Dragons Trust Book 1 - The Start

Snowball Fight

Drip.

I looked around. There was nothing but dead bodies and blood littering the ground. I couldn't see the blades they were so covered in blood. We had pushed them back. We were now in their country continuing to push them back.

I still hadn't seen the sun. Time blurred together without it. How many days had it been since I had left? Was it even days any more? Had it been weeks?

Charred ground cracked under my feet as I walked. Dead bodies in all stages of decomposition.

Drip.

I took a deep breath. The smell no longer bothered us. We were used to it by now. A sharp ringing took over my hearing. My men rushed around trying to keep others alive.

We had lost so much. So many of our men were dead. I turned in a circle as I walked. Everything looked the same.

Burnt, frozen, irregular outcropping of earth, dead bodies. Some were impaled with weapons. Some were burnt to a crisp or frozen in their fear. Others were a pile of mush. Broken limbs stuck out everywhere.

Drip.

Chests and skulls were caved in from brute force or being stepped on by dragons. Someone was trying to talk to me but I couldn't hear them.

I felt like I was wet. I looked down at my torn shirt. Blood was everywhere. I couldn't tell whether it was mine or other peoples.

I kept walking.

Drip.

Breathing was difficult. My vision was escaping me. I had to make sure we didn't lose too many. My mind was clouded. Ares was trying to speak to me. I couldn't hear him.

Drip.

Time didn't exist here. I don't know how long I had walked the field of dead bodies. Everything ran off of time here. Everything ran off of time everywhere.

Everything had to stop eventually. Even an immortal couldn't live forever.

Drip....

***********

It had been six months since Noah left. We hadn't heard anything from him in so long. That wasn't something that could be helped.

I had gotten better with my magic. It was up to the other first years. Tuarana and I could fly without supervision. We would spend hours in the clouds or out in empty fields. Our bond had strengthened as well.

"Heads up!" Marcus chunked a snowball at me.

"Cheater!" I yelled once it hit me. It was mid winter and close to the holidays. Snow covered everything. Tuarana and I loved it. The boys not so much.

"We have to choose teams!" Tommy cried.

"Dibs on Birdy!" Micah said and hauled me to the other side of the field. This one was empty and on an island no body ever really went to.

"That's not fair!" Marcus called after us.

The snow glittered. Grey clouds covered the sun and sky. It really felt like the holidays. Cold weather, grey skies, snowball fights and afterwards some hot drinks.

It felt like we were all kids again. Playing in the snow until our lips turned blue and we were shaking from the cold. We would go get hot chocolate and sit in front the Dagen brothers giant T.V. and watch what was referred to as "Christmas Movies". We never really liked them but it was an excuse to be together for hours on end.

No one celebrated 'Christmas'. The human race had evolved and found new Gods to worship. That meant new holidays. They were old for us but would have given historical people an aneurysm.

The only one missing was Noah.

All of us tried not to think about him too much. Truth be told, the worry for him grew with every passing day he didn't come home.

"Build us a fort!" Micah grinned. I grinned as well. A well structured snow fort rose from the ground. Snowballs made themselves in a corner so we could throw them.

"That's cheating!" Marcus and Tommy yelled at once. We snickered and threw a round of snowballs.

The snowball fight lasted for about an hour. After that we were all pretty tired and the others were cold. I could feel the cold but it didn't have an effect on me. It actually made my magic stronger. The colder it was and the more snow or ice or water was around, the stronger my magic was.

Tuarana burst from a deep area of snow. She scared all of us by doing so. Her blue scales were perfectly camouflaged in the snow. The ice like spines on her neck were raised in a playful manner. Other dragons didn't like to be out in the cold so they mostly stayed indoors or somewhere warm.

I was about to mount Tuarana when I felt it. I don't know what it was but it was something. The others felt it as well. I knew because, just like me, they stopped moving and didn't utter a word.

It was like a shockwave, but not at the same time. Waves of nothing that screamed something was wrong hit us every few seconds. The dragons grew antsy.

Something was definitely wrong.

"What is that?" Tommy asked carefully. Almost as if he spoke to loudly the ground underneath us would crumble.

"Come on, let's get home. Tommy you're staying with us," Micah said. Tuarana crouched so I could climb her side easier. Micah led the way back to the house.

The T.V. was on when we got there. We never really turned it off. The noise was a helpful distraction from Noah's absence. I stopped to stare at it.

No.

On the screen, Ares stood. He looked angry and distraught. A woman started to speak.

"Ares, the King of Dragons has been on a rampage. His rider, Noah Dagen Commander of the Eleven Legions, has been gravely hurt. The dragon won't let anybody get close to Noah. We fear that the Commander doesn't have very long to live." A live broadcast of a soldier nearest Ares was shown.

Noah lay underneath him. He had clearly collapsed and was covered in blood. His skin was barely visible under all of the grime covering him.

My hand went for one of the boys. I grabbed onto one of them, not letting go. Ares roared. He snapped at anybody within range.

Guns were shown and they fired at Ares. For a moment, I thought they were trying to kill him. Then I realized the guns were tranquilizers. Darts shot into the soft parts of the blood red dragons hide. Old tranqs that hadn't fallen out yet could be seen around the same areas.

The dragon stumbled, struggling to stay up. Finally he too fell. His orange eyes closing and the growl that hadn't stopped since we walked into the house went silent.

"Noah," Micah whispered.

I cried. He had been out there, dying for who knows how long, and we were having a snowball fight. The boys cried as well. I tried my best to comfort Tommy.

Please be okay Noah. I'm begging you please be okay.

The four of us clung to each other as if our lives depended on it.