by Hans Bezdek
Well, almost quiet. I thought I could hear some heavy breathing.
I narrowed my eyes and bent forward.
"Fearless leader!" I shouted, shaking the top of the tent.
The tent rustled as Laurinaitis rolled out of it. The gold dragon stumbled to his feet, wiping some leaves off of him as he stood. His eyes had trouble adjusting to the light, as I expected. The lazy bum had been sleeping.
"I-I said no one should... oh!" he said, his tone changing from angry to surprised and happy in an instant. "Varinia! Reimar! It's so good to see you!"
"You as well," nodded Varinia.
"Looks like someone could use with a bit more shut-eye," I noted. While the gold dragon had certainly been sleeping, it still looked like he needed another day's worth to catch up on all that he's missed.
"I can sleep when this is all over," said Laurinaitis, implying that he hadn't just been doing so. "By the way... why are you here, Reimar? You'll slow us down when we go to attack the black and reds."
"He's a dragon, too," said Varinia with a smile.
Laurinaitis blinked.
"No. No, he's not."
"He is!" said Varinia. "He's a half green dragon."
"Um, I'm right here," I said.
"Impossible," said Laurinaitis, shaking his head. "I've known him for far too long. I would've noticed something like that."
"No one ever believes me," I sighed. "No idea why."
"History has shown you don't have the strongest relationship with the truth," said Laurinaitis flatly.
That was fair.
"Fine," I said. "I'll prove it."
I took a step back as my body began to transform. For the second time in as many days, green scales sprang over my body. I grew larger as my wings, tails, and claws came in. I felt the urge to let out a really fierce roar, just a little something to spook Laurinaitis, but figured it wasn't worth the risk of being overheard by the enemy.
The look of shocked horror on Laurinaitis' face made me feel like it would've been overkill, anyway.
"Is this enough proof for you?" I asked, flexing obnoxiously.
The gold dragon's face looked a bit white and he collapsed.
"Oops," I said, stepping forward as Varinia bent over him.
"Are you okay?" she asked, helping him sit up.
"Y-Yes," he nodded, glancing me up and down. "I-I think I just slipped, is all."
"Naturally," I said. "I can change back to my human form, if it'll make you feel any better."
"N-No, no," said Laurinaitis, getting back up. "That's quite alright. I... I can't believe this is really you."
"I mean, the other me is really me, too," I shrugged. "I can also turn into a full green dragon. I'm not so great in that form, though, if I'm being honest."
"We'll take whatever advantage we can in this fight," said Laurinaitis. He still gave me a look like I was the freakiest thing he had ever seen, but he seemed to be doing a little better now. "You can fight dragons in this form?"
"Pretty well," I nodded. "I've taken out my fair share like this. I'm quicker than most of them are, but can still get through those pesky scales. You'll see soon enough, I'm sure."
"He's right," nodded Varinia. "We came to let you know the Greeners have already attacked Vorova."
"They did?!" gasped Laurinaitis. "Did they take the city?"
"Of course not," I said, shaking my head. "We killed a bunch of them and the rest went running away. They'll be back, though. And it's just a matter of time before the black and re-"
Deep roars came from further south. Everyone in the camp got to their feet and looked around anxiously.
"That's odd..." Laurinaitis said slowly.
"Are you sure that's not some of your people out scouting?" I asked, hoping against hope that the gold dragon had sent a few people out to make sure we wouldn't be flanked.
"I didn't send anyone out scouting..." he replied. "Everyone should still be in their human forms while we wait."
"You didn't send anyone out to scout?!" I demanded, trying to keep from shouting.
"I-I didn't want to risk someone spotting us and attacking!" said Laurinaitis. "The plan was to do a surprise attack on the city, remember? The Dar'Ka shouldn't even know we're out here!"
Another pair of roars came, this time much closer.
I exchanged a look with Laurinaitis and Varinia.
"Sounds like they do now," I said.
Chapter 12
"Everyone change!" I roared out over the camp. It wasn't my job to tell everyone to get ready, but it was clear Laurinaitis wasn't going to do it. The gold dragon still stared to our south, his eyes wide. "Hurry!"
To their credit, instead of just looking at me like I was some sort of green nightmare, The Republic's dragons followed the order. One by one gold and silver dragons sprung up around the camp, knocking over trees as they went. After thirty seconds or so, it looked like we had around 60 dragons on our side.
"M-Maybe we were hearing things?" Laurinaitis mumbled. He and Varinia were the only ones still in their human forms.
"I don't think that's how it works," said Varinia.
"What's the plan?" I asked Laurinaitis. The gold and silvers had approached us, looking down at their leader for guidance. "You need to tell the others what to do when the Dar'Ka dragons reach us."
"I-I don't know," stammered Laurinaitis, looking worse than I had ever seen him. "F-Fight them?"
Stellar advice.
"Do you want us to pair off against them?" I clarified. "Try our luck with fighting them one on one? Use the forest somehow to our advantage? Run away?"
"W-We can't run," said Laurinaitis, shaking his head furiously at that one. "My father would've never run!"
Before we could get any more of Laurinaitis' sagely advice, a dark shadow spread across our ground. I looked up to see over a hundred black and reds circling above the forest. While their numbers were certainly a problem, I couldn't help but notice they were actively searching the forest for us. How had they known to check down here? Had they seen Varinia and I come down here? But if they had, why would they send so many to just deal with two people?
I couldn't waste any more time on these questions as one of the red dragons roared louder than the others. It dove down toward us, and was quickly followed by the red and black mass behind it. We had been spotted.
"Let's go!" I barked to the others, beating my wings and going up to reach the Dar'Ka in the sky.
I could hear the beating of their wings behind me as I soared up to meet with the first red dragon, then focused in on my enemy. Bringing my clawed fist back, I swiped at the red creature right as it got in my range. This one was about the size of a house and wasn't able to move out of the way in time, opting instead to try and bite my arm off.
As I raked a few scales off the top of its muzzle, I spun in the air and kicked off the side of its nose. This caused the dragon to roar with rage, bringing its tail up to try and swat me out of the sky as I flew around to its side. I dodged the tail with relative ease, flying back in closer to its body and dragging my feet along its side.
A second quick whip of its tail caught me in the back as I tried to circle around him, sending me tumbling head over feet. I landed on the back of a black dragon that was in the middle of a fight with a silver, the two of them throwing slashing out with their front legs. The Dar'Ka dragon didn't pay me any mind. The black dragon was getting the better of the exchange, seriously bloodying up the silver. Deciding to change that, I bit down hard into the spot on the dragon's back where his neck connected to the rest of his body.
That got his attention.
The black dragon screeched and flew backward, trying to reach me with its claws to no avail. I double downed with a second bite while shoving my claws in between his scales. Before the dragon could decide to try a different tactic, the silver tackled the black with surprising force, knocking the wind out of him and causing me to let go.
I watched as the silver dragon finished
off the black one, then turned to help another silver fight with two smaller red ones. I looked around for the red dragon I had initially fought with, unable to spot him out of the chaos. Flames erupted in each direction, screeches of pain and roars of triumph came from both groups, and dead or dying dragons dropped into the forest below.
While The Republic's dragons were putting up a strong fight, I wasn't optimistic about where this would end up. The Dar'Ka dragons seriously outnumbered us, and the majority would be naturally stronger. If we had the dragons to the north with us, we'd stand a better chance, but there wasn't time to find them and bring them down.
"It's the green half dragon Ulrich warned us of!" rumbled a dragon off to my side. The medium sized black dragon circled around me as it spoke, its eyes lighting up with the flames of a nearby fire breath.
"He said whoever brought his head back would be handsomely rewarded!" hissed a thinner red dragon from behind me. It was hard to tell, but I was pretty sure it was a female.
"Ulrich can't offer you anything," I said, trying to keep an eye on both of them. There was no telling if one would distract me while the other shot in from behind. "The Dar'Ka won't win this war."
"He has the ancient crown," hissed the red dragon. "We know better than to doubt our leader."
"Do you even know how he got that?" I asked, pointing back at myself with both thumbs. "This guy right here."
"Lies," chuckled the red. "Even if it's true, that just makes you a fool for giving up the opportunity to rule us."
"As if you lot would ever bow to a dragon of a different color," I scoffed.
"You'd be surprised," she said. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she shifted her gaze a fraction to my left.
I shot up as quickly as I could, narrowly avoiding the black dragon's mouth as it clamped down on where my neck had been just a second earlier. Both of them let out an annoyed growl, then glided up after me.
FIguring I wasn't going to outrun either of them anytime soon, I waited until the black dragon was close to me and the red one was blocked by another fight. I shifted my weight and dove down for the black, letting loose a wave of fire as I went. The dragon brought up his wings to cover his face.
Just like I hoped he would.
I cut off my breath and lashed out at his wings with my feet, digging into the webbing and making a few decent cuts in the black dragon's left wing. He let out a roar and lashed out at me with his right claw, connecting with my side with one of his nails. I growled and backed off, wiping a hand over where he hit me and coming back with blood. I glanced down and saw that it wasn't anything that would kill me, but it certainly hurt.
"Keep trying tricks like that and you'll be ours in no time!" I heard the red dragon cackle. I looked up to see that she had finally made it back to us, hovering next to the enraged black dragon.
She was right... I couldn't keep this up, not against both of them. I risked a few glances to see if any of the gold or silvers were free, but of course, they weren't. In fact, their numbers had dwindled severely since I checked last. We were losing this battle, and badly. If Laurinaitis wanted anyone to live, he'd have to call us off, and soon. It felt like I was going to have to be the one to talk any sense into him.
But first I'd need to get these two focused on something else for a minute.
"Ours?" I asked, tilting my head and trying to sound genuinely confused.
"Of course," sneered the red dragon. "The Dar'Ka will mount your head on the tallest spire in Ra'Chok!"
"But only one dragon can be given the reward," I reasoned. "Unless, of course, you planned on sharing it between the two of you."
"I see no problem with that," said the red.
"It'll go to me," said the black at the same time.
"Uh oh," I said, looking worried. "Sounds like there might be trouble in paradise."
The red dragon glared at the black one. "Why would it go to you?"
"I spotted him first!" he declared.
"Why wouldn't we both take the reward if we kill him together?" she asked.
"I'm the one doing all the work!" barked the black dragon. "You're just hanging around, trying to get my scraps! I'm injured while you watch!"
The red dragon glanced at the black's injured wing. Her eyes narrowed and a wicked grin appeared. I figured the black dragon was too much for her initially, but now that he only had one good wing, I had hoped she'd take the bait.
And take the bait she did.
The red dragon dove at his neck, chomping down and swiping at empty air as the black dragon was barely able to avoid her in time. While watching these two kill each other would've been great fun, getting out of here in once piece sounded even better. When I was sure the two of them weren't looking my way, I shot back down into the forest.
I zipped through the trees as quickly as I could, making a note of all the dead dragons as I searched for Laurinaitis. The black and reds had definitely taken some casualties, but they made up less than half of the dead. Among them, I noticed the tents that had once housed The Republic's dragons. Dropping down and running to avoid any of them noticing me fly around, I rushed back to where I had left the stupid gold dragon.
As luck would have it, he was still there. He and Varinia were staring up at the fight in progress, his face a state of complete shock and horror while hers remained static.
"Laurinaitis!" I bellowed. "You've got to announce a retreat and get out of here! We aren't going to win this!"
The gold dragon looked at me, back up to the sky, then at me one more time before collapsing to his knees.
"I-I'm a f-failure!" he cried out, his hands over his face as he started to weep. "E-Everyone is d-d-dying!"
"Get a hold of yourself!" I shouted, slapping him as softly as I could in this form. I may have drawn a little blood. "Er, sorry.”
"I d-deserve it!" he cried, not bothering to wipe it away. "This is all my f-fault!"
I thought about my options. I could probably sneak out of here in one piece, so long as those red and black dragons hadn't finished fighting one another. I suppose it would've been a bit cowardly to run away while everyone else died, but what was the point in staying if it meant me dying? But I'd feel a bit responsible... Dang it. I couldn't just leave everyone to die. Plus, if the others found out Laurinaitis was dead, it could hurt morale. I had to especially make sure I saved him.
Varinia was watching us patiently. At least I could count on her to keep calm. In fact, the others would probably listen to her if she told them to retreat, right?
"Varinia," I said. "Could you transform and command the gold and silvers to fall back? I've got to get Laurinaitis out of here."
"Absolutely," she nodded. "You can count on me."
"Thanks," I said, trying to shake Laurinaitis. "Listen, man, you've gotta transform."
"W-What's the point?!" he asked, tossing himself to the ground. "I'm as good as dead in any form. Just l-leave me here!"
I rolled my eyes. "Don't make me carry you. If anyone saw that, you'd definitely wish you were dead."
"That's all I care about, isn't it?" asked Laurinaitis. "Just how people look at me! I only wanted the honor of being in charge of this war, not the responsibility!"
"You really should consider making some positive life changes," I admitted. "But to do that you need to actually be alive. So get up!"
Laurinaitis was slow to do it, but he at least started getting to his feet.
I looked over at Varinia as he took his sweet time. For some reason, she was staring at us and still hadn't transformed yet.
"Not to be rude, but what's the hold up?" I asked her. "Turn into your dragon form and call them off! They're dying!"
Varinia looked conflicted, then let out a long sigh.
"I was hoping to wait until you left," she smiled. "I didn't want to have to blow my cover already."
"Huh?" I asked. Had she gone crazy? "What does that even mean?"
Her smile turned wicked, and her silver eyes changed to black
.
Chapter 13
"Q-Quit playing around," I said, taking a couple of steps back. Doing so somehow caused the wound in my to flare up, but I ignored the pain. This was far more important.
"There's no playing around," she laughed, her eyes as black as Ulrich's. "Although, I suppose, I've been playing with you and this worthless gold dragon ever since you met me."
"V-Varinia!" said Laurinaitis, on his feet but looking like he wouldn't be on them for long. "What is the meaning of this!"
"You really don't get it yet?" she laughed. "Why am I not surprised. Do I have to spell it out for you?"
"She's actually a black dragon," I murmured to him, motioning for him to come closer to me and further away from her.
Varinia clapped. "Bravo!"
"This means the Wingless were right all along," I said, recalling the terrorist group that she had us secretly get rid of. "They believed some of the dragons on the Council were actually black and reds posing as gold and silvers."
"I couldn't have them going around town proclaiming that, could I?" she asked. "You might not think they'd gain traction, but since there was some truth to it I had to clean them up. Maintaining my position with the Council meant I couldn't get rid of them on my own. Suspicions would be raised if I tried bringing about their justice without help from others."
A dead dragon crashed into the trees sixty yards to our left. I didn't want to risk seeing what color it was. I had to keep my eyes on Varinia, who had proven herself to be far more devious than I ever expected. I could believe her tricking Laurinaitis, of course. But all of The Republic? Not to mention me and my friends!
"How many more?" I asked. "How many more Councilors are spies?"
"Just me," she smirked. "Ulrich figured there would be too much risk if others came with me. If no one knew my secret, there would be no risk of it spilling out."
"But you must've started months before Ulrich got Ludek's Crown!" I argued. "How did you know to set up in The Republic?"
"Ulrich and I knew it was just a matter of time before he got what was rightfully his," said Varinia. "After he showed me his half form, just like you're doing right now, I knew that he would one day rule Ra'Chok, the Dar'Ka, and all of Yaerna. To make it just a tiny bit easier in the long run, we decided it would be best if I infiltrated the other side."