Scales and Talons

Chapter 2

Naxton had been flying for days now. His body was exhausted, but his wings still moved strong. He had no time to rest, he had to speak to their leader. As one of his leaders' Right Wings -fourth in rank- he had been sent on a secret mission. A mission to form an alliance with a dragon nest fighting for their enemy. To form an ally behind enemy lines and tear their army apart from the inside. Oh, had he failed.

For the past two years war raged through the once beautiful Doriën kingdom. His beloved home where he had served his king for almost 247 years, had been turned to ashes by the many battles fought. It had all started when an ancient wizard named Xertos learned about relics holding the power to enslave his kind and steal their souls. 

Legend says this relic was created long before Naxton or the wizard came to this world. In that time mankind and fairies had been at war with the dragons and created a weapon to manipulate the mind of the dragons and absorb their souls for the wielder of the relic. It is said the souls of the dragons would not only make the wielder unimaginably powerful, but immortal as well. He would become a god.

Many of his kind had fallen in that war, unable to spend their afterlife in peace. Horrified by the power the relic displayed, a young fairy princess stole the object and hid it far away from grasp. 500 years after that war, in the first century of the third age, a human prince found the relic. However dragons now coexisted with the humans and had formed a strong alliance. As such the relic was hidden again, under the castle in the capital of Doriën. And now a power-hungry wizard wanted nothing more than to get his hands on that relic.

The wizard had already conquered the entire northwest mountain-range. With the help of wild dragon herds -dragons that had not been willing to form an alliance with the humans- an army of black soldiers and vicious cavemen, the Doriën army was forced to slowly retreat to strongholds close to its capital. There both his leader and the Doriën king tried to keep the kingdom on its feet. 

And Naxton had just made that job a whole lot harder. Guilt ripped through his core as he pushed his wings to an even faster pace. All he could do now was manage the damage by delivering the news as soon as possible. 

The problem was that he had been discovered during negotiations with the leader of one wild dragon herd named Fallon. Before anyone could flee, Fallon was taken down and his nest was either killed or held captive. The betrayal of the wild herd action had made the wizard furious. It had spiked the temper of the wizard causing numerous attacks on innocent villages over the past days. All villages past forth Lian its borders had disappeared. The residents were completely wiped of the face of the earth.

But that was nothing of what was about to come. Naxton had seen the army, he had seen its numbers. But worse of all he had seen dragons take on human forms. In his mind this would be impossible, but it was true. And if he failed to warn the king in time, these 'fake humans' would infiltrate in their army. They could even enter their capital unnoticed and launch a destructive attack from there. The city guards would not stand a chance. They would... 

No, that had to be avoided at all cost. If the enemy was not already present in their city that was. The thought of it horrified Naxton. The love for his leader and his kingdom was too great. Whatever happened he had to protect his leader from the coming danger. It was his duty as a Right Wing.

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It was then that Naxton heard vague rhythmic drums in the distance behind him. They were wingbeats he realized. Someone was behind him. Terror ripped through his gut as he realized he had been followed. Unfortunately Naxton was facing a fierce headwind, not only slowing him down, it was also hiding the scent and the sound of any pursuers.

But now it seemed like whoever had followed was closing in and Naxton did not have enough energy to fly faster. Without further doubt he dropped his altitude, hoping to pick up some speed. The strong southern wind  pushed against his wings. Naxton felt his inside burn in effort. The hide between his green scales glowed up and smoke left his mouth every time he gasped for air. Never before had Naxton flown this fast over such a long distance. But it was to no good end.

The wingbeats behind him grew louder every minute and Naxton could barely hold on to his pace. This would end in battle he realized too late. Although Naxton was one of the finest warriors of his race he was exhausted and outnumbered. Behind him in the clouds five dragon shapes could be seen, approaching fast. Again Naxton tugged in his wings dropping altitude to disappear in the clouds below him. It was only three hours flying to fort Lian. There he would have reinforcements to take down the wild dragons. If only he would make it.

The sky around Naxton grew very silent. It made his ears prick and a cold shiver went over his back. The only sound remaining in the clouds was that of the wind which still blew fiercely against him. He knew he was being watched, but could not detect any dragon around him. He was being stalked, like a deer by a wolf. Never before had Naxton been a prey, always the predator. But now he knew exactly how it felt to be hunted.

Suddenly the clouds above him split open, revealing a large black dragon diving with a roar towards Naxton. Barely having the time to react, Naxton tucked in his left wing, rolling his body away from the claws of the black dragon as he dropped towards the ground beneath him. He dove far below the clouds before extending his wings again, pushing away from the black dragon, only to face a red spiky one. Where had he come from? Naxton had not heard or seen him arrive and had just enough time to twist his body away from the reach of the red dragon. But it was not enough. A third dragon appeared above him, slamming with full force against Naxton's back, tearing into his scales with its claws.

Naxton roared with fury fueled by the hot pain surging through his back. With one powerful push of his wings Naxton freed himself from the clutch of the dragon, turning himself around to sink his teeth in the neck of his attacker. His tongue was greeted by the metallic taste of blood, as he viciously shook his head, attempting to break its neck. His ears ringed from the pained cries of the poor dragon filling his maul. This dragon seemed to be quite young and did not have the power to fight against Naxton. But before Naxton could finish the job, he was ripped away from the youngster.

The black dragon had caught up to them and had caged Naxton's wing between his mighty jaws, pulling Naxton with him through the sky. Naxton let out his own cry of pain when he felt his shoulder pop and bones crush in the strong grasp of the black dragon his jaws. Sharp talons teared into the leathery wings of Naxton, spraying his blood all around them. Naxton tried to free himself from the clutch of the black dragon, ramming his tail against its huge body, clawing at its face. It was no use. No matter how severely he wounded the face of the black dragon, it did not let go before completely destroying the wing.

And when the black dragon did finally let go, the next attacker sank its teeth into Naxton his neck from behind. Entangled like that they speeded towards the ground. 

Naxton knew then that it was over. He had failed his leader, his king. He had failed his race. And now there was no way of warning them of what was to come. Right before Naxton would hit the ground the dragon behind him let go and pushed itself off him. Naxton saw the hard ground below him come at a terrifying speed. Never before had he been afraid of flying, but without the power of his wings he would fall to his death. 

As a last resort Naxton opened his jaw, roaring as loud as he could into the sky. He even went as far as pouring all of his remaining magic into the roar so it would travel further before the roar was cut short...

Naxton had collided with the ground, knocking him out cold. All he could hope was that his roar had reached fort Lian, as an alternative warning. Be prepared people of Doriën, an army is coming. And trust no human! As they could be wild dragons in disguise.