The Last of the Dragons-Set 1

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      Amy looked up at the three dragons circling over head. They exchanged a series of vocal sounds as well as an odd clicking sound.

"Well, how am I going to learn to fight?" Amy asked.

"We'll teach you. We won't leave here until you're ready." I said.

"Don't we have to get back to the army?" She replied.

"Jonah is there if anything happens to go wrong. Besides, the men won't just run off. They'll die fighting before they retreat. We've some time to kill." I said.

"Here, let's teach you to use a bow first." Tahli said as she placed her hand on the top of my bow.

I pulled the bow from over my neck and readied an arrow.

"See that tree? That'll be the target." I said as I pointed to a tree a few hundred feet away.

We walked over to within about fifty feet away. I drew my bow, and loosed the arrow. It struck the tree dead center as I turned to Amy with a big grin on my face.

"Your turn". I said while handing her the bow with another arrow.

"How do I aim it?" She asked.

"Pull the back of the arrow right to your ear, at eye level. Aim at the target, and let the arrow fly." I said.

She did as I instructed, and loosed the arrow. The arrow flew past the tree and into the bushes behind it.

"Oh my. This is going to take a while." Tahli said with a giggle.

"Why do I have to be so far away? Why can't I be closer?" Amy asked.

"If you think that's far, you've got something else coming. You will have to be able to hit targets from high above while on a dragon if you have any chance of not getting killed." I said.

"Again." Tahli said as she retrieved the arrow from the bushes.

We practiced for several hours, all throughout the day. While Amy tried, and failed repeatedly, the dragons had all since come back down. Veracon seemed interested in what Amy was doing, as if he knew she was preparing to attempt fight along side him. Finally, after a day of shooting arrows, the sun began to go down. We made a fire, with the dragons help.

"You did better than I thought you would. You hit the tree a few times. Fast learner I see?" I said.

"Yeah, I've been described as such more than a few times." Amy said.

We sat around the fire, all three dragons formed a protective circle around us. They all gazed down at the flames, their eyes glowing from the light. I looked up at the stars. The sky lit up just as bright as it had been every other night, the only dark spots were the silhouettes of the mountains blocking out the star light. The forest surrounding the volcano was dark and ominous, the breeze was cool and crisp, mixed with the warmth of the fire. I felt a lot more relaxed than I had in a long time. I had found my dragon, my friends dragon, and the dragon I thought had died, as well as someone new to fight with. Now, I just had to figure out how to get her air born, and how to avoid a repeat of the crushing and costly defeat we had suffered fighting the king before.

"Everything alright?" Tahli asked as Amy slept on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried. We already lost thousands of men in a futile attempt to bring down the king, and we very nearly lost one of the dragons. And, well, you know what else happened." I said.

"Jess, I know you miss your sister. But there's nothing to be done that can reverse it. She died fighting for a cause that is definitely worth dying for. Her dragon lives on, to fight, and to avenge her loss." Tahli said with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Her dragon may live on, but no one will be able to fill the gap she left." I said while holding back tears.

Tahli looked down at the fire, as Doron brushed his massive head up against my side, nearly knocking me over. Ragon came to Tahli's side while Amy slept on her shoulder. Veracon was across from us, his eyes locked on me for most of the night.

"Micha does live on."

Tahli turned her head towards Amy, then back to me.

"In her."

Hey Everyone!

If you're enjoying this story, be sure to check out my new story "The Dragon's Bond"! It can be found on my profile page and is still in progress, updates are daily or bi-daily on average.

Enjoy!