Tom stood swaying on his feet, looking about the room like a late night drunkard who had lost his friends. It was hard to say what took the greater toll, the armor or the fighting. He felt sick. And he had a splitting headache.

Nothing was moving anymore. No more had come. Only broken bodies remained as he stood panting. Glancing to his armored hands, they wore a coat of blood and gore. His sword was in here somewhere, he didn’t know where.

Swords don’t melt… or run out of bullets. Didn’t help if you dropped it.

“Tom, we need to go. Come on,” a male voice spoke from behind him, calm and collected.

“Why? I am still here… I am always still here.”

“Yes, you should be somewhere else. Come on, we are going up to the next floor. Maiko’s orders.”

“It isn’t fair.”

“Tom, we’re fighting, no one fights fair. Didn’t you say that was for suckers?”

“We stood here together… She’s dead. I’m not… She was a mother.”

“Who, Essy?” the male voice questioned, sounding confused.

Tom turned to glare at him. “SHE WAS A MOTHER! AND THE FATHER IS DOWNSTAIRS! IS HE STILL HERE?!” he shouted, spittle coating the inside of his helmet as he clenched his fists. Raulf tried to answer. “IS HE!?”

“She isn’t dead, Tom,” the farmer replied quite calmly as he stood with his rifle held low. “She will be fine.”

Tom blinked. “But she… she wasn’t breathing.”

“Thank the gods you are a terrible healer, Tom. She was breathing fine. Now let’s go. I am a father, too. I would like to hold my children again.”

Tom stood motionless for a moment longer, swaying with exhaustion. “Yes sir,” he all but whispered, before putting one foot before another. He picked up his rifle on the way out as the farmer tried to hurry him along. “What do we do now?”

“You are gonna tell me what the fuck happened!” the very loud voice of Jackalope answered as she appeared in the hallway. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“… What the what?” Tom answered in a daze looking at her blankly. Things weren’t making sense. She had died, Essy had died. Because of him. It had to be because of him… somehow. Was Raulf lying? Was she really fine? Could he just be hallucinating the whole thing again?

Jackalope’s demeanor changed quickly from anger to worry. “Are you okay? Is he okay?” she demanded, redirecting her question to Raulf as she stepped up grabbing Tom by the shoulders and starting to inspect him.

“Don’t worry Jacky. He is fine. Just a little dazed. Please, would you hold the door? We have to go. There is a hole in the wall, might have more coming soon. Then go with Maiko.”

“No, ain’t no way. I am not leaving him here again. I TOLD you all what happens when I do.”

“Please Jacky, they need you. He needs a moment to rest. There is a knight down there.” Raulf reiterated, sounding all but pleading.

It did have some effect, Jackalope’s posture loosening a touch.

“Please Jacky. We need you.”

“Fine… I’ll skin you if something happens to him. I don’t care that you’ve got kids.” She finally relented, though she made to inspect Tom for injuries, lifting his arms and pacing around him. 

“I think I am fine… No holes,” Tom stated halfheartedly. He felt so damn tired, so… defeated. He didn’t even know if he was lying. He just needed to sit down.

“Right… Hurry up then. I will be up later,” she said with clear reluctance, standing aside, slack-eared. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay with you, don’t make me regret it a second time.”

“We’re both still here… as long as it’s both,” Tom said, mustering a weak smile for her before he felt Raulf pulling on him.

“I would prefer all still here. We do what Maiko says. They got a nasty bugger in the basement. Best give him some room to work. Come on now, Quin needs a look at you,” the older farmer went, guiding him out the door. “Listen, you don’t have any more of the things for my gun, right?”

“No… And it is getting quiet… We must be running out completely by now.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

---

“Two terrors chasing, I see two more over there uhm… seven o’clock. They are climbing fast. Do we lead them on?” Ray shouted over the wind, Radexi straining his eyes against the darkness. He couldn’t see a damn thing. He laid back down flat to Jarix’s back. 

“Yes, we do another circle. I want to know where that red bastard is and they will tell us. Keep climbing, he is likely setting up for intercept. They will try to herd us to him,” Zarko called out, Jarix carrying on, ever upwards.

None of them had ever fought a shadowdrake. But they had trained against dragons with mages aboard, and Shiva had told them about Rashan’s tricks. They had to expect illusions and invisibility spells. The only way they could fight that was to run the dragon dry. And who knew how long that could take.

“If he is setting up an intercept, can I slow down?” the panting Jarix asked betwixt breaths as he flew. Soon they would have been on the wing for sixteen hours today. They were exhausted, a nd their opposition had likely only done half that.

“Let’s try it. The more time he spends hiding the better.”

‘Until he catches up and swoops us unseen,’ Radexi thought to himself. He didn’t say anything. They all knew it. The only other thing they could do was fly far, far away. ‘If it was good weather and sunny, at least we would have a chance. Here there is none.’

As they flew, they received one blessing. The clouds above parted, letting the moonlight through.

Radexi watched his gun glimmer in the moonlight, shiny polished steel. Should they find something to smudge it with? Any other time, Shiva would have ripped his arm off for that… Right now he didn’t care.

What if they saw the glinting in the night?

“Zarko, the gun. It’s shiny. The moonlight.”

“We can’t do anything about it. Hope it is not enough they can avoid using magic to see us.”

“How long do you think he has if he’s running two or three spells at the same time?” Jarix questioned, breathing easing a touch as he slowed his pace.

“No idea. An old bastard like him, who knows what dark blessings he’s got.”

Jarix didn’t respond, Radexi leaning round to try and see the dragon’s head. It was swaying side to side. Likely scanning in the hope they might see death coming for them.

He patted Jarix’s side with one hand. ‘It’ll be alright, the gods watch over us tonight.’

Silence held for some time, save for Ray giving updates on bearings and ranges. She too sounded exhausted. Her magic wouldn’t last forever either. Zarko gave her one of the boiled sweets that had been passed around. They were nowhere near as good as Tom’s own, but they were sweet and convenient. The darklings didn’t have anything like that, that was for sure.

“What’s that down there?” Jarix questioned as they came around, climbing over another group of terrors trying to get up to their altitude.

“What is what?” Zarko questioned, as they all leaned over the side to look down, hoping to see anything at all.

“Something glinting on the ground, looks strange. One o’clock.”

“I see it,” Ray said, gaining their attention as she strained her eyes. “It… It’s a big crystal,” she answered with bewilderment. “I have never seen anything like that before.”

“Big crystals in the middle of nowhere for seemingly no reason? I’ve seen that before,” Jarix replied with a hint of optimism which certainly confused Radexi.

“What, where?”

“There is a white out here somewhere. And I bet you Rashan doesn’t fly with no white dragon.”

“Why the hell would there suddenly be a white dragon around, that makes no sense at all,” Zarko countered. She too was now scanning the distant ground beneath them. Even a regular dragonette shouldn’t have a hard time making out a white dragon in moon light.

“Tom’s guest, must be. The little dragon, remember the claw marks in the hall,” Jarix replied, hope growing stronger in his voice. They might not be alone out here.

“The child is going to get himself killed. They cannot have any idea what is going on here,” Zarko rebuked, clearly far less optimistic.

“More to the point, where are they? I don’t see shit. Maybe they’ve been painted, or they are hiding.”

“That would certainly be a first. Who knows out here? Jarix, eyes low. Ray, eyes high. If they have any sense they are in the air somewhere.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ray replied, Radexi scanning the horizon.

‘Come on, just need a spec of white somewhere. Can’t be that hard to find.’

“JARIX ROLL RIGHT!” Ray screamed, everyone hunkering down as Jarix twisted like a snake midair before throwing himself to the side. 

---

‘Fuck me,’ was the only thought that passed through the dragon’s mind as he saw the massive pitch black dragon come hurtling past, diving down from above. 

Rashan reached out a clawed hand, missing its mark by less than a meter as the enormous dragon could not change course fast enough. A perfectly timed juke by total accident, Ray had probably just saved his life.

Almost as terrifying, Rashan hadn’t used his breath weapon. They might want him alive. Or his crew.

“AFTER HIM!” Zarko bellowed as Rashan slipped away into the night beneath them. 

Jarix carried on his roll, inverting, then pulled into a dive to give chase. He could never catch the larger dragon in a dive. The red seemed to know that. He didn’t go invisible again, if he ever had been. Zarko turned on the light to help illuminate his target: Jarix had a shot.

He drew breath, feeling it build in his throat. Tighter and tighter as he concentrated on his target, visualizing the shot, leading the target just a little. He might only get one chance. Then he let loose the bolt of blue light.

It streaked across the sky, flying true. Then it exploded well short. “Dammit!”

“Must be the mage, give chase. Let him get your six if you can!” Zarko ordered. “Radexi, ready that weapon!”

Same plan once more. It had worked on the night terrors. Maybe it would work again. Jarix hammered away, trying to close.

Rashan did not go invisible again, instead pulling up and starting to come around. Jarix didn’t put in the work to close. Instead he saved his strength and let the larger drake get the better of him.

At this point it wasn’t even wholly deceptive. He was exhausted. His shoulders burned, his back ached, and he didn’t know how many shots he had left, but it wasn’t many.

“He is taking the bait. Steady Jarix, he will be expecting us to reverse the turn.”

Jarix did not reply, he knew the plan. This must be what Grevi felt like during all the training matches. 

“Four… Three… Two… One… NOW!” Zarko ordered and Jarix rolled left to level his wings and put on a modicum of extra speed. Rashan knew how long he had been flying, and the former red would not be surprised by the lack of pace.

“Here they come, one hundred meters.” 

“Radexi, wait till thirty, then you send the whole belt. Do not let go of the trigger, no matter what.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Eighty meters, he seems eager,” Ray spoke with worry in her voice.

Jarix spared a glance back under his belly. meeting the pair of deep red eyes staring him down as Rashan raced to catch him. He looked deranged, unhinged. Like someone chasing an obsession, not a target. It made a chill run down his spine. 

“Fifty meters, he’s getting mighty close!”

“Steady now everyone. Steady.” Zarko spoke with forceful calm as Jarix looked back ahead. He didn’t need to act whatsoever to seem like a panicked dragon trying his best to fly away as he put on more speed, willing himself forward.

‘Why don’t they make those sweets in dragon size?’

“Thirty m-”

Ray was not allowed to finish. Radexi opened fire, one long continuous burst hammering out into the night. Jarix could feel the mount push into his back with every round. He dropped his tail hoping that would protect it from the worst of it. And he prayed that it would work.

---

“So this is their weapon,” Rashan mused as he watched the fiery darts deflect off into the night quite harmlessly. “Well done, Gehenna. You were right, we should not burn this.”

“Thank you, my liege,” the witch chuckled as she maintained the spell, ordinarily meant for arrows and even ballista bolts in the hands of a master. With his Gehenna even this ancient relic proved no match. “Shall we see what they know?”

“Indeed we shall.” He spoke with confidence, his worries brushed aside. Ordinarily he would have trusted in his armor, but that wicked wench of a black had destroyed much of it. And the blue had dared shoot at him, twice now.

But the blue was tired, it was clear for anyone to see. He had been fighting and flying all day, and he was young. He lacked the endurance of his betters. He had been right not to let the terrors claim the satisfaction. He required vengeance for the day’s humiliation, and he would have it.

They both put on a faster pace as the climax of battle approached. An even better result than his failed ambush might have achieved. The blue would be run ragged knowing death would catch him soon.

He would have the relic and those feckless crew who clambered about the blue even now. If they had fled for their lives they may even have lived. Instead they would slow their friend into his jaws.

He just needed to grasp that tail. The weapon kept pounding away, providing an excellent beacon to follow. He had required Gehenna’s assistance to locate the blackened young dragon in the night, but now she was free to concentrate on her craft.

It was evidently no mean feat, he could feel the strain the spell was taking. Best be quick before he wound up as exhausted as the youngling.

He pushed forward into the onslaught, closing the range. He could almost taste his target. He was surprised the little blue didn’t attempt to break off into some tight maneuver. Perhaps he had simply accepted his fate, or trusted they would overpower his mage.

“What is that?” Gehenna said with her usual curiosity. Rashan saw nothing of interest and was about to ask when hellfire exploded naught but a few meters off his right flank. He felt the heat along his side and the mage’s draw increased three times over. It all but knocked the breath from him.

“No!”

Then another, to his left and behind him, where the spell did not cover. Red hot metal shards peppered what remained of his armor, some finding the cracks and burrowing into his flesh. He roared in pain.

“Bombs! I can’t, my liege. It wont!” Hearing his dear Gehenna’s voice laden with panic made his blood run cold. 

She was the greatest mage he ever knew. She could keep him safe, it was her job. It was why he kept her close. A third bomb exploded before his face and the spell drew once again. Then it broke, like a sewing thread in careless hands. 

“Evade!” she screamed, as the burning darts pounded against his corroded scales.

His heavy frame felt slow to respond in the face of such an onslaught. He almost had the youngling. He was so close. Too close. Flaring his wings to slow made him an easy target. They hammered against his chest, punching holes with ease, blood welling in his throat.

The pain. He hadn’t felt pain like it in years. He was a god. This was a whelp. How could this happen?! 

---

“KEEP ON HIM!” Zarko bellowed as Radexi held the trigger down. Every couple of rounds the gun all but took his breath away. His vision blurred as he did his job. He kept on firing at the black silhouette illuminated by the muzzle flash. “LET HIM HAVE IT!”

Then click. He looked down, ready to clear a jam on nothing by instinct. But there was none. The belt was gone. “Reloading!” he tried to shout. He barely managed to raise his voice as he opened the top cover.

“Jarix, about right, hard turn. He is hurt badly. Pursuit.”

“On it, on it!” the dragon replied, wheeling about in much the same way as the red had done. The bombs had worked. One mage one spell. You couldn’t protect against everything at once. “Did we get the mage?”

“I don’t know. We hit him many times!” Ray added, sounding winded too. Perhaps it was just the excitement.

‘I hit Rashan, I hit Rashan,’ Radexi thought to himself, joy and pride welling up inside him as he affixed the second to last box. They had done what so many garrisons had failed to do. What the Furlongs had failed to do. They hurt the beast. And they were going to kill him. Jarix and his crew would be legends for centuries to come.

“Yes, he cannot outrun us now!”

“He can on the dive,” Jarix disagreed as he folded up and plummeted from the skies towards the ground, their quarry lurking somewhere in the darkness below. “If he has a crew I bet you they are ramming potions down his throat.”

‘Do your job, Jarix flies. Do your job, Jarix flies,’ Radexi repeated to himself as he struggled with the gun.

The maneuvers threw him side to side before they settled into the dive. It was delicate work, and with the wind roaring he slammed the cover down and pulled on the handle. He couldn’t pull it back. He didn’t have the strength. It didn’t even make it halfway back.

“Zarko. Help,” he squeaked. His chest heaved for breath. She would never hear him over the wind. He stared helplessly at the gun, barrel glowing faintly in the night. Their trump card, useless, because he was a scrawny wimp. Because he was letting them down.

“He is going for the keep,” Jarix informed them, his booming voice carrying easily.

“Two terrors front, he is running to help!” Ray added with worry in her tone.

Radexi stared at the blasted handle. ‘Come on you bastard!’ He braced his feet against the mounting and he grasped with both hands. And he heaved. “Come on you bitch!”

“Going under!” Jarix called out, and Radexi went weightless once again. A familiar feeling, but he was not holding on to the harness. Lifting from his seat, the handle pulled him forwards, and with the rushing wind, his fate was sealed.

Up and over the gun, he was flung into the night.

“SHIIIIT!”

---

“Big guy is back. Think he got the blue, what was he called again?” Nick questioned from their hiding spot. They couldn’t see much, but the torchlight from the keep made it clear there was quite some commotion in the enemy camp.

“Keep your voice down, quiet. The bat things hear good, remember?” Elsara snapped back, keeping one eye on the dark sky. The moon was still visible which meant they weren’t going anywhere for the moment. And the big bats were circling around above, they might not see one getting too close ’till it was too late.

“You’re talking too.”

“I’m quieter than you.”

“Well I’m smarter.”

“I ain’t the one who caught feelings about a damn book. But noooo, that was clearly important or something. And the nice scaleless freak wouldn’t be happy we took it. What was he gonna do, put another curse on us? This is a fucking battle, Nick. We shouldn’t be here. Even dunked in mud this is fucking dangerous.”

“We gotta help them, Elsa. There’s no one back at the other keep. This gotta be everyone on the whole island.”

“I fail to see how that’s our problem… We only wanted to stop by for any leftovers that other place might have to sell… And all we have to do is tell someone that shit got fucked here. We ain’t gotta fight nobody. Not our job.”

“But we don’t know if they are still alive, they might be in there.”

“Yeah…Too late now, we’re stuck here… What’s your next brilliant idea?”

“Well they seem very busy with the keep. They will try again, just wait and see. The ones giving orders will go away again I’m sure. Maybe some more clouds will roll in.”

“You don’t think they are a bit worried about the big mound of ice where their vargulfs used to be? And what if they lose anyway? They’ll hunt us forever.”

“I mean… I hope not.”

“Fucking wonderful.”

“… What’s that sound?” Elsara shut the fuck up at that, pushing up tighter against the dragon’s side. He had the good ears; she couldn’t hear a damn thing. “WINGS! FUCK FUCK FUCK!”

---

“Number three reports they have driven off the blue and two is chasing him out. It will have to do,” Lucera relayed calmly. 

He could not afford to get heated right now, however much he wished to berate the grown ass dragon with a legendary mage and night terrors for support for somehow losing an aerial duel to a tired, bewildered youngster. It was hardly the first time the dragon’s mess had required cleaning up. 

“I want that whelp dead!” Rashan sneered at the knight, who was trying his best to keep this hopeless situation from disintegrating completely. The casualties they had suffered were crippling. Even should they take and turn the whole keep, they would never recover even half their strength. But at the least they should seek to replenish their knights and witches.

“I doubt that shall happen, unless you make him heel. We must take the keep. Bring them to order with hostages. We are inside, above and below. Their center still holds.”

“THE BASTARD THREW A LANCE AT ME!” Kalesi screamed with outrage. “And she stopped my attack with a shield. They have a dragon mage!”

“So it would seem. Perhaps more than one. Not to mention a third dragon,” Lucera relayed, passing on the most troubling news. “They have a white as well. It attacked our camp. We lost further reserves.”

“How is this possible! A white would never fight at night,” Rashan stated with contempt, as if he did not believe his chosen commander.

“I would suspect stealth, which means yet another mage. Or they are in possession of some sort of ice bomb or weapon: it may well be a ruse. Regardless, the terrors are looking for them. If we find them, they may prove a valuable and vulnerable piece.”

“And what will you do if you find ’em, Lucy?” Kalesi questioned with a degree of derision ordinarily reserved for the heirs of high nobility. “Poke it with your little stick?”

“They have avoided battle whilst their friends bear the brunt. They have had many good opportunities. They are scared, rightly so or otherwise. It may be a very young dragon indeed. I recommend capture. And sire, we must break their center. May you still fight?”

Kalesi grumped as Rashan stared at him with indignance. He may well be about to meet his end, should the dragon decide to swipe. The shadowdrake looked terrible, freshly healed holes pockmarking his chest, what remained of his armor charred and dented. Everything was covered in caked-on blood. 

Despite Gehenna’s efforts and what he must assume to be much of their potion supply, blood still dripped to the ground from Rashan’s  chest. Ordinarily he would have expected the dragon to run by now, ordering them to cover his retreat. The powers that be must have been quite clear on the consequences should they fail.

“The black dragon, yes?” Rashan questioned, tone low and threatening.

“Indeed.”

“I cut her fucking foot off, and the lancers got her good. She’s an easy kill. Get her and we got them!” Kalesi added, hopefully accurately, but likely not.

“I will deal with her,” the dragon declared, standing proud, if only for appearance’s sake. “Gehenna, are you ready?”

“Y-yes sir.”

Lucera raised an eyeridge. The bubbly personality was gone, she showed fear. They had faced something unlike anything before seen. Even when Rashan turned cowardly, she never did. His thoughts turned briefly to flight… Should Rashan die, he would inherit command, at least for some time. The treasonous thoughts made his armor tickle the back of his mind, a reminder that sent a shiver down his spine.

He showed nothing. His master’s fate would be his own. He would carry on the task should it fall to him. He was loyal. Loyal to the cause. 

“Kill her, cut them in half. Then squeeze. The terrors hold the skies. We can spend no more,” the knight declared, looking to Gehenna. They may be replaceable, but not in such numbers nor swiftly. “I will find and capture that white. Perhaps it may persuade any holdouts to surrender. Should number two be successful in driving off the blue, the keep will not know he is alive. They may believe they have lost all three of their dragons.”

“With their spirit broken the oracle may break as well. It is clear which side they have taken. I will crush every dear friend they have made till they yield.”

Before the dragon could launch into some grand speech about the injustice of their foes’ obstinance to his grandeur, a screech was heard. A night terror, circling low. One looking for the unwelcome guests that had attacked them from behind. 

“It would appear we have found something… Go, I shall deal with this. Take their center, or this battle may be lost.”