Nethyrion's Defense Book 1

Nethyrion's Defense-Part 2

No wonder no one could ever claim ownership of one of the nests; the mothers were probably more powerful than all of the men combined! It was certainly possible that no one had managed to capture one of the dragons yet. The nest was still relatively untouched, and even if someone was trying to catch one, it'd be hard to catch them all. He'd have to try harder tomorrow. Maybe he would ask around, just to satisfy his curiosity.The sky darkened above him as darkness fell over the land. The sun had disappeared hours ago, leaving the moonless night behind. Hjørgen shivered slightly and tugged on his cloak. A few sparks of light appeared in the distance as fires began to crackle in the village. At first he thought he'd heard a shout or sound of clanging metal somewhere, but he realized it wasn't coming from the village but rather from the woods nearby. He listened more intently. It sounded like shouting. Then, suddenly, the fire closest to him went out. It burned brightly only moments afterward, sending a shower of sparks in every direction, creating an eerie glow that cast eerie shadows all around the clearing. Hjørgen blinked in surprise as the flames began to spread, growing steadily bigger. The sounds of fighting reached his ears too, growing closer.He swallowed nervously. Now was not the time to run away. His father had drilled it into his head countless times to always stay near the edge of the village. As he watched, another set of fireballs rose up. A moment later they broke apart, forming dozens of glowing balls that flew overhead and scattered about, spreading out and casting light throughout the village. From the looks of it, there had to be at least a hundred fires burning at once. The screams of battle grew louder, and as each fireball exploded and sent more sparks flying into the air, the distant sounds of fighting grew louder, more frantic, more desperate. Hjørgen clenched his fists tightly and pressed his palms against his eyes. What was happening out there? Who were fighting and dying? How long would it go on for? How many people would have to die? The thoughts raced through his mind as he forced himself to stay calm, staring at the flames in front of him and taking shallow breaths to keep from hyperventilating.Then a scream rang out, a loud wail of horror and despair that cut through the silence that had descended upon the clearing. The sound echoed through the forest, bouncing off the trees and echoing back to him. Hjørgen's heart skipped a beat. He knew that voice. He knew that cry. He couldn't help but glance up at the tree, searching for the source of the sound. He saw nothing. No one. Just the trees, dark, ominous things, looming silently above him in the dim light of the flickering flames. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His father was still alive, after all. For now.Another scream split the air, this time less shrill but no less piercing and full of pain. Another body landed heavily onto the ground with a thud. More footsteps were heard approaching him. He quickly ducked down, holding his breath and praying that they won't look up and spot him. Then suddenly, three figures emerged from the depths of the woods, running toward the edge of the clearing and stopping in front of the tree.Three humans. Two humans and one giant lizard. Hjørgen stared at them with wide eyes. They looked scared and confused, panting heavily. He could hear them clearly, though they were talking among themselves. One of them stood tall and straight, almost a tower among the five others clustered around him. The man looked to be in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. He wore a black leather jacket, a white shirt, and black pants. His hair was short and brown, and he had a strong jawline and a square chin. He was handsome, Hjørgen decided. He looked like a warrior. An older man stood behind the other two, a little shorter and more plump. He had gray streaked hair and a round face. His clothes were tattered and dirty. He didn't look very dangerous, though. The third person Hjørgen spotted wasn't really an object of interest, either. He was short with jet black hair and dark blue eyes. He looked around 20 years old, possibly younger. He was wearing simple clothes, and the most noticeable feature of his outfit was the huge red mark painted on his face. It looked similar to the tattoo that was on his hand.They must be from the same tribe as those that escaped from the village earlier today, Hjørgen thought. He wondered how they got here. Did they come by boat? Or did they fly? He glanced at the sky. It was already getting dark. He guessed that they must have flown here."What happened?" the man asked, looking around anxiously. "Where are they?"One of the strangers spoke."We don't know," replied the oldest looking man. "When we woke up this morning, we saw smoke rising into the sky, but the fire has been raging since then." He sighed tiredly and sat down with his hands clasped in his lap. "It is difficult to tell when it started. We could not see the source of the fire or what exactly the source of the flame was, however we're sure that there were a number of dragon nests nearby. I guess there are more of them in this area. We need to find them, find their eggs, and take care of them.""I'll search for the nest," the young man said firmly. "You guys search for the dragon nests."All four of them turned and stared at him with shocked expressions on their faces. "Are you mad?!" they exclaimed in unison, pointing accusingly at him. "What are you thinking!? Do you want our deaths? You don't think the villagers will retaliate because they were robbed of their own nests? You can't be serious!""Do you honestly expect us to believe that your kind doesn't know any better?" continued the second man."I know you don't know much about us," the young man said angrily. "And that's fine. But I'm not a child anymore, I don't need your protection! I can handle myself.""You're right! You can handle yourself alright!" spat the middle man. "So can the rest of us!"Hjørgen narrowed his eyes as he listened to their conversation, watching the four argue back and forth. He could understand that they weren't happy to have lost the eggs, and they might have wanted to get revenge on whoever had caused the damage, but the idea of letting the dragon children continue to suffer was something that completely crossed his mind. He couldn' risk his life to rescue them. Even the thought of it was sickening! There was no point in being selfish. After all, they were all his responsibility. So he decided to stand up and interrupt their argument before things escalated to a dangerous level."Enough, you two!" he shouted loudly. All four heads snapped towards him.