When We Were Dragons

by Brandon Berntson

  “Of course, you’ll be okay,” I said, putting my hand on the back of Mellicent’s head.

  “Don’t worry about anything, Holly,” Karen said, her face stern. “We’ll be back.”

  Holly looked doubtful, and she stepped closer, embracing Karen. Karen hugged her in return. We all took turns…just in case, I suppose. I embraced Jody and Mellicent.

  Charlie stepped toward me when I broke away from his sisters. “When it’s all over,” he said, as if the war were a mere setback, “I want to ride on your back again. It’s kind of cold up there, but it was a lot of fun. I wish the kids at school could see.”

  “Charlie,” I said, kneeling down, and putting my hand on his shoulder. “You are such a tender-hearted boy. Don’t ever change.”

  He smiled and nodded.

  We hugged the kids one more time and pulled away. Partings are never easy, no matter how temporary they may seem.

  As we did, I felt a painful tear inside my chest. I had never experienced anything like this on Paramis, not this tugging of emotions, but then again, I had never met anyone like Holly and her children before. I think it had something to do with change. I did not feel like the dragon I had been before the collision, and I wondered how mortal I was becoming, as though my dragon-self were disappearing without my knowledge.

  I looked back at them as they were standing there and put my hand in the air, hoping and praying that my words wouldn’t prove false…hoping and praying that we would truly make it back alive.

  ~

  We found Dilla-dale at the park where he said he’d be. When Karen and I flew in, smoke and fire blanketed the northern skies. The war looked roughly twenty miles away. The smell was dense, bringing tears to my eyes.

  “We were able to evacuate and relocate most of the people who were staying in the area,” Dilla-dale said. “Is the family safe?”

  I nodded. “What should we do?”

  “With Lane, and the power of the Eye, I feel so helpless,” Dilla-dale said, exasperated. “I have no means of attack. My magic, for whatever reason, seems useless here.” He shook his head.

  I wished I could do something to ease his mind.

  “Find Lane and stop her,” he said. “You are the only ones who can fly. We are useless in this war. It is that simple. Find her and stop her before she unleashes more destruction. And Justin?”

  “Yes, Dilla-dale?”

  “Cerras stirs. He is restless. Something has been unsettling me for a long time. I think he’s waking up. It’s going to be catastrophic when he does. Marrik is alive, his twin. This war goes far beyond men and dragons now.”

  I nodded.

  I had no plan, nothing whatsoever. Lila and Louis came with Karen and I, while Cullen remained behind in case Granger, Preston, and Dilla-dale needed him. They were frustrated, I could tell, but Lane was one of our own kind, and we needed to confront her as dragons. The Old Ones and mortals would only end up getting in the way…or worse.

  The four of us took to the sky, flying north. We were four dragons against a multitude of angry men and fire-breathing reptiles. I did not know what we could do against Lane and the Eye of Cerras.

  The fires were visible as we flew farther to the north. The land around us and under us was completely buried in flames. Tendrils of black smoke rose into the hazy sky. Orange and yellow light flickered behind the smoke. Piercing dragon cries split the air, the shouts of angry voices. The four of us descended into a land awash in death, fire, and destruction. Blood had been spilled and plenty of it.

  “Dear Cerras,” Karen said, looking around her.

  Homes were burning. Trees were burning. Dragons are born from fire, so it is nothing to us—at least the smoke—though flame can still destroy us.

  Throughout the history of Paramis, I’d never seen anything like it. Strewn throughout the wasteland, were the charred corpses of men, women, and dragons, never to breathe again. I saw dragons battling one another in the air above our heads, dousing each other in blankets of flame.

  One bright orange dragon on the ground, struggled under ropes looped around its neck. It flapped its wings futilely, howling and crying in torment. Five strong men, their faces glistened in sweat, held tightly to the ends of five separate ropes, keeping the beast on the ground while the dragon struggled, cried, and billowed clouds of fire at its tormentors.

  We were too late to save it. Before I could move, one man ran behind the creature and drove a long spear into its flanks. The beast cried again, toppled, and fell on its side with a heavy thud. With torches, the men set fire to its entire form as it lay still, and in seconds, it was buried in a sheet of flame. The smell I had noticed earlier was obviously stronger here. Dragon flesh on fire, and my eyes filled with tears.

  I looked over. Karen stood, as if paralyzed, her face frozen in horror. I saw tears spilling down her cheeks as well. I wasn’t worried about the men coming after us. I could care less, and they hadn’t noticed us standing so close by because of the smoke. They congratulated each other, slapped each other’s hands, hooted and hollered.

  “What are we supposed to do?” Louis asked.

  Fury burned inside me. Lane had brought this on herself, on us, and the people of Earth. It was either kill or be killed. Lane had not given us a choice. I heard the futility in Louis’ voice. I saw it in Karen’s eyes. Lane had brought out the hateful demon in me. I wanted her dead, and I wanted to do it myself. Beside me, Lila was strangely quiet, as though trying to comprehend the extent of the nightmare.

  Violence is not solved with violence, and we are protectors, but my rage pushed all that aside. I knew it was wrong, but something in me had been unleashed.

  “Justin, no!” Karen said, putting her hands out to pull me back.

  But I stood my ground. A fellow beast, a fellow being of mine had fallen. I had watched him die and had done nothing to save him.

  I stood my ground, and walked, undaunted, toward the five men. Part of me knew I would regret doing what I was about to do, and part of me simply did not care. I was proving myself no better than they, and did they not have a choice? But what else could I do? If I let them go, surely they would ensnare another dragon, perform the same, grisly ritual, and I would have none of that.

  “Gentleman!” I said, and they all turned toward me. Some appeared frightened. One of them smiled. I smiled in return, opened my mouth wide, and unleashed a blanket of flame, dousing them all. In seconds, their celebration had turned to cries of pain, and I felt smugly vindicated, satisfied as I watched them writhe in fiery agony.

  They ran, panicked, fire encircling every appendage: arms, legs, and hair, until they collapsed and smoldered. Watching them, I managed a tiny smile, nodding a single time, and turned back to the others.

  Karen looked at me with wide eyes.

  “An eye for an eye,” I said with coldness in my voice, and Karen did not reply.

  Despite it all, the destruction continued. I watched as dragons ensnared other men, biting them in two. I watched as dragons were shot and killed. I watched in numb, disbelieving silence as the war went both ways, and in my mind, I could see Lane laughing in the face of it all.

  Some of the men had built traps to waylay the dragons, which is what the five men had done, getting their ropes around the beasts to keep them on the ground, then attacking them with spears, like tribal warriors. In turn, dragons swooped from the sky to pluck men from the earth. I saw man fighting against man, dragons clawing and breathing fire, snapping at each other’s flanks. The world on both sides had gone completely insane.

  Shotgun blasts sounded around us. I watched as an indigo-colored dragon fell, his neck erupting in a spray of blood as the blast took most of its throat. I had not thought much about their weapons or firearms, and realized we were in more danger than I’d thought. My fire would not stop a stray bullet. It was the first true war between men and dragons, and our kind was at a disadvantage. Against such weaponry, we were defenseless.

  The smell of burning fle
sh from both sides filled the air. The knowledge of our losses brought an acute pain to my chest. I couldn’t believe—after everything we’d experienced with Holly and her children—that we’d resorted to such senseless, mindless behavior. I was ashamed for both sides.

  Blinded by smoke and fire, Karen grabbed my arm, and pointed west. “Look there,” she said.

  It was hard to see through the haze, hard to concentrate with the cries of our brethren echoing over the battlefield, but faintly, I could see something upon the mountainside…

  An orange, fiery glow was visible to the west, an illumination caused by something other than flame. Through the smoke, I saw it was an entrance to a cave, a recess roughly three-hundred feet off the ground. The illumination came from inside, which was actually a spectrum of colors.

  I transformed and took to the sky. Karen followed. Louis and Lila were right behind us. That Lane would betray her own kind, that she would resort to this, only fueled my savage thirst. I wasn’t thinking clearly, I knew, but I wanted to hurt her terribly, and my claws twitched with the thought of murder.

  I transformed into my ‘human’ form once I reached the entrance of the cave. I was too enraged for caution. Behind me, Karen, Louis, and Lila transformed as well.

  The light came from several sources. Boiling magma, several hundred feet below us, reflected off diamonds, gems, and amber quartz in what I thought—despite the situation—was a miraculous display ricocheting off the walls. We stood on level ground, a solid sheet of rock widening out on either side of us. Thirty yards in, the rock abruptly ended into a lake of boiling magma hundreds of feet below. Earth and Paramis had come together here to make a cave in the bowels of a restless volcano.

  Lane stood near the cliff edge, the Eye of Cerras at her feet, pulsing, raging in brilliant, colorful, kaleidoscopic glory. Lane’s skin was a vortex of color, and her eyes were alight with madness. Magma shot boiling geysers of liquid high into the air. Tor-Latress hovered at her shoulder, a bat-like shadow without legs. He was whispering into her ear, and she nodded at everything he said.

  Another figure was visible, and I knew my eyes were deceiving me, because there was no way he could be here. The top hat, the cape, the boyish smile, the face of a child I knew too well. Karen screamed in surprise, voicing my thoughts:

  “CHARLIE!”

  It was indeed, Charlie, somehow here, even though we’d left him safely at home only moments ago. Lane had managed to kidnap him somehow, perhaps with the power of the Eye.

  But our shock and surprise were far from over.

  At the edge of the cliff, beside the Eye, fixed to a torturous device made of wire, hooks, and metal bars, was Gill, Karen’s brother. He was stuck in the middle of his transformation—from dragon to mortal form. A single, wounded wing bled copiously. He had suffered severe burns. His hair was gone, singed from his head. Half his face was melted scales and skin, one eye staring blindly, red and swollen. One of his legs had failed to transform all the way. What Lane must’ve put him through, I could not imagine. He had been a bright, beautiful, purple dragon at one time, full of cheer and good humor, but any semblance to his old self ended there. His skin was charred black with flame and red with blood. I watched as he raised his head, his single eye fixing on his sister. A second later, it closed, and Gill turned away, tears spilling down his face.

  Such a crime, I thought, to torture and kill your own kind. So forbidden, the punishment on Paramis, quite simply, was execution. In that, I was proud knowing I would be Lane’s executioner.

  Had she known this moment would arrive? Had she known Karen and I would find her? Had she captured and tortured Gill only to see the pain in Karen’s eyes?

  Louis, mimicking my own anger, flew at Lane without hesitating, transforming into a dragon while letting out a single, defiant cry.

  Lane turned instantly, pulling the saber from her sheathe. Louis, flying toward her, breathed boiling gouts of fire, but Lane remained unharmed. Flames rolled over and off—the power of the Eye, perhaps. Louis’ momentum prevented him from pulling back in time, and Lane’s saber sank into his chest, Louis’ screech echoing off the cave walls. Lila let out a scream at my side. Karen and I looked on in helpless horror as Louis’ body sagged instantly and fell to the floor.

  Our fury got the better of all us, and we acted without thinking, too anxious to end Lane’s destruction, a sequence of events that rushed by in a blur.

  Louis blinked a single time as the life went out of him. Blood spilled over his dragon fingers as he tried to transform, but he was stuck in the middle of his metamorphosis, much like Gill. Death, even though he was still alive, had stripped him of his magic.

  Before I could reach out and pull Lila back, her bright yellow form raced past me and toward Lane. She did not transform into a dragon, but decided to take Lane head-on. Tor-Latress halted her progress. The shadowy-demon moved in front of Lane, protecting his master, and Lila ended up grappling with the shadowy demon instead. Wisps of black smoke spiraled around her face. To my horror, Tor-Latress—with more power than I’d thought him capable—forced Lila to the cliff-edge and over the side. She did not have time to transform before the lava swallowed her.

  My mind reeled. It took all my power and control not to advance. If I had, I would’ve suffered the same fate. Still, fury beat its pounding rhythm in my ears. Blood rushed and pumped loudly through my veins, and my claws were twitching still. I’d never wanted to see another being, another human, or dragon suffer, but I wanted Lane to suffer then. We hadn’t been in the cave more than a minute and already Louis and Lila were gone.

  In the interim, Charlie had stepped back and out of the way. He looked on with wide eyes. Sweat dripped from under the top hat and down his cheeks. Gill looked between the crude bars of his cage, as if simply waiting to die, ashamed by his defeat and helplessness. I steeled my heart, thinking of Louis and Lila. Tor-Latress smiled at me with red eyes, and my claws twitched again. I clenched my teeth.

  “Charlie,” I said, loud enough for the boy to hear. “I don’t know how you got here. But I want you to come away from the edge of the cliff right now. Please, Charlie. Come over here to me.”

  He cocked his head and looked at me, but his face was strange. He didn’t seem to recognize me. “Justin,” he said, in a robotic voice. “I thought you, of all people, believed in magic.”

  “What are you planning, Lane?” I asked.

  Karen stepped over to me, locking her arm through mine. Tor-Latress turned and hissed at the both of us. Louis was motionless, dead at Lane’s feet.

  “Gill is too weak for torture, Karen,” Lane said, smiling. She ran her thumb along the edge of the saber, pleased by the sight of Louis’ blood. “Gill hasn’t been very cooperative. He refuses to join. Because of it, I’ve reduced him to nothing more than a mongrel.”

  It took all my control to keep from flying toward her.

  “So,” Lane continued, looking at Charlie now. “With the help of Cerras, and the power of the Eye, I was able to steal Charlie from his very own dreams. Quite the abundance of power Cerras holds. And we’ve done this before, haven’t we, Charlie? Because of you and your precious magic, I will turn the hearts of men against dragons, and dragons against men. Marrik stirs and battles a restless fight with his brother. No doubt, they struggle already. And because of the Eye, we know what the outcome will be.” Lane paused, still looking at Charlie. “He’s a good boy and special, too, isn’t he?” Lane said, in a maternal voice. “Such a magical, bright boy. Aren’t you, Charlie?”

  Charlie actually smiled at her. It made me ill.

  “Why Lane?” I asked. “What are you hoping to accomplish?”

  “Stardom,” she said, as if it were a joke. Her yellow eyes blazed with soulless fire. “Cerras has promised me a kingdom, a throne made out of the very bones of dragons and men. I will pick my teeth with corpses, Justin of Amberlye, with you and Karen among them. I will rule this New Earth with Tor-Latress and Charlie by my side. Imagine the powe
r! Imagine the ruling! Not just this world, Justin, but galaxies! I will be the Empress of the Stars, the Queen of the Universe! I couldn’t do it on Paramis alone. I resurrected Tor-Latress from his grave. With the chaos, I knew I could manipulate and turn the people against you. Dragons and peace! You make me sick, Justin! You’re so pathetic. You and Karen both. Finally, darkness will spread wide, and a dragon will rule the way it was always meant to be!”

  I shook my head, unable to comprehend such madness.

  “Gill?” Karen said, looking at her brother.

  Gill looked away, sorrow and misery etching his face.

  “Why Gill?” I asked. “Why, in the name of Cerras, would you torture him, Lane? He’s one of our own kind.”

  Lane shrugged, as if it didn’t matter to her one way or the other.

  “Amusement,” she said. “I’m sick of our kind. Pathetic, weak creatures. Protecting the likes of the Old Ones and mortals. We rule our own destiny, Justin Silas. We are not slaves to these insipid men. We are dragons! We are beasts! We are born from fire, not guardians! We are rulers of the just, of the skies and stars! Galaxies the world over! We are the gods of creation! We make the minds of mortals and children dream. We are imagination!” Here, she turned and smiled at Charlie.

  “Lane,” I said. I knew I could say nothing to change her mind. Words were useless. The influence of Tor-Latress and the Eye were working through her. “Please! I beg you! Don’t do this!”

  But, of course, she ignored me.

  “Charlie has a special gift,” Lane said, looking at him now. “I knew about him all along. Even on Paramis. He is a boy who resounds gracefully with magic. When he ingests the power of the Eye and returns it to me, the world will split once more. Many will die again.” She smiled. “I will raise Marrik to destroy his brother, and when that happens, mortals will cease to exist, and anyone who opposes Marrik will suffer death by fire. With Cerras gone, all will be the way it should have been in the beginning. Dragons will rule once more. You’ll see, Justin, how infantile all this has been. You will see that we are the ones to rule the Old Ones. That this is what we’ve been driving toward since the beginning of time. Dragons have always been more powerful than men, and I am here to remind us of that one, simple fact. I am here to remind the feeble-minded who the true masters are. You can either join me, or you can die. And if I know you at all, Justin Silas, I imagine you’ll choose death.”