1 Chapter 1

It's really hard to fly a dragon made of metal.

They could of made a bull, a horse, or really any simple device that could haul a wedge-shaped plow, but someone insisted that they try and build a bloody dragon.

That someone now had her hands wrapped around Mand's waist and was having the time of her life.

"See, I told you this was a great idea," Val exclaimed. "We'll have that field done in no time!"

"You're not the one trying to steer this thing," Mand returned. "Now be a good sister and lower the tail so we can get to work."

Mand felt Val shift her weight and suddenly become very still as she began to concentrate. Inside the shell of the dragon, a complex system of gears began to whirr and rotate. The dragon's tail began to curve beneath the belly of the construct, until the wedge-shaped tip curved towards the ground.

Mand had her work cut out for her as well. She focused her mind on pumping the dragon's wings to keep aloft. The descended tail made the whole operation twice as taxing as it was before.

The tail clicked in place and Mand began their pass towards the field below. "Are you sure this will work?" she questioned her sister.

"It's my butt too," Val pouted. "You should have more faith in my plan!"

Mand brought the dragon closer and closer to the earth. She began to sweat as the ground inched closer. Finally, at the edge of the field, the tip of the tail sunk into the soft earth, plowing a furrow as the dragon swooped along.

When the dragon reached the far end of the field, Mand pumped the wings to get them back in the air. It was only when she brought the dragon around for another pass that she realized how hard she was breathing.

"See, I told you this would work!" Val shouted happily, kicking her legs out as they approached the field once again.

Mand felt darkness overtake her.

***

The first thing Mand became aware of were faint sounds. They started as murmurs first, and then quickly multiplied into almost deafening ringing. She felt her self breathing hard. A soft warmth seemed to fill her head. Slowly the ringing subsided and the voices became more distinct. She felt something cold being placed on her forehead.

"She's starting to move! I think she will be alright!" a woman's voice.

Mand felt her eyes slowly peel open. As they did, she became aware of more and more sensations. Her left arm and leg hurt, and she could feel someone grasping her right hand.

It took a moment for her eyes to focus. Above was the blue sky, and on her left and right were two very worried looking faces. One was Val, and the other was the farmer who had hired them to plow the field.

"Oh my gosh Mand! I'm so so sorry! Are you ok?" Val squeezed Mand's hand ever tighter. "I didn't think that flying would be such a strain on you!"

Mand tried to move, but found herself being held down by the farmer. It was her hands that held a cool rag on her forehead. "Try not to move too much. Is anything broken?" the farmer asked.

Mand mentally went through all the aches and pains that coursed through her body. She flexed muscles and made slight movements. Although painful, everything seemed to be functioning.

"I'm fine," Mand tried to say, but her mouth felt like it was full of cotton. She shifted her eyes to Val. "Are you ok?"

The younger sister looked like she had been knocked around a bit. There was a bit of bruising on her arms, her clothing was torn here and there, and her long black hair was full of twigs and dirt. Her sister grinned at her, but she was intact and wasn't bleeding.

"You kinda broke my fall," smiled Val. "You're a great cushion. You might want to cut back on sweets."

The farmer shot Val a menacing glance. The smile faded from Val's face. "When I realized that you had passed out, I tried to work the wings a little, but you know I'm not very good at that. I was able to get us close enough to the ground to push you off and jump off myself... just before the dragon hit a tree."

The farmer removed the rag from Mand's forehead placing it in a nearby bucket. "Think you can sit up?" she asked.

Mand nodded and began to bring herself upright, surveying her surroundings. Pieces of the mangled dragon construct littered the field, and a poor spruce tree lay uprooted on the ground.

The farmer's children had gathered around in curiosity.

The farmer, seeming satisfied with Mand's condition, turned her gaze towards the gathered children. "You lot! Back inside! The last thing our guests need are you bunch crowding around."

The gathered children stared a moment longer, before the two eldest began to herd the younger ones away. The farmer extended a hand to Mand and sighed. "7 Children, and not one of them has the gift. I'm either very blessed or cursed."

Mand took the farmers hand and used it to help pull herself up. Val, seeing that her sister was no worse for wear, returned to her normal chatty self.

"You know, some of your kids are still very young. I didn't find out I was a metalmancer until I was ten, and Mand didn't find out until she was fifteen."

The farmer stooped to pick up the bucket. "I can only hope. It would make life around the farm much easier."

Mand began picking twigs and dirt off her hair and clothing. "I'm sorry we caused you this much trouble. We'll get back to work right away and have this field cleared by sundown."

"It's no mind Girl. The kids love having you around. If you aren't done today, you can spend the night and pick up in the morning. I'll even feed ya!"

Mand shook her head "I'm sorry, we'll finish up and then hit the road. It's planting season and a lot our earnings depend on the amount of farmers we can help with the plowing."

Val began to pout. "We can stay one night can't we? It won't make THAT much of a difference."

Mand frowned at her sister, "This little crash has already put us behind, I'm sorry but we can't stay."

The farmer shook her head as she turned to head back to the farmhouse. "Well, if you change your minds let me know, I'll have to turn down the guest bed for you."

The two girls watched the farmer disappear into the farmhouse. Val opened her mouth to say something, but Mand held up a finger to silence her.

"Val... just don't. We've been through this a hundred times. We agreed that we wouldn't stick around anywhere longer than necessary."

Mand then turned towards the wreckage of the dragon, ignoring whatever protests her sister may had put up. "Can we salvage any of this?"

Val looked over the bits of metal that covered the ground. "We COULD build another dragon, but it would have to be a lot smaller."

"No, no dragons."

Val shrugged and sighed. "Pony it is."

The sisters began to work in silence. Mand collected all the larger pieces of scrap into a pile and then began to form the shell for their new construct. She imagined the shape and body of a pony. The metal began to glow, melted into a liquid-like form, and eventually remade itself into an equine shape.

Val removed a book from her backpack and began to flip through it mumbling, "Pony.. pony" as she thumbed through the pages.

"Have you tried looking under P?" Mand quipped.

Val shot her sister a sour look. "I KNOW," she said before continuing to scan through the book . Shortly after, she triumphantly slammed the tip of her finger onto a page. "Got it!"

Val began working on the internal clockwork of their new construct.

She picked up each piece, reforming gears into different shapes and sizes, adding or removing teeth on the gears as necessary. Mand patiently stood by the construct's shell, waiting for her sister to finish.

"I need a rod, " Val said holding her hands about two feet apart. "About this long, and about as wide as your finger."

Mand frowned as she looked around the field. Between the two sisters, most of the debris had been picked up and re-purposed already.

"I'll have to pull some material from the shell. It's going to be a lot flimsier than usual." Mand said.

The two salvaged the remaining scraps they could find and Mand brought them over to the metallic shell of the pony. She pressed the scraps against the body, and began to imagine a rod the shape and size of Val's specifications.

As the rod emerged from the pony, Val could see the metal skin of the construct begin to thin. She would have to be careful with her gear placement or the construct would shake apart.

Mand took the newly created rod and handed it to her sister. "This ok?"

Val inspected the rod, comparing it to a diagram in her book. "It'll do."

Val began to concentrate. Gears, rods, and other clockwork bits lifted out of the pile and began to insert themselves into the body of the construct. Once in a while, Val's hand would flick slightly to make minor adjustments as the pieces came together

The last thing they had to do was bring the tail of the dragon (about the only thing that survived the crash intact) to the rear of the metallic pony. Of all the things that was wrong with the flying construct, the one thing they got right was the wedge of the plow.

They hooked the wedge to the pony with some rope and stood back satisfied. The two girls nodded to each other and Val gave a little flick to her wrist. Inside the pony, the clockwork inside sprung into action and the construct began trotting.

As the metallic animal moved along, it pulled the wedge behind. Nice straight furrows began to form in the soft earth. When the pony reached one end of the field, Val would flick her wrist to reset some of the gears, and the pony would turn around and begin working on another row.

The sun hung very low in the sky when the last few feet of earth were tilled.