From the Mountain Read online

  ***

  I have always wanted to ride on a dragon, but not like this. Canto and I are lifted up and shoved onto one of the big purple dragons. She clamps her arms around me, and tears run down her face. She has a pink shirt on and green shorts. Her blue eyes are huge.

  “They’re going to kill us,” she tells me, sniffling.

  “No…no they won’t.”

  “Shut, up, Ghost.” I look up suddenly, and one of the soldiers slaps me across the head, and I almost fall off of the dragon. My head stings where he struck me, and I start to cry. I have never been hit before. Two more Light Skinned children are loaded behind us. As I choke, trying to dry my tears, the soldier gets on the dragon, and we take off, flying into the sky. I look back and see the school yard getting smaller and smaller, and only dark faces looking up at us. Even the Light Skinned teachers have been taken.

  Canto and I cling to each other as the wind rushes around us. We fly for a while longer. If I look down I can see Bay City and the ocean off to the side. And Mount Gareth…huge ugly old Mount Gareth. I wish Entho was here. He would know what to do.

  After a while we land in a large grassy area by three huge buildings. Lots of dragons land beside us and we are pulled down from them and forced to line up in a long row in front of one of the buildings. So many children are crying and the Light Skinned teachers are trying to comfort them. I am quiet now, afraid to talk – I don’t want to get hit again. But I hold Canto’s hand, squeezing it every now and then.

  Slowly, one by one, the Light Skinned people are taken into the building, the door slamming behind them with a bang. Sometimes I hear a scream. Or a thump like something is hitting the floor. As the line gets shorter, and I get closer, I start to see bits of blood leak out of the closed door. That is when I know that they are going to kill us. Because we have Light Skin.

  There are three kids ahead of us, but I don’t know who they are. I get in front of Canto because she is so scared. I wait my turn… there is nothing else I can do. If I try to run, one of the soldiers will capture me. I take another step forward, thinking of Entho. Is he in the line, too? I can feel my heart beating fast. Really fast. And it hurts to breathe. How many steps do I have left before I go through that door?

  Then I hear a loud voice. A voice I know well. “Stop!” It is Entho. Entho is here! I turn toward his voice, a big breath squeezing out of my mouth. But I don’t want them to kill him, too.

  “Entho!” I scream, wanting to leave the line and go to him. But I know better…the blow to my head still stings. “Go away, Entho…run,” I warn him.

  But Entho sprints up to me and picks me up. Two soldiers immediately rush over, pointing their huge swords at us. “She has the Mark of Power,” Entho shouts as he holds me up. His hands are shaking, and he pulls back the hair from my face. He shows the soldiers the mark on my cheek…the Mark of Power.

  “The Purification Law is clear,” he says. “All Light Skinned people with the Mark of Power are to live.”

  The soldiers glare at him. And at me. My heart is beating in my chest and I start crying because now I know for sure that they are going to kill Canto. And the others.

  “You’re a Light Skin,” the soldier says to Entho in a mean voice. “Where’s your Mark of Power?” Another soldier laughs. “Looks like we got us another one.”

  “I am a healer, so I am immune to the law,” Entho quietly tells them. His eyes are a creamy brown color, but I have never seen them so angry. He lifts his white healing robe and shows them the Mark of Power on his leg. They inspect it closely.

  “Take her and be gone with you, then,” the other soldier says.

  Entho wraps his long arms around me and starts walking away. I am safe. I have the Mark of Power and I am safe. But I look back over Entho’s shoulder and see Canto. And she is next in line.

  At Sixteen…