by Alyse Zaftig
June peered through the back window and watched as a mad dash of human ants scrambled to assess the situation.
“I’ll be back for the rest of your women,” he seethed.
The alarm sounded quickly in the cliffs. The dragons were screeching their warning cries as the vessels approached.
“What’s going on?” Madeleine asked amid the commotion.
“The smugglers are heading straight for us,” Javelin said. “Take Delilah and the other women and hide in the chambers. The rocks will keep you safe.”
“The smugglers? They’re after gold. Where is it? I’ll throw it all to them.”
“They’re not after gold. Part of the settlement is on fire.”
“Which part?” she shrieked.
“We can’t tell yet. Please hide and protect your belly.” He kissed her hard and pressed his forehead against hers. “Whatever happens, you have made me the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“Whatever happens? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Delilah came running by and grabbed her, pulling her back towards the others. They didn’t make it far before lasers started hitting the floor, ricocheting against every surface. The smugglers were aiming all their weapons at the large entry point, sending the upper pieces crumbling to the ground and creating enough space for Captain Badeed’s vessels to hover inside the structure.
“Madeleine,” he called out. “Darlin’ come out come out wherever you are. I was so nice to you and you’re causing me a lot of trouble.”
A young dragon dove towards them with a steady stream of fire until one of the smugglers dragged June to the front of the craft.
“June!” Madeleine screamed as she ran towards her sister.
“There you are,” Captain Badeed said. “I thought you’d like to see what you’ve been missing.” He threw June on the ground in front of the open bay of the ship and yanked her skirt up past her hips, tearing her panties in the process. “All of you human women should be ashamed of yourselves. I don’t know what kind of shit these reptiles have told you, but I’m here to set the record straight. We are the ruling group on this planet and these creatures can't do a thing about it. I will ensure the propagation of my spectacular DNA and you will thank me for it.”
June struggled against his grasp as he spit his saliva between her legs for lubrication. She screamed and kicked at him, trying her hardest to break free. One kick was hard enough to stab him with the corner of the hook that remained trapped in her calf. He recoiled in pain.
Before he could steady himself, flashes of green and black struck the ship from all sides as the dragons made their move. June managed to pull herself forward and reached out for help, but the hook in her leg still had its original cord and was looped in place around a metal chair. Madeleine instinctively rushed forward and tried to reach her sister’s hand, but the round-faced man tilted the ship enough for another smuggler to grab her by the hair and yank her aboard the ship.
“Aim at the rocks! Fry that moss!” Captain Badeed ordered.
“Take out the thrusters,” a dragon shouted as they all began returning flames for every flash of laser.
Blood covered the floor of the main hall as lasers nicked flesh and bits of rock tumbled down on those scrambling for cover.
“Higher!” Captain Badeed shouted. “I want to see this place crumble.”
The younger dragons began to steadily dive bomb the vessels, sending them off balance with each hit while the lasers continued to do their damage. One of the ships caught the corner of a rock, sending it crashing down to the ground below. Flames and claws easily finished off any survivors. The men in the second vessel saw what happened to their comrades and quickly used their thrusters to exit the cliffs, leaving Captain Badeed to fight with one ship.
“You pussies!” he shouted when he realized they had retreated. He knew the dragons wouldn’t crash his ship with the women on board.
Madeleine knew this too. She had quietly untied the cord from the hook trapped in June’s flesh. She motioned for her sister to follow her closer to the open bay door. “We’ll have to climb over and hang onto the edge.” June nodded in agreement and squeezed her sister’s hand. “On three,” she mouthed.
One.
Two.
Three.
The women rushed forward and slid towards the edge. Madeleine’s body cleared first and she managed to hook her fingers around the door’s lift mechanism. June struggled with her injury and wound up dangling on the very edge.
“Fuck those women,” Badeed growled, trying to close the door and shake them loose. “We gave you a chance. All you had to do was follow the rules. You had to go on and ruin things with your dragons and your fucking moss!”
The bay door was slowly lifting up, pinching Madeleine’s fingers in the process. “Now, June! Let go!”
They released simultaneously, dropping quickly towards the earth. Madeleine shut her eyes tightly and braced for impact. Javelin used every ounce of strength in his legs to spring up, catching air before his enormous wings extended fully and flapped with enough force to propel him up with lighting speed. He tucked his head in time for Madeleine to land behind his shoulders with a soft thud. “Hold on,” Javelin said.
“Beast Lightning can fly again,” a voice called out.
Her hands recognized the skin beneath her before he even spoke. Madeleine knew her dragon. She exhaled with relief when she saw June being carried by Mykos. The dragons delivered their precious cargo softly on the ground where Zara was waiting to usher them to a safe hiding spot.
Now that the women were off the ship, every dragon lined up in preparation of lighting up Captain Badeed and his merry band of scumbags. A wall of flames surrounded the ship, causing the metal to pop and weaken against the heat. Javelin’s wings flapped hard to keep him steady as he breathed a steady stream of fire until the smell of singed flesh filled the air.
Captain Badeed tried to get the ship to duck and weave, but fire and razor-sharp talons met him from every angle. He had no other choice but to try and escape through the original opening. He tried to destroy everything in his path on the way out. Light globes melted, one elevator came crashing to the ground, and flesh bled as he aimed indiscriminately. He cleared the entrance, but they gave chase until his ship crashed into the side of the cliffs. The explosion echoed throughout the structure, sending small tremors through the walls.
All that remained was a damaged, but alive tribe. Several of the dragons flew to protect the colony in case other smugglers were in the vicinity preparing for a sneak attack. One spacecraft had escaped. They could end up anywhere undetected since large parts of the planet were still unexplored. No one cared as long as they never returned.
“You flew. I knew you could,” Madeleine whispered in Javelin’s ear when he returned from the fight.
“Are you hurt? Is your belly still vibrating?”
Madeleine placed both hands on her tummy and said, “She’s fine.”
“She?”
“I have no idea why I just said that. It just … I know it’s a she.”
Javelin picked her up and held her tight, rocking from side to side. “You gave me my flight back.”
“You never lost it,” she said. “It was just waiting for you to be ready.”
As he embraced his mate, Zara caught his eye and she gave him a knowing wink. It was always within you.
Epilogue
Over the next few days, Zara prepared salves for the wounded and the tribe got busy repairing all the damage. June stayed within the cliffs to heal and enjoyed the time with Mykos acting as her willing tour guide. He helped her collect samples of every lifeform native to the structure from the moss to the dirt, and even the rocks themselves. She had also shared a gentle kiss with her suitor. Mykos believed he had found his forever mate, but he had no plans to rush her and busied himself with flirting and spoiling her with moss smoothies and bouquets.
Delilah and Lagos became the proud parents of a beautifu
l baby girl. She kept them on their toes as they learned all the challenges of raising a child who could fly at will or set things on fire with a common case of the hiccups.
Javelin and Madeleine welcomed their own daughter and named her Blitz after the German word for lightning. Beast Lightning had become a nickname Javelin could be proud of and he wanted to continue the tradition. Madeleine loved being a mother and sailed through the pregnancy, which led her to request another child immediately. Javelin was happy to comply, especially since pregnancy made his mate insatiable in the bedroom. They will not confirm nor deny ever attempting the deed with him in dragon mode.
The dragons offered unlimited supplies of moss, essentially curing the settlement of the cough and fever. Both communities agreed on a long-term plan to move the colony closer to the cliffs, and possibly inside, since co-mingling was now increasing at a rapid pace.
All the couples brought together by Zara that year gave birth to daughters. The drought was over.
More stories are coming from the Dragons of Vizalia. Stay tuned!