War Of Dragons, Part 13

  "Ha-Ha!  That was great!" I yelled into the night.

  "Wasn't it?" asked Scott. 

  I turned around to look at him and my hair flew into my face.  All I did was brush it aside and said, "It was... wow.  I have no words."

  "Are we going back to Dragon city?" asked Grarr.

  "No." I told him. "Mr. Terrace here owes me dinner."

  "You're not worried that something will happen?" asked Scott.

  "No.  I want to spend as much up here as possible."

  "I have no problems with that." said Grarr.

  "All right, let's find a pizza place." said Scott.

  we streaked through the night toward North America.  It was beautiful.  The moon was full, and the stars were bright.  We were so close to the sky I felt like I could reach out and grab it.  And that's I wanted to do.  I just wanted to grab onto a star and hold on forever.

  Though I never did because I couldn't.  Instead we landed at a pizza parlor in California, and let Grarr loose on the city.  He promised he would stay out of sight.  Once we had ordered we started to talk.  I don't even remember what we talked about, whatever it is normal people talk about.  I do remember what it was like to eat human food again.  Overall it was nice.  A kid puked behind us, and half the salad had mold on it, but it was still nice.  And dragons weren't mentioned once!  For a small moment we got to feel like normal people on a normal date!

  But then we had to snap back to reality.  We payed with Scott's last fifty dollars, and then we left on Garr's back.  Grarr took us back to our world.  the real world.  The one with dragons in it.  Grarr us all the way back to my quarters and then he left.  Probably to tell all his friends about the surface.

  "Thank-You." I said.

  "That's not all."

  "Really?" I asked.

  "Yeah, I set up a shooting range outback."

  "Cool, 'cause I have no idea what I'm doing with these guns."

  "That's the idea of a shooting range."  We walked around to the back of the building where there were cans... sitting on a wall.

  "So we shoot the cans?" I asked.

  "Yeah, sorry it's all I had."

  "It's fine." I told him.

  "Let's start with the shotgun then."  I picked it up and held it like you would hold a gun.  By the handle.  "So what you need to know is that this thing has a lot of knockback, so it could easily send you flying." he said. "That means you'll have to use this stock."

  He leaned over my back and fitted the stock to my armpit.  He was heavy but it was... nice.  that's the word I'm going to use to describe this whole thing, nice.

 "Fire when ready." he told me.

  I closed my eyes and my finger hovered over the trigger.  I'm not afraid to admit I was a little scared.  But Scott leaning on me made me feel safer.  So I was able to pull myself together and pull the trigger.  BLOOM!!!  At least three cans fell off the wall and thankfully I didn't end up on my back.

  "Nice shot." said Scott.

  "Thanks.  Do you need any practice?" I asked.

 "Nah, I'm fine.  Will you be able to use your pistol?"

  "I'll figure it out." 

  Then the conversation just stopped.  it was quiet for a few moments.  So quiet I could hear myself think.

  Then I finally said, "This was... nice."  Then I did something.  Something that I don't regret.  I turned around, leaned in, and kissed him.  We didn't kiss for long, but he didn't seem mad. 

  When we separated he said, "Wow..." but he never finished because he was interrupted by a ROAR!!! 

  "What the hell?" I asked.

  "There." he pointed. "All the dragons are landing in the town square."

  "Then we'd best get over there." I said, and we ran off to see what was wrong.

Happy New Years 2015!

  Hey readers!  We did a new years post last year, and you guys seemed to like it, so for more pageviews we're doing it again!  So here they are!  The information about new stories.

  This year will be awesome with the epic conclusion to "War of Dragons, aaaaaaaand!
   We have Earthfall, Thief's Guild, Sheath: Honorless, and Shade!  I also have plans for Gallatian, Agon, and Sara Raft stories, but those plans are underdeveloped because of one of my other projects.

   What?  you want to know that project is?  I couldn't tell you, I just couldn't!  Okay so I could.  I'm working on a novel titled: "The Last Frontier".  I'm also going to try to publish it, so it should be sometime this year or next year!

  That's all for now!  See you in the funny pages!

War of Dragons, Part 12

  The next day I had another training session with Grarr, and for better or worse, that's where I was.  Training and drilling and drilling and training.  We did the same exercises over and over, but neither of us felt like we were learning anything new.  Though the reason for that might that all we were doing was flying through hoops.  Thankfully Scott stepped in.

  "Hey!" He yelled.

  "Hey." I said.

  "So... I was thinking..." He said.

  "That's dangerous." said Grarr.

  "Ha-ha, cute.  Though seriously I was thinking that we're going to have to go into battle whether we like it or not, right?"

  "Yeah..." I said cautiously, I really didn't know where this was going.

  "Well, neither of us have weapons.  So I'm saying that we should go steal some!  There's an army base nearby."

  "Aren't those a secret?" I asked. "How do you know about it?"

  "I did some work there for the military, do you want to go?"

  "Sure."

  "Would you also like... to get some dinner?  Real food, not the Dragon feed." He asked.

  "Are you... asking me on a date?"

  "Maybe... how does nine sound?"

  "That's fine." I said "See you then." 

  Then he left.  I was staring after him, when Grarr leaned over and asked:  "What's a date?  Isn't that a kind of fruit?"

  "You'll learn when you're older."  I assured him. "Or maybe you won't!  I don't know Dragon customs that well." 

  Training went quickly after that, maybe out of anticipation, but at Nine o'clock I was dressed in all black and ready to go.  I met Scott under the crevice opening, he was also dressed in all black.  Grarr was there, but he was there to fly us.

  "Ready?" I asked.

  "Ready." He assured.

  "Grarr, would you be kind enough to take us there?"  I asked

  He sighed: "Okay."  He lowered himself to the ground and we climbed on.  Then we both shook as his powerful legs kicked off the ground!  We were airborne. 

  "So what do you humans use as weapons?" asked Grarr.

  "What do you use?" asked Scott.  Then a small burst of heat came from Garr's mouth and orange flame sparked.

  "Touche" said Scott.  "But we don't have that.  So we use guns."

  "Are those dangerous?"

  "Yes, at least for humans they are."

  "Then why are we stealing them?"

  I spoke up: "Because the humans have waged war with the Dragons and me and Scott need to be able to protect ourselves.  Like Scott said: 'No fire'."

  "Or claws?"

  "Or claws." I confirmed.

  "Or a tail?"

  "Or a tail."

  "Or..."
 
  "I get it!"  I yelled!  Then Scott and me both started laughing.  Imagine that, all the crap that had happened and I was laughing.

  "So Scott..." I said.  "How... exactly are we going to do this?"

  "We sneak around until we find a armory." He replied.

  "And if we run into a guard?"

  "Hopefully we can take him out before he yells for the others."

  "Nice to know you guys have a plan." said Grarr. "Because we're here."

  He was right, all that talking we had done had made me not notice it, but there we were.

  Scott leaned over:  "Okay Grarr, we need to land behind that gate."  The gate in question was at least ten feet tall with barbed wire at the top , there was no way we could scale it. It was no problem for Grarr though, who landed behind it and let us off.

  Then I said to him:  "Just hover around above for now.  We'll be back."  then I turned to Scott:  "Where do we start?

  What was interesting was that instead of one big building, like you'd think, the army base was made of smaller buildings, within the gate.
 
  "I dunno." he answered. "Where do you think?"

  "I'd try the building with no windows and a ton of locks."

  "Unless that's a prison."

  "I'm sure... you're kidding right?"

  "I kid." he said. "The problem is that there are like, four guards between here and there."

  "We can take 'em out... I'll stay here."

  "I'm sure you will." he said.

  Though he then he started off, slowly walking.  I could barely see him in all the black he was wearing.  I couldn't hear him either, but by straining my eyes I managed to see him snap to cover right as a guard turned around!  The guard then walked by right where Scott was hiding!  then he grabbed the guard and knocked him out! 

  "That's one." I said.

  The next guard was close, so Scott sneaked up behind him and took him out!

  "There's two." I whispered.

  Then came the hard part, the last two were across an open patch of grass.  There was no cover.  So Scott ran across and his behind a corner, but one of the guards heard him!  It wasn't a problem though.  When the guard came, Scott hit him across the face!

  "Three down, one to go." I said.

  The last guard heard him, and started to run, but Scott up to him, and slammed into him!

  "Four." I said as I ran to Scott.

  "Thanks for the help." He teased.
 
  "Anytime." I told him. "Now lets check this place out." 

  We started to walk over to the building, but Scott stopped and grabbed a key-card from one of the guards.

  "We'll need this." He said.  Then he walked up and swiped the card.  The door then swung open.
 
  "Jackpot!" I yelled.  It was, because the room was covered with racks of guns!

  "I call shotgun." I said, picking one up.

  "Do you even know how to use that?" asked Scott.

  "It's like a camera, right?"

  "No."

  "Then that's why I have you."

  I also grabbed a pistol, and Scott did the same.  He also picked up what looked like an assault rifle, but I'm no gun expert.  then we ran out and back across the base. 

  "Grarr..." I said. "We're ready."

  "About time." said Grarr, as he landed.  Then we got on, and Grarr kicked off into the air.

 

War Of Dragons, Part 11

The next day, me and Scott were wandering the Dragon's city.  I hate to admit it but I had never been in any of these places, Darsk had always flown me around instead of me walking.  Did you know that they had a marketplace?  I didn't and after an hour of walking it, me and Scott had made some purchases.  I had got a bone necklace, and he had a book on Dragon history.

  "You're seriously getting a book?" I had asked.

  "The Dragons have such a rich history, I just want to learn more about it.  I am a explorer after all." he told me.

  "Don't explorers find new places?"

  "We do research too."  I just nodded and smiled to myself.  He would have loved the catacombs, but I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take him there.  I would have to ask later.  Though as we walked, we found something.  A crowd of Dragons gathered around something in the middle.  It was kind of like when the Council had announced the human's war.  As I looked closer I saw that it was Tw'One that was at the center.

  "My fellow dragons!" she yelled.

  "This again?" I asked.

  "Abby..." whispered Scott, he put his arm on me, but it was more to hold me back.

  "Relax." I told him. "I'll just listen."

  "For now." he added in, but I ignored him and turned back to Tw'One.

  "Today begins a new age!" she yelled. "One without the tyranny of the council!  They tell us to wait and hide, but waiting and hiding has gotten one of us killed!"

  "Stop!" I yelled! and everyone in the crowd turned to me.  I had to say something, I didn't agree with the council either but Tw'One?  Tw'One was making war!  And she was doing it in Darsk's name!

  "Who yelled?!" roared Tw'One! "Who yelled for me to stop?!"

  "I did!" I yelled back!  I stepped forward so everyone could see me, and more importantly, hear me.

  "You." she squinted at me with beady eyes.  She looked ready to tear into me if I dared disagree with her.

  "Yes me, and I don't agree with the council anymore than you do!  But you're creating a war here, and take it from me, war only leads to more war."

  She squinted at me again, and said: "You seem to forget that you're not a Dragon."

  That hit me like a punch to a gut.  She actually went there.  I couldn't believe it, she actually said it.  It actually made grasp for words, but I finally said: "No, but I've made this place my home."

  "You don't know hat we've been through!  You haven't had our experiences!"

  "That's fine 'cause I brought my own."

  At the this point, the crowds eyes were moving back and forth like a game of Ping-Pong.  Everyone seemed to want to know where this was going.  I know I did.

  "Why are you fighting us?" asked Tw'One "We're doing it to honor your friend."

  This is where Scott finally stepped in: "Because you weren't listening at the funeral you ruined.  Darsk wanted peace, doing all this in his name isn't doing it for him."

  "What we supposed to do? Lie down and let them take over?!  That's probably what you two want!  Don't think we haven't noticed that there are two of you now!" she shrieked!

  "Th-that's not we want." though what she had said was making me think.  Is that what everyone thought?  That we were agents?  It sounded stupid, but... not out of the ordinary.

  "How about this?" she asked. "We stop using Darsk's name, and you two figure out who's side you're on."

  "We're on yours." I said.

  "Then act like it."  On that note, I turned around and quickly walked away with Scott.  She continued to rant, but no mention of Darsk was made.

War Of Dragons, Part 10

  I arrived at the funeral right on time, not too early, not too late.  But when I got there something felt... off.  You know how it's always dark and cloudy at funerals?  Well that's bull.  That day it was sunny and bright, one of the nicest we had had in a long time.  But for everyone there it was dark and cloudy.  One of the best Dragons had died, and he was missed.

  I sat down on the grass, because there were no chairs, and watched as a preacher went up to the podium.  No one came to comfort me, no one came to tell me they were sorry for my lost.  I was beginning to wonder if the other Dragons even knew why I was there.  The Preacher had begun to talk, but I wasn't listening.  I didn't need him to tell me that Darsk was loved and would be missed.  I already knew that.

  Though something in his sermon did catch my ear.  He had said:  "All Darsk had wanted was peace, and he tried so hard to get it.  That's why we've decided to use his bones to create a brand new house.  That way future families may find peace ad harmony between his walls."

Oddly enough.. that felt right.  It was exactly wat Darsk would have said, and it was exactly what he would have wanted.  I wondered if Darsk would have been happy with his funeral.  It seemed to me that it was going all right.  After his sermon, the preacher and everybody else started to walk away, they acted like it was over and now they get on with their lives... I wasn't going to let it happen.

  I stepped up to the podium and said: "If everyone could stay, I would like to say something."  Everyone turned back around to hear me, and I noticed that the podium was bigger than me, but my voice could be heard. 
  "Darsk was a friend."  I started.  "But wasn't just that, he was a protector, a confident, and in many ways, the bravest person I've ever known.  When I was down here in those first few months, it was Darsk who talked to me, comforted me, informed me, and even protected me.  He did the things it seemed no one else wanted to do.  So in many ways Darsk was more than a friend, he was part of my family.  And for that, I will always love him.  Thank you."

  I stepped down from the podium and everyone stomped on the ground.  It's the Dragon version of clapping.  Surprisingly Scott was there in the crowd, I hadn't seen him before.

  "That was beautiful Abby." he said.

"It was the right thing to do." I told him. "It was the least I could do for Darsk."

  A different Dragon actually stepped to the podium.  I thought I recognized her but I couldn't place it.  I thought maybe she was a friend of Darsk's.  She was a dark green color, with a shorter neck.  She looked kind of like a sleek, green, bullet.

  "My fellow Dragons!" she said.  "MY name is Tw'One.  I didn't know Darsk, but I will say this.  This can not stand!  One of our own is dead!  And by human hands!  They're the reason we are down here in the first place. and they have the nerve to kill one of us?!  Isn't what they've done enough?!  I say it's time we overthrow the council!  If we follow their rues, we'll all end up dead!  Instead we should take the fights to the humans!  We'll take back our original home, and put them underground!  Now who's with me?"

  "Yeah!!!" screamed everyone else in the crowd, but by then I had ran away.  I was angry, steaming, full of rage!  However you want to put it!  All Darsk had wanted was peace, but instead a war had started at his own funeral.  

War Of Dragons, Part 9

  The very next day I went back to the hatchery.  When I had said "Training starts tomorrow." I had meant it.  We were going to hold a funeral for Darsk later that day, but for now... I had to start training.  It was what Darsk would have wanted.  Zarr was waiting, and I couldn't stand him up.

  Where we were training was the hatchery, but it was a separate room from where I had met Zarr.  Honestly?  I had no idea what to expect.  So I guess I was surprised when all I found was a roof with hoops dangling from the ceiling.  We were that important. 

  Zarr seemed happy with the setup though.  He was weaving in out of the wings.  He wasn't bragging when he said he was a good flyer.  When I looked at Zarr a little closer I noticed something.  He was well... bigger.  Almost adult size, and now he was big enough to ride.  In three days... he had grown to the size of a mini-van.   Though while he was flying all over he noticed me.  Which meant I had to stop staring, and start talking.

  "Oh... hi." he said.

"Hey..." I said. "Wasn't expecting this."

"The training room?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess they decided that having a dragon rider wasn't as important as they thought."

"Why?"

"Probably because yesterday you showed up on the back of a Dragon and they shot at you."

"Yeah, not a single person in that crowd thought 'Oh wow!  She's on the back of a Dragon!  Maybe they aren't as bad as we thought!'  So then why are we still doing training if we're not going to 'mend wounds'?"

"They're probably going to put us on a battle field."

  I was actually kinda surprised, he hadn't just grown, he had also matured.

  "I'm sorry about Darsk." he said. "I wish I had gotten to known him better."

  There it was, the grey cloud in the room.  I was trying my best not to break down, but I was failing miserably.

  "It's okay." I sputtered. "We better start training!"

  I tried to perk up, and managed to fake it, so Zarr lowered himself to the ground, that way I could get on. 

  "Okay, here's the trick." he said. "I have to be blindfolded while you guide me through the rings."

"All right... where's the blindfold?" I asked.

"It's over there by that harness... you'll need the harness too... this means you'll need to get off me."

"Awwww..." I joked.

So I slid off his back and to the ground where I grabbed the tools.  And after fiddling with them for an hour we were finally ready to go.

  "All right." I said. "So I guide you with my voice?"

  I was sitting in the harness on his back while he struggled to see through the blindfold.  The harness was clinging to me tight which meant if we crashed, we both went down with the ship.
  
"That's exactly what you do." he told me. "We begin whenever you're ready."

  "Okay then.  Up!"

  He flew up and through the first ring

  "Down!" I shouted!

  He flew through the second one.

  "Alright.  Down!  Up!  Left!  Left!  Left! No wait I meant right!" but it was too late.  We crashed head first into a wall!

  "Sorry!" I said.

"It's fine, I have tough scales.  Let's just try again."

  Because of my screw up we had to start from the beginning, which was a pain.

  "Start with... Up!  Now Down!" he flew through both rings with ease.  "Down!  Go up!  Left!  Another left!  Right!  Left!  Right!  Up!  I meant right!"  but again it was too late, and CRASH!!! his head met the wall!

  "One more try!" said Zarr.   

"Fine." I grumbled.  "Up!  Down!  Up!  Down!  Left!  Left!  Right!  Right!  Up!  Now a down!  Now right!  A left!  One more!  Down!"

We landed on the ground as lightly as a Dragon can land.

  "Huh." said Zarr.  "We aren't dead."

  I just ignored him and asked:  "Will we be able to use reins next time?  It's kind of hard to stay on."

"Yeah, they just want us to listen to each other while flying.  Especially since you can see more one my back than I can."

"Makes sense." I said.

  We were both quiet for a minute.
'
  "This was fun." I said.

"It was."

"I have to go.  I can't be late."

"Thanks for coming." he said.

"Next time?" I asked.

"Next time."

War Of Dragons, Part 8

  I woke up right where we started: in my room.  Scott was there, Darsk wasn't. 

  "Wh-what happened." I groaned.

"You're awake." said Scott.

"No.  Really?" I grumbled.

"You don't sound good."

"Give me time, give me time."  I was hurting all over, seriously hurting.  It took all my effort just to sit up.

  "What happened?" I asked again.

"They... um... we were shot down..." he mumbled a little more. "We were shot down over the crevice."

"And Darsk?" I asked.  He lowered his head.

  "I'm sorry." He told me.

"No..." I whispered.  That's all I could say.  I was quiet, I was crying, and I was angry all at the same time.  My best friend had died.  Was I going to feel like a part of me was gone forever?

  "It was my fault." I whispered.

"What?"

"I-I was the one who encouraged him to go there!  If I hadn't he'd still..."

  Scott hugged me, his arms were strong but I paid no attention.  Darsk was dead.

  "It's not your fault." He told me.

"It is."

"It's not." He was quiet for a moment, like he was thinking.  Then he said: "Did I ever tell you about my cat?"

  "I didn't even know you had a cat." I said

"Yeah, I did.  You remember when we set out to find this place right?"

"All too well." I thought, but I just nodded.

"Well, I asked one of my friends to feed my cat and clean up after it while I was gone.  I thought it'd be okay, but when I got back the cat had died.  It had died of starvation.  At first I blamed myself, thinking I should have never left home and the cat, but then I realized that it wasn't like that.  I should have blamed the friend who didn't feed my cat. 

  So should you blame yourself?  No, though you should blame the fighter pilot who launched the missile.  To a further extent you should even blame Sophie, who told the pilot to shoot Darsk."

  I looked at him.  "Why are are telling me this?  We barely you know each other."

"I'm telling you because you need it." 

  It wasn't the first time someone I knew had died, but it was the first time close to me had died.  It felt like I had a hole in me. 

  "What would Darsk want you to do?" Asked Scott.

"He'd want me to keep fighting."

"Then that's what you do."  I thought about that for second, then I told Scott everything about the Dragon Riders.  Including that they want me to be one.

  "Wow." he said. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Tell the council." I said

"Tell them what."

"That training starts tomorrow."