Haku stood outside of his father's home, gazing at the heavens. No torches lit the darkness around him, so he had a clear view of the strange dusting of light that was scattered through the sky, almost like a stream of tiny stars. For once, he didn't feel burdened, didn't feel stressed or frustrated with life. Breathing in the cool night air, he listened to the sounds of the village.

Most everyone had returned to their homes at this point, generally wishing to spend time with their families and get as much sleep as possible before dawn. The men and women on watch greeted each other cheerfully as they passed each other in the street. In the distance, he could hear the clanking of metal against metal, and he couldn't help but smile. His sister, Vasara, was the village smith, and she often spent late nights at the forge, crafting weapons and armor, always trying to improve her skill and the quality of her work.

His other sister, Maara, was in the house behind him, watching over their father. Haku's smile faded as he thought of that situation. What he wouldn't give to-

He froze. There was no wind.

The hammering had ceased, and the village sat in eery silence.

Then he heard the first one. Echoes in the distance. Haku waited, holding his breath, until-

ROAR!

The sound carried over the village, and Haku unfroze, beginning to shout. "Guards! Warriors!To your positions!"

The sounds of doors flying open mingled with the flapping of wings and shrieks of monsters. Shouts from the villagers were drowned out by streams of fire, blasting apart buildings and freeing terrified animals from their enclosures.

Vasara. Haku dashed into his house, shouting at Maara to stay where she was, before running out of his house with his long bow to see even more dragons swarming above the village, swooping low to grab stampeding livestock. "Get your cattle!" he shouted. "Get your-"

An explosion sent him tumbling forwards, landing hard on his side. Scrambling to his feet, he dashed down the street, dodging fireballs and debris as the villagers ran out to fight for their lives. Overhead, a large rock smashed into two Grimlers, sending both tumbling from the sky. The men had gotten to the catapults. Good. Maybe they had a chance, now.

"Vasara!" he called out. "VASARA!"

"Haku!"

Looking to his left, he saw his sister running out, battle hammer swinging at an orange Raptortongue attempting to carry off a stray sheep. Sliding an arrow from its quiver, Haku quickly drew back and released it, his aim true.

It struck the beast in the side of its face, not really harming it, but startling it enough so that it dropped the sheep, giving Vasara the opportunity to lift her hammer, about to bring it down on the dragon's skull, when-

He heard it. A building whistle, growing in intensity. Haku had never heard anything like it, and looked at the sky, confused. He could see nothing besides the swarming dragons, just a few stars twinkling through billowing smoke and the moon high above. Wait a minute… Something passed in front of the moon and he immediately shouted to them all, "Find cover!"

Even as he spoke the whistle reached a deafening pitch before-

BOOM.

The sky exploded into light and Haku instinctively ducked, hearing the desperate screams of the villagers. Looking up, he frantically searched for where the blast must have hit when he heard it again…

"Get down!"

Another blast, blue in color, lit the sky. Then another, then another. Slowly, Haku looked up from his position on the ground, and stared in awe.

The dragons were leaving. Whatever it was causing those explosions, it wasn't attacking the village. It was driving those monsters away. He stared up at the sky, willing something to appear, but all was black. The shrieks and roars of the dragons slowly faded, and Haku finally slung his bow across his back, walking out to inspect the damage.

Several structures had burnt completely to the ground, and several more were in the process of being extinguished. Loose livestock wandered around the streets, finally calming down. The younger children had come out to help with the efforts to carry water and herd animals back into their barns and corrals. Reaching the main square, Haku whistled, calling all the available villagers to join him there.

Slowly they trickled in, once all the fires had been extinguished. He called out for any injuries, but miraculously, no one was hurt. All in all, not the worst attack the village had ever suffered. Not by a long shot.

"Haku! What was that?"

"Yeah, what caused those explosions?!"

The villagers began clamoring for his attention and Haku raised both hands in the air, waving for them all to calm down. He walked into the center of the gathered villagers, who all stepped back a bit to listen to him speak.

"Now, I don't know what caused those explosions, or why it chose to fend off the dragons. We can only hope that it means us no harm, and that-" the sound of flapping wings caught his attention, and he paused, turning around just in time to see a massive shape swoop low over the square. Everyone screamed and ducked, then slowly came back up to their feet, looking around nervously at the sky.

When Haku looked up, though, he saw a strange figure standing right before him. Almost his height, wearing odd armor, and with a helmet that covered his entire head.

"What- who are you?" he cried, reaching back to grab his bow. In an instant, the figure was inches away from him, and he froze, looking down between their bodies. The blade of a dagger was visible in the torchlight, and Haku had to stop himself from trying to back away.

"Who are you?" he asked again, trying to sound as calm as possible. Around them, people had finally noticed the stranger, and were gasping and crying out in fear and outrage.

The stranger held up one hand and immediately the square fell silent. The blade retracted, and Haku relaxed ever so slightly. Turning around, the stranger began to speak, his voice muffled by his helmet.

"I am the one who saved you," he proclaimed.

"Really?" someone scoffed. "And how did you cause those explosions?"

"Please everyone," Haku called out to them, thinking of how quickly the stranger moved, quieting them down. "Let us hear him out."

"I myself did not cause the explosions. I can, however, introduce you to the one who did."

"Who… would that be?" Haku asked hesitantly, and the stranger turned back to face him.

"A living shadow. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself," he said casually. "But we chose to intervene, here, and if you would accept us, we can stop the dragon menace from ever returning. That is, if you so choose that path."

"What's the catch?" Haku couldn't keep the skepticism from his voice.

The stranger turned in a slow circle. "Be reminded, that my partner and I came with the sole intention of protecting you, and teaching you how to end the war between humans and dragons. We gain nothing from this arrangement but the knowledge that we have done a good deed. But," he paused, "to learn about your enemy, you must be willing to consort with your enemy."

Haku didn't think he liked where this was going. But the people were murmuring amongst themselves, clearly considering the stranger's offer. "Do you mean… a dragon?" he asked slowly, dreading the stranger's answer.

"Yes," he replied, to the shock of the entire village. "I mean a dragon." Before anyone could say anything else, he cupped his hand to where his mouth would be and let out a strange whistling sound. Within moments came once again the noise of flapping wings, and, nervous, people began to back away.

Haku stepped towards the stranger. "What do you think you're-"

The stranger held up a gloved hand, silencing him. "You have to trust me."

"Trust you? We don't even know you!"

"You will, soon enough."

With that, a massive black shape dropped from the night sky, concealing the stranger.

"What is… is that a…"

The creature opened its eyes, revealing a luminous shade of blue, before unfolding itself to reveal its true form.

It was a dragon unlike any Haku had ever seen. Black as night, with those eyes, and great, bat-like wings folding up against its back. Before it, the stranger had reappeared, and was looking right at Haku.

The villagers began to panic. Few of them were carrying weapons, yet they rushed to defend Haku all the same. But Haku wasn't paying attention to them. His gaze was locked with the dragon's, who seemed to be… reading him, understanding him, seeing his innermost thoughts.

"Wait!" he shouted, holding up his arms without breaking eye contact, and everyone froze. Everyone except for the stranger, who approached Haku once again.

"You ask that we trust you? Both of you?" Haku asked him incredulously.

"That is our condition."

Maybe he was crazy. Maybe he had a death wish. But there was something about this… this creature that struck him as nothing had ever done before.

"Do you swear that no harm will come to the village or its people?"

"I swear that my partner and I shall not harm anyone or anything in this village. You, on the other hand, might."

Haku shook his head. This stranger was just a set of armor filled with mysteries. "I'm not sure I know what you mean, but I suppose that your word will have to be enough. How can you prove that what you say is true? That you are trustworthy?"

The stranger stepped backwards until he was next to his dragon, and he patted it on its shoulder. "I'll prove my trustworthiness and the value of my assistance right here, right now."

"What would you have me do?"

The stranger nimbly leapt up onto the creature's shoulders and held out his hand.

"Haku, don't do it!" someone shouted.

"Please, Haku, what would your father say?"

And that's what did it. His father would say to kill the beast and send the stranger away. But Haku was not his father.

"Fine."

He strode over to the stranger and his dragon, who watched him with one enormous eye as he approached its side. He grabbed the stranger's hand, who promptly hauled him up behind him.

"Hold on," the stranger's muffled voice commanded, and hesitantly Haku brought his hands up to rest them on the stranger's back, glancing nervously around him, trying to ignore the devastated looks on the villager's faces.

The stranger murmured something that sounded like "gently" and patted the dragon's neck.

Slowly the dragon's extensive wings unfurled, barely making a sound. Haku felt the creature shift into a crouch, and he swallowed drily. I hope this isn't a huge mista-

His last thought was cut off as the dragon leapt skyward, beating its wings to gain altitude. Immediately, Haku wrapped his arms around the stranger's slim waist, not caring at all what the other man must think of him. Everything was a blur, whooshing past in the roar of the wind. Shutting his eyes tight, he held on for dear life until-

"Open your eyes."

Apprehensively, he did so, realizing that the dragon had leveled out and was flying smoothly through the gradually lightening sky. He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing the lights of his village receding in the distance until they soared above the clouds, blocking his view. Looking up at the fading stars, the closeness of the heavens took his breath away. For a while they drifted above the clouds, reveling in the last of the moonlight.

The dragon angled itself and Haku once again tightened his grip on the stranger, who seemed to be amused by his nervousness. A tiny thread of irritation wound through him at the stranger's presumptuousness, but quickly evaporated when he saw that they were descending towards the cloud cover.

"Um…" he said nervously, lifting one arm to point at the approaching mass.

The stranger did laugh then, an oddly musical sound, and then they entered the cloud. Shutting his eyes, Haku waited for something to hit them, but when he opened his eyes, he realized that they were surrounded by white. Hesitantly, he extended his hand, and realized that it was collecting beads of moisture. Clouds were… made of water?!

The stranger seemed to follow his train of thought, calling back to him, "There is so much to learn, Haku, if we only open our eyes to the possibilities of this world."

Haku didn't have time to wonder that the stranger had used his name. They broke free of the clouds, into the light of the rising sun. Barely peeking up over the horizon, it shone over the sea and earth, and Haku found that he was once again breathless, his chest filled with the sensation of extraordinary revelation.

"I never knew…" he said softly. The stranger nodded ever so slightly, and the dragon banked to the south, heading back over land, slowly spiraling back toward the village.

When they landed in the square, still full of terrified villagers, the stranger smoothly leapt from the dragon's back, holding up a hand to Haku. He gladly took it, clumsily sliding off and landing on shaking knees.

"Haku!" someone cried.

"Are you alright?"

"What are we going to do, Haku?"

"Send them away!"

Shouts began to fill the square, and still partially stunned, Haku lifted up his hands, quieting the people.

"People of Heimme!" he swallowed, wondering how to continue. "I just flew on the back of a dragon. A trained dragon, with a rider that deemed to spare our village from the menace we so often face. An experience I shall never forget, 'til the day I die." He looked over at the stranger, who stood with his hand resting on his dragon's shoulder. The creature was gazing at him with those incredible blue eyes, and Haku felt a strange peace wash over him.

"I, of all people, have good reason to fear, and even hate these creatures! But these two mean us no harm! I say, we should extend our trust, in the hopes that they might follow through with their promise to end the war we face."

The crowd was murmuring at his words, anxiously watching the scene unfold in the light of the dawn. Finally, Vahna, the old wise woman, stepped forward, and everyone quieted to hear her words.

"Haku," she said. "Since I was a child, the dragons have been our enemy. You wish for us to befriend one, to trust a stranger who clearly consorts with the enemy, in the hopes that they might actually want to help us." She paused, and everyone leaned in. Haku listened anxiously, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the stranger and his dragon.

"What would your father say, Haku?"

His anxiety disappeared, replaced with frustration. "With all respect, Vahna, I am not my father."

She nodded, seemingly expecting this answer. "As we all well know. I, for one, am nervous at the thought of what such an alliance might mean for our people. But," she continued, "I also believe that this stranger can be trusted. Call it intuition, if you wish, but something tells me that change has found us at last, and that our only hope lies with this stranger and her dragon."

The crowd broke into hushed conversations, but Haku just looked incredulously at the stranger, whose posture indicated some surprise, before quickly relaxing.

Vahna continued, saying mysteriously, "I'm glad you are feeling better, stranger," before turning around. The crowd parted for her silently, and she made her way through them, followed by her two apprentices, who were trading knowing glances.

Vahna had said,"her". But the stranger was so tall! Thinking about it, though, he was on the slim side, and his chest armor was bulky enough to disguise any feminine features he- she might have.

"Stranger," Haku called. "If we are to trust you, I think we would all feel a little better if we could see your face."

The stranger didn't speak, only tilting his- her- head, and a thread of unease wound through him. What if he- she- is terribly scarred, or malformed? But it was too late to take the request back, and slowly she nodded, before reaching up to remove her helmet.

Welcome to Heimme. Aeri has pledged her assistance to these people... but what will that end up entailing? Stay tuned :)

I hope you've all been reading Silver as well; although I won't be posting anything there for a bit, we certainly have not heard the last of James.

Questions? Comments? Review!