BOOM! BOOM!
The young dragon ceased all movement. Jagger nodded as he turned back to see Raiya approaching. A smile appeared on her left cheek, “Nice moves, partner…”
“Thanks.”
She daintily brushed up against him as she walked by in an almost seductive manner. Jagger looked at her oddly. The heck was that about?
She then approached Eric, “Way to almost get yourself killed, kid.”
“Kid?” Eric scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I’m twenty-one, how old are you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
She pushed past Eric and drove her blade into the beta dragon’s mouth.
“What are you doing?” Eric asked.
“These teeth are apparently worth a lot to people in the cities. We’ve got three sets here.”
As Raiya went to work, Eric turned to Jagger, “Can you fill me in about the whole classification thing?”
“You mean you don’t know?”
“Not really. I know we call the small one’s wyverns, but that’s it.”
Raiya sighed as she pried the teeth from the beta’s mouth, “You start off with the infants. They’re called hatchlings… They’re lethal in about six weeks. At that point, they become wraith class.”
Jagger nodded and took over as Raiya began pulling at a loose tooth, “Wraith class goes on for about five or six years. They can’t stay in the air long and can’t fly very fast, but they typically hunt in packs or attack single targets. After that, we get to wyrm class. They’re bigger, faster, and they are fast both on the land and in the air.”
Raiya pulled hard, releasing the tooth from the bloody gum, “Ah… Then we go to the drake class. They’re adolescents by then. These ones can breathe fire or are at least starting to learn how to… though they’re not very good at it. Usually they can’t aim, they can’t hold a blast for long, and they can’t do it while flying. Often, they’re as much a danger to themselves as anyone else. Next up are the beta and alpha dragons. These are the adult classes. By this point, their scales have fully hardened.”
She grabbed another tooth and pulled, “They’re not able to breathe fire from the air, but they’re incredibly destructive from the ground. Next are the elder class dragons. They’re tough… really tough. They breathe fire in flight, they have wings large enough to glide through the sky and they are incredibly fast. Finally, we have the dragon lords. Almost no one who’s encounter them has survived. It’s said there’s supposed to be five of them; a black one, a red one, a green one, a yellow one, and a gray one. The black one is my target…”
Jagger looked at her oddly, “Aren’t you forgetting one?”
“Huh?”
“The Dread Lord.”
Raiya’s arms dropped to the side as she turned to face Jagger. The hiss of hair passing over her teeth signified annoyance, “Oh please... he’s a myth and nothing more.”
“Are you sure?”
“Jagger, rumors of a dragon patriarch are ghost stories spread by idiots who spent too much time in the sun. There have been five confirmed dragon lords. The idea of a sixth one that supposedly dwarfs the rest… someone would have seen it by now.”
“I’ve heard stories about him.” Eric said. “He was supposedly the first dragon to awaken on Earth. They say he’s gone mad with power. Even the Five Dragon Lords fear him.”
“Fairytales.” Raiya said in a dismissive tone. “Everyone knows that there were only five dragon lords. If this sixth one exists and he’s so powerful, why doesn’t he come fight? With his help, this war would be over in no time.”
“Well… okay you’ve got a point there.” Jagger admitted.
“Exactly… let’s just focus on reality and get moving.”
“Right…”
Fort Charleston
United States Remnant Territory
Formerly South Carolina
Chapter 8
“How many cartridges are left?”
Eric looked behind the seat, “Two… I don’t think the bolt gun will be much good after that… unless you think you can beat a wyvern to death with it.”
Jagger sighed, frustrated with how bad things were going, “Three wyvern attacks and a beta team… are we just unlucky?”
“In fifteen hours?” Raiya asked. “I’d say pretty damn lucky.”
“All right good point.”
She quickly looked at the map, “How much further…”
Boom…
All three of the jeep’s occupants looked up.
“Did you hear that?” Eric asked.
Boom… boom!
Jagger nodded, “Sounded like gunfire.”
Within a few minutes, the jeep passed over the old Mark Clark Expressway. Eric’s eyes widened as he sat forward and thrust his right index finger in front of them, “Look!”
A massive wood and steel wall stood at the end of the road about five miles away. An American Flag could be seen flying in the distance. Two dark spots were visible, circling a large building protruding from behind the wall.
As they moved closer, the small spots began to take on shape. Both appeared to be dragons.
“They’re under attack!” Jagger shouted.
Eric sat back and watched, “From what I’ve been told, they’re constantly under attack. This is nothing new. The dragons send out a small party to constantly keep the people there on edge.”
“It’s just two wyverns…” Raiya replied. “If that’s all it takes to keep them on edge…”
A third spot appeared in the sky. Its movements were more mechanical and it appeared to be going after the other two. Jagger squinted to try and get a better look. The small spots became larger and took on more defined shapes, “I’ll be…”
“What is it?” Raiya asked.
Jagger peered at the large machine that was dogfighting with the wyverns. It was dark green with multiple armaments on both wings and what looked like a transparent circle that was holding it in the sky. The distant sound of a loud mechanical engine echoed over the land.
“What is it?” Raiya demanded.
“A military gunship!” Jagger replied.
“A what?”
“A helicopter… they’re held in the sky by massive spinning blades. I’ve never actually seen one.”
Raiya squinted and watched as the gunship unleashed a volley of machine gun fire on the nearest wyvern. The young dragon instantly exploded in a cloud of blood. The flying machine then turned on the other dragon and did the same. The second dragon let out a surprised cry dodged the machine gun fire. After the chopper missed, a missile launched from the wing, striking the beast dead on. There was a massive explosion followed by smoke as small pieces of debris fell from the sky.
As the smoke cleared, the gunship slowly descended behind the wall. Raiya sat back and folded her fingers together, “Impressive.”
Eric’s eyes narrowed, “They’ve got that kind of tech and they’re not attacking the dragons?”
“They have it, just not enough to do any real damage.” Jagger replied. “From what I’ve read, we used to have hundreds of those things.”
The jeep approached the seemingly unending wall. A dark gate stood at the end of the road. Unlike the one in New Framingham, this one was solid so that no one could see inside. Two men dressed in green military uniforms stood on either side of the road. Behind them was a barrier and a small guard shack.
“Halt!”
Raiya flinched and quickly pulled the hood over her head as they were signaled to stop. She kept her eyes facing forward, refusing to move. It was like she had been turned to stone; she was emotionless and completely impervious to outside stimuli.
Jagger stopped the jeep as he’d been instructed. The nearest guard stepped forward. He was a young man in a green uniform with a black helmet. The old American banner on his arm was unmistakable; he was part of the Marine Corps. He first looked at the jeep before addressing its driver, “Identify yourselves.”
“Lieutenant
Jagger Bishop… this is Raiya and Eric, they’re nomads.” Jagger replied.
The soldier eye’d them suspiciously, “Sir, you’re a Westcon soldier?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you have any identification?” The soldier asked.
“No.”
The soldier continued to eye the group, “What would a Westcon soldier be doing with a pair of nomads?”
“These are my friends. They’ve helped me get this far.”
The guard nodded, “I see… well… sir, what’s your business here?”
“It’s very important that we see Dr. Castillo.”
The soldier scoffed, “You came all this way to see that… to see the doctor? May I ask why?”
Jagger turned to Raiya. Her head turned slightly towards the guard. As he caught sight of her eyes, the man stepped back, “Dragon’s Bane?”
“No.” Jagger replied. “She was born this way. We’d like to find out why. He’s probably the only one who can tell us.”
“Sir, I think you may be placing too much faith in the man.” The guard said before quickly turning back to the post. “But it’s not my place to say. Stay put, I’ll radio this in.”
Jagger waited patiently, fully expecting to be turned away. As soon as the guard was out of earshot, he turned to Raiya, “They’re not going to let us in.”
“You think?”
“All this way for nothing.”
Eric shrugged, “Hey at least we got some things to trade. If they won’t let us in based on her, maybe we can bribe someone.”
“That’s… actually not a bad idea.” Raiya admitted.
Jagger quickly surveyed the soldiers standing nearby, “I somehow don’t think these guys would go for that. They seem kind of… fanatical?”
“I suppose you’d have to be to maintain a posting here.” Eric said.
Raiya frowned, “I told you this was stupid… I never wanted to come here in the first place. Now we’re way off the trail of the black elder dragon. I’ll have to start all over.”
“It’s not like we haven’t been killing dragons.” Eric chimed in.
Raiya clenched her fists, “I don’t care about pathetic wyverns… I’m hunting a dragon lord. I’ve already had to wait years to find him. Now…”
A grinding mechanical sound turned Jagger’s attention away from the conversation. He glanced over to a nook in the wall where a surveillance camera was nested. It turned a little more to the left and seemed to focus on Raiya.
Jagger lowered his eyes, “Well look, maybe we could…”
“Open the gate!” The group heard a nearby soldier yell.
The guard came back out to them with a surprised frown on his face, “It looks like the doctor wants to meet with you. You can go in, but don’t go beyond the first checkpoint. A representative of the provincial government will be there to meet you.”
“Thanks.” Jagger replied as he put his truck in drive.
“Good journey.” The soldier replied as he tipped his helmet.
The truck slowly pulled under the massive archway which served as a crosswalk for soldiers. Raiya pulled her hood back and stood up in the jeep as the city came into view.
Jagger looked at her oddly, “Maybe you should keep your hood up.”
“Why?”
“We don’t want to draw any more attention.”
Raiya shrugged, “No I’m good. I want to actually see this.”
Smoke filled the sky over the city, casting a large shadow over the land. Smashed debris and rubble littered the streets, yet somehow the buildings were still standing. Burns and scorch marks painted the taller towers black. However, the windows were somehow still intact.
Row upon row of tanks, personnel carriers, and combat trucks lined the streets, clearly ready for any attack that came through. The few open fields that hadn’t been burnt out had been converted to training grounds for soldiers that were not currently on duty. Other soldiers marched up and down the streets in formation with their units. Their faces were almost as emotionless as Raiya’s.
Raiya looked depressed as she watched two soldiers walked by; one by, one girl. They looked like they were siblings and kept close to each other in the marching ranks. They were very young, even younger than she was.
Jagger leaned over at Raiya as the jeep continued forward, “You okay?”
“Yeah why?”
“You look upset.”
“No… not really … just…”
“What is it?” Jagger asked.
Raiya looked around and nodded to the clearing, “Where are all the people? This is nothing like New Framingham. All we’ve seen are soldiers. Where are the children? Is everyone in this town part of the military?”
Jagger’s eyes quickly darted around the scenery. Raiya was right, there was nothing but military encampments as far as he could see. Maybe Raiya was right.
Jagger pressed on his breaks as Raiya sat down, “There’s the first checkpoint.”
A small building that almost looked like it was poking out of the ground appeared in front of them. It was little more than a one-story doorway that didn’t appear to lead anywhere. A red flag stood on either side of the entrance.
Eric’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the structure, “A bomb shelter?”
Jagger shrugged “Maybe it was at some point?”
“Why do I suddenly feel like we just willingly walked into a cage?” Raiya asked.
Jagger nodded, “Glad I’m not the only one.”
A man in a blue uniform with several colorful patches on it stood waiting for them. He had pale skin and wore a helmet that blocked anyone from seeing his hair. Jagger pulled up and put the truck in park. The soldier eyed the group suspiciously.
His expression gave Jagger a bad feeling, but he tried to remain as cordial as he could, “Is this the checkpoint we were told to stop at, soldier?”
The soldier’s eyes focused on Raiya, narrowing as they looked at her horns. He made no effort to hide his inspection as his eyes traveled down her face, chest, stomach, all the way down to her toes. He remained silent, not even acknowledging the rest of the group.
………………….
At first Raiya pretended to ignore him, but his stare was becoming intrusive. She crossed her legs in a seductive manner and looked at his nametag, “What, you see something you like… Lieutenant Rollins?”
Lt. Rollins stiffened as his eyes returned to the group’s faces. “Huh? Oh um… My apologies ma’am. Lieutenant Jeffrey Rollins, at your service. I was ordered to make sure that you received a proper welcome and introduction to our city.”
Jagger nodded, “Lieutenant Jagger Bishop… formerly of the Western Coalition.”
He then turned and pointed to his companions, “This is Raiya and Eric… um…”
“Eric Fausten.” Eric added.
Rollins turned and beckoned them to the check post door, “Good to meet you. Please follow me.”
“What about my jeep?” Jagger asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Just leave the keys. We’ll have one of our boys take it to the depot.”
“The depot?”
Lt. Rollins smiled, “Don’t worry, our techs will give it a tune-up and a little TLC while you’re here. You won’t even recognize it.”
It looked as though someone turned on a light in Jagger’s eyes as he jumped out of the seat, “Wow thanks.”
“Just hope it’s still in one piece when it’s time to leave…” Raiya whispered.
“Well... great now I’m going to worry the entire time. Thanks a lot!”
“No problem…”
Eric got out of the back and pulled is shirt down over the dual dagger sheath on the back of his belt, “Are we going to see Dr. Castillo now?”
“Regrettably, the doctor is indisposed at the moment.” Lt. Rollins replied. “He asked that I give you a proper reception and tour of our facilities. He requests that you enjoy what hospitality we can offer for today.”
“He ca
n’t even be bothered to meet with us?” Raiya asked.
“Unfortunately, the doctor is unable to. He’s a busy man, but he’s offering you food and rest under our protection until he can meet with you. You’ll have full access to a menu of different items, a shower, and bedrooms for your use.”
He frowned as his words became almost sarcastic, “I’m sure you’re very busy out in the wastelands, but I would ask your indulgence for a little while.”
“Fine…” Raiya replied unenthusiastically.
“We are guests here, Raiya.” Jagger added. “Try to remember that.”
“Try to remember that I can still kill you in your sleep if you don’t watch it.” Raiya whispered.
Lt. Rollins pushed a small button on the panel next to the door. There was a low beep as the heavy door opened behind him. The next room was little more than a downward-sloping hallway with a large metal arch at the entrance. Red and green lights flashed from the top of it.
Lt. Rollins beckoned them forward, “Please step this way. We just need to do a security check.”
Jagger sighed as he pulled his pistols out and placed them on the metal table next to the arch, “I want these back.”
Lt’ Rollins nodded, “When you leave, they’ll be returned.”
Jagger stepped through the arch without incident and proceeded forward. Eric was next. He ignored the bin and kept his daggers concealed as he stepped through the arch. To Jagger’s surprise, it didn’t go off. He quickly looked over at Lt. Rollins for a reaction.
The lieutenant was looking at the keypad on the side of the archway. His expression was still emotionless.
Eric smiled and winked as he turned around and stood next to his companion. Jagger whispered out of the side of his mouth, “How?”
“Dragon bone… no metal.”
Jagger nodded, “Of course.”
Raiya pulled her own dagger out and looked at it before looking at Lt. Rollins and showing him her clawed fingers, “One scratch on this and I’ll do the same to your eyes.”
“Is she serious?” Eric asked.
Jagger nodded, “I wouldn’t doubt it.”
Lt. Rollin’s didn’t respond, despite clearly being affected by her remarks. She passed through the arch without incident. A devious grin appeared on her face as she walked past Jagger, “Don’t worry, my claws are sharper than those daggers anyway.”
Drakin: The Story of Raiya Page 10