The last of the Dragons-Set 2

245

      We had flown through the day, blindly following the guidance of the dragons intuition, unsure of which direction we had been travelling. All that we knew was that we had instructed our dragons to take us to the leader of those who tormented us, and who had killed so many of dragon kind prior to our final venture. Having travelled a full day, we had decided to set down in the middle of an open field as the sun slowly set, our army several miles to the south east of us, with the exception of the elderly and the young, and one-hundred or so able care givers who had been randomly selected to tend to the many thousands of individuals we had left behind in safety.

"One day, it would be nice if we could just enjoy life, without the threat of death looming around every corner." Amy said as she gazed into another roaring fire.

I sighed.

"Death is part of life. There is little you can do to forget this fact, and nothing you can do to change it." I replied.

"We had that a couple of years ago, before the Rusino's showed up. All was well. Then, chaos." Tahli added.

I half expected someone to say something in reply to her, but nothing more was said. We just sat around the crackling flames, our faces warmed by its heat, before Noah broke the silence.

"The books!" He exclaimed.

I looked at him, confused for a moment, before I realised that he was referring to the books in my bag.

"Oh, yes. I forgot about those." I said as I opened the bag and began rummaging around within it, until I felt the thickness of 'The Dying of the Dragons.'

I pulled the book from the bag and quickly flipping to the page that I had previously folded. I paused for a moment, insuring that everyone had shifted their attention to me. After confirming to myself that I had their attention, I began to read.

"The First Clash

I had mounted Starlight early in the day, having taken to the sky along side three other dragons. Morning Blaze, Rectar, and Tormon. Starlight's mate. The four eight of us had just taken out a sizeable group of soldiers, with no losses on our side. But, the dragons see,ed agitated. The four of them seemed to be in a rather pacey rush to retreat back to the others. Unable to alter the dragons intentions, myself, as well as the three other riders sat atop our mounts as they fled back towards what remained of the dragon flock. But, shortly there after, a loud roar bellowed down on us from high above the clouds. I looked up to see three dragons diving on us from out of the clouds, their teeth showing and their talons spread. I caught a brief glance of the three as they dove on us. I was able to identify two of the three before being forced to turn my attention elsewhere. One of the two I could tell specifically was Lucrod, and the other being Tinclar. The third, I would later Identify as being Vermon. 

"Dive!" I shouted in a commanding tone.

Starlight banked sharply and dove towards the ground, but she was pursued by Lucrod. Lucrod was much smaller than Starlight, so she was easily able to dive out of reach of his flames due to her heavier weight. As Lucrod banked away, giving up on the chase, I looked up to see Rectar falling from the sky with blood pouring from a gaping wound on his neck as he fell, spraying out into the open air as Starlight watched her helpless comrade plummet to his death. His rider still clinging to his back.

Starlight pitched upwards and started towards the fight up above as Vermon and Morning Blaze, a bright white dragon, grappled with each other as the both began to drop, the two of them locked together. Just as the two dragons dropped past Starlight and I, Vermon broke free from Morning Blaze's claws, and locked his teeth into her neck, before crushing it in his jaws, then dropping the lifeless dragon and her rider towards the ground below. I looked around me, searching for threats, and was quickly startled by the sight of Lucrod and Tinclar diving towards Starlight and I, with Tormon right behind them, spitting flames at them. While Lucrod was much smaller than Starlight, Tinclar was around the same size, perhaps a bit larger. 

Starlight started into a hard bank to her right, with her attackers spitting flames at her from the rear. Suddenly, and to my surprise, Starlight flipped on her back and spat fire at the two dragons closing on her, temporarily blinding Tinclar and Lucrod as they closed on us. Starlight swung her enormous claws into the flames as the two dragons struggled through them, and her claws found their mark with ease. Tinclar's throat was ripped open by Starlight's attack, and Lucrod was snagged in Starlight's jaws as he attempted to flee, before being ripped apart in a furious rage by my dragons tense muscles thrashing, and spear like teeth. I watched as Starlight's two victims fell from the sky, streaming blood and smoke, with their riders falling freely along side them. For a moment, I felt a sense of triumph, before I heard a shriek from over head. I looked up to see Vermon tackling Tormon, the two dragons spilling blood from one another as they engaged in close combat. I was hesitant to engage in the fighting, but before I could make a decision, Tormon fell from the sky, crying out in pain with smoke bellowing from his wing after a well directed blast of flame from Vermon, who was now fleeing the fight before Starlight could reach the dragon and bring it down.

It seemed to take forever to reach the ground, but when we did, I was greeted with the sight of  five dead dragons scattered across the otherwise empty battlefield. Tormon, Starlight's mate, had landed the closest to where Starlight had landed, and it was rather obvious that she was distraught with his death. She lifted the dragons wing with her nose, as if to make him fly again. But, this was little more than false hope, as it became obvious that Tormon, along with four others of his kind had fallen from the sky that day. 

I spotted Lucrod's body resting off in the distance, and I wasted little time making my way to it. The dragons body was badly mangled by Starlight's teeth, with dozens of wounds gaping in the dragons neck, and torso, with his left wing ripped clean off , the wound gushing blood like a water fall. While there were five dragons laying dead, their riders were nowhere to be seen, with the exception of Tinclar's rider. 

I hovered over the mans dead body, which was badly mutilated by the impact with the ground. His hand was crushed under his own weight as he hit the ground, with dozens of broken bones made rather obvious by the crushed and imploded spots dotting his body. His face was dull, with little features. A light dusting of facial hair, but otherwise there was little to remember about it. I searched the other dragons and the area surrounding them for their riders, but I was unable to locate anything. Perhaps crushed by the dragons bodies, perhaps having landed further away. 

I looked to my dragon, with sadness in her eyes, before stroking her claw tenderly.

"Come. We must return home." I said as I mounted the dragon."

And with that, the clash of dragons had returned to the war, though having yielded brutal consequences for our own. Two victories, for three losses. The war seemed to be at a loss with the first fight between dragons in many years, but all hope had not yet been lost." 

I paused, before I folded the page and Began to close the book.

"No." Noah said as he placed his hand on the book.

I looked at him, confused.

"No what?" I asked in reply.

"Read more." He said.

Hey all, I just started a new story called " The Dragon and the Mustang!" Be sure to check it out as well as my other two stories " The Dragons of Lithia, and The Lost Dragon"! Enjoy!