“Oh my god.” She quickly turned around and threw up, the smell was so bad, the strongest of stomachs would have turned inside-out.
“Go back, I’ll go down there.” Grim looked to the bottom of the dungeon. It was nothing, but human remains and excrement. He almost threw up himself.
“I’m okay, I can do it.” Aria and Grim made their way to the bottom of the dungeon. Three of the seven men that were chained there were already dead. The remaining four were in bad shape. Grim cut their chains and one by one, carried the men out of the dungeon.
“I don’t know how, but we have to get these men to the other side of the island and fast.” Grim told her.
“How are we going to do that,” Aria questioned, “they’re too weak to even walk.”
“Can we help?” a strange voice answered. Aria and Grim spun around to face five men in army fatigues. Just as Aria was about to ask who they were, a deafening roar reverberated across the island. “What the hell was that?”
“The dragons. The fight has begun. I don’t know who you are, but we have to get out of here fast.”
“Lazarus?”
“Yes. How do you know him?” Aria asked.
“He’s my best friend,” the man answered.
Aria looked at him. “Are you agent Adams? What are you doing here?”
“I have come to help my friend. You said dragons, is there another? Has he finally found the one he’s been looking for?”
Aria nodded her head. “We have to move to the other side of the island, quickly, I’ll explain as we go.” Another roar rang out as they helped the sick men.
“Who else is here with you?”
“There are four other men,” Grim told Luke, “Erik, his brother Gunnar, and my two friends, Thoron and Ossur.”
“Where are they?” Luke knew who Gunnar and Erik were from Lazarus’s reports on the Web.
“They went to the longhouse to rescue the rest of the prisoners. Gunnar was taken prisoner last week. We’re hoping he’s still alive.”
“And who are you?”
“Grim, sir. My friends and I served with Gunnar.”
“What about Manfred Leifsson?”
“He’s dead.” Grim answered.
“Alright, a couple of my men will help the young lady get these people to safety. You come with me, so I’ll know who we’re fighting. How many men are we up against?”
“About twenty,” Aria answered, “and I’m not a young lady, my name is Aria.”
“I meant no offence. How do you know about the men?”
“I lived here for seventeen years as a slave.” Lukar was about to reply when two dragons took to the sky. One black as night and the other, royal blue. Their screams were so loud, everyone had to cover their ears.
“We have to get away from here.” Aria yelled. “Quickly, this way.” Luke helped Aria with one of the sick men, while the rest of his team helped Grim with the others. When they got to the safe zone where they were supposed to meet Erik, Aria noticed a ship just off the coast. “Is that how you got here?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You need to get it away from here. They will see the dragons.”
“It’s alright, they have military clearance. A launch is on its way to pick up you and these men.” Galen, Luke’s right-hand man, told her.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not finished here. I have something I have to do.” Aria took off at a run before anyone could stop her.
“Do you know where she’s going?” Luke asked Grim.
“I believe she plans to blow up the island.”
Luke’s jaw dropped. “She’s going to do what?”
“From what I understand, she’s been planning it for some time.” Grim told him. “The explosives are already set, all she has to do is set the timers as soon as Erik and Thoron come back with the rest of the prisoners.”
“What about Lazarus?”
“He plans to take the battle out over the ocean. I have to go to the longhouse and help Erik and my friends. We have to get the rest of the people out of there before the place blows.”
“What about the rest of the rebels?”
“We’re not sure, we think they may have been under Manfred’s control. Now that Manfred is gone, there may not be much resistance.”
“Alright, Grim, let’s get these men into the launch, they will be taken care of on the ship,” Luke told him. “Then we’ll go and see if we can help the others.”
“Thank you, sir.” Just as they got the last man into the boat, everyone dove for the ground as two dragons raced across the surface of the island.
“Shit, so much for going out over the ocean,” Grim yelled. The men on the shore watched as two dragons chased and fought each other in the sky. Gilbert’s black dragon was larger than the royal blue dragon. Lazarus appeared to be weakening.
“We have to get to the longhouse. I must protect the rest of the dragon people. Lazarus wanted us to get them to his home as quickly as possible.”
“Alright everyone, keep your heads down, and follow Grim.” Luke yelled to his team. They headed for the longhouse. Suddenly, there were two more dragons in the sky, one red and the other as blue as the sky, in fact it blended so well with the sky, it was hard to see.
“Holy shit, where did they come from?” Luke looked to Grim.
“Don’t ask me.” Grim answered. When they came over a rise on the island, they could see the longhouse fully engulfed in flames. “Oh my god.” Grim started to run.
Chapter 29
Luke and his team followed Grim at a full run, keeping an eye on the four dragons fighting in the sky. The closer they got to the longhouse, they could see several people dragging bodies out of the burning building. They couldn’t tell if they were dead or alive.
Luke grabbed one of the men helping the others. “Is there anyone still inside?”
“Two women are trapped in one of the rooms, we couldn’t get to them, the roof was about to cave in.”
“Show me where the room is. Are there any windows?” The man led Luke and two of his men to the other side of the building and pointed to a small window.
“There,” the man yelled.
“Alright, we’ve got this. Go back to the others. Get someone to look at those burns.” The man’s hands were burned.
“Luke, how the hell are we going to get in there?”
“I have no fucking idea. I need Lazarus, I need a dragon. He’s the only one strong enough to go in there.”
“Luke, there are two women trapped inside.” Grim told them when they ran back.
“I know,” Luke was in a panic, “the only one that can get to them is a dragon and Lazarus is a bit busy right now.”
“Excuse me, sir.” A man approached Luke. “I’m a dragon. I am unable to shift, but I can withstand the flames. Where are the women?”
“They are in a room with a small window.”
“I know where they are. Find me something I can get wet. I need something to put over them to protect them from the flames. If I don’t get going, they won’t last much longer.”
Erik appeared with three blankets soaked in water. “I’ll go with you.”
“You can’t go in there,” Luke stopped him, “you wouldn’t make it half way in, it’s an inferno in there.”
“But that man is going in there?”
“That man is a dragon.”
Who are you, anyway.” Erik asked.
“I’m Luke Adams. I’m here to help Lazarus any way I can.”
“If I can’t go with him, what can we do to help him?”
“Just be ready to help him when he comes out.”
“Wait!” A young woman ran up to them. “The women are shackled.” She took a key from her pocket and handed it to the man going into the fire. “Please save them, they are my friends.” The man gave her a nod and ran into the building.
Luke looked around. “I need a list of every one’s name.” He called out to Grim, “Do you know who the dra
gon people are?”
“I do.” The young woman spoke up. “Two of them are up there somewhere”, she pointed to the sky, “and the rest were in this building. I think the man named Gunnar got everyone out before the roof collapsed, except the two women.”
“Gunnar, which one is he?” Luke asked the girl, he knew Gunnar was Lazarus’s good friend.
“The man with all the tattoos.” She pointed to him. Luke ran to him.
“Gunnar, I’m Luke Adams, I’m here to help.”
“Lukar?” Luke gave him a nod. “How did you get here. Do you have a way to get out of here?”
“Yes, I have a ship waiting for us on the other side of the island. We have the men from the dungeon. We need to get these people out of here.”
“My brother Erik tells me the island could blow any time now.”
“That’s what I understand. We have to move.”
Dragon screams came from the sky. Everyone looked up to see the red dragon fall into the ocean. The black dragon still fought Lazarus and the light blue dragon. Gunnar ran to the shore to see if he could help the red dragon. When he got there, he found a man badly in need of medical attention.
“Help, I need help.” He didn’t know if anyone could hear him over the noise in the sky. Galen, one of Luke’s men, came to his aid.
“He’s still alive, but he’s losing a lot of blood.”
Galen worked quickly to stop the bleeding. “It’s not safe to move him right now. Can you stay here with him?”
“Yes, if you see my little brother Erik, let him know where I am.”
“I will.” Galen ran back to the burning building just in time to help get the last two women away from the fire. They collapsed on the ground, overcome by the smoke. “We need to get these women on oxygen. Luke,” he yelled, “we need help.”
Ten men appeared out of nowhere. “We will help if you can take us with you.”
“Who are you?” Luke asked
“They were MacDonald’s men,” Erik told him, “but they were being controlled by Manfred, just like everyone else. Lazarus told us to aid them if they asked for help.
“You are more than welcome to come with us. Everyone, help the injured, we have a ship waiting to take us back to Scotland. We need to get out of here. Where is Giles, the man that went in to get the women?” Luke looked around and saw the man crumpled on the ground. “Giles, are you alright?” Giles was barely breathing. Two of you men, come help this man.
“Luke, Gunnar and another man are still down by the shore. I’m not sure if he can be moved.”
“We’ll just have to take that chance. We can’t leave anyone behind, that girl is going to blow up the island.’
“Shit!” was all Galen could say.
Everyone made it to the other side of the island. The stronger men carried the unconscious women, while everyone else helped the rest. No sooner were they on board the ship, they heard the first explosion, followed by nine more in rapid succession.
Erik and Thoron watched the coastline carefully. They were looking for Aria. “Come on, Aria, where are you?” Erik whispered under his breath. “I have to go find her.” He started to strip out of his clothes.
“Erik, look.” Thoron pointed to the shore. They both watched as Aria dove into the water and started swimming to the ship.
“Man, over board!” someone shouted. The ship’s crew quickly went into action and lowered a boat to rescue the swimmer. When they returned, Erik grabbed Aria in a bear hug.
“I’ve never been so happy to see anyone so much in my life. I didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“I did it. I blew it to hell. Did everyone get out okay?”
“Yes, we got everyone.”
“Where’s Lazarus?”
“As far as we know, he’s still fighting for his life, out there somewhere.” Gunnar told her as he walked up behind them.
“We can’t just leave him.” Aria was almost hysterical.
“You know what the plan is. We’re to go back to Castle Thighearn and wait. There is nothing we can do. We have to follow the plan, we can’t let him down now, not after all this.” Erik reminder her.
“But he could be out there, floating in the ocean, injured and dying. I’m going back, I can’t leave him out there.” She tried to jump from the ship, but Gunnar grabbed her.
“Sorry, young lady, but we can’t let you go. Lazarus is my friend and he saved my life. I must honor his wishes. If we are to wait for him, then we will wait.”
“But, what if he’s hurt and needs us?” Aria started to cry. Gunnar held her tight. He hoped no one saw his tears.
*****
The next few days were busy. Mrs. Stewart and Roana took care of the men that had been in the dungeon. Each man was bathed, their wounds cared for and treated for numerous maladies. Thick soups and lots of liquids was all they could eat. It reminded Roana of Aria, the condition she was in when she first came to the castle. The rest of the men that were rescued, left and returned to their homes and families with hopes they wouldn’t be turned away.
Galen, Luke’s first in charge and medic, treated the dragon people. Rebekah and her brothers were underweight, but in better condition than most, but suffering from smoke inhalation and kept on oxygen. What they needed was good food, and plenty of rest. They all did.
Malcom, the red dragon, had the most serious wounds. Galen sewed him up, gave him antibiotics and something for the pain. The other two men were Noah and Giles. Noah was doing okay, but Giles was suffering from smoke inhalation after rescuing the woman in the burning house; they kept him on oxygen.
Luke checked on everyone. He went from room to room, making sure everyone had what they needed. Mr. MacGregor accompanied him on his rounds. “Michael, do you have enough food to feed all these people?”
“Aye, sir, for a while. Lazarus stocked up in advance. He had us clean and prepare all the rooms. I’m glad he did.” Michael was silent for a while, finally he spoke. “Lukar, is he going to come back?”
“I hope so, Michael.”
“Shouldn’t we send out a search party? He could be hurt or dying.”
“He’d be healed by now.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” a wheezing voice came out of one of the rooms.
Luke stopped to see who it was. “Giles, what are you saying? Why wouldn’t he be healed?”
“Liquid silver. It’s the reason I can’t shift. MacDonald is a dirty fighter, he paints his talons with it. If he was able to hit your friend with liquid silver, he could be dying.”
“Lazarus said liquid silver would kill him,” Michael added, “how come you’re still alive?”
“I won’t be much longer,” he let out a sigh, “I haven’t much time.”
Michael pulled Luke aside. “Lazarus told us that if he ever got poisoned with liquid silver, the only thing that would save him was a blood transfusion from another dragon.”
“What!”
“A transfusion from another dragon. We have four other dragons here. If we can save Giles, we’ll know we can save Lazarus, if we can find him.”
Lukar looked at Giles. “Do you know anything about this, a transfusion?”
“No, but I’m willing to give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, I am going to die anyway.” Giles hesitated.
“What?” Lukar questioned.
“There is another dragon out there, the one that was fighting with us. She’s my sister, she could be dying as well.”
“Hang tight, Giles, I have to find my crew.” Luke ran to find Galen and to talk to the other dragon people. He would need one of them to volunteer to give blood.
Chapter 30
Once Manfred, the magician, was gone, it took no time at all for Gilbert MacDonald to realize he had been controlled by the wizard for decades. His body filled out and he felt stronger. He knew instantly he would be able to shift.
“Lazarus,” he whispered, “you have finally come. Be patient, I’ll join you shortly.” He ran down the hall in
the longhouse and stopped in front of Rebekah’s door. Her servant was coming to serve Rebekah her lunch.
“Girl, unlock this door, quickly.” He yelled.
“Yes, sir.” She set the tray on a small table outside the door. She fumbled with the keys, being terrified of Gilbert, she shook uncontrollably.
“Give me the damn keys, you stupid girl,” he opened the door and shoved the girl inside. “Get over there next to that bitch.”
“Gilbert, what on earth has happened?” The frightened girl ran to Rebekah.
“It appears that your brother has finally found us and has come to rescue you.” Rebekah smiled gleefully until Gilbert approached her. “Sorry, bitch! You think I’m just going to turn you lose. Ha! Not likely.” He grabbed a set of shackles off the wall and threw them at the serving girl. “Put those on your ankles but run the chain through Rebekah’s shackles first.”
“But we won’t be able to walk chained together like that!” Rebekah protested.
“Exactly. I wouldn’t want you to wander about while I am disposing of your brother. If you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment and it is long overdue.” He spun on his heel and left, locking the door behind him. He checked every door to make sure they were locked as he hurried into the meeting room.
Everyone looked up as he ran in. Something was different. The men looked at him like they had never seen him before.
“Gilbert, what’s happened?” Gunnar shouted. He also noticed the men. It was like everyone had just woke up from a dream, including himself.
“My enemy has arrived, I need everyone outside.” His men didn’t move. “What is the matter with everyone?”
“Gilbert, go ahead and go, we’ll be right behind you.” Gunnar yelled. MacDonald cursed and ran outside. He shifted and took to the sky. Gunnar ran after him just in time to see him take off. The men followed him and saw a black dragon fly into the sky.
“What was that thing?” one of the men asked, “and where the fuck are we?”
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