by Paul Cude
Thirty seconds remained. Thirty seconds until all hell broke loose. Thirty seconds of life remaining. At least that's how she looked at it. After that she was dead. But she had a chance. She could fight, fight for her life, and those of her friends. What had she been thinking... bringing humans here, to fight... against... DRAGONS?! It was too late now though. Too late to change things. But she could fight for them. Fight for all of them. Turning her head slightly, taking in the old shopkeeper, he looked surprisingly calm and clear headed. He'd been the voice of reason ever since they'd encountered him. Richie gave a slight chuckle at that... Gee Tee, the voice of reason. It would have made Tank laugh anyway. Turning back towards her friend, hanging limply, about to be struck again by that blasted energy whip, rage consumed her. She felt it build up. She tried to dam it. Immediately the dam sprang leaks. Fury rushed through her limbs. Glancing at her watch, she knew the dam only had to last a few more seconds. After that... well, she'd see exactly how tough these bullies actually were.
Janice lay on her belly, trying not to choke on the sand and dust all around her. Situated on the rooftop of a shop that looked out over the bazaar, Hook had helped her get up here unnoticed, and she'd spent what seemed like an age crawling towards the edge. About at eye height to Tank and Flash, the roof was behind them, so there was no chance of them spotting her. Currently, they were the only ones that could have. Knowing not to peek over the edge, it had been made quite clear to her that was forbidden for now, and in fact the very thought terrified every bone in her body. She was to wait. Wait until it all kicked off. And then, she was to act, to free the other dragons and do as much damage as she could. Although terrified, strangely she felt more alive than she could ever remember. Her life up until now had been so safe, so secure, so... dull. And then she'd met Peter, someone like her... so safe, so secure. At least that's what it had seemed like at first. But she knew deep down that there was more to it than that. She didn't know what and to be honest, if she'd had a million guesses, she'd never have guessed THIS! But she loved him. Not just a little, but all consuming, all or nothing, the do or die kind of love. Having never known this kind of love before, it was totally intoxicating. So she was determined to give her best, her all. Determined to see him again.
Hook had, as Richie had asked, stationed himself in an alleyway running parallel to the bazaar, not far from the menacing looking dragons guarding the prisoners, roughly in the direction Janice was facing from the roof that she found herself on. Well concealed, he had no concerns about being spotted. In the short time that he'd had the heavy water jet pack on his back (that's what he thought its name should be, as it didn't have an official one) he'd become reasonably proficient at picking out targets with it. Gee Tee had assured him that it was impossible for the pack to run out of water, as its insides had been imbued with a replenishing mantra, whatever that was. It was good enough for Hook though, and every opportunity that he'd had, he'd been practising with it. Near or far, he'd been picking targets and had experimented with firing at them, and was quite comfortable with his accuracy, and had even found a setting on the rifle part of his newly gained equipment that changed the single stream jet of water to something more akin to a shower.
'That,' he thought, 'would be perfect for a group of dragons.' Checking his watch, there were only a few seconds to go.
It was time. Emma the lacrosse player, her friend and teammate Angela, Sam the hockey player and Taibul had circled around the square so that they were on the opposite side to Richie and Gee Tee. About three hundred and fifty yards behind the market place, tucked away in the back yard of a small house (small by the standards of the others they'd seen) in the middle of the Salisbridge urban sprawl. And they'd just found what they'd been searching for: a metal bin. At least, that's what it looked like. It could have been used for something else by the dragons, but for their purposes it seemed ideal. They'd been asked, no, ordered, to come over to this area and to make as much noise as possible with what they'd been given, and then to head away from the bazaar at speed, circling back around in a wide arc to their original positions. They were under no circumstances to engage a dragon. Bizarrely, the group were more excited than worried now.
"What exactly are we going to do?" asked Emma.
Taibul, normally very shy and introverted, whispered,
"We'll put a smoke and electrical grenade in the bin, throw on the lid, stick this heavy rock on top, and run like hell. And perhaps for good measure, leave another smoke grenade next to the bin, just in case."
They all nodded. So Taibul pulled the pins from his grenades, and with Angela ready to shove the lid on the bin, tossed them in. Angela slammed the lid on and stepped back. Sam carefully placed the large rock on top of the lid before joining the others. Emma, waiting patiently, pulled the pin on her smoke grenade and lobbed it towards the bin. All of them turned, and as fast as they could, sprinted off in the opposite direction to where all the dragons were situated.
A split second later, the pair of grenades in the bin went off. The noise was unbelievable. If that didn't get their attention, then nothing would.
Strung out over Casey's right shoulder, his long fingers delicately gripped the dull silver, reflective handle of the deadly looking whip, ready to strike again at one of the captives. Just as he was wondering which one he should hurt this time, the loudest of booms resounded from somewhere off to his right. Everyone in the square turned their heads in that direction, alert. Pointing to two of his trusty lieutenants, he signalled with his hand.
"You two... check it out. Bring back whoever's out there."
"YES SIR," they both barked back in response, quickly taking flight in that direction.
The sound was the signal, and Hook had already started drizzling a light mist over the nearest dragons guarding a group of prisoners. Careful not to hit any of the captives, he knew that their plan depended heavily on releasing them to join in the fight. Aiming again, he fired.
As the boom echoed throughout the enclave, Richie gave Gee Tee one last look as he'd just finished muttering the last word of the mantra that would slow down all their enemies. Standing staring at the bazaar, the master mantra maker had the utmost conviction etched onto his face. Grabbing Aviva's laminium dagger, Richie unleashed all her dammed anger and took off towards her friends, using the dagger's precious metal to enhance her speed.
Flash braced himself for the next strike of the whip, hoping it was for him. That way, Tank at least got some sort of respite. But just as he'd inhaled a deep breath... BOOM! A massive sound very much like an explosion shattered the quiet of the square from somewhere off to his left.
'This is it,' he thought. 'Time to act.' Tensed, coiling up all his energy ready to strike, he hoped that whatever was going on, there was more to it than just a loud noise. Moments later, he had his answer. He wasn't disappointed, but he was surprised. There on the edge of the bazaar, over a hundred yards away, directly in his eye line, was Gee Tee and by the look of things, the old shopkeeper was casting some sort of mantra. Even more surprising, and he had to blink to make sure that he wasn't seeing things this time, right next to him, up popped Richie, something glinting in her hand, sprinting with the speed of a... DRAGON, towards the action. As rescues went, this seemed the most bizarre in the history of everything. But he wasn't complaining and figured that his rather unique skill set might be required sooner rather than later.
'Oh well,' he thought, 'here goes nothing.' Releasing his pent up energy, the binders holding him snapped, and he fell ever so slowly towards the ground.
Forehead caked in sweat from the strain of the effort, it was one thing casting the mantra, but another thing entirely holding it in place over such a large area. But somewhere inside, Gee Tee smiled. This rated right up there with some of the crazy stunts that he'd participated in during his long life. And the best thing of all... they actually had a chance. Since this had started, something inside him had whispered that he was making a mistake, a fatal mistake, his las
t mistake. And deep down, he'd accepted it. But he had to at least try, he owed... Tank that much. He'd thought that throwing his lot in with a bunch of ragtag humans and one rather damaged dragon was a sign of desperation. But as the mayhem started, he weighed up the odds, finding them much more in favour of winning than not. Watching as the very thick, immovable air parted in front of the speeding blur that was Richie, in his mind, he wished her good luck.
Casey faced the direction from which the massive boom had emanated, his danger sense racing into overdrive. For some reason, he could barely move, with his spindly brown arms feeling lead like, and his legs feeling as though they were rooted to the ground. Having trouble turning his overly orange head, the long bony protrusions upon his cranial ridge remaining firmly facing one direction, from the corner of his eye, a momentary glance caught sight of movement heading his way from the opposite direction. Fighting with all his strength to turn around and face the threat head on, he'd turned almost halfway when he recognised what was speeding towards him. Well, not what, but who. Panic stricken, he nearly swallowed his tongue. Unable to believe she was here, sure she'd been expelled from the dragon world for good, her memories wiped forever. If there was one being that he feared more than Manson, it was her.
'Why can't I raise this blasted whip over my head?' was the thought that ran through his mind as she skidded to a halt in front of him.
Feeding off the energy from the dagger was pure ecstasy. Her speed was exhilarating. And then she focused on what had been done. What had been done to her friends anyway. In the distance her ex-classmate turned in her direction, but not fast enough.
'Gee Tee,' she thought, 'is clearly weaving his magic, and weaving it well.'
It was time. At least that's what Janice told herself. Shaking ever so slightly, her right hand clutched Fu-ts'ang tightly, as everything kicked off around her. Stomach flipping over and over, and a continued weakness assaulting her legs, it didn't help that she knew everyone was counting on her. Despite not wanting to, she took a deep breath and popped her head up above the parapet, just enough to see what was going on. The scene before her was both awe inspiring and terrifying in equal measure, and looked like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster. Watching as the spray of heavy water from Hook's backpack settled gently over the dragons guarding the prisoners, nerves threatened to consume her as the thick liquid dribbled across their wings and down their legs. In slow motion, the prisoners watched everything unfold nervously. It was time for her to act, she knew, so with a promise to herself to see her beloved Peter again, she ran, jumped off the roof and landed softly on the cobbles behind the guards. Clutching Fu-ts'ang for all she was worth, she crept towards them, all the time aware of the captives watching her.
As Flash hit the floor hard, the pain escaped his mind and tore through his body. Rolling instinctively, he managed to just about get to his feet. In a split second he took in everything around him. Not thinking it could get any weirder, suddenly it just had, with one of Tank's rugby playing friends' heads poking over the wall of the bazaar, shooting some kind of liquid by the look of things from a very strange rifle. He watched as... JANICE of all people leapt from the roof of a building behind the dragons guarding the prisoners. JANICE!! Sweet little... JANICE!! Of one thing he was bloody sure... she was most definitely not a dragon, and most certainly was a human. What in the hell was going on? Humans saving dragons?! The world had turned on its head, and he had a pretty good idea who was behind it all. That damned shopkeeper almost certainly had a hand in it, and as he watched Richie slice a very seductive looking dagger across the chest of the torturing dragon with the whip, he came to the conclusion that she was almost certainly up to her neck in it too.
'Time to act,' he thought. 'But what to do?'
Gee Tee was spent, drained of every last ounce of energy, having tried his best, realistically he'd done more than he could have hoped to do. Collapsing to his knees, too exhausted to even stand, he knew that he'd given them all the best chance he could. It was impossible for him to do any more. Now it was down to them, they had to make all his effort count for something. Slumping to the floor, he caught sight of Tank, head flopped in front of him, still as death itself, swinging back and forth. As his eyelids fluttered, one last thought consumed him.
'Please, please, please don't let us have been too late.'
Hook adjusted the pressure on the rifle, before changing his aim towards the guards furthest away, wondering where the hell Janice was. Although the plan was a little sketchy, he was pretty sure she should have been on the scene by now, and the bazaar should have been full of huge dragon sized lollies. With a limited view of events he supposed she could have been crouching down somewhere making her way towards the action, but still... time was running out. For their part, the guards had murderous looks in their eyes, some even drawing deadly looking, black swords from their scabbards.
Janice had tiptoed up to the nearest dragon guard, all the time being watched by the captives. Things were in full swing now, with Richie battling the evil looking dragon with the energy whip. Looking down at the guard's thick, scaly tail, the young bar worker noticed some of the scales glistening more than others, the thick heavy water standing out in the bright light. As she reached out with Fu-ts'ang, the guard started to turn around. Janice looked up, terrified, into huge, snarling jaws. Without thinking, she dived forward, touched Fu-ts'ang against the heavy water on the dragon's tail and then rolled away across the cobbles. Before the guard could react, solid ice began to form across the whole of his body, starting at his tail before working its way up to his head. And it wasn't just him; three of the other guards, to which the same water was connected, also found themselves frozen in place. Janice smiled to herself. It had worked. She'd done it! Only then did she realise a huge, dark shadow had enveloped her, blocking out the bright light that she'd only just got used to. Looking up into the almost alien face of another guard, she watched helplessly as he drew his sword and raised it above his head to strike.
Flash looked around, trying to decide on a course of action. For the most part, things seemed to be under control, or so it appeared. Not unfamiliar with the organised chaos of conflict, having fought in three hardcore dragon versus dragon battles, he was fully aware that events can change in a split second, and how taking a moment or two to try and grasp the overall picture can pay huge dividends. The most obvious thing for him to do was to try and get Tank down from where he was hanging as his friend looked drained of life. But it would take a while, and was it the right thing to do? Taking a step forward with a view to doing just that, an eerily familiar sensation tickled his neck, something he'd felt many times before, usually in hardened battle, and it nearly always meant danger. Turning, expecting to find an imminent attack, instead he glimpsed what was going on fifty yards or so away. Watching intrigued as Janice pressed something against a dragon's tail, he was amazed to see what happened next. But then he recognised the danger... a dragon guard was coming up behind her from one of the alleyways. Guessing it was one of the dragons who'd been dispatched to check out the loud boom, finding it was a diversion and then coming back, what was patently obvious was that Janice only had mere seconds to live. Anger, magic and power stirred deep inside him as he shot off in her direction like an arrow being fired from a bow.
Richie slashed the dagger wildly across his bulging underbelly. The look on Casey's face gave her a certain satisfaction. Not only surprise, but fear as well. She could always tell when he was afraid, and he was afraid now. As she whipped the dagger round to strike again... it happened! Gee Tee's slowing mantra that everyone had been encased in ceased. In all honesty, she was surprised he'd lasted this long, unable to imagine how much effort it had required to hold the mantra over such an area. Even in her past, full on dragon life, she probably wouldn't even have attempted to cast such a thing. As this thought shot through her brain, Casey suddenly became alert, fast and understood what had gone on. Instantly Richie threw herself backwards as the
magical whip came screaming through the air only inches away from where her neck had been. Her back flip wasn't perfect. Clumsily, she crashed to the cobbles, landing hard on her right shoulder. Pain exploded within it, but she knew better than to dwell on it. Movement, movement was the key. Staying flat, she rolled across to one side and came up on one knee. Casey was in the process of pulling the whip back over his shoulder again, and so she lunged forward and sliced the laminium dagger through the sinew of his left wing. A very unflattering squeak spluttered out of the injured dragon's mouth as she once again shot back out of range of the deadly looking whip, in two giant bounds. By cutting the sinew in his wings, she'd left him with little option but to fight, knowing that now escape was all but impossible for him (as there was simply no way he could take to the air), the chances were he'd become more desperate and infinitely more deadly. Slowly, the pair circled each other, Richie holding out the jewelled dagger in front of her, while Casey's whip dragged across the cobbles behind him. Both dragons had murder in their eyes.
As he brought down the sword to cleave Janice in two, the sneer on the dragon guard's face was all encompassing. Her entire life didn't flash by, a grinning skeleton with a scythe didn't appear, and there were no last regrets. Mainly because a speeding blur picked her up and lobbed her onto the relative safety of the roof of the nearest single storey building. As the guard's matt black sword clanged off the cobbles, the blur resolved itself into... FLASH! Missing one human target made the guard angry. Really angry. And he sure as hell wasn't going to miss another. Using all the agility he had, he was on Flash in an instant. The ex-Crimson Guard was defenceless, or so it looked. But then again, he had been in the Crimson Guards, and being defenceless wasn't something they'd ever been accused of, well, not by anyone still alive that is. Swinging his blade towards Flash's head, the guard put all the strength he had into the attack. Rolling forward, Flash tucked in and sprang up, putting all his energy into the jump, popping up inside his opponent's defences, at about head height. As he reached the apex of his jump, he stuck out his index and middle fingers and with as much power as he could muster, jabbed them both into the guard's left eyeball. A squelch, followed by the guard's enraged howl, echoed off every corner of the bazaar and got every being within the confines of the square looking in their direction. With his enemy distracted for a moment, Flash rolled across to the edge of the bazaar and scooped up the juiciest lemon from a group of them littering the floor near an overturned stall. Determined to press home his advantage, he swiftly crept round the back of the flailing guard, and having ripped the lemon in half, jumped onto the guard's tail and sprinted up it. Knowing exactly where his target was, he reached around the tormented dragon's head and pulled the lemon back onto the dragon's one remaining good eye. Feeling it impact, he squeezed the lemon for all he was worth. In his wildest dreams, he couldn't have imagined his efforts being so well rewarded. The sound was surreal. It was so... alien, like nothing he'd ever heard. Somersaulting back to the ground, he kicked the guard in the back for good measure, sending him off in the direction of one of the houses on the edge of the square, effectively rendering him out of the fight and of little danger to anyone. Turning back to size up the chaos, Flash swallowed awkwardly as he did so, noticing a large contingent of guards having left their prisoners bound, sitting on the ground, now heading his way, as if to avenge their comrade.
