A New Discovery

Chapter Twenty-One

~Drew's POV~

I ran outside as quickly as I could. It was the first time I had been outside in weeks, and the intoxicating fresh air filling my lungs seemed to be giving my body endless energy and adrenaline. Brendan ran alongside me as I practically flew past the trees, wanting nothing more at the moment than to get to the dragons. A huge smile was plastered to my face, and upon seeing it, Brendan laughed, and I returned the carefree laugh, feeling happier than ever. The only upside to being cooped up inside was that he had nearly constant company from Brendan, but otherwise I had been bored out of my mind for days. Now that I was outside, I felt free again.

We were rapidly nearing the clearing, still sprinting as quickly as we could. I could just barely see the clearing from where we were. Then, as we approached, my ears began to pick up small noises that were gradually getting louder, yelling, voices barking out orders, and roars. No.. They can't be attacking..

Suddenly, I heard Brendan call, "Drew, watch out!" He barreled into me, knocking me to the ground as a streak of fire flew past and hit the ground, engulfing the dead leaves and small plant life in the red-orange flames.

"Thanks, " I managed to gasp as Brendan and I got to our feet, running towards the clearing. The roars and yelling were only louder now that we were closer, and I was stunned by the sight that unfolded before me.

The clearing was divided, dragons on one side with humans on the other. In between the two groups there were small fires and puddles of water, and remnants of other magic. There were policemen and some townspeople firing guns, and some others were using archery or throwing random things they could find, jeering at the dragons to boost their own confidence. Many of the dragons had a few bullet holes where their tough skin had actually been pierced, and some had arrows sticking out where they had hit a space just in between the scales.

Brendan and I moved around the outside of the clearing, making our way to the dragons. I spotted Jay shouting orders to his lines of dragons, Luna standing nervously by his side. We ran to them, looking up to Jay.

"What happened?" I exclaimed, my eyes moving from Jay to Luna and back.

"The humans came early this morning," Jay explained, barking an order to his front line before turning back to me. "They shot at us, and they have been since. I don't know where they are getting all of their ammunition from, and they don't seem like they'll back down at all. Luna tried her powers earlier.." his voice trailed off, and he glanced at Luna, who had her head bowed in embarrassment. "It didn't go all that well. We're trying not to kill them, and only hurt them to get them to fall back, but nothing is working. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to hold up, seeing as we've been fighting since we woke up and the dragons are getting tired."

My mind reeled. I can't lose the dragons.. And I can't stand the thought of one of them getting killed.. I have to do something.. I straightened up, looking up to Jay with a confident stature, trying desperately to hide the fear and doubt in my eyes. "I'll be back," I told him, then turned to go back out into the forest. I heard Brendan following me, and he came up beside me.

"What are you going to do?" he asked me.

"I'm going to find out who is behind this, and who is leading this. Also, we need to cut off the way that they are getting ammunition." I began to make my way around the clearing, approaching the side with the humans. My eyes flared angrily, filled with a new determination, and my hands balled into fists at my sides.

Brendan eyed me uneasily as he kept alongside me. "Is there anything I can do?"

I glanced at him, trying to figure out a way that he could help that was the least dangerous. He was the first human friend I've had for a while, and I couldn't take it if he got caught up in something and got hurt or injured, with me being unable to do anything. "You could find out where they're getting their ammo, and try to find a way to stop it. Is that okay?"

He nodded. "Yep. I'll get on it." He turned to walk away for a moment, before turning his head back to grin at me. "I mean, yes, sir," he said playfully, before turning to run off to look for the source of the ammunition.

I couldn't help but let a small smile cross my lips before I also turned to go back into the clearing. I took a shaky breath as I stood on the edge, glancing in at the crowd of humans firing at the dragons, and the various forms of magic making contact all around them. I took another breath, ran a hand through my hair that was tousled from all of the running, then stepped into the clearing.

Stay safe, Brendan..