8.
Out on the coast, Wolf called the family together. The big black bull was preparing something deadly. He had secretly sent his dragons one by one to the desert in Nevada. It was Surfman who noticed the pattern in the dragons’ comings and goings. He surfed the thermals up high and followed them to Nevada. There he watched to see what they were doing and then reported back to Wolf, his findings. The black bull had all his dragons out at the missile bunkers in the desert. They were digging down into the earth.
“Wolf, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what they are doing.” The concern in Big John’s voice was apparent; his tone was urgent. “We have to get word to Jake. The stuff out there is radioactive, and possibly biological. This bull is mad as a hatter; he means to wipe out all life on this planet. He has to be stopped, now!” John was adamant about how serious this was and the ramifications that they all could face. “Warn him and tell him what we are going to do; if they can catch up fine; but we have to take out these guys fast. It’s the future of our world we’re talking about.”
“Calm yourself John; we intend to end this quickly.” Wolf was thinking to himself that John was getting worked up over nothing; his emotions were ruling him. “The crazy black cannot detonate those bombs without the codes or the keys. Be cool dude; we have it all well in hand.”
Wolf was sometimes annoying as hell, John was thinking. He about to explode with some lovely epithets when Wolf continued, “we leave in a few minutes. Do you really think that I would not see the implications of his actions? He does this to provoke a reaction from Jake. Think my friend; he knows that Jake will be coming for him.” Wolf was staring at John, waiting.
“Ok, so he knows Jake will go there to try and stop him. That would leave Jake’s camp wide open.” The real reason for the big blacks actions was becoming apparent to John, “then he attacks Jake’s camp and kills all the women, and the Queen!” It finally dawned on John what this was all about. “This is about revenge, Wolf! Revenge against Jake! This bull is craftier than I thought.”
“Precisely John, now do you understand what is at play here. Remember what Collin said about the Bull, ‘…he has a special hatred for you, Jake…’ remember, John? The main intent is to draw Jake away from his camp, and then destroy it. We will warn them in a few minutes. What we have to do this night is destroy the bulls’ camp here; nothing must be left alive. I leave that to four of you, do it quickly. The rest of us will go to Nevada and stop what has been put in place there. Jake will have to feign leaving his camp and then circle back and attack.”
Wolf contacted the White and explained the situation to him. He told him what they were planning on doing, and suggested that he warn Jake to prepare for a major attack. He also told him the bull’s strength had increased to over 500 abominations. He then bid the White well, and the Blue Dragons took to the skies to face their fate.
Jake received the news from the White and passed it along to his dragons and riders. Warriors, news has just come from the White, a warning from our brothers the Blue Dragons, it seems things have changed. The black bull has put a nasty plan into motion; he has also laid a trap for us. He plans to draw us out to a Nevada missile base and then attack our camp and kill all the women, including my Queen. I think we shall turn the tables on him and meet him halfway. I suggest we fly to the heights and wait for him to pass by, and then attack.
Rah, see if he sends a scout to make sure we departed camp; if so, destroy it quickly. Our Blue brothers caught wind of his plan and brought us warning in time. They are destroying his camp as we speak; they are firing everything to ash. There are many hatching grounds, and they say they hold abominations; they are destroying every one of them. They will join us as quickly as possible.
A little less than 30 minutes later Rah sighted the lone scout. He made short work of the abomination. The rest of the Dragons of Light took to the upper heights. They kept watch on the surrounding area looking for the black bull and his group. Not an hour later they spotted the first wave of the black bull’s army approach. There were at least 200 dragons of varying sizes. That left 300 or 400 dragons unaccounted for. Jake knew that the rest were being kept in the rear and would be used to attack the Camp and his Queen.
Ichor, Sarah and Jackson, Lady Isabol; take your wing and do as much damage as you can. Buy us time to find the rest of them.
As you wish my leige! Lady Sarah, my brave friend, now is the time for us to prove our worth as leaders. We have trained well and our warriors are the best. Ichor faced his squad and addressed dragons and riders alike. Warriors! Let us show these vermin what Dragons of Light can do! Lady Isabol, to my side. Juztin, you will see to my Queen’s safety during battle.
Sarah, riding Ichor, and Jackson, on Lady Isabol, came at them from out of the setting sun. The black devils were taken by surprise, which was the intent. Flying in formation and then free fall, Ichor and his fellow warriors flamed as they passed and then did a complete turn around and flamed again. Just as they had practiced in training over and over again, the precision of their arcs, and their flawless dives took out many dragons on that first pass. Most of the dragons were small and not formed quite right. As they swung around the males extended their claws and ripped the smaller ones to shreds. On their second pass they managed to destroy all but about 20 of the misshapen, abominations. These 20 were the hardened ones from the first hatching. They began to fight back with a vengeance, but Jackson and Sarah’s group outmatched them. The constant practice of flying while using the crossbows paid off this day. Several of the black ones lost one of their eyes, and they were taken out quickly after that. All the Dragons of Light fought with carefully planned strikes on the dark devils. Realizing that they were out matched, the big black bull left them to their fate. Watching their leader depart in disgust they were disheartened, and they began to loose badly. One of them, in an insane rush towards Lady Isabol, got a lucky hit on Jackson, flaming his left arm and leg, and singeing Lady Isabol on her left side. Ichor let out a roar and with claws extended he went after the unlucky devil. He grabbed the disfigured monster and tore it in half and threw it into the air as Lady Isabol flamed it to ash. The rest of the wing annihilated the remaining black monsters. Juztin and his squad checked the area as instructed by Ichor, and flamed all the remains to ash. They then prepared to leave the area and meet up with Jake and the rest of their forces.
About a half hour later, as they headed east to catch up with Jake, the sky above was suddenly filled with the lost 300; they had laid a trap and now sprung it. A large black dragon with 20 of his cohorts personally sought out and attacked Jackson and Sarah. They fought valiantly, even tho they were out numbered 10 to 1. Ichor managed to send word to the White to relay to Jake. Then he called for his fellow dragons help. The big black had his minion’s worked their way between Sarah and Jackson separating them. Then he turned his attentions directly to Sarah. Sensing what he was up to, Jackson and Lady Isabol doubled their efforts to reach them. Jackson feared he would loose Sarah and he fought like a madman trying to get to her side. In his mind he was reliving the terrible time years ago when he lost her to the marauders during a battle. Ichor put his mind at ease and told him that they would not be taken down.
Jason on Lady Jessica and Andrea on Juztin had their hands full as well. They and their squad were kept busy by a horde of the smaller dragons. They were easy to take out, but their sheer numbers were overpowering. They gave their best and took out a great many of the beasts with their precision flaming. But for each they destroyed, two more took their place.
The large black underestimated Sarah’s courage, and the bond between her and Ichor. They fought with a ferocity that startled him, taking out 9 of his dragons within minutes. He doubled his attack, and this particular fight took on a fevered pitch. With each horde of dragons they destroyed, more took their place. This went on for 30 minutes at such an unrelenting pace that the large black devil had to pull back momentarily and regroup. They attacked again with renewed ferocity. In the midst of the battle a bright blue-white light began to emanate from Ichor engulfing all the black ones around him. Ichor began to grow larger; even with Sarah on his back, his size continued to increase. He began to take out many more dragons, as he and Sarah went into a killing frenzy. Ten more devils dropped out of the sky and attacked them; Ichor destroyed them within minutes. They fought like mad but the battle was beginning to take a toll even on them. They were getting tired and in need of a breathing space. Sarah received a hit on her right shoulder and back shielding Ichor from a blast to his neck. Enraged, Ichor went for the devil and fired a large blast as Sarah let loose with her crossbow. She got a lucky hit and took out the bulls left eye. He roared his anger and fled as six more of his dragons attacked them en masse. Ichor ripped two of them in half before they could flame anything. Sarah was beginning to get worried, there were so many of them. Then from below she heard the Blue Dragons.
“Coming thru! Pardon us dudes!” Ten giant dark blue dragons flew thru the center of them yelling and singing, sending the blacks running in all directions. A dark blue dragon with a golden goddess standing on its back flew by yelling, “Surfs up! Move it dudes!” Surfman turned and flamed three of the devils to ash right in front of Sarah’s eyes. The black devils were shaken badly by these strange talking dragons. They lost their tight formation, and it became easier to flame them. Ichor redirected his squad to back up the Blue Dragons, and they all jumped into the fray with the remaining devils.
Wolf came up to Ichor, “can you use some help my friend? My brothers and sisters are itching for a fight.” Ichor thanked him and said he would be glad to share the wealth, so to speak. Big John was concerned for Lady Sarah; she was covered in sweat and in obvious pain. She had a nasty burn down the right side of her back.
Jake’s squad arrived and they dove from above bursting thru the center of the second group of the black devils. Dragons were flying and flaming in all directions. From the ground it looked like a free for all to the untrained eye. But each strike was well planned, each formation and flaming was directed at the weakest areas. Daniel and Jake took on almost 10 at one time and they fought like demons flaming and tearing.
It was during this melee that Daniel recognized that the dragons were getting their strength from their riders. This in itself was a major revelation; it explained the pairings of dragon and rider. He would have to discuss this with Jake after the battle. They were flying in a tight figure eight and flaming dragons as they went through their formation when a large black dragon dropped down out of nowhere and flamed at Jake. Daniel swiftly pulled to the left and Jake answered his body movement and turned. Daniel took the brunt of the flame as the bastard got a lucky hit. Jakes rage was instantaneous and the monster was turned to dust before he finished. Daniel received a second-degree burn on his leg, but was too engrossed in battle to let it slow him down. Jake tore into several of the abominations and ripped them to shreds.
Hey Jake, look at the size of Ichor! What’s going on there? Daniel asked.
Jake turned and spotted Ichor. Realizing what had taken place he roared loudly and for a moment everything seemed to be in slow motion.
Daniel looked about and saw all the dragons in mid-fight, silhouetted against the sky as they were caught flaming the devils; it was a surreal moment. Lady Sarah was caught just as she had loosed an arrow from her crossbow; her ferocity displayed across her face. Highlighted in mid-flight battle, she and Ichor were perfectly preserved.
Just as suddenly the moment passed and the battle continued.
The rest of the Blue Dragons showed up and told Sarah and Ichor to take a break. Sarah was sweating profusely and panting, as was Ichor. Sarah’s eyes darted in all directions keeping tabs on her squad members and also searching for Jackson and Lady Isabol. Spotting them in the distance, she finally took a long deep breath.
You are my strength my Lady, I bow to you this day. Ichor praised Sarah.
You are my life my friend; you bow to no one. Sarah answered him.
Sarah and Ichor watched as the strange blue dragons ‘surfed’ over the heads of the black ones flaming as they went. True to their word, they did have them dropping like flies. It was amazing to watch these dragons fight; they were all singing as they battled! It was some kind of a war chant, but it was very effective. Many of the black devils fled in sheer horror. They were taken completely off guard, and they were much easier to destroy. Big John flew to Jakes side and told him that the Black Bull who led them had taken off to meet up with about 200 more dragons he had in reserve for Dragons Hill.
The White suddenly appeared before them and Collin shouted, “The black is headed to Dragons Hill, follow when you can!” They were gone as quickly as they appeared.
There were not many of the black abominations left, so Jake took the Blue Dragons and half of his group and headed home. He called ahead and warned Queenie as to what was headed their way.
She just chuckled and said; let the fool come.