The True Dragon

by Andy Holland

  Chapter 33: Indestructible

  Every dragon had heeded Gabriel's orders and was flying silently towards their target. Now that they were near enough, as per his instructions, they weren't even flapping their wings, just gliding noiselessly towards black True Dragon. They had descended so their approach would be obscured by a hill, but they all knew where the creature was and what they had to do. Gabriel had been very clear on that. Do exactly what you have been instructed to do and nothing else.

  Of course, it wasn't really Gabriel who had given the order, it was Perak. Gabriel may have said the words, but the plan was Perak's, every last detail. He had covered many scenarios and had planned what to do in every instance. Despite his understandable hatred for the man who had made it his life's ambition to take revenge on his brother, John, Mark was secretly very impressed by the Blue Dragon. He was very intelligent and had an answer for every question that Gabriel or the other Captains asked and appeared to have thought through every possibility. He urged patience rather than caution, stressing the importance of taking the opportunities that we could see not the ones we wanted to see. He was utterly ruthless but appeared to have no interest in throwing away lives for no reason. He was solely focussed on one thing, killing all three True Dragons. He couldn't express this enough. A few had asked whether there was any point in targeting the bronze one or even the green one as they hadn't attacked anyone since the war, but Perak was adamant: safety would only be achieved when all True Dragons were dead. Mark wasn't sure if he agreed but respected his single-minded focus and determination.

  Mark rose above the hills, the True Dragon appearing just ahead of them. He could see why it had taken so long to find, the creature hiding in plain sight, lying asleep in the open, but blending in perfectly with the black, volcanic rock it was lying on. The craggy, jagged rocks wouldn't have been too comfortable to lie on for a normal dragon, but the creature's scales were so tough and thick that it probably could hardly feel it. Every few seconds a small puff of smoke escaped from its nostrils, rising slowly in the still air. It was in a deep sleep. This could hardly have been better. Mark wasn't carrying a lance but now wished that he was. His team were now largely irrelevant, only there to distract the creature while the others attacked, but there was no need for them while the True Dragon slept. He banked to the left and slowed down, indicating to his troops to do the same, giving more room to those carrying lances. Two of his dragons ignored him, the two that had been talking earlier. Mark had no option but to let them be. He couldn't signal them without risking alerting the black True Dragon to their presence, and there was little chance they would adversely affect the outcome. Mark held his course as the other dragons passed by, their long black metal lances held tightly and ready to strike their target. The creature's weak spot was just behind the ears, and they were in the perfect position to hit it, able to build up speed and attack with plenty of momentum.

  Mark took his troops even further to the left but kept his gaze firmly fixed on the gigantic beast. Its breathing was still very slow, the puffs of smoke rising with a very steady beat. Then something caught his eye. The creature's left forefoot moved ever so subtly, had he imagined it? The ten Golden Dragons carrying the lances were drawing very close, the moment of impact just seconds away. Mark's heart sank as it dawned on him what was wrong. The creature's muscles were tense, as if ready to spring. It was controlling its breathing, and its eyes were closed, but its ears were pivoted towards the approaching dragons. Before Mark could issue a warning, it leapt into the air, spreading its wings wide to block their path, and then flooding the air with its terrible fire. The captains leading the scouts reacted instantly, the elite dragons demonstrating their supreme agility as they turned and weaved between the creature's outstretched wing tips. Their teams displayed similar skills, expertly avoiding the monster, and one actually had the nerve to slash at the creature's wings, hoping to cripple it. He may as well have tried to punch a mountain. One of his claws stuck in the thick skin and was ripped from his foot, causing him to scream in pain and spin out of control. He was fortunate that they were now behind the monster, and he managed to regain control and fly after the rest of his unit. Many others were not so fortunate. Of the ten that were carrying lances, just four managed to dodge the flames, and one of those was then caught in the creature's jaws. Neither of the two dragons that had ignored Mark's instructions to turn away survived, engulfed by the flames with the rest of them. In just a couple of seconds, it had killed over twenty dragons, striking at the precise moment that they thought victory was in their grasp. This was the second time that the creature had done this to them. Had they learnt nothing?

  All of this destruction had been done from a standing start, without any momentum and fighting against nimble adversaries. Now, the creature was in the air, and the real fight would begin. It roared triumphantly, flapping its powerful wings and quickly gaining height. All around dragons scattered, trying to keep their distance from the creature's claws and fire. None were fleeing, yet, but the hopes of an easy victory were now completely forgotten. Mark suspected that he was far from being alone in wondering if they had any chance of success whatsoever.

  ***

  Perak had watched the doomed attempt from a distance, unable to keep up with the swift Golden Dragons. The failure hadn't particularly surprised him, although he was a little disappointed. Although he wouldn’t have been the one to execute the fatal blow, it was his plan, and he would have taken full credit for its success. It would also have brought him closer to his own personal goal of killing John, but now that would have to wait.

  Of course, this eventuality, that the first attack would be a failure even if the creature were asleep, had been considered in their scenarios, and to his delight, all of the dragons were following his instructions. The Golds and Browns might not have been smart enough to think up any of the strategies themselves, but they were at least able to remember them. They had the discipline required to avoid panicking, and were flying in circles around the giant creature, avoiding giving it any easy targets, and keeping its attention where it should be: away from him and his dragons.

  Attack formation, ordered Captain Yanik, addressing his unit of Blue Dragons, who moved to form a tight group behind Perak, their lances held ready for the attack. Eric’s unit was further behind, too far away to take part in this attack, but as far as he was concerned, the other Blues were there just in case he failed and were unlikely to be needed anyway. He was very confident of his ability to kill the beast. It was huge, fast and powerful, but it was also greedy and overconfident. It was only concerned with killing as many dragons as it could and as quickly as it could, with no regard for the risk that any of them might pose, as it didn't regard any of them as a risk. This arrogance would be its downfall. Perak's dragons would be ignored as they weren't tempting enough and would be able to approach without drawing any attention.

  The dragons ahead screamed continuously, a pitiful noise compared to the haunting sound that Blue Dragons could produce, but their defiance was enough to enrage the black True Dragon. He had killed a few more since his initial attack, but they were doing well at evading his attacks, continuously drawing its attention from dragon to dragon, and preventing it from getting up to its top speed, at which point it would be impossible to escape. Flying back and forth they were positioning the creature perfectly for Perak's attack.

  Stay close behind me, Perak urged. He didn't want to do anything that might catch the creature's attention. Up ahead, he could see Gabriel, the Golden Dragon Captain, who was watching their approach as he circled above the action. He let out a loud cry, signalling to the dragons below who responded immediately, moving to put the black True Dragon between themselves and Perak. It was almost too obvious, but the creature was too simple-minded to see that it was being manoeuvred and turned its back on the Blues. It was much faster than they were but was swerving from side to side trying to catch the Brown and Golden Dragons, allowing Perak to get closer a
nd closer. He gripped his lance tightly in his claws, bracing for the impact. Seven Blue Dragons were behind him in case he missed, but he had no intention of letting that happen: this creature was his to kill. The True Dragon was positioned perfectly, the thin scales behind its ears exposed and moving at a pace that allowed Perak to close in fast as he prepared to make the killing blow.

  But this was not the Brown True Dragon. The delusion that they had outwitted it was shattered along with half of the bones in Perak's body as the True Dragon spun and struck Perak with its right forefoot in the same way as someone might swat a fly. As Perak fell through the air, he realised that the creature hadn't even needed to look at him, knowing exactly where he was. The sky lit up above him as the monster incinerated the rest of his dragons, just before Perak crashed into the ground and everything went black.

  ***

  In moments like these, John wasn't so grateful for his superb eyesight. He could move incredibly fast, but to be able to do so he had to be able to see even better, which he could, which meant he could see the battle unfolding a long, long way away. It took a lot to restrain himself from crying out to draw the black True Dragon's attention, to prevent it from killing yet more Golden and Brown Dragons, but he knew that if they were to have a chance of succeeding, he would need to injure it, and being larger and stronger than him, the only way he could do that was by taking it by surprise. So all he could do was watch as dragon after dragon fell to the creature's flames, teeth and claws.

  Then the Blue Dragon's started their attack. Like John, they were going for a surprise attack, but they didn't have his speed, and long before they fell into the black True Dragon's trap he could see that it was doomed to fail. He was covering the distance between them quickly, but it would still be far too long before he could arrive and help them. Had he known it was Perak leading the attack, it might not have bothered him, but as it was, he wished he could help them. The lead dragon spun through the air, one wing destroyed and at that height, probably without any chance of survival, and the True Dragon ignored it to attend to the dragons behind him. Their fate was sealed very quickly, their dying screams cut short as they were roasted by his fire. He caught one of the burning corpses in his jaws and swallowed it whole, before roaring triumphantly, letting everyone know that he had thwarted yet another of their plans. Movement from below caught his eye. The lead Blue Dragon had crash landed, but miraculously had survived the fall, and was twitching on the ground. It had probably broken every bone in its body and wouldn’t survive, but rather than allow it to die of its injuries, the creature seemed determined to finish it off now. It dived down, opening its jaws wide to bathe the Blue Dragon in flames. It was the moment that John had been hoping for. He had already begun his dive and was approaching incredibly quickly, eliminating any chance of aborting the attack and committing himself completely. As the monstrous creature neared the Blue Dragon, John struck, catching the creature's right wing and slicing straight through it. It had caught a glimpse of John just before he arrived and tried to turn but it was too late. The attack flipped the creature over, and it managed to swipe at John in response, but it didn't matter: its wing had been rendered useless, and it tumbled to the ground. The drop was too small to kill it, but it was now disabled and powerless to catch any of the dragons in the air. John had defeated it!

  ***

  Mark could hardly believe his eyes. After Perak's failure, his heart had sunk, thinking that they had failed and that the best they could hope for was escaping without everyone dying. Then the bronze True Dragon had materialised and attacked the Black True Dragon, ripping apart the creature's wing and disabling it. It had been a bold and brilliant move, having learnt from its previous failure to inflict serious damage to the larger True Dragon’s well-armoured body, it targeted the creature’s wings, invulnerable to the Golden Dragon’s claws, but easily torn apart by its own powerful claws. Despite the brilliance of this move, it had not escaped unscathed, and Mark could see the deep cut in the bronze True Dragon's shoulder, a wound that would force it to land before long. Somehow they had found themselves in a position where not one but two of the True Dragons were down, and they finally had the advantage. As soon as the black True Dragon hit the ground, the sky erupted with triumphant cries, hoping that it was dead, but seconds later it sprang back to its feet and roared defiantly at them before flooding the air with its flames. It was down, but it was not out.

  As Mark had anticipated, the bronze True Dragon was now struggling to fly and landed awkwardly, some distance from the black True Dragon, but closer than it would want to be having started a fight with the much larger creature. No defiant roar was issued by this creature. Instead, it stayed low, trying to remain out of sight as it nervously watched the black True Dragon, waiting to see what it would do. For the moment it hadn't been seen, and the black True Dragon was busy roaring at the dragons swarming above it. Everyone was staying well out of range of its fire, which kept them safe but also prevented them doing anything to harm the creature.

  A single Blue Dragon scream cut through the cacophony of Golden and Brown Dragon calls, the haunting sound silencing the other dragons who turned to see who it was. Just one Blue Dragon remained from the two units, his weapon lost in the attack and his scales blackened by the True Dragon's fire. He broadcast his thoughts to all of the dragons in the air.

  Bombard them. Use objects that are as heavy as you can find and carry. Get as high as you can.

  Mark recognised the voice. It was the Blue Dragon called Eric, a confidant of Perak's. He hadn't waited to see if his command was being followed, and was diving down to pick up a rock. He chose quite a large one and was struggling to carry it, but he managed to lift it all the same, before rising to circle above the stationary True Dragon. Then he released the rock and everyone watched as it plummeted towards the angry dragon on the ground. Not bothering to move, the True Dragon was an easy target, the rock landing squarely in the middle of its back. It roared, although probably in anger rather than pain as there was no visible damage.

  That's a good idea, Gabriel called from above. We just need to be higher. Everyone, find rocks and begin to bombard these two dragons. Get as high as you can.

  Two? Jude asked. We should focus on the black one. The bronze one poses no threat, and we can't afford to divide our efforts.

  Just do it, Captain Jude, Gabriel snapped, picking up a good-sized rock and taking off. The black True Dragon ran at some of the Golden Dragons who has landed, but they all took off well before he would have reached them. The Browns followed their lead, and soon every dragon was climbing into the air above the two downed dragons, preparing to attack them afresh.

  Although the black True Dragon refused to retreat, the bronze True Dragon had no intention of being an easy target. It turned around and ran, moving surprisingly fast on four legs. Hitting it from a height would not be easy. The black True Dragon caught sight of it running away and bellowed angrily before giving chase.

  Told you we should have stuck to the black one, Jude called, trying to get ahead of the creature. Now we have to hit a moving target. A very fast-moving target.

  Gabriel ignored him, dropping his rock onto where he thought the bronze True Dragon was going to be. But the creature's movements were erratic and the rock thudded harmlessly into the ground beside it.

  Coordinate your attacks, Eric called, having picked up another rock. They can't dodge every rock.

  A large group of Brown Dragons were targeting the black True Dragon, diving with their rocks to help aim effectively. They still released their load high in the air, not willing to get too close to the creature now they didn't have to do so. About half of the rocks hit the target, and the monster roared angrily with each hit, but as far as Mark could see, these impacts left no damage. It didn't even slow, still racing after the bronze True Dragon. Although slower in the air it was keeping up with its quarry on the ground. Its wing was torn, which made no difference on the ground, but the other dragon had damag
ed a shoulder which affected both its wings and right foreleg. It was only a matter of time before it caught its quarry. Mark flew down to where Jude was picking up another rock.

  Do you think we're going to actually hurt that thing with these stones? Mark asked.

  We might hurt the smaller one, Jude replied. But there is no way I'm going to aim for it. As far as I can see it is the only thing stopping the black one from killing us all.

  It's done its job, Mark replied. That wing won't recover. Surely the bronze one now poses more of a threat than the black one. Remember it killed Daisy. It is far from harmless.

  Do what you like, Jude replied. But I think that black one is still far from finished. He took off carrying a heavy-looking rock and slowly ascended in the direction of the two huge dragons. Mark wasn't completely convinced, but one thing he did know was that the bronze one was making an effort to dodge their attacks. At least he had a chance of hitting the black one. He selected a large round rock and pulled it from the ground with his claws. He needed both forelegs to hold it and wondered if he had overreached but managed to take off. Jude was quite a way in front of him, and Mark had to flap very hard to keep up. The two True Dragons were heading towards the centre of the Circle; maybe they felt safer there. Either way, none of the group were going to give up while they had the chance to finish them. Just as long as the green one didn't show up to spoil everything.