Burning Flame

Chapter Ten

Siege lifted his heads and roared to the sky.
"OPEN THE GATES!!!" he thundered, "THIS IS GENERAL SIEGE!!!"
Immediately the gates came screeching out towards him and he quickly stepped out of the way.
As soon as the gates came to a halt two guards came out to greet him. They were average sized dragons with great plates of armor covering their chests, the back of their necks, their faces, their legs, and all along their backs.
Siege noted the spiked whips that were tucked in a pouch in their armor and he silently approved. Better to be safe than sorry.
They both bowed a deep and gracious bow, their wings sweeping out to the sides as they did so.
Siege stayed standing and his eyes slowly took in the two dragons before him.
They were both relatively young, but one's hide was more scarred than the other. Siege guessed that the scarred one had to be the older of the two, since guards at Avalon usually had more scars the longer they stayed there.
They came out of their bow and the guard with the scars spoke up.
"Welcome to Avalon, General," he said,"We'll escort you to the the entrance from here. General Zircon is already waiting."
Siege growled and rolled his eyes.
So that old bag of bones is already waiting on me, he thought irritably.
"So be it," he growled,"Lead the way then."
The guards nodded and turned away from him. They walked forward in perfect unison, each footfall painstakingly timed and planned accordingly.
Siege watched them for a moment. Then he silently followed behind them at his own speed, his steps high and proud.
They walked through the courtyard and more guards came out to greet him, each one more curious than the last.
They didn't dare ask him questions, though. Even the newer, younger guards knew better than that.
They all bowed to him as he passed. A few younger guards didn't bow at first but when Siege glared at them they immediately took the hint.
Soon they were at the prison entrance, the great double doors standing proudly and ominously before them.
A dark blue dragon stood right in front of the doors, his deep yellow eyes watching them with a bored expression. He could immediately be seen as an older dragon because of his faded scales and somewhat worn down spikes and horns, but he also had the posture and expression of a dragon in their prime.
He bowed his head to Siege and Siege bowed equally back.
"Welcome, General Siege," the dragon said after coming out of his bow, "I have been expecting you."
Siege nodded. Inferno had most likely sent a messenger right after their discussion with Magma.
"Thank you, General Zircon. I appreciate you and your guards' hospitality. I'm assuming that Avalon's guard mutt is already waiting on us?"
Siege smirked but the dragon, Zircon, just gave him a disapproving glance.
"She should be right inside these doors. I have already given her fair warning of your impending arrival," Zircon muttered.
"Very well. Then let us be on with this."
Siege walked around Zircon and he reared up. Zircon came beside him and did the same thing. They both put their front legs against the doors and pushed with all of their might.
The doors opened slowly and they eventually dropped to all fours with only their shoulders propping the doors open. Then they stepped forward and the doors slammed shut behind them.
The foyer that they stood in was large and dim with only torches to light their way. There were no decorations lining the walls; only small bits of dried blood and scratches adorned them.
Siege looked around, expecting to see someone waiting on them. All he saw was empty space.
"Where is she?!" he snarled.
Zircon shook his head and glanced over at Siege.
"She's probably just taking care of some prisoners. She has a busy job, you know."
Siege huffed and rolled his eyes.
"They're all in cages anyways. How hard can it be?" he drawled.
Suddenly a voice spoke up with a harsh feminine growl.
"I'm right here, Generals!"
A figure stepped out of the shadows and walked over to stand in front of them. It was hardly a dragon, and it was certainly no other common creature in this dimension.
It was a female dog the size of an average dragon, with three vicious heads that hovered over a muscular torso. Her fur was as black as night and her eyes were an electrifying yellow. Around each of her muscular necks sat collars of the strongest leather ringed with sharp spikes. To top it all off there was her tail, which was long and whip-like and could easily shear off many layers of scales and skin.
She glared at the two of them, her eyes raging with angry fire.
"Finally!" Siege cried, his voice sharp with impatience and fury.
The she-beast turned all of her heads to face him and her lips curled back over her fangs.
"I was here the entire time, you fool! If you had only bothered to look a little closer you would've seen me!!!" she snarled.
Siege hissed and muttered something under his breath.
Suddenly she howled and stumbled back, her tail whipping back and forth and foam flowing from her jaws. She backed into a wall and sat there, her body shaking violently and her eyes wide.
Siege stopped whispering and she immediately stopped shaking. She stared at him with fearful and indignant eyes.
Zircon, who had been watching the entire time, slowly turned towards the double doors that led into the courtyard.
"I see everything is handled here. I'll be off now."
With that he walked over to the doors, reared up, pushed, and walked out one of them.
Siege didn't bother to watch him go. He walked over to hover over the creature.
"Let's go Jararracca! I don't have all day!"
She shook her heads and stared at the ground.
"Of course you have all day. You're just not willing to spend it checking on the prison," she spat.
He growled and dragged her up by her middle collar. She started to choke and she tried desperately to squirm out of his grasp but he just tugged on her collar even harder.
Suddenly he snarled and dragged his hand back. She caught her breath and stared at the blood oozing from his hand. Then she felt the warm liquid on her neck and she realized what had happened; he had impaled himself on one of the collar's spikes.
She prepared herself for an angry blow and sure enough he raked her across her middle face with his claws.
She howled and bit down on his leg. She felt her teeth sink down through scale, skin, and muscle as he screeched in agony.
He threw her into the wall and that was the end of it.
She lay on the ground, dazed and in excruciating pain. Siege still hovered over her.
"Get up."
She closed her eyes, wishing that he would go away.
"Let's just get this over with!" he growled.
She found the strength to heave herself to her feet. Blood ran down the side of her face and sharp pains racked her body. She yelped.
Siege rolled his eyes.
"Quit your whining, There's more important things that need to be dealt with."
"Like what?" she asked irritably.
"Bring me Dettra."
The request immediately caught Jararracca off guard and she got defensive.
"Why do you need to see Dettra?" she growled.
"King's orders."
She didn't question anymore. She knew that it would be dangerous if she did.
"Fine," she muttered, " Just wait in the visiting chamber."
"Fine."
Siege turned away from her and went down a small corridor, his heads high.
She shook her heads and turned away. Then she bounded into one of the larger corridors with a slight limp. She knew how to move through the pain. She leapt up a flight of stone stairs and past the guards with only one goal in mind; to find Dettra.