Chapter 8

Sage looked up into the eyes of the creature holding her. She was startled to see that they are were a surprisingly pale blue, unlike any other Dragons eyes, at least the ones she’d seen.

“What in the moons are you?” the dragon whispered, its breath blowing into her face.

I could say the same about you, Sage thought. She didn’t know if she should reply and reveal that she could speak Dragon or just play the tiny little human that only squeaks. She decided that the latter would only get her eaten faster. She straightened up, and stared into the eyes of the dragon.

“I am a human. Or a scavenger, is what you call us,” she growled in Dragon.

The eyes widened as big as the moons and the dragon almost dropped her in shock.

“But— how…how can….that can’t be right…I must be dreaming…Quicksand, snap out of it,” she told herself sternly. Sage watched with amusement as the dragon rubbed its eyes as if wiping the sleep out of them. But Sage knew that it was not a dream. She waited patiently (or what she thought was patiently) and then saw the dragon look back at her.

“Well? Are you done?” Sage said, again in the dragon’s language.

“Ohmymoons, I’m not dreaming, you really just spoke to me, and I understood you.” Quicksand gently put Sage down onto the sand. “But…how?”

Sage dusted herself off, shaking sand from her hair. “Easy. I spoke to you in Dragon,” she replied matter-of-factly. “It’s not that hard.”

“Ohhh…I see. But how did you learn Dragon?” Quicksand queried curiously.

“Uhm…I…” Sage hesitated, wondering if she should tell this complete stranger about her Dragonly friend. Then she realized that this dragon might not even know Canyon. But, how could she not? Don’t all SandDragons know each other? She pondered this for a moment more then looked back into the eyes of the dragon before her. “Well, you see, it’s a long story…”