The Last of the Dragons-Set 1

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      I stood motionless, contemplating what to do next. I looked to the dead dragon off to my side, then back at those which remained. Doron nudged Magar with his snout as she groaned. It was then that I noticed she was staring off in the opposite direction, towards the inland, away from the shore.

"She wants to go home." Bailey said.

"I know. I do to. But we all know we can't do that. We saw the size of that fleet, and we saw what they can do. We have to warn our people, and we have to do everything we can to fight them off." I said in reply.

Everyone remained silent for a moment, not even the dragons breath filled my ear drums as it normally did. I looked into Doron's glimmering eyes for a moment, in an attempt to understand what he was thinking. I could see his anger for the loss of his own, and I could see the fear in his heart. 

"I know. But we have too. You remember what happened when you were a baby, and you know that could happen again." I said.

He looked out over the cliff once again as the ships continued on, before letting out a roar that carried over the waves, seemingly calling out to his fallen family in a vain attempt to get them to respond. My heart broke as he lowered his head in defeat before turning to Kepenie's lifeless body. He nudged the young dragon with his snout, trying to get it to move as Magar joined him. It then struck me that  the three dragons who had been killed seemed to be of Doron and Magar's blood, as Magar seemed to be mourning much like I did when I lost my sister. I thought back to the day when the babies hatched, and recalled seeing the colours of the three dragons that had died so valiantly in an effort to defend the place they called home. Watching the pair mourn the death of their child brought me nearly to tears, but up until that point I had played myself off as an emotionless person, capable of slaughtering countless people without giving it a second thought. Shedding a single tear would surely shatter that notion.

"What do we do now?" Jules asked hesitantly.

I slowly turned my head to the rest of the group before uttering my response.

"Now we go to warn our people. We cannot defeat them on our own. We need an army again." I said.

The look on Tahli and Amy's faces were ones of fear and disbelief. They didn't say anything for a moment as Tahli lightly shook her head to show her disagreement.

"Jess.... We can't. We lost so many in those fights, we simply don't have enough people to fight them. Our best hope is to retreat inland and hope they leave us alone." Tahli said.

I paused for a moment.

"No. We don't run. We stand and fight. That was years ago. Now, there will be many young men who were nothing more than fragile children just a few years ago. There is an army out there waiting for us to falter, and another waiting for us to defend. We won't travel across our land. We don't have time. We gather as many willing men as we can from the nearby villages and make a stand while messengers ride off to warn the remaining villages to prepare for the inevitable. It's our only chance." I said out to the group.

I turned my head slightly to make eye contact with Lucy. I could feel her heart beat increase through my own.

"You've proven you weren't lying to us. Now prove you are useful to us."

I turned back towards Doron before she could respond. I felt anger surging through my veins at the thought of another child having to go through the things I went through in my youth, and now I had just seen a dragon, the supposedly unrivaled, emotionless beast that ruled the land, sea and skies, mourn the loss of its own child. Now, there seemed to be only one option. Fight, or die.

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