Blood Stained Lives (The Blood Stained Saga Book 1)

by Ronald Griffin

  “So you still challenge me, Alexandria. You will not be as lucky this time around,” Galamythe says with a challenging tone.

  Namon looks at Aluana, and sees a vision of her standing before the dragon once before, but in that time she had long, flowing, wavy brown hair, and she wore a dress. Now that her memories have returned, it has become obvious who she is from the way she thought he was Lance and now with Galamythe calling her Alexandria. His girlfriend is actually Alexandria Averett, mother of the original four White Wolves, and the one responsible for imprisoning Galamythe.

  Namon walks over, stands beside her, and kneels into an attack position ready to charge. Brice comes and stands on her other side, patting the head of his war hammer with his hand as he snarls and lets out a threatening growl toward the dragon. Kieran walks around them and stands in front of her with his swords drawn, and growling as well. The three wolves that are in warrior form stand with Aluana in the center of the triangle. Eric, Sierra, and Kaya make their way in front of them. Making a line, they all howl out to signal that they are ready. Aluana looks around at her new friends and the man that she now loves, all ready to protect her.

  “Looks like we out number you, Galamythe. You sure you don't want to give up?” she asks.

  He roars in defiance, blanketing the sky with fire then he brings his head down to bathe all of them in flames. Right before the flames have a chance to reach them, though, Aluana raises her arms, making an ice barrier to block the flames out. She concentrates with everything she has to keep the ice reforming against the heat. When Galamythe feels he has burned all of them to nothing, he stops to see. He is surprised to see they are not only all still alive, but moving in to attack. Brice kneels down to allow Kaya and Sierra to climb onto his shoulders, and he leaps into the air, landing on the dragon's back. They get off his shoulders and both of them head to a different wing, and bite into the meat that connects his wings to his body. Brice starts running along its back, and then leaps into the air with his war hammer held high. As he lands, he brings the hammer down directly on Galamythe's spine. The dragon lets out a painful roar as it falls down to the ground from the resulting impact to his spine, and this puts him at just the right position so that Eric can run in and lunge at his throat, sinking his teeth in. Kieran runs past Galamythe's legs, trying to slash at the tendons on his ankles, but his hide is too tough to penetrate with the blades. He finally tosses them aside, and swipes with his own claws. He slices through the dragon’s hide, and the smell of burning meat fills his nostrils. Aluana uses her powers to freeze his hind legs to the ground so that her friends can continue attacking him.

  Galamythe roars loudly, raises his front legs, and brings them down hard on the ground repeatedly. This knocks Kieran off his feet, and Brice falls off his back, landing on the ground hard and knocking the breath out of him. Eric still barely hangs on with his teeth gripped on the dragon's throat, but that change’s as soon as he starts breathing fire. Eric has his teeth wrapped around the fire sac, so when the dragon breathes fire, his teeth get too warm and he loses his grip. Then Galamythe starts flapping his wings, and it forces Kaya and Sierra off his back. He starts to gain altitude.

  “Brice! Heads up!” Namon says as he runs in Brice's direction.

  Brice turns to face Namon, and laces his fingers together to hoist Namon up. Namon jumps and lands on Brice’s hands, and then Brice tosses him in the dragon's direction. As soon as he lands on the dragon's back, he sinks his claws into his thick hide. Galamythe then flies high into the sky, and then heads toward downtown.

  The people in the streets look to the sky in disbelief at the dragon. They start to panic, and start pushing one another down as they seek refuge indoors. Several people point their cell phones to the sky and video tape the dragon as it lands on the roof of the Ramada Plaza. It bellows fire into the sky, and windows shake from the sound of his roars. Then he leaps from the roof, and, and expands his wings and glides down gently. Namon barely holds on as the dragon then rubs its back against a building, trying to knock him off.

  A woman screams, and this draws the dragon's attention. He looks down at the woman that failed to get to safety in time. The ground shakes from the impact of his steps, and the car alarms start going off. The woman is paralyzed with fear, and he opens his massive jaws, and prepares to swallow the woman whole until sirens start to wail nearby. The police vehicles stop and the officers get out, and a hail of gunfire rains on the dragon. He roars out, and then breathes fire on the police, and this distraction gives the woman just enough time to get away.

  Namon climbs up the dragon's back, and tries to head for one of its wings. The dragon feels the claws penetrating his hide and can feel a slight sizzle, and this irritates him. He flaps his wings and lifts off, heading toward the sky once again. Then he heads toward the direction of the mansion.

  “Why do you try so hard, little wolf? This world isn't for you, so why not give in, and allow me to do as I please?” Galamythe says.

  Namon reaches for one of the wings and holds on tightly.

  “The world will never accept you, wolf. Humans never accept anything that is different from them. So why save them?”

  “Who said I was trying to save them?” Namon says as he grabs his dagger.

  “What is it that you are fighting for, then?”

  “LOVE!”

  Namon presses the button on the dagger, and its teeth spin around. He then brings the blade down on the wing and saws through the dragon's flesh until the wing is detached from his body. The thin membrane under the wing snaps off along with the wing, and Namon falls free from Galamythe.

  “How can this be?” the dragon says as it falls.

  “Compliments of Oz,” Namon yells as he falls.

  The dragon spins as it falls down to the ground. Brice looks up to see Namon free falling in the sky too, so he runs over and catches him right before he can hit the ground. The ground trembles from the impact of the dragon hitting with great force.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “Anytime. So let's do this thing!”

  “You still aren't strong enough to stop me. I still live, little wolf, and I am going to eat you and that bitch.”

  They turn, and everyone runs in the direction of the dragon. Aluana throws shards of ice at the soft tissues under his belly, and pierces the hide. Kieran rushes to Galamythe's back and swings his swords, removing the other wing. The dragon roars out as the very unfamiliar feeling of pain spreads across his body. He tries to breathe fire to try and stun them, but Aluana freezes his mouth shut, and he is unable to move his mouth.

  “Things are a lot different now than they were back then, Galamythe. I have a lot more help now than I did in the past,” Aluana says.

  Namon approaches her, phases back into his human form and takes her hand. Brice picks his war hammer back up and walks towards the dragon. He raises the hammer over his head and brings it down with all the strength in his new form on the dragon's neck. A loud cracking sound occurs, as the spine is broken. Brice drops the big hammer, then walks over, and continuously pounds the neck with the smaller hammer, turning it into mush. Once he gets through the meat, he hits the vertebrae with his hammer and grabs the head, removing it from the rest of the dragon's body.

  “What are you doing, Brice? I do believe he is dead now,” Namon says.

  “I'm putting this bitch's head on my wall.”

  “Dude, you don't have enough room on your wall from that big ass fridge. Besides, there's something you should know about most demons when they die.”

  “What's that?”

  The dragon's body and head burst into flames in Brice's hands.

  “Hot, hot, hot, hot,” Brice says while jumping back.

  He gains a bit of distance between him and the burning corpse, and he phases to human, and drops to the ground and starts rolling around.

  “Stop, drop, and roll, stop, drop, and roll,” he says.

  Everyone else starts laughing so hard it forces th
em to phase back into their human forms. Then Brice gets back on his feet and sees the head still burning.

  “Nooo, my trophy,” he says as he drops to his knees. “It would have been beautiful on the wall, I tell you.”

  Aluana turns to Namon, and kisses him full on the lips.

  “You sure do know how to show a girl a good time, you know,” she says with a huge smile.

  He smiles as well.

  “So who's hungry?” Brice says as he forces his way between them. “I don't know about the rest of you, but I am hungrier than I have been in a long time.”

  “Yeah, we all better go eat before we get weak. Who knows what may pop up next,” Namon says.

  They all start walking in the direction of the gate.

  “Yeah, but we can take anything thrown at us, though, man. You were badass riding that dragon like that. Was it fun? I would have done that for you, but my fat ass needs to stay on the ground,” Brice says.

  “Brice, has anyone told you that you ain't right?” Kieran asks.

  “Every day. I don't listen, though. They don't know what they are talking about.”

  Once they all reach the other side of the gate, squad cars and police officers surround them with their weapons drawn and aimed right for them. Then the mayor gets out of one of the cars.

  “Is the dragon dead? What about Cyrus?” the mayor asks.

  “They are both dead, and all the demons are gone,” Aluana says.

  The mayor lets out a sigh of relief.

  “I'm glad to see that you are safe. Are these friends of yours?”

  “Yes, sir,” she says while taking Namon's hand into hers.

  The mayor notices the smoke in the sky, and peeks around them to see the rubble that was once a mansion.

  “So I take it you have a place to stay then, since the mansion is gone.”

  She nods an acknowledgment.

  “Do you all mind coming downtown to my office to answer some questions?”

  “Can we just skip all of that?” she says.

  “We really need to find out more details about what happened.”

  A loud growling sound draws everyone's attention, and they all look toward Brice.

  “Y'all are keeping me from food. Not a good idea,” he says.

  “Mayor Bowman, do you really want to keep me and my friends from going out to eat? They just took on a full army of demons, slew a dragon, and prevented the possible end of the world.”

  “You've got a point.”

  “We will be there,” she says with a smile.

  “Are you still going to do that charity gig for me? Just wanted to make sure.”

  “Yes, I still am.”

  Then Oz pulls up in the SUV and the back is completely full of pizza boxes. Brice runs over to the car and hugs it.

  “I love you man. Hey wait, how did you drive?” he says to Oz.

  “Seriously Brice? He used his powers to drive a train into an iron gate and you question how he can drive a car?” Namon says.

  Everyone else approaches the car as well.

  “Wow. I did say make yourself useful, buddy,” Namon says with a smirk.

  Aluana takes Namon's hand into hers, leans up, and kisses him again.

  “I don't think I will ever get tired of you doing that,” Namon says.

  “Good, because I love you,” she says with a smile.

  His grin spreads across his face wider than it has ever been before.

  “I love you too.”

  “We better get home if y’all want any of this pizza. Otherwise I’m going to stand right here and eat it all,” Brice says while holding two slices in his hands.

  Namon laughs as everyone else gets into the SUV while he hands

  Aluana a helmet. She puts it on, and they get onto the motorcycle and head home.

  Back in the middle of the field, Galamythe's ashes still sizzle, and flames still flicker across the lawn. Denominos kicks a pile of the ashes and curses while changing into human form.

  “I guess I need to find another way to handle this. Mark my words though I will kill every single one of them if I can help it.”

  Denominos turns and leaves the property, fading into the shadows. At the fire, the flames flicker, and part in one area where Galamythe's stomach was lying. From the flames, a naked woman with long black hair walks out, and looks around herself. She turns, and looks at the ashes that litter the ground behind her, and she smiles. Then she leaves the area as well, also fading into the shadows.

  Later that evening, back at the trailer park, everyone sits around the bonfire and Brice taps the keg as usual. They go about the night just like every other night everyone sitting around the fire.

  “So Namon, not that I am complaining at all, by any means, but what exactly happened to us back there? We were all showing White Wolf traits,” Eric asks.

  Everyone looks at him intensely, all wanting to know the answer to the question.

  “Yeah, and better yet, why didn't you tell us you could change to a different form?” Sierra asks.

  “Well, you guys are White Wolves now. How that happened. I am not sure, but I saw the spirit forms of the previous White Wolves visit each of you before, sort of merging with you. I guess each of them were able to choose you guys based on your character traits because who they merged with makes a lot of sense.”

  Namon reached into his pocket, and pulled out the picture of his parents with all the other White Wolves in their human forms.

  “Katrina chose you, Kaya,” he says.

  Everyone nods in agreement.

  “Yeah you're like our pack mother, and you're always concerned about each of us. You're the caregiver, just like she was,” Brice confirms.

  “Lance chose Kieran, I think because they are both equally balanced with their skills. I mean, Kieran is a great fighter in both of his forms, and he is just as good fighting with his hands as he is with weapons.”

  “Yeah, he is definitely good with his hands,” Sierra says.

  Everyone looks at her, surprised at the comment.

  “Sorry, did I just say that out loud? I didn't mean to,” she says as she turns bright red.

  They all laugh.

  “I think Samayah picked you, Sierra, because you speak your mind, but you're still very considerate of others.”

  The compliment makes her turn even redder if that were possible. Brice steps forward, clapping his hands together.

  “My turn, my turn! What about me?” he says excitedly, like a child.

  “Oh, now that one is definitely obvious,” Namon says.

  “Why, because I'm so handsome?” he says while doing a not-so-sexy pose. “Or because of my quick witted charm?”

  They all laugh at Brice being the typical clown that he is.

  “Clint was the strongest one of the pack. I think he was drawn to your strength.”

  “Hell yeah, that's me. You hear that guys? I'm the strong one.”

  “Yeah, strong smelling,” Kieran says.

  Everyone laughs again, and Brice is caught off guard.

  “Since when did you grow a sense of humor?” Brice asks.

  Then they all get silent when they notice the serious look on Namon's face.

  “Eric, my dad chose you, and there is no question in my mind why. You have been the closest thing I have had to a father since he died. I think he chose you because you are my dad.”

  Eric gets a slight bit teary eyed, but then wipes his eye.

  “Damn, Brice, what did you put in this fire? It's got my eyes burning like crazy.”

  Everyone knows he is just putting on a show, though, and that he was truly touched by Namon's words. They then return to their drinking, and having a good time, and after the night they have all had, they truly deserve it.

  Epilogue

  Hours later, footage of the dragon goes viral on the internet. So many generations of hard work keeping the dark things in the world from becoming general knowledge have pretty much gone down the toilet.
The world has now been exposed to the supernatural, and it all started here in Macon, Georgia. The following morning, Mayor Bowman makes a public announcement concerning the previous night's events.

  “As everyone across the world is now aware, it has been brought to light that dragons really exist. The dragon was stopped before it could cause too much more damage to the city, but I am not at liberty to discuss how this occurred. However, since dragons are real, the question now is what else can be real out there? I will be starting a special investigative team to research this phenomenon and to develop ways to protect us from anything such as this from happening again. Despite my shortcomings as a public servant so far, from this day forward I am rededicated to this beautiful city. I am going to fix all the problems.”

  Cyrus is now gone, and a few weeks later Aluana is able to claim his property and fortune since the paperwork for the property listed her as his adopted daughter. Bet Cyrus didn't anticipate anything like this happening. The ironic thing is that he raised his fortune for the purpose of taking control over humanity, but she, however, has set plans with the mayor to rebuild Central City Park the way it was before. She also funded the mayor's plans for a better Macon without having a fundraiser. One more thing that she has done with this fortune is she has funded the mayor's special Paranormal and Supernatural Investigation team, also known as P.S.I. A headquarters has been built at the far end of Central City Park, which seems appropriate since this is where it all started. The corporation currently seeks anyone or anything with knowledge of the supernatural to join. The mayor extended an invitation to Namon, Aluana, and the White Wolves to join P.S.I. to assist with training new recruits with what they know. They are taking the offer in deep consideration, especially since the job pays significantly more than the meat processing plant, especially since they have been eating more inventory than they are selling since becoming White Wolves. They agreed, but now they are just wanting a little bit of rest from the events of that night.

  A few months later

  Namon and his friends decide to go out together to Whiskey River on the night of its grand reopening. They are really excited to do something as a family outside of the trailer park as well as anxious to see Aluana perform. This will be her first time performing since she won the battle of the bands, and her band become the new house band. She is dressed in the very same outfit she wore the first night she had met Namon. She wants this night to be every bit as much for him as it is for her. If not for him, then who knows how everything would have turned out, and if she would have ever reclaimed her memory at all or had the courage to just leave like she did.