Sky Child (8 page)

"The truth, Sam, is that I would do anything for you. Even if that means I have to let you live somewhere else. Even if I miss you every day. Even if I wish things could be different, and that we could be together again. You have no idea how hard it has been for me. I don't get to be there for you, not the way I want to. I see you change, and become older. You are a parent now to your brothers. Can you imagine how hard it would be to have them taken away from you?"

"I can't."

"I did it because I love you, Sam."

I reach out and hug Charm. I wish that I had talked to her about this sooner, instead of letting the questions and doubt make me wonder if she really cared about me.

"I love you too, Charm."

I'm surprised that I said it out loud. I know I feel love for Charm, but I never really tell anyone that I love them. Not even Flot and Jet.

"Okay, you are going to have to stop all of this," says Ebb. "You're making me cry."

Charm and I both laugh.

"We should probably be letting you sleep now, Charm," I say.

"I hope that you stay safe and happy, Sky Child. I pray to the Sky Gods every day that you are," says Charm.

I smile back at her as Ebb and I stand up to leave.

"Oh, Charm, there is one more thing I was wondering about," I say.

"Yes?"

"How did I get my name?" I ask.

"Sam, your name was stitched into the blanket we found you wrapped in," says Charm.

"I thought that maybe you had named me."

"I wish I had, but no, the Sky Gods had already given you a name."

I nod my head, not really believing that the Sky Gods had named me, but not disagreeing with Charm's memory. Ebb and I leave.

Once we are well away from Charm's room, I turn to Ebb.

"Ebb, please don't tell anyone what Charm and I talked about. If anyone outside of us knew what she said, it could be dangerous. It could be dangerous for a lot of people," I say.

"Sam, I would never betray you like that," says Ebb.

"Thank you, Ebb, for protecting both my life, and my secrets."

"It is an honor."

While checking for danger along the way, Ebb walks me back to my room. As I make my way inside, Ebb smiles then turns and stands guard at the entrance of our room. I smile, because finally I may have made a friend.

13

It's not until I wake up that I realize how hard yesterday was on me. I am sore in my entire body. Every time I breathe out, it feels like my life is flowing out of me. When the people that drink too much beer talk about what the next morning is like, I imagine that this is how they feel.

Jet and Flot are busy snoring, which is what they both do best. I poke my head outside our room and see that Ebb is still there. She looks very tired.

"Ebb, I am up now. Thank you for protecting us last night. Please, go get some sleep," I say.

"Are you sure you will be safe?" asks Ebb.

"Yes. I have my brothers with me now, and they are more than enough protection for me," I say.

"I can tell that they are dangerous by how well they snore," says Ebb.

"They are amazing snorers," I admit.

"Well, take care then Sam."

"And you, Ebb."

I watch as Ebb leaves.

After a while I grow bored because I have nothing to do, and Jet and Flot are still asleep. I decide to make breakfast. I realize it may not be safe for me to be on my own right now, but things are most dangerous at night when they think you are asleep. Most killers in the Crag are cowards, and they won't risk attacking someone who can defend themselves.

I make my way to the mouth of the cave. The sun is still rising, and it is low enough that I cannot see it yet. The sky is gray and covered in clouds that cast white light all around me. It is barely raining; just enough to wet your hair, but not soak you. I hurry to where we keep the animals, so that I can stay as dry as possible.

When I reach the chickens, I see one of the hunters, Anchor, collecting his own breakfast. Anchor is tall and thin; so thin that I wonder how he stands without falling into pieces. His arms and legs move in strange ways, like they are not a part of him. His black hair covers his moon-white face when he leans over. I can tell that he must wear his helmet whenever he is outside in the sun.

Anchor catches me out of the corner of his eye, and turns to me. I stop quickly, not knowing whether I am in danger or not. I keep my hands at my sides, formed into fists, ready to use them if necessary.

"Sam, you startled me! Can I call you Sam?" asks Anchor.

"Yes, that would be okay," I say.

"I just didn't know if that is what you liked to be called, now that you are the Leader of the Hunt and all," says Anchor.

"Sam is fine," I say.

I calm down a little. I start to realize that anyone worried about what they should call someone probably isn't a killer. I also remember that Anchor, although not one of Lagan's protectors, was still a loyal friend of Lagan's. I have to hope that means that Anchor will be a loyal friend of mine as well.

"I have news for you!" says Anchor, excited.

His excitement reminds me of Flot and Jet many snows ago, when they wanted to tell me something that they thought was important. I relax more, realizing that Anchor is probably harmless. Or at least harmless to me. I have seen him use a big spear, and he is very good with it. He always seems to hit a place on an animal that will make it die quickly. It makes me think that he is like me, and doesn't want to see the animals in pain.

"What is your news, Anchor?" I say.

"Oh, good, you know me. Wait, you know me?" he says in surprise.

"You were one of Lagan's friends," I say.

"Yes, we are friends. I mean, I guess, we were friends."

The smile leaves Anchor's face.

"I am very sorry about Lagan," I say.

"Me too. He was the best of us. He always tried to keep peace among the hunters. Oh, but now we have you," says Anchor, trying to smile through his sadness.

"So what is your news?"

"Oh, right. Well, Mast talked to me last night, and he thought we should make you some special armor, since you're our leader now. Something that would be good enough for the Sky Child."

"Anchor, I am not the Sky Child."

"That's what Mast said you would say. But don't worry, it's our secret. I won't tell anyone that you are the Sky Child," says Anchor.

"No, really, I'm not the Sky Child. It's just a story," I say.

"Oh, right," says Anchor, winking at me.

Sigh.

"You will need to come to my room when you are done with breakfast, so that I can get your outline," says Anchor.

"The armor I have is fine," I say.

"I am sorry, Sam, but you have the armor of a lead hunter, not the Leader of the Hunt. Notice the difference there? We need to be able to see you when we're hunting, so that we can protect you," says Anchor.

I think about it for a moment. It does make sense for me to look different than everyone else, just so they know who to follow. Lagan had leather armor that was light gray like a cloudy sky. They had used ash from the Great Fire to color it. It made him stand out very well.

"Okay, you can make new armor for me," I say.

"Well, I won't be the only one working on it. You need new armor quickly, so that you can lead the hunt."

"Who else is working on it then?" I ask.

"Jib and Stanchion," says Anchor.

I know that Jib makes armor, but Stanchion is someone that fixes things that are made of metal. We don't have much metal in the Crag. We only have what has been passed down to us from the gray ones many, many snows ago.

When something metal isn't needed any more, or is broken too badly to be fixed, Stanchion makes new things out of it. Sometimes they are useful things, and sometimes they are things to look at. He has made scraps into objects that are given as gifts. They are very beautiful. It is an honor to have him working on my armor.

"Thank you, Anchor. I will try to help however I can," I say.

"See you after breakfast then," says Anchor, walking away with his eggs.

I collect as many eggs as I can carry in my pockets and walk back to the Crag. After cooking breakfast at the Great Fire, I head back to our room. When I get there, Flot and Jet are awake and dressed. Flot has already heated a pot of water, and set out cups for each of us.

"What took so long?" asks Flot.

I give him an angry stare. I set the pan on the red stone floor and all of us wolf down the eggs. About halfway through breakfast, Flot stops eating.

"Seriously Sam, why did it take you so long to get breakfast?" asks Flot.

"Anchor was getting eggs too, and he stopped me," I say.

"Why did he do that?"

"He needed something."

"What did he need?"

"He needed to talk to me," I say.

"Sam, why are you being a stupid butt?" asks Flot.

"Because you smell like one," I say.

Flot rolls his eyes at me.

"Okay, fine. Anchor needs me to go to his room so that he can make new armor for me," I say.

"Really?" says Jet.

"Yes, really," I say.

"Are you going to make it gray like Lagan's armor was?" asks Flot.

"Probably not. But we will need to figure out a color that doesn't look like the armor that the hunters already wear."

"Who is 'we'?" asks Flot.

"Oh, me and Anchor. And Jib. And Stanchion," I say.

"Wait, Stanchion is working on your armor?" asks Flot.

I just nod my head.

"I don't know what he's making for the armor, but they wouldn't have asked him if they didn't need his help," I say.

"Can we come along?" asks Jet.

"Yes, but all they are doing is getting my outline. They won't have anything for me to try on yet," I say.

"Okay, that does sound kind of boring," says Jet. "Never mind."

We finish up our breakfast and I send Jet off to clean the pan. Once I leave our room, I head to the Great Fire to ask Moss which path leads to Anchor's room. Moss tells me that it is only a few rooms from Charm's, and to follow that path.

I have a hard time finding it. When I get to Charm's room, I have to ask her for help. She tells me that you have to take a narrow side-tunnel to get there, and it is not easy to see. I have to look around for a while before I finally find the tunnel.

Although I can get into the side-tunnel with no problem, I can see how larger people wouldn't be able to. I doubt Chaff could ever fit down this tunnel. I start to wonder if maybe Jet, Flot and I should move into this area just for protection. But I hate small spaces. They make me nervous.

I walk down the tunnel, and I can feel my palms and forehead sweat. Dizziness threatens to make me fall. After taking a deep breath, I'm finally able to walk down the tunnel and enter Anchor's room.

It is quite large as rooms go. You could probably have a pair of families staying in it and still have room. My guess is that he didn't kill anyone for the room. He probably took it because no one else wanted it, since it is hard to get to. He might be like me, not wanting to be bothered much.

"Ah, Sam, glad you came then. All I need is for you to lie down on the ground over here," says Anchor, pointing to a spot near the wall.

I go over to where he pointed and lie down on the hard stone. I can feel the cold of the floor through my hair and clothes.

"Okay, now I am going to make the outline," says Anchor.

Anchor takes a light-colored rock and scratches the floor all around me. When he is finally done, I stand up and stare at what is left. It looks kind of like me, or at least my shape. But with the white line on the dark red floor, it is very easy to see.

"So what color did you want your armor?" asks Anchor. "I can do yellow, gray, white, green, red or blue. I can also mix some of the colors together, but some of them don't mix well. Also, so that you don't look like the other hunters, you can't pick brown or black."

"I'm not sure," I say.

"What if we made your armor blue, since you are the Sky Child, and the sky is blue?"

I close my eyes and bite down hard, trying not to yell at Anchor for saying I'm the Sky Child.

"I don't think it should be blue. I do like that color, but the sky isn't blue very often," I say.

"How about red, like blood?" asks Anchor.

"I don't know that I would like red either, because I don't want to think about blood every time we go hunting. There is enough real blood when we kill something," I say. "How about green?"

"Yes, we can make it green."

"Can it be a green like clover? Dark and light and strong at the same time?"

"I think we can do that," says Anchor, smiling.

"Thank you," I say, shaking Anchor's hand.

"It is an honor, Sam."

I leave Anchor's place, and make my way back to our room.

Halfway there, as I turn down a twisting tunnel, I hear the sounds of a struggle. I move my feet faster, trying to find out who's fighting. I stop where the tunnel either continues toward our room, or splits off toward an even darker side-tunnel. I stand and listen for a moment, trying to decide which pathway to go down. Unable to tell which direction the fight is, I try the darker tunnel.

The sounds of punching and grunts of pain get louder. As I turn the corner, I see Sickle and Scythe standing in front of Flot. Sickle is punching him in the stomach.

"STOP!" I yell.

Sickle and Scythe look surprised, but don't move. Sickle takes a step away from Flot. I raise my fist and chase after them. They both decide to run.

"Cowards!" I cry out.

I wait until the echo of their footsteps disappears then hurry back to Flot.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Ungh, just leave me alone, Sam."

"Do you want me to get back at them?"

"No. I don't want you fighting my battles for me. I'll be fine. Go away."

"But Flot... "

"JUST GO!"

Flot yelling in my face startles me, and I back up. I can see in his eyes a deep anger, but I don't know if it's anger at me for trying to help, or if it's anger at Sickle and Scythe for torturing him. He could even be angry at himself. I felt the same way growing up. I hated that I let Sickle and Scythe bully me. There wasn't much I could do, being so small. The few times I did fight back, things were much worse for me. They would hit me even harder, or stomp on me with their feet. And no one ever came to help. I think that was the hardest part; not having someone to protect me, or to patch my wounds.