by Nathan Roden
The Captain turned.
“Is the cannon reloaded?” he screamed.
“In just one minute, my….”
The soldier’s jaw fell open after a dark shadow passed over him.
He pointed, unable to speak.
But others found their voices.
“Dragon! Take cover! A dragon!”
“Mind your duties, you idiots!” the Captain screamed.
The men acted as if they had not heard him at all. The Captain’s voice grew hoarse from screaming.
“Get that cannon loaded and aimed at that hell-beast this instant!”
The Captain scanned the village, looking for Sir Edmund.
The air grew strangely still. And warm.
“I will take great pleasure in your death.”
The Captain’s blood ran cold.
He whirled around and saw no one. He looked up.
“I don’t believe we’ve met, Captain. I am the hell-beast. And that is precisely where I am going to send you.”
Simon pitched his head back. The Captain dove to the ground and rolled, just as the dragon’s fire blasted the ground. He ran to the center of his nearest squad and tore a shield away from a soldier’s hands.
“Loose! Loose your arrows! Kill it!”
The air filled with arrows before Simon had a chance to avoid them. Most of them missed. A few bounced off of his scales. Four of them found soft flesh; two of those in his right wing.
But two found his chest.
“Ha, ha!” The Captain yelled. Some of the men pumped their fists. Simon roared in pain and flew above the trees.
“Braun!! You lying, traitorous bastard! In league with the cursed son of Bailin! Sterling will boil you in oil before he takes your shriveled head!”
“The cannon is ready, Captain!”
“Good! Infantry squads one and two—forward!”
Simon was so angry with himself that he welcomed the pain that throbbed in his chest. He flew to where Boone and Ben stood earlier. They were gone.
Screams sounded from the Border Guard. Three soldiers fell dead—with arrows in their backs.
“They’re behind us, Captain!”
The Captain ran toward the fallen soldiers of squad two, still carrying the shield. The corporal followed him. The Captain spun around and shoved the corporal to the ground.
“Are you an officer or a lap-dog, corporal? Stay with squad one!”
The Captain scanned the horizon, looking for the location of the new threat. He saw nothing.
But Simon did.
Ben, Boone…and Helena. All with longbows.
Simon landed behind them.
“Boone. It’s me.”
The three of them climbed down from the trees that provided their vantage points.
“That was quite a flurry of arrows you took,” Ben said.
“Were you hit, Simon?” Helena asked. “Oh, there’s one in your wing. Were you—?”
“Oh…” Helena covered her mouth.
“Oh, Simon!”
Simon turned to Boone.
“You’ll have to take them out.”
“Take them out?” Boone said. “Simon, these are…these are very deep. These are the longest arrows I have ever seen.”
Simon closed his eyes.
“They have too many men. And they are too well armed. With that cannon, they can level this village before nightfall.”
“These arrows have to come out. Or the rebellion dies. Today.”
“Lie down, there. With your back to that tree. And turn your head away as best you can.”
Ben and Boone stood next to Simon. Each placed a foot against his chest. They wrapped their hands around the shaft of the arrow.
And pulled.
The arrow gave way slowly. Simon lost his battle with the pain. His roar shook the ground and echoed throughout the hills.
“Look out!” Boone yelled. He and Ben jumped away from the flame just in time.
“It’s dying!”
“We have slain the cursed dragon—where even Raynard and Sterling have failed!”
There were a few members of the Border Guard who voiced such opinions. The shouts quickly fell silent.
“Again!” Simon growled.
“I don’t know if we’re strong enough.” Ben whispered to Boone. He jumped when Helena grabbed his arm and pushed him forward.
Three feet pushed against Simon’s chest and six hands gripped the shaft of the deepest arrow.
All three fell to the ground when the arrowhead cleared Simon’s body.
Simon was too exhausted to do more than groan.
“One more.”
A minute later, Boone, Ben, and Helena crashed to the ground again. Helena’s hands shook as she held the last arrow in her hand. She yelled and threw it as far as she could.
Boon crawled to his friend’s side. He put his hand on Simon’s head.
“You’re not bleeding a lot, if that makes you feel better.”
Simon coughed.
“It makes me want to have a party. I have not been to a party in so long.”
“I believe we have already had this discussion. One day we will have parties every day—for an entire week.”
“Is that a promise?”
“That’s a best-friend’s promise, my King.”
Simon pushed himself up. He breathed heavily.
“They may be coming.”
They heard a scream from beyond the trees. Ben had scored another hit.
“We need to move,” Ben said.
Sixty-Five
Ben pointed to the west.
“We’ll move there. I’m hoping that either Lamont or Sir Edmund follow our lead and help us to surround their troops. We cannot outfight them. We have to out-think them, if we’re to get through this.”
Simon nodded.
“I’ll find Lamont.”
Ben, Boone and Helena ran through the trees.
“If he was not in the path of that cannon ball,” Simon said to himself.
He launched himself into the air with great effort. He flew over the trees out of sight of the village. He circled to the south and heard a howl below him.
Magdalena.
She transformed into human form when she saw Simon prepare to land.
“You’re hurt.”
Simon shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter. Where are the others?”
Magdalena pointed.
“They were behind that hill. I trust that Helena and the boys were responsible for the arrows from the rear?”
“Of course.”
“Sir Edmund sent a team to reinforce them. The rest of his men have joined with Lamont.”
“They cannot withstand a hundred armed soldiers.”
Magdalena crossed her arms.
“No. They cannot. It would take the strength and magic of a dragon to survive this day.”
Simon took a deep breath.
“You’re bleeding,” Magdalena said. “I would suggest you get busy.”
“You do know that I hate you.”
“Oh, yes. I remember.”
“There it is again!” the cries came from below.
“That is not possible! We buried arrows in the monster’s chest!”
“Ready the cannon!”
Simon dove over the formations, climbing quickly. Their arrows found nothing but air.
He imagined himself growing stronger, but he knew that he might be hallucinating.
He steadied himself.
“Ready! Aim!”
Simon came to an abrupt halt. The pain blinded him temporarily. He spun and flew in the opposite direction for a moment before turning straight up. Every breath made his chest and lungs burn.
“Fire!”
Simon folded his wings. His head turned toward the ground and he dove.
He felt the heat of the cannon blast as it flew past his head.
I pray they do not have the snares that the hunters do, he thought.
> Another flurry of arrows flew past him as he approached his target.
He bathed the cannon in fire, along with the three soldiers in charge of it.
A dozen others watched helplessly as the three men died.
But the Captain had taken the opportunity to press into the center of the village with his forward squad. There, they took cover in the buildings along the village square. More importantly, the second squad moved south. They were out of range of the forest where Sir Edmund’s men would soon join Boone and the others.
Sixty-six
Simon laughed to himself.
Seeking refuge in the village, Captain? In buildings of wood and stone?
Could you have made it any easier?
Simon banked to his right, away from a weak flurry of arrows fired by the running second squad. He approached the buildings of the village square. He opened his mouth.
He saw arms waving over the heads of a dozen men. Flashes of crimson and gold.
In the center of those men Simon saw the wide and horrified eyes of Nicolas Lamont. He and his men were preparing to ambush some of the Guard.
Simon pulled up. Two members of the Border Guard saw him and screamed warnings.
Arrogant fool! Simon screamed at himself. You could have killed your own people!
Simon flew over the field to check the progress of the second squad.
They were gone.
He flew back toward the village square. Lamont had captured two men. Lamont’s company turned around in circles, searching. Simon landed.
The wolf ran in and out of the buildings, her nose twitching.
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked Lamont.
“There was an entire squad here, in these buildings,” Lamont said. “I saw them approach with my own eyes! They have vanished into thin air except for these two. They claim to be alone.”
Simon heard the distant cries of men—to the north.
“I’ll be back,” he said.
As soon as he launched himself into the air, he heard it.
Boom!!
Simon cursed at himself again.
The cannon had been damaged, but not destroyed.
The cannon’s blast came from behind the village square! The Captain’s squad had cut off Lamont’s men from the south. It was obvious that the Captain was willing to level the village to the ground.
The second squad of Border Guard had used the same tactic—but to the north. After sending the cannon and its crew to join the first squad, they waited for the dragon to disappear. They double-timed through the forest to cut off Sir Edmund’s men—and the dragon’s friends.
Simon saw the first wave of escape. Men ran to the south as arrows flew from the north. But their only route of escape was across an open field, with no means of cover until they reached the forest. It was an impossible task.
One half of the second squad marched into the field. They stopped, aimed, and fired. They were passed up by the other half who then stopped and loosed another volley.
Two of Sir Edmund’s men fell. One was killed instantly, the other was hit in the leg. He would not last long.
Simon dove toward the man. It was Rolf Roball. The first squad of guards raised their shields and the second fired a volley at the dragon. Simon dodged the arrows and then dove again. He closed his talons around the man’s middle and lifted him up. He flew to the edge of the distant forest and laid Roball down as gently as he could.
Simon heard another cry of pain from the field. Someone else had fallen.
No, Simon thought. No…
Boone, Ben, and Helena were at the head of the group who raced toward the forest. Simon heaved a sigh of relief.
Sir Edmund was at the rear. Simon could not tell if it was because of his advanced age, or his desire to protect his people.
Simon breathed deeply and flew toward the advancing guard. Once again, one squad put their shield up as barriers as the others fired a volley of arrows.
Simon prepared his fire. He threw back his head.
Boom!!
The cannon exploded again from south of the village.
Simon jerked his head at the sound, causing his fire to do little more than scorch two of the shields. He heard the men laughing and cursing at him.
“You die today, Monster!”
Simon drove himself higher, to avoid the steady flurry of arrows.
Simon closed his eyes as he climbed.
I…I can’t do this! There are too many—on two fronts!
He heard screaming from the ground.
No…
Simon looked down, to see two dark shapes below him, in the air.
And then, fire!
The baby dragons dodged and swerved over the men of the Border Guard. The men did not know what to do. The corporal screamed commands that were ignored. The soldiers split up and tried to run back to the forest to the north.
One by one they fell to the ground in flames. Some continued to run, fanning the flames and hastening their deaths.
“Yes!” Simon yelled.
Ben and Boone saw what was happening. They ran to the north and snatched up the shields of the fallen guards.
And then, the unthinkable.
Boom!!
Another cannon blast. From the north.
No! Simon thought. If reinforcements join the Guard, this battle is over.
Simon flew north. He looked down and saw the cannon. Men struggled to guide it down the road slowly. It wobbled side-to-side, obviously damaged.
Fifteen men surrounded the cannon, but they did not wear the uniforms of the Border Guard.
They were all clad in black—the dull, lifeless black of dead dragon scale.
Simon shuddered. He had almost died at the hands of these men. And although the mother dragon saved him that day, he had not pursued the hunters as he should have. Lord Lamont’s words echoed in his head.
Every time you hesitate, people will die. Our people.
Simon swore at himself yet again.
I have learned many things about war today. I will not forget these lessons.
If we survive the day.
Simon flew over the open field. With the help of the baby dragons, Sir Edmund’s forces covered half the distance to the forest with no other losses. The speed and agility of the little dragons baffled the guards.
The cannon to the south sounded again—but at a different target altogether.
With a screech and a wall of flame, a dark form emerged from a cloud of smoke.
“Mother,” Simon said aloud.
The mother dragon was a terror in the sky. Simon caught himself hovering in mid-air and staring at her in awe as she dove and climbed, dove and climbed. She drove the Captain’s squad north, away from the village square.
Simon shook his head. He flew as fast as he could toward the last place he had seen Lamont. He and his company were still hunkered down there.
“Run to the east!” Simon yelled to Lamont. “We have help—in the sky!”
Lamont looked up. The enormous mother dragon passed by directly overhead.
“By the gods!” he cried. “Company! Retreat to the east! Into the forest! Go! Go! You have to take out that cannon, Simon!”
“I will. But there are two cannons now—the dragon hunters have joined the guard to the north.”
Simon flew north. The mother dragon raced past him. She screeched and banked to her left, racing back over the village square. Simon turned back north, just in time to hear the hunter’s cannon fire again. Both baby dragons beat their wings to climb.
But it was no ordinary cannon blast. As soon as the ball left the barrel of the cannon, Simon heard the telltale whine of the snare.
The spinning chains whistled in the air. They wrapped around the legs of one of the baby dragons. It screamed in pain and anger. The ends of the snare continued to circle the dragon. One wing tore and was pinned against its body. The dragon fell to the ground and landed hard. It was unconscious.
Simon looke
d to the south.
The mother had seen everything. She beat her wings and flew toward her baby.
This was the opportunity that the Captain was waiting for.
The south cannon had a direct line to Mother.
The cannon ball hit her broadside as she turned toward the earth, and her injured young. She fell to the ground a hundred yards away from her unconscious baby.
The southern squad of Border Guard cheered.
“Two devils down!” The Captain cried. “Two more to go!”
The south squad ran for the cover of the western forest. They fired volleys of arrows, leaving Sir Edmund’s fighters trapped in the middle.
The hunters spotted Lamont’s company making their way north along the edge of the forest to the east. They lined up their crippled cannon and fired into the trees.
The uninjured baby dragon was not sure what to do. It flew back and forth between its mother and its fallen sibling. Arrows flew at the dragon from three directions.
“Simon!” Boone yelled. “Look out!”
The hunter’s cannon was being aimed again—at him.
Simon drove himself high into the sky. No cannon could reach him at that height.
“You have to do something!” he screamed at himself.
“Think, think, think, think!”
He circled to the south.
“Think, th—!”
He saw something moving in the southern sky. It grew larger. And larger.
A blast of fire reached to the north—a longer blast of flame than Simon had ever thought possible.
Simon did not hesitate. He turned to the south, directly at the enormous dragon.
“We need your help, Daddy.”
Sixty-Seven
Simon flew hard and fast, banking a turn to come alongside the enormous male dragon.
