Bryan Davis - Eye of the Oracle

“And I, as well.” Makaidos eyed the smoke rising around the tower. “If Nimrod’s soldiers give me trouble, I could use a warrior at my side.”

Roxil thumped her tail. “I will go with you, Father. I am not tired, and I am ready for battle.”

“Nimrod’s men are too dangerous.” Thigocia extended a wing toward Roxil. “She is not skilled enough to fight them.”

Roxil turned to her father. Her eyes flamed, but she stayed silent.

“I think a certain daughter needs an extra mission to atone for her mistake last night.” Makaidos raised a wing over his daughter’s neck. “A reconnaissance mission is an important part of her training, and I will be able to judge if the danger is too great.”

“She has never been in battle,” Thigocia countered. “The first sign of danger could be a hurled spear, and she might never see it coming.”

Makaidos lifted his other wing and rested it on his mate’s back. “If you had avoided battles because you had never been in one, my dear, you would never have become a warrior.”

“My own past has returned to haunt me.” Thigocia laid her head down again. “Would tears help me win the argument? After all, I am a pregnant mother.”

Roxil let out a laugh but quickly stifled it.

Makaidos curled his neck with Thigocia’s and whispered, “Dry your tears. I will take care of her. We will stay at Shem’s grottoes for the night and enter the city at dawn. Surveying the tower before the soldiers roll out of bed will be the best way to avoid a conflict.”

Makaidos nodded at Roxil, giving her a firm, commander’s glare. “Make ready, warrior.” A smile almost broke through, but he managed to squelch it.

Roxil vaulted into the air, beating her wings as she soared upward. She bent her neck toward the earth, shouting, “What are you waiting for? An invitation?”

Makaidos shook his head at Thigocia. “Your daughter is as funny as a spear in the belly.”

Thigocia sighed. “I know. She learned her jokes from you.”

Makaidos smiled and winked, then launched himself into the air. After trumpeting a shrill note, he shouted, “You’re a pretty good flyer for a female.”

Roxil spun a one-eighty, zoomed back to her father, and looped again to fly at his side. “For a female? Do you think you can catch me, my dear old father?”

Makaidos beat his wings and surged ahead. “I already did!”

Father and daughter soared across the skies, practicing dives and sharp turns as they raced toward a village built in the cliffs of a mountain range. When they drew near, Makaidos glided down to a wide ledge that skirted the mountain about halfway up its face. Shem and Japheth ran out to meet them in full battle gear, sheathed swords on their belts and oval shields resting at their hips. “Thank you for answering the call,” Shem said.

“The call?” Makaidos repeated. “What call?”

“A prayer for calling dragons,” Japheth explained. “Our father prayed for you to come and join us in battle. Apparently, you heeded God’s call without even realizing it.” He nodded at Roxil. “And two dragons arrived when we only requested one.”

Makaidos dipped his head. “Your faith is strong, as I would expect from a son of Noah.”

Shem and Japheth looked at each other, both men shifting uneasily. “I wish that all of Noah’s sons would believe his words,” Shem said, “but our brother is one of the reasons for the great evil that festers in the city. It seems that he gave Chereb to his grandson Nimrod, and now Nimrod is practically invincible, at least to pedestrian forces like ours. We endured his taxes and his robbers, but last night a kidnapper stole my granddaughter, probably for the Luna temple.” He tightened his grip on his sword. “I’ve already lost a son to him. I will not lose another soul!”

“I understand,” Makaidos said, gazing out over the plane, “better than you know.” He surveyed the tower as it rose in the center of the vast city. “So you need an attack from the air, and you called for our help.”

“Yes.” Japheth stooped and assembled a pile of rocks, then used his hands to illustrate flying maneuvers. “But if you swoop low and attack his troops on the ground, he can strike you from the tower. Since Chereb shoots out flames, you won’t be able to get anywhere near him.”

Makaidos eyed Japheth’s hands as they circled his rock pile. “So our first target is the tower itself.”

“That was our thought,” Shem said. “While you’re distracting their main army, we’ll bring our troops and crash the northern gate. My granddaughter should be easy to find, but my son has been missing for so long we might have to destroy the entire city to root out his captors.”

Roxil raised a foreleg and swiped the air. “Can two dragons knock down such a large building?”

“Not likely,” Makaidos said, “but if we call your brothers, I think we can destroy it in a firestorm.”

Roxil’s ears twitched. “Like the firestorm you told me about in the battles against the Watchers?”

“Yes. I was too young to participate, but I watched my father carefully.” Makaidos nudged her flank. “Fetch your brothers and meet me back here.”

“With pleasure, Father. I know they will be ready to kill the human cockroaches.” Roxil beat her wings and launched into the sky.

When she disappeared into a passing thunderhead, Makaidos turned back to Shem and Japheth. “My daughter tells me of a dragon in Nimrod’s forces. What do you know about him?”

Japheth rose to his feet and clapped the dirt from his hands. “I was spying on their army yesterday, and I saw him.”

“Did you recognize him?”

“I know exactly who he is, though it seems impossible.” Japheth glanced at his brother, who gave him a quick shake of his head.

Makaidos snorted a stream of dancing sparks. “It is not wise to try a dragon’s patience. Tell me!”

Shem cleared his throat and nodded toward the cave behind him. “I think you had better speak to my father about this. He can explain what’s going on far better than I can.”

Without waiting for a response, Japheth ran toward the cave. “I’ll tell him you’re coming,” he called back.

Shem swept his arm toward the gaping arch in the cliff. “Our home is blessed by your visit.”

Makaidos dipped his head. “I am the one who is receiving the blessing.”

“I must, however, beg your leave.” Shem pointed at a dry riverbed at the base of the cliff. Hundreds of men milled about near a cluster of scrub trees. “Our troops are assembling in the valley, and they would charge into battle this very hour if I let them, so I have to calm their passions until your family arrives.”

“I understand. Anger is a great motivator, but it is a poor general.”

While Shem marched down a sloping path, Makaidos shuffled along the ledge and entered the dim cave, turning on his eyebeams to compensate for the depleted light. After curving around a bend and passing through a lower corridor, he followed a flicker in the distance. Finally, his twin beams fell upon Noah, sitting cross-legged on a mat and leaning back against the cave wall. With a lantern at his side, Japheth was reading from a scroll, while his father nodded his aged head. Then, when he noticed Makaidos, Japheth rolled up the scroll and handed it to his father. With a quick bow, he excused himself from the cave.

Noah lifted his gaze toward Makaidos and smiled. “How long has it been since we’ve talked, my friend?”

Makaidos lay on his belly and sighed. “Too long, Master Noah. I’m afraid that my zeal to serve your tribe has been my poor excuse to neglect our friendship.”

Noah raised a gnarled finger. “Still, I have kept my eye on you and your family. As my sons report on your activities, I am able to pray for you and each of your offspring by name.”