The Last of the Dragons-Set 1

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      Doron landed in the clearing, which got Jonah's attention. He came running over to me with a sense of urgency. He hugged me tight before backing off with obvious fear in his eyes.

"Did you see it? The smoke?" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, we saw it. Looked like a few of the villages off in that direction. Forest fire maybe?"

"I doubt it. It would have reached us by now, or at least gotten closer. It looks to me like a military attack." He said as Amy and Tahli ran up behind me.

Jonah looked puzzled for a moment as he realized there were three dragons once again.

"Didn't he-?"

"Yes. And no, she wasn't with him. Amy rides him now. We'll leave it at that. He was at the volcano along with Ragon." I said.

Jonah shrugged his shoulders.

"You said you think it's a military strike? You think the king would send men out this far to slaughter innocent people?" I asked frantically.

"To get back at us, and possibly lower our moral, yes. I'm positive." He said.

"What do we do"? We can't allow that to continue." Tahli said.

"Why not surround them with our army and take them out? Seems obvious to me."  Amy said.

"If there were several detachments, a lot more than three villages would have been burnt to the ground. They're likely moving in the direction opposite of us. But if they've taken out three villages, they're moving rather fast. That means that it's probably not a large group of soldiers, and they've probably only been sent out to try to remind us that the king shows no mercy. If he has any smarts, he won't expect those men to return." I said.

"So, what"? Do we go after them?" Tahli asked.

"Well, we can't just let them run around and kill people. It will take them longer than the king has left to get through half of the villages, but what are we fighting for if we allow everyone we're trying to protect to die?" I exclaimed.

"I agree. Even if they know we'll come after them, they wont turn back. They are severely loyal to the king and are willing to die for his cause." Tahli said while nodding her head.

"So, I guess we should ready a group of men to attack." Jonah said.

"No, we wont need warriors. Dragons will be enough. We'll take them out with a few quick strikes from over head." I said.

"You're all leaving again? You just got back!" Jonah exclaimed.

"No,  Tahli, you're going to stay behind and keep Jonah company. Amy and I will go after them ourselves. The smoke wasn't far off, we should be there in a few hours." I said.

Amy gave me a nervous look as I said this.

"Me? I only just learned to ride, and shoot, now I have to fight?" She protested.

"You said you're a fast learner. Time to really prove it. Prove to me, Tahli, Jonah, and most importantly, your dragon, that you can hold your own. Gather your weapons. I'm not waiting around while people die." I said as I put the bow around my neck and turned to mount Doron.

Amy looked to Tahli and Jonah for support in her protest, but Tahli just motioned for her to come towards her.

"Here, you may need these." She said as she handed amy about a dozen spears.

I came back down from Doron's back to help her secure them to Veracon. 

"Don't be nervous. We'll take out any long range bows they have in the first strike. After that, there's no threat to us." I said as I secured the spears to Veracon's side. 

"What if one of the dragons gets hurt?" She asked.

I froze for a moment.

"If we take out those bows, nothing they have can hurt these dragons." I said.

She nodded her head nervously as she put her bow around her neck.

"Come on. Let's go." I ordered.

We mounted our dragons, and turned to face the open clearing.

"Fly."

Doron, followed by Veracon took to the air in the direction of the smoke. I looked back to see Ragon, Tahli and Jonah looking up at us as we got higher and higher. I could also see men scattered throughout the trees, still waiting to be told to fulfill what they came here to do.

"Okay, let's get this done." I said to Doron while patting his neck.

Amy looked nervous. I just hoped that we wouldn't relive history.