Having felt lost and alone for the most part, with Tank, Richie and Hook all missing, the four surface dwellers all broke into huge smiles simultaneously at the dragon shopkeeper's kind words.
"I must go now... they expect me to be on the front line when things kick off. An old dragon like me... whatever next?! So I shall bid you goodbye and good luck. You've all been a credit to your race and I hope that after this is all over, we can share a drink or two. You have my thanks for what you've done so far."
And with that, the gentle prehistoric giant, turned and walked noiselessly away.
Checking the straps on the bandoliers that held their grenades in place, Emma and Angela valiantly held back tears, while Sam and Taibul stoically chose to just let the master mantra maker's words sink in. It was hard for each of them to believe they were actually here and not in some kind of abstract dream that they would wake up from any second now. The true danger of what they'd wound up amongst was only really starting to become apparent now, which in itself was odd given everything that had happened below ground back in Salisbridge. Outnumbered, outgunned, outdragoned but not to be outdone, they'd all contributed to something that had not just saved the lives of their friends and the other dragons, but may just have tipped the scales in the battle for the planet. But it had all been achieved on instinct, adrenaline, surprise and a blind loyalty to the human Richie Rump, someone who, at the time, they'd all have laid down their lives for. To find out she was a dragon was gobsmacking to say the least. Unfortunately though, she wasn't here now, despite all four of them yearning for her. With her around, failure was impossible to comprehend. Each of them had wished her luck when they'd parted. Angela and Emma missed their friend and captain awfully and often wondered where she was, what she was doing, and whether or not all of it was a lie, the whole 'lacrosse' thing, the 'let's be friends' thing, and the 'I can behave in any way I want' thing.
With signs of movement up ahead in the cool darkness, she pushed aside thoughts of her friend, instead choosing to fully focus on her family. If things went wrong, would they know what happened to her? Would her body ever be found? Would her part in the story of saving the planet ever be told?
Seconds later a low, guttural grunt from one of the dragons somewhere down towards the front signalled it was time to move out. Taking up their positions some way down the line of battle ready creatures, the four of them followed the gigantic beasts out into the darkness, unsure of what was to come, knowing that all they could do was their best. But would it be enough?
Following the dark, rocky corridor around a right hand bend that almost had them doubling back on themselves, Boba and Chewie stared straight ahead, while Han's head focused firmly on his razor sharp talons, as they approached a towering stone door, guarded by about a dozen deadly dark dragons.
"Password?" demanded the dragon in charge.
'Uh, oh,' all three of them thought at once, as the guards eyed them suspiciously.
"D... d... d... do y... y... you reaaallly think weeee've gooot time for th... th... th... this?" stuttered DomCon doing a great job of keeping in character.
"Password!" demanded the guard once again.
This was going to hell, and they hadn't even made it into the inner sanctum yet. If they had to fight here, they'd alert every single guard in the compound to their presence and the party would be over before it had even started. Worse still, those inside could potentially destroy the crystal node, foregoing any chance at all of letting the world know exactly what was going on.
'Calm,' thought Steel. 'Remain calm.'
As sweat dripped from places he wasn't even aware he had, Jar Man had a decision to make. Knowing only too well the importance of getting them inside, and exactly how much depended upon it, he took the biggest gamble of his life and, strolling up to the dragon in charge, mustered all the strength he had and hit him as hard as he could.
CRASH!
With almighty speed the guard hit the wall, sending chunks of masonry flying every which way. Instantly the others adopted fighting stances, drawing their weapons, readying their magic, prepared to attack at a moment's notice. Before they could, Jar Man let rip.
"You insolent little whelp! I should pull your head off and poo down your neck."
Dazed, barely able to think straight, it took everything for the dragon in charge to sit up straight.
"Don't you realise just who we have here? Look at him! Don't you know?"
Swallowing nervously, the dragon on the ground had at least for the time being lost control of events playing out around him.
"This is Steel... one of their most famous laminium ball players!"
"Ohhhhhhhh!!" came out of the mouths of two other guards, clearly a sign of recognition.
"And you know what that means?" continued Jar Man.
The dragon captain continued to look stumped.
"Laminium ball players are renowned for their aerial skill and dexterity. Almost certainly he's been sent to scout ahead, find out the full extent of our force and capability, before reporting back. With that being the case, time is of the essence, which I would have thought would have been plain to see. And you think I have time for passwords? I need to inform the hierarchy NOW! Not in an hour, not in thirty minutes, not in thirty seconds. NOW! Let me in immediately or you'll know the real meaning of the word suffering."
Steel was more than impressed with the strawberry blonde dragon he now thought of as Chewie. And so with Jar Man maintaining his facade of righteous anger, and DomCon continuing to snarl at the lot of them, they waited to see what the outcome of their outrageous bluff would be.
In less than five seconds they had their answer.
"WELL?" screamed the guard captain in the direction of those under his command. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? LET THEM IN!"
Lowering their lethal looking weapons, two dragons opened up a hidden control panel and began punching in two different sequences of numbers. On completion, a huge ROAR of stone on stone assaulted their ears as the giant door in front of them started to swing open. Maintaining their defiance, the two dragon friends marched their prisoner into the darkness beyond at their earliest opportunity.
Once the massive, eighty foot door had slammed closed behind them, making sure there was nobody within earshot, Steel turned around to face Jar Man.
"I love you!" he whispered, adding a conspiratorial wink for good measure.
"I know!" replied the strawberry blonde dragon hiding in human form.
DomCon chuckled.
44
Pain Relinquishing the Chain
Deep in the midst of the magical mayhem, three beings huddled together, concern for one of their number the prevailing feeling amongst them.
"Yooooouuuu muussssst coooome baaaack toooooo usssss," the snake-like voice hissed throughout his mind. "Everyyythiiinnnngg depeeeendsss upooon iiittttt!"
Still he ignored it. Not on purpose, but because he was lost... lost in his own misery, lost in his own family, lost in his own mind. Vasuki's words were little more than insignificant background noise playing out far away. As far as Fredric was concerned it meant less than nothing. The words themselves were barely recognisable against the backdrop of the grief that had stalked him during his time imprisoned in Antarctica, which had got a firm grip on him and was determined not to let go.
Rattling off a series of super powerful mantras in quick succession, George blasted a hole through the wing of one dark dragon sending it spiralling out of control, melted the sword and the hand grasping it off another, before electrocuting a bold naga who'd slithered out from behind the nearest stack of rubble, leaving a smoking and sparking corpse in its place. While not being truly tested, things were starting to heat up, in more ways than one. And he didn't dare glance over to his left and back across the magically recreated bridge. The last time he'd done that, he'd become hugely concerned at the numbers gathering on the far side of it. To his mind though, things were becoming a little, how should we put it... reckless. Covering for Vasuki's conversation with his best friend, he was having to cast mantra after mantra, and while he didn't feel particularly drained, having the ring back on his finger would at least have provided some reassurance in that department. But he'd only gone and blown it. Relationships had never been his thing... not with dragons, people, and most amusingly, not with inanimate objects. Complacency, it would seem, had bred failure. If he could have his time over again, he'd have done so many things differently. But what being wouldn't? Pushing the regret he felt to one side, a brief lull in the action enabled him to take in what was happening elsewhere within what was HIS private residence. Marvelling at the all encompassing shield that had sprung up around his rescuers, it was no surprise to find the beautiful, young former dragon, Richie Rump, powering it with what looked like Peter's, nay, Fredric's, laminium dagger. Wonders would never cease, he thought, turning his attention away from the shield. Across the way he could just, behind all the bloody battle chaos, make out Amelia Battlehard, a couple of the councillors and what remained of his guard, all putting up a staunch fight against what appeared to be overwhelming odds. Momentarily he wondered if he could help them. Realistically though, he knew he wasn't going to leave his friend, not having just found him after so long. As well, he knew what the guard captain was doing... drawing the enemies towards them and away from him, effectively buying him some more time. Deep down inside, he hoped it would be enough.