Safehaven

Chapter 27

When I came to, the first thing I saw was the rump of a dragon. Then, I realized that it was Gwindol. Before him, the black dragon sat, crouched on its hunches and prepared to attack. My dragon had intervened and save me! At that moment, I forgave Gwindol of all the stupid things he had ever done. He had saved my life, for the time being. The black dragon had a look of confusion in its face, like it couldn't believe that this scrawny looking thing before him had just challenged him. Indeed, Gwindol was small at first sight, but he had more strength than met the eye. My dragon launched himself at the larger beast. The 2 both fell back, clawing and biting each other. Even though the black dragon had more strength on its side, Gwindol was small and elusive, ducking and swaying out of harm's way. My eyes drifted beyond the fight to Badon. Angel, his black dog, seemed to appear out of nowhere, and together they were fighting Morian himself. Lightning crackled around them, and the air temperature seemed to drop 20 degrees. Beside me, my friends were also fully awake, along with their soul mates. As if on cue, their animals all charged the dragon fight and joined to help Gwindol. With 6 on one side and 1 on the other, the fight was oddly fair. Each animal employed their own strengths. Rinal the kitsune sped around the enemy, disappearing every so often so the enemy had a hard time keeping track. Dash, Kai, and Finn all flew around the dragon's head, scratching it and jabbing at the eyes. Finally, Gwindol and Felix attacked the creatures body with flame and claw. Massive burns and puncture marks covered the skin of the opponent. I was so wrapped up in the fight, I harkly even noticed the hundreds of demons that had started to pour in through the hole in the wall. Sure enough, large groups of the little buggers were crawling into the hall and attacking the students. They had rough, scaly grey skin and golden fangs and reached all the way to their hairy chests. In a nutshell, they were ugly. Next to me, Holly steadily got to her feet cracked her neck. She was ready for battle. Jada, Antigone, and Quinton also rose, staring daggers at the already approaching monsters. Sage and I stayed on the ground, too exasperated to move. Our friends had no weapons, but were ready to charge into a fight. I could hear my mother now "If your friends were about to charge to their death, would you do it too?" I didn't have time to ponder it further, because they charged. My friends had just ensured their deaths. I watched in horror as Jada and Antigone were almost instantly incinerated. A demon with flame breath let loose a torrent of fire after them as they ran through the middle of the mess hall. I couldn't stand just sitting there and waiting for their deaths. I leaped to my feet and dragged Sage up after me. "We need to get weapons!" I had to shout just to be heard. Screams and hollers echoed around the room, and the roars of monsters and soul mates alike accompanied them. I hauled Sage to the door and managed to pull her down the hall and into the weapons lodge, where I had the duels earlier that day. Even here, it was a riot. Students quarreled with demons, and animals were growling at one another. Sage and I stood in the doorway, goggling at the sight before us. The students were well armed and equipped, but they still had a hard time defending themselves. The claws and teeth of the monsters found weak spots, and yells of pain rebounded off the walls. Pushing the gruesome sight behind us, my friend and I ran to the nearest shelf and loaded our arms with swords, daggers, and bows and arrows. Our arms and pockets were stuffed with everything we could manage. Sage even held a dagger in her mouth, pirate style! We only made it back to the door before we met our fist monster, though. Without even thinking, Sage dropped the weapons and traded them for one of the bows. She notched an arrow and let it fly faster than I thought possible. There was a surprised yelp, and the demon fell to the floor, an arrow lodged in its head. Before my eyes, it disintegrated into a mound of used to be demon dust. I stared at Sage was she calmly picked up the things she had dropped. When she rose, she looked into my eyes. "Katniss is my idol." With that said she turned towards the door and ran out back to the mess hall, where all our friends were. I had to blink a few times before I followed her. When we made it to the doors of the hall, the spectacle in front of us was horrid. Badon's and Angel's fight with Morian seemed to have taken a wrong turn, as Morian was able to get more and more blows to the old man, and Angel's strikes were slowing down. Students cowered in fear as demons kept spilling into the room. My friends were spread across the floor. Some still battled monsters, but most lay in dazed heaps. Last of all, the battle between the Morian's dragon and my friend's soul mates didn't look so good. Antigone's griffin, Kai, flew in circles, nowhere close to the fight. His left wingtip was singed off, and he had lost many of his feathers. The others fared even worse. Even Felix, who was supposed to have rock hard hide, limped here and there, too weak to properly defend himself. My heart ached at the sight. I turned to Sage, and she gave a defiant nod. Side by side, we ran into the mob that occupied the center floor. We flung weapons to students who needed them, and fought some monsters in the process. Out of turbulence and tumult of what I could see, I was able to make out a turn in the tide of the battle. With swords and weapons in hand, the students of Safehaven were a lot better off. I could see Quinton, Jada, and Antigone standing in a group, fending off countless monsters. Even Holly, who had to be the least violent person I knew, fought with renewed vigor. She flashed in and out of view, as her gift from Rinal took place. Even our soul mates were having more luck. They seemed to have newfound energy and brutality as they now mercilessly attacked the evil dragon. It now shuddered every time one of the animals landed a blow. I turned to Sage and grinned demonically(haha). "I think it's time that we kick some serious monster butt." Sage chuckled. With that, she charged, bow in hand, into the demon horde. She began to peg the demons with startling accuracy. Her gift from Dash, the grace and beauty of a Pegasus, shone through. Her entire form glowed with power, and her moves were fluent and smooth. With her flawless wings and stunning beauty, Sage looked like an angel of death as she hacked and waded through the hoard of demons. I smiled, then charged. At first, things were pretty easy. I cut some monsters in half here and there, but it was fun! The blade of my sword cut through their ashy hide without difficulty, and it seemed to have a mind of its own. Eventually, the silver blade cracked and broke off, and I was forced to use my Fyr. Throwing the fireballs was the awesome part. I couldn't say that about my aim. I only hit every 1 out of 3 monsters. How sad is that?! But it was a lot more fun. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Quinton throwing enemies to and fro with his mind. Most of them he smashed into the walls, or rammed them into each other. Antigone quickly weaved in and out of the monster's groups. She ducked under their blades when they swung, and stabbed as many as she could with her new dagger that Nathen had given her, after he had lost her original one. Her form was like that of a natural hunter. She stayed low to the ground and leaped with inhumane grace. Jada, on the other hand, wasn't even fighting. She scurried around, healing the injured. Though if it hadn't been for her, I'm pretty sure most of our army would be fallen. Now, the fight was going along great. Even Nathen had joined the brawl. He fought along side Badon and Angel. And I have to say. They made a great team. Just when I was starting to think that things could actually go our way, something went horribly wrong. As I lobbed a streak of fire at group of demons, I happened to look up to the front of the room, where Morian was fighting Nathen and Badon. I watched in slow mode as Nathen made a jab at Morian, but was too slow in retracting his sword. Morian lunged forward and stabbed at the boy. Nathen would have been skewered, but Badon intervened. I witnessed in horror as the sword sunk hilt deep. Straight into Badon's chest.