The Dragon Bond

Chapter 25

Thousands of panicked city folk scattered as screams rang out from thousands of throats across the city. Sunray hung low in the air, the sun blocking out his features as he dove on the city. Glimmer laughed maniacally as she watched the terrified civilians scramble for cover. Sunray pitched back and forth, eager to burn. Finally, Glimmer would give him the command to unleash his fury on the people of Syra's Bay.

"Fyre! Burn them all alive!" Glimmer bellowed.

Sunray dove until his wings nearly struck the tower tops with each flap, coating the street below in flames. Dozens were killed and dozens more would spend the rest of their days with incapacitating burns. Shops, stables, and homes alike were set aflame, many taking their occupants with them as they collapsed. Quickly Sunray pitched up and turned back to strafe again, and again, and again. After six passes, hundreds had died and hundreds more had been left wounded. Smoke rose into the sky, capturing the attention of everyone in the city.

Sunray rose high above the smoke, searching for his next target. Eagerly, he banked away from the rising smoke and turned back towards the docks. Sailors panicked, many jumping overboard before their ships could reach the docks. Those who were left on board were sent to the bottom of the harbor as Sunray attacked. One sailor loosed an arrow at the dragon as he passed over head, but his aim was not well. Rather than harm him, Sunray was only angered. Having crippled most of the vessels on the first pass over, he landed on the deck, snapping both masts. Men swarmed the dragon with swords and bows, but they stood little chance as Sunray tore them to pieces, leaving only four men still alive as he took flight again. Though four men had survived, their ship had been damaged beyond seaworthiness, its masts snapped, and its upper deck crushed. That ship would soon join the others at the harbor's bottom.

"Up! Up! Climb away!" Glimmer shouted, fearing arrows would soon come her way.

But it would not be so. Though most of the ships had not been sunk, nearly all had been severely damaged, with many of their crew dead or dying. Quickly much of the harbor was dotted with wounded ships, burning and broken, with several having sunk. Only nine were unscathed. Satisfied, Glimmer turned Sunray back towards the city and began to lay waste to the port itself, slaying anyone who had not had the sense to flee. Some were foolish enough to fight back, but their efforts meant little.

Nearly half the city had been burnt by the time the sun started to lower in the sky, with thousands killed and as many or more, wounded. Yet even so, Glimmer didn't call off her dragon. Only when the screams of the panicked civilians began to weaken with so many dead, did her lust for blood wither away. The glow from the flames would long outlast the sun after it had set. Sunray circled over the burning city, roaring triumphantly as the cities burned. Glimmer had finally calmed down enough to halt the attack, commanding Sunray to flee. After a short flight back to the west, Sunray landed in an open field atop a hill. The glow could still be seen, though dim. Glimmer dismounted Sunray and fell to the ground, sobbing.

"I'm sorry baby brother. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry what happened to you. I'll make them pay. I'll kill them all. Every last one. I'll stop at nothing until everyone that doesn't share our blood burns," she screamed into the grass.

Sunray nudged her as she wept, but she pushed him away, burying her face in the soil. It felt like she spent the entire night crying, before she eventually woke up the next morning. Sunray was sleeping under a tree when Glimmer awoke, but he did not awaken with her. She sighed and laid back in the grass, huffing as she ran her arms through the morning dew.

She began to mumble to herself, "what am I supposed to do now? I've lost my brother, and I have no good news to return with. I'll be lucky if they don't disown me at best. I may as well just lay here until I die. What's the point in returning home? What's the point in any of it?"

Just then, Sunray would finally awaken. Quickly he came to Glimmer's side, purring as he rubbed his head against Glimmer's arm. She chuckled and stroked his brow and ran her hand along his scales. In the early morning sun, they were dancing under its light.

"We have to go home. I don't want to, but we must," she said.

Sunray cawed, then dropped his back to allow Glimmer to mount him. Before Sunray took flight, Glimmer looked back east. Smoke could still be seen rising into the sky, though the glow of the flames was dull. Even so, she felt accomplished and victorious, yet also guilty. In her rage she had not thought clearly, and now couldn't help but to wonder if she had made the right decision.

"Fly Sunray," she said after a long gaze at the smoke.

Sunray ran down the hill a short way before jumping into the sky, hanging low, just above the ground as he soared on the cool morning winds. Glimmer couldn't help but to look back at the distant smoke, until it had all but vanished from her view.