great, green Gondoa tree that had been brought here from the Gondoa forests hundreds of miles away, to honour the goddess Brinvae Kanadae. It was nearly impossible to keep alive in a place like this, but Tamer Geoff always said in his sermons that one of the truest ways to honour our goddess is to care for life wherever we find it. Apparently my sister was the only one who also thought so, because she volunteered to help care for the tree the day after it arrived. Even Geoff was impressed by how well she looked after it. I really hope she agrees and leaves me alone for a bit. I wanted to already be at the farm by now. Ambie makes a weird smirk as it looks like she’s thought of something funny.

“Nope! I want to go with you.” She jumps forward and grabs hold of my arm, making me lose my grip on the satchel carrying my tools. It falls to the ground, and everything spills out, becoming covered in sand.”

“Ambrose!” I yell louder than I should of. She jumps back and looks at me like she’s getting ready to cry, which is all I need.

“Look, I’m sorry Ambie. I just have a lot to do, and I can’t look after you while I do it. So go look after your tree, or just go home, ok?” I start cleaning off my tools and putting them back in my satchel. When I glance up, Ambie is still looking at me like she doesn’t know where to go. I try not to look at her and start feeling really guilty. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here…

“Well, don’t you two have some sour faces on.” I hear someone say to my left and look up to find Nova standing at the side of the road with a lighthearted smirk. Ambie cheers up almost instantly. My face starts to feel flushed as I shoot right up so I’m standing again.

“Oh, hi Nova! I didn’t see you there…” I start to say before Ambie sprints right up to her and wraps her arms around Nova’s legs in a hug.

“Hi Nova!” Ambie grins. It’s great how quickly Ambie opened up to Nova, even though she hasn’t been here that long. Nova is only about two years older than me, but she’s already an official Dragon Trainer. Our father didn’t want us speaking to them, but Nova’s always so friendly with everyone it’s pretty hard not to. Unlike the other trainers, she doesn’t bother wearing the official uniform the others do. Even if it’s not allowed, it makes more sense to me. The other trainers are dying in those heavy outfits, while she gets along much easier wearing clothes she bought right here in town. She looks better in them anyway.

“Are you two arguing again?” she asks as she leans down and takes Ambie’s hands, her long black hair spilling over her face. No wonder Ambie likes her so much. When you stop thinking about her as a Dragon trainer, you can see that she’s just a very kind and beautiful person. My thoughts are getting away from me again, so I quickly go back to cleaning the sand off of my tools.

“Bix won’t let me come with him to the ranch.” Ambie pouts up at her likes she’s expecting Nova to fix it. Nova looks quickly at me, and our eyes meet for a second. She smiles like she’s found something out, and my face feels hot again.

“Oh really. Well, I’m sure your brother’s just thinking about what’s best for you.” She says, making me sound nicer than I really am.

“Thanks. See? Shouldn’t you head home if even Nova thinks it’s a good idea?” I ask Ambie, who looks a bit less stubborn now that she’s outnumbered.

“But I don’t want to stay home alone.” She says, turning back on her pouty face that always managed to make Dad and Mom melt. Nova kneels down to be face to face with Ambie.

“Well, if you like you could spend the day with me. Crunch and I are doing some deliveries around town, and we could use some help.” Nova says, glancing over to the dragon I notice sitting a bit down the road. It’s one of the long brown ones with gaping mouths and tiny wings, making it better for pulling carts that flying through the sky. I’m a little uncertain about Ambie spending the entire day with a dragon and its trainer. I know my father would be furious if he found out. But I trust Nova, and what other choices do I have?

“I think that’s a really good idea, don’t you Ambie?” I ask her and send Nova a ‘thank you’ look. She meets my eye like she understands what I’m thinking.

“Why do you call him Crunch?” Ambie asks her, glancing over to the creature who for some reason started looking right at Ambie.

“Ambie, look at the size of its mouth. It’s not hard to figure out why.” I say as I pack up my satchel and start moving slowly away from them, waiting for my moment to leave.

“He’s not going to hurt anyone. He’s well trained. Come on, come say hi.” Nova brings Ambie over, and now I might have to jump between my sister and a 9-foot-long lizard. Ambie looks a bit frightened, while Crunch starts sniffing the air, narrowing his eyes at my sister. He watches her and doesn’t move.

“It’s ok Ambie.” Nova says as she takes Ambie’s hand and begins to move it towards Crunch to say hello. “Just let him let you know when he’s ready.” Nova is talking really calmly to help Ambie feel less nervous, as Crunch takes one large sniff of the air where Ambie stands. After a second, it almost looks like Crunch makes a choice, then lowers his head and Nova places Ambie’s hand right between the dragons’ eyes.

“See. He respects you now. That was really impressive. I’ve never seen him warm up to anyone that fast.” Nova beams at Ambie, who beams right back her. The two of them make a good pair. I was impressed too; I don’t think I could ever actually do that with a dragon.

“Ok, I really have to get going now.” I say as I start to walk backwards towards the side road that leads to Aiken’s farm. “Thanks for this Nova. Ambie, behave yourself and do whatever she tells you! I’ll see you later!” I fully take off down the road, making the mistake to run when the full heat wave of the day just started. The sun is now almost right over my head, shining light into my eyes and sending sweat down my face. I wanted to already be working before this heat started, and now I’ve lost the early hours when it’s still kind of cool.

I fight through the wall of heat and come across the fence that borders Aiken’s family farm, with a sign saying ‘Leafall Ranch’ next to the gate. As I keep walking down the road, the large farmhouse comes into view, surrounded by other large barns and places where the animals lived and ate. I could see a few Kickling birds wandering around their coop, pecking at the ground. My friend stands at the end of the path just before getting to the house, leaning calmly on the fence. He sees me, and quickly waves.

“Well, look who finally decided to turn up.” Aiken says with a smile. He was the same age as me, a bit taller and skinner, with messy dirty blond hair. He always had a bit of a mischievous smile on his face, and everyone always said it looks like he’s planning something, which was usually right. The two of us were both born here and had been friends for as long as I can remember.

“I knew you wouldn’t start without me. What would your father think if he saw you just standing around?” I ask as I catch his hand in a quick high five in the way we’ve always greeted each other since we were kids.

“Dads in town for the day. He can’t know when we got started. Maybe Osha got out again and I had to track her down.” He said with his usual grin. I looked to the other side of the fence we were standing near, and saw Osha, the families prize Rajan standing in the field. She’s a beautiful animal, with four long legs, light brown fur with streaks of blue that trail across her sides starting from her eyes, and four long horns on the top of her head. It was her fence we were there to fix, because for some reason she had been acting up and headbutting the posts. Aiken’s family has spent too much effort caring for her to let her hurt herself on loose wire.

“Yeah, I’m sure that would work well for you. Come on, let’s get to work.” I say as I pull the tools out of my bag, passing some of them to Aiken, and head towards the first few holes I see in the fence.

“I was kind of hoping your sister would be here. It’s easier to work with Osha when she’s around.” Aiken says as he leans over me while I work, handing me the occasional tool. I kneel onto the ground and begin clipping the loose wire to make room for the new one.

“I don’t know what to tell you. She wanted to stay at home.” I say to him, wanting to change the subject. He’s not wrong about Ambie’s way with animals, but I really just needed a day to focus on some work without being a big brother.

“Osha never seems to want to charge at her. It’s kind of weird. But everyone else, whenever they get close to the fence Osha just…whoa! Look out!” Aiken shouts. As he was talking, Osha had seen us getting just a bit too close. We leapt back from the fence as she took a quick run towards us and slammed her head into one of the posts just a few seconds after I pulled my hand way. Aiken and I sit back in the sand, catching our breaths as Osha trots away.

“Like I said.” Aiken says smugly and stands back up. I can already tell this will be a long day. The two of us spend the next few hours patching up the fence, going on about everything in the village and what we thought about the changes. Aiken brings up the dragons several times, but I quickly change the subject. I want to talk more about places we’d never been to. Cities like Utilaire, where the roads are paved and everyone lives near a beautiful blue ocean, eating rare sea creatures that they fish up from the deep with cold drinks afterwards. One day the two of us are going to travel there, just like we always talked about. Maybe I should ask Nova about it; I like the idea of that. But for today, the sun was going down. I was hot, sweaty, and sore from walking. Home sounded like a pretty good idea. As the sun goes down, the clouds turn bright pink, and Aiken and I set down our tools to lean on the newly fixed fence.

“Beautiful night isn’t it?” Aiken says calmly. He was just as excited as I was about the idea of new places to see, but it didn’t stop him from liking what he saw in front of him. I like that part of him.

“Yeah. Everything’s changing, but this always stays the same.” I say and let my head rest on the wooden fence post.

“Change doesn’t last here; this is Dust town. Everything is going right back to the way it was any day now.” Aiken boasts like he already sees the future. I feel less sure. I know that’s what my father wants to happen, but I still can’t decide whether these changes are bad or good for us. Every day is getting a little bit tougher, and I know father can’t keep going forever. One day, he’s going to have to stop working, and then who’s going to take over the quarry? Well, it’s not going to be me, that’s for sure. I’m planning to be gone by the time this town’s flooded with new workers and a bunch of different creatures from Utilaire. It’s just, how do I tell him that? I don’t think I can.

“Don’t worry about stuff like that anyway.” Aiken says like he’s reading my mind. He’s pretty good at reading the doubt on my face. “Whatever it is, it will keep until tomorrow. We can figure it out then. Just try to enjoy things in front of you, right now. Look, the sand’s already turning black!”

Aiken points out over to the desert, and sure enough the sand has turned black with little sparks of light began to shine among them. The gems and dust pieces that naturally sit in the sand are our town’s main export. They react naturally with light, especially at night and are useful at lighting things in the dark. While most people use it for travelling at night, in Dusk Town we’ve learned to just like it for its beauty. It makes the night looks like it has completely swallowed the world. Maybe Aiken’s right. I should just think about what’s right in front of me…

“Wait, what is that?” Aiken suddenly asks, shaking me out of my thoughts. I look up where he’s looking, but I don’t see anything different.

“What is what?” He points, and I follow the line of his figure to a seven-pointed constellation that had just arrived in the sky with the setting sun.

“I still don’t see anything. It’s just the constellation of the God Elgin.” I say.

“Right there, at the end of his arm.” Aikens tells me and has me follow where he’s pointing. I look closer and see what looks like an eighth point in the constellation. Another star had joined Elgin up in the sky, but this was bright orange, and seems to be almost moving. It floats for a moment, but before the two of us can react it begins to move closer, heading straight for where we are. The night starts to get less dark as the light gets brighter, swirling like fire. The closer it gets, the more I see the beats of wings flapping just behind the light, as the creature spreads its wings and turns toward the ranch.

“Oh my god.” Aiken gasps. My heart stops and my whole body goes numb, as the sky erupted in a brilliant stream of flame. The fire sears right through the main house of the ranch, exploding in a resounding blast that shakes me and Aiken right off of our feet. I fall back and land in the dirt as the dragon flies right over my head. Its tail was the last thing I see as it flies up into the night, kicking up a large gust of wind with its wings. I quickly scramble to my feet and help Aiken up, turning towards the destruction. His house has been completely swallowed in the flame.

Aiken stands in horror for a moment, before his feet seem to start moving on their own, and he starts towards the house. I quickly grab his arm and pull him back, as more explosions sound in the distance. We turn and see down the road that large columns of flame have begun to erupt in the village, with faint shadows moving above the burning roofs.

“What’s going on?” Aiken says, his voice shaking from the shock. I try to swallow as a lump form in my throat, but my breath just won’t seem to come back. I can barely manage to keep my thoughts clear as I turn to Aiken and grab his hand.

“The dragons are attacking the village.” I manage to say, and before I understand what I’m doing I’m pulling Aiken towards the town, running with everything I have and no clue what I will do next. How can this be happening? What is going on? What will I do? I shake my head and try to get control of myself, just in time for the only thought that makes any sort of sense to break through and help me figure out what I need to do. Ambie and my father are in the village that’s being burned to the ground, and I have to find them.