The Pirate's Legacy: New Horizons

Chapter 40: Into the Inferno

For people who have never experienced the smell of burning flesh, they could mistake it easily as being similar to any other animal. This assumption was wrong, of course. Burning flesh was not too different from burning tar; the difference was in the visceral reaction that humans had to the scent of their own species aflame. The soul cowered and recoiled. The body reacted violently at another body being desecrated like so. Humans were predisposed biologically not to like the smell of other humans roasting.

From inside the ditch he and his nine soldiers had built the day before, Demitri watched the flames reach up the red-drenched sky. In contrast to the terror in his breast, the flames crackled almost cheerfully, delighted that the surrounding hills and grasslands were on fire. Every now and then, a gust of wind blew aside the flames, but they returned to their upright position, taller than before. Out of sight, the dragon which they hunted let out teeth-clenching shrieks that were broken only when it blew fire at the humans, sending them ducking. Demitri's men yelled, at the dragon and at each other, sometimes at him for a command. His four archers and the three men who operated the giant ballista behind him shot their projectiles at the beast, but either it navigated nimbly through the forest of small and large arrows or none of the arrows and ballista darts penetrated its scaly hide. Everyone's pistols and rifles lay at their feet, the bullets spent. They had been battling the dragon for a few hours now, ever since the accursed wretch had announced its appearance by casting jets of flames across the landscape. Had Demitri and the soldiers not been caught in the winter instead of summer, the normally dry grass would have turned everything into a matchbox. Instead, as the ice melted off the grass, they threw water over their bodies, leaped through the flames, and dove into the ditch they had dug out the previous two days.

"Captain!" said a high-pitched voice from the ballista. "We're running out of jewels!"

Demitri caught the eye of the soldier standing on either side of him, each carrying a small leather pouch. "Cease!" he ordered. They had been throwing the gems in order to keep the dragon's attention away from them. "On my call, throw the entire batch as far away from us as you can. Make sure those gems fly!" To the three ballista operators, he said, "Keep firing! If you run out of ammo, you may join the rest of us!" With that, he drew out his sword. When he nodded, the archers dropped their bows and followed suit. The two men carrying the jewels unsheathed their swords with their free hands.

"Throw!"

For a moment, everyone watched the leather pouches arc high in the air before disappearing out of sight. They heard and felt the wind rushing past the tops of their heads and the dragon roar as it flew after the jewels. At the same time they felt the ground shake from the landing dragon, Demitri shouted, "Charge!" He and his attacking party flung themselves out of the ditch, and as soon as they scrambled onto their feet, they let out a simultaneous roar before charging, swords held up high, for the dragon. The ballista continued to fire behind them, but the darts still failed to penetrate the dragon's tough hide. It merely shook its body every time a missile fell off of it as the beast continued its search for the fallen gems. For a brief moment, as they charged through the firewalls and ashes, Demitri noticed something peculiar about the way the dragon searched. It hadn't found the jewels right away, although he can plainly see them shining amid the grasses and useless arrows. The dragon bent its head close to the ground, its golden eyes narrowed as if it had difficulty locating the gems.

When Demitri and his six soldiers came within ten feet of the dragon, it reared up onto its hind legs and opened its mouth. Demitri yelled, and his attacking party threw themselves on either side of the incoming fire. He rolled back onto his feet, as did others near him. He raised his sword once more and led the charge for the dragon as it stopped its flames for air.

"Left! Tail!" someone beside him yelled.

Demitri saw the thick limb swing for his group. He flopped onto the ground. The others on his side copied him, but one soldier was too slow and he was caught on the side by the heavy tail. His yells carried to the wind as he flew back toward the ditch.