War? How is that possible? How is any of this possible?
My mind spun in circles as I tried to make sense of what was going on.
Suddenly, Marvin whispered loudly. "Sniper! Get down!"
We all ducked. Marvin had brought out his own weapon, attaching something to the top of it that he looked through. Qibli stuck his head out a little, trying to see what he saw.
"Careful Qibli. There's snipers here. They'll shoot you from a really long way away, before you can even see them."
I sensed Marvin had dealt with something like this before. He looked carefully through his weapon. At least someone knew what they were doing. He eventually crawled backwards, sliding down the cliff to us.
"Let's go. We'll be safer then." He swiftly said.
I bent down so he could climb onto me. It was still weird having a scavenger on me, but we were faster, and this one was good at hanging on.
We flew low over the trees, as quietly as we could.
"Oh shoot. Qibli, Those men you scared, did you let them see you?"
"I don't think so. I stayed in the shadows. They couldn't have."
"But I can't take any risks. Do you think there's any chance they saw you?"
Qibli was quiet for a moment. I already knew the answer.
Well shit. "They know dragons are here, and they know they don't like the Japs being here."
"Do you think we can still get them to leave?" I turned back to put Marvin into view.
"No," Marvin shook his head, "I don't think so. Not without a fight. They're losing in the war, any territory they gain, they're gonna hold onto the death."
Suddenly, flashes of the images I saw. Scavengers charging up a hill. Claw like small swords on the end of their guns. They wore little straps of white cloth, all of them with a red circle and two symbols on each end. They were scared. They were being killed. But they wouldn't stop.
"Moon," Qibli called with concern.
I shook my head, feeling the cold air rush past me again.
"You okay?" He banked a little closer to me.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Anyways. Maybe getting them to be friends?" He looked over.
Marvin shook his head.
"Not likely. They massacred their neighboring countries. They're not afraid of genocide. If you're any kind of threat they can't push into slavery or control, they'll kill you."
"Yikes. They seem like really bad people."
Marvin sighed.
"Some of them are Qibli. Not all of them." I had a few Japanese friends at college, at home. I just wish more could see that.
"There's your friends." Qibli pointed.
I banked over and flared to land before them. They were waving as we approached.
"Marvin!"
"Lieutenant! Where were you?"
"And these two again."
Marvin slod down. "Great, so you guys got my message."
"What? That the yellow one wanted to eat us?"
"And the black one pushing us around?"
He looked over at me and Qibli.
"Hey. I did what I had to do to keep them from stumbling across those other scavengers. That's half the reason I went after them."
I only offered a nod for a similar reason. The older, and the person who seemed in charge under Marvin, walked over to him.
"Marvin?" He whispered. "What was that all about?"
"I'll tell you, Kish. We made contact with a large Japanese camp."
I heard him suck in air loudly.
"About three miles east of us." Marvin continued.
"Three mi- what should we do Officer?"
"What can we do Kish." Marvin looked up and saw the other soldiers staring intently at them. McManis chuckled, walking over and putting both of his arms around them.
"Come on officers. We're all friends here, you don't have to keep secrets. In fact."
He stepped back, turning and walking towards us.
"These two look about as shocked as you are." Suddenly his voice turned very serious. "Tell me dragon. I know you're smart enough to understand me. Did you see the enemy?"
I froze.
What would happen if I said I did? What would Marvin do? What would the others do? Should I lie? I think they'd figure it out though. I've underestimated scavengers before. But this? This!
Suddenly Qibli stepped in front of me. He nodded for me.
McManis nodded slowly with an "Ahh. So we're still fighting this damn war." Then he threw his gun far away, where it lodged into the ground. A flash of anger and rage came upon him. "I didn't fucking sign up for this shit! I've followed too many leaders to get myself killed now. This-this shitbucket... is worse than any war I've ever been a part of. No food, no drink, no God damned support. We're practically fighting this war on our own! I can't do that! I can't even do that if I tried. This shhhhhhhit is too damn fucking hard!" He stormed away towards his rifle, picked it up, and continued onwards. "It's fucking impossible!" He yelled, now echoing through the trees.
The rest of the men turned back toward the two leaders. Marvin just wore a blank expression, he didn't know what to say. It was a little while longer before the man with a similar object on his gun as Marvin's, walked up to the two. Wessly I think his name was, stopped short and spoke softly.
"Lieutenant. Sergeant." He looked to Kish. "What are our orders?"
Marvin took a second, finally getting his mind going again.
He's right. It's an impossible mission, not without help. I-I-I... I don't know what we're going to do.
Finally, Kish spoke up.
"We'll return to camp." He looked to Marvin. "That's what we'll do. We can sleep on it. Maybe when we're all rested and not hungry or sleepy, maybe then we can come up with a plan that includes our new friends."
But... I don't want them to get involved. I'll be putting them in danger they didn't sign up for. I can't do that. Not even with my own men. Marvin's mind whirled.
"Come on. Let's go home."
Kish began to lead Marvin away. He just turned to look at me with a glassy-eyed stare. Like he was staring at something behind me. Even in the dark, I could see his light hazle-brown eyes reflecting the stars. His crutch turned him back around, leading him back to their camp. I just stood, listening to the crunch of their footsteps fade into the noises of the forest. I felt Qibli's warmth next to me.
"So... what do you want to do Moon?"
"I... I don't know." I shook my head. "They're dangerous, those scavengers are. Marvin knows that. He doesn't want to involve us, but... unless we do, he's going to get himself killed."
I turned towards Qibli. He just hung his head, nodding.
"Sounds like something he'd totally do." He slowly nodded his head. "Maybe I can get the Outclaws, maybe Torch could lend us an army? Glory would want in too. They are right on the border of the Rainforest Kingdom. We could destroy them in one fell swoop."
But then they'd know we're the bad guys. And with that many ships, they could probably build another den somewhere else, somewhere more dangerous. We couldn't take them on. Not by ourselves.
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of these dirty thoughts.
"Are you okay Moon?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's sleep outside their camp tonight. I want to know what they're planning." And if at all, to stop them.
Qibli managed to convince me to head back to Jade Mountain to tell Tsunami that I would stay nearby and that I wasn't going to be at school, and also to inform them about the looming threat just beyond the trees.
I curled up next to a tree just outside Marvin's camp, I could see his tent and the rest of them. There were always two soldiers who stood guard at various places. Sometimes they'd stay together, sometimes they'd be apart. Sometimes they just stood, milling around the tents, sometimes they'd disappear into a hole in the ground and just watch the forest. A bird taking off from a nearby tree would startle them, and they'd look to the sky for a second. Sometimes they'd wonder what they would do should they encounter a dragon, but thankfully they would always leave that idea before going into excruciating detail.
I sensed Marvin was awake. He was in his bed, but he couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about the enemy scavenger den, and the possible ways of destroying it. One of his ideas was to split up and surround the camp with only his men, and attack them until they retreated. But he knew that would not only be incredibly dangerous, but if even a single person were lost, it would be more difficult to fight them in the future. Another idea seeped into his mind. This time, only dragons attacked. Dragons from many different species swarmed over the enemy camp. I recognized IceWings that all looked like Winter, RainWings that were a rainbow of colors, I even saw one NightWing. One that looked suspiciously like... me. I took a closer look, and I saw that I was arguing with him. He would not let me join the fight for some reason. Even though those were my friends out there attacking. I could see tears in his eyes, begging me and my winglet not to fight this battle. But even in his dream, and would likely happen in real life, we left anyways.
Then the dream collapsed into a different one. This one was quiet. No signs of battle, not any signs of the coming war. It was also dusk, the sunset hung low over the mountains. I made out Marvin looking down at small, almost circular, pieces of stone placed into the ground. There were rows and rows of them. I approached him.
"What are these?"
I heard Marvin sniff, but he still answered.
"These... are the men who died under my command." He knelt down, looking them over even with welling tears.
"They all gave up their lives to see this job done. This horrible, ungrateful job that the Lord himself disliked."
He got up, wiping down his face. He looked up to me, desperate.
"Death is inevitable Moon."
Well, practically inevitable. I thought of Darkstalker, even for one bad exception.
"Inevitable is still inevitable. The point being... that... my job... is not only to end this war... but to also do it in a way... that brings the most people back home to their families." He sniffed. "I'm... the one who has to send young men... to their deaths. That's the job I have. My goal, the thing I strive towards, is never losing a single person in battle... but you can see how that has gone."
Suddenly, I realized. Every one of these structures, every one of these small stone tablets embedded into the ground, were symbolizing all the scavengers who have died fighting. All who served under one human, who stood next to me now. Only then did I realize the significance of his situation. I had all the information.
This enemy base needed to go, but it was heavily defended. It would be a huge and deadly battle if anybody attacked, many people would die regardless. But also those ships, it only looked like just one had unloaded. What about the other three? Were there three more bases just like that one, just waiting to be built? And the things Marvin has heard, he's seen, they are horrible people. They lay down their lives for a scavenger, who isn't even here for them. They are all on their own, fighting this war just to end it.
I heard Marvin shuffle and turn back.
"We'll be attacking come nightfall tomorrow." He said gravely. "It's your choice whether you want to bring yourself or your friends. If we don't stop them now, they can only get stronger."
Before I could respond, I was yanked out of the dream.
I gasped as I saw a flash of yellow tan.
"Moon! I'm back."
"Oh, Qibli." I sighed in relief, closing my eyes.
"So, what did you see?"
I looked at him, tearing badly. I remembered what I saw in his dreams, the battles, the killing. What would likely happen? Whatever it would be, it would not end well.
"Qibli...." I gasped.
He continued to stare intently at me, his dark glassy eyes revealed his concern.
"Qibli. They're planning to attack the camp."
He flared his wings "What? If they do that, they'll be slaughtered!"
"He knows that." I looked back towards the camp. "He's hoping we can get back and raise an army. But..."
"But he knows someone's going to die."
I pulled my wings in close. Looking back towards my best friend. "He can't help it. He's been through too many battles, it's as if he wishes he could stop looking at people, he knows they're going to die soon."
"So how does he look at you?"
Qibli had his familiar stare. Look at the facts. I'm a dragon, a mindreading, precognitive, NightWing dragon at that. I had a SandWing boyfriend who would follow me wherever I go. He has a poisonous tail barb to sweeten the deal. Maybe we could find Peril? She's an excellent fighter, and she'd be willing to defend Jade Mountain from enemies.
"We can't bring everyone. Especially not in a single day."
"I know." I hesitated at the thought.
"That's why we're going instead."
"What!" Qibli said, stepping back. "Moon. You know how dangerous that den is. You know what they can do to us."
"Exactly." I turned back to the direction of Marvin's camp. "I also know what will happen if we don't help."
Qibli opened his mouth to say something, but then promptly closed it. He didn't know if I had a vision of the future or not. Which, now that I think of it, I might have one tonight.
"Once day breaks, I need you to get Winter and Peril at least." I turned back to the quiet camp. "If you can get anyone else, it'll help."
Qibli nodded. Even without reading his mind because of the skyfire, he fiddled with his claws and took shaky breaths. I closed my eyes and listened again.
There were five people awake now. Marvin was still awake, turning in his bed. The two guards, I pulled from their minds, Rossum and Towne. They talked at the big table in the center of camp. The two previous guards were busily dreaming of killing the enemy and going home respectively. I think it was their sniper Wessly and Travers.
I rested my head on the cool ground, listening to the soft sounds of the forest.