I was born small and weak. And that's how I grew up, small and weak. I was much smaller and weaker than the other kids my age. I'm a disgrace to my dad. My name is Brunt, but everyone calls me Runt. I doubt they all know my real name. Not that I'm ever intending on setting them straight. My dad is the blacksmith, and best buds with the chief. There are 4 other kids my age. Orchid, the only girl in the group. She can be very violent, they all can be, but I think that she feels that she needs to constantly be better than everyone else. Proving herself. Next is Brim. He is the brawns of the group. His dad is the chief, so Brim gets very big-headed and very annoying. The final two come as a pair. Falcon and Eagle. Their dad is a devoted birdwatcher, and also a nut, hence his name, Nut. These two are annoying, but they are also not the brightest. They love testing their theories on each other, usually violent. We live in the only village on this island, Thor's Fist. I went through life with my head down, and I tried to be very sneaky. I was very good at sneaking around. I was close to the shop when I heard my dad talking to the chief. Usual. It was about me. Not as usual, but not a red flag. Then I heard more.

"My son is a disgrace to everyone, you know that. I don't know what to do with him. He's not violent, can't wield a weapon, can hardly go through a day without getting in some trouble or another. What should I do. Most days I don't even think he's my son."

"Look, I have an idea. Next attack, send him out to fight the dragons. If a dragon gets him, to bad. If a stray weapon gets him, oh well. See, there's a solution. I have to go, get some things done. Good luck with your boy. Or maybe you could put him in training with the others."

I ducked out of the way as the chief left the shop. I tried to sneak to my room, but my dad heard me.  "Runt, we need to talk." I stopped, and waited for him to let it all out on me.

"What did I forget to fix." 

"Nothing, but that is not what I wanted to talk to you about. I believe that you should be enrolled in training." 

Even though I had heard him talking about that, it still surprised me. "What?!" I couldn't do that! I'd get beaten to a pulp every day. I can't wield a weapon of any sort, and I made my dad aware of all of this, but he still didn't listen. 

"You start tomorrow." I had no choice.

The next day came bright and early. I was not excited, unlike the other kids. We all trained with our age group, so I was with Orchid, Brim, Falcon and Eagle.

Falcon and Eagle were fighting, as usual. Orchid was practicing with her axe and her sword. Brim was trying to impress Orchid with his strength and his stories. She wasn't impressed, and she sent her axe very close to his face. I noticed all this before they noticed me. Orchid saw me first. "Who invited Runt?" The chief came in before anyone could respond. "I did. Let's get to training. Today you will learn about the dragons that you will meet during raids. Let's begin." 

The others were excited, but I wasn't. "The first dragon you will meet is the double headed Mberay. It is very dangerous, but we have beat it into submission. We also have Catrys, Hendrets, Klimpirs, Frimplies, and even a reclusive Cometiree. These are the only dragons that you will ever meet here, because if any of you are unfortunate enough to meet a Dramila, then you will be dead. Understood? Good. Let's begin." He opened a cage, and we all ran to the weapons rack. 

I was the last one there, so I got the littlest things. A tiny shield and a small knife. I took what I found and ran to the edge of the ring, watching it all unfold. The twins were fighting, and Brim was still trying to impress Orchid, who was in a good spot to kill the dragon, but the Mberay didn't notice. One head attacked the twins, and the other was watching Brim. They weren't watching me or Orchid. I was glad, so I snuck around and came up behind the dragon. Orchid was still undetected. I used all of my years of sneaking around get to me and snuck as quietly as I could, and it was downwind. I was undetectable. 

The twins were defeated, and Brim had jumped on one of the heads. It shook him off and now it was just me and Orchid left. I kept coming, and the dragon didn't notice me. It did however, notice Orchid. 

I found a weak point in the armor, and I didn't know what to do. I sent a questioning look at Chief Fentin, who motioned for me to plunge my knife into it. I knew that that was a bad idea, because my small knife wouldn't do much damage, and I would get the attention of the dragon. So I kept going, knowing of a weakness that few knew about. It was difficult to reach, but it would immobilize the dragon, not kill it. And I didn't need my knife. I snuck over the tail, then I snuck to it's shoulder. 

Orchid was about to kill it, but I couldn't let that happen. I scrambled to the top of the dragon, hoping that it wouldn't try to kill me. I jabbed my fist into the small groove on its back. It collapsed underneath me, right as Orchid was about to kill it. Everyone was astounded. They didn't know that I could do that, and with my fist. I wished that that would have made them a little nicer, but it made it worse. I went home that night covered in bruises from the others. I wasn't going to sleep well tonight. When my dad asked how it went, I mumbled "Fine." Then I went to bed.