"We need someone to take charge, galvanise us, bring us together. Someone we can all get behind."
"And?"
With a totally passive face that Richie just couldn't read, the huge dragon studied her closely. Normally she'd have staked her life on her ability to tell what another dragon or human was thinking. But for once, she was well and truly stumped. And that was only the first shock.
"Looks like the job's yours."
"WHAT?" remarked Richie, sure she'd misheard.
"YOU! You're our leader."
There it was again. It occurred to her then that perhaps she was dreaming. There really weren't many other explanations left. And of course it would explain everything else away. That's it, she was dreaming.
"You don't seem to believe me little one, but I assure you... that's the decision we've made. We were all agreed... you're the best dragon for the job."
Running both hands through her brown, curly hair, she thought about the implications of what the dragon had just said. Moments later, she reluctantly came to the same conclusion. Perhaps, after all, she was the best choice. But to make the best choices from here on in, she needed information. And she needed it now.
Flash traversed the rivers of blood, swimming submerged well beneath the surface, on the lookout for something specific, but so far he'd seen no sign of it. With as much speed as he could muster, he pushed on.
'It must be here somewhere,' he thought, turning a sharp bend and then plunging headfirst into a steep downward slope. Thick, gooey red liquid closed in all around him.
It seemed she had little or no choice. Standing here arguing with a group of dragons could easily waste hours, if not days. So, although reluctant, she made the decision to accept what had been thrust upon her. With the decision made in her mind, she turned to address the group of dragons, and began doing what needed to be done.
"I need to know how all this started," she asked first of all. "But before one of you fills me in, are there any healers amongst you?"
Three dragons towards the back of the group raised their wings high above their heads.
"Can the three of you help with the healing please? The two over there that were being tortured look in desperate need of your help. Please, they're my friends, help them if you can. If two of you could do that, then perhaps the other could take a look at the old dragon over there, the one surrounded by the group of humans. And just so you know, that dragon is Gee Tee, the master mantra maker, and he's the one responsible for this rather unconventional rescue."
All three nodded, and after a brief discussion, two headed at top speed towards Flash and Tank, while the other shot off towards the old shopkeeper.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Richie's heart was still beating furiously, so much so that she could almost feel the adrenaline pumping away inside her.
"So," she said, addressing the remaining group, "who can tell me how this all started?"
Just as he was starting to question whether or not he should give up, Flash caught a fleeting glimpse of what he was looking for. Up ahead, just for a second, he'd seen the tiniest blue spark, dancing around erratically, exactly what he'd been taught to find. Although only his mind wove throughout Tank's battered and bruised body, it felt as though the rest of him was there as well. And as such, he had to throw all his body weight to his right to continue following the tiny blue glimmer. Thick red blood sloshed all around him as he sought another glimpse of the spark.
'There,' he thought, aware of everything around him. Again he used his weight to change direction, this time to the left, and instantly found himself falling. Strangely, the sensation reminded him of flying. Sadness enveloped him, at the thought of something he loved so much that he almost certainly would never experience again. Distracted, he almost lost focus. Almost, but not quite. Hanging on for all he was worth, he was determined to redouble his efforts and save his friend. But he was tired, and getting more so with every passing second. Moments later he realised he had nowhere near the reserve of strength it was going to take to catch the spark, the spark that held Tank's consciousness, the spark of life that made him who he was. Darkness started to shroud his vision.
"I'm so sorry," echoed out from the chapped lips of his tortured body, as tears ran across the deep cuts on his face.
Quietly and calmly, against the backdrop of the frozen Casey, dragons recalled the events leading up to the battle in the bazaar. They told how it had started with deception, one at a time. For two of them, dragons they didn't recognise had knocked at the door, claiming to be disorientated and confused. Of course they'd let the dragons in, why wouldn't you? But by then it was too late. Overpowered and overwhelmed, they found themselves bound and restrained. That's how it had started. After that, the dragons had moved on to the next house, and then the next. After the dragons had left, human shapes had come to march them to the bazaar. They looked human, but felt so utterly alien, dark, cold hearted and almost like they were trying to slither into your head. Amazingly, nearly all the dragons Richie quizzed used the word "slither". It seemed to her to be more than just a coincidence. As they continued, Richie began to get an idea of the much bigger picture of what had happened. They were all rounded up and taken to the square. Some were beaten ruthlessly, others killed without thought. Retaliation was not an option. As that was going on, some of the human shaped beings built the construction that Tank and Flash had been suspended from, with the occasional aid from a dragon guard or two to weld the metal together with the charged heat from their fiery breath. What astonished Richie the most as she listened, was the sheer scale of what had happened. Enemy dragon guards alone must have measured in their hundreds, with the human shaped enemies numbering even more. It was a bold move, and really quite staggering. It was also... unthinkable!
Continuing to methodically describe what happened next, the dragons mentioned a sort of human, not like any of the others, marching into the square, surrounded by a ring of guards and other unusual beings. The human shaped being, for they couldn't get a sense of what he really was, limped badly and was aided by a rather stunning looking walking stick. Immediately, she knew who it was, but waited for the dragons' descriptions to have her worst fears confirmed: stocky, receding brown hair, with soul destroying eyes.
'MANSON!' was the only thought that buzzed through her head. It wasn't just tears she fought back as the story continued, but the fear that threatened to inundate her very being. It was hard to believe he was even still alive, but of course it would explain so much. And with his previous form, the threat was ever more real. She knew just what he was capable of, with destruction, murder, and even mass murder a very real possibility. On top of all this, each one described a dragon, albeit in human form, being carried in a sedan chair by two other humans, who looked old, tired and barely awake for most of the time. But from the way he was looked after and addressed occasionally, they had to assume he was important. Things had just gone to a new level, and it wasn't only their lives on the line.
About to pull his bleeding hand away from Tank's battered body and sever the connection to his friend once and for all, suddenly he was engulfed in... energy. From being slow, sluggish, weary and on his last legs, he went to being renewed, invigorated... as full of power as it was possible to be, instantaneously. Thanking everything he knew that he hadn't cut the connection, with his new found energy and resolve he was confident he could achieve what he'd set out to do. At the back of his mind, swimming just beneath the well of energy he was drawing on, he could feel two dragons sharing their power with him, offering him hope and help, encouraging him with everything they had. It was a selfless gesture, with Flash realising it must have been two from the group of local residents that had surrounded Richie. Briefly, he sent them a message of thanks, on top of which he told them what he was going to do. They didn't fully understand, but waves of support emanated off both of them. Without further ado, he closed his mind to everything else and once again found the little blue spark that was his friend.