Max the Dragon Warrior

by Whiskey Flowers

  “She was scared witless Your Grace” Hector said to Duchess Pem. “When you told her we would eat the body of their champion after the fight if he loses and where could you send a sympathy letter to his family she just about dropped a load”.

  “Yes I went a little overboard” Pem said as Max could see the woman was trying her best not to smile. “Max the fight will be held between both armies and out of arrow range. If you sense any trickery, run immediately, we cannot afford to lose you. The way this fight will work is simple, they are going to send out three of their best warriors, I am going to send out you three. The way it will work is that only a single fighter from each team is allowed to fight. Once a fighter is defeated then another will take his place. The team with the most fighters at the end wins. If you can, please do not kill these people, we may need their blade in the battles to come”.

  Max nodded and got himself ready, Xander was on standby but Max could see the griffins circling high above. Max would go even higher and if the worst happened he would just shoot flames down on their heads. The horde was also primed and ready to go and there was a quick reaction force ready to extract Max if anything went wrong. Max walked out to the meeting place and could see three people heading towards him. One was a mage, she smiled as she looked over the red devils. The other man was not too big but carried a sword that looked like it had seen many battles but was well maintained. The last person though made Max’s heart drop slightly, it was the Axe.

  “Which one of you did it?” The Axe said as he eyed Max and his companions.

  “I did” Max said returning the glare.

  “You ran like a rabbit” the Axe continued. “You were scared to face me, but your dragoon cannot help you this time. I want it to show up”.

  Max took a deep breath and spoke with some bravado he did not feel. “Are you the first one to die here?”

  “I will finish this” the mage said as she stepped forward. “Men in armor shouldn’t battle a mage capable of fire. Drop your weapons now and take off that theatrical shit and maybe I will let you live”.

  Max looked back at his comrades who took a step back. Max grabbed his sword but did not want it to get hot for this fight, he only had to nick her to grab her magic. When Max saw the other two warriors step back he charged just as the woman released her spell. Even if Max wasn’t fireproof he had gotten so close that anyone would have been able to cut her. It might not have been a killing blow but it would have hurt. The flame took him in the face and filled his helm and vision with fire as he brought his sword down on her leg. The blow was just a grazing one but the fire stopped immediately as Max grabbed the woman by the throat and tossed her towards his teammates. Apparently the fire had lit their swords on fire and despite the no kill order, Hector Plunged the flaming blade into her chest and laughed such a laugh it even made Max’s skin crawl. The remaining enemies looked on unimpressed, at least that was the impression they were giving off. The two remaining men looked at each other as the Axe gestured with his head for the other man to go first. Max backed up and let the man get set. Max could hear cheering coming from the soldiers in Bufford as the man charged.

  His opponent was not only skilled but fast as he swiped and thrust his blade at Max. Many hits had scored but Max was well armored and they bounced off his scales. Max though in return had scored once or twice on his foe, but Max was intent on not heating up his sword just yet. After the fifth pass between them Max flared his wings which of course caught his foes attention then spun around quickly and let his tail do the work. Max could have snapped his leg easily enough but was intent on standing over the man with his sword on his throat.

  “You are defeated” Max said as he held the blade still. “You can join the real queen or die here, what will it be?”

  The warrior looked shaken up but nodded. The Axe was going to make a move but Peete had stepped in with his still flaming sword begging him to attack. The Axe narrowed his eyes but backed up and took his massive axe off his back.

  “After I am done with the first so called red devil the rest of you will get a turn” the Axe said as he hefted the huge blade.

  Max backed away as he watched his defeated foe sprint towards Bufford. When he turned back around the Axe dropped his weapon, the spike on the top of it stuck in the dirt as two hatchets appeared in his hands and he threw them simultaneously. Max heard twin thunks as the axe picked his weapon back up as Max poured all his will into heating his sword up. Max swung his blade just as soon as the Axe was in range, from his body language Max could tell the man was waiting for the swing to pass him by then would charge in with his own attack. The heat the blade gave off was spectacular though ever since it had started tasting mage blood, when the wave stuck the Axe, the first thing Max noticed was how the man’s eyes burst, followed by his head. The heat had super boiled all of the fluids in the man’s skull and caused it to explode. The Axe dropped to the floor, some of the armor by his neck was melting off as his headless body twitched a bit then laid still.

  “Send more” Hector said as he waited for the whiteness to leave Max’s sword. “Send whoever you have to face the red devils” Hector said loudly as he held up his flaming sword which promptly died out after a few more moments. There was no movement coming from the Galeans as Max turned his back and walked away. Later the generals would send out people to look at the bodies of the fallen. The mage wouldn’t be able to tell them much, the fire from Hector’s sword had burned away all of her clothing and her facial features . In fact Max couldn’t tell if she was even female from the damage. Later on that night almost half of the army defected to Bufford, which was a good thing since the Macomians should be there by the morning on the fourth day.

  CHAPTER 16

  Max’s goal was simple now that the Macomians had come, he was to just harass the Galeans who refused to give up. The horde was with him now, they dropped iron balls and threw their spears into the fleeing enemy. The enemy griffin riders just flew away, they didn’t even bother mounting a defense. When Xander started dropping fire on them is when the enemy tried to quit, they wanted to give up but Max knew his duty. He would slaughter the majority of them for holding out. Despite the men and women screaming for mercy he burned a good number of them before he took the field himself. Anyone in the uniform of a certain rank or higher he ripped off their rank and sent them to stand to the side. Any Mage he saw he took her power then bypassed her. Only low ranking people got out unscathed somewhat, Gregory had promptly given them orders to go to the next town and start preparing a defense. The former mages though were made to stay with the army as well as the high ranking officers. The mages would at least be allowed to go to the borderlands, the officers though would be the frontline against them enemy.

  “It looks like General Raisa got away” Gregory said as he walked over to Max. “During your fight with the Axe she had already fled, taking a number of soldiers with her. She has at least a day on us but finding her on the road will be luck at best. By now she is probably in a covered wagon or something”.

  “Well we don’t have much to do except stay with these prisoners” Just as Max finished talking the first drops of rain fell, followed by another. Soon the sky gave way like a bucket being poured and the water fell down in torrents. At one time in his life the water would have really affected Max, now though most of him was covered in hard scales that was difficult to feel through. The water while still a little uncomfortable did not give him that drenched feeling he had felt in the past. He could see though Gregory and the rest of the griffin riders attempt to hide under the trees off to the side of the road. Max joined them and just waited there watching the prisoners who were forced to stand out in the rain. The down pour stopped just as it got dark, it was then Max saw the first part of what was now the Galean army led by Duchess Pem. When the Duchess finally got there she smiled at the prisoners, put them in a regular soldier’s uniform and had them pressed into service. She wanted the attack to happen tonight, the rain would hav
e no doubt forced the enemy leaders to hide from the weather while their men did most of the work. Pem had made sure she even had a fire going in the estate, the Macomians would be broken after tonight.

  The attack happened almost the exact way Pem said it would. The sentries they had posted were more interested in eating the food Pem had left behind. In the big estate multiple fires were going on, that Max could see through the window. Max jumped off Xander and floated down by the front door and waited for the horde. The first couple of balls crashed right the roof and sounded like thunder as they started tearing the place apart. Max had to run inside the house and was surprised to see some of the balls had not only gone through the floor but the floor above him as well. Max took refuge under a door way when the first enemy appeared running towards him. Max killed the man easily enough and started using his sword to set fire to the building. The fact that he could see fire coming from the outside meant Xander was out there also wreaking havoc. Max went through the estate and could see the iron balls killed some, some were consumed by fire and those still alive he killed personally. There were many well-groomed older men in this number, the fact none of them were armored brought home the fact that he was in the right place. The place stared creaking now as Max called for Xander who crashed through the building bring the whole thing down as he scooped Max up in his arms and took off in the night sky. Max looked behind him and could see enemy soldiers just staring at the blaze, doing nothing to help their commanders. Max doubted anyone could survive that chaos as he headed to the next town, if there were any survivors he could always go back.

  Max had been in Fairway for three days before the army came pouring in with much fanfare. The Macomians had packed up anything they could carry and although shadowed by the griffins, were leaving Gale as fast as they could possibly go. The only thing Max had to do now was attack the capital itself. This would be the last straw until Mary could take her throne back, then the female dragon could be freed. Max had talked to Xander about his conversation with the Duchess, Xander’s only reply was that they would regret any trickery.

  Pem had Max and the rest of the red devils follow her around like a personal guard force, not only did they attract a lot of attention they made people generally leave her alone. Once the army was fed and well rested they would make their way towards the capital to free it, at least that was the plan although Max did not like how long it was to take. Apparently they would surround the place and give the people inside options to go. Tunnels and holes in the fence was supposed to allow people who wanted to sneak off to do so, Pem would have the troops work on it as soon as she reached the gates. Reaching the capital was easy, even would be supporters of Yadia changed their tune when Pem showed up with an army. The way the prisoners were treated though, Max did not think it was fair at all. The nobles, mostly made up of mages were sent to the borderlands under the threat of death. The commanders of the army however were marched forward and were expected to lead the charge if a fight ever broke out. Although in decent shape for their age, these were a bunch of old women who were expected to fight a well-entrenched enemy. It was a death sentence Max thought, one that either all or none should share.

  “Do you want your gear upgraded?” Pem asked Max ask he lazily leaned against Xander.

  “Upgraded?” Max asked confused.

  “The red devil armor you have is dated compared to that of the others” Pem explained. “During the fights we have had improvements have been made. We have three different variations of the armor now, the ceremonial one, the fighting one and the one we call the siege”.

  “What are the difference in these?” Max asked.

  “Since we started this program we have learned different things” Pem began as she took out a small scroll. “We sacrificed a lot for the sake of appearance; this has almost gotten our members killed on occasion. The flaming sword while nice always was more of an intimidation thing, as was the demon’s helm and the overly big claws, wings and tail. The whole thing was heavy and clumsy and really only worked against poorly armored unskilled foes. In the fighting version we have gotten rid of the tail, gotten rid of the wings and improved visibility a lot in the helm and greatly reduced the size of the claws. The whole thing just moves better, other things were added to make attacking easier like more places to hold weapons. Since I have been put in charge of this program, I am going to hand this version out only to our greatest warriors. It would look bad for a red devil to lose in combat so I am forgoing any height or weight requirements, only skill lands people in that position. The ceremonial version will favor appearance over anything else, think the current version but scarier. More spikes, bigger wings, better tail and a flaming shield in addition to the flaming sword. These men will still be chosen from the biggest in Gale, which leads me to the siege version. This armor is extremely dense and heavy, weapons are not expected to be carried by the wearer. Arrows will not penetrate this armor, only a shot from a powerful ballista at close range is expected to have any real effect. I think I will have a hard time finding wearers of this, their only mission will be to break down doors, absorb attacks and make it easier for the rest to file in and take out the enemy. Since you are the Queen’s chosen I want to give you first pick at each of these. You haven’t said as much but I have caught you eyeing the armor the other men have on and the upgrades they have over you, such as the elbow spike and better helm”.

  “No thank you Your Grace” Max replied. “I don’t plan on being the red warrior or red devil for too much longer. Other people can take over that identity, I think even if we put her Majesty back on the throne there will be many people looking to kill me”.

  “No one would dare to do such a thing” Pem replied.

  “They tried to kill the Queen” was Max’s only reply.

  Max watched as Pem had a look on her face that was hard to discern, the woman almost looked upset that he did not want anything to do with her red devils. It made no sense to Max, he was supposed to be marrying the Queen anyway, not playing bodyguard or enforcer or anything else that involved fighting. The only thing he was currently interested in though was getting out the female dragon from the palace, something that would take a while but luckily thanks to Xander time was something he had plenty of. Since he now shared the dragon’s long life, he knew he would still be around long after Mary died. If Max was being true to himself, he envisioned himself as some sort of king that would be in power for a long time. In reality though he at least would be well taken care of, men with skills like his would always be in demand. He was the only one of his kind, but could that change?

  “Xander, is it possible for the dragoons to create dragonbreed?” Ma asked. “Animals or not, could it be done against their will?”

  “I DO NOT KNOW” Xander replied. “DRAGONS ARE MAGICAL BEINGS, IT IS POSSIBLE IN THEORY BUT I WOULD SUSPECT ANY BEING CREATED FROM THOSE BEASTS WOULD ALSO BE DUMBED DOWN, YOU SHARE MY EXPERIENCES AND KNOWLEDGE I ALSO SHARE YOURS TO A MUCH LESSER EXTENT. A DRAGONBREED FROM A DRAGOON COULD BE FERAL OR A BEING THAT LIVES BASED ON INSTINCTS”.

  It made sense to Max but knew if he were in power he would at least try it once, even if it was on a prisoner. Max certainly would not be the person to bring it up and would feign ignorance if he was ever asked about the procedure. With the war winding down though, he wondered when Mary would make an appearance. She by now had to know the Macomians were pushed back and all of her enemies were in the city Max could see from the edge of the forest. He and Xander would get no closer, there were men handling ballistae almost everywhere on the wall, not only that the capital was made to take a siege the only thing they could do was hope and wait.

  CHAPTER 17

  Mary

  Mary looked out over her capital city and smiled at what she saw. The capital hand been under siege for four months now and only the letter from Duchess Pem she received by bird made her come out and see for herself. The capital was ready to fall now, Mary had agents crawling all over the city that were sabo
taging things at an astonishing rate. Sneaking people in on griffinback proved to be real successful as the average person could not tell the difference from one of her agents or those who had been at the school for a while. What was even better was the fact there was a set of Red Devil armor inside the city, her agents had used it to set fires to the homes of wealthy merchants causing them to flee and open up new passageways. Smuggling had always been a thing in Gale, merchants would do anything to avoid paying taxes. But now their secret tunnels had been exposed, Mary could sneak in a lot of her fighters and open the gate, her victory would be sweet.

  “You came on griffin back Your Majesty?” Duchess Pem asked as more of a statement than a question.

  “I have been training and this one was able to carry me” Mary said scratching the griffin next to her. “Yadia, is she feeling the pain yet?”

  “She is Your Majesty” Pem replied. “I have sent out a bounty granting immunity to anyone who brings me her head. I have also offered your terms of safe passage to any mage who wants to leave the city. So far there have been twenty that have been stripped of magic and sent on their way. I also had a change of heart and let the military leaders go with them to the borderlands. Although devoid of power I think they should be able to hold off the enemy for a while if we are attacked again. I do not think the Macomians are tired of war, they may be back in the next three years. They were just unprepared for our mages, our griffins or our dragoons”.