The Great Losing: The Mad Dragon King (The World of Shestafa )

by Karine Green

  "Say when," she said. She lit the Molotov and leaned down in the saddle holding it ready.

  "When!"

  She threw the Molotov. It crashed on the ground by the enemy knights. He flew in landing between those he considered his troops and the enemy. He blew the flames from the Molotov, engulfing the enemy troops. Their saddles burned. The men fell off their dragons, burning, and then rolling on the ground to put the flames out. The Stone Dragons were unscathed by this incident. They stared at him with looks that suggested they didn’t know what to do.

  "Don't just stand there, your oppressors are gone. Run! The North route is open for you to return home, or you can head to that barn and join the Elementals in our effort to restore peace." Mack pointed toward the main training barn, remembering to use his tail to point like other dragons do.

  The Stone Dragons cheered, and all ran toward the barn to await further instruction.

  Terra and LeVa ran up to him and bowed. Their riders bowed as much as their braces would allow them.

  He nodded for them to rise.

  "Majesty, we are so relieved to see you. The attack started this morning, after sunrise. They knew you were here but were unaware you left until the battle was under way," Terra said looking up at Arlen who was circling high. "I see you found him."

  "Where are Wren and Shway?" LeVa asked noticing that Arlen was alone up there.

  "Safe with Méi," Mack said, looking up, and then turning back to the sisters. "Where is Sarnia, Arlen would be crushed, again, if anything happened to her." He was starting to worry that Arlen was on the verge of experiencing too much grief. He would become like Arthouro.

  "Safe with Yogan and Luca back in your barn. Yogan warned us. He braved the mountain lakes and streams to save us, or we would have been surprised. Your reverse spy plan worked perfectly," Terra explained.

  Mack nodded. "Warn the knights to stay back from the West Gate. The Earth Minister will liquefy the ground, and swallow the troops." He tried not to think about the fact that Terra and LeVa had left the mother of a hybrid dragon with the one dragon who could turn her over to the Mad King to get his village pups back. He calmed himself. Yogan was yellow - he is a friend, and he was Sarnia's uncle.

  I have to believe he will protect her. Paranoia cannot be allowed in my head, it’s just like Romayo says, past actions warrant consideration, not assumption. He forced the thought out of his mind.

  "Man, they can run fast," Mack said.

  "They can't fly so they have to run fast," Misty said patting his neck.

  He took off, and circled high, out of arrow range and joined Arlen. They saw Dunia low crawling up behind the reinforcement troops coming from the west. She paused, planted her feet and roared a terrible roar at the ground. The ground shook and the men were swallowed up by it like soft mud in a bayou. The ground left no trace they were ever there.

  "Mack!" Misty called. "There is a knight over there having trouble. He has a large metal press behind him. If I motion to him to lie flat, will you blow the enemy into the press?" She pointed to a knight attempting the most valiant but futile sword fight Mack had seen. It looked like he had been trying to defend the dragon pup school. He was far too outnumbered to win. Mack admired his no surrender attitude, despite the obvious reality of his eventual loss.

  Mack smiled as he recognized the knight. There was no way he could win without the help of a dragon. How ironic. He nodded. "Do it," he said circling around.

  "Hold on, I'll just grab him while you blow them in," Arlen said, swooping down, grabbing the knight with his hind paws, and then flying off.

  Mack flew in behind the enemy knights and used his dragon's breath to blow them into the press, impaling them on the press peg-work.

  Within twenty minutes, the battle was over, and because Mack could not escape the villager's celebration, Dunia headed back to let Méi know it was safe to return.

  Much to Mack's relief Yogan and Sarnia came running out of the main barn. "Arlen," Sarnia yelled. Sarnia ran over and head-butted Arlen hard. "I am so happy to see you, you stupid idiot."

  "Thanks, I think," he said head-butting her back, then going one step further and nipping her paw. She immediately nipped his paw back.

  Yogan, knelt briefly to Mack, the others following his lead. "Majesty, your plan worked perfectly. We could stage a rescue of the village pups once we found out this foolish day raid was planned. They fell for it in every way."

  "Excellent," Mack said, heaving a sigh of relief and worry at the same time. It was emotionally exhausting to be king.

  The knight Arlen saved walked up and bowed to Mack before turning to kneel on one knee to Arlen. "I would like to thank your Majesty Makani and Great Dragon Arlen for saving me."

  Arlen smiled. "You are welcome."

  Mack smiled. "What is your name Knight?"

  "Ridder, Your Majesty," he said.

  "Arlen, Ridder-Your-Majesty was looking for a dragon willing to ride with him."

  "Hey, I need a rider. How are you at throwing things?" Arlen asked, perking up and pointing his ears straight forward. “After seeing how well Zeke defended Dunia, and how Misty's participation allowed you to take your dragon's breath to the next level, I have to have a rider, and this guy has guts. Maybe humans aren’t as snackable as I thought.”

  Mack frowned. “Aren’t as snackable? That isn’t how you convince a capable human to ride with you.”

  Ridder looked awestruck. “I am okay…not looking snackable. And I still want to ride.”

  "What? I am supposed to get my own saddle?" Arlen asked, half-serious, half-sarcastic.

  "No, Great Dragon. I will get it," Ridder said, running off with Yogan following him.

  "Make sure you get one that matches my stripes! I don't like clashing. Not a red one. It'll make me cross-eyed."

  Mack smirked.

  Arlen looked at him and arched his back up in what Mack would later learn was a sarcastic dragon's shrug. Sarnia rolled her eyes.

  Arlen continued to grin. "I seriously don't want to clash," he said, walking over and brushing her cheek again. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to be strange that night, it was just a strange night."

  "Let's talk later," Sarnia said, allowing him to brush her cheek and neck while she purred. “In private.”

  Arlen nodded, backing out of his embrace, and sitting down on his hindquarters.

  Ridder came back with Luca and Yogan in tow. He had a dark blue saddle, a compound bow, a long lance, and several shorter, sharp javelins. “Luca said to leave the mace in the weapons closet.”

  Luca nodded. “He is the exact opposite of the other Elemental riders.”

  Mack agreed. Ridder was tall, muscular, and like Arlen, overconfident in himself and his looks. They would be a good match, or a disaster for females of both species in the village.

  Luca looked torn emotionally at seeing Arlen. "Knight, you are aware this dragon ate two Knights and maimed two others."

  Ridder nodded. "I am, I am also now aware of the dangerous way they approached him. And, I have not forgotten how he allows the elders and the sick children to openly use his healing pool. He saved my life. Dragons aren't vicious by nature; they just do what they do when you violate their trust."

  "Ridder, before you put that on my back -- I have a son and daughter, Wren and Shway. Do you acknowledge the top priority is them before you saddle me? If you have a choice to save me or them, you save them, not me. You don't allow them to be taken to another world. You find a place to hide and train them as dragons here in the great nation of Shestafa. I don't care if it's this village or Blue Valley- choose the safest one. That is my only condition," Arlen said more as a statement than a question.

  Ridder smiled. "Yes, Great Dragon, and I can do one better than that. Sarnia has been training me in the main barn's nursery. At first, I thought it was a waste of time, but as I dealt with the little dragon pups, I realized how rewarding it was to teach them. I can't wait to continue with that. Honestly, it was my only
reservation about becoming a rider again. I didn't want to lose the little ones. I will defend them with my life."

  Sarnia smiled and nodded. "It's true. He has been one of my best human helpers. When the invasion occurred, he drove them back from the main barn that’s how he was cornered by the enemy. I was able to get the pups to safety. He would fight to the death for us."

  Mack smiled; none of Ridder's former arrogance was there regarding dragons. He seemed to have gained a true appreciation for the Stone Dragons, which would only grow because of Arlen's connection to them. He smiled, there was already an Elemental/Common Dragon Alliance; Arlen's pups and his connection to South Dragons Ridge. And he would choose Yogan to be the King's Minister of South Dragons Ridge because he was already bringing balance to the area.

  "Excellent," Arlen said, turning to expose his back. Ridder stood up and put the saddle on, securing the straps, and then standing back for the under strapping.

  "Oh," Mack said, pointing at Arlen. "You have to do the under-strapping. Only Dragons are strong enough to secure it all the way. Otherwise, it takes four or five humans to do it," he said feeling happier than he had in a long time.

  Arlen secured it, then asked Mack. "Can you walk Sarnia over to the main training range?"

  Mack nodded. He smiled as he started toward the range with Sarnia walking next to him.

  Ridder secured himself in the saddle, and Arlen took off flying. Ridder looked like a new life had been breathed into him, and had not just been losing a battle that surely would have cost him his life.

  Luca leaned over to Mack. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

  Mack nodded, but it was Misty who spoke up. "Dragons and riders must choose each other. We cannot intervene. If they can't work together anymore, that is also a decision for them. As much as we would like to protect them both, we cannot take that part of their freedom away. It's one thing to have to learn to work with people you don't like on a temporary basis. It's quite another to have to embed yourself into their life."

  "Indeed," Mack nodded again. “As you just heard, I made the perfect choice for a king’s rider, despite her youth. So, let us put that matter to rest once and for all. Come on, let's head to the..." He turned to head toward the range, but an enormous crowd was in the way.

  They all dropped to their knees and bowed low. Mack motioned for them to get up. The Chancellor of South Dragons Ridge came forward, with his face downcast and his hands up in thanks.

  "Thank you, Oh Great Dragon King. Please, help us gather an army and vanquish the Mad Dragon King while he is down to a few hundred men,” Chancellor Lewick said, raising his eyes to look directly at Mack.

  "What about the rest of the..." Mack paused, suddenly remembering what happened in Blue Valley. "…I think more to the point we need to find out why he came after four dragons - who were awake and not sleeping in the bed - with only a handful of men who were untrained at dealing with flying dragons.

  The Chancellor nodded. “They never even looked up.”

  “I fear he may be on his way somewhere else with the battle-hardened army. If you remember, he defeated us before while sleeping. This attack was ill-timed. Come walk with me to the range, so we can consider this further." The crowd parted for him as he made his way to the range with Sarnia. The Stone Dragons walked close, but were careful to walk two steps behind him. "Sarnia, my Minister of Youth Education should walk next to me when the Queen or the Earth Dragon Minister isn't present. The Chancellor this side, where you are at. Is that correct. I haven't reviewed that protocol yet."

  The chancellor nodded, "It is correct, Majesty."

  Good grief! Where to walk? He really should sit down with that boring scroll this evening. Sarnia nodded and caught up to walk in step with him. The Chancellor didn't need to move. He was already where Mack had asked him to walk.

  Luca, walking a step behind the Chancellor looked concerned now that the ill-planned attack strategy had been pointed out to him. "Yes, they hardly even caused damage, just the Northern gate, and tower. Do you suppose we were a second thought...a distraction? That was less than five hundred men for the enemy."

  Mack nodded. "One of two things: First, one of the Mad King's underlings jumped the gun, umm, acted too soon," he said, remembering that Luca would have no idea what a gun was. "Or, more probable, the attack on South Dragons Ridge was a distraction, for the real invasion elsewhere. We need someone to find out if the attack delayed us from returning to Blue Valley."

  "We will tell you." One of the liberated Stone Dragons came forward. "He left with his entire army about two weeks ago, something about Blue Valley and hunting Elemental Dragons." He shrugged, by arching his back up.

  “Thank you,” Mack acknowledged him. “The White Witch is there- protecting Blue Valley.”

  "The White Witch will easily defeat him. He is no match for her...not alone. I guess he should have stayed home if he wanted to find the Elemental Dragons. My guess would be that the Captains left in charge of North Dragons Ridge thought they could pillage the village and get back before the King... I mean before the Mad King returned. I am almost positive the Captains didn’t know you would be here. They never mentioned Elementals during the battle prep. It was all talk of grabbing human women for breeding soldiers and Stone Dragon pups for training."

  Mack nodded.

  "This is The Great Dragon King, Makani. Who are you?" Luca asked, keeping a stone face

  "I am Negalsic." The Stone dragon bowed low to Mack. "Thank you again for freeing us. We will offer any assistance we can."

  "I am pleased to meet you Negalsic, you may rise," Mack said trying not to sound impatient with all the bowing. All these pleasantries were annoying him. Sometimes he missed being plain old Timothy Makani the Forgotten. "Do you know how many troops he left behind?"

  "I think you just skewered, toasted, and buried, at least, ninety percent of them. I'll bet the Brown Witch is having fits. She tends to the dragons, and I am sure someone has already sent her a bird on the matter. She and the Red Wizard went with the Mad King," Negalsic said almost bucking like a bronco with joy. "Forgive me, but we are very jovial about this. We are crying with joy to sleep in a real dragon's barn tonight. And, overcome with giddiness at the thought of the Brown Witch being upset. She constantly disappears with the young. We do not understand what she does with them."

  Mack nodded. "Thank you Negalsic. I am sure you'll find life here in South Dragons Ridge much more pleasant. Luca, I think you have some new recruits," he said, smiling as he came up to the training range, just as Arlen zoomed in low. Ridder nailed a faux enemy horse/knight with a javelin knocking it over while Arlen froze a group of faux knights at the end of the field. Ridder took out his bow and shot the faux knights. They exploded with ice flying everywhere. The crowd cheered.

  The crowd spread to let Dunia and Méi land. Wren spread his wings out on the saddle between Suki and Méi's neck. Shway was riding with Dunia and Zeke. They landed next to Mack. He rubbed his cheek on hers. The pups ran over to Sarnia, climbing up her legs to lick the top of her head.

  Sarnia giggled. "I am happy to see you too, my pups."

  The villagers threw a victory party in the village square, with a huge roast, and for the first time since before the Great Losing, dragons and humans attended the same celebration in South Dragons Ridge. Some of the older teen Stone Dragons were having fun with a bucking game, throwing the rider applicants off their backs.

  Several mentioned how fun it was to play without worrying that the knights would try to saddle them. The rider applicants had relished in the opportunity to ride a dragon with no strings attached, or more to the point, not losing a limb. Luca and Lewick were already having an off-the-record meeting about forbidding rider contracts until both the rider and dragons had been fully trained to work together. This opened up a whole new area of combined practice that would make South Dragons Ridge’s defenses even stronger than they already were.

  There was a dance by the main dragon ba
rn. Mack smiled as he watched Misty slow dance with Zeke, who was still too unstable on his leg brace to even dream of trying regular dancing yet. Mack went over to Méi, who was still chatting with Sarnia and Dunia at the dragons' head table.

  "I think Misty likes Zeke," he said sitting next to Méi.

  Dunia watched them dance over her shoulder. He was holding Misty tightly by the waist with his forehead leaning on hers. "If she breaks him, I'll be really angry."

  Méi and Mack laughed, enjoying the rest of the celebration, and that, for the moment, everything felt normal.

  The Dragon Hoard

  The next day all four Elemental Dragons and their riders set out to return to Blue Valley. Mack had officially appointed Yogan as King's Minister to South Dragons Ridge, and Terra and LeVa as his assistants. The human village council had been pleased with the appointments because Yogan had already helped them gain control of some unruly Stone Dragons. Although, Mack was sure they were planning to invade and take over the castle at North Dragons Ridge with their new-found alliance.

  More power to them, he thought as South Dragons Ridge became smaller and smaller every time he looked back.

  The pups rode with Dunia and Méi. Sarnia, with Arlen, who had a new saddle; one that hauled a dragon and a rider, because she refused to allow the pups or Arlen out of her sight for that long. She had to go to Blue Valley with them or go insane.

  They had warned her that Blue Valley had a lot of lakes and rivers, there were no desert or volcanoes around. She was nervous about it, but then she mentioned she was mated to a Water Dragon. Perhaps she had better find a way to deal with the water, especially with Shway and her step-son being half Water Dragon.

  Mack carried Arlen and Ridder's normal saddle, which he would need for battle. He was concerned about the fact that they had not seen any sign of the Mad King’s massive army. An army that big didn't move fast, and it would leave traces of where it had camped. Even if they’d cleaned up, they still would have trampled the ground. That meant Dunia would have seen something, but there was nothing.