The Last of the Dragons-Set 1

56

I remembered my teacher showing us this same book many years ago in school. It was mandatory for every school to have a copy of it, and to make it accessible to any students who wanted to read it, presumably to remind us of our place. Amy opened the book to a page about half way through, then handed it to me.

'The Dragon Falls'

"Read it." She said.

I began reading out loud.

"A force of thousands of natives surrounded a group of soldiers, with six dragons flying over head. Byrion, ridden by Thomas, Yurkon, ridden by Nicolas, Jumio, Ridden by Tyman, Vertio, ridden by mark, and Hugon and Forian, both with unknown riders. In the beginning,both sides had countless dragons, however, over time, both sides lost virtually all in the fighting. These six dragons we among the last eight dragons the natives had."

I had heard of all six of these dragons, Yurkon, the smallest of the six, was almost five times the size of Doron at the time of the fight. 

I continued.

" The men let out war cries as they charged the unprepared group of soldiers who were just over the hill. As the charged, long range arrows flew over the men towards the dragons. One arrow shafted Jumio in the chest. The dragon shrieked in pain and dropped from the air, crushing hundreds upon hundreds of men.  The dragon flipped over, crushing Tyman under her massive body. The other five dragons pulled out ahead of the charging mass of men on horse back as many of them were cut down bye arrows. The dragons unleashed a hail of flaming death from above down on the soldiers. Then from above the clouds, the native soldiers, along with the remaining dragon riders heard a deafening screech. Everyone looked up, to see a massive dragon diving down from above, many times larger than the largest of the natives dragons, Hugon. The diving dragon was the legendary Tario, with two of the kings remaining six dragons, Gorgon and Demorio, ridden by anonymous riders close behind. These three dragons dwarfed the natives dragons many times over. The five remaining native riders turned away from the ground forces and turned to engage the three attackers. Goron dove down on Byrion and engaged in a series of violent grappling attacks on one another. Gorgon breathed fire down on Byrions wing, setting it aflame. Gorgon bit down on Byrions neck and dropped from the sky with Byrion in his jaws, slamming Bryrion into the ground head first. Byrions rider, Thomas, was killed in the drop, his dragon fatally injured. Gorgon took back to the air as Byrion laid helpless on the ground. Forion' rider recalls seeing Demorio being swarmed by Hugon, Vertio and Yurkon. Demorio was the smallest of the three dragons attacking the natives, but still many times larger than Hugon, the largest of the natives dragons. Demorio roasted Hugon with one swift breath, before slashing his throat open with his massive talons, spilling Hugons blood and sending the dragon plummeting towards the ground. Vertio and Yurkon Managed to rip into Demorio' wing, causing the dragon to loose lift, until finally the massive beast fell from the sky. Just then, Tario came down from above and burnt Vertio with one pass. Vertio shrieked in pain as she fell from the sky. Just as Vertio fell beneath the clouds, Yurkon grabbed hold of Goron' neck, ripping it open and spilling the massive dragons blood as he fell beneath the clouds. Tario made on final pass at Yurkon and Forion before vanishing beneath the clouds. Yurkon and Forion dove down to the ground and landed, their riders witnessing untold levels of brutal carnage. Virtually all of the natives in the charge had been cut down by arrows or crushed by dragons as the crashed to the ground. Of the six native dragons in the fight, only two survived. Yurkon' rider, Nicolas, Wandered the battle field until he spotted Byrion, still alive. Both riders, along with their dragons came to the dying creatures side as he took his final breath. Not far away was the dead body or Gorgon, his throat gushing blood endlessly. Demario's wings were torn apart. Impossible for them to keep the giant dragon aloft."

Hugon' lay dead on the ground, nearly decapitated, and Vertio burnt to a crisp. Far back at the crest of the hill, Jumio laid slain with an arrow lodged in her chest. The Natives were left with only four dragons after the fight, the other two had not been present in the fighting. The king, had only three left. It became clear at this point that whoever had the last dragon, would win the generations long war."

Amy remained silent for a moment as I handed the book back to her.

"That was the last big fight between dragons. The other four dragons the natives had were either killed by raiding soldiers, or starved. And obviously you know the fate of Tario. Any smaller dragons that were still alive were pointless in such a gigantic fight." She said.

"Yeah, who doesn't." I replied.

"Where did you find your dragons anyways? Just flying around randomly one day?" She asked.

"My dad found their eggs in a cave by the volcano." I said.

"Wait, so they are only a few years old? They can't be big enough to fight then, right?" Amy said.

"They aren't fighting other dragons, and Jumio was shot down by an arrow, just the same as my sisters dragon, Veracon." I Replied.

"Still, the dragon would have bee more durable if it was larger. But I've heard from people who have seen your dragons that they were massive. I can't imagine a dragon twenty times bigger." Amy said.

"I've seen Tario' skull. It's immense."

"Where?!" Amy asked excitedly.

"I've met with the king twice, he tried to scare me into submission without seeming scared himself." I said.

"Surprised you're still alive, and how big was the skull?" 

"Huge. I can't imagine seeing that diving on me on Dorons back. That is, if i ever see Doron again. Perhaps you could help me find him." I said.

Amy' eyes widened.

"Really?" She said.

"You have nothing here except a life of fear. You're coming with me. We leave at dawn. Get some sleep." I said.