The Blue Blaze: Prologue

Daveed stared at the picture of his three-year-old toddler. "I'll be back soon," his claw gently stroked the face in the Polaroid. "I promise." He knew The Arms of Beowulf would come back someday. They always do. He only wished it was later when his boy was grown and a full-fledged adult. He had dreams of buying his son a .22 caliber rifle and taking him to the shooting range, teaching him about self-defense, gun safety, and all of that. His wife wasn't too keen on the whole violence scenario, but no son of his was going to go into the world without knowing how to throw a punch, at least. The world is a dangerous place, no matter which world it is.
"It seems that The Arms have gotten stronger this time," said an armored baby blue-colored dragon with straight, cream-colored horns. "Are you sure you're up for this?"
"They're always a little stronger than the last time, Sui. What's the point of me being the hero of Dragonfell if I'm not there to protect the ones I care about?" Daveed sighed and put the Polaroid in a nearby chest. His gilded steel plate armor clinked against itself as he moved.
"But you have a family now. You shouldn't put yourself in a situation like this." Sui's name wasn't actually Sui. It was Suirauqa, but Daveed found it an awfully long name, so he decided to call him Sui instead.
"I also have a duty to those in Dragonfell. It takes a higher priority than my own family, unfortunately. Besides, it's the king's order. I'll come back to earth as I always do, and I'll be plain old David again—a human who works full-time at the local gun shop."
Sui grinned. "You always had a fascination for weapons. But you know you can't wield them as a dragon, right?"
"Of course, I know. But in my human form, I can."
"But you know everyone will ostracize you if they see you in your human form."
"Yeah, I know that too. Stupid Beowulf cult.." Daveed frowned.
"You're lucky I saw you morph into one. If I hadn't known any better or it was any other dragon, you would've been eviscerated on the spot."
Daveed could turn into a human and a dragon at will. He was more comfortable in his dragon form. Still, he tolerated his human self if he could be with the love of his life without getting put on a dissecting table by those crazy scientists. He just happened across that ability. One moment, he was a fiery red dragon, and the next moment, he was suffering immense pain from the transformation. Since then, he could shift between forms at any moment. The transformation pain lessened with each shift. "Hmm… I wonder if my son will have an ability similar to mine." He looked out the window.
"If he does, everyone's going to have a rude awakening. But your wife should already know about it, right?"
Daveed gave his friend a blank stare.
"...You haven't told her anything, have you?"
"How would I even start that conversation? 'Hey honey, I'm actually a dragon who can turn into a human. Sorry, I've kept that secret for the last 15 years or so…' It's hard to even think of it. She might consider putting me in a mental hospital at first until I reveal my real form, which might be another headache in itself. What if she flips out, what if-"
"Daveed, do you trust your wife?
"Yeah."
"So just tell her already. Obviously, she'll be shocked at first, to say the least, but once you explain, maybe it won't be so bad."
"Maybe you're right."
"How'd you even explain to her why you're leaving for a while?"
"I tell her the shop has business meetings, so they send me out for a few days."
"And she believes that?"
"She's a very trusting person. I always come back. There are no outstanding purchases on the debit card or any at all, so she has no reason to think I'm cheating on her."
Sui tilted his head. "A… debit card?"
"Oh, I forgot those aren't a thing here. It's like a bottomless coin pouch; people with the same bank account can look into the spending."
“I… see… In any case, when you come back, you should tell her everything. Don't keep any more secrets from her."
"Yes, sarge. Though you're not in much of a case to order me around. The Golden Blaze is the highest rank available. If anything, I should bark orders at you."
Sui tilted his head up. "Oh yes, my deepest apologies," he said with a note of sarcasm. "How can I forget that The Golden Blaze is second only to the king himself? Oh, pray tell, what can I do for you? Oh great, Blaze."
"Well, you can stop with the sarcasm."
Sui laughed. "The king lets you galavant around. Must be nice."
"Well, he understands my situation. I thought my rank would be stripped when I notified him. Guess he likes me too much. Though I can't ignore an order from him if he calls me."
"We should get going. The Arms of Beowulf aren't gonna kill themselves."
Daveed sighed. "It'd be nice of them if they would."
The roar of battle rose in their ears as they walked on the wall of Dragonfell. Sixty meters high and eight meters thick, the perfect size for the dragons and faes to move around and man the weapons. Sui looked at the battlefield ahead of the wall and grimaced.
"See those guns?" Sui pointed out, "They have different ones now, and from the looks of the damage they're causing, they are much stronger than ours."
Daveed squinted his eyes. "Yeah… Those look like older models compared to the ones in the shop. They're bolt actions. They can fire faster than our old front loaders. Instead of a bullet that takes about a minute to load, they can fire at least five in less than half that time. It'll take some definite strategy to take them down this time. Good thing the fae have their magic, right?"
"It helps."
Daveed saw a Fae charging a cannon with fire elemental magic just before it fired into the ranks of The Arms of Beowulf. "Good."
The faes have been a part of the dragon realm for as long as they existed. At first, they and the dragons had a touchy past, but they managed to make peace and work to create a civilization. The fae's magic always helped with the fights. Some even flew on top of a willing dragon's back into battle.
Daveed looked at the battlefield. There was only infantry, no tanks or any kind of armored vehicle as far as he could see. Maybe they didn't have enough supplies? Well, he supposed that would make the battle easier to win. He formulated a plan. "Sui! Have the fae form a smokescreen in front of the Arm's guns. Keep a main battalion hitting them at the center. We'll form two more to flank them from the sides!"
Sui nodded at him and gave the orders to everyone else, passing the information to the rest of the sergeants.
Three faes each ran to the cannons. One poured an oily substance down the barrel, another used heat magic, and the other cooled it. The process turned the cannonball inside into a smoke ball. The volleys were fired, and smoke jetted once the cannonballs hit the ground. While the center battalion distracted the foe, the flanking forces formed. Daveed joined up with the right battalion, and Sui led the left.
A row of faes led the flanking battalions, creating a barrier at the front to protect their comrades on foot.
"Light footing!" Daveed whispered, and the message was spread around.
The dragons in the battalion couldn't risk flying and giving away their position; as much as their wings itched, they couldn't fly until the ambush. Once they were in range for their rifles, Daveed ordered them to ready their weapons. He squinted to see Sui's formation at the ready. "Fire!" He shouted. Volley after volley was fired into the trenches of The Arms of Beowulf. The dragons roared and took flight, engaging the enemy from above using their own breath weapons or swooping down and disemboweling them in the air. The fae rushed in with their magic-powered rifles and stormed the trenches.
Daveed grinned and took to the skies, getting deeper into their lines. He got in front of a group of Beowulf soldiers. They fired their rifles, of course, but it only bounced off his plate armor. He took a breath, and out came a torrent of flames, burning everyone to a crisp. Other Beowulf soldiers jabbed at his hindquarters with their bayonets. "That tickles!" Daveed narrowed his eyes and swung his tail at them. He caught several and was sure he smashed a couple of skulls. This was the rush he missed from combat, all the adrenaline flowing into him. He was addicted and wasn't planning on quitting any time soon. Daveed gored, slashed, bit, and breathed into the enemy ranks. Narrowing them down little by little. When a couple of Beowulf's soldiers were left, his stunning gilded armor was now stained crimson.
Daveed exposed his sharp jaws. "If you surrender, I swear we'll make your deaths painless."
One of the soldiers gave a tight-lipped smile. "Go to hell. You scaled bastards!" the soldier shot a green flair into the air, and the others threw grenades. The faes were too slow to raise the barriers. Daveed rose his wings and flapped, tossing the grenades back at them. They went off and killed the remaining soldiers. The shrapnel deflected off his armor, but some went straight into his wings, ripping some of the membranes.
"That hurt!" Daveed hissed.
"Keep your guard up!" Sui ordered, "They shot that flair for a reason." He walked over to Daveed and said, "Are you alright?"
"I think I'll live, old friend. Nothing the healer fae can't heal up when this is over." He heard machinery treading rising from the hill in front of them, along with marching footsteps. "It can't be!" He whispered, "Retreat! Get into further positions!" he barked.
"What's wrong?" Sui asked.
"No questions, just move-!"
An explosion was heard, and an entire chunk of their forces were turned into a gory mess. Daveed looked to where the explosion started. Tanks. Rhomboid-shaped tanks with cannons sticking out on both sides and other smaller tanks that looked similar to the modern ones were used. Beowulf soldiers marched alongside them. Daveed swore, "Retreat!"
Sui and the rest turned back and ran into the trenches they had just taken. The faes began to put up their barriers, but one shot from the tanks was all it took to shatter the shields. They weren't used to blocking that much force. The tanks and the soldiers continued to march. Several of them wore grins, assured that they would win the fight.
"All fae, pull back! The dragons will keep these distracted for the time being!" Sui barked.
Daveed and the rest of the dragons roared and charged as the fae made their retreat.
The dragons were all around the ambushing battalion. Daveed needed to be careful. With his wings torn up, he couldn't fly and evade as well. He tilted his head down and speared several Arms of Beowulf with his horns, shaking his head to toss the bodies aside. He bit off the heads of other soldiers. He had to move quickly enough so the cannons wouldn't target him. Hearing a screech from a dragon, he turned around. A tank had blown a hole right through an emerald-colored dragon's chest. The armor might as well have been paper. The dragon fell, its chest mutilated, and those brilliant scales turned red. Infuriated, Daveed let out another blaze of fire, engulfing several soldiers and tanks. The soldiers in the flames had died, and the ones inside were screaming. The tank might as well have been an oven, and with the escape hatch melted, they would suffer. He turned to Sui.
Soldiers surrounded Sui. He didn't breathe fire like some dragons; his breath weapon was water, which he heated inside him to deadly scalding temperatures. He shot several soldiers around him but was starting to run out quickly. Generating water was a trickier process than fire as water dragons used the natural water stored inside them and got dehydrated if their breath was overused.
"Hang on!" Daveed clawed the ground as he rushed to his friend.
Sui looked at Daveed, and his eyes widened in horror. "Watch out! Your left!"
Daveed looked to his left and saw a cannon barrel staring at him. He raised his wings to escape but fell on the ground instead. He'd forgotten about his wings. Before he could get up, he felt a massive sensation of pain flow through his body. He looked at his side, and his guts were hanging out of the cannon wound. Daveed howled in pain, which soon turned into angry flames, catching the surrounding area on fire. Not like this! He thought. I need to go back! I must! My son! My- he felt another shot into his haunches. The other cannon must have shot him. Losing his strength, Daveed laid his head on the grass. "I'm sorry, Ethan." He whispered, "I guess I won't be able to keep my promise after all…" A single tear fell from his eyes. The tank aimed at his head and fired.