Assignment Five

A loud scream of pain echoed across the sky as the grey dragon twisted and tore at his captor in an effort to free himself from the powerful jaws clamped to his wing. Sharp talons raked down the vulnerable underbelly of the black dragon eliciting a growl of anguish but no release from the deathly hold. As rich, red blood flowed down his wing the grey dragon inhaled deeply before releasing a burst of flame towards the black dragon.

Anxious to avoid being burned, the black dragon released his captive and soared upwards with a powerful thrust of his wings. The grey dragon tumbled downwards as he tried to use his injured wing to slow his descent. His opponent, soaring high above him, turned in a graceful arch before swooping down after his prey. The setting sun reflected off the black scales creating a shifting screen of blues, purples and greens that shimmered as he glided through the air.

In contrast, the smaller, grey dragon flew with awkward movements as he tried to evade his pursuer. His injured wing forced him to fly at an angle, his body trying to compensate for the limb’s limited range of movement. Malevolent red eyes glanced back at the black dragon, his lips curling back in a snarl of rage as he saw him closing on him. With his injury, he could not outfly him nor could he manoeuvre quickly enough to get the jump on him. His only hope was to challenge him on the ground where both of them would not be able to move as easily in the sky.

Seeing a cleared patch of earth below he dove towards it, spreading the grey leather-like wings to slow his descent. Clouds of dirt rose around him as he skidded to a halt on the barren earth. Turning, he stood to face the approaching black dragon, his eyes glowing malevolently as he snarled at him. The crown of spikes rose up to protect his head, their tips glistening with the poison they secreted.

“You cannot defeat me, Ryder. No one can,” he growled through the mental link weres possessed when they were in their animal form. “Not even the mighty Ithcar could stop me, for all his strength and power!”

Ryder froze before him as he heard Lemos’s confession. Time seemed frozen in that instant, no birdsong, no rustling of leaves at the caress of the wind, not even the sound of their own laboured breathing as they stared at each other. Ryder’s icy blue eyes met Lemos’s red tinged ones, his anger rising up within him melting away the icy resolve that had controlled him.

“Your confession seals your fate, Lemos. Know that it will be my hand that ends your life as you did theirs!” The need to kill this dragon before him was an all-consuming hunger that demanded appeasing to the extent that all other thought and reason was driven away. He stalked forwards, his eyes watching Lemos, large, black wings folded across his powerful back to protect them from damage.

“You would break your vow to Leah? Your sacred oath to bring me before the Council to face my crimes? You are not that different from me? One broken oath leads to another and before long you will view all before you as your servants, as they are!”

Lemos’s cackling laugh echoed around his mind, bringing him to a halt before the other dragon. Up close, he could smell the stale odour of the herbs Lemos liked to consume in his human form, their narcotic compound already adding to the corruption of his mind. “Wrong. I am nothing like you. Whilst I may want to kill you, I will not break my oath. You will answer to your crimes.”

He leapt forward, his powerful hind legs driving him straight onto the grey dragon. Black talons closed around the neck as he sought to subdue the writhing dragon. Dust swirled around the two combatants as they each fought to gain the upper hand.

Lemos clawed and kicked against the stronger dragon, his talons leaving bloody furrows along the black scales. For the first time since encountering Ryder, Lemos felt fear flooding his body. This was no unskilled dragon facing him. Ryder possessed an equal level of fighting skill in his dragon form as he did in his human form, a level that Lemos could and would never achieve. Panic gave strength to his tiring limbs as he thrust against Ryder in an effort to break free of his hold. The spiky crown grazed against Ryder’s neck, piercing the scaly flesh to allow the poison to enter the bloodstream.

Ryder jerked back from the burning sensation running down his neck. Spreading his vast wings, he flew backwards away from Lemos, his body feeling as though it was on fire. Lemos, eager to take advantage of Ryder’s new concern, stalked forwards, teeth bared, ready to land the killing blow. He watched as Ryder tumbled to the ground, his body twitching as the poison worked its way around is body. Oh, how he would enjoy this kill, he thought to himself as he reared up on his hind legs, poised to strike.

Ryder, trapped within a burning prison of fire and pain, saw Lemos approach and knew he could do nothing to prevent the grey dragon from killing him. The searing agony from the poison rendered him virtually immobile and he knew that he would not be able to fulfil his vow to his parents and to Leah.

“Not even you,” Lemos gloated as he raised his talons high, ready to sink deep into Ryder’s chest to extract the heart. He was already anticipating his victory when the blast hit him squarely in the chest, flinging him backwards with an unexpected and unstoppable burst of power. He was unable to stop his body from rolling and tumbling backwards, his talons unable to get a grip upon the dirt floor. He tried to open his wings, but the deep wound he had suffered earlier had caused his flesh to stiffen into a rigidity that would not be broken. The edge of the plateau came far too quickly and he was powerless to stop himself from falling over the edge to the waiting jagged rocks hundreds of feet below.

Ryder lay panting on the floor, his heart pounding from his final drive for survival. A dragon’s instinct to survive was a powerful one and, at times, a desperate one. In a final grasp at survival he had blasted Lemos with all of the firepower in his system, driving him over the cliff edge to his death. He had failed in his promise to Leah to make Lemos accountable for his crimes and he felt sick with it, regardless of the poison coursing around his system.

Since he had met Leah, he had found himself drifting from the path of bloody vengeance to one of seeking justice under her guidance. She had changed him, made him into what she said was a better man but his actions here had just sent him hurtling down the vengeance path and away from her. As always in his life, he had once more lost all that was dear to him.

“Ryder! Hold on!”

He sensed rather than saw Kyr land at his side, felt the sizzle of magic as he changed back from his dragon into a man. Other sizzles indicated Kyr was not alone but Ryder was too weak and defeated to see who had joined him.

“Arik, the vial, quickly. Lemos’s poison has entered his blood. We do not have long!”

He wanted to tell them to leave him alone, to let him die on the barren earth filled with his broken promises and lost dreams. He wanted everything to stop but he was too weak to even open his eyes. Hands touched the gouges on his neck, opening them wide to allow a liquid to be poured into them. Ryder jerked as he felt a chill chasing away the burning, flooding through his body like liquid ice. He could feel his great body shivering in response to the freezing sensation.

“Can you change?”

Ryder forced his eyes open and met Kyr’s concerned green gaze. He tried to gather his magic to force the change but could not hold it long enough. Exhausted, he shook his head slightly before his eyes drifted closed.

“Focus on wanting the change, Ryder. Focus and hold it. We’ll do the rest.”

Hands pressed against his scales, cool against the heated flesh. He wondered what they were doing as he pulled once more on his powers and envisioned the change. The vision became reality as he felt a different heat spread through his body. His wings retracted as his limbs changed from dragon to human, the scales disappearing to be replaced by tanned skin. Slowly his human form transformed from his dragon and he lay on the floor in an exhausted heap. He felt clothes cover him before the heat disappeared and he was left alone with his thoughts. He was vaguely aware of Kyr and the others transforming back into their dragon forms before he was lifted up and carried back to the house where everything went black.



“You look better.”

He looked up and watched as Tia entered the dimly lit room. The antidote Kyr had applied had eradicated the poison from his system leaving him feeling as though a herd of elephants had trampled him in a stampede. He had been sitting in the lounge with only a couple of lamps lit whilst he had thought over what had happened that afternoon.

“I feel it. How about you?” He waited for her to take a seat across from him, noting the bruising on her face.

“I feel better than I look. Kyr and Arik made short work of the guards holding me.” A slight smile lit her face as she remembered her rescue the day before. “It was over before it even started.”

“You shouldn’t have been there, though. I let you down.”

“How did you let me down, Ryder? They grabbed me as I was buying food at the market. Aaron was getting measured for a new coat a few stalls down and you were escorting Leah on her morning ride. They took advantage of a few moments when I was on my own. No one is to blame for that.”

“Even so, I should have arranged better protection for you. He targeted the family before, remember.” He studied the cup before him, his face sombre as he thought of the families Lemos had destroyed in his quest for power.

“I remember.” She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. “It’s over, now. Kyr said that you killed Lemos. He can’t hurt us ever again.”

“Can he not? In killing him, I broke my promise to Leah. She begged me not to purse my quest. She said Lemos should be brought in to face the Council for his crimes. I made her a promise that I would do that.” The chair scraped against the stone floor as he stood and stalked angrily across the room. “I couldn’t do that, though. I had to go and kill him and lose everything.”

On silent feet she crossed the floor to stand by him, her arm snaking around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. “You haven’t lost everything. I’m here and so is Leah. I’m sure that she won’t blame you for what happened this afternoon. Kyr said that it was either you or Lemos and I know who I would want to emerge from that fight.”

“If only you were the only one to satisfy,” Ryder murmured giving her an affectionate squeeze. “However, I have to face Leah with the consequences of my actions today. Do you know where she is?”

Tia frowned, her forehead creasing as she tried to think where her sister in law was. “No, I haven’t seen her since just after they brought me back. She said she had to go somewhere and that was the last time I saw her.” Worried eyes met Ryder’s icy blue ones. “Where is …”

The door to the lounge burst open and Aaron burst in. “I found this note outside Leah’s room with no sign of Leah anywhere.”

Ryder grabbed the note and rapidly read its brief contents. “It’s a note to Leah, from Lemos. He says that he will kill all of her family and those close to her unless she goes to him.” Icy dread crept along his veins as he met Tia’s frightened gaze. “He must have survived the fall. I should have checked to confirm he was dead.”

“You were dying yourself, Ryder. There’s no way you could have checked. Kyr, tell him.”

Ryder looked at Kyr as he entered the room. “I need to go after her.” He moved to go past the tall warrior, his face set as he struggled not to imagine all that Lemos would do to her.

Kyr placed his hand on Ryder’s shoulder halting his progress. “No, you need to recover further before you confront Lemos. Going after him now will only place the advantage with him. Rest this evening and tomorrow we’ll go after him.”

“She could be dead tomorrow,” Ryder bit out, his body tensing at the thought of Leah being Lemos’s prisoner and what he could be doing to her.

“No she won’t. Lemos will want to regain his strength before confronting Leah. Those injuries you inflicted would have weakened him as much as the poison did you. Whilst it would seem advantageous to go now, while he is weakened, you can be certain that he will have all of his men guarding his lair.” Kyr looked at the room’s occupants, his face stern as he once more took on the mantle of military leader. “We wait, plan and prepare so that when the dawn comes we are ready to finish this. Permanently.”

Ryder paused and breathed deeply, gathering his focus. “He will not be aware that I survived the poison. He will feel confident there is no one strong enough to challenge him. His arrogance will be his downfall.”

Kyr nodded in agreement at Ryder’s comments. Ryder was back in control and focused upon the task ahead. Payback would be sweet, he decided before going off to brief the rest of the group.

Later, alone in his chamber, Ryder stood looking out over the sleeping town. His wounds were healing, the effects of the poison had gone from his system. By the morning his strength would be fully regained and he would be focused on the task ahead. Rescue Leah, deal with Lemos and rebuild his life.