Wrapping her arms around him, delighted to see a friendly, human face, Janice gave him the biggest hug ever.
"I'm so glad you're okay," gushed the blonde haired braveheart. "Oh... thanks for the save by the way. If you hadn't turned up I'd be... I'd be..." It was only now the nervous energy and adrenaline had started to fade away that she could see exactly what had happened, and just how close a call it had all been. Sharp reality hit her like the powerful left hook of a title fight boxer. She could barely speak, everything felt so overwhelming. Flash put his arms around her to comfort her.
"It's nearly over. Everything's going to be alright. And by the way, it's me who should be thanking you... and the others. You saved us, not the other way round." In the hope that it would cheer her up, he offered up his best smile. As he did so, the tiniest voice inside him screamed a warning as loud as it could.
Feigning an attack with a burst of fire from his jaws, Casey wove one of his fingers like he'd been shown and added as much conviction to the mantra as he dared. An invisible ball of solid air hit his nemesis... Richie, full on, just as she was rolling out of the way of the fiery breath that never materialised. So powerful was the impact that it tossed her thirty feet back along the ground, battered and out of breath. This pleased him no end. To gain so much from so little. What he'd picked up in the last few months had given him more power than anything he'd learned over the course of the rest of his life. He was going to enjoy this, going to enjoy squeezing the dying breaths from her misshapen, flawed body. Stalking after her as she tried to shake off what had just happened, brilliant red blood flowed down her arms, running into the gaps between the cobbles as she tried to push herself off her elbows and back up to her feet. Having never seen her look so weak and pathetic, that feeling alone provoked a deeply satisfied grin, and a sense of wellbeing in the universe deep within him. He'd never felt this good, and he'd never won. Never beaten her. Today was different. Today he'd beaten her... in more ways than one.
Summoning nearly all the energy he had left, Tank barely managed to hold open his left eye; his right, for some reason, wouldn't respond. The sight that greeted him was astonishing. Dragons fought dragons, on the ground and in the air. A battle raged on below him and around him. Twisting his neck just slightly, he tried to see how Flash was holding up. Pain starburst across his shoulders, down his arms and ignited his back. Rallying against it, only just holding his own, he was surprised to see the space next to him where Flash had been, was empty. His heart sank. Questions flitted throughout his mind. Where was he? Was he dead? If there was a battle, were they being rescued? If so, who was doing the rescuing? All of these and more bombarded his cognitive functions all at once. With his damaged eye barely giving him any sort of view at all, he scanned his surroundings for clues that might give him some sort of answer, just before the darkness took him.
From the relative safety of the darkened alleyway, the four friends viewed the almost mythical scene. To be honest, they weren't sure what to do next. All around them, dragons collided and tumbled together in the air, fighting for grip and their very lives. On the ground, it was little different. The prisoners that Janice had released were more than holding their own against the remaining guards. It was superheated chaos, with elongated streams of rainbow coloured flame shooting every which way, interrupted by the very occasional fireball exploding around and about. For the time being, truth seemed much stranger than fiction.
Staggering to her feet, more than a little disorientated, Richie wished the ringing in her ears would stop so that she could catch her breath. Trying hard to inhale, the pain was monstrous, not only that, but she couldn't stand up straight. A couple of fractured ribs, at least, that's what she figured. Clutching Aviva's laminium dagger, she snarled, and in her half prone position, stepped forward to meet the now grinning Casey, determined to wipe that smug smile off his face, if it was the last thing she ever did.
One of the freed dragon prisoners was fighting tooth and claw with a former captor. Heads butted, talons raked, jaws angled trying to get a decent bite. It was evenly matched, that is until the free dragon's right foot slipped on some previous victim's bright green dragon blood. Taking immediate advantage, the guard brought his gigantic tail round, catching the freed dragon right beneath the jaw, in a bone shattering impact. Landing with a crunching THUD, the freed dragon flew over ten yards in the air. Nonchalantly, the guard strolled on over, towering menacingly above his helpless victim.
"Pathetic dragon," he spat, preparing to dispatch his adversary. "You and your like have had your day. We're taking over and you won't be around to see it. But rest assured, I'll make sure your friends follow you straight to hell."
And with that his chest puffed up as he pulled in a huge breath, ready to unleash a devastating final burst of flame from between his mighty jaws.
Just a few yards away, ducked behind a rustic coloured stone wall, Hook watched the entire event play out. He knowing what was about to happen, as he'd already seen the same kind of thing more than a few times in the preceding minutes. Aware that he had to stop it, and with little regard for himself, he turned the intricate dial on the heavy water rifle he held to full, flicked the switch on the backpack to increase the power and, in one swift move, belted around the corner, rifle held out in front of him in both hands as he skidded to a halt in front of the ever expanding guard.
As the guard prepared to let loose the natural flaming devastation from within him, he'd shut his eyes to savour the moment, knowing that nothing could stop him from destroying the pitiful being splayed out on the ground in front of him. And so he did what comes naturally to all dragons. With fire already moving up from his belly and into his throat, awaiting the opening of those huge jaws, at the same time he opened his eyes and his mouth. To say he was surprised to see a human figure standing right in front of him holding some sort of projectile weapon, was something of an understatement. What happened next was even more baffling.
Hook fired his rifle as soon as the dragon's mouth opened. He was, by now, more than proficient with the strange looking weapon and hit his intended target with ease. The first few flickers of flame licked around the side of the guard's open jaw, but the heavy water quickly negated the mighty heat that had built up inside the prehistoric beast. Hook hadn't developed a plan; his only thought had been to stop the guard killing the innocent dragon. Not sure what to do next, he just continued shooting the heavy water down the dragon's gaping throat. In turn, the heavy water slowed the dragon, practically to a standstill. Although his mind registered everything that was going on, he felt bewildered, slow, stagnant. His arms and wings felt unresponsive and he was unable to force his prodigious jaws closed. All the time, the thick, cloying liquid dribbled down his throat.
Unsteadily, the prone dragon that the halted attack had been intended for, got to his feet. Not an especially big beast, perhaps a foot or two taller than Hook when standing, he'd been injured badly but was still able to offer the rugged rugby player a wink as they stood side by side. Witnessing his enemy rise to his feet without being able to do anything about it, the guard was frantic. Well, at least on the inside anyway. On the outside, he resembled some sort of stone dragon water feature that had gone badly wrong, with the water being sucked back in, rather than propelled out as it should be. Hook's rifle had been pumping the heavy water into the dragon at quite a rate, and it was obvious that saturation point must be close. With the freed dragon standing next to him, keeping a close eye on proceedings, all the while checking his injuries, Hook began to see water sloshing about at the back of the dragon's throat. He'd filled him up... quite literally.