War Dragons

by C. K. Rieke

  “Herradax!” Kera screamed in excitement. “My girl has returned!”

  Chapter Twelve

  On a warm Wendren day near the city-center of Voru, in a wide-spread circular bare garden of many intricately decorated fountains and lush thriving green plants, a normally calm afternoon had turned to one of the most vicious battles in centuries.

  Only less than a mile from the palace of Erodoran, dragonfire erupted in blinding blasts of light and heat. The newly-resurrected magical creatures ripped through the skies unlike any bird the lands of the Arr remembered. Thin clouds lined the sky like torn strips of cotton against the light blue sky hanging above the battle.

  Within the castle walls, standing just behind one of the many windows of the pyramid, only this window was at the very top, stood Queen Lezeral. Soft, silk lay on the cool stone floor from the long red dress that hung delicately along her curves. Her eyes were glassy as she watched the scattered fires rage across her city. Two advisers stood behind her, arguing about what actions to take next, whether against the dragon, or to extinguish the fires that were quickly spreading in the dry winds.

  Yet, the queen stood in quiet contemplation. She watched the giant red dragon which had appeared almost at the exact moment Lilaci and Kera had raised the white flag to show their acceptance of her bargain. “The gods didn’t wait for a second,” she said. “They want to tear down this entire city to its foundation. I fear not only for my people, but the people of the other kingdoms. The wrath of the gods will not stop here. They are going to take back these lands, no matter the cost.”

  The two advisers had stopped arguing to listen to her. “What do you wish us to do, Your Highness?”

  She turned, a bland expression on her face. “What can we do against such a monster?” She then turned back to look down on the battle raging in the circular courtyard. “This battle will be decided by them. We can only hope that Lilaci and Veranor can drive the dragon away or kill it. Then we can begin to rebuild.”

  “Pardon, my liege, but didn’t you say the gods have other dragons?” the female adviser asked.

  “Yes, I did. There were six raised by Dânoz. Two were killed in the fight with Lilaci last. She killed them both. So now four remain. This one is far beyond the state they raised it in. They’ve cast a spell on it, driving it mad with destruction and rage.” She rubbed her hands together nervously. “That leaves three, I presume that they are under the same spell. Two would most likely be at the other cities, one in Scindír, and one in Godan. I fear for their peoples, as they don’t have Kera and her young dragons and the Aridons. There will be death. Lots of death.”

  “And the last one?” the male adviser asked.

  “What?” Lezeral asked, still watching the large dragon fight off the pack of Aridons and the newly arrived dragon, Herradax.

  “What of the last dragon that wouldn’t be accounted for?”

  “Only Dânoz knows where that dragon will be. For all we know it could be guarding Firen-ar.”

  Herradax, to Lilaci’s astonishment, had not only seemed to have fully healed herself, but had noticeably grown in the week since she’d been injured fighting the pack of dragons before. Her jaw was now leaner, and muscular. Lilaci watched the muscles flex in her body as she rolled over the downed red dragon. Her arms and shoulders bulged and reflected the sunlight off of their smooth scales. Her claws dug into the red dragon, as it hissed and roared in wild fury, its eyes still glowing that demonic yellowish-red glow.

  “The dragon’s grown another set of stripes down her back,” Burr said, fighting to keep a grin from coming across his face as their best chance of defeating the dragon had just come down from the sky. “And how she’s grown!”

  “Go Herradax!” Fewn screamed with her hand cupping both sides of her mouth. “Let that devil know what you’re made of!”

  As the two dragons wrestled on the ground; ripping, clawing and biting in a whirlwind of roars and screeches, the Aridons arrived. Two went and bit at the red dragon’s neck, another at its tail, biting down and shaking its neck, attempting to take a chunk out of it—or the whole thing off. One of the Aridon’s got a hold of the dragon’s wrist, pinning it to the side as Herradax sunk its teeth into the dragon’s torso and chest. The red dragon’s eyes went wild in fury, and Lilaci thought she saw that even though the dragon was wild and berserk, she noticed a pain in its voice.

  Wrathwing, who’d been stalking it from above its head, finally leaped and grabbed a hold of one of the long horns, in her jaws. Then Kôrran darted in from the sky, and with all of its claws extended, it landed onto the dragon’s neck with a loud thud. The red dragon let out a big breath and gasped for air.

  “Very strategic for animals,” Veranor said, with his fists resting on his hips.

  “Yes,” Gogenanth said, in a rare instance of agreement with the commander. “It seems like a coordinated, planned attack.”

  “How intelligent are these creatures?” Ezmerelda asked, scratching the side of her face.

  “Should we help them?” Kera asked, posturing as if she wanted to run forward. “We should help them.”

  “Hold on,” Lilaci said, resting her hand on Kera’s arm. “It’s not very often that we’re the weak ones in an ongoing battle. Your dragons and the Aridons are doing fantastically without us. Let’s just let them do—”

  Then, suddenly in the battle, the red dragon let out a ferocious roar that echoed throughout the city and raged through the air, causing Kera to cover her ears with her hands. Once that roar had subsided, it flapped its wings and its strong tail swung from side to side on the ground. Another roar then, this one louder than the first, and as it began to push the Aridons from it by shaking them off, it dug a set of its claws into the hard dirt and pulled itself off its back.

  “Should we help now?” Fewn asked, with her sword in hand.

  “Hold,” Veranor said.

  “What’s it doing?” Ezmerelda asked.

  The red dragon then knocked Herradax off its stomach and pulled its head from Wrathwing’s grasp. Kôrran fell from its neck, and the dragon was now fully back on its feet, blood pouring down its torso and neck onto the ground. Its long neck swayed back and forth, staring deeply into the eyes of its attackers, and with its mouth agape and its tongue slithering. It let out another bellowing roar at them.

  A pair of the Aridons rushed in from the backside of the dragon, and its glowing eyes flared. It turned at a stunning speed, knocking one of them back with one of its wings, and flung its tail at the other. Another pair of Aridons flew in from the other side, and the dragon spun back, knocking one away again with its other wing, and as the other Aridon continued flying toward it, it opened its mouth wide again, with its rows of sharp teeth exposed. Its head lunged forward quickly, with the muscles in its neck tightening, and as the Aridon turned to fly away, the red dragon’s head darted forward, closing its jaws onto the black, winged lioness, sinking its teeth deep into it, crushing it.

  The Aridon let out a tremendous, painful roar. The other Aridons around, including Wrathwing all roared at the red dragon. As if they could feel the pain in their friend.

  “No!” Kera cried, her eyes wide with hurt.

  The dragon lifted its head to the sky, and as the Aridon’s wriggling subsided, its slender, fur-covered black tail went limp. The dragon chewed on it, then began to let it fall down its mouth. Like an eagle letting a rodent fall down its throat, the dragon swallowed the Aridon, forming a bulge into its throat that slid down, disappearing below. Wrathwing and the others growled low, and all at once, they flew forward at the beast. Herradax and Kôrran noticed the charge and went in themselves at the dragon.

  The dragon’s gaze eerily seemed to move to Lilaci, its glowing yellow, emotionless eyes fixed on her, letting out another roar, it began to flap its mighty, blood-stained wings. In a plume of dust and sand, the dragon began to float up, its long tail slithering along the ground, following it up into the air. The Aridons paused, as well as the pair of
smaller dragons, as they saw that the dragon was breathing in deeply, as the signs of dragonfire brimmed through the scales on its torso. The Aridons began to fly away to safety. Herradax and Kôrran held their ground.

  “Fly away!” Kera yelled to them, and the two dragons both looked back at her, then as if understanding, flew high up into the air.

  “Behind Lilaci!” Burr yelled, shuffling back behind her.

  She led Kera behind her with a gentle pull on her sleeve, and Lilaci readied the Sanzoral as the fire returned to her hands. Her hands ached once again, but not nearly as bad as before. She also hoped that if the red dragon’s fire was directed at them, then any of the other dragons or Aridons would attack the dragon to get it to stop.

  Watching the dragon, as its lungs appeared full, its inhale halted, and its torso glowing with hot dragonfire inside, Lilaci’s magic faded as she saw it suddenly turn its back to them.

  “No,” she yelled at the dragon. “This way! Turn back here.”

  The dragon flapped its wings, and in a blinding light, blew its fire back down on the city as the screams returned in the roads of Voru. The dragonfire ripped down onto the roads and flowed through the alleys, creeping into homes and structures; burning and killing everything it touched.

  “Come back here!” Lilaci yelled. “Attack us!”

  The dragon continued to flap its wings, flying up into the sky away from them.

  “Why’s it doing that?” Kera asked, her mouth agape at the carnage the dragonfire was wreaking on the city.

  “It’s retreating,” Veranor said, his voice humbled by the sight of the sheer destruction of the massive dragon.

  “Not before it kills as many as it can,” Burr said through clenched teeth. “Evil beast.”

  The red dragon’s fire stopped, but the city continued to burn. The dragon turned slightly in its flight, showing it was readying another burst of dragonfire as it continued off. Once its lungs were full, it let another bellow of fire out onto another stretch of the city a mile off from its last attack. Lilaci and the others were helpless. The Aridons that seemed to fear the dragonfire—for good reason—continued gliding after the dragon, at a safe distance.

  Herradax and Kôrran watched the destruction, seemingly still listening to Kera’s wish for them to stay away. The red dragon continued making its way out of the city, spewing out another inferno on another wide swath of the city. They watched helplessly as the dragon let out a full six shots of fire before it finally reached the city limit, flying high off to the north. Its great wings flapped smoothly as it grew smaller in the distance. The Aridons continued their chase after it, perhaps through their grief and anger for the loss of one of their own.

  Lilaci and the others stood there in the middle of the courtyard, Kera with her hands covering her mouth in horror. It appeared as if a quarter of the city was on fire or all-but destroyed. And all from only one dragon.

  “The Second Great Serpentine Wars, indeed,” Veranor said, in a stern, yet soft voice.

  “The wrath of a mad dragon is the single worst thing these lands have seen in a very, very long time,” Burr said with both hands hanging limply at his sides.

  “So much death...” Fewn said, washing her hand over her head, and sighing. “This sort of war is like nothing I could have ever dreamed.”

  “It killed that Aridon,” Kera said softly.

  “We’ve got to see Lezeral,” Lilaci said, “immediately.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  In the early evening light of the fading sun, an eerie hue was cast over the normally golden-colored rock walls that lined Voru. A red haze filled that air and sky; the last remnants of the smoldering fires that still burned in the hot winds that whistled down the roads of the city, lined by charred and broken bits of wall. People moped along the sides of the roads, fatigued and beaten by the great red dragon.

  Thousands were dead.

  The burnt remains were carried out to the outskirts of the city, where they would be covered, and burned in the light of the following morning’s sun. Lilaci thought they would wait until morning so that the smell of more burnt corpses wouldn’t linger while the citizens surely had nightmares of the day the dragon attacked.

  As Lilaci and the others made their way toward the palace, a fear rolled over the people they walked by. They either hid their faces and cried, or looked up to the sky, unable to look away at the force that flew overhead. Herradax led the flight of creatures, with Kôrran only just behind, and the lot of Aridons glided easily behind.

  “Why are they afraid?” Fewn asked, looking up to the dragons and Aridons, with their tails glistening in the light of the setting sun behind. Kôrran let out a belt of a roar, like a screeching that echoed down onto the city. The people covered their ears and fled into the alleyways.

  “Even if our dragons saved the city,” Gogenanth said, scratching his neck, “not one of these people has seen a single dragon before. They know who saved the rest of the city, but the last thing they want to see is a dragon. Can you blame them? This has been the single greatest massacre in how long?” He looked to Fewn who shrugged.

  A battalion of soldiers came running down the road toward them. Their light, silver metal clacked atop their thick, brown leather armor. Lilaci slowly ran her palm to reach the grip of her sword, but then she noticed the soldiers had their weapons sheathed. But they continued their advance toward them.

  “Lilaci?” Kera said, taking slow steps to get behind her.

  “They are not coming for us,” Veranor said flatly. They all stood there and watched as the soldiers hardly paid any mind to them. A few of them even looked at Lilaci and nodded.

  “They must be going to put out the fires,” Ezmerelda said, pulling her tan-blond hair behind her ears, her bronze eyes moving from the soldiers to the high-reaching pyramid less than a mile out. “The queen has ordered her army to help save the city.”

  “It took her long enough,” Burr said, garnering a mean eye from Kera. “What did I say? It’s been hours since the battle began, and now she sends out her troops?”

  “The queen surely had her reasons,” Veranor said, starting back up his pace toward the palace. The others followed.

  By the time they’d come within sight of the grand entrance to the palace, the road was lined with soldiers—hundreds of them—and at the tip, near the palace gate, were the Queensguard. And at the very center of them, aligned perfectly at the tip of the road and the top of the staircase that led into the palace, stood Queen Lezeral, with an adviser on either side of her.

  As they approached, Lilaci could feel the tension growing in her friends behind her. Why didn’t she help us? Why send out your soldiers just now? Lilaci thought they were surely thinking. But Lilaci could tell something else was going on, something they had yet to figure out, and by the look on the queen’s face—they’d probably be finding that out very shortly.

  Lilaci noticed the queen did her best to stand straight and tall, with square soldiers under her gown of red silk, but she could tell the queen had been shaken to the core. Lilaci, from all of her years growing up in the servitude of the Scaethers in Sorock—the ones who killed her family—to know the look of someone trying to hide their tears. She had the telltale signs: freshly washed cheeks, puffy eyes, newly applied makeup, that look of weariness veiled by timidness.

  They approached, and one of the Queensguard stabbed his spear out into the dirt before him, staring at Lilaci. Lilaci looked up to the queen, but noticed the queen wasn’t looking at her, she was looking next to her—to Kera. She looked to her right and was startled to see Kera kneel to Lezeral. Veranor quickly fell to his knee, and Fewn too. Lilaci was unsure what to do herself, but she knelt because of Kera. Gogenanth, unsure himself, did the same, and Ezmerelda too. Burr stood his ground.

  “Rise,” the queen said, with a scratchy throat, which she cleared. “In a different world, it would be us bowing to you, Dragon’s Breath.”

  Kera and the others rose, with Gogenanth bru
shing the sands from his knees. “I can’t believe I bowed to the queen of Voru,” he scoffed.

  “Because of your dragons, and the surprising return of the great Aridons, Voru still stands,” Lezeral said, beginning to show the majesty that was her grace and strength again. “The Arr is a safer place with you in it now. The dragon Tirilin has flown north again my scouts have reported, though we know not for how long.”

  “Tirilin?” Lilaci asked, with her brow furrowed. “You named the dragon?”

  “No,” the queen said, her tan eyes vibrantly cast down upon her. “That was the dragon’s name... long ago.”

  “Why’d ya wait so long?” Burr spat. Gogenanth turned and tried to silence the old man, but to no avail. “Why’d you just now send out yer army? We could’ve overrun the beast!”

  “I wouldn’t waste a breath to answer any accusation your vile tongue would lash out,” the queen snapped, “but I will answer for Kera.” She took a deep breath. “It is not only Voru that was under attack this day.”

  “The other cities too?” Kera gasped.

  The queen nodded with her eyes closed. “We haven’t had a dragon attack a city since the Great Serpentine Wars, but that doesn’t mean time has lost the stories of their destruction and carnage. Once a dragon attacks the cities upon the Great Oasi, they attack until the evening, and then they retire back to their caves. I knew the dragon would attack under the light of the moon, and then leave.” She stared into Kera’s eyes then. “To be honest, I would have sent out the army, but you were here within my walls.”

  “So, you let us do the fighting for ya?” Burr spat again.

  “Silence him or I will,” the queen yelled with fire brimming in her chest and voice.

  Gogenanth picked Burr up from where he stood and threw him over his shoulder like a man lifting a small child. Burr fought, but the grip in Gogenanth’s hands held tight, and he went off with him quickly.