Dragon Riders

Chapter 31: Brother

Cade POV:

The five Phoenixes encircling us were massive. They were all bigger than Orion, which was saying something! Orion covered me with his fireproof wing as they spewed fire from their beaks. Seeing that fire would not harm us, they began lashing out at us with their claws. I deflected and parried each attempted blow. Meanwhile, Orion bit at their ankles. This wasn't very effective, but it distracted them. They stopped slashing momentarily, to guard their ankles. I took this opportunity to stab one in the stomach. He screeched in agony and plummeted to the ground. I dared not look to see if he was dead, because I still had four, now vengeful, Phoenixes on my hands.

However, as he fell, I caught a glimpse of Serafina and Aspen flying by. They suddenly dove as if to go to someone's aid. I hoped everyone was okay! My attention was caught by a Phoenix claw heading straight for my face. I leaned back and it passed right over my chest. I sighed in relief and took my upright position once more. They continued to rake their claws through the air, trying to penetrate my self defense. I then realized what their claws were attached to.

The next foot that came my way, I blocked then proceeded to chop off all three of his toes. As he squawked in fury, I plunged my sword into his chest. He spiraled to the Earth, following in the footsteps of his friend.

Two down, I gloated mentally. Three to go! At that moment, Serafina soared above us then behind the mini volcano range.

My turn, he alerted me. Hold on! I gripped one of his spines with both my hands as he shot up out of the circle. I looked down to see them following us closely. Orion suddenly switched directions and went straight down. Clasping his hands together in a fist, he knocked out the furtherest ahead Phoenix, whose heavy form toppled onto his follower. They both crashed into ground and went limp. The knock on the head killed one; the fall killed the other.

Four down, Orion corrected me, one to go! As we dove to catch the other who had started to soar away, I caught a fleeting glance at Aspen and Serafina scaling Inferno's End. We caught up to him quickly and cut off his current route. He turned to reveal the leaf on his helmet. I nodded and he flew right past me. I decided to follow we should follow in Serafina's and Aspen's footsteps and seek out those in need of aid. As we scanned the area, we heard a voice shout,

"Hey boys! You slacking off?" I turned in my saddle to see Shade heading straight for us with a smiling Iris on his back.

"No!" I countered. "We are searching the area for those who need help!"

"Why don't we help you all out?" Shade suggested. Orion grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

"You all have killed the general already?" I pondered. She nodded, not to my surprise. I whistled. "Glory, you all are fast!" Iris giggled and Shade chuckled at my humorous attempt. Our laughing faces were turned grave at the sight of Maya and Lazaro being overpowered. Lazaro fell off Maya and fell to the ground. Shade and Iris went up to help Maya and we went to save Lazaro. We landed gently next to him and Orion grabbed the medical supplies while I approached Lazaro.

"You okay, pal?" I called to him. He coughed a little in response then shook and uttered,

"Probably not!" I ran to his side. Before propping him up, I checked to see if his back was broken. He was turned over on his side, so ran my finger down his spine. There was a dent in his skin, with a little more force applied I discovered there was a clean break in his spinal cord. The gash in his skin revealed the gel like bone marrow had leaked into the blood stream, causing him to stiffen. He no longer moved his lower body, beneath his torso. I sighed; I was no miracle worker. Lazaro was going to be paralyzed for life. But, a snapped spine wouldn't cause coughing... Would it? I crawled around to the front part of the body to see a sizzling black spot, not on his shirt, on his skin.

Orion arrived at just the right moment. I tore the burn cream from his paw and carefully applied it to the burn. As I touched it, he did not wince. The burn was probably so bad that it destroyed all his nerve cells. I massaged it into the mark and then wiped my hands on my pants. After putting away the burn cream, we searched for more wounds and found a pool of blood coming out of his side. With a quick look, we found three long scars running from his hip all the way up to his armpit. They were gushing red and spilling his fluids onto the ground. I pulled some gauze from my bag and pressed it against the scratches.

All these injuries were giving him so much pain, he broke into sweat. I felt his forehead and yanked back my hand because it was as on fire as the Phoenixes. I pulled out my canteen, wet a cloth, and placed it on his forehead. He was still conscious, but barely. His breathing was impaired and I could tell the spine splintering had pierced one of his lungs. This was confirmed by the blood he drooled out.

As I attempted to treat him, he placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked down to see him smiling at me. My face was a mask of confusion. I could see it reflected in his dilated pupils.

"What?" I demanded.

"You really are," he paused to cough out some blood, "a great best friend!"

"No!" I asserted, knowing he was giving in to the light. I grabbed his face and tilted it towards me. "Don't you leave me!" I ordered. I could see his lime green eyes floating in my tears. They began to leak from my eyes and run down my face. I sobbed loudly, drawing Orion's attention. He crossed over to us and sat, watching this scene play out.

"Please," Lazaro begged. "Don't do this to yourself! I'll see you later!"

"Not soon enough!" I argued through my sobs. My tears dripped onto his sweat covered face. I lifted him up slightly and he looked at me with pity.

"Thank you!" He stammered. "For being a friend when I needed one!"

"Don't act like you weren't a better one to me!" I urged. "Brother," I called him what I truly thought of him as, "I love you!"

"I. Love. You. Too. Brother." He stuttered, a second pause between each word. With that, his lime green eyes met my blue ones. They mixed to form a teal of sorts in our eyes. Then, his head fell back onto my arm. I buried my face into his bloody chest and felt no heart pounding within. I remembered traveling through Sci with him, the adventures we had that made our friendship. I remembered that night he comforted Aspen, the compassion in his voice. I remembered him acting last night, the fun we had together. My sobs mingled with Orion's as we mourned the death of my best friend. Neigh, my brother. I sighed and hoisted him onto my back. I heard his two pieces of spine clash against each other with a loud, blood curdling, scraping noise. I shuddered as I laid him across the front of my saddle, then seated myself behind him.

I saw Maya, unscathed, fly out with Shade and Iris. I dodged her line of vision by telling Orion to bank the other way. He obeyed and we flew around the mini volcano range to place the body in a safe place. There was already a small graveyard assembled there and so we examined the bodies. I dropped to my knees at the sight of a lifeless, beloved, tiny Air Dragon. My face was certainly lined with morose as I trudged over to Orion, hoisted Lazaro onto my back, and laid him right next to Gwen. I motioned for Orion to come and he gazed upon our motionless friends. His face was a mask of shock and horror. The two were smiling in their eternal sleep. I turned to see Eli, unconscious, being treated by a Viy.

"Is he okay?" I interrogated. She nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief that quickly replaced by a gasp of horror. Maya just landed by the graveyard of bodies. With Shade and Iris, she examined the row until her eyes fell upon one of her best friends and her Viy. I could see her lip quiver from here. She fell forward, hugging their corpses and sobbing into their bodies. She was trembling with sadness. Iris knelt beside her, a hand on her shoulder. She loudly wept. Shade embraced the two from behind, quiet tears streaming down his face. I couldn't stand the sadness anymore. I leapt onto Orion and patted his neck. He took off and soared over the top of the volcano. Next thing I knew I was falling towards the boiling lava. Orion raced beneath me and caught me just before I made a splash. We looked up to see a golden Phoenix glaring down at us.

"Axel," Orion growled as we rushed up to face him.