The knight kicked him in the stomach, sending the young man sprawling on the ground. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
Richard did not return his master’s taunts. He got back on his feet, took up his sword, and moved in for another attack. But this time Ardose struck first. The knight swung his sword through the air in an arc right at Richard’s head. He ducked at the last moment and ran with his sword thrusting forward, only to find himself getting a face full of Ardose’s foot.
Richard staggered back, his hand clasped over his nose and blood trickled down his face. He looked at the smears of red on his hands, and in that distracted moment Ardose made another assault. Richard just barely blocked it, but the force of Ardose's attack made him loose balance and he fell to the ground.
Lying on his back, Richard grabbed his sword and tried to stand, but Ardose planed his foot down hard on his wrist. The knight’s other foot stomped on Richard’s chest and forced him back to the ground. “This is it for you.” Ardose raised his sword over his former squire and prepared to deliver a final blow. “And if you’re worried about the villagers, don’t be. They’ll be joining you soon enough.”
Richard had no time to waste. The glittering steel blade of Ardose’s sword was coming down on him. Desperately, he tore up and handful of snow with his free hand and threw it in the knight’s face. Ardose recoiled and grimaced. With that moment of distraction, Richard shoved Ardose back, forcing the knight off him. Richard took Lion’s Fang and trust it up, the blade pierced between Ardose’s armor plates and into his exposed underarm.
Sir Ardose gasped in pain and shock. Blood poured out onto the snow in great spurts. Richard yanked his sword back and another burst of blood spewed forth. Ardose clasped his hand over the gaping wound, but it did little to slow the bleeding. He fell to his knees, already feeling his life slipping away and the cold engulf him.
Richard stared in abject horror at what he had done. He watched as his former lord stumbled and finally fell face first to the snow. The frozen white snow around him melted and turned red. Ardose’s breathing became weak and labored, blood dribbled from his mouth and he coughed and sputtered. Finally, his last breath escaped and he died.
Richard stood. His legs felt terribly weak under him, his stomach pitched and finally he couldn’t stop it. He ran to a tree and heaved up everything he had in his stomach, it splattered to the ground in a heaping steaming mess. He pressed his face against the sappy bark of the tree, welcoming the cold roughness on his face.
He’d just killed someone. That thought struck him and stabbed at his heart more than any sword could. Now he was a murderer no better than Ardose of Cain. Slowly, he stepped away from the tree and away from Ardose’s body. He didn’t want to see it anymore. Not that he would ever be free of it, the image of his sword buried in the knight’s flesh was now burned into his mind like a brand.
He took a handful of snow and cleaned his sword. He then dried it with his cape and continued down the mountain. He soon found the horses, still tied up where they had been left. One of them saw him and whinnied, shaking its mane. Richard stroked the horse’s face as he slowly untied them. Then, having mounted his horse and leading the other two by the reins, he headed back towards the village.
* * *
“Richard!” Rachel shouted when she saw him riding back to the village. She ran out to greet him, and helped him climb down from his horse. “Are you alright?” She asked. “Where’s Sir Ardose and the dragon slayer?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “When we got there,” Richard began, “we found the lair empty except for a dragon chick. Cain killed it. And that’s when the mother came back. The big dragon, Jade, attacked us. Ardose and I escaped, but Cain didn’t make it.”
“Oh.” Rachel said. She placed her arms around Richard and held him tight. “I’m sorry,” and when she pulled away, “and Ardose?”
Richard shut his eyes and winced. His face twisted in resentment. “He’s dead, too. I…” he struggled to confess, “I killed him.”
Rachel stepped away in shock. her hands hovered over her lips. “You… did what?”
“He told me he planned to leave. Let the dragon burn the village to the ground and run away. He wanted to keep the dragon a secret so much he killed your brother, Rachel.” Richard said. “Dennis saw the dragon, encountered it, but it didn’t kill him. He told Ardose about it, and then he stabbed him in the back to keep him quiet.”
“Richard, I…” Rachel’s voice was weak. “I don’t believe this.”
“And neither do I.”
Richard and Rachel turned and saw Phillip approaching. The farmer approached with William, Kenneth, and an entire mob of other angry villagers at his back. Many carried burning torches, others carried pitchforks, smithies hammers, and a few even had homemade bows and arrows. “Whatever you claim, I won’t trust it. And neither will the rest of us.”
“Phillip, what are you doing?” Richard asked. He looked past him and saw the angry mob of villagers Phillip lead. “Where is everyone going?”
“We’re going to do the job that you can’t. We’re going to slay the dragon ourselves.” Phillip said. “And this time, you can’t stop us.” He turned and looked back over his shoulder. “Isn’t that right, everyone?”
The crowd answered in a unified cheer. Richard could hardly believe his eyes. Almost every man in the village had gathered, led on by Phillip’s words and prepared to climb the mountain. “Phillip, listen to me,” Richard said, “you can’t do this. We need to evacuate everyone from the village while we can. The dragon has been enraged and will be coming back. This time she’s not just going to steal a few sheep, she’s going to kill us all.”
“Would you look at that?’ Phillip said with a smarmy tone. “Now he wants to evacuate us. He thinks we’re just going to bow and obey him like dogs because he’s a squire to some dead lord.” He suddenly punched Richard hard in the face. Exhausted from his climb up and down the mountain, as well as his fight with Ardose, Richard twisted and landed hard on his side.
“Phillip, what are you doing!?” Rachel cried. She knelt at Richard’s side.
“I’m taking matters into my own hands, now. I’m not going to wait for some holier-than-thou squire boy to try and fail to protect us.”
Richard rubbed the side of his face, a bruise was starting for form. “Phillip,” he said as he stood, “I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but you have to listen to me now. Sir Ardose didn’t want to save any of us, he wanted to leave us to the dragon’s mercy. We need to get everyone out of here before it comes back and burns this whole place down.”
“Phillip, listen to him, for goodness sake!” Rachel pleaded.
“No!” Phillip struck her with the back of his hand. Rachel cried out in surprise and pain as she fell to the ground.
Richard watched in shock and horror. He’d had enough now. He reached for his sword when suddenly William and Kenneth both tackled him. They grabbed him by the arms and forced him to his knees. Richard struggled, but could not escape their grasp. Phillip stood over him, he had a sadistic grin on hi face as he popped his knuckles. “You know, I’ve really been looking forward to this.”
His fists pounded into Richard’s face, each time the young squire winced and moaned. The sounds of the punches rose over the crowd as they watched in silence. Richard wheezed for breath. His face was swollen and bruised, blood dripped down his split lip, his nose bloody, and his eye was black.
As Phillip rubbed his sore knuckles, the glittering gold of the sword hilt at Richard’s side caught his eye. “Hmm,” he grinned and pulled the sword from its sheath. Richard tried to fight against his captors again, but they held him firm and he was forced to watch helplessly as his sword was stolen. “I don’t think you’ll be needing this anymore.” Phillip said. He held the Lion’s fang up in front of his face and stared at its well crafted blade. “Tie him up!” He ordered William and Kenneth, “and lock him inside. I’ll finish with him later.”
As he was being dragged away, Richard watched as Phillip turned back to the crowd and raise the sword over his head. “Sir Ardose is gone, the dragon slayer has died in defense of our lives, and the squire is a failure! But he was right about one thing, the dragon will return! We’re not safe until its head it mounted on a wall!” The crowd cheered and roared with enthusiasm. “I say we rid ourselves of this flying beast! Who’s with me?”
“I am!” A voice cried out from the crowd.
“I am!” Came another.
And another, “I am!”
“Good then!” Phillip said. “Bring whatever you can! Axes, hammers, shovels, pitchforks, and light those torches! We’ll lay siege to the dragon’s cave and bring back its head!”
Just as the mob began its march towards the mountain, Richard was dragged into one of the houses. His hands and feet were bound with ropes and his mouth gagged. He struggled, frantically fought against them, but to no avail. He was then lifted and thrown into a closet, where he landed with a hard thud. William and Kenneth stood right outside the door looking down on him.
“Don’t worry,” William said, “we’ll be back for you.”
“And then Phillip will finish you off.” Kenneth slid his finger across hit throat for emphasis. Then they slammed the closet shut, leaving Richard alone in the dark.
Chapter 20
J ade slept in her cave next to the cold, lifeless body of her daughter. She had not ventured back to the village as Ardose thought she would, instead deciding to stay in her cave with her hatchling, even with it being dead.
A sense of guilt filled her heart. If she had only been here when the human’s came then she might have saved her daughter. In all her life Jade had only been concerned about her own life and well-being, but having a baby changed all that for her. Suddenly she had someone who depended on her for everything, and whether it was just maternal instinct or motherly love, Jade would have sacrificed anything to protect that hatchling. But now it was all moot. The chick was dead, and nothing could change that.
The sound of human voices echoed in from outside and disturbed her sleep. Jade arose and walked to the entrance of her cave, only to find a large number of them all hiking up the mountain towards her. There were dozens, if not hundreds of them. Jade stepped back, recoiled in fear. never before had she seen so many all at once.
“There it is!” The one leading them shouted. He held a weapon that she recognized, the sword of he would-be attacker. But it was a different human this time. “Come on! Fire all arrows!”
There was a twang of bowstrings as the wooden shafts of arrows flew at her. The aim of these humans was not great, as the arrows all missed and merely bounced against the rocks of the cave.
Jade snarled and tried to retreat in fear, but then she stopped herself. It was happening again. Every time she’s tried find a home, they would come. No matter where she went, no matter how far she flew, no matter how hard she tried to avoid them or out run them, they were always there. And they always came for her with swords, with axes, with bows and arrows, with torches and pitchforks.
Why? Why did they hate her so much? Why did they want to kill her? She had never harmed a human except in self defense, but they just kept coming.
It was then that she came to a realization. It was never going to stop. They would continue to hunt her to the ends of the earth if need be, and they wouldn’t stop until she was dead. They hated her, and they were also afraid of her. They feared her as a monster.
Fine then. If it was a monster they feared, then a monster she would be. Jade stepped back out of her cave. She flared her wings as wide as they could go and reared up on two legs. The dragon let out a blood-chilling roar of rage and hate. The human mob stopped in their tracks, suddenly afraid to face her. Her wings flapped, kicking up a cloud of snow all around her. Soon, she managed to get herself off the ground.
She flew over the humans, flying circles over them as they watched her stupidly. Then, with a tilt of her wings, she flew down in a perfect line over them. Some of them started to run, others fought with themselves for a path of escape, but Jade would give them no escape. She unleashed her fire just as she descended over the mob.
The humans ran in terror. Some of them were doused in flames, screaming and running like feeble animals. Any unified force they once held together was no gone in blind panic. Jade circled back on them for another pass and once again lit them ablaze.
One human, the one with the sword, ran away from the rest as fast as he could go. He ran in blind terror, leaving the fellow human’s to their fate. Jade took chase after him. He was the one who brought them here, and she would not let him escape her wrath.
Phillip kicked his legs over the snow as he took off away from the crowd. The cries and screams of pain and terror echoed behind him as the villagers burned in dragon fire. That would not be him, he would get out of here while he still had a chance.
A vicious roar split the air. He barely glanced over his shoulder to see the dragon soaring overhead and right on his tail. Phillip almost wet himself in fear. He ran faster, throwing the sword he stole from Richard aside and letting it fall in the snow forgotten.
He ran out into a clearing without thinking, and the dragon was on him. It swooped down from above like a hawk attacking a frightened rabbit. The dragon reached out with its talons and caught Phillip, the claws dug into his back like enormous meat hooks. He screamed in agony as he was forced down face first into the snow, the dragon’s full weight held him down.
Then with three powerful wing beats, the mighty flying reptile lifted into the air again, carrying Phillip in its clutches. He thrashed and struggled in its grasp, but each twist of his body sent another spike of pain through him. He felt his warm blood seep out from the gouges in his back and down his legs. The dragon flew him back over the crowd of burning villagers, pulled its claws back, and dropped him.
Phillip plummeted from to the ground. His arms and legs flailed in the air as he fell, as if he could stop himself somehow. His heart felt like it was in his throat as the ground and burning bodies came closer with each passing second.
He crashed on a burning corpse, his leg bones snapped upon impact. He lay in the fire in excruciating pain as the flames caught on his clothes. Soon, he was engulfed in fire the same as the others.
Jade watched the humans died in fire below her. Those that had managed to get away ran as fast as they could back down the mountain towards their pitiful village.
She was thrilled, exhilarated in fact. For once in her life she was able to strike back against her oppressors, and it felt good. Her thirst for blood and vengeance was not satiated with this, she wanted more. She wanted to see them all suffer, watch them all burn. All of them, everywhere, they would all pay for the death of her daughter.
And she would start with this village. With another angling of her wings, she turned away from the dying mob and headed for the small human settlement at the base of the mountain.
Chapter 21
T he room was dark and confined. Richard sat on the closet floor with his back to the wall and his knees pressed up against the door. His hands were bound behind his back and feet tied together at the ankles, a gag wrapped around his mouth.
His face ached all over, and the rest of his body didn’t feel much better either. He struggled and pulled on his bindings, but could not escape. He couldn’t even stand.
What was the point anyways? If the dragon was coming, what did he care anymore? Even after everything he’s done to protect these people, they turned on him, beat him, and left him tied up like this. Why risk his life anymore for people that didn’t respect him?
And besides, what if they did succeed where he failed? What if an angry mob did kill the dragon when he could not? There was no reason to fight anymore.
There was a creak from the outside as the lock came undone. The door slowly pulled open, allowing a narrow pillar of light to fall in. The gap grew wider as the person outside pulled it open. Richard’s
heart began to race. He remembered the threat Phillip gave before they left, and feared they had come back for him. When he saw a hand holding a knife, he thought it was true.
That is until the door opened fully and he saw Rachel standing on the other side. “Richard,” she said, “I’m here to save you.” She knelt down next to him, set the knife on the floor, and untied the gag on his mouth.
Richard gasped for breath as she pulled the dirty rag away. “Rachel! Am I ever glad to see you.” Tears of joy peaked at the corners of his eyes.
She took back up the knife and sawed through the ropes around his ankles. Once they were cut, she helped him stand and cut the ropes around his wrists. She gave a satisfied grunt as the last of the cords snapped and fell away. “There.”
Richard spun around and embraced her. And then, without a second’s thought, he kissed her. Only after their lips parted and he saw the startled look on her face did he realize what he’d done. “Oh!” He released her and stepped back, averting his gaze. His face turned red from embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Rachel said, a joyful smile on her face. “I enjoyed it.” She stepped over to him and placed her hand in his. Then, looking into his eyes, she graced his lips again with her own.
Richard had never felt so happy in his life. With Rachel in his arms and her soft delicate lips against his, this must be heaven. “Come on,” she said after they parted again, “we need to get out of this place.”
“Why?” He asked, his mind still in a daze. But as they stepped outside he heard it on the wind, the angry roar of a vicious dragon. He looked up at the mountain with horror, all the color ran from his face. “It’s coming back.”
The Last Stand of the Dragon Page 10