Seventh Talon_Dragonrider's Fury

by James Patton

  She could feel Malinite laughing under her.

  “Isn’t that part of it? The struggle?”

  “Usually, but I’ve known people like you. You don’t have quit in you. Anyway, dismissed.” Joker said.

  As he turned away, she saw his sagging shoulders and shaking hands. The man was not having a good day, and he was taking his losses personally. His soldiers were real people to him, and it spoke a lot about his personality.

  Her knees pressed into Malinite’s side and he drifted off in the direction she indicated. It was something they had worked on today, and she was getting good at guiding him by touch alone. Shifting forward in the saddle she felt him picking up speed, and they soared towards Crosspointe.

  *You are getting quite the reputation, but I do not understand why.*

  *Not sure I follow, what reputation?*

  *Pay more attention!* Malinite admonished. *These people are viewing you with fear, maybe respect, but you are unpredictable in their eyes.* He paused, and she could tell he was uncomfortable. *You have done very little to alleviate their concerns. I know your story, and its one of survival, action, doing what needs doing. It is not a story of heroic deeds. Somehow you are gaining respect.*

  *I honestly never paid attention. I agree it is not all heroism. When confronted I rise above it, anyway I can. There is a writer from my world called Jane Austen, and she once wrote ‘My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.’*

  *It suits you, but is recklessness really courage? I do not doubt your ability to survive, but do not confuse courage with desperation.*

  *Just when I thought we were getting along you act like an ass. You should not confuse surviving with living, and risk with recklessness. To live is to risk, I know because my life is poignant reminder of it.*

  *So you are saying that I cannot be alive if I do not take risks? That is a crazy notion.* Malinite snorted.

  *Is it? You cannot grow without risk. You cannot know who you are without fighting for something. Anything. Today I felt your excitement, and you help us devise a risky plan, not a reckless one. You were alive and in control! Do you know what the best part of today is?*

  *No, but I suppose you are going to tell me.* Malinite’s body heaved a colossal sigh under her legs.

  *You have not realized it yet, but you gained respect. How many of those vapid and vain dragons can claim they’ve killed an Alpha drake? Much less two?*

  Malinite said nothing else all the way back to the outpost.

  She meant everything she had said to him, and she could feel his conflicting emotions as he processed it. And all she could think about was plummeting through the air and how she could not wait to do it again. It was exhilarating, and she wondered if dragons felt his way every day.

  *There’s Geo, circle around so I can hop off. I’ll meet up with you later.* She told Malinite who just sighed and did as she said. As he banked sharply around the town, she released from the saddle and plummeted towards him. Several soldiers called out as they finally spotted her, but the way their faces went slack, she realized it was not in alarm but horrified fascination.

  She laughed maniacally as she cruised by them because they all assumed she was falling to her death. About thirty feet up she flung out the shielding behind her to catch air and landed hard enough that she felt her health drop slightly. Geo and Aila were staring at her until the pixie started laughing.

  “Well girl, I gotta say that’s a new one. Not sure why I’m surprised. I mean why not go and do something that’ll kill ya?”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice today.”

  “Malinite let you get away with that?” Geo rolled his eyes towards the sky.

  “Doubt she gave him a chance.” Aila’s head tilted to the side like an owl eying prey and frowned.

  “Ok, mom and dad. Listen, we killed two alphas and spotted a three more. Joker was informed, and here we are reporting in.” She told them, and this time Geo’s mouth gaped.

  “How did you kill two alphas? They are hard to approach.” Geo asked.

  Aila’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “You already saw how she did it. She dove into them. Do ya know how insane that is, Boh?”

  “I told her the same thing, but she acquitted herself well. It took some finagling, but we were successful and only had one close call. Here is how it went down…” About fifteen minutes later, Geo was nodding appreciatively.

  “Consider the alpha hunting done. Tomorrow, I want you to scout the leadership of this army. I want to know who is in charge and then report back to me, but under no circumstances are you to engage them. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.” She said falling into the role of a soldier, and it was deceptively easily.

  Mission Issued: Scout for the Leader(s)

  - Orders: Find the leader of the drake army

  - Objective 1: Observe and report on the leader of the drake army

  - Bonus Objective: Do not engage the leader(s) if discovered

  - Orders Given By: Geo

  - Reward: Mission Token - you need fifteen tokens to reach the next rank. Additional rewards based on success.

  Mission Completed: Follow the Leaders

  - Bonus Objective: [Failed] Find the Leader of the incoming army

  Congratulations! You are now a Private, and you choose one spell line to receive the Novice level spell. Based on your affinities you can now choose one of three novice magic spells…

  …two spells already acquired - recalculating. Adding secondary and tertiary options:

  Your choices are from these three spells line:

  Poison - This is an Earth Affinity spell line that specializes in DOTs - Damage Over Time.

  Curses - These are long lasting debuffs that do not cause much damage to the target, but can severely disable them. This spell line will decrease your Light Affinity.

  Crystallography - This is a Radiant Affinity spell line that specializes in conjuration magic.

  She did not even hesitate on the choice. A Radiant spell was not something she was about to pass up.

  You gained knowledge of the spell Crystallize Feedback.

  Crystallize Feedback - This spell is the Novice ranked spell of the Crystallography spell line.

  How it works:

  - Caster or target needs Feedback to cast this spell because the spell converts acquired Feedback into a crystal. This reduces target’s Feedback.

  - Crystals are bound to caster. They cannot be traded.

  - Crystals will degrade within twenty-four hours. When it degrades, the caster will gain that Feedback, regardless if the Feedback was theirs or not.

  - The caster can consume the crystal any time by squeezing it, which will instantly transfer the Feedback to the caster.

  The knowledge of how to cast the spell and additional details are found in your Skills Book.

  Well shit, how is that spell helpful? The spell itself felt like a dud. In the middle of a battle, it was not practical to use, and she would need to use the crystals as soon as possible afterward. She would learn it regardless; maybe a Dual Cast would give it purpose. Or perhaps it was a way to adjust her Affinities.

  “That’s a spell I’ve never seen before.” Geo’s furrowed brow and glazed over eyes told her he was having the same issue Boh was. Both were deciding if the spell was complete garbage or not.

  “What did ya get?” Aila asked, still in the dark.

  “Crystallography,” Geo responded absently. “Heard of it?”

  “Nope, but it sounds like a conjuration spell. If’n that’s what it is, then ya Novice spell is for reagents. Ya gonna need ‘em to cast the other spells in that spell line.”

  “Oh— that makes much more sense,” Geo said. “Alright, on that note, I have a strategy session I need to call. Thanks to Boh’s new style of fighting, we might train some others to adopt it. Malinite, may I speak privately with you?”

  The dragon looked towards her before deciding.

  *I’ll be fine.* She told him
after touching his leg.

  *Very well, if you need my help just call out.*

  “Yes, is there such a place here?”

  “Outside the walls, near the front gate. Raldora will meet you there, and she does not like you, so do not provoke her.”

  Malinite did not say anything, but she recognized his resigned posture. It was the stiff way he moved. Despite how much the other dragons gave him hell, he had kept his cool so far, and she could respect his self-control.

  “Ya gonna come with me. I need to talk to ya, and we needa work on ya spells.”

  The air expelled out through her nose, and Aila smiled at her. The last hours of light faded as she managed to learn Ice Sheet.

  You have learned Ice Sheet.

  Ice Sheet

  - Affinity: Water

  - Damage: 1% every ten seconds if target is coated in ice longer than twenty minutes.

  - Range: 100 feet

  - Duration: Starts melting within thirty seconds, unless ambient temperature is below freezing

  - Feedback: 3% per cast

  - Effect 1: Spell layers an area with a 3 Foot radius in ice. Spreads from center of target location.

  - Verbal Incantation: Ice

  Cries of success ended abruptly after a bag went over her head. She fought her assailants fiercely, but they slammed to the ground and put gloves over her hands to prevent her from casting spells. As much as she struggled, they had been prepared for her.

  Boh

  Chapter 66

  Hangover

  One of the few times my dad let his guard down, I went to this party and drank more than I had intended. My dad knew, but he said nothing about it. I felt like I had somehow let him down.

  -from Boh’s Journal, October 14th, N138

  Boh woke in Geo’s bed with almost no clothes on, and he was sleeping next to her. Her mouth felt like she swallowed a bucket of sand, and she tried hard to recall what happened after she trained with Aila.

  The bits she did remember, she wanted to forget. The floor creaked as she worked her way across the room to gather her clothes and put them on, but could not find her gun—

  Oh no! She had wanted to fire it, claiming she could hit a coin flipped into the air. Why would I say that!? I can’t even hit the broadside of a barn.

  “Looking for this,” Geo said from a sitting position on the bed, and in his hand was her pistol. “Remind me next time to remove all your weapons before getting you drunk again. You are absolutely insane.”

  His rumbling laughter shook the house, and she just felt embarrassed.

  “Calm down. You earned your callsign last night, and a good time was had by all. Several of us looked after you.”

  “And— you and I, my clothes?” She asked nervously. His booming laughter shook the small place once more.

  “You wouldn’t let me leave. Said the bed was big enough to share, so Malinite and I agreed it might be best if I shared the bed with you, to keep you out of trouble. Nothing else happened, and Aila slept in one of those chairs. Not sure where she is at the moment.”

  A pounding on the door startled her, and Geo was on his feet throwing open the door. “What is it?”

  “It's Malinite, sir. He is in bad shape, and I already have the healers working on him.”

  “Dammit,” He said, and she grabbed the gun from his hand and took off out the door.

  She could feel him, and she realized it was what woke her up. Running full out, she found her dragon slowly rising to his feet when she arrived. He had several more wounds across his body and was missing quite a few scales.

  “Who did this?” She demanded.

  “Leave it alone, Boh,” Malinite grunted painfully. “It is over.”

  “Not really. We will see you and your pathetic rider again tonight.” A dragon was laughing from nearby, and she could she blood on his talons and knew he was one of them.

  Patting Malinite on the leg, she spoke to him. *Fight or they’ll kill me.*

  The cold fury filled her again, and she ran directly at the dragon, her hands already working and twisting. She ignored Malinite calling out for her, and Geo, and whoever else was in the dragon’s courtyard.

  Her shield flared out as she blasted it with Wind. Just like that she was above the big blue dragon’s head. Letting go of the Wind spell, she dropped into a dive.

  Spark started to form into her hand as she came down and slapped her hand across the dragon’s face. It surprised her how much power she had built up, because there was enough current to kill a horse. Clinging to the dragon’s head, she rode him to the ground, and her knife was already in her hand as she sliced at the at the bastard’s hard head. It glared at her with hate, and she knew it wanted to destroy her. Scales peeled off under her sharp blade and then she was readying Lightning Bolt with her other hand.

  It tried to move, and she stepped off of him and fired the bolt directly into it. This time she saw that she had hurt him. Hate and anger were gone in his eyes, all that was left was fear.

  Something in her snapped, and her brain registered three words: Eyes, brain, and gun. Her gun was in hand and the barrel practically rested against the dragon’s open eye when a big hand engulfed arm. Boh could not fight against its strength. So she started to cast another spell, but that hand too was engulfed making it impossible to cast.

  “BOH!” Geo yelled directly in her face. “Stand down. That’s an order, and call your dragon off before we put him down.”

  “Malinite, I am sorry. You can back off now,” she said, but her eyes never left the blue dragon.

  “You have issues,” her dragon growled. “I’m getting used to your temper, so I forgive you.”

  “No. You misunderstand. I’m sorry I was not fast enough to kill this asshole.” She said kicking the blue dragon in the snout.

  Silence reigned over the entire outpost until Raldora started roaring with laughter. Which broke the tense silence, and even Boh was grinning. And then she was puking, her hangover finally catching up to her actions.

  “Get up Ryven, and look at the shame you brought upon yourself. That tiny woman took you down and would have killed you. Recognize your defeat, or next time my rider will not stop her,” Raldora growled indicating Geo who was trying to avoid the puddle of vomit. “Next time you think it's in your power to exact justice, I will kill you. That goes for all of you here. We are at war. I will have no more of this. If the girl is willing to fight for her dragon, and against such odds, then my ruling is this… Malinite is cleared of wrongdoing. If his rider sees that kind of worth in him, then I recognize it too. Now get your stupid ass to a healer.” The dragon limped out of the area reminding her of a dog running off with its tail tucked between its legs.

  “Thank you.” She told the big green dragon, and Raldora just nodded her head towards her and moved away from the palisade.

  “Well, it certainly is not boring having you around,” Geo said. “You got a mission, don’t forget to report to Joker, he should be up in the air already. That guy is like you; he does not know when to quit either. Good luck.”

  “You seen Aila this morning?” She asked Malinite, while the healer continued working on the dragon.

  “Nope. Was a little distracted.” He grunted, and she snorted. “And Boh… thank you. I— I’ve never had a friend before, someone that has my back. And for trusting me to have your back too.”

  “Don’t go getting soft on me now; we got a leader to kill.”

  “What? No. No. No. We have explicit orders not to kill, just observe and report.”

  “We’ll see,” she was laughing while she mounted her dragon.

  *I will leave you there if you jump off my back.*

  *No you won’t. Let's fly you crazy bastard. I mean seriously, what would possess you to take on that many dragons at once?* They both laughed as they took to the sky.

  Aila

  Chapter 67

  Secrets

  I have done many awful things due to my chaotic nature. Boh is
like me, and her nature is more pixie than she knows. Her impetuous nature gave me insight into my own. Nature provides answers.

  -from Aila, Audio Roll 1717

  The desiccated corpses left little doubt that she would find any of the others alive. Each carcass had several holes of varying sizes across their entire body. Each puncture had a ridge of hardened flesh.

  The flesh was brittle and dry to her touch, but it did not crumble away. She dipped a finger into one of the punctures and found the same dry surface on the internal organs too. It was almost like an instant mummification process, but she had no idea how a body could get drained so thoroughly.

  In one of the wounds, she spotted something and dug it out. It was a piece of stone with a very sharp point on it. The rock looked like the tip of a projectile, and she tried to find anything that might have launched it. The walls and ceiling were smooth and whole.

  She did not see any traps, but—

  Where did that come from? A doorway existed where a solid wall was a few minutes prior. In cement walls like these, doors did not just appear.

  Illusion, maybe? She pushed against the gap, and her hand met no resistance.

  Interesting, but unlike any magic she knew, except… Ethereal. Creation magic here? It was not like the other exits because it had no framing and it was too straight to be natural. Through the entry was a short tunnel of about six feet and it opened into a ten-foot by ten-foot room. The lighting was not great, but she spotted at least three other bodies.

  Electricity crawled across her, and she stopped walking forward. If she entered that room, she would never leave. The threat continued to grow until it was all around her.

  She heard a soft scuffing sound and dodged to the side. One of the corpses rose up and had tried to push her in. Her fingers danced like a pianist and a Lightning Bolt arced from her hand into the corpse at point blank range. The bolt carried enough power to knock the mummified body across the hallway. It hit the wall shattering the brittle bones and skin. The lightning went through its target and slid across the smooth wall behind it.