27 Confrontation

  Abba-Avi walked out of his house and turned towards the center of town. If he knew anything, he knew in his bones that this confrontation with the dragon was coming sooner rather than later. But she looks so much like Zissel Abba-Avi thought, but that is probably more because of her age and hair. Still, even if she didn’t, Dov was right, I need to help her. There was more to this feeling, but Abba-Avi couldn’t put it into words.

  “There is more to this than what that tinkerer is telling me,” Abba-Avi said to himself, but even knowing this, Abba-Avi was only willing to ask Dov and the girl so many questions.

  Ignorance keeps you alive, Avi. He thought, but on a deeper level, Abba-Avi knew that he was lying to himself, but losing Zissel pushed that truth away as the words of the soldier that killed her came back to his mind, “If you’d kept your kids ignorant, old man, they’d still be alive.”

  Before Abba-Avi’s mind could go back and relive that painful day, he saw the dragon flying overhead. He was right. The confrontation would be sooner rather than later. He just hoped this time the outcome would be different. The only thing that gave him hope was that he would be dealing with a dragon rather than with the lord’s soldiers; even if this dragon was corrupt, he couldn’t be as bad as Captain Shedim.

  Abba-Avi heard the roar from the sky and hurried to the center of the village. It was the one place that would give the dragon plenty of room to land, and Abba-Avi was hoping it would land there. “If it lands anywhere else, we’ll be rebuilding homes today,” Abba-Avi said as he entered the edge of the clearing.

  The dragon roared again. Abba-Avi listened to the roar and said, “He doesn’t sound happy. Dov must be right about this creature. Yet,” Abba-Avi shoved all other thoughts out of his mind as he prepared himself to protect the life placed in his hands. This time, he was determined to succeed.

  Abba-Avi looked around the village as the dragon came in for a leisurely landing. The people of the village had long ago learned to hide when strangers came to the village, but the sounds of a dragon, even one that sounded angry, were enough to bring people to their doors and windows to see what was happening.

  The dragon landed and turned toward Abba-Avi. The creature spewed fire into the sky and said, "Where is the village leader?"

  Five houses down from the center of town, Sara's jaw nearly dropped as she peeked through the front door.

  “That rat,” Sara sputtered, “He could have spoken to me any time he wanted to.” Sara pushed the thought aside as she watched Abba-Avi stand straight and face the dragon.

  Meanwhile, Abba-Avi said, “I’m the man you need to talk to.”

  The dragon lowered his head to a couple of feet in front of his face, and Abba-Avi thought that he would collapse as the dragon's hot breath washed over him.

  “My name is Draco, and I am looking for a slave, who I think came this way.” Said the dragon in a whisper that scared Abba-Avi more than if Draco had bellowed out the words.

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  “Draco,” Abba-Avi said, drawing on the strength he had forgotten he had. “As I am sure you are aware, we are all little more than slaves here. Is there one of us you are more interested in?”

  To Abba-Avi surprised the dragon let out a little laugh, then said, “Well answered. Let me say this: if something unfortunate happens to that girl because of you, I will burn every building in this village to the ground.” To emphasize his point, Draco took his forearm and placed his claw on a medium-sized rock in front of Abba-Avi and moved it back and forth, grinding it down. When Draco pulled his claws back, the rock was no more. With a humorless smile, the dragon said, “Do we understand each other?”

  Abba-Avi had no intentions of letting anything happen to Sari, so he looked straight into the eyes of the dragon and answered, “Yes,” then deflected, “but the lord of this land is the one you should worry about; it is he and others who kidnap innocent girls you should be concerned about.”

  Abba-Avi wondered if his final words, which were an accusation at the dragon himself, was pushing his luck a bit, but when Draco nodded and pulled back his head, he relaxed.

  Draco grunted and then said, “All in due time.” A moment later, Draco stretched out his wings, and launched into the air in a fluid motion.

  Abba-Avi tried not to drop his shoulders in relief and looked up at the soaring dragon.

  Draco wasn’t done and said in a voice loud enough that everyone for miles around could hear, “I trust you all to follow through. Take care of her and may the Creator deal with you accordingly, and may his hand be upon you all.”

  A moment later, Abba-Avi stood alone in the center of the village. He felt more like a man than he had in a decade. He was also confused that the dragon, who had clearly kidnapped Sara, was giving the Creator’s blessing to the village.

  Abba-Avi watched Draco fly quickly out of sight, and once the dragon was gone, he turned and moved with more speed than he had in years down to his house. He wanted to make sure his newest child, as it were, was okay.

  When Abba-Avi entered the house, he saw Sara sitting at the table, focused, it seemed, on mending a pair of his pants. The rest of the mending was sitting in front of her.

  “So, you watched our little discussion, I assume?” Abba-Avi asked, seeing that there wasn’t even one tear repaired.

  Sara set down the mending and nodded at him. “Yes, but I expected him not to believe you and to start tearing things up.”

  Abba-Avi didn’t want to worry the girl, but spoke the truth, “I don’t think he did completely.” He paused and continued, “He did make it very clear that no one was to harm you in any way, and that can only serve to help keep you safe at least here in this village.”

  “Good,” Sara sighed. “Is he still flying around?”

  “It looked like he flew off to the north, but all the same, I would stay inside the next few days as much as possible.”

  “In case he is still flying nearby?”

  “Yes, but also to give the people of the village an opportunity to accept the idea of adding another member to our community,” Abba-Avi explained.

  “That sounds like a good idea. Thank you.” Sara said. A lump had risen in her throat. She shook her head and tried to clear her throat, all the while fighting tears. “When I saw you standing face to face with Draco,” Sara looked up, and a tear fell down her face. “I had no right to ask you to confront him, but” Sara paused, “I really appreciate it, but” and shaking her head said, “I don’t deserve it.”

  Sara’s words broke the heart of the father in Abba-Avi. Not knowing if she would receive it, Abba-Avi walked over and cautiously wrapped his arms around Sara. Sara, who had only once been hugged since the death of her parents, reached out and pulled the old man close and cried into his chest.

  “There, there,” said the old man soothingly while patting her head. “If you were my actual daughter, it would be my job to stand up to monsters for you. Your father wasn’t available today, so I stepped in for him.”

  Sara's tears turned into weeping as the realization of how much she still missed her parents fell upon her. Sara didn’t need to tell Abba-Avi that her father was dead, as he had held too many who had wept like Sara was at this moment. In the years, Abba-Avi had learned that at moments like these, silence was the best medicine.