World War One, Shardas and James's tank blew up. Waking several hours later.. James found that he and his dragon were on a barren battlefield strewn with corpses. As James surveys the wreckage, he found something that didn't quite belong...
The weary soldier kept his sweaty fingers firmly on Shardas’s blunt spike as his eyes roved around before settling on a flash of white and blue, waving in the wind. Could it be…? Shardas responded to his mental call and turned his head towards it, James leaning against him as he limped over to it and found it was a bullet ridden American flag. “What are you doing here?” he whispered, tugging it out of the wreckage. His heart swelled with pride at the sight of the stars and stripes. He kissed it, thinking of home. “This thing doesn’t belong here. What do you say?” he grinned at Shardas.
Ten minutes later found James eating a Hershey bar he had found in the saddle bags, his back to Shardas’s thick neck which bobbed back and forth as he loped across the barren landscape. The sweet tasting chocolate washed out the horrible taste of death in his mouth and made him grin at the taste. When he was done, he tossed the wrapper overboard as he waved the ten foot American flag in the air, his mouth opening in song.
“Johnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun
Johnnie show the Hun you're a son of a gun
Hoist the flag and let her fly
Yankee Doodle do or die!” He hollered, his voice rolling over the stricken silence of the battlefield.
Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit
Yankees to the ranks from the towns and the tanks
Make your mother proud of you
And the old Red White and Blue.”
This time Shardas joined in as he used a tank as a launch, spreading his wings and coasting low to the ground.
“Over there, over there
Send the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming
The drums are rum-tumming everywhere!”
His voice rolled like thunder yet was smooth and pleasant. The song put more fire in his chest as he raced on and on, not sure where he was heading in that vast French Countryside. But he was sure of one thing. They were getting away from that wretched place.
