The Last Dragons, A new dragon dawn
#6 of The last dragons
Alright, here is the final portion of the Last dragons. However, before you freak out on me, I am considering continuing the story under the new story series called The Knights of Juno. I would like to know what you readers out there think about that before I do it, so let me know.
Anyway, here we go.
Continued from a father's anger...
"Welcome my friend." Jason said, and smiled, his eyes manic. "I knew that the blue dragon I killed in the meadow wasn't the father of these eggs. After all, they are not even the right color."
"Your point?" I asked and the magic power, fueled by the anger of the entire race of dragons, swelled within me. I could feel it just under the surface, pulsing strongly with every beat of my heart.
"Well, you see, we have a problem now." Jason stated, beginning to pace back and forth in the laboratory. His tone was unconcerned and conversational, almost as if he were commenting on the weather. "Our magic can't seem to penetrate the shells of these eggs, so we can't drain their power as we intended. However, I am sure that our magic is strong enough to shatter them. So, you have a choice, either you enhance our soldiers with your magic, or we will destroy your children." When he said this, Juno looked at his brother with a look of utter surprise.
"I choose the third option," I stated, looking at Juno with interest. "I kill you and take my children back."
"It really is a shame that you think like that." Jason replied, a manic look coming back into his face. "Rest assured, you will pay for it." His eyes flared with energy and I looked over at Juno. He was looking like a man torn between two equally bad courses of action.
"And you Juno?" I asked, staring at him. "Have you really abandoned the things that you believed so strongly in?"
"What?" he said, his tone confused and empty as if he was a man coming out of a trance.
"You swore an oath to uphold honor." I stated and Juno nodded slowly. "You threatened innocent children, harmed those who had done nothing against you. That was dishonorable Juno and you know it."
"Enough." Jason stated, stepping between us. "Juno also is bound by an oath to hunt down your kind. Now, we will take what you would not give freely."
With that, his hands began to glow and a glowing sword appeared in his hands. I knew that it was made from magic alone and even my scales would not be enough to stop it. But, every spell that the hunters knew, so to did the dragons; that and much more. After all, we had given the powers to them in the first place. A grim smile curled my lips and a glowing katana appeared in my hands. Jason smiled and stalked forward, his brother forgotten. For a brief moment, we stood totally still, dragon-man and dragon hunter, the oldest of enemies facing each other again. Our magic blades were between us, points toward each other, and then the hunter struck the first blow. His long sword's blade swiped at my head and I brought my own sword to the side out of reflex, the blade catching his before it came close to touching me. I pushed his blade back and laid a return stroke against his guard. Then, I entered into a complex series of strikes, the best that I could come up with.
Strike after strike flashed in the room as dragon and hunter fought. The battle should have been over in moments, for I was a well trained dragonlord, and he only a human, but he was matching me blow for blow. No human should have had this kind of strength. Then, I noticed that his eyes were a different color than they had been at the beginning of the fight. Where they had been a cool green color, they were now deep brown, shot through with rivers of other colors. Something was wrong here and then it came to me what it was. This man was channeling the souls of hunters who had died long ago. It was a power that was entirely possible, but I had never thought that it would actually be used. Though he alone could not match my strength and power, several hunters together had strength to spare. Our swords clashed once more and the hunter raised his hand, palm towards me. I recognized the spell he brought to bear a second too late. A bright flash shot into my vision, blinding me and then there was pain in my side. My katana vanished as the hunter's blade banished the magic that created it from inside me. On instinct, I lashed out with a fist and it contacted flesh, sending Jason flying.
I shook my head to clear my vision and saw the hunter climbing to his feet across the room. A mad look was in his gaze and he laughed, proving to me without a doubt that he was totally insane. I reached for the magic to bring my sword into being, but there was nothing there. My magic was gone. Horrified, I watched the hunter approach and I knew that I had one chance and one chance only. I prepared to fight unarmed against a swordsman, the most dangerous type of fight that I had ever heard of. The unarmed warrior rarely won, but then again, I had no real choice. Then, as I brought my hands into fighting position, I realized that my movements were slow and painful. The wound was sapping my strength with every second. My legs grew suddenly weak and I slumped to my knees. Unless a miracle happened, I was going to die in failure.
Jason advanced towards me, his sword raised to strike me down. But it was not to be. Before I could react, someone was in the way, forcing the hunter to check his stroke.
"If you want to strike this man down, then you will have to go through me first." Juno stated, a magic katana almost identical to the one I had been using appearing in his hands. Jason looked at him in outrage and started to step around Juno, but his brother moved into the way.
"Juno, move out of the way!!" Jason commanded. "You don't know what you are doing."
"No." He said, readying his blade to strike, "I am doing the honorable thing. He is my friend and my student and you shall not touch him."
"This creature is not a man." Jason protested, his rage growing. "It is a dragon. All dragons are evil and they wish the death of all of us. You know that."
"It is the same as we are." Juno stated. "And it deserves the same right. If you must kill it, then you will have to kill me too."
"So be it!" Jason shouted and his blade struck at his brother. Juno parried the blow and stepped in slashing. Juno may not have had the strength of a dragon, but what he did have was a lifetime of training and practice to draw on. Jason was driven back further and further from me by his brother's lightning quick blows. But I knew that the magic that coursed through Jason's blood could not be over come by brute strength, eventually, Juno would lose. Using the precious moments that Juno bought me with his brave action, I struggled against the drain of my energy. I made little progress without my magic, but still I tried.
As Juno struck once more, his blade digging through his brother's defenses, I cast around in my mind for the barrier that separated me from the magic force within. I could feel it just at the edge of perception, but I could not reach it. Then, I saw the inevitable happen. Jason's blade, quickened by the tireless magic, danced around his brother's guard and cut across his gut. Juno crumpled and fell into a pool of blood without a sound. I heard a cry of rage echoing in the chamber a moment later and it took me a moment to recognize the wild voice as my own.
Juno had turned his back on the oath of his family for the sake of honor and to protect me. He did not deserve to be struck down by so evil a man. The rage I felt at the death of my master combined with the rage of my dragon soul; and like two waves of force, they multiplied. Whatever magic had held me before would not hold me any longer. Strength resurged into my mind and I reached for the magic once more. This time, my rage was so great that the barrier dividing me from it was shattered. Magic flooded my whole body and I felt the wound in my side close. I rose to my feet, the katana returning to my hands as if it had never left it. Jason turned to face me and I smiled a fierce grin at him. As he advanced towards me once more, I felt the magic surge within and my body swelled in size.
Suddenly faced with an opponent far larger than he was, Jason stopped in his tracks. I advanced quickly, the katana weaving back and forth in my hands, already moving far faster than it had been before. I could feel something giving way within, but I didn't care. When I got within range, Jason struck at me, but I blocked his stroke easily. My return stroke had such power behind it that he was knocked back by it. I continued my advance and struck again and again, each stroke cleaving through his guard, stopped only by his retreat. Just then, the hunter ran out of luck. My blade sliced into his side just as we neared the corpse of his brother. He gasped at the sudden pain that threatened to overwhelm him. Though the wound was not fatal, he fell back onto the ground and lost his sword.
"I call upon the blood of the hunter within to rise and do your duty." Jason called and all at once, I felt my arms pin to my side as bands of energy encircled my torso. My sword vanished when it touched them and I struggled but they would not break. I knew that the culprit wasn't the prostrate hunter before me, because I was using the magic that he had used against me. A sudden movement to my side caused me to turn my head. Juno's body was rising to its feet once more, the bands of energy flowing from its hands. For a brief moment, I thought that my master had returned to life, but his eyes were wide and unfocused. His chest did not rise and fall. No heart beat within his breast. Some residual magic that resided in the blood of the fallen hunter had responded to Jason's call, rising to do its duty beyond death. I struggled more and more, but Jason rose to his feet ahead of me. The magic that had kept him down had apparently faded. The long sword appeared in his hands once more and he advanced towards me.
"You see, my young friend," he said, stopping within striking distance. "We hunters fight even when we are dead. Now then, I think your death's blood will be a sweeter nectar than honey." A hungry look filled his eyes and I knew somehow that he had tasted dragon blood before. He wanted more. His long sword came up as he raised it. I knew what I had to do if I was going to survive. I did something that I had always been afraid of before. I felt the dragon instincts within me rise and I surrendered myself to them. I felt the last bit of my humanity spiral away into my dragon soul. New strength swelled within me, more strength than I had ever felt before. Oceans of strength, and still more. Without thought, I pointed one claw at the dead body that held me with its magic and a bolt of lightning seared from my claw tip. The corpse went stiff as my magic slammed into it and then it collapsed into death again. The bands of magic faded away just as Jason's blade descended towards me.
My hand caught the wrist holding his sword quickly, stopping its fall in an instant. Then, I struck with my other hand, claws bared on rigid fingers. The hunter's eyes went wide as my claws pierced the skin of his gut. My hand sank into him, his warm blood gushing out all over my scales. The magic blade faded away and Jason's mouth worked in silence like a fish out of water. I twisted my hand cruelly inside him and his face turned pale. Then, I ripped my hand free. A gout of red human blood spilled from the hole in his gut. Jason, the last of the dragon hunters, toppled backward, dead before he hit the ground. I stood still, momentarily appalled at the savagery of my instincts.
The last of the dragon hunters had died. But at what cost? I had given up my last link to my old life. There was nothing left of the human I had once been. Only dragon remained. But, as I looked on my eggs once more, I realized that it was worth it for them. I strode over to the machine that held them imprisoned and punched one clawed hand through the metallic covering over its internal components. With my arm inside the machine, I yanked out something very important. I didn't know or care what it was I had destroyed, all I cared about was that fact that the machine couldn't keep me from my children any longer. The moment my hand touched the eggs, I knew that they were alright. I had done it, I had saved them and avenged the insults to my race. I smiled and gathered them with my magic to carry them out of the facility in safety. But then, I sensed the huge force of soldiers that had arrived outside the facility. At least a thousand soldiers were up there, every one of them ready to fight me.
I smiled to myself and contacted my brother. If they wanted a fight, I was going to give them one that they would remember for all time...
***
The facility's upper levels had been emptied by the time I got up to the entrance. I stood before the doors into the facility and I knew that there were many soldiers outside, just waiting for me to show myself. The one thing I was counting on was that most of them had never seen a dragon and the shock would startle them just enough for me to carry out my plan. I smiled when I sensed the fear and anticipation in the soldiers outside. It was time; I concentrated on my true form, the surging magic taking hold after only a moment. Magic and flesh flowed together and I swelled. The hallway would not hold me in my true form, but then, that was the idea. The cinderblocks that made up the walls began to crack when my scaly hide contacted them and all at once, they crumbled. The whole front of the building crumbled down inward with an almighty crash and I hunkered down, shrugging off the rain of debris with ease and waited for the right moment. I watched a pair of soldiers with my minds eye as they warily approached the piled wreckage. When they came near enough, I rose upright quickly into the sunlight, scattering debris everywhere. My scales shown brightly and the marines scattered backward, not one of them having the courage to fire. My sharp eyesight took only a moment to locate a man in the crowd with stars on his lapel. He was about to shout the order to fire.
"Sure you want to do that general?" I shouted, and the general looked confused. Then, a wild roaring echoed in the valley and a hundred dragons suddenly rose into the air from where they had hidden along the edge of the valley. The troops looked around with great fear and they realized at last that they could not hope to survive this fight, much less win it. "Perhaps you would like to talk?"
"Perhaps." The general called and motioned for his soldiers to lower their weapons. I stepped forward into the crowd's edge and the soldiers obligingly moved aside, making room for me to pass. I could see the fear in their eyes and I did nothing to lessen it. I looked up at the flying dragons and smiled to myself when a familiar scarlet dragon flapped down to land in front of me. She smiled as she took possession of the eggs and spoke.
"You got them back!!" She said, speaking in dragonic and then glanced around at all the soldiers. "Despite all they have done, I would rather not have to kill these humans, the war was bad enough."
"With luck, we won't have to." I replied, the hisses and growls of my speech making several marines shy away from me. She flew off, taking the eggs back to our nest site. I watched her until she was out of sight and then turned my attention to the general. He looked up at me in amazement, and I lowered my head so it was level with his.
"What is it that you want?" The general asked, looking at my fierce face without a trace of the fear he must have been feeling.
"To live in peace." I stated and the general seemed truly surprised. "That is all we have ever wanted. Contrary to what hunters have no doubt told you, we are not evil beings who wish to destroy or subjugate humanity. Nor are we beasts lower than you. We are at the least your equals."
"You claim to cherish life." The General stated and I nodded slightly. When next he spoke, his tone was a challenge. "What about the soldiers that you killed? What about the dragon hunters that you slew?"
"I have never killed anyone who has not tried to kill me or the ones I care about first. Have we not the right to protect ourselves?" I asked and the general shook his head.
"You have no rights and you are not our equals." He shouted, and I knew that a battle was imminent. "Prepare to fire!!"
"Wait!!" A voice called out and the general looked around in astonishment. A young marine who looked to be about nineteen was striding forward through the crowd. His hands were clasped onto his M-16's grips, but the barrel wasn't pointed at me. It was leveled at the General. He looked at the soldier with shock.
"What the hell are you thinking soldier?" The general asked, looking at the young man.
"I have seen what a single dragon can do." The soldier shouted, loud enough for the entire army to hear. "One dragon that was not nearly as large as this one slaughtered an entire platoon by itself. Only the hunters had the strength to fight it and they are dead, killed by this dragon before you. I say we listen to what he has to say instead of blinding attacking something we cannot kill." A rumble of agreement passed through the assembled soldiers and the general at last nodded.
"I know that the hunters promised you the magic of a dragon would be yours." I stated. "We had done nothing to provoke you and you tried to kill us or make us slaves. General, all that I want is for my people to be allowed to live without the fear that has forced us into hiding for thousands of years."
"What are you talking about?" The general asked, his hand gripping the butt of his pistol.
"Millennia ago, we two races lived together in peace. We taught you magic and many other things." I stated. "But your religions taught you that you were meant to rule everything on this world, including us. We didn't see it that way and a war began. A terrible war, in which countless men and dragons died. In the end, we dragons lost the final battle. For we had made a terrible mistake by giving our magic to you freely. You used it against us, slaying our unborn children before our eyes. At last, we were forced to hide. But now the time has come for a change. I believe that in this age, we can live together in peace once more."
For a moment, the general looked to be considering it, then he suddenly drew his pistol and took aim at me. The whole army of soldiers raised their weapons once more and I took a breath, preparing to loose the flame from my jaws and lift into the air. A single shot rang out and I looked around in confusion. The general staggered and fell slowly, his uniform dripping with blood.
"That sounds fine with me." The young marine said, and laid his still smoking rifle on the ground. "They have every right to defend themselves. What have we done but offer hostility to them? I say we give ourselves a chance at peace."
For a moment, the air was filled with tension. The soldiers looked like they were about to attack the young marine who had fired. The dragons that flew above the battlefield looked ready to incinerate the crowd of men. Everything looked like it was going to explode again. But then, in ones and twos, then in huge groups, the soldiers laid their weapons down. Then, I reverted back to the imitated human shape for what was going to be the last time.
"I am sorry that you had to do that." I said, looking at the soldier.
"I am sorry he couldn't accept a reasonable offer of peace." He said, looking at the general's corpse with disgust.
"Well, here is to peace." I said, offering a scaled hand to the soldier. He smiled and we shook hands...
***
The sun rose over the mountains and I looked out from my perch atop the mountain. Nearly a thousand years had passed since the dragon hunters had died. When the dragons had risen again, the world had changed. Human and dragon lived together in harmony once more. Technology and magic worked hand in hand and the environment, once on the verge of decimation because of human technology had healed itself. The world was in better shape than it had ever been before. There were still the dissidents that hated us, mostly holdovers from the old religions. Battles were still fought around the world. Peace was still elusive, but the world no longer fought as it once did.
I looked out towards the dawn and smiled when my mate kissed me on the cheek. She stood at my side on the high mountain top. Several young dragons flew into view, some of them white, red, gold and silver. My family was large now. Six more broods of eggs had been added to the first since that day. Each had made me proud of them.
I was still the dragon leader and I had seen many generations of humans come and go. In every generation, there were a few humans who stood with the dragons and fought against those who still would do us harm. Their number grew with every generation. Juno had been the first to fight for us and I still remembered what he had been willing to sacrifice to protect a dragon. It was in his honor that these warriors were called the Knights of Juno. They grew and trained with the dragons that they would ride, living together from day one. I smiled and thought back to the battles I had fought since that first day. Many knights had been my companions in those first years, starting with the young marine who had stopped the war from flaring up. I paused a moment to stretch my ancient sinews in the sunlight, warming up for the day. There was still more to do. There would always be more.
"What are you thinking my love?" My mate asked, and I turned towards her.
"I was thinking of all that has happened." I stated. "And I was thinking of Juno and all that he taught me."
"I think he would have been proud of all that you have done, had he lived to see it." She stated, looking at me with a loving gaze. "You have done much to be proud of."
"I guess I have." I stated and then smiled widely. "Not bad for a man who started life as a nerd huh?"
My love laughed. With that, we stretched our wings, and took off into the growing golden light of the dragon dawn...
The end...?
The ? mark at the end of the page is for you to decide. Should I continue or not? Let me know what you think.
Note: continued here http://www.sofurry.com/?pid=35394