by Dave Hazel
“Mykal,” Mathis yelled from the driver’s side window. “One of the chopper pilots said they seem to be standing by just waiting, but a couple of dragons are in the air coming this way. He also said there are both bigger and smaller dragons.”
“Dang it,” Mykal sighed and wished he would have returned to the real world a couple days ago. “Get on the radio and make it clear they are to shoot the riders. The dragons are gonna be hard to kill.”
The men of Alpha and Delta Companies maneuvered to the rear leaving Towbar’s soldiers and the Dwarven warriors on the line to pull up the rear. After Captains Little Hawk and Cox gave the okay that Bravo and Echo Companies were ready, Towbar’s soldiers and the Dwarven warriors withdrew with their bridges.
From his new position with the men of Bravo Company, Mykal couldn’t take his eyes from the strange aerial dog fight that started. Five Huey H-1D helicopters armed with machine guns versus 3 dragons armed with gigantic talons, dinosaur like teeth, and a mad desire to kill.
The dragons flew after the helicopters while giving the appearance of looking for someone or something. Mykal hoped they wouldn’t detect his position. The choppers’ flight displayed agility and speed to keep from harm’s way. The dragons gave up chase and continued to search for something.
Once again Mykal feared he was the object of their desire. He fingered his special ring and took a couple of deep breaths. He knew he couldn’t fight the dragons on his own. These three dragons were much larger than the others. He glanced back in the direction Diaz went and wished he had the faith in God that Diaz and Ski live with. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted with an odd thought. He wondered if William was alive and if that was the reason the dragons were searching for him. ‘Could William be helping Zizmon-Tarl? Damn it, I shoulda killed that friggin weasel,’ he thought.
One of the dragons swooped down toward Mykal’s area forcing men to panic and run in all directions. Some of Towbar’s soldiers jumped into the pit to avoid the ‘Great white shark’ of the sky. Mykal understood the terror the men demonstrated. It was like a tractor trailer barreling down on them at full speed, only it wasn’t fear of being run over, it was the fear that the creature was looking to eat and shred its victims to pieces.
Mykal dove to the ground as an ear splitting screech rang out over head. Like an eagle diving down on its prey the dragon clamped onto one of Towbar’s soldiers who lay prone to hide. Man and ground ripped upward and Mykal knew that could have been him. He watched the dragon rocket skyward. Unexpectedly, dirt and grass fell back to the earth, and the man’s body had been broken by the crushing talons. Mykal knew he should have been the dead man being dropped to the ground at a high rate of speed.
“Shoot the rider!” Mykal hollered to the nearby vehicle. “Shoot the friggin rider!”
The soldier on the .50 caliber machine gun dropped down to cover his head. His body physically trembled and ignored his superior’s order to man his weapon. Mykal ran toward the vehicle in an attempt to operate the machine gun himself. Confident the dragons were after him he had to defend himself.
The dragon swung back around and dove down in the general area but closer to the pit causing Sosos to run away in all directions. The .50 caliber machine guns fired on the attacking dragon using expert training in leading the beast the same way they would attack a moving aircraft.
The creature screeched and looked back to see what struck it to cause the pain. Mykal watched as the long dark rider slumped over and slid to one side where it fell off the flying beast. He eyed the flailing form spiral downward and though he couldn’t hear the impact, when he saw it hit the ground some fifty yards away it made him feel the thud.
The rider-less dragon was now a free agent and not on either side. The Dragon’s only ally was its belly and enormous appetite. Being closer to the Soso side of the line it dove down and grabbed two talons full of live meat to feast on. It landed and began to eat despite the fact that a war raged around it. The dragon chomped and feasted, blood and remains escaped the large gaps between the enormous teeth. Sosos fled in all directions.
A number of men yelled and waved for Mykal to join them near the remains of the rider. The Dragon grabbed another talon full of Sosos and flew skyward. Mykal watched the monster perch atop the cliff inside the Pass and fed itself the Sosos clamped into the crushing grip of the talons.
Mykal ran to the frantic waving of the men who encircled the frame of the fallen rider. He neared the twisted frame and guessed the height to be eight to nine feet tall. It differed from the previous rider, but wore a long dark robe and dark clothing. Inside the hood of the robe a skull stared back at them. A yellowish gooey substance was melting and sliding off the bones. The hands dripped the same substance.
“What the hell is that?” Mykal asked.
“You got me,” an Army Ranger said and looked to a fellow Ranger and a couple of Marines standing by.
“The Sosos are regrouping.” The Ranger pointed.
“Get back into position and keep yourselves safe,” Mykal said and ran back to the vehicle where Mathis still sat in the driver’s seat.
Mykal stopped and looked over head where three helicopters chased one of the dragons. The rider appeared to be dead, flopping backward in the saddle, arms dangling to his side. Just as Mykal caught sight of the chase the rider fell but its foot seemed to be caught in a stirrup. The rider bounced and dangled under the fleeing dragon. The dragon seemed to fight against the dead weight hanging from below while taking machine gun fire from the helicopters.
The third dragon landed hard on the ground on the far side of Captain Cox’s area of the Pass. Cox’s Company consisted of Army Rangers, 82nd Airborne, Navy SEALs, Thailand and Korean forces. The dragon landed on two 82nd Airborne soldiers. They were crushed to death. It lashed out and killed three more 82nd Airborne soldiers and two Navy SEALs as well as three of Towbar’s soldiers.
The rapid response of automatic gunfire hit the beast and rider hard and fast. The dragon had been wounded severely before it could launch upward again. The skeletal rider jerked off of the limping monster. Not able to jump into the air due to wounds it lashed out and tried to attack from the ground. The vehicles with mounted .50 caliber machine guns rushed to the scene pounding into the creatures head until the dragon’s head imploded. The dragon fell over, talons twitching as if grabbing at anything near its reach.
Mykal saw among the men was Corporal Davidson standing there firing round after round into the monster. Davidson had earlier asked for comforting words from Captain Little Hawk and Captain Cox when he had been fearful of becoming a coward. Davidson was far from being a coward. Davidson ran toward the body of the twitching dragon firing his rifle to reach down and grab a wounded soldier. He slapped a new thirty round magazine into his M-16 and fired at the beast while walking backward, dragging the injured man from harm’s way. “That boy deserves a medal,” Mykal said more to himself.
The dark skeletal form rose to a crouched position, it kept his hands under his doubled over belly to hide something. It looked around, never exposing his face. Suddenly it jumped up and threw something at a group of 82nd Airborne and Navy SEALs. A quiet hissing burning sound ignited into a large blinding fireball.
Horrific screams made Mykal’s skin crawl. He turned to see men running around engulfed in flames. Four Airborne soldiers and three Navy SEALs were killed by fire. Twelve of Towbar’s soldiers and four Dwarven warriors were also burned to death. Several others of the four groups were injured by the intense heat.
The machine gun fire and explosions of the 40mm grenades dished out revenge and the strange creature was killed and melted away leaving only skeletal remains. Without being instructed Towbar’s soldiers removed the injured to the rear where medical personnel were working feverishly in preparation for Mykal’s departure to the real world.
“Here comes that dragon,” a Marine shouted.
Mykal and others looked up to where the Marine pointed to the dragon that dove down fro
m its perch. Mykal saw clothing dangling from in between the large snapping jaws. Several men armed with M-60s stood and raised their weapons at the attacking monster. It appeared the dragon was struck and didn’t like the pain it received. In the midair dive it changed course and rocketed skyward away from the incoming pain.
The dragon circled high, but the creature remained in the maximum effective range of 1100 meters for the M-60 machine gun. The dragon flew with a limp and soared away toward the Sosos. When the creature no longer felt the attack it dove down and swooped up a couple of talons full of Sosos. With a new meal in claws it flew up to the top of the cliff wall to eat like an eagle with a field mouse.
“Great, that thing has no loyalty,” Captain Little Hawk said to Mykal and pointed to where it stopped. “Ooh damn,” Little Hawk shuddered and brought his hand to his mouth.
“Oh shit,” Mykal gasped. They watched a Soso manage to free himself from the claw only to fall hundreds of feet where he bounced on the rock wall in his plummet downward.
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that damned thing keeps going after Sosos to satisfy its hunger,” Captain Little Hawk said with a shake of his head. “Mykal, is it just me or does it seem like the intensity has dropped off?”
Mykal looked across the battle line. The battle still raged but he agreed it seemed the ferocity of the advancing Sosos had eased some. Towbar’s soldiers and the Dwarven warriors seemed to be doing more hand to hand combat than at previous battle lines.
“I would say it has slowed down Sir,” Lieutenant Burtley replied before Mykal answered. Burtley commanded 2nd Platoon of Little Hawk’s Bravo Company. “Hopefully we’re about to get a break,” he said while reloading his rifle. “And hopefully these dumb shits will see we’re handing their asses to them,” he added, referring to the lopsided infliction of casualties. Just as he raised his rifle to his shoulder to take aim a Soso death arrow slammed into his forehead above his left eyebrow and just under his helmet making a loud thwack.
Instinctively Mykal and Little Hawk dove to the ground. They were unsure if there were any more death arrows following. Mykal glanced up, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The battle continued to rage, Burtley died from a lucky shot or a freak accident for standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mykal looked at the man’s face and shook with fear how quickly things could change. One moment Burtley smiled while commenting on how well they were doing and the next moment his body littered the ground. Burtley’s limbs twitched slightly, his mouth was wide open and his eyes were just slits of reservoirs holding two little pools of blood that formed from the sudden wound in his skull.
“Sonovabitch,” Little Hawk yelled. “Burtley was a good friend of mine,” he moaned and slapped his open palm on the ground. Little Hawk jumped to his feet and calmly took aim and began squeezing off rounds at targets on the other side of the pit. “You scumbag, you filth, you asshole,” he yelled and used a different word for every Soso he struck.
Mykal watched Little Hawk from the ground and looked back at the dead man. Mykal understood Little Hawk’s loss and ache, but he realized it could have easily been him or Little Hawk that was struck by the random shot. Mykal actually felt joy. Joy that it was Burtley and not him. Mykal knew that could have just as easily been him lying there with a death arrow protruding from his forehead. He didn’t know if it was aimed or had been a lucky shot but Burtley stood at the wrong place at the wrong time. Heaviness laid on Mykal, tempting him not to rise to his feet. ‘How much longer can I do this?’ He wondered. ‘When is this gonna end? If I’m being honest, I would rather it be him than me. Does that make me a cold hearted selfish bastard?’ he wondered and thought of Pam and the boys. ‘Another friggin thing I’ll feel guilty about later,’ he sighed. After the first return to the real world his shrink, Doc Cannon, told him he struggled with survivor’s guilt. ‘How deep must that well be now,’ he wondered.
He looked at his right hand and wished it would turn green to indicate Towbar’s return. But then, it could also indicate Zizmon-Tarl could be sending more bizarre creatures to fight on his behalf. “Where’re you at Towbar?” He whispered. He knew he would have to leave soon and he wanted Towbar to be back before his departure.
“Mykal, are you alright?” Mathis ran toward him.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” he answered and jumped to his feet. “I can’t believe he took an arrow in the head. He was just talking a minute ago and now he’s dead,” he added as another Marine had felt for a pulse and shook his head. Mykal could tell he was dead by the expression etched in his death pose.
“Is there anything you want me to do?” Mathis asked.
“No, just be ready for me when I need to go to the rear,” he waved him off. Mykal wished Diaz or Ski were close by. He had a number of questions for these ‘religious men of God’. He decided not to refer to them as ‘Jesus Freaks’ any longer.
This probably wasn’t the time or place but he wanted to know why Burtley had to die so randomly and so suddenly? Mykal had always heard that God knows everything, so why couldn’t God have stopped it? Or did God want him dead? ‘That could have easily been me,’ Mykal pondered and looked at the lifeless form having his ammunition being taken away by others. Since he admitted to himself that he actually felt joy it was Burtley and not him, Mykal knew he was going to struggle with ‘survivor’s guilt’ when all this was done. ‘If I survive this damn war, that is.’
He needed to talk with Ski or Diaz later to get his God questions answered. For the time being there was a war to fight. He knew at any moment a Soso death arrow could strike him down just like Burtley. To worry about randomly being struck would only stir up his fear and doubt and make the cloud of fear thicker in his thinking. That would lead to mistakes and more problems. He knew he couldn’t allow himself to live each moment in such tormenting fear. He would have to put it aside and hope everything worked out for his good.
Mykal watched the dragon leave the perch high above the Pass. It started toward Mykal’s side of the Pass and before he commanded a counter attack several of the M-60 machine guns pointed skyward and attacked the flying monster. Mykal guessed the dragon must have been struck again. It repeated the actions of the last attack. It changed direction in mid-flight and swooped down over the Soso side of the Pass. The flying monster knew it felt less resistance from the Soso side of the line.
Mykal watched the dragon zoom skyward and he thought he could make out five or six Sosos trapped in the two talons. The dragon infused a fear, causing Sosos to flee in all directions. Many dropped their weapons and retreated to the rear. When Soso leader types saw retreat taking place without an order given, they cracked their bull whips and attacked the cowards with swords. At least two leader types were attacked and killed by the fleeing mob. Chaos ensued on the Soso side of the Pass. It appeared to be clear; the Sosos would rather flee and kill their own than to face the flying freight train of terror, or the ‘Great white shark’ of the sky.
The gunfire slowed to almost a stop. The military allowed the Sosos to inflict damage to each other in their attempt to flee the giant airborne monster. The Marines and other soldiers stood with weapons ready watching bedlam grow. Some started to hoot and holler cheering on the bloody battle on the other side of the pit. Heads and limbs flew in all directions. Bodies dropped.
The dragon from high above swooped down to continue feasting on the Sosos locked in battle with each other. A cheer and cat calls filled the air with laughter. Towbar’s soldiers and the Dwarven warriors watched but they didn’t share the expressive joy and excitement Mykal’s men displayed.
Dalisid approached Mykal with a number of his warriors just as Captain Little Hawk and Captain Cox joined him. “Do you know what has occurred?” Dalisid asked Mykal and looked back and forth to Little Hawk and Cox.
“Yeah,” Mathis cut in quickly to make a joke. “One said less filling. The other said tastes great. It led to all this.”
Mykal started to l
augh wildly. He understood Mathis made his comment based on the tag line for the Miller Lite beer commercials that had been saturating the television airwaves recently. Mykal laughed at Dalisid’s perplexed expression twist to outright confusion. Clearly Captain Cox wasn’t amused.
“Mathis, that was really funny,” Mykal said, to prevent Captain Cox from reprimanding Mathis for joking with one of Towbar’s military leaders. “Now get the hell outta here and wait for me at the vehicle,” he said and continued to laugh.
“Yes Sir,” Mathis replied and had to look down to avoid Cox’s angry glare.
Mykal saw Mathis fight hard not to bust out with laughter at his own joke. It reminded Mykal of himself just months prior. The reflection made him realize this war made him feel old.
“I do not understand,” Dalisid huffed and looked at his warriors. “I know not what he said and I know not what caused the Sosos to go mad.”
“Don’t worry about what he said,” Mykal said and continued to laugh. He saw that Cox wanted to say something to Mathis. “Let it go,” he turned to Cox. “As far as what’s happening over there I don’t have a clue either. Let’s just be grateful and get ready.”
“I do not understand what there is to be grateful for.”
“Dalisid,” Mykal deliberately said his name calmly and used his hand to push the invisible agitation down. “Calm down buddy. It’s good that they’re killing each other and not us.”
Dalisid thought for a moment. “You are correct.”
“It doesn’t matter what the reason is, but we caught a break and we need to make the most of it.” Mykal looked at his hand once again. Still normal. Towbar still hadn’t returned. “I’m going back to my world. I’m hoping not to be long, maybe a couple of days while I gather what we need. Dalisid, until Towbar returns you make sure your men work with our leaders such as Captain Little Hawk, Captain Cox, and all the Company Commanders,” he pointed to them. “Trust me when I tell you, the Sosos and their filthy allies will not, and I’ll say it again, will not, take the Pass. So make sure your men stand strong and fight your asses off.” Mykal smiled because he knew that last term made no sense to Dalisid and his men.