The Fire Within

by Nicholas Clausen

  “I am faster now.” Shane stepped back as Hayden slashed at him, but before Hayden could recover from the swing, Shane stepped in close to Hayden. Close enough their helmets almost touched.

  “And I was always better at fighting.” He grabbed Hayden by the throat and pinned him against one of the buildings. Draek roared and lunged at the two fighting riders but Rilora jumped on his back, and the two rolled into the center of the clearing.

  Shane grabbed Hayden’s sword arm and bashed it against the building until his grip failed and he dropped his sword. Shane pulled back and punched Hayden so hard Hayden blacked out, and the part of his helmet that covered the right side of his jaw was dented in.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kurt continued the barrage of boulders and barrels, never slowing even as it rained fire and downed dragons. He didn’t know if any were still coming out of the pyramid, but that didn’t matter. Arvain needed him to keep going. None argued with him or questioned his orders, they continued to load and fire the machines.

  “Sir, a green dragon is approaching.” One of the lookouts shouted. Kurt had been looking into the sky, but he didn’t see any dragons breaking off from the fighting. Like always, the dragons seemed only focused on themselves and no one else.

  “Where?” He asked. He held his hand over his eyes to shield the dying sun, his gray hair kept trying to get in his eyes. The scout pointed off to the side where one of the groups of archers had been stationed.

  “Well, look at that.” He said with a grin. There was, in fact, a green dragon and a rider coming to him, but they weren’t flying, they were walking.

  The rider was sitting on the back of the dragon, and they were walking with determination and Kurt didn’t have to guess where they were heading.

  None of the archers were with the lone rider. She came alone and came for him.

  “What do we do?” The scout shouted.

  Kurt looked over to where they had stationed one of the rebuilt galiants with the four giant crossbows on the sides.

  “Let's send the rider a small present, shall we?” Kurt said and motioned for the scout to take up one of the crossbows. The young man scrambled to his feet, tripping as he went, and ran to the crossbow. Dust flew behind him as he ran, as fast as he could, to the nearest crossbow.

  Kurt watched him talk to the soldiers that were working the crossbows already and explain what was going on and what needed to happen. The soldier shook his head and pointed back into the air where they had been trying to focus their large bolts at the enemy’s dragons. The scout yanked him away from the crossbow, the soldier stepped back and let the scout take over and aim at the green dragon.

  Kurt thought about waving to the rider but thought better of it. It wouldn’t matter soon anyway. The rider was looking straight at him, and he wasn’t sure if they could see the crossbow swinging over to face their dragon. Kurt didn’t look away from the approaching dragon as he heard the limbs of the crossbow getting pulled back.

  The old man couldn’t help but smile as the sound of the bolt being put in place clicked over the sound of the breeze that blew through them. He listened to the musical sound of the limbs being snapped forward, and a bolt went screaming past him.

  The green dragon lunged to the side at the last second and avoided the bolt altogether. Kurt’s smile was ripped from his face as the bolt slammed into another war machine that been on the other side of the dragon. The machine exploded in a shower of shattered wood and screaming soldiers. All eyes fell to him, wondering what to do next.

  “Don’t worry about reloading, get to another crossbow, now!” Kurt shouted but continued to watch the green dragon.

  The creature had recovered from its lunge and used that momentum to jump into the air before the scout could make it to another crossbow.

  “Hurry!” Kurt yelled at the young man. He couldn’t see where the scout was, or how his hands were shaking and his breath coming in quick spurts as he knocked another soldier over and fumbled with the firing mechanism of the second crossbow.

  Arvain was in the midst of a terrible battle that would decide the fate of the land, and he needed to focus on that and not on some lone rider and their infernal green dragon.

  “Fire, you fool! Fire now!” Kurt screamed like a mad man. He didn’t have time for this.

  Another bolt shot into the air, and it nearly hit the dragon in the side. The evil creature somehow was still able to avoid the bolt. He didn’t stop to watch where the thing had flown off too. Kurt stomped his feet as he marched over and pushed one of the soldiers out of the way and grabbed the handle of one of the crossbows himself.

  “Let me show you how this is done.” He shouted at the young scout who now had a suspicious streak of liquid staining the front of his pants and took aim at the green dragon which had turned to face them. Kurt didn’t know who the scout feared more, the dragon or him.

  He pulled the trigger, the crossbow jolted in his hands as the limbs snapped forward to their resting place. The thick bow string went limp as he shouted and watched it fly away.

  ~

  Hayden woke up a moment later with Draek looking down at him, completely blocking his view of anything else.

  Am I dead? Hayden asked. He couldn’t hear anything except an annoying ringing noise that seemed to be in tune with the pulsing pain coming from the side of his head. He tried to move his jaw, but it quickly protested, and more pain erupted from the side of his head.

  No. Stupid, but not dead. Draek replied.

  Hayden took the helmet off and felt his jaw scream in protest, steadily growing worse with every move he made.

  How am I stupid? Hayden asked.

  Are you not picking yourself off the ground, your helmet dented and your sword missing? Draek said. You would be dead if I hadn't step in.

  You had a chance to attack, and instead, you allowed Shane to attack you first, an opportunity he did not hesitate to take. Draek explained.

  Did you kill Rilora? Hayden asked.

  Draek took a deep breath but did not answer. Let's get out of here. We need to get back into the air. Hayden said.

  Hayden put his helmet back on, wincing the entire time. He noticed that Draek’s chest wounds were weeping again, the scabs had broken open, but he knew better than to ask Draek to let him look at them. He climbed onto Draek’s back, and they jumped into the air and began flying back to the fight. Neither of them was eager to jump back into the battle, but they knew it needed to be done.

  They saw all the dragons fighting while the Metallic Pyramid continued to burn. Flaming objects were still falling out of the sky. Smoke was rising in black streams, further darkening the sky. Hayden wasn’t sure, but it seemed that a storm was moving in from the north. The sky was getting darker, and it didn’t seem to be just coming from the smoke.

  We need to figure out why they are still firing, all the dragons are in the sky. Draek agreed with Hayden and began flying over to where Rimney had told them the command tent for the war machines was going to be.

  As Hayden and Draek were on their way, they saw Raena and her dragon flying over the same area they were heading. They were making tight spins and turns in the air, trying to avoid something. It seemed that the galiants were firing at Raena, but Hayden and Draek both knew that couldn’t be the case.

  Somehow they have gotten behind us and have taken over our war machines! Hayden couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but it was the only option that made sense to him. Draek was flying close to the ground after he made it over the walls of Celestial City, trying to avoid the fighting above them. They still had to watch out for falling stone dragons and flying projectiles that were burning the way through the air.

  Hayden watched one of the crossbow bolts fly past Fre`yan and go soaring through the air. He was sure now that they were firing at his friend, they had been flanked somehow.

  We have to help them. Hayden pulled out his bow and notched an arrow. He was just able to make out the people working the mac
hines, but he was too far away to reach them with an arrow. He still sent an arrow at them though. It fell short and landed harmlessly in the field between them. Hayden notched another arrow, he had to keep trying.

  Fre`yan won’t listen to me, they won’t stop fighting. Draek complained. Hayden felt the worry from Draek and watched as Fre`yan pulled out of a turn and began a dive towards the giant war machine. Hayden knew Draek was pleading with Fre`yan to abandon her attacks and wait for them.

  They’re going to burn it down. Hayden said as Fre`yan got closer to the galiant.

  Hayden and Draek were closer now, and Hayden sent another arrow, this one he was able to aim at the person working the giant crossbow. His arrow flew through the air but still fell short and landed in the dirt before the soldier, just a few feet away.

  Hayden pulled a third arrow and notched it as the giant crossbow fired its arrow at Fre`yan. They were close enough that Hayden was sure he could hit the person, but the crossbow had already shot, and Hayden let his bow go slack.

  NO! Draek roared as the bolt that must have been as long as Hayden flew through the air at Raena.

  ~

  Kirin stood on the back of Nignra as they flew through the air. The elf Queen had her bow and a handful of arrows that she fired with intense speed. Nignra dove and rose over the fighting dragons and Kirin continued her rain of arrows.

  Nignra didn’t have to fight off many dragons as Kirin was able to down most of the small coppers that tried to attack them, the green dragon just had to avoid slamming into anything.

  They tried to stay near the outskirts of the battle and but close enough for Kirin’s deadly accuracy to be of use. It was from this vantage point that she watched Raena and Fre`yan fly and avoid the bolts fired from the crossbows, from their own army.

  Realizing something horrible must have happened, she sent arrow after arrow to down the soldiers working the war machines, whether they were on her side or not she did not care. They were trying to kill one of her people, one of her own. Many were downed, many fell but not the one operating the crossbow.

  Raena had always been like a daughter to her and over the last year, a friend.

  ~

  “Come on Fre`yan, they need us,” Raena shouted.

  She held on to her dragon’s saddle as they ran across an open field to get to where Rimney had set up the command post. They didn’t dare fly unless they wanted to risk getting hit by a rogue boulder.

  She knew that they couldn’t be firing on their own dragons on purpose and that they were just scared. Scared that the fighting had started and scared that the sky was full of giant dragons battling it out and sending fire and stone remains all over the place.

  She knew they were trying their best, they just needed to be comforted, and all would be well. They needed to be reassured that all would be fine if they just stopped firing at her friends before any more people got hurt.

  She thought that until the first bolt flew at them. Fre`yan was able to flip to the side to avoid it, but Raena knew that this was no accident. They were not firing randomly out of fear, willing to hit anything.

  They were not scared; they were angry, and they were trying to kill any dragon they could. Regardless of who’s side they were on.

  Raena had felt that anger before. She had felt that anger at the Metallic Nation for the death of her family, and she had acted out on that anger before.

  She knew that in the end no good came from it. They needed her, they needed to know it was going to be ok, but they needed to stop.

  Fre`yan jumped into the air, even though they knew the danger. They flipped and turned to avoid another bolt before they turned to face their attackers.

  “They need us, they don’t know they need us, but they do. We need to talk to them, and we need to help them.” Raena urged. Fre`yan, without question dove to land before the crossbow, as close as they could get to the machine where the soldiers would be able to hear Raena’s words and stop attacking their own people.

  Fre`yan blocked Raena’s view as they fired another bolt at them. Raena was hoping to help them, to help everyone when she heard her dragon’s words.

  I’m sorry. Raena didn’t have time to register anything. She didn’t have time to think about what Fre`yan had said. She didn’t have time to see Draek and Hayden coming to help her or her Queen flying in to save her.

  She didn’t have time to tell the soldiers it was ok, and they had nothing to fear. To tell Fre`yan that it was alright and that there was nothing to be sorry for.

  Her life had been short, and her dragon’s shorter, but she wouldn’t have tried any less to help those soldiers had she known what was coming.

  The bolt struck Fre`yan in the base of the neck. Even as thick as the scales were, they were not thick enough to stop the tipped bolt.

  Raena felt the pain of her dragon and tried to shout, but the bolt went through her dragon, coming out the other side and pierced Raena in the chest. No sound came from either of them as they turned to stone and crashed into the galaint, destroying it in a shower of stone and wood.

  ~

  “Hurry and reload,” Kurt shouted as he stood up, narrowly missing the stone dragon that had destroyed his weapon.

  “Reload what sir?” One of the men with him asked, looking over the broken pieces mixed with stone.

  “Anything, everything. We got two more coming.” He pointed at another green dragon and large silver dragon heading their way.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Draek missed a wing beat and dropped in the air. He caught an updraft of wind and pushed himself harder to reach where Fre`yan and Raena had fallen. Both of them were in shock, but Hayden’s mind seemed to piece what had just happened together first.

  They…They killed them. Hayden thought, at a loss of words or emotions for what he had just seen. They were close enough now that Hayden and Draek could see that those who had fired and killed their friend were their own people, their soldiers.

  There weren’t bodies or prisoners anywhere, which they would have seen had the Metallic Nation had taken over their war machines.

  There is no way those are our people? Hayden asked, trying to believe that his eyes were lying to him. Draek flew over the first line of war machines that were between them and the one that now lay in pieces that had taken their friends from them.

  Draek did not answer with words. Draek did not answer with emotions. Draek did not answer with anger, rage, sadness, or regret. Those would all come later.

  Draek answered with fire. And he demanded his answer be heard by all.

  Draek set fire to each and every war machine as he burned his way to those that killed Raena and Fre`yan. Kirin and Nignra fell in line behind them.

  Draek burned a circle around the destroyed galiant so that none could escape. They quickly landed outside of the fire and watched as ropes snapped and timber burned, collapsing in a rain of sparks.

  Hayden got off of Draek’s back just as Kirin did the same. They walked over to a section of the fire that was dying down and walked through the flames. The fire licked at their armored legs but was turned away by their dragon scale armor.

  Their dragons stayed outside the ring of fire pacing, making sure none tried to escape or flee. They knew their riders could handle what was inside the flames.

  “You are one of us?” Hayden asked the man that stood in front of the group. He didn’t seem to mind being in front, but all the others were cowering behind him.

  “You are all on our side?” He shouted at them. They cowered back with each word he spat at them, trying to make themselves seem as small as possible. “Not only do you continue to attack us in the air but then you purposely shoot down one of our dragons? A friend of mine.” Hayden yelled.

  Hayden turned to see why Kirin wasn’t talking and found her on her knees, looking at the stone remains of her friend.

  He wasn’t sure what she had picked up, but he didn’t want to know. He turned away before he could make out the shape
of the stone.

  “One of us?” The man in charge appeared to find a little courage and tried to step up to confront Hayden. That or the people behind him were pushing him forward. He even puffed up his chest as he spoke, tilting his head back and trying to look down his nose at Hayden.

  “You are no longer one of us. You stopped being one of us when you hatched your beast.” He tried to spit at Hayden’s feet, but instead, what spittle he could manage in the heat riddled circle landed on his chin, and he had to wipe it away.

  “Is that how you all feel?” Hayden asked.

  “Yes.” The man said. The others around him did not seem to agree with him and stepped back. Hayden guessed the man up front didn’t realize he now stood alone.

  “So, you decided.” Hayden started, trying to wrap his head around what the man had done. “That you didn’t want to fight with us, but instead fight against the Metallic Nation and us?”

  “The land of Arvain has been plagued by dragons long enough.” The man seemed to continue to regain his courage as his tongue continued to spew hatred out of his mouth like a draining wound.

  Hayden reached behind him to pull his blade free but remembered his sword was missing. He locked eyes with the man and saw a glint of fear in his dark eyes. Good. Hayden thought.

  Kirin stood up and came to stand beside Hayden. He heard her movements and watched how, even now, she moved like a graceful Queen. Sorrow and pain were written on her face, but her voice was calm and direct.

  “What is your name?” Kirin asked.

  “I don’t answer to your kind.” The man said.

  Kirin pulled out her thin blade but did not advance on the man. He did not seem nearly as scared about Kirin’s blade as he had been when Hayden made to draw his, a mistake Hayden smiled about.

  “What is your name?” She asked one more time, her tone letting the man know this was the last time she was going to ask.