Still, Russ had been dropped absurdly far away from where the dark monsters were thought to be hiding. He knew this was on purpose. Commander Hawkins wanted to make him suffer through several extra days of hiking, but the joke was on the Commander, because Russ enjoyed the hiking. In fact, Russ almost felt sad that the sun was beginning to dip below the western horizon now. He would have been happy to continue on for several more hours, but he figured it was smarter to sleep in the dark and hike when it was light. Thanks to his dragon side, Russ had excellent night vision, but he could still see further in the daylight. Better to be overly cautious, he thought. He didn’t want to do anything to mess up this mission. The sooner he completed his task, the sooner he’d be heading home as a millionaire, finally free to live his life however he damn well chose.
A few hours later, after he made dinner over a campfire and soaked his tired feet in a nearby stream, Russ climbed into his sleeping bag. He didn’t bother to set up his tent. He preferred to enjoy the fresh forest air and fall asleep gazing up at the stars. The tree cover was too thick for him to be able to make out full constellations, but he could still see bright stars twinkling through any gaps in the leaves. Russ fell asleep with a smile on his face, listening to the sound of those leaves rustling in the night breezes.
He awoke with a start several hours later, his heart pounding and his senses on high alert. For a moment, he felt disoriented, but he quickly remembered where he was. He sat up slowly, trying to calm himself. Why did he feel so anxious? Had he been having a bad dream? He looked around, peering into the darkness of the tree trunks. The whole forest was still now. When he’d fallen asleep earlier, the air had been filled with the night songs of birds and insects. Now, only silence filled his ears. Silence and the sound of his own breath, coming rapid and heavy.
His skin prickled the way it always did when he knew he was being watched. Russ breathed in deeply, trying to smell anything unusual in the air. All he could make out were normal forest smells: damp leaves, peaty earth, and woodsy tree trunks. Not even a scent of bear or mountain lion to explain the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Russ briefly considered lying down again and attempting to sleep a bit more, but the feeling of something being “off” was too strong. If Russ had learned one thing during the Dark War, it was to always trust your gut. And so, he slowly climbed out of his sleeping bag and stood. He turned around in a small circle, smelling, listening, and watching. He was just about to give up and concede that perhaps this time his gut was misleading him, when it happened.
A voice shouted into the air, and although Russ couldn’t make out the exact words being spoken, he knew enough to recognize that the voice belonged to a wizard yelling out a magic spell. A split-second later he saw a blinding flash of light fill the air, and he was knocked to the ground. A searing pain shot through his back, and he tasted dirt and leaves from where his face had landed on the forest floor. Thankfully, it seemed he had survived the blow with all of his teeth intact.
He had been stunned by the impact for a brief moment, but he quickly regained his senses. He hopped to his feet with a loud roar, and immediately started to shift into dragon form. He had no idea why he was being attacked out here in the middle of nowhere, but he wasn’t going to waste time pondering the matter right now. He was going to give his attacker hell and ask questions later.
Russ’s clothes tore away from his body in shreds as his dragon form began to take over. His human flesh gave way to his thick, iridescent dragon hide. His scales were a deep green, but they shimmered in shades of blue, purple, orange, and even pink when the moonlight caught them. Russ’s head morphed into a large dragon shape, with sharp horns and sharper teeth growing out in a matter of seconds. On his back, wings sprouted, quickly growing to the size of a small car. A sharp, spiked tail appeared, and Russ whipped it back and forth, warning anyone that if they approached him from behind there would be painful consequences.
His transformation complete, Russ swung his giant dragon head back and forth, looking for his attackers. Smoke curled up from his nostrils as he tried to smell his enemy, but still nothing smelled unusual. Whoever they were, they must be using masking scents or a masking spell to cover their smell. They had given away their presence when they attacked, but now they had pulled back. Why? It didn’t make sense to attack and then suddenly disappear. All they had done was lose the element of surprise.
Russ peered into the darkness of the trees, his whole dragon form tense. He flexed the claws on his feet, ready to pounce or to swipe. Something big was about to happen. He could feel it. For a full minute, he stood there waiting. The seconds that ticked by felt like an eternity, but Russ forced himself to remain still. He thought he understood now. They were trying to draw him into the woods. They had set some sort of trap for him in there. What it might be, he could not imagine, but he was not going to fall for it. He had nerves of steel. He could outwait them easily.
It didn’t take long for them to cave and rush into the clearing again. Sudden shouts filled the air, followed by more flashes of light. Russ roared and breathed out a stream of fire as he spun in a quick circle, doing his best to hold back the attackers whom he still couldn’t see. The flashes of light were blinding him, making it hard to see anything else in the darkness. At least he knew that his attackers were wizards. Whoever they were, they were not being shy about using magic. Luckily for Russ, dragon hide was thick enough to protect against most magic spells. He could feel the sharp pulses of energy hit him as wizard after wizard launched their attack spells at him, but none of them had been able to hit him in any vulnerable spots.
At least not yet. Russ knew that he could not hold off a group like this forever. There were too many of them, and each wizard seemed to be shooting off a constant stream of attack spells. One of them was bound to eventually hit him somewhere where it hurt. He had to start taking them out, but how could he do that when he couldn’t even see them?
He doubled down on his fire-breathing efforts. He breathed out longer, hotter streaks of fire, hoping to hit someone yet all the while fearing that he was going to set some of the nearby trees on fire. A forest fire would flush out the wizards, but Russ didn’t want to ruin so much beautiful nature because a bunch of obnoxious wizards were trying to attack him for god only knew what reason.
Russ had a sudden flashback to the night that Saul’s men had taken him captive. His stomach lurched uncomfortably at the thought, but he quickly calmed himself. He wasn’t as naïve now as he’d been back then. He knew wizards existed. He knew what evils wizards and shifters were capable of when they were drawn away by a lust for power. He was better prepared.
When he thought about evil men lusting for power, Russ instantly understood what was going on. He knew, as surely as he knew that he was a dragon shifter, that Commander Hawkins was behind this. The pieces fell into place in Russ’s mind as he continued to turn circles, breathing fire out into the darkness of the trees.
Commander Hawkins hadn’t just ended Russ’s training early to get rid of him, or to be a jerk. He had done it to lure Russ away from the relative safety of the city of Torch Lake. Out here in the middle of the wilderness, it would be easy enough to kill Russ off and make it look like it had been an accident of some sort. Russ’s body might just disappear, never to be found again. Or perhaps Commander Hawkins would find a way to make it look as though Russ had lost in a fight with one of the dark monsters. There were countless ways to explain away a dragon’s sudden disappearance. Which one was Commander Hawkins planning to use?
It doesn’t matter what he plans to do, Russ thought angrily. Because I’m not going to let him win.
Russ let out a long roar, and then ran straight into the forest. He knew it was a trap of some sort, but he didn’t care. If Commander Hawkins wanted to play, then Russ would play. He wasn’t afraid of anything that man could throw at him. Russ refused to hold back or run away in fear from such an asshole.
As soon as Russ left the small clearing where
he’d been sleeping, he heard the shouting around him intensify. He could now tell that it sounded like it was coming from above him. Were the attacking wizards hiding up in the trees? Perhaps they were up there with broomsticks, ready to fly away at a moment’s notice if it looked like the battle wasn’t going their way. Cowards.
Russ strained his neck upward, preparing to breathe angry fire into the treetops, when an awful stench filled his dragon nostrils and stopped him in his tracks. He would know that smell anywhere. Dark monsters.
The dark monsters, simply put, smelled like death. There was no better way to explain it. Russ had seen them from far off when he’d been a prisoner in Saul’s dungeons. He knew some of his fellow prisoners had fought some of the dark monsters off when the war had ended and they had been released from the jail cells. Russ himself had not come across any of them during his escape from Saul’s headquarters, which he’d been glad of at the time. Back then, he’d just wanted to get as far away from that place as he could. Now, Russ wished he’d taken time to stop and hunt down the dark monsters before leaving. Perhaps if he and his fellow prisoners had done that, there wouldn’t have been enough dark monsters left for them to breed and cause further trouble. No one had known, though, that the monsters would survive so well on their own, let alone that their population would explode.
Now, it seemed, Russ was about to have his chance to kill off a dark monster or two. Maybe more, by the smell of it. Russ felt his stomach recoil at the stench, but he forced himself to keep moving forward. How was it possible that the wizards above him weren’t fainting from the smell? It nearly overpowered even a giant dragon like Russ. The wizards must have been using some sort of spell that blocked the smell. Russ breathed out another stream of fire, and this time, by the glow of the flames, he made out the form of two dark monsters ahead of him. The creatures were giant, nearly as tall as some of the trees surrounding them. They looked like a cross between an ape and a man, and were covered in slime from head to toe. Russ breathed another blast of fire to get a better look. He saw two pairs of glowing yellow eyes blinking back at him. The awful creatures pawed at the air, roaring in anger as they tried to get to Russ. But despite their anger, and their attempts to charge at him like a mad dog, the creatures did not move forward. They could not get away from the trees they were standing next to, it seemed.
They’re tied up.
Russ felt the taste of bile in his mouth as he realized that Commander Hawkins had gone to the trouble of capturing dark monsters alive just to bring them here, where they could be used as weapons against Russ. Commander Hawkins was a Torch Lake government official. He was sworn to protect the good wizards and dragons, and that meant immediately killing off any dark monsters he came across. It also meant protecting the dragons who were recruited to come work in Torch Lake. Instead, it looked like Commander Hawkins was using the dark monsters to kill. And it looked like several wizards had been recruited to join in on the effort. Russ wondered if the wizards in the trees above him were all traitors from Torch Lake, or if Commander Hawkins had somehow lured them away from other wizarding towns. Not that it mattered that much. Either way, Russ had in front of him proof that evil still had a foothold in the hearts of many. He hadn’t seen any shifters yet, but he was willing to bet that there were some hiding in the shadows of these forests, awaiting Commander Hawkins’ orders to attack.
Russ realized that he hadn’t actually seen Commander Hawkins, and yet he was still blaming this whole situation on him. Normally, Russ was the kind of person who liked to see cold, hard proof before he accused someone of wrongdoing. But he knew deep in his heart that this was the work of Commander Hawkins. He couldn’t explain how, but he could feel the Commander’s presence behind this attack. Besides, it was the only explanation that made sense. Russ had no enemies that he knew of, other than the Commander.
Well, if he wants to play, then I’ll play.
The wizards above him had started attacking again in earnest. Shouts filled the air as beams of powerful light rained down through the air and collided with Russ’s dragon hide. He ignored them as best he could. First, he would take care of killing off these two dark monsters. Then, he would deal with the wizards. The dark monsters should be easy enough, since they were tied up. Russ figured the wizards must have done that to keep the monsters from attacking their own ranks. Dark monsters weren’t known for being intelligent or loyal, and were nearly impossible to train. If loosed, they tended to attack any living thing in their path, which included wizards, of course.
But Russ was not afraid of them. He knew his dragon fire would easily destroy them. The only way a dark monster could kill a dragon was to catch one by complete surprise, and do mortal harm before the dragon had a chance to fight back with fire. These dark monsters were not taking anyone by surprise today. Confidently Russ moved forward, taking in a deep breath and preparing to unleash it as fire into the faces of the dark monsters. When he was nearly within firing range, though, he was startled by a sudden, loud chorus of screams.
He saw beams of light shooting toward the monsters, which confused him. Magic spells weren’t an effective way to kill off a dark monster, and, besides, why would the wizards want to kill the monsters they had brought here to attack Russ. None of it made sense. Russ hesitated for a moment, waiting to see how the dark monsters would react to the wizards attack. That hesitation was nearly his undoing. He realized in the next instant that the wizards hadn’t been attacking the dark monsters. They’d been slicing through the bonds holding the dark monsters back. All of a sudden, the two dark monsters were rushing toward Russ at full speed.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. Russ heard more shouting behind him, and the telltale pounding of heavy feet. There had been more dark monsters than just these two, of course. The wizards had waited until Russ felt a tiny bit relaxed, and then they had released all of the dark monsters. Dozens of them, if the sound of their pounding feet was any indication. Russ now understood why the wizards were all hiding out in trees. No one would want to be in the path of this many dark monsters. Not even a dragon.
But Russ had little choice. He had willingly walked into this trap, and now he had to deal with the consequences. With a roar, he released the fire breath he’d been holding directly onto the two dark monsters that were running toward him. As expected, the dragon fire stopped them in their tracks. They screamed in pain, their giant slimy hands reaching up to hold their heads as though that would somehow lessen the impact of the fire eating away at their flesh. But it was too late for them, they were already melting away, unable to fight or to threaten Russ any further.
Not a bad start to the fight for Russ, but he still had a lot of work to do. With another roar, he whirled around to breathe more fire onto the dark monsters he knew were coming up behind him. His heart sank when he realized there were at least twice as many attacking him from behind as he had thought there would be. At the same time, he heard more shouts from the direction he’d just turned from. More dark monsters were being released. This was going to be one shit show of a fight.
The next several minutes were a blur. Russ spun in circles, continuing to breathe out fire as hard and as fast as he could. But for every dark monster he burned down, two more seemed to pop up in its place. He had never seen anything like this, and he even questioned for a moment whether he was mistaken to think this was Commander Hawkins’ work. How could one measly wizard commander get this many dark monsters here to these woods, bound and ready to be released at the exact place where Russ had decided to hunker down for the night.
As soon as Russ asked himself the question. He knew the answer.
Dark magic. Commander Hawkins is dabbling in dark magic.
The realization sent a freezing chill down Russ’s spine, making even his hot dragon form shiver. Using dark magic was an unpardonable offense in the wizard world. It always had been, as far as Russ understood, but the punishment for dabbling in dark spells was meted out swifter than ever before these days. Af
ter the last great war, none of the wizard High Councils were taking any chances. Dark magic could not be allowed to rise again. And yet, Commander Hawkins had brazenly used dark magic to get these dark monsters here, and all these wizards knew. There was no other explanation for it.
Russ spun faster and faster, breathing out flames quicker than he ever had before. And still, he felt cold. He had been so secure in his home back in Chicago, thinking dark magic would never be able to touch him again. Yet here he was, beginning to worry that he might actually have some difficulty getting himself out of this situation alive.
No! he thought. I must not let them kill me. I have to survive. I have to live to tell the High Council back in Torch Lake that one of their Commanders is using dark magic!
Russ realized as he had this thought that he still had no proof that this was Commander Hawkins work. He would worry about that later, though. He would find proof when this battle was over. For now, he just had to stay alive.
Russ could feel himself growing weary, but he did not let himself slow down. He drew on all his inner dragon strength, killing off dark monster after dark monster. He even turned his dragon lips up in a smile when he realized that he’d been sent off to kill one dark monster, and had already killed at least a dozen. Would this count as completion of his job requirements? He didn’t see why it wouldn’t, which meant that he was a millionaire now. He doubled down on his efforts to fight. He would not die here today. He wanted a chance to spend that money, after all.
Just when Russ thought things couldn’t get worse, the wizards above him suddenly increased the tenacity of their attacks. They had been casually throwing out an attack spell here and there, but, for a while, it seemed they had mostly been interested in watching the spectacle below them. Now, they must have gotten a command to step things up, because Russ was blinded by a rush of powerful light beams. Voices above him screamed out attack spells, and Russ felt his spirits dropping again. How many of these evil wizards were there? How many dark monsters were there? Russ might be a powerful dragon, but his enemy sorely outnumbered him. His heart pounded in his chest as a mixture of adrenaline and nerves rushed through his body.
Dragon Returning (Torch Lake Shifters Book 1) Page 14