Without turning around he replies, “Na dude I got it. She said yes by the way, so go ahead and sit down. It might be a minute, these dragons seem to have four stomachs.”
“We do not have four stomachs.” Gon says seriously.
“Father, he was making a joke as to how much we are eating of his heavenly cooking.” Gos replies.
Vernon looks around, and doesn’t see Marie or Ashley. “Hey Duke where is my wife, and your new fiancé?”
“They went to get more ingredients for me to cook. These four could eat you out of house and home. Don’t worry though, the market is right around the corner, and no one knows you’re here anyway. They should be back any minute.”
“I want to tell you that you should have sent someone with them, but Marie was probably pushy about it, and with Ashley to back her up, you didn’t really have an option did you?”
“Nope, you got it on the nose. That’s why you get paid the big credits for being a Paladin.” Duke turns his head, shooting a grin toward Vernon.
“Yup, that’s me, Mr. Big shot Paladin.”
“Are you ready for today Vernon?” Gon asks.
“I am, don’t know what we’re going to find once we get out there, but that’s the idea right?”
“It is indeed. I would imagine we should be expected to face some resistance.”
Gos agrees, “We should, the last time I was there the forest even attacked me. Caution should be first on our minds.”
“What do you mean that the forest attacked you?” Vernon questions.
“The forest moves in order to protect the eggs, it has been that way for centuries. It has not stopped moving, until recently. The only thing I can imagine is that something is preventing it from moving, or it believes this is the best way to protect what is left. I do not want to think about what else might have caused it.”
“You mean there not being anything left?”
Gos nods.
“That’s probably not the case, or Hood wouldn’t be trying to get into it right?”
“You do have a point.”
“So the trees can put up a fight?”
“More so than most humans believe they could.”
The sound of the front door opening turns everyone’s head in that direction until Marie and Ashley emerge from the hallway, laughing and giggling. There are bags in each of their hands, overflowing with food.
“We’re back!” Marie says, raising the bags in the air.
“Good, just set it all on the counter, and I will start cooking it up.” Duke says.
Breakfast was filled with conversations between Gon, Gos, and Vernon. The others mostly listened, with Duke occasionally chiming in. Gon talked about the drigh, and their hive like qualities. They need a leader to be organized, otherwise they just go about their business. If they get hungry, they can be dangerous, but they mostly live in the ground. With so many coming to the surface recently, and going for dragon eggs, it means there is something controlling them.
Gos tells the group about his duties, and how he has watched humanity grow so much in the last few hundred years. He doesn’t get the opportunity to talk candidly with most humans and always likes the chance to hear our thoughts on things. Technology is something he loves, and watches closely.
Duke finally finishes cooking for everyone, and gets to eat with everyone else. Vernon knew that time is critical, but everyone needed the rest and meal. He just hopes they didn’t miss anything by taking time to recover. Gon and Gos finish their huge breakfasts, and get up from the table. Vernon finishes his shortly after, kissing Marie.
“Alright everyone, stay on guard today. We don’t know if or how they are following us. If anything happens send a message or call.” Vernon says.
“Be careful, you hear me Douglas.” Marie says.
“I hear you.”
Vernon bends down and pets both Ignis and Blu. “Take care of Marie for me while I’m gone, and make sure you don’t get hurt either, ok?”
They both nod, wagging their tails.
“Duke, you’re going to go talk to your father today right?”
“I am, I hope he can help with the Paladin problem.”
“Let’s hope, alright everyone see you tonight.”
Vernon and the dragons leave headed for the Wandering Forest. Gos describes the spot the forest took root at, and shares the map with Vernon. It was in a place that was outside of its normal migration. The forest that Vernon walked through a couple of days ago was next to their destination. He realizes that all the eggs from the tunnels must have been from the forest. Calling up a car, they all pile in and head for Pharis Dome.
A rune jump would have been much faster, but he couldn’t take Gon or Gos to his squad or Maldone. There would be too many questions, and he didn’t have the time to answer. If Maldone doesn’t already know there are dragons that have cognitive ability, then he wasn’t going to be the one to give him that information.
Once they were out of the city, there are no roads that go over the hills where they need to go. Dray-Gon carries Vernon, shifting half into a dragon. Gos follows. Vernon enjoys the feeling of flying through the air. It would be something he could eventually do if he put time into practicing his wind magic, but with the way things are going for him on that front, he may never get to. He looks down at the trees below him, the tops of each spread out a light green canopy, densely packed together. In the distance he can see a small gap in trees, and the trees look different on the other side of the gap. The leaves are a deep green, with the tops looking pointy instead of rounded. Gos confirms Vernon’s suspicions by pointing out where they were headed, the gap.
Dray-Gos says, “We need to land outside of the forest, and walk in.”
“Why, shouldn’t we just fly in and check to see if the eggs are ok?” Vernon asks.
“If we do that, the trees will kill us before we reach the dirt. They would think we are coming in to attack. This is how it is done between the forest and dragons, we come out of the sky to show we are not hostile.”
“Oh, then good plan. We are not hostile.”
They land in a small oval clearing between the Pharis forest and the Wondering Forest. There are multiple tire marks, with car parts strewn about. The tire marks curve around a large pile of broken branches and trees. There are footprints, but Vernon can’t tell if it is one person or twenty. Next to the footprints are conic divots in the ground, some large, some in smaller sets of three and four.
Vernon asks, “Do either of you two know what these are?” Pointing to the divots.
“Those are made by drigh.” Gon says.
“Great, I was looking forward to a nice walk through the forest.” He says sarcastically.
“You may yet get your wish Vernon.” Gon smiles.
The trees next to the tire marks are broken and scared. Following the tire marks, a cut through path is just on the other side of the broken trees.
“Should we follow?” Vernon asks.
“Since we are looking for the ones who did this, I would say yes. If they are after the eggs, this might be a good place to start.” Gos says.
The forest is quite. No birds, no wind, no sound. Vernon can hear every step he and his companions take as they venture onward. He also witnesses what Gos was talking about at Duke’s house, how the trees attacked him. The trees do not look like they have won, but put up a helluva good fight. There are semi-trucks, whole and in pieces, along both sides of the path. Not a single body though, which worries Vernon.
Was the forest eating them, or was everything up to this point unmanned. He shakes the thought from his head, and focuses on what lies ahead. An hour passed before they saw the first body, and it was from a drigh.
Vernon asks, “Are we getting close?”
Gos replies, “We should be at the heart of the forest right here, unless it’s still moving within itself.”
“Hope we can find it.”
“As do we all.” Gon agrees.
The cut
out path continues to go deeper into the forest, curving to the right. The farther they go, the more dead drigh they walk past. A faint sound begins to echo in the distance. Each step brings them closer to the sound. A few minutes pass, and they can make out what the noise is, something smashing into something else. It didn’t take long after that, and they see what it is. An enormous elephant sized drigh slamming into a wall of trees. The trunks are badly damaged, filled with cracks and breaks.
There are two semi-trucks to the right of the huge drigh, with a single person on top directing it. Vernon could see the familiar white robes, and wondered it was really Hood. Gon and Gos whip their heads to the left as a pair of jumpers let out a scream, jaws unhinging fully opening up.
The person on the truck’s head turns slowly back to where the three are, and shows a black mask. They wave their hand, and drigh begin to come out of the forest. Rollers and jumpers swarm the group.
“I really hate drigh.” Vernon says.
Dray-Gon and Dray-Gos forms shift into full dragons, biting and clawing at the horde. The single elephant drigh crashes into the tree wall again, a loud crack echoes out through the air above the fighting around Vernon.
“I’m going after the big one.” Vernon says. “You two back me up when you can.”
Gon and Gos let out a roar, carpeting the area around them in flames. A path through the flames heads directly to the big one, and Gon looks down to Vernon and nods. Vernon runs toward the elephant, gathering his mana to ready his runes.
The runes in his book begin to have a faint green glow to them. Next he reaches for the image of the door in his mind, opening them up. White light floods into, and over him. The light gives him strength and his speed increases. Imagining the his wind speed spell in his mind, he releases some of the mana he has poured into his boots.
He closes in to the giant drigh, standing on two legs. It’s skin is a dark grey, shining like an exoskeleton. It slowly pulls back its human sized fist for another attack, exposing it’s face. Six beady eyes focused on one spot in the trees. It has a long thick trunk, and no mouth.
Vernon jumps into the air, forcing light up to then down his arms, releasing bullets of light into the beast. Undeterred, it slams it’s fist into the trees breaking one over. The tree does not fall, but won’t last another hit.
The creature turns to face Vernon, pointing his trunk at him. It splits apart, revealing slimy webbing between rows of tiny spikes. In the center is a trio of tentacles whipping back and forth. Vernon can see the holes he put into the creature are burning with a white fire, but it is like it doesn’t feel it.
Leaning over it lets out a bone rattling roar toward Vernon, spit and venom flying everywhere. Vernon stands still, watching it’s movements. One wrong move could be his last and he knows it.
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The venom falls short of him, and he goes back in for another attack. Pushing the light into his wedding ring, forming a blade. He sticks it into its chest. All six eyes focus on Vernon, and grab for him. Releasing another small amount of stored mana, he dodges the grab.
The creatures other fist connects with him, sending him flying into the wood behind him. Smashing through a tree before coming to a stop. The ground shakes under him as he lays there. He lifts his head, and sees it stomping toward him through blinking spots in his vision. His coat had absorbed some of the impact, but he’s sure most of the runes are probably destroyed from a hit like that. Something he doesn’t want repeated.
Getting off the ground made his muscles complain, but his brain was screaming to move before the large thing wants to crush us. His muscles stopped complaining. A swipe of the creatures arm, breaks away a patch of thick trees between Vernon and it. He can see that he fire is spreading, like it did before on the others, but it isn’t slowing this one down at all.
He reaches into his light, filling his hands. With what mana he has left in his runes, he rushes it, going for it’s legs. Swiping at Vernon it misses him, but the gust around his hand did not. Vernon weaves off course, missing the leg of the beast.
It whips around, letting out another ear shattering roar. It starts swinging its arms as fast as it can, pounding them into the ground. Vernon dodges around, making sure not to get hit by any of the attacks as the white flame begins to engulf it whole.
Breathing heavily, it falls to the ground. The hairs on the back of Vernon’s neck stand on end, and he turns toward the person on the trucks. A he does, he gets knocked to the ground by an unseen force.
“We are going to have to quit meeting like this Mr. Douglas.” The words come out of Hoods mouth dripping with confidence.
Vernon gets off the ground, brushing himself off. He sees Hood twirling three red balls of magic in his right hand, facing Vernon.
He replies, “We are, but there is something I need to talk to you about first.”
“Oh, is there now?” Hood sounds intrigued.
“You shouldn’t have made this personal, because now I’m going to bring you down.”
Hood laughs a deep throaty laugh. “You, YOU, bring me down.” He laughs again. “You have this all wrong boy, it is you who is not going to survive here. No matter who you’ve brought with you, they can’t stop me from killing you.”
The red balls stack up in his hand, floating a few inches from the last. He points his hand at Vernon, fingers stretched out, and casts his spell. The three balls vanish, and appear around Vernon.
Hood says, “I want him to know you felt pain before you die.”
Slowly closing his hand into a fist, lines begin to come out of the red balls, like vines growing in the air. Vernon tries to move out of the way, but there is a barrier blocking his way. The red vines grow closer, lashing out at him, poking into him like tiny needles. Each place they touch burns, and as the burning moves, there are stabbing pains along the path. They start flowing up his legs and arms. Vernon grits his teeth, barely managing the pain.
Vines start to grow up the back of his coat, and into his sleeves. Gritting and baring the pain is all he can do. He can’t move. Can’t concentrate to call forth his light.
Vernon says, “Angel, are you there? Help.”
Hood laughs, “Angels, really boy, do you believe that nonsense. There are a great many things that I have seen, but an Angel has not been among them. You will die here, writhing in pain. He will witness it, and I will have a small portion of revenge.”
Vernon lets out a cry of pain, and composes himself again. The vines now up to his neck, sticking multiple needles into his skin.
“Angel!?” He yells.
“Yes. Yes! Cry out for your God, he will not save you. You will answer in part for what was done to me.”
Fiery pain rolls up and down every inch of Vernon’s skin. Rainbow colored dots blink in and out of his vision, and his eye lids grow weary. How is he this strong, he thinks. Would Tyler have been able to get out of this, or would this have happened to him too. Marie flashes in his thoughts.
He opens his eyes, and pushes the pain aside. He imagines the door, and can see it clearly, as if it was real door.
“I’m not going to die today, and not like this.” He says.
“What was that?” Hood says amused. “You aren’t going to die today. Son of Adam, you will die today, and by my hand.”
Hood opens his fist, and the vines form a dome around Vernon. The pain does not stop, but he can move again. Standing, Vernon reaches his own hand out, as if he was reaching into the doorway, and grasps at the light.
A Pulse of white light presses the vines against the three walls of the barrier. Vernon lets out a scream of anger, erupting the light around him, turning it black. The pain begins to fade away as the spell loses it’s power. Everything becomes clear again for him, and he focuses on Hood.
“How did you do that?” Hood asks speaking though his teeth.
His hands ignite in crimson flame, extending his arms out to the sides, palms up. The ground starts to shake beneath Vernon’s feet, and crack ope
n. Fire shoots up from the cracks. He wobbles around, struggling to keep his balance.
“Burn!” Hood yells. “Incinerate!”
A the ground quakes as a web of cracks emanate out from beneath Vernon’s feet. Vernon stares at Hood, and covers himself is black light. Flame erupts from the cracks, dousing the area in fire. Vernon takes a step out of the center of the flames, as they disappear just touching him. Hood watches him walk through the fire, and takes a step backward.
“How are you doing this, you should be burning.”
Vernon reaches for his mana, pouring it into his runes as he walks calmly toward Hood.
“You came after my family, and I’m going to make you pay for that.”
“Your family?” Hood laughs. “You know nothing. Just because you shrugged off one spell doesn’t mean you have the upper hand here.”
Hood begins chanting, something Vernon doesn’t know, but sounds familiar. He drops to the ground, off the truck, reaching behind his back. He pulls out a small pole, and it extends out into a full sized pole-arm.
He vanishes before Vernon’s eyes. Vernon bends over in pain, and sees the pole stuck in his stomach. His face then meets the ground, as he feels a great pain across his shoulders.
Vernon rolls onto his back, and stares up at Hood. A green glow comes out of the eye sockets of the mask he wears. He grabs his leg, as he brings down the pole, slamming it into the ground beside Vernon. The green glow fades away, even as he continues to chant. Hood kicks Vernon, rolling him a few feet away.
“You are an annoyance Mr. Douglas, one that I no longer have time to play with. I have an appointment to keep, and you can play with my pets.”
Hood gets into one of the trucks as they both start up. Vernon stumbles as he gets off the ground. He runs over to the second truck, grabbing the handle of the door. An electrical shock flows through his body, sending him to the ground.
The trucks drive off into the distance, as Vernon stares at the tree canopy above his head. The jolt of electricity leaving him stunned and unable to move.
Dray-Gon stands over him a few minutes later, in human form, breathing heavily. “Vernon are you alright?”
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 56
