Sisera's Gift 2: Sacred Blood

by Robyn Wideman

  “As you wish,” Tarak nodded.

  A Brother came running down the hallway as fast as his legs could move. The entire council's attention turned to the robed man as he entered the dining hall. He went straight to Omar and knelt in front of the leader, working to catch his breath.

  “Speak,” Omar said.

  “They are coming. And they have dragons,” the messenger said, panting.

  “Dragons?” Tarak quickly sat forward in his chair, his eyes meeting Santaal’s. Santaal gave him a shrug. “As in more than one dragon?”

  “Yes, Brother.” The messenger bowed his head when he addressed Tarak. “They reportedly have three dragons.”

  “Three dragons?” Omar face lit up. “That means more than one chance of capturing a beast.”

  “If we can survive the battle,” Santaal said through gritted teeth. “One of those was going to be a challenge. And now three? As well as the dragonblood. And their army. Our chances have decreased exponentially.”

  “Fear not.” Omar’s expression began to take on a crazed look. The big man walked over to where his gear was stacked up against the wall and unsheathed his huge two-handed blade. “We will emerge from this battle victorious. The Order of the Sacred Blood have been slayers of the sky lizards for millennia. Our traditions will continue, I promise you.”

  “I think he is attempting an inspirational speech,” Santaal whispered.

  Tarak chuckled silently. He looked to the messenger again, attempting to ignore the crazed rhetoric of their leader.

  “Where are they?” he asked. “How long do we have to prepare?”

  The messenger’s eyes grew wide and the color flushed from his face. “Now,” he said, “They are coming now. They are almost here. They will be at the edge of the village in minutes.”

  The entire council leaped from their seats and the dining hall erupted with movement and shouting.

  “Your squads to their posts,” Omar screamed. “Double time.”

  Tarak grabbed Santaal’s arm. “Stay close to him,” he whispered. “Don’t let him do anything crazy.”

  Santaal nodded and the two men quickly embraced.

  As Tarak left the dining hall for his post at the top of the Tower, he looked back at Omar, who was flipping over the tables, in a raging fit. “Your time is soon, Omar Hussein,” he thought to himself as he ran up the multiple flights of stairs that would lead him to the Dragon’s Perch, as they had named the top floor.

  Tarak burst through the door of what appeared to be the dragonblood’s quarters, as there was a to a large cave, that was clearly the dragon’s nest, attached to the veranda. The room was just as he had left it, tables set up with varieties of different ingredients he would need for the spells he may need to cast during the battle. He walked immediately to one table that held a large wooden box, skillfully carved to look as if it were covered with vines.

  He opened the lid of the box and pulled out a long strip of purple silk. He wrapped the fabric around his right forearm, tying it into place. He retrieved a small clay tablet from the box then closed the lid. He tucked the clay tablet into the silk wrapping and secured it so that it would not fall out.

  “Let’s hope this actually works,” he thought to himself as he checked his gear one last time.

  He walked slowly to the edge of the balcony and looked down at the empty yard, a clear indication that his illusion shroud was still covering the Tower. He scanned the skies but there was nothing to be seen. Even the forest was strangely quiet as if the creatures who lived there knew that something was amiss.

  Suddenly three shadows crossed the mountainside. He looked up to see three dragons flying over the Tower at a high speed.

  Tarak smiled. There were two riders, not just one. “This was truly a lucky day, indeed,” he thought, as he watched the riders skillfully balance themselves on the backs of the beasts.

  He cast a few smaller defense spells on himself and got into position to wait for the right time to give the signal that would unleash the surprise attack.

  Tarak watched intently as the dragons made another pass overhead then began a swoop over the Tower yard.

  “Let’s play.”

  He smiled.

  47

  “Are you nervous?” Sisera mind-linked. “You’re shaking. I can feel it through your feet.”

  Isabella was balancing herself in a forward lunge on Sisera’s back as they flew through the mountains.

  “Aren’t you?” Isabella was nervous even though Shayla had given her a pep talk before they took off.

  “A little, I guess,” Sisera said. “I’m fairly certain that when they see three dragons coming, they will just pack up and run away.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Isabella said quietly. She looked to her right and could barely make out Caritha’s massive form in the pre-dawn darkness. She knew that Shayla was likely riding her dragon in the same manner that she was.

  “You and I are much stronger and faster than any of them, we have an army of five hundred men attacking from the other direction, and we have three dragons,” Shayla had said with a laugh. “Plus, you have your magic shield thingy. We are going to be just fine. We’ll have them out of there before lunch.”

  Isabella still could not help but feel nervous. Yes, she had the shield, but she still did not fully understand how it worked, as well as the fact that she couldn’t even control it. “I would probably be even more nervous without it though,” she thought.

  The vast ocean came into view as Sisera flew over a high mountain. Isabella could see the glint of the choppy water in the light of the two half-moons. As they began to fly down the open coastline, Tyrath came into view on her left side, his bronze-yellow scales catching the moonlight as well.

  Isabella continually fussed over the plan in her mind. The dragons and bonded would attack from the south, hopefully drawing all the attention while Kai and the Daxrah attacked from the northwest. It was not an elaborate plan, but it was the best they had. Too much relied on Shayla and the dragons. Too much relied on her.

  With any luck, they could attack first, by surprise but as Isabella looked around, she could now see further and further as the light was creeping back to the world. Her heart began to beat faster.

  “Faster,” she shouted, “We need to fly faster. Daylight is coming.”

  “We will need to fly higher, then,” Sisera said.

  “Do it. We need to be there before day breaks.” Isabella motioned to Shayla that they were going to climb higher. Shayla acknowledged and followed.

  The Tower of Kings and the village of Mara came into view in the distance but Isabella could also see that the darkness was fading fast.

  “We’re not going to make it,” she thought. It would not be totally disastrous to their plan but it would reduce their chances of a successful surprise.

  “It will be very close,” Sisera mindlinked.

  The three dragons approached the tower just as the sky began to lighten. Isabella looked down at the village and the tower yard but they looked completely abandoned. They flew over the tower but

  “Circle around and make another pass,” Isabella said.

  “I can smell them,” Sisera grunted, as she flew in a wide circle and made another pass over the fortress. “I know they are in there. Maybe they are just hiding inside?”

  “Could be,” Isabella said. “I don’t know what to do. How are we supposed to attack if there is nothing to attack?”

  “Maybe we should just go down there and open the gate. Make things easy,” Sisera said.

  “That’s probably not a good idea. Fly closer to Caritha,” Isabella said, as she motioned to Shayla that they needed to talk.

  “What do we do?” she called out.

  Shayla shrugged her shoulders. “Land and take a look around?”

  “Told you,” Sisera mindlinked.

  Isabella ignored Sisera’s smug tone. “I don’t suppose that we have any other choice,” she said under her breath. “We
ll let’s do it then.”

  Sisera doubled back again and headed towards the Tower, followed by Tyrath, Caritha, and Shayla. When they arrived, Sisera landed in front of the massive main gate.

  “You know we could’ve just landed on the other side of the wall,” Shayla said as Caritha set down next Sisera.

  “I know. I just thought we should at least try to be a little bit careful and check it out first,” Isabella said.

  “This is very disturbing,” Sisera said. “I know there are people in there but I just can’t pinpoint them.”

  “I have the same feeling,” Caritha said. “I have never experienced anything quite like this before. Tyrath?”

  “I don’t like this at all,” the bronze-yellow said in a low voice, scanning the area with scrutiny.

  Isabella looked up at the fortress and around at the village. It was all familiar but yet it felt foreign. She looked up at the sky, which was becoming a lighter shade of blue. “I wonder if we should wait for Kai and the rest. They should be here anytime now.”

  “What better way to welcome them than to have the gate already open?” Shayla laughed.

  “I guess so,” Isabella said, still unconvinced.

  “Here, we will go open the gate then you can just walk through, okay?” Shayla said as Caritha lifted off the ground. The flew up and over the top of the high wall.

  Isabella listened intently but could not hear anything. No even the huge dragon landing. “Something’s not right,” she thought to herself.

  “It’s a trap,” she screamed and leaped onto Sisera’s back. “Go!”

  The gold-purple hurriedly lifted off the ground but as they flew over the wall they found no sign of the big white-red dragon or her rider.

  “Where did they go?” Isabella mindlinked, frantic.

  “I don’t know,” Sisera said, worriedly. It was not often that Isabella heard Sisera with that tone.

  “We need to get out of here,” Tyrath said, as he flew up next to them.

  “What about Caritha and Shayla?” shouted Isabella. “We can’t just leave them.”

  “We don’t even know where they are,” Tyrath said.

  “We need to find out,” Isabella shouted.

  The bronze-yellow grunted and turned back toward the fortress.

  “I have a crazy idea,” Sisera said, as she turned to follow Tyrath.

  “I am open for any suggestions,” Isabella said.

  “Let’s pepper the tower with fireballs. It may scare them out. Even if Shayla and Caritha somehow get caught in it, it won’t harm them. Much anyway.”

  Isabella scoffed at first but the more she thought about the idea, the more sense it made. “Of course,” she thought, “They would never see that coming. Sisera, you are brilliant.”

  “I knew someday you would see it,” Sisera said.

  “Tyrath,” Isabella shouted.

  The bronze-yellow turned back to fly next to Sisera, who led them toward the east mountains so they could form a plan.

  “We’re going to attack the Tower,” Isabella said.

  “Attack who?” Tryath asked.

  “No one. We’re going to attack the building in hopes of getting them to come out to fight,” said Sisera.

  “We will bombard the walls but we will try not to completely destroy the place. A little damage won’t matter if we can force them to engage,” said Sisera.

  Tyrath thought for a moment. “I guess that’s the best we got so let’s do it. I will take high. One of you take middle and the other take low. We’ll make a few passes and see if anything happens,” he said.

  As they approached the tower Isabella could feel Sisera warming up her throat.

  “I can’t remember the last time I saw you spit fire,” Isabella said.

  “Me too. I hope I still remember how to do it,” Sisera said in all seriousness.

  “Well, now’s the time,” Isabella shouted and began to launch fireball after fireball at the tower. She did not make the blasts too powerful but they did have enough force to shake the building.

  Sisera blew a large spray of flame from her mouth, covering a large section of wall, setting the stone on fire. She shot the flame until she had to turn so as to not run into the building. They flew back and regrouped with Tyrath for another pass.

  “Let’s hit it harder,” Isabella shouted.

  As the dragons approached, Tyrath spat a massive ball of electric energy toward the top of the tower. When the ball hit, there was absolute chaos.

  Suddenly, below them they found a massive battle taking place. The Daxrah had apparently arrived and were already in heated battle with the Brothers of the Sacred Blood. Isabella saw everything going on but all she could focus on was the massive nets that held Caritha pinned to the ground, struggling.

  “What in the hells is happening?” she screamed aloud. “Where did all this come from?”

  “I don’t know but we better help because it doesn’t look like we are winning,” Sisera shouted.

  Isabella broke her focus from Caritha’s struggling and looked around at the battle. Sure enough, the Daxrah were being pushed back towards the closed gate. Hundreds of dead bodies from both sides littered the field. She scanned the ground but could not see any of her friends.

  “I hope they’re all right,” she thought to herself.

  Suddenly, Tyrath fell straight down past them. Isabella jumped in shock as she watched the massive dragon hit the ground with full force, instantly crushing a large group of combatants.

  “Tyrath,” she screamed.

  “Isabella! No!” Sisera shouted but it was too late.

  Isabella leaped from the dragon's back and dove toward the fallen bronze-yellow. When she hit the ground, the purple flame shield instantly appeared. When the dust cleared, she was standing in a small crater. She immediately ran to the bronze-yellow, the magical shield flashing as it destroyed arrows that were trying to find their mark in her back.

  “Tyrath. Are you okay?” she screamed when she reached the dragon’s unmoving body. She shook his wing. No response.

  A group of robed Brothers came running towards her, weapons raised. Isabella pulled the twin blades from her back and ran towards them. The group stopped when they saw her running towards them, startled by her aggressiveness.

  Isabella ran through the group, cutting them down as if they were blades of meaty grass. Other groups of robed Brothers began to appear on all sides of her. She became a blur of purple as she made her way through the groups of attackers. Her twin blades became a flurry of death as she cut through dozens of men. When no more attackers ran at her she stopped for a brief moment to survey her handiwork. A look of horror came to her face as she watched the blood flow over the ground like water.

  “Am I some sort of monster?” she asked herself, as she felt her stomach turn.

  Across the yard, she saw Sisera fly down to try and dislodge the nets that held Caritha pinned to the ground.

  “Where is Shayla?” Isabella thought to herself as she ran to help her dragon.

  There was a loud mechanical noise that Isabella could not pinpoint but suddenly, a massive net shot into the air and enveloped Sisera in the same manner as Caritha.

  Isabella screamed and ran to her dragon.

  “Sisera,” she shouted. “Get up.”

  “I can’t move,” said Sisera, struggling against the netting.

  “Now you see I’m not just laying around, having a nap,” Caritha said.

  “Shut up,” Sisera shouted out of frustration.

  Isabella grabbed the netting and tried to pull it but the rope was made of tiny strands of metal and would not move. Even with her increased strength, Isabella was no match for the rope.

  “It’s too strong,” she said. “Let me try something else.”

  She stood back and created a fireball in her hand. She attempted to cut through the netting with the ball of dragon fire but the metal rope held strong. She threw the flaming orb at the ground in frustration.
<
br />   “It won’t budge,” Isabella shouted, tears streaming down her face.

  “Okay. It’s okay. We’re okay. We’ll take care of ourselves. You find Shayla and try to end this,” Sisera mindlinked.

  Isabella looked her dragon in the eyes. She could not bear to see her friend struggling the way she was. “I will help you,” she said.

  “Help me by ending this,” the dragon said softly. “You can do it. You are strong enough.”

  Isabella nodded. She turned and scanned the bloody battlefield. It looked like everyone that was still alive had taken the fight inside the Tower. She headed towards the main entrance when, to the far right, she saw a huge man standing by the entrance to the growing warehouse.

  The man was huge, dressed in dark leather armor and a forest green cloak. Isabella could feel the man’s stare although he wore a leather mask that covered his face.

  “Is this their leader?” she thought to herself.

  As she approached the entrance, she could hear sounds of battle from inside but she could not take her eyes off the man, who seemed as if he were waiting for her. She stopped before walking through the doorway.

  “Hey,” she yelled at the man, who remained silent and still.

  Isabella started walking toward the man. “Hey,” she said again.

  The man turned and walked away, disappearing into the warehouse.

  “This is a bad idea,” she thought to herself.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Sisera mindlinked. “Find Shayla first, then go after him.”

  Isabella nodded. She turned back toward the entrance of the Tower, when she saw movement again. When she looked, it wasn’t the man.

  “Raven,” Isabella said, shocked. She thought for a moment that her mind was playing tricks on her.

  Sure enough, though, Raven was standing at the entrance of the warehouse, her wild hair loose and hanging down around her face.

  “Raven,” Isabella shouted and began to run toward her friend. As she got closer, Raven turned and walked back into the building.

  Isabella reached the warehouse and burst through the door. In the middle of the room stood the big man with Raven next to him. The man raised his arm, which was wrapped in purple silk. Suddenly, fear shot through her whole body. She could not move. She was paralyzed.