The Fire Within

by Nicholas Clausen

  “What are you looking at me for? Load the next round!” Within a few seconds, the war machines were back to work, and soon the sky would be full of fire again.

  They were going to win this war, and it was going to be because of Kurt. He was going to bring down Celestial City and bring down the dragons themselves, Kurt was sure of it. Surer of this fact than anything in his entire life.

  He smiled through the pain as he thought about how his victory was going to feel. Soon, he knew he wouldn’t have to imagine it anymore. When it was all said and done, when the fighting was over, and all the dragon riders were dead, the humans would be in need of a leader.

  They would need someone to guide them into the age of man, to protect them and make sure their interests were served. As the second volley shot into the air and the dragons slammed into each other, creating a mass of fire and scales in the smoke-filled sky, Kurt knew who that person was going to be.

  “I will be a good king.” He said, quiet enough that no one could hear his ambitions but himself.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Push forward, you thawed dogs!” Bruen of the Howel’s Peak clan shouted. The giant silver dragon was behind them now, and the fight was before them. The silver dragon wasn’t going to be able to steal the glory of victory away from him, this battle was his. Klarack had trusted Bruen and him alone to lead the charge.

  The shiny soldiers in their matching armor had lined up nice and neat for them, and now it was time to show them what the power of the Frost Fangs was. The power of the cold was in his veins.

  Klarack had been very specific in his orders, he had told him he needed to make sure as many people survived as possible. However, he was also clear as ice that he wanted as many of their enemies dead as possible.

  He had heard the silver rider yell at him to stop, but they were close now. Close enough that he could smell the fear on the shiny soldiers, and he went mad. He could see their numbers clearly, and he saw that there were plenty of them, more than enough for every man and woman to get their weapons dirty.

  He had just given the order to rush at the enemy, and while he didn’t turn around, he knew that those under his command were obeying him. Every good leader knew their soldier's obedience without having to check. He could feel the ground shaking beneath their thunderous steps, and he could hear the dozens of screams and battle cries being ripped from the throats of his fighters.

  Bruen carried a large spear and a jagged, misshapen broadsword that he had strapped on his back. As he ran ahead of the sea of soldiers behind him, he turned his stride into a lunge and threw the spear with all his might, grunting as the crude spear left his calloused hands.

  He quickly unsheathed his blade and raised it over his head as the spear fell out of the sky and struck one of the soldiers.

  The soldier raised his shield, and the spear shattered upon it. The man lowered his shield back and continued to stand in place, never moving a step. The splinters that had once been Bruen’s spear showered around the soldiers, forgotten.

  Bruen didn’t lower his blade immediately. He kept running and thought about what he had just seen.

  “They are scared! See how they cower behind their shields?” He shouted again. He wasn’t sure if anyone was listening or if he was screaming for his own benefit.

  He finally lowered his sword as he ran and pointed it at the same soldier that had blocked his spear.

  “That one is mine!” He declared. He pushed himself to run faster, but there was still a ways to go until they were upon their enemy, and he was already running out of breath.

  ~

  “What are they doing?” Raena asked herself.

  She had been asked to stay behind with the archers and make sure they were being utilized to their best potential.

  Raena knew that it had been Kirin’s way of saying that the battle was going to be hard. That she was too worried about her to allow her to fight. She also knew that it had something to do with how small her dragon, Fre`yan, was.

  Being in charge of the archers was a good idea, Fre`yan was able to talk to the other dragons in the air, and they would be able to tell her where the archers were needed.

  That good idea had changed when the ground troops had started rushing in too early. She watched Hayden and Draek try to regain control but then they jumped into the air. Abandoning the ground troops to the leadership of whoever had told them to run when they were too far away. This meant that the archers could not fire upon the Metallic Nation’s soldiers without fear of hitting their own troops in the back. Whoever had ordered the charge had eliminated the archer’s usefulness.

  Raena leaned back in her saddle and watched Hayden and Draek quickly get into the air and soon all the dragons were taking flight.

  “That can’t be good,” Raena said aloud. She had no problem speaking to her dragon in her mind, but she thought it was a little rude and preferred to speak aloud.

  “Something must be going on?” She asked.

  The Metallic Pyramid is opening. They are preparing to fight. Fre`yan said. Her dragon’s voice was soft and never much above a whisper, the sound of rustling leaves in the wind.

  “Nope, not good at all.” She replied, twisting her mouth to one side. She was trying to figure out their next move.

  “What do we do rider?” One of the archers asked.

  “What was your name again?” Raena asked. She could tell that the old man was getting agitated by her question, but she couldn’t tell if his anger was coming from the question she asked or the timing of the question.

  “I am Stan ma’am.” He replied with a sigh.

  “Hmm, Stan. Stan. Stan, the man with a bow.” She said, playing with his name. “I don’t think Stan is a particularly great name for you.” She said.

  “Ma’am, what do we need to do, the fighting has started?” Ha asked this time he didn’t try to hide his worry and anger.

  “Arulian.” She answered.

  “I am sorry, what does that mean?” He asked.

  Raena turned back and faced the armies that were about to collide with each other as flaming balls of fire were sent flying through the air at their own dragons.

  “It is the name I am going to call you by from now on.” She answered.

  ~

  “Keep your beasts quiet,” Gerian, the dwarf leading the mounted units, said in a hushed voice. She pulled her thick black hair into a bun on the back of her head. Her hair had always been resistant to her attempts to control it, but her father had insisted on her growing it out.

  He had always told her that their hair was something to be proud of, that and their darker skin color.

  Even though her father was gone, she still refused to cut her hair, regardless of all the times she threatened to do it while he was alive.

  “You’re smiling.” One of the Bone Thieves said from the back of a shadow cat.

  “I am thinking about my hair.” She said with a smile. She had no idea who the Bone Thief was because they all looked alike and sounded the same.

  “An odd thing to be thinking about at a time like this.” The Bone Thief replied.

  “It is,” Gerian replied. She pulled the reins for her Utahnen and moved closer to the human that was trying to calm his excited horse.

  “Keep your beast quiet, or I will silence it for you.” She growled.

  “I am sorry, she has never acted like this before. I think it’s the Utern.” The rider complained.

  “The what?” She asked.

  The rider pointed to her Utahnen, and his horse tried to run away.

  Gerian looked down at her Utahnen, which was as calm as it had ever been. It wasn’t trying to get away or doing anything that would suggest that it was trying to harm the horse.

  “What are you talking about, he is acting just fine,” Gerian replied.

  “It’s not how he is acting, it’s what he is. My horse is scared of him.” The rider complained.

  “Just try to quiet it down,” Gerian said a
s she led her Utahnen back to the Bone Thief.

  “What did the young rider have to say.” The Bone Thief asked.

  “That my Utahnen scared his horse, and that’s why it’s making that infernal whining noise.” Gerian took her bulky helmet and shoved it on her head, smushing her hair down.

  “Hm.” The Bone Thief replied.

  “I don’t care if they are scared or not, they just need to do as they are told.” Gerian tightened down the chin straps to her helmet.

  “Are you sure your plan is going to work?” The Bone Thief asked.

  “It isn’t my plan. It was my father’s, he told me about how he would attack the city if they ever got a chance too.” Gerian explained.

  “I hope it works.” The Bone Thief replied.

  “It will.” She answered as she lifted her battle ax and rested it on her shoulder.

  ~

  Hayden had put his blade in its sheath on his back. Draek was moving too quickly, and Hayden needed to hold on to the saddle. He had slashed at a few riders as they had past and he even cut into a dragon’s wing but wasn’t able to do much else.

  Hayden held on and tried to keep up with what was going on. He saw flashes of green dragons as they lunged at one copper dragon or another. Scales slammed into each other and fell on top of other dragons in mass clusters.

  White dragons flew around, freezing everything in front of them. He was able to glimpse, just briefly before Draek turned away, a copper dragon trying to burn an elf out of her saddle. Two white dragons dove in and froze each of the copper’s wings, and the dragon fell to the city beneath them, roaring until it hit the city. Hayden was sure that he had seen the blue dragons fighting as well, but at the moment he couldn’t make out what was around him.

  Draek tried to grab a small copper that was flying in front of him, but he had to spin out of the way of another projectile. The war machines were still firing at the Metallic Pyramid even though all the dragons had left it already.

  Dragons were all fighting with tooth and fire. Fighting anything and everything that flew in their path. Draek had to snake up and down, sometimes climbing on dragons instead of flying. The added boulders and barrels of fire made it impossible to fly or fight for very long.

  A silver dragon flew before them, wings open and fire erupting from its mouth. Hayden pulled up his shield to block the attack when a barrel slammed into the side of the dragon.

  An explosion of fire engulfed the dragon. A few drops of the flaming tar landed on Hayden’s shield as the dragon tried to fly away, smoke and fire trailing after it. The dragon made it a few wing beats before patches of stone dulled its sides.

  Hayden quit watching as the dragon slowly turned to stone.

  Draek, we need to get out of this. Hayden said as his head was smacked into his dragon’s back. Draek did a flip in the air to avoid one copper dragon and attack another.

  There is no getting out of this. Draek rumbled as he engulfed two more coppers in his fire, sending their flaming stone remains into the city below. This is what we came here to do.

  We need to back away. Hayden tried to explain. Stop the war machines and give us some space to move. The sky was filled with dragons, smoke, and fire. There wasn’t enough room for them to breathe or try to fight as a unit.

  We can win this! Draek roared his challenge again. Draek was fighting more than flying and sending dragon after dragon to the ground.

  Hayden began working his hands over his saddle until he had his bow and a few arrows. Draek was all but thrashing in the air, but Hayden had to do something, he hated feeling like he was just sitting in the saddle. His sword had proved useful for a moment, but now he was afraid he might hurt himself with it.

  Hayden was able to pull back on his bow and send one arrow flying, but Draek moved abruptly just as the bowstring moved over the pads of his fingers, and the arrow went wide.

  Hayden didn’t dwell on his missed shot and pulled back another arrow. He eagerly sought another target, anyone he thought he could hit when he saw three dragons flying in a V formation beneath all the fighting, just high enough to not hit the buildings over Celestial City.

  Draek, there. Hayden sent Draek a quick image, and his dragon pulled in his wings and fell backward. A copper dragon lunged at Draek’s stomach as he fell, but Draek didn’t try to defend himself. A flaming boulder smashed into the copper dragon, shattering it, and continued its path to the Metallic Pyramid.

  Draek finished the flip and began a steep dive to land right on top of the three dragons. It was a large copper, a giant golden dragon, and a smaller silver dragon.

  It must be Elizabeth and the other two Rulers of Three! Hayden shouted in his mind. The three dragons were looking around, and the copper and silver fought off any dragon that flew at them. The silver struggled to fight a green dragon while the copper flipped over a blue dragon and slashed at its rider, turning it to stone before the copper could right itself.

  Draek opened his wings to slow his dive and slammed into the golden dragon, catching the dragon off guard. The golden dragon crumbled beneath Draek’s weight and fell into the city between a few shops in the merchant’s district.

  The golden dragon roared in pain and frustration as Elizabeth was thrown from her saddle. Herrdiga, the golden dragon, attempted to move to her rider but Draek pinned her to the ground.

  End this. Draek said. Hayden quickly got out of the saddle, sliding down his side and rolling when he hit the metal street. He ran over to where Elizabeth was struggling to get up, her golden cape tangled around her. Hayden heard the sound of his metal boots striking the street as he ripped his sword out and held the sizzling blade to her throat.

  “Surrender,” Hayden commanded. “Surrender and end this Elizabeth.”

  “I cannot,” Elizabeth replied, only it wasn’t her voice.

  Hayden reached down and grabbed the rider by the shoulder and flipped them over. Estraken looked up at him, his hair in his face even beneath the helmet. A trickle of blood streamed from both nostrils.

  “For I am not Elizabeth.” He added.

  Hayden looked back at Draek and saw the copper and silver dragon land in side streets that led to the clearing where Hayden was.

  Hayden grabbed the frail, old rider and forcibly helped him to his feet. He cut his golden sword from his back and let it fall to the street.

  “Where is she?” Hayden yelled at the silver rider, but no answer came.

  “Waiting on you and Cass,” Shane shouted from the back of Rilora, the copper dragon that had landed with the silver dragon. Hayden hadn’t noticed the bull helmet or recognized Rilora.

  “Tell her to come out and face me,” Hayden said.

  Neither rider moved for a few moments and then both got off their dragons and walked into the clearing at Hayden.

  “She has changed her mind,” Shane growled. “She only wants Cass.” He pulled out his giant copper sword. “She commands us to defeat you.”

  The silver rider pulled out their sword, Hayden noticed that her frame was significantly smaller than Shane’s and even her blade was thinner than Hayden’s silver sword had been.

  Hayden pulled Estraken in front of him and held his sword up to his throat. The light from his sword illuminated Estraken’s face inside his helmet.

  “Don’t do this Shane,” Hayden said, he tried to sound calm, but he was sure it didn’t come out that way.

  The silver rider was closer to Hayden then Shane was and quickly lashed out with her blade, striking Estraken. The thin sword moved so fast Hayden didn’t see it, he just saw her movement.

  Hayden let go of the old rider, his former teacher, as he turned to stone in his hand. Draek’s weight cracked the stone dragon he was now standing on.

  “We have our orders.” The silver rider said, holding her blade up at Hayden.

  Hayden lifted his sword, which was now almost entirely red and orange, and looked to Shane, but it appeared he wasn’t going to join the fight just yet.

 
The silver rider stabbed at Hayden and they quickly danced around each other, slashing and stabbing in a flurry of blows. The silver rider did not try to block any of Hayden’s attacks directly. She sidestepped and moved out of the way of his slashes.

  Hayden moved faster and forced her to block his attack, his blade cut through the silver rider’s sword as if it was a toy. Hayden ended the rider with a slash through her armor. His sword was screeching and smoking as it cut through both the sword and armor with ease.

  Hayden looked at Shane and lowered his blade.

  “I see you got a new sword?” Shane asked.

  “The dwarf King Durgen made it for me,” Hayden said.

  Hayden saw how relaxed Shane was standing and how he hadn’t joined in the fight. He had finally gotten his friend back, and there was no one forcing him to continue the fight.

  “I will have to remember that,” Shane replied.

  “What do you mean?” Hayden asked.

  “I am sorry, Hayden.” Shane lifted his copper blade. “But I have to, they have my family.”

  “Do you remember what I told you when you left?” Hayden asked with a heavy heart.

  “Don’t end up on the other side of your sword,” Shane answered.

  Hayden nodded and stepped towards his former friend. He raised his almost flaming sword over his head and brought it down on Shane.

  Normally Shane would have lifted his larger copper blade to meet the attack, but he had just watched Hayden’s sword cut through a silver sword and armor. Instead, he stepped to the side and allowed Hayden to cut through the wall he had been leaning against.

  Hayden lashed out with his dragonaut and punched Shane in his bull helmet. The golden weapon sparked as it slammed into the side of the bull helmet.

  Shane seemed unphased by the attack and threw his shoulder into Hayden, knocking him back. Once again Hayden tried to attack with his sword, but Shane kept stepping back, or to the side. He refused to engage Hayden straight on.

  “You won’t win, not this time,” Hayden shouted.

  “You couldn’t beat me during the Festival of Games,” Shane said as he sidestepped Hayden. “And that was before I trained with the elves.”