The New Dragon Rider

Chapter 1

"Hey Dad." I said almost dropping the wooden planks. He came up behind me and grabbed onto me so I wouldn't fall. "Hey Hadley. Did you watch the sunset?" My dad asked my pulling the planks out of my hands. "Ya, it was really pretty." I said wiping sweat off my forehead.

"That's good. Hadley, can you grab me my hammer, it's down by the trail." He asked me. "Sure." I replied.

My dad is rebuilding my moms old wagon. It can hold as much weight as 5 Vikings. Let me be honest with you, that's really heavy. My mom would use it to carry food, fish, weapons and Viking children to different places around Odin, my village. My dad would like to be able to use it again. My moms birthday is really soon too. He wants it to be done by then.

I sauntered down the stone trail and searched for the hammer. It wasn't far from me. It was in the grass next to a huge stone. I walked down there and bent over to pick it up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could've sworn I saw a dragon. The same one from earlier. I picked up the hammer and marched back up the trail, looking back for the dragon every step I took.

My dad's hammer is super heavy. It weighs you down every step you take. But my dad doesn't even struggle to lift it up.

"Here you go dad." I said extending my arms. He picked it up with one hand right before I fell over. My arms felt a big relief. "Thank you." He said. "How's it coming along?" I asked him. "The wagon is coming around. It's not very easy to fix an old wagon though." He said looking at me.

He studied me and noticed I was weak and a little tired. I had been helping him fix the wagon all day.

He put down the hammer and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Hadley, let me take you up to bed, it's been a long day for you." He said.

He guided me back into the house and upstairs. He walked me into my room and I plopped on my bed. My dad removed my headband from my head and placed it on my bedside table. He smoothed my hair down and then tightened my braid.

Then he lifted the blankets over my body and up to my chest. He kissed my fore head and whispered "goodnight". But I was too weak to even reply.

The last thing I remember was hearing the sound of the door close and my dad softly whispering "I miss you, Eartha" To my mother.

***

I opened my eyes rapidly to the sound of buckets getting tipped over. I sat up and examined my room for anything abnormal. Nothing was different. But I heard the sound again. I heard a voice this time. It whispered loudly "come back" and the sound of something falling came after. It was coming from the side of my house, where the wagon was.

I thought someone was breaking the wagon, so I grabbed my headband and put it on, it made me feel more powerful for some reason. Then I picked up my axe and tip toed downstairs.

My dad sleeps down here, so I would have to be as quiet as possible. I could hear him snoring softly. I quickly stepped downstairs and onto the wooden floors. I walked out the door and then looked at the wagon.

There wasn't a piece of wood out of place. But I still didn't feel right. Was someone in the house? I had no idea. I stayed outside and looked to see if anything or anyone was there.

I heard someone walking on grass and someone saying,"shh." Then I felt a big wave of wind hit my back. It was coming from the trail. I softly yelled,"Hello?" and walked down the trail. But there was nothing there. I began to think it was just an animal. Maybe a baby sheep or something. That was before I saw the dragon
....again.

I only saw it for a quick second but it was there. I had my axe ready to swing and I kept my eyes on the sky.

But the dragon came at me from the side and scooped me up into the air.