Dragons-The Story Of Fang And Blackstar

The Beginning Of The End

I stood in the entry way of the arena. Every single voice on Midkiff was chimed in together in the stands above my head. Every second was like a new nightmare. It was final exams, everyone in those stands was expecting me, without even realizing it, to go against the very fiber of my being. There was no way I was going to do it, I couldn't, I'd betray Ash, Blackstar, my granddad and pretty much every friend I'd ever had. I heard Dad start to speak.

“Well I can show my face in public again!”, he laughed.

The crowd cheered and then quieted down.

“If someone had told me that in just a few short weeks Max would go from being, well....uh, Max, to placing first in Dragon Training? I would have tied him up and shipped him to the states for mental treatment.”

More laughter.

“And you know it, but here we are. And no one is more surprised, or more proud than I am. Today, my boy becomes a hunter, TODAY, HE BECOMES ONE OF US!“

The crowd let off a loud cheer as Dad walked to his seat. I heard footsteps and turned to see Ash and Kira who had a worried look on her face.

“Be careful with that dragon”, she said.

“It's not the dragon I'm worried about”, I said watching my Dad sit down.

“What are you gonna do?”, Ash asked.

“Put a stop to this insanity”, I said, “or die trying, I'm done hiding. Ash...if something goes wrong, keep Blackstar safe.”

Ash nodded, “promise it won't go wrong?”

I sighed, “You know I can't.”

Sam walked back as Ash was about to answer, “It's time Max, kill him hard.”

I swallowed and walked out into the arena. There were easily four thousand people here, all of them were cheering for me, but it wasn't exactly encouraging. I walked up to a rack bristling with nasty hunter weapons, from large caliber rifles and handguns to old blades. I made my choice quickly, going for a .44 Magnum. I checked to make sure it was loaded and then breathed in.

“I'm ready.”

There was a grind as the electric motor pulled open the Nightmare's cage. The doors burst open. The flaming dragon leaped up onto the mesh and tempted to claw at the spectators, but thanks to Sam's hand work on mesh, he couldn't. The gravity of the situation set in as the large dragon dropped down and began moving for me. His eyes sizing me up to determine if I was friend or foe.

“Don't worry”, I said loudly, “I am NOT one of them.”

I tossed the revolver down to the ground. The crowd hushed up, the sound the gun made hitting the ground echoed through out town.

“Stop the fight”, Dad said angrily.

“No!”, I replied, “There not what you think they are! You don't have to kill hem.”

I put my hand on the Nightmare's muzzle. The crowd gasped and looked at my Dad.

“I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!”, he slammed his AKM down on the bars. I watched the nightmare's eyes go to slits. Before he could even rear up and strike, I dodged out of the way and made a beeline for the entrance. With a flap of his wings, he jumped in front of me and blocked my way, taking a swipe at me with his beefy, three clawed paw. I dropped to my back to avoid it and without even realizing it.

“BLACKSTAR!!!”

I shouted for my partner. I knew she could hear me and was on her way that very second, it was the worst mistake I could have made.

“MAX!”, Kira shouted.

She grabbed an old ax from the wall and pryed open the cage with it to get in. She ran over to the pile of weapons and grabbed up a SAW machine gun before viciously tearing into the Nightmare. The ammo in the SAW wouldn't go through the dragons scales, as no non ammo piercing ammunition was strong enough. The Nightmare broke off from me and started chasing her as Dad yanked open the door.

“This way kids!”, he shouted, “hurry!”

Just as I reached my Dad, the Nightmare swiped me with his tail and sent my flying. I managed to land on my feet, but it didn't mean anything once the Nightmare jumped on me. That's when Blackstar finally showed up. Her blood curdling, bone chilling, war cry of a shriek echoed through the air and everything hissed as she sucked in all the air she could and blasted her way into the cage. For a minute, I felt then the nightmare let go of me as Blackstar sank all 20 of her claws and 48 of her switchblade like fangs into the nightmare's back. Only when the Nightmare got a halfway decent swipe in did she let go.

Blackstar, who was now at my side, stood off with the nightmare before it scurried of. I quickly hopped on her back as the people started pouring in.

“We gotta go girl”, I said, “now.”

No sooner had we taken off then a huge hunter grabbed my partner by her tail and slammed us to the ground, knocking me off her back. A few guys attacked her while several others tried to hold me down. None of them had much luck, Blackstar's 300 to one power to weight ratio made her virtually indestructible and with what I'd learned in Rider Hand To Hand, the Hunters stood little chance against me. That was when I saw Blackstar was getting ready to fry a Hunter who looked scared out of his mind.

My Dad.

Any other time, I would have let her go and fry the guy like bacon..bu I'd already lost my brother to ACA, I couldn't lose my father to my best friend.

“NOOO!!!”, I shouted running over to her, “girl please don't do it!”

At my touch, Blackstar ceased. I felt Ryan's huge fist collide with the side of my face as other hunters dog piled us. Four of the biggest guys were holding me down while so many others attacked my partner.

“Don't hurt her!”, I begged, “Please don't hurt my friend!”

Wrought with shock from his near brush with death, Dad climbed to his feet and was offered a sick looking ax, which he took.

“Turn it over”, he grunted angrily.

With some difficulty, the hunters flipped her over, exploding her soft stomach. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see it happen. For what ever the reason, the shriek of pain never came. I hear a ripping sound.

“Put it with the others”, Dad grunted, he then grabbed me by my hurt shoulder, “your coming with me.”