CHAPTER ONE
It was winter. The trees stood bare, shivering, empty; their colors stripped away with the changing of the seasons. Little wisps of cloud dotted the gray skies. Where before, the world was alive with the chattering of birds and the laughter of children, now an eerie quiet was settled all around.

Sage stood at the window, watching the snow fall silently. Her hands were clenched around the stone that hung at her throat in nervousness. "He should be home by now," she said quietly.

The others at the table jerked at the sudden sound of her voice. "I'm sure he's fine," her mother assured her after a moment.

Her father didn't say anything.

"Probably just stopped to talk with someone. I mean, if I'd just come home with two prize-winning cows, there'd be plenty of people wanting to talk to me!" James, her eldest brother, added. Somewhere, the humor of his comment was lost on the rest of them and nobody laughed. Sage couldn't see the three of them from her position at the window but suspected they were looking at each other now, fully aware that he'd not stopped to talk to anyone.

It was past suppertime. Sage's food was cold.

"Oh, come sit down and eat. Stop worrying," her mother finally said.

Where is he? Why isn't he home yet? What could've happened? Sage's frown deepened, her hands began to tremble and she stuffed them down into the pockets of her cloak so her family wouldn't see. "I'm going out to look for him," she finally declared. Her fingers were tingling with magic and a feeling deep inside her, she could not put a name to it, told her something was wrong. She knew it. With all the power in her, she knew it.

"You cannot go out there," James said.

"I'm going to," Sage replied, stuffing her fiery red curls into the hood of her cloak.

"It's too cold, and it's getting dark, Sage."

This time Sage didn't answer. James could not stop her from going. She didn't need his blessing. When she reached for the door, her brother stood up from the table.

"Sage!"

She whirled around, tears in her eyes. "What?"

"There are dangerous creatures out at night, Sage! You cannot go!"

"Sawyer is in trouble! I know it! I have to help him!" Sage grabbed the door and flung it open. She ran out, her feet crunching in newly fallen snow, and hurried to the back where the horses were kept.

They don't feel it, Sage realized. Something's wrong and they just don't feel it. Much as it saddened her and made her feel even more different, isolated, from the rest of her family, it didn't surprise her. They'd never had the senses she and her brother, Sawyer, had. They didn't have ... magic. That was solely something she and Sawyer shared -- and James was forever reminding her of that.

Stream was standing there as gracefully as ever, the snow settling just nicely in the black of his mane. He sparkled like a fairy horse and whinnied when Sage got closer.

"Hey boy," she cooed. Sage opened the gate and went around to him. After a quick nose-rubbing, Sage jumped onto his back and the two of them whirled out into the darkening night.

Tree limbs whipped past her legs, scratching; but Sage didn't care. She hardly even noticed. The awful feeling that something had gone wrong was growing inside her like a black thunder cloud. Her eyes scanned the woods for any signs of her brother. She urged Stream on.

What is it, Sage? Stream asked her.

This was another thing James and her parents couldn't do -- talk to animals. It was one more thing that made James so bitter toward her and Sawyer.

"It's Sawyer. I think ... Well, I don't know. Please hurry." She patted his side.

All right.

The snow blurred everything around them. It stung her eyes and made it much harder to see things. Sage wished it'd been a clear night, but she knew things never happened the way she wished. In fact, if she could've had anything at that moment, she and her two brothers and mother and father would be safe at home, having supper.

"Come on, Stream." Sage struggled with the words. There was a lump in her throat the size of an apple. What am I even looking for? Tracks? Sawyer's horse? How will I know when I've gone too far? Sage pondered these things but they didn't slow her down. She had a feeling she would just know ... and time was of the essence.

Wait. There was something up ahead. Something in the middle of the road. No, three somethings. And they were big. Then she saw something smaller, beneath them, in the snow. Could it be...?

"Sawyer!"

Sure enough, it was two cows and a familiar horse. And ... "Sawyer!" Sage screamed. She jumped from Stream's back and stumbled through the snow to get to the figure on the road. With trembling arms, she picked up the boy's head and cradled it. Tears spilled from her eyes.

"Sage..." He looked up into her face. "What...?"

She smoothed the hair from his bloodied face. "Oh Sawyer, what happened to you?" Her heart was pounding in her chest like a war drum.

"Sage, go home. ... Don't ..." Sawyer gasped and choked, blood speckling his lips. He reached up and took her hand away from his face and gripped it as tightly as he could.
"What? What is it?"

When Sawyer didn't reply, Sage lifted him up and whistled for Stream.

"We best get you home," she said. In her heart she knew there was nothing to be done but her stubbornness insisted she try. She could not give up on her brother. Not Sawyer.

"No, Sage. ... Go." His eyes flicked to the road up ahead. Sage followed them and saw the dark silhouette of the old castle ruins far, far away on the hill. Confused, she frowned and continued to work.

Sage hoisted him up over Stream's saddle and took the reins of his horse. It snorted at her, refusing to move. She looked up at it and was startled to see a bloody gash running the length of its neck. The two cows behind had their feet planted firmly in the ground and their ears were set back. There wasn't a mark on either of them but they were frightened. Sage bit her lip as tears streamed down her cheeks. "What happened to you two?" She whispered.

"Sage, please ..." Sawyer choked.

She loathed watching her brother helplessly but until they reached home, there was nothing she could do for him. Except ... she breathed a quick, simple spell; to ease the pain just enough for her brother to relax. It was all she knew to do with her magic.

"Here," Sage said, taking her cloak off and gently wrapping it over him.

Sawyer just stared at her. The light in his soft brown eyes were slowly beginning to fade away.

Her stomach lurched. She tried to smile at him and then when she couldn't, turned Stream around and headed for home as quickly as he could go. Her father could come back for the cows in the morning. They wouldn't be able to keep up, after all, and she had to get home as fast as possible.

The darkness was pressing in all around them. Sage felt choked, muffled. Her head spun. She couldn't see a thing in front of her and just by the trust she had in her horse were they able to keep on at the pace they were at.

Trees gray and sagging with snow bent down over them, shivering with the breeze, almost laughing at them. Sage could feel their stare on her back. Once, she thought she caught sight of a cardinal sitting on the limb of an aspen tree but it blurred by so fast all Sage saw was a little dot of red. It seemed strange to her, though, that the bird would be sitting there all alone, watching. Didn't cardinals fly south in the winter?

Sawyer groaned. Sage looked down at him for the briefest of seconds, all thoughts of cardinals gone. Her poor brother ...

When finally the yellow glow of firelight reached out to them, Sage pulled Stream to a halt and burst through the door.

"Mama! Papa!"

Both looked up, startled. James stood, worry all over his face.

Sage did not wait for any of them to speak. "I found him! He's out there! He needs help!" She sagged onto the back of a chair. Her hands gripped it so hard it turned her knuckles white.

James and her parents rushed past her out into the cold, but before James went, he put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

All Sage could do was smile weakly. Once everyone was gone, she sat down and put her head on the table. She hadn't the strength to go back out to Sawyer. Not now. She just couldn't do it. Sawyer was dying out there and she wouldn't even get up. Her shoulders began to shake and she sobbed. Tears ran down the hands under her head, they stained her sleeves, they soaked into the wood of the table.

***

When at last Sage opened her eyes, she saw the rest of her family crowded around the bed in the corner. She got up slowly and walked over. Did she dare look?

Yes. She did.

Sage peeked over James' shoulder.

Sawyer lay, bandaged from head to toe, sleeping. There were dark circles around his eyes and though his face had been washed, it was still pocked with gashes and cuts and bruises. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

Sage put her hand in her mouth to keep from crying again. At this James looked up and put his arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

CHAPTER TWO
The hours passed slowly as Sage paced the room. She wished desperately there was something she could do. Even with the little magic she possessed, she wanted to do something. Little streaks of light blue were just appearing on the horizon. Dawn was approaching. Still, Sawyer slept. Her parents were asleep in the chairs they'd pulled up to his bedside. James sat upright and wide-eyed at the table, watching Sage.

"You should sit down," he quietly told her.

Sage shook her head. "I can't." Then she walked over to the side of Sawyer's bed. Her brows creased. "He's not getting better, James. He's even paler."

James sighed. "He was beat up pretty bad. Did he ... did he tell you how it happened, Sage?"

"No. He tried to ..." Sage reached up and grabbed the rock around her neck. It was that rock she and Sawyer had found swimming together at the bottom of the lake 10 summers ago. He had put it on a leather strip for her and she wore it as a necklace. In fact, she'd never taken it off.

"What did he say?"

Sage thought. "Not much." Then she sat down next to James. "All he did was tell me, 'Go home, Sage. Go home.' That's all."

James frowned. "Hmm."

After a moment of thinking, Sage stood up and began to pace again. She was just too worried to sit still.

"Sage."

She looked at her brother. "What?"

"Try to relax. Nothing you can do will help Sawyer now. You might as well try and get some rest."

Sometimes it was hard for Sage to understand why James said the things he said. Did he really think she could do that? How could he expect her to sleep when Sawyer lay so close to death in the same room? There was no way.

The sky lightened above, just a bit, and morning's rays began to poke through the trees like golden spears.

Sage gasped at the hand on her shoulder. It had startled her. "I just dozed off ..." Her mother began. "I didn't realize ..."

"You slept all night," Sage finished for her. She turned to look at her mother and saw a worn and weary face, filled with wrinkles in places she'd never seen them before. When did she age so much?

"But you didn't sleep."

Sage shook her head. "I couldn't." Then she looked over her mother's shoulder to where Sawyer lay in bed. "He's no better."

"I know," her mother sighed. She sank into the nearest chair and put her head in her hands.

Sawyer, all of the sudden, began to cough. Blood bubbled on his dry, cracked lips and ran down the sides of his mouth. The white linen sheets were soon spattered crimson. Sage ran to his side. Everyone else was behind her now, and they all watched helplessly.

A knock on the door. Sage didn't even hear it. James opened it and an old, hunchbacked woman stepped inside. She set her basket on the table, whirled off her shawl and went immediately, without words, to Sawyer.

"Thank goodness you came!" Sage's mother exclaimed.

"Oh, dear," the healer muttered when she saw him coughing.

Sage's mother took in a breath to say something else and was hushed by her husband. "Let the woman work," he told her.

The next few moments were very tense. It was as if everyone in the room was holding their breath. The healer pressed different places on Sawyer's body, trying to see where it hurt the most. Every time she touched him, he winced like her fingers were on fire. His eyes started to roll around in his head, and his whole body trembled. Little moans escaped his lips. Finally, the healer looked up at Sage's parents. Her dark, round eyes were full of sorrow. In them, Sage knew all she needed to know. Sawyer was not going to make it.

***

The funeral was a cold, dreary midmorning affair. Everyone in the village attended; they'd all known and loved Sawyer. Throughout the whole ceremony, Sage watched James. It baffled her how he could just stand there while everyone else was busy wiping their eyes. Maybe he just shows it in a different way, she thought, and then reached up to wipe away a tear of her own.

She just couldn't believe Sawyer was really gone. Her brother, her dearest friend. Dead. On the outside, she was sad, but deep down, anger began to bubble within her. So deep down, in fact, Sage didn't even realize she was angry. If she had, she'd probably have done everything to keep herself from being angry. After all, what could she be angry at? Nobody knew how Sawyer had died. But she was angry.

After everyone had spoken their piece and taken their leave, just Sage and James and her mother and father were left. Then, eventually, her father pulled her mother away and led her back home. James stood there a while longer, just looking at that coffin down in the hole, like he didn't know what it was there for, who it was for. Then he, too, left.

Sage took the crystal from around her neck and held it up in the light. The clear stone glinted back at her with a riot of color that made her smile a little. She then bent down and dropped it on the lid of Sawyer's coffin. It was only right that he should have it.

The men came back at dusk and began to fill the hole back in with dirt. Sage watched them. Her nose and ears were numb with cold. Little snowflakes drifted down around them all. Finally, with the dirt back in place, they packed some new fresh snow down on top and left again. By now it was getting dark.

A little cardinal hopped down to the ground next to Sage and looked up at her with its big black, glassy eyes.

"Hello," Sage said quietly.

Hello, the bird replied.

They stood in silence for a moment, each one seemed to be studying the other. Finally, Sage asked, "Why haven't you flown south yet?"

The little red bird shuddered; whether from the cold or from a bad memory, Sage couldn't tell. None of us went south this winter. ... It was too dangerous to ...

"Hey."

Sage whirled around, her breath caught in her throat. It was only James. He held a candle with one hand and a basket in the other. When she looked back, the little cardinal had disappeared.

"I brought you some dinner. You should really come home, you know. It's dark and cold."

"I'm fine," Sage assured him.

"You've been here all day, Sage. Aren't you freezing?"

She shook her head. "No. ... Yes."

James handed her the basket. "Well will you at least eat something?"

The smell of bread and turkey wafted up into her nostrils. She was hungry. "Thank you, James." Then when she took the food out and began to eat, she was surprised to see her brother sit down next to her.

"I haven't eaten either. Just wasn't hungry 'til now. Ma's worried about you." Then he stopped and looked down at the ground. "It was a dragon you know."

"What?" The abrupt change of subject had thrown Sage off-guard.

"It was a dragon. You know ... that killed Sawyer."

Sage's brows furrowed. There hadn't been a dragon around for hundreds of thousands of years. They only existed in the Old Tales and Prophecies. In fact, most folks thought they were nothing more than myth. "Who told you that?"

"I heard the healer woman tell Mama and Pa before she left. She said that's why he was acting ... strange, you know, his eyes rolling around and his hands trembling and such. The dragon's blood got into his own. It poisoned him." James stopped and sighed.

"But ... that can't be." Sage was beginning to tremble and a desperate look crept into her eyes. "It can't be happening."

James nodded. "I know."

Neither had to say it; they both knew the prophecy well. It spoke of an evil sorcerer coming to power, breeding monsters of fire and death and using them to kill off all those who would oppose him -- all those with magical powers. Sawyer. And Sage.

"James, none of the birds flew south this winter. They stayed here."

"Hmm," was all James had to say.

"James."

"What?"

Sage whispered, "I'm scared."

***

The body of the dragon was found the next day, stinking and beginning to rot, up in the old castle ruins. A traveler had stumbled across the carcass by chance and came to the village to report it. No one wanted to mess with the creature so it was left up in the castle ruins. After all, people reasoned, it would eventually just turn to bones by itself. And for everyone who didn't know the prophecies, they thought that was the end of it.

For Sage and her family, it was just a mere taste of what was to come. They went up to the ruins to have a look at it themselves. Sage wanted to see it, to see what had killed her brother. She couldn't speak for the rest of her family but suspected they did too.

They smelled the sharp stench of rotting flesh before they actually saw the dragon. Its big black body lay twisted in among the moss-covered stones and when Sage laid her eyes on it, she grabbed James' arm in fright. Just its head alone was as big as a horse, with long, sharp teeth and big, round eyes. Its powerful wings were stretched out, each one longer than a house. Big, thick black scales covered the entire body like armor. A dagger was wedged in between two chest plates and the dark trail of blood ran down its side to the blackened ground around it. Sage went closer to the wound. Sure enough, it was Sawyer's dagger.

CHAPTER THREE
It was when Sage heard the screams outside that she knew something was wrong. She instantly dropped the book she'd been trying to read and, without even bothering with her cloak, ran out into the frosty morning to find out what was going on.

John Wright's house was a ball of red-hot flames, leaping and dancing, crawling higher and higher into the sky. All around, the air was blurry with heat. The men were scrambling frantically to put it out with buckets of water from the well.

Sage didn't wait to be told what to do. She rushed into the chaos, searching for Sara, John Wright's wife. She was probably the one screaming, Sage considered, and Sage wanted to make sure she and her daughter were all right.

She found them off to the side, away from everyone else. Sara had her arms around her daughter and was crying quietly.

"Are you all right?" Sage asked. "Is everyone out of the house?"

Sara nodded. "Yes ... yes. Thank you, Sage." Her eyes were wide and glassy with tears. "We were all inside ... and then the roof just exploded. ... There was fire everywhere. But we got out, thank goodness. I don't know what we'll do now."

Sage squeezed her arm. She was about to say something when the weight of Sara's words struck her. "The roof exploded?"

"Well, yes. I mean ..."

Sara was interrupted just then, when the air shattered into a thousand pieces with a mighty roar. Both women looked up to see a black object slither through the sky. It circled once, twice and then disappeared into the smoke. Before anyone could react, it swooped down out of the thick, black smoke and breathed fire into the sky. It roared again, almost like it was laughing at them all.

Everyone gasped. A terror deeper than any Sage had ever known before gripped her. Shudders raced down her spine. This was a dark, evil creature. Her fingers began to tremble with magic, begging to be set free upon the dragon. She balled her hands into fists to keep them from springing to life on their own.

"Oh my," Sara whispered.

Suddenly, the burning house was not their biggest concern. Everyone disappeared indoors and soon the men returned with spears and bows and swords. This was a village very familiar with war, being so close to the border. It sickened Sage to the very pit of her stomach to watch this. She had to do something herself.

"Come with me," she told Sara Wright and her daughter. "You can stay inside our house." Then she grabbed the woman's arm and dragged her toward it.

Inside, James was slipping arrows into his quiver. He'd pulled a leather cap down over his head and strapped a sword to his belt. It was a pitiful sight, Sage thought. And her heart ached to think she might lose another brother in this.

She sat Sara down in a chair at the table and Sara's little daughter moved over to another chair. "Please, just stay here. Don't leave," Sage said. When she got a nod from Sara, she left them to gather her own things.

Her mind was racing. What did she need? She'd never fought a dragon before. But then, she thought, neither had anyone else in the village.

"Sage, you're not going out are you?" James asked.

"Of course I am." She didn't turn from her things to answer him. She found her own sword and buckled it on; the little wolf on the hilt grinned up at her with comforting familiarity. Then she tucked a dagger in beside it. She took up her father's old bow and slung the quiver over her shoulder. "Surely you don't think I'm going to sit inside and watch!"

"It's too dangerous," he replied stoutly.

She whirled around to glare at him. "James, stop it. I know how to use a sword just as well as you! Besides, this is no time to argue. I'm going." And with that, she ran from the house, not wanting to wait for him to say anything else.

People were hunched down behind carts and trees and houses, shooting at the dragon. Their little arrows were not anywhere close to the creature. Another house has caught fire, Sage noted grimly. And standing there, watching the black thing twist and roll, duck and dive in the sky, she hated it. With everything inside her, she hated it.

When Sage stepped out onto the snow and drew up her bow, the dragon stopped in the sky. It recoiled back upon itself and then looked down, directly into Sage's eyes. It had sensed her -- or more likely, sensed her magic. Sage didn't tremble, just stood as still as she could, aiming for its head, gazing back into its own amber eyes defiantly.

With a twang, the arrow flew up and up, just barely missing its intended target, arced and twirled back down to the earth. Sage cursed and pulled another from her quiver.

Who are you? Came a slippery, oily smooth voice.

Sage gritted her teeth before shouting, "And who are you to ask such a question? One of your friends killed my brother." Everyone stopped to stare at her, not knowing to whom she was talking, but she didn't care.

The dragon threw its head back and little embers flew up from its nose as it chuckled. That boy? Yes. And he killed my friend, as well, you know. The dragon up in the ruins.

"Oh?" Sage narrowed her eyes and let another arrow go. It didn't come anywhere near the dragon.

The dragon watched the arrow fall with interest and then swooped down closer to the village. Everyone shrieked and dove for cover, waiting for him to pass before they resumed their feeble attack.

"Come down and fight fairly," Sage challenged. "You know we don't stand a chance against you as it is now."

It flew back up higher and then turned to breathe fire onto a wooden wagon full of hay. Sage waited as it circled a few times, seeming to enjoy watching the wagon burn to ashes. When there was nothing really left to see, it looked back at Sage and grinned.

Her knees were beginning to quiver and her heart was pounding. Sweat beaded on her brow. Just watching that dragon fly about, teasing her, was enough to make her go mad. It knew her arrows couldn't reach that high. It was just toying with her.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the dragon dove from the sky. A long blast of fire preceded it, charring everything in it's path. Almost before it touched the ground, it charged towards Sage with a speed that turned her stomach to jelly.

She gasped and drew her sword. The dragon was upon her in an instant. She lurched to the side and came up swinging blindly with her sword. Everything was just a blur. The dragon was to her left, then her right, then above her. Once, Sage felt his claws rip across her arm. She lunged out at the dragon and met its side with her blade.

The dragon groaned and pulled back, looking down at the blood oozing from behind its arm. Smoke began to curl from the dragon's nostrils. It was angry. And Sage's father had always said, There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal. She'd have to be more careful now.

Sage paid no mind to her own arm, just lifted her sword again. The dragon was fast, dipping to one side and then the other, almost faster than she could keep up with. Its long, red tongue lashed out like a whip. It curled around Sage's leg and pulled up, sending her crashing to the ground. Sage's head exploded with pain. Then it shoved her down, deeper into the snow with its paw.

Fighting the darkness of unconsciousness that threatened to envelop her, Sage opened her eyes and reached out for her sword. She'd dropped it when she fell. Then her hand found something cool and round. The hilt. She grabbed it and swung it down fiercely. The blade bit into the dragon's nostril. Dark crimson blood sprayed Sage's face and made her nauseous. Where it touched the wound on her arm, a cold, tingly feeling started to grow.

It roared, more surprised than anything, and let up on Sage. She sprang up and ran closer, cutting through the air like a wildcat.

The dragon, however, matched her with a furious speed and determination. Every time she came close enough, it flared its nostrils, ready to ignite her in flame. She was always careful to leap away, out of range.

Sage came up behind the dragon but its thick, powerful tail caught her in her stomach and shoved her off to the side. The air whooshed from her stomach and everything began to swirl around her. A dark object was coming closer and closer; she knew it was the dragon but she couldn't seem to make her hand pick up her sword. She couldn't make her feet move, either. She was too tired. All she wanted to do was fall over in the snow and close her eyes.

Then, like a dream, someone was in front of her, fighting for her. The figure drove the dragon back. Sage watched with blurred vision, her mind almost too tired to comprehend, as the battle kept on. Whoever it was fought well. Then the dragon screamed out in pain. It leapt into the air, circled once and then disappeared into the growing cloud of smoke in the sky.

Everything went black.

CHAPTER FOUR
Sage woke in her own bed. Her brother, James, stood over her. She looked over at the table to see her own parents and Sara sitting. A candle burned brightly, illuminating their pallid faces. "What's going on?" She asked weakly.

At the sound of her voice, her parents and Sara were at her side in an instant, their faces twisted with worry. "How are you, dear?" Her mother asked.

James tried to smile. "You fought the dragon."

Sage nodded. "I remember that. ... But who ... who was it that came?"

His eyes flicked down to the floor. "It was me."

"You?" Sage smiled and reached out for his hand. "James, thank you." Really, she didn't know what to say. "Thank you. You didn't have to ..."

"Of course I did, Sage." The color was beginning to rise in his cheeks.

Sage's feet and hands started to tingle. Then pain ripped through her body like lightning. She yelped, her body was trembling as violently as a branch caught in the midst of a thunderstorm. What's happening to me? She wanted to jump out of her skin. She was on fire. Then, slowly, it simmered down to a dull ache in her belly. She looked up to James.

Tears were brimming his eyes. He seemed ashamed of something. It scared Sage to see her brother crying. James never cried. He hadn't even cried at Sawyer's funeral. Why now?

"What is it?" Sage asked, even though she most likely didn't want to know.

"The healer woman's been here. She ... she said the same thing happened to you that happened to Sawyer." He stopped as a tear ran down his cheek.

"And?"

"There's nothing she can do. The dragon's blood ..."

Sage's heart almost stopped beating. The grip she had on her brother's hand tightened until their fingers turned white. "Am I going to die?" She breathed.

James couldn't speak. He just nodded.

She looked to her parents but found no solace there either.

At firs, all she could think about was dying; how awful it was going to be, how frightening it would be to travel into the unknown. It sat like a big rock in her stomach. She would be all alone. Then she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

***

The next time Sage awoke, it was dark outside. The candle had burned down to a waxy stub on the table. Her family was sitting quietly, nobody looking at anyone else. She didn't want to let them know she was awake; it would be too hard to try to talk to them. There were things she needed to sort through in her mind.

Suddenly, James glanced up at her, as if he sensed she was awake. He came over to the side of her bed. "Are you feeling all right now?"

"For the time being," Sage tried to joke. It wasn't very funny and neither of them laughed. Then, on a more serious note, she said, "It talked to me."

"The dragon?"

"Yes."

"What did it say?"

"Well, it asked who I was, like it didn't know. It almost seemed ... afraid of my magic."
"It wanted to kill you and Sawyer."

"I know. I know ..." The thought of Sawyer brought fresh tears to Sage's eyes. She missed him terribly. He'd always had something cheerful to say, always had a smile on his face. The only time she'd ever seen him not smiling was right before he'd died. He'd been in too much pain to smile. And, almost more than anything, she missed the sweet sound of his fiddle on long, dark winter nights. Sage looked up at James. "James, I can't die."

His brows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"Someone has to figure out how to stop this. How to ... beat this sorcerer -- whoever he is." Her stomach lurched when she thought of the dark, oily voice of that dragon. Pure evil. She owed it to herself, owed it to Sawyer, owed it to everyone else with magic, to find a way to stop whatever was happening. "I'm going to do it. I figured whoever wanted me dead thinks I'm dead. It would give me the advantage. ... They wouldn't suspect anything. Besides, there's no way I could stay here in the village after I get better." When James didn't seem to understand, she added, "There's no sense putting the rest of you all in danger."

***

The days went by and, much to everyone's surprise, Sage recovered from her feverish tremors. Soon she was up walking on her own and as winter melted away to early spring and green began to grow on the trees once again, she regained more and more of her strength. Along with that came more independence; being able to dress herself, feed herself and look after herself. And she was determined to set out as soon as possible, south, where James had said the dragon headed. If the prophecies were coming true, somewhere out there, a sorcerer was breeding monsters -- a sorcerer who planned to wipe out everyone else who threatened his claim to power.
The gashes on her arm faded to dull purple streaks that were forever reminding Sage of the burden she now carried. Not only was she different from others because of her strange magical abilities but because she now had dragon's blood flowing in her veins as well.

Sage was always careful from then on because she knew of the little bit of evil that lived inside her. It would always be there, biding its time, waiting to catch her off guard. She could not let that happen.

The day Sawyer died, part of Sage died as well. Perhaps it was the dragon inside her that gave her the strength to live again.