Victory and the Dragon

by Sloane Meyers

Noah reluctantly pulled away from Izzy, and turned to leave the window. Izzy followed him without a word, and together they went outside. They stood tall and proud, watching the wizards fly in.

  The Falcon Cross army had grown over the last several months. The incoming soldiers only accounted for about half of the army’s total numbers, and yet, there were still enough soldiers here to make an impressive showing. They flew in to land without slowing down, the gold threads in their black uniforms glittering in the slowly rising morning sun. Noah felt a rush of pride in his chest. He was part of this. He had helped build and train this army. The wizard-dragon shifter alliance had been a good one, and he still had hope that this alliance would be enough to defeat Saul. As the wizards continued to fly in on their sleek, military broomsticks, Noah suddenly saw a familiar face.

  “Raven!” he said, waving her over. Izzy whipped her head around at the sound of Raven’s name, then went running toward the wizard commander. Raven was one of the top military officers in the Falcon Cross army, and was also the lifemate of Noah’s clanmate, Owen. Noah was happy to see a familiar face in the sea of soldiers, and he hoped that Raven had some good news about the battle against Saul. As Raven approached, though, her face looked grim. She embraced both Noah and Izzy warmly, but her voice was strained when she spoke.

  “I can’t tell you how glad we were to get your message yesterday. Things aren’t looking good for us at the moment. The army with the dragon stones is barely ahead of Saul’s army. At this point, it looks like Saul will overtake them tonight. And his army is strong. Our scouts have brought back word that hundreds of dark wizards are flying with shifters behind them on their broomsticks. Saul has been demonstrating the ruby’s power just for fun, it seems, and every time he does his army cheers and gets more riled up.”

  “And?” Noah asked. Raven knew right away what he meant by the question.

  “And, the rumors about the ruby appear to be true. It holds an incredible amount of power, more than the other dragon stones combined. If we manage to win this war, it will be thanks to the artifacts from the redwood dragon vaults. Your insistence on recovering this base camp might just save us.”

  Ordinarily, Noah would have felt a puff of pride at knowing that his work might be the determining factor in a victory. Now, though, he felt sick to his stomach. The war was coming to a head, and success was far from guaranteed for the side of good. There was nothing left to do, though, except keep moving forward. Noah watched as the last of the wizards landed. They didn’t all fit into the clearing, and scores of wizards had moved back into the forest so that there was enough room for everyone to land.

  “Was this place unguarded, then?” Raven asked. Noah glanced over at her, but she was also looking out at the army and didn’t meet his eyes.

  “It was guarded,” Izzy said before he could speak. “By a monster created from a Monstrum spell.”

  Raven turned with wide eyes. “You’re kidding me.”

  “No,” Izzy said shaking her head. “I wish I was. I just hope there aren’t any more of those monsters with Saul now.”

  Raven sighed. “There’s only one way to find out. Let’s get this army loaded up with artifacts and get going. If we hurry, we can reach the rest of our army just before Saul gets to them. They’re going to need our help.”

  Noah took charge then. He felt adrenaline pumping through his veins as he began yelling out orders. Izzy stepped up to help as well, and they began quickly organizing the soldiers into groups. For the next several hours, Noah led the groups to the different vaults, arming them with the powerful ancient artifacts hidden away in the vaults. Wizard soldiers donned jewels, swords, helmets, and other armor that hadn’t seen the light of day in decades. Noah stole glances at Izzy every chance he got, admiring the way her cheeks glowed from the exertion of organizing and arming such a large group. He wished he could take her back to the cabin where they’d been last night, and shut out the rest of the world. He wished he could kiss her and make love to her like there was no tomorrow.

  Because, he realized as the last of the wizard soldiers was armed, there might not be a tomorrow.

  Chapter Nine

  Wind and rain whipped at Izzy’s face as she flew, but she would not allow herself to slow down. If there was a weak link in this army today, it would not be her. Izzy bent low against her broomstick and kept her squinted eyes trained on Noah’s dragon form, which sliced through the air in front of her. In front of him, Raven flew, leading the way to where Saul’s army would be overtaking the rest of the Falcon Cross army. The hundreds of Falcon Cross soldiers that were now armed with ancient artifacts leaned in on their broomsticks, flying behind and around Izzy. The group was strong, and well-armed: three of the five Redwood Dragons’ vaults had been completely emptied, and the treasures that had been hidden within were now worn by the Falcon Cross Wizards. Even still, would this group be strong enough? Would their strength, joined with the rest of the Falcon Cross army and Redwood Dragons, be enough to push back Saul?

  Izzy did her best to squelch the sick feeling she got in her stomach every time she thought of Saul. Despite Noah’s apologies for all of the cruel things he’d said, she knew there was truth to at least one aspect of his words. She was a coward. Perhaps not a total coward. After all, she’d stepped up in battles before, and she had managed to save Noah’s life when the monster attacked him in the redwoods. But that didn’t change the fact that thinking about Saul made her feel like she was going to hurl. She knew the odds of her coming face to face with him in battle weren’t too high, but that didn’t matter. Just the fact that there was a slight chance she’d see that evil dragon’s face again filled her with fear.

  The rain wasn’t helping her mood. It had been sunny in the redwoods, but as Izzy and the rest of the army started flying northeast, clouds began to gather. By the time darkness fell, those clouds had started to spew rain in sheets. Izzy had never flown through rain quite so thick, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that the weather was some sort of ominous, foreboding sign. It was looking like the battle of the century was going to take place at the same time as the storm of the century. Izzy tried her best to make her mind go blank, to only focus on flying and not on the destruction she knew waited ahead of her. But it was impossible to completely block out the terror slowly rising in her chest.

  She saw the flashes of light well before she heard any of the battle noise. At first, she thought she was seeing lightning, but after a few seconds, she realized she was seeing the bursts of light that always accompanied wizard attacks. Mixed in with these flashes were frequent red-orange streaks, indicating that one of the dragons was breathing out fire. Izzy swallowed hard. The battle was in full swing.

  Izzy knew that Raven and Noah would have seen the fight up ahead, but neither one of them slowed, sped up, or given any other indication that anything had changed. They continued flying at a steady, rapid pace, heading right for the heart of the storm. Izzy wished she could talk to Noah somehow. She wished they could slow their flight for long enough for her to grab his dragon face in her hands and tell him that she loved him. But the time for declarations of love was past. Noah and Izzy had both spoken their feelings to each other. He knew how she felt, and telling him one more time would not make any difference. Izzy needed to stop focusing on what she could not do and could not have. She needed to save her mental strength for the battle ahead.

  The closer they flew, the clearer Izzy could see the scene in front of her. Wizards swooped through the air in a hundred different directions at once, constantly shooting attacks from their magic rings. Dragons flew back and forth spewing fire from their mouths, and, although Izzy couldn’t tell which Redwoods Dragon was which while they were in dragon form, she was relieved at least to see that all of the dragons in her view were from the Redwoods clan. She knew Saul was out here somewhere on this dark battlefield, but the longer she could go without seeing him, the better. As long as she didn’t have to look at him, she could manage not to panic
.

  By now, Izzy could also hear the noise of the battle. Roars of anger filled the air, mixing with awful shrieks of panic. Soldiers yelled, but the words they spoke were unintelligible. There was too much noise, too much chaos, for Izzy to be able to understand what words they were actually speaking. She did her best to block out the cacophony, and to focus only on staying as close to Noah as she could. As they neared the outer edges of the fighting, Noah finally slowed just enough to turn and look back at her. She raised her hand in a small wave, acknowledging that she was still there. She was still flying, and still acting brave. A flash of lighting streaked across the sky just then, and by its light Izzy could see Noah’s dragon lips turning upward in a smile. If she had known what would happen next, she would have tried a little harder to savor that smile.

  But she hadn’t known, and nothing could have prepared her for it. One moment she was flying steadily, with one hand on her broomstick and one hand raised to wave at Noah and his smiling face, and the next, she was inexplicably hurtling through the air, colliding with soldier after soldier from the force of what felt like a giant wall of wind.

  Somehow, in the midst of all of this, Izzy managed to hold onto her broomstick. It must have been sheer instinct that caused her to automatically tighten the grip her one hand had on the handle the moment she felt herself losing her balance. She had never been a strong fighter, but her flying skills had always been exceptional. She was thankful for that, at least. After several seconds of tumbling through the air, she managed to right herself on her broomstick. Taking a wild look around, she saw that many of her fellow soldiers had not had reflexes as quick as hers. Below her, screaming in terror, many of them were falling to certain death, having lost hold of their broomsticks completely. Izzy’s eyes widened, and she did the only thing she could think of. She began flying downward like a madwoman.

  She pointed her magic ring at wizard after wizard, shouting out, “Magicae suspendo!” over and over. The suspension spell stopped the falling wizards in midair, although it did leave them rather helpless and stuck. A few of them with better presence of mind started casting magnet spells to draw their broomsticks back toward themselves. Luckily, as soon as the stunned wizards saw their fellow soldiers doing this, they followed suit. Izzy saw many of the wizards grabbing hold of broomsticks once again, but she didn’t cancel the suspension spells. Not yet. She was too busy still zooming downward, trying to stop the descent of as many falling wizards as possible. A few of the other Falcon Cross soldiers who had managed to stay on their broomsticks caught on to what she was doing, and started casting suspension spells with her. Together, they managed to save hundreds of lives. Izzy didn’t allow herself to think about the ones they hadn’t managed to save. If she started grieving over every soldier they lost, she would never make it through this night.

  When it was clear that she’d saved all the wizards she possibly could, and that every suspended wizard had recovered his or her broomstick, Izzy shouted out “Suspendo terminantur.” Instantly, all of the spells she’d cast to suspend the wizards ended. The wizards started falling again, but, this time, they had their broomsticks. They were able to quickly recast their flying spells and head back into the battle. Izzy took a precious moment to pause and just breathe, trying to regain her senses after the sudden chaos of the last few minutes. Before she started moving forward again, she saw Raven zooming toward her through the rain.

  “Thank god you’re alright,” Raven said as she approached Izzy. Her voice was raised so that Izzy could hear it over the fierce storm.

  “Same to you,” Izzy said as she tried to wipe the blurring rainwater from her eyes. It was useless, of course. The rain was coming down so heavily that it was impossible to keep it away. She strained through the darkness to try to see Noah, looking for the unique pattern of spikes on his dragon tail. But she couldn’t see any outlines of dragons anywhere near her. She felt herself starting to panic, and Raven must have noticed and guessed that Izzy’s concern was due to Noah. Even though Noah and Izzy hadn’t said anything about being lifemates, their newfound affection for each other must have been obvious.

  “Noah’s fine,” Raven said. “At least, he was fine when I flew away from him three minutes ago. He’s heading toward the front lines with the rest of the dragons. They’re going to try to make a fire wall of sorts to hold back the dark wizards.

  Izzy simultaneously felt relieved and panicked. She was happy to hear that Noah had survived the blast, but she didn’t like the idea of his being on the front lines. She had no choice but to swallow back her fears, however. No matter how scared she was for Noah’s life, she knew he had a job to do. And Noah would never shy away from battle. Dragon blood ran through his veins, and dragon blood amounted to no less than liquid bravery. Noah and the other Redwood Dragons did not have even the tiniest shred of cowardice in their bodies. Izzy took another deep, steadying breath and looked around for a moment before turning back to Raven. She and Raven were nearly at the back of the Falcon Cross army by this point. The last of the wizards were rushing by them, heading towards the heart of the battle up ahead. Izzy could see bursts of light from wizard rings, the occasional rush of fire, and the constant flashing of lightning. Everything looked like a normal enough battle, but Izzy had an even greater feeling of uneasiness than normal.

  “What was that burst of power that knocked us all off our broomsticks?” Izzy asked.

  “A warning shot,” Raven said grimly. When Izzy gave her a confused look, Raven explained further.

  “It was a blast of power from the dragon ruby,” Raven said. “Saul was showing off just a tiny bit of what the dragon ruby is capable of. He wants us to know that he has unbelievable strength due to the ruby. If he uses its full force, it’s going to be much worse than that. The good news is that our soldiers who are holding the other dragon stones are now on high alert. They didn’t expect Saul to use the ruby so quickly, so they weren’t fully prepared to counteract its effects, but now they know that all bets are off. They’ll fight back with the other dragon stones if necessary. I just hope that the other stones, and the artifacts, are enough.”

  Izzy nodded, feeling a fresh tingle of fear. So the use of the dragon stones had already begun. This battle wasn’t going to be pretty, that was certain. But there was nothing left to do except fight. Raven knew this, too, and was already turning her broomstick to head back toward the front lines.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Izzy. Don’t feel badly about hanging back a little alright? You’ve got nothing to prove out here. We all know you’re a good soldier, and I have a feeling we’re going to need your medical expertise much more than your fighting skills before all of this is over.”

  Before Izzy could reply, Raven was zooming off. For a few moments, Izzy hovered alone in the dark, rainy sky. The last of the soldiers had passed her by now, and she felt horribly alone. Part of her would have loved to do as Raven said and hang back. But another part of her knew she could never live with herself if she did that. She at least needed to catch up with the stragglers, and fight toward the back of the battle lines. She might not be the bravest soldier out here, but she wasn’t a total coward. Besides, she was possessed by an overwhelming urge to be near Noah and see that he was alright. She realized this was a bit absurd. After all, if he was in trouble, she was the least likely person to be able to help him. But she wanted to be closer to him nonetheless. Gritting her teeth, she turned her broomstick and started flying toward the battle.

  No sooner had she reached the outer edges of the fight than she felt another boom of power. Saul was using the dragon ruby again, and the force of it felt even stronger this time. But the wizards were better prepared. Everyone had been keeping a tight grip on their broomsticks, and, as far as Izzy could tell, no one near her had gone flying toward the ground. The boom of power was followed almost immediately by an answering boom, presumably from the dragon stones that the Falcon Cross army held. The night sky lit up with a new kind of light—a strange e
xplosion of green, blue, purple and red light. Izzy had never seen the dragon stones in action before, but she knew without a doubt that what she was seeing was the dragon stones’ power. Roars of pain sounded out across the dark lines of the armies, but Izzy couldn’t tell whether the sounds were coming from friends or enemies.

  In the next few minutes, the noise grew even worse. Blast after blast of power shot forth from the dragon stones, each one more powerful than the one before. Saul seemed to increasing the strength of his attack with each blow, and the Falcon Cross army did their best to follow suit. The booms from the dragon stone were joined by the buzz of power from the ancient artifacts many of the Falcon Cross soldiers were wearing. The artifacts now seemed to come alive with energy, and Izzy could vaguely tell that the tides of battle were turning ever so slightly in their favor.

  Saul must have felt this shift as well, because he increased the use of the dragon ruby. Izzy found herself in the midst of constant blasts of powerful energy. She forced herself to focus her mind on the task at hand, instead of on the fear building in her core. She set her lips in a hard line and leaned into her broomstick, flying forward toward the front lines. She might not be the bravest soldier out here, but, damn it, if she died today she would die fighting as close to the front lines as she could get. Somehow, she felt that she was proving herself to Noah by making this decision, even though he had no way of knowing about her sudden display of courage. He was occupied somewhere ahead of her, doing his best to hold back the dark wizards. At least, Izzy hoped he was still ahead of her. The further she went, the more the fighting intensified, and she couldn’t help but think that even a dragon would have difficulty dodging the attacks that seemed to come from every direction.

  No longer was Izzy surrounded completely by Falcon Cross soldiers. Here, in the thick of things, she was surrounded by a constant stream of dark wizards as well. They launched dark magic attacks, while the shifters riding on the backs of their broomsticks lashed out with claws, swords, and other various razor-sharp weapons. Izzy moved on autopilot, slashing her magic ring through the air in large arcs, and shouting out different shield and attack spells. Her real saving grace, however, was her ability to outfly everyone else. She swooped up and down, and zigzagged left and right, avoiding attacks by her sheer speed.