Morgan Rice - A Charge of Valor

Godfrey had not anticipated that, nor had he anticipated Kendrick to be so heavy. Kendrick lay on top of him, moaning, like a ragdoll, and Godfrey got up, dragged him to his feet, and draped an arm over his shoulder, his heart pounding with excitement and fear that they escape before they were all discovered.

“Are you okay?” Godfrey asked.

Kendrick nodded.

“Don’t worry about me,” Kendrick said. “Save the others.”

Akorth and Fulton dragged up Brom, Srog and Atme, and as Godfrey prepared to cut down more men, suddenly, a voice rang out.

“Hey, you there!”

Godfrey turned and his heart dropped to see a group of Empire soldiers, on the far side of the courtyard, running for them.

“What is the meaning of this? Who ordered you to cut these prisoners down?” they called out.

“RUN!” Godfrey yelled.

Godfrey, Akorth and Fulton began running, dragging Kendrick, Brom, Srog and Atme.

“This way!” came a voice.

As Godfrey ran, he looked over and saw, kneeling beside the stone wall, a beautiful women with brown skin, of the Empire race. She gestured frantically for him to follow and to enter into a small secret passageway hidden in the stone. Godfrey hesitated, wondering if he should trust her—but then he heard the shouts of the soldiers behind him, and knew he had no choice.

Godfrey led the others towards the woman, all of them ducking into the secret passageway in the dark shadows of the stone wall. As they all darted inside, she quickly slammed the metal grate behind them.

They found themselves inside a small, dark room, hidden behind the wall, and Godfrey kneeled beside the woman and looked out and watched with bated breath as the group of soldiers ran past, charging across the courtyard, looking for them. They had not seen where they’d went. It had worked.

“Who are you?” Godfrey asked, more grateful than he’d ever been.

“Sandara,” she replied. “And you are very lucky to be alive.”

Thor woke as first light broke over the horizon, casting an eerie blood-red glow over the fields of ash, over the valley of exploding volcanoes all around them. It had been one of the most harrowing nights of his life. They had all decided to settle in, to wait out the night until the dawn, when the dragons left their lair.

All night, Thor’s dreams had been punctuated by the exploding noises of the volcanoes, by bursts of fire, by the searing heat of lava streams all around them. More than once he had been awakened by dreams that he was sleeping on the edge of the sun, only to see a stream of lava coming at him, and having to roll out of the way.

It was harder to breathe here, too, the clouds thicker, ash everywhere; he was nearly gasping for air by the time they awakened, ash in his ears and eyes and nose, on his cheeks, all over his hands. He looked at the faces of his companions, and saw that they were stained by ash, too. He could tell that none of the others had slept well; they all seemed sleepless and on-edge.

There arose another distant roar, the ground shaking, and the harrowing noises of the dragons began again. The first light broke to a chorus of screams, a huge cacophony splitting the air. As they all turned and looked over the ridge, watched the horizon, one dragon after the next lifted into the air, leaping out of the cave, off the edge of the cliff, their long claws dangling as they flapped their wings, flying higher and higher, screeching and arching back their necks. The creatures were hundreds of feet long, some black, green, purple and some scarlet, covered in ancient scales. They flew close to each other, then far apart, constantly weaving in and out in an intricate pattern.

One after the other leapt off the cliff, taking off in unison, like an army. In the distance, one dove down and breathed, filling the sky with flames, and Thor at first wondered what he was diving for.

Then Thor saw it. He was shocked to see, on the horizon, a contingent of Andronicus’ army, led by Romulus. There, on the far side of the sea of lava, marched hundreds of men, shields held high, heading towards the dragon’s layer. The dragons had spotted them.

Horrific screams arose as the dragons dove for them and breathed streams of fire, burning right through their shields. The shields melted and the soldiers, screaming, went up in flames; they panicked and ran towards each other, setting others aflame. It was chaos.

The rest of Romulus’ army continued to march forward, and the rear rows stepped forward and hurled spears up at the low-flying dragons. But the spears merely bounced off the thick scales.

More dragons plunged, grabbing soldiers with their claws, and flying up with them, high into the air, playing with them, letting them drop, screaming, then diving down and catching them. They did it again and again, until finally, when they tired of the game, they flew the soldiers over the volcanoes and dropped them in. The men shrieked as they sailed through the air and were engulfed in flames.

Romulus’ men were getting slaughtered. Finally, they turned and fled. But the dragons would not let them go. They chased after them, raining down fire on them, eviscerating nearly all of them.

“Now is our chance,” Thor said, turning to the others. “The dragons have all fled the lair. They are preoccupied. We must quickly get the Sword, before they return.”

“But how?” Reece asked. “We can’t cross that sea of lava.”

Thor knew they were right. They couldn’t cross that sea. Even if they had a boat, it would melt in moments.

Thor closed his eyes, needing to draw on his power now, more than he’d ever had. He allowed himself to feel the power of this place. To become one with it.

As he did, he felt a very distinct energy. The energy of a dragon. It made him open his eyes wide in shock, as a current ran through him, from his fingertips to his toes. He felt a tingling, a throbbing in the very tips of his fingers, and as he opened his eyes, he saw a lone dragon lingering in the cave. It was smaller than the others, dark purple, with huge red, glowing eyes.

It turned and looked right at Thor. Thor sensed its name: Mycoples. It was a she. He felt her speaking right to him.

With a screech, Mycoples suddenly lifted into the air, flying right for them.

“A dragon is left behind!” Indra screamed. “It comes our way! We are finished!”

“No, we are not,” Thor answered calmly. “Do not attempt to injure it.”

The others listened, Reece lowering his spear and O’Connor his bow.

Thor felt the tremendous energy of the dragon rolling through him, and he felt a new power, radiating through his body. He raised his hands high to the sky, and turned his palms upward. He felt Mycoples coming towards them, and felt himself summoning her. He felt her wanting to come, as if she had been waiting for him. He felt a stronger connection to this beast than he had to do anything in his life.

Mycoples screeched as she neared. All of Thor’s friends braced themselves in fear as she dove, but Thor did not. He knew she would not breathe fire, knew she would not attack. He knew her better than he knew himself.

Mycoples lowered herself slowly down to the ground, her great wings flapping, landing right before Thor. The ground shook as she did.

Mycoples turned and looked at Thor, her long tongue spitting, then retracting. Her soulful, glowing red eyes met his, and he felt as if he were meeting someone from another lifetime.

Mycoples turned and looked away, proudly. She sat there, as if waiting.

“Follow me,” Thor said to the others.

Thor jumped up onto Mycoples’ back without a fear, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The others all looked at each other, dumbfounded. They stood there, too frozen in shock to move.