by Hans Bezdek
“Not a problem!” grinned the goblin, pulling Helga out again and aiming at the sky.
The three of them covered me while I transformed next to one of the boulders. My green scales spread all over as my tail, wings, and claws came in. Within no time, I had reached my half dragon form.
The sound of dragons roaring filled the courtyard as I took my first steps. I looked up to see that the Collective’s dragons had finally clashed with the Dar’Ka’s. Blue and silver dragons fought black ones while gold dragons wrestled with reds. It looked like complete chaos from the ground, and I wasn’t so sure it’d be that much clearer in the air.
“Jealous ya get to go have all the fun!” said Braun.
“I’d trade you if I could,” I sighed, then shot into the sky.
The dragons had somewhat separated by the time I reached them, allowing me to move in between fights and pick and choose which ones looked like they needed my help. The Dar’Ka’s armor was proving to be useful against our dragons, too, so I made a point to cut the bonds holding the armor pieces together whenever I had the chance. The archers below were quick to take shots as they became available.
A giant gold dragon near me let out a screech as he raked at a red and black dragon. The red dragon quickly ducked out of the way while the black one caught Antonius’ claw in the side of its armor. The armor snapped apart, and the breastplate crashed down into the castle. Antonius was satisfied to let the elves take care of the exposed black dragon, which they did, and chased after the red one.
“Watch out, Reimar!” I heard Kiera’s dragon form cry.
I shot into the air without thinking, narrowly dodging the tail of a large black dragon. My opponent hissed in annoyance, then summoned fire into its mouth.
“Should’ve opened with that,” I recommended, flying below him as he shot out his flame breath. The dragon tried to follow me with his attack, but I shot up before he could turn completely around. Grabbing onto his back, I easily cut away at the armor straps. The black dragon uselessly tried to get me off his back, then grunted as several Zorikium arrows penetrated his scales.
I kicked off the dragon and soared over to Kiera, who had just finished helping a silver dragon kill off a red.
“Thanks for the head’s up,” I said. “That would’ve probably left a mark.”
“Anytime,” she smiled back. “Should we try to-”
A black dragon came near us, his claws out and ready to fight. Before he got too close, however, he suddenly rocketed back. The black dragon was holding the left side of his face and roared out in pain. He flew toward us again but was pushed back a second time. The black dragon decided enough was enough and flew away.
“What was that?” asked Kiera, confused.
“Dhot’s proving to be a good shot,” I said. Good thing he hadn’t missed… yet.
“That was the gob-”
She was cut off by the loud roar of a dragon in pain. We both turned to the left to see a large gold dragon with his neck in a red dragon’s mouth. The red dragon tore deep into Antonius’ dragon form again, then let his body fall lifeless to the ground.
“Oh no!” I gasped, flying down to try and catch him before he landed.
“Stop!” said Kiera, the dragon grabbing the end of my tail before I got very far. “It’s too late! He’s already gone!”
I struggled to get free of her claw for a minute, then stopped. She was right. One of the leaders of The Republic’s dragons was dead.
“I’ll… I’ll kill you!” came an angry voice above us.
Assuming it was for me, Kiera and I floated back and prepared to fight. Instead, it was a smaller gold dragon that was shooting right for the larger red dragon that had just killed Antonius.
“Isn’t that…?” asked Kiera.
“Yup,” I sighed. “Laurinaitis is going to get himself killed, too.”
Laurinaitis dove at the red dragon, swinging wildly with all four claws. The red dragon easily twisted around, avoiding the attack and backhanding the gold dragon in the head. This completely disrespectful move made Laurinaitis even angrier, and the gold dragon again dove at the red.
The Dar’Ka dragon laughed as he twisted around Laurinaitis again. He brought the full power of a claw down at the back of the gold this time, but in a move that surprised the red dragon just as much as it surprised me, Laurinaitis spun in midair and grabbed onto the red dragon’s arm. The gold dragon then chomped down on the red dragon’s hand, and yanked back and forth on it.
“That’s a bit unorthodox,” I muttered.
“Seems to be working, though,” nodded Kiera.
The red dragon roared out in pain and tried to swat the gold dragon off. Laurinaitis let go and flew around the red dragon, who immediately nursed his injured hand. Before it could realize it made a mistake leaving its back exposed, Laurinaitis lunged forward. The gold dragon dug all four claws into the red dragon’s neck, tearing viciously at it without mercy.
“Never thought I’d see Laurinaitis fight like that,” I said, shocked as we watched the red dragon’s body plummet out of the air.
Kiera looked in my direction, then suddenly tackled me.
“W-What are you doing?!” I asked, then felt Kiera get hit.
The blue dragon cried out as a half black dragon shot through her left wing, his front claws fully extended.
“Kiera!” I roared, watching as the blue dragon struggled to fly.
“Foolish blue,” grinned Ulrich. “She shouldn’t have gotten in my way.”
“You’ll pay for that!” I hissed, baring my teeth at the leader of the Dar’Ka.
“Why don’t we settle th-” Ulrich stopped mid-sentence, his eyes going wide right before he shot up a dozen feet. Lukas suddenly appeared, biting down on the empty space the half black dragon had been in just a second earlier.
“Traitor!” hissed Ulrich.
Cecilia flew up next to Lukas, and the two red dragons shot up to fight Ulrich. The half dragon let out a disappointed grunt, then flew back and disappeared into the mix of the other dragons, Lukas and Cecilia disappearing shortly after.
I hesitated. I wanted to chase after them, but when I glanced down I noticed Kiera was no longer able to keep floating. While I wanted Ulrich dead, I couldn’t leave her.
I dove down, flapping my wings a few times to gain speed then folding them close to my body. I managed to reach Kiera before she hit the ground, grabbing onto where her wings met with her back as gently as I could. I noticed her wince in pain, but it was better than the alternative. Using as much strength as I could muster, I floated us over to a safe looking corner of Chundar’s courtyard.
“I’ll be fine in a moment,” said Kiera, the blue dragon trying desperately to get her left wing to work again. It was twitching some, but that was it.
“No,” I said, shaking my head and laying her onto the ground. “You’re out of the fight, now. You’ve got to stay on the ground.”
“But my people need me!” she insisted.
“They need you alive,” I pointed out. “We saw Antonius go down. If we lose you, too, then all we’ve got left to lead the dragons is Laurinaitis. Trust me, no one wants that.”
Kiera mumbled something about still being able to fight, but I ignored her. She let out a sigh, then laid down.
“I… I’m sorry,” said Kiera, closing her eyes. Tears streamed down her scales when they opened again to look at me.
“For saving my life?” I laughed.
“Ulrich got away because you came to check on me,” she said, although a small smile appeared out of the corner of her mouth.
I shrugged. “Not for long. There’s also the chance Lukas and Cecilia kill him.”
“I don’t think that’s very likely,” she said quietly.
I didn’t either.
Cassandra and Dhot ran over to us, with Braun not far behind.
“I saw you dive down!” said Dhot. “Is something wrong?”
“Kiera! What happened?!” asked Cassandra, qu
ickly checking on Kiera’s wing.
“Ulrich,” I spat.
“He’s here?” asked Braun, summoning a ball of dark energy and twisting around. “Where is he? I want to give him a piece of me mind.”
“He disappeared into the mob of dragons,” I said, looking back up at the fight. “He’s sure to leave it and search for me again soon. Kiera got hurt knocking me out of the way.”
“Someone’s got to make sure you don’t die,” said Kiera.
“Tell me about it,” sighed Cassandra.
Dhot brought Helga back up and watched the sky while the rest of us did what we could to help Kiera’s wing. We couldn’t use the rock to change Braun back yet, but he promised to heal her as soon as he could. Someone would just have to remind him.
“I have a feeling your other side is going to have a full day when this is all done,” said Kiera.
“Spotted him!” said Dhot.
“Perfect!” I said, looking up. “Which way did he-”
Bang!
“Gah, missed him!”
“You’re takin us with you,” said Braun, poking me in the chest.
“You’ll only slow me down,” I said, shaking my head.
“Too bad,” said Cassandra, crossing her arms. “You needed our help the last time you fought Ulrich, so I don’t see why you won’t need it again this time.”
She had a point. It also reminded me about my last visit with the Great Oracle. I was going to need their gifts in order to win.
“Alright,” I sighed, stretching myself out. First I helped carry a blue dragon and now I was going to carry three more people. I hoped this wasn’t going to be too exhausting. “I’ll carry the three of you. Now… Which way did Ulrich go?”
Chapter 17
“Y-You really g-gotta lose some weight, Braun!” I huffed as I flew to the east. Dhot was light enough to carry with my left arm, and truth be told I didn’t mind having Cassandra holding onto my right, but the dwarf required both of my feet and over half of my strength.
“Me other half is the one that does most of the eatin!” said Braun, shifting around and making it harder for me to hold onto him.
Ulrich had flown away from the battle over Chundar and went east. We didn’t scout this far before, but everything still looked mostly the same. I don’t know what prompted the half dragon to abandon the fight so quickly, but I hoped he wasn’t trying to run and hide.
“I think I see him!” said Dhot, wiggling around as he pointed up ahead and to the right.
“Stop moving so much, you guys!” I growled, trying to balance the squirming goblin and dwarf.
“Dhot’s right,” said Cassandra, who thankfully didn’t move. “I can see someone over there, waiting near a cave entrance.”
Sure enough, I could see a figure through the rain off to the right. I flew as quickly as I could without dropping the others, which wasn’t very fast. Thankfully, the figure continued to wait by the cave entrance.
When we got within a few hundred feet it became obvious that the figure was Ulrich. The half dragon noticed he was being followed and went to enter the cave.
“Stop, Ulrich!” I shouted, dropping my friends off then flying a bit closer to him.
The black half dragon paused, putting a hand up against the wall of the cave. He glanced back over his shoulder at us, smiling.
“Good, you followed me,” he said.
“If you actually planned for this, then you’ve made a fatal mistake,” I said, taking a few threatening steps forward. “We’ve come to finish you off.”
“Four against one hardly seems fair, don’t you think?” asked Ulrich.
“Like how forcing dragons into your army is fair?” asked Cassandra, igniting the Shattered Sword.
“All of the black and reds should follow the one with the crown,” boasted Ulrich. “Some need a bit of… convincing. Most of them come around, though. Well, except for those two red traitors I killed a few moments ago. How is the leader of the blues, by the way?”
I glared at Ulrich. Lukas and Cecilia had died trying to do the best for their people, while all Ulrich wanted was power over them. It wasn’t right. This war had to end, and it had to end today.
“She’ll recover,” I said. “Which is more than I can say for you.”
The ground shook slightly as several black and red dragons touched down behind me, forming a circle around my friends. Cassandra, Dhot, and Braun immediately went back to back and brought their weapons up defensively.
“We’re here, Lord Ulrich,” said one of the black dragons, Ulrich’s symbol tattooed on his neck. I did a quick check over the other three dragons and saw that all of them had the tattoo somewhere on them. There would be no convincing them to abandon the Dar’Ka.
“Just in time,” smiled the half dragon. He took a few steps back and into the cave.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” I shouted after him.
“Why not come and find out?” asked Ulrich. “Surely your friends can handle a few dragons.”
“We can do this on our own!” called out Cassandra as the black half dragon disappeared into the cave. “You can go after him!”
I took a step toward the cave, clenching my fists in frustration. I needed to kill Ulrich, but if it cost my friends lives to do it, would I be able to live with myself?
A red dragon made my decision easier by nailing me with his tail. I flew into the side of the mountain, scraping myself on the jagged rocks.
“Kill em all!” shouted Braun.
As I got up I saw the three of them spring into action. Braun jumped at the red dragon that had attacked me, bringing Grimkell’s Mace down on the creature’s muzzle. The dragon incorrectly assumed that the weapon wouldn’t hurt it and didn’t bother dodging. The red’s face smashed into the ground with a thunderous noise, several of its scales cracking from the power of the legendary weapon.
Cassandra brought the Shattered Sword up as the other red swiped down at her, catching and blocking the creature’s claws. One of the blacks flew at her from behind, but Dhot threw a number of tiny black boxes at it as quickly as he could.
“Maha!”
Electricity shot all around the black dragon, causing it to roar and back away. It tried to flick the boxes away, but there were so many that it was going to take the creature some time. I took this as the opening I needed.
Kicking off, I reached the black dragon in a couple beats of my wings. He heard me coming and tried to turn to face me, but again the electric boxes went off. The dragon growled in discomfort and momentarily closed its eyes. By the time it opened them again, I was already raking at his face with a right hand.
The dragon kicked at me blindly, barely missing me. I grabbed onto the leg and bit down as hard as I could. The black dragon hissed and swiped at me, a claw bouncing off of the Time Shield on my arm. Deciding he was weakened enough, I quickly flew up for his neck and finished the black dragon off.
“Got ya!” I heard Braun yell, followed by a sickening crunch sound. I looked back to the red dragon he had been fighting with missing a lot of scales along its face and neck. The creature wasn’t moving anymore.
Before I could get too excited, I heard a grunt and saw Dhot tumble through the air. I jumped up in an attempt to grab him, but he crashed into the cave’s entrance before I could reach him. He landed badly on his left ankle and immediately reached for it.
I spun around, looking for the dragon that had taken the goblin out of the fight. I spotted him right as he reached Cassandra, plunging his claws into the elf’s back.
“Cassandra!” I cried, kicking forward as she dropped the Shattered Sword and crumpled to her knees. The elf turned toward me as I made it to her, the light of her eyes suddenly going out.
“N-No…” Braun mumbled.
“One down, three to go,” laughed the red dragon that had been fighting with her. “And the goblin is already… ou… t…”
Tears streamed down my face as time came to a stop. I clutched the
shaking Time Shield on my arm, trying to calm myself down. I had never been so thankful for it to go off.
I wiped my face a few times as time rewound, trying to make sure no one would know I had just cried. When I finished, I saw that time reset to right as Braun killed the other red dragon. The black dragon was already swinging his tail at the unsuspecting Dhot, which meant I wouldn’t be able to get to him in time to stop him from hurting his ankle. However, it looked like I’d be able to reach the black before he reached Cassandra.
I returned to my starting point and took a deep breath. Then time started again.
I heard Dhot grunt and immediately I shot for the black dragon. Flying as fast as I could, I reached him as he set his eyes on the elf.
“Think again!” I hissed, hitting the side of the black dragon with my full power and my arms stretched out.
The two of us skid along the rocky mountain, getting cut up. I hardly felt anything. My eyes were locked on the midsection of the black dragon, which I relentlessly tore at. I vaguely heard the dragon roar and hiss a few times, but eventually, he stopped.
“Reimar!” Dhot called out. “I think it’s dead enough!”
That snapped me out of it long enough to notice the black dragon had stopped moving a while ago. I looked at the damage I had done and realized it looked like a freakishly big dragon had taken a massive bite out of the black dragon.
“You should’ve gone after Ulrich,” came Cassandra’s voice next. I turned around to see the elf walking toward me. She was holding her bleeding left arm, but didn’t seem particularly worried about it. “We could’ve finished off the three here.”
“You say that,” I said, getting up and wiping my overly bloody hands off on the dead dragon, “but you all wouldn’t have survived. Trust me on that one.”
“Did time go back?” asked Dhot. The goblin was leaning heavily on Braun and nursing his left ankle.