The night had fallen like a thick veil around Aldrion and Marcus saw close to nothing in the distance. There were two torches hanging by either side of the entrance to the army base, where his friends were sleeping inside. He stood outside in the cold, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. A new recruit in his squad, under Sergeant Tick’s command, stood guarding with him on the other side of the door.
Their thrilling task was to watch the night and if any unauthorized personnel walked up to them, they should deny them entry. But that never happened. What unauthorized fool would use the main entrance into an army base if they wanted to get in?
So far, Marcus had been tasked with running around the city and completing the obstacle course. But since that part of his basic training was drawing to an end, he was getting more advanced tasks, like guarding entrances during the night. Weapons training was starting soon and Marcus looked forward to learning something that felt more useful than discipline. Not falling asleep while standing and climbing the same wall over and over again felt useless after the recent attack.
He puffed out an exacerbated breath, and a small white cloud formed in front of his lips. He glanced over at his companion, seeing his eyelids droop for a second, then his entire body tensing. His back stiffened, and he regained consciousness.
Marcus thought this might be the most bored he had been in his life. He didn’t even have a watch or anything except for the sun to give him notice of when his duty would be over. So far, his entire watch had been in complete darkness, so he assumed it wasn’t time for him to be relieved yet.
A bell rang in the distance, and Marcus first thought he was imagining it out of sheer boredom. Then it rang louder, more furious, and Marcus’s head jerked up. His eyes roamed the night, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. His eyes wandered over to his companion, who seemed to look around him frantically and stomping his feet against the solid ground.
Marcus’ heart banged harder in his chest and his breath quickened. But nothing except the bells could be heard. Then a man came running with his sword drawn toward them and Marcus unsheathed his as well.
“What are you two doing?” the soldier yelled. “Wake up the base, you morons.”
Marcus caught the eye of his companion and sheathed his sword again. They both ran inside, banging on doors and screaming. They woke up the entire building fast and soon there were soldiers streaming out of the sleeping quarters, grabbing armor and weapons, running toward the eastern gate.
Marcus hadn’t seen Sergeant Tick, and he didn’t know if he was allowed to leave his post, so his companion and he went back to guarding the door leading into the army base. They stood there, holding up weapons and watching as flashes of light came from the wall and men were screaming.
Sergeant Tick ran out, with Leeroy and Catherine following him. They had on their padded uniforms and had swords drawn. The sergeant turned to face them outside and caught eyes with Marcus for a quick second.
“You two, stop guarding that door and come here,” he said, pointing at them.
Marcus gladly surrendered his post and ran up to the small group gathered around Sergeant Tick. He counted all ten from his squad and Marcus took his place between Leeroy and Catherine.
“This is a big one,” Sergeant Tick said. “Maybe the biggest one. I will need all of you to do your best. Your mission tonight is to gather up wounded and get them to the hospital by the western wall. If you pass any civilians, take them with you away from the eastern gate. And please, don’t get yourselves killed. Leave the fighting to the trained soldiers and focus on saving people. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” the squad said in unison.
Marcus sheathed his sword, a bit reluctantly. He wanted to fight. Ever since the last attack, he had felt like he finally understood the dragons. His destiny was to protect people. Before, protecting Mel had felt like the obvious solution to fulfilling his destiny. But now that he had been plopped into a war, he felt more and more like he needed to protect Aldrion from the beasts. That was his real destiny, fighting this ancient evil and saving the world.
He knew people mocked him for this, telling him he had a hero complex. But Marcus knew they didn’t understand. He was sure that if he could go to the chapel and speak to High Priest Alcon, he would tell him this was the time to fulfill his true destiny. This was his time to shine and protect Aldrion.
“Squad, move out!” Sergeant Tick yelled.
The soldiers moved out of the courtyard toward the eastern gate. Marcus felt his heart pounding in his chest from excitement, and he wanted to be in the battle this time. Not like last time, when he had waited it out in an alleyway with Mel.
He ran with Leeroy and Catherine, an unspoken communication between them to stick together. The other soldiers in the squad broke off into smaller groups, scouting for wounded. Catherine found a woman who looked like a civilian and seemed to have blood covering half her face.
Marcus brought his arm underneath the woman’s and Catherine did the same on her other side. Together, they helped her toward the hospital while Leeroy had his sword drawn, walking in front of them. The woman’s head dangled against Marcus’ shoulder and he felt she was out of it. Probably a hard blow toward her face had knocked her down.
They made it up to the hospital and dropped the woman down into a chair inside. Leeroy crouched in front of her and leaned his face in toward hers. He stroked her cheek with his hand and tried to meet her gaze. She looked at him for a second and Leeroy smiled at her. Then he stood up and turned toward Marcus and Catherine.
“One down, the rest of the city left,” he said.
Catherine shook her head and walked toward the exit. Marcus brought his arm around Leeroy, feeling a little winded from the walk up here with the woman. He took a couple of deep breaths, regaining his strength, and they headed back out into Aldrion.
On the street outside, people were running for their lives, screaming and waving their hands. It was a totally different scene from just a couple of minutes ago when they had gone into the hospital. Things seemed to have flipped around and gotten much worse in a matter of seconds.
Catherine, Leeroy, and Marcus looked at each other with haunted expressions on their faces. What was happening?
Then Marcus heard it, a loud growl in the sky. All of their gazes turned toward it and down by the gate, a massive bird circled the sky. It lit up from the center like glowing magma, filling its belly with fire.
Marcus’ heart stopped and his breath caught. It was beautiful and for a moment, his hands dropped to his sides and his back straightened. He felt alive. He was looking at a dragon.
The dragon made a turn in the sky and headed back toward a lane of houses by the wall. It turned its head and the glowing light inside its belly left the beast and fire spread out from its jaws, raining down on the buildings.
Marcus’ hand flew up toward the sky and he reached out to touch the dragon, far away in the distance. He wanted to command it, to say stop. But his mind couldn’t understand, couldn’t process what was happening. This was his God.
The dragon circled back toward them and a hand grabbed Marcus’ arm and dragged him away, into an alleyway. Marcus’ eyes were fixed on the sky and his mind had completely blocked out all sounds. He didn’t hear the bells, the screams or Leeroy yelling at him. All he heard was the flapping of heavy wings in the sky.
Marcus felt the cold from the stonewall piercing through his armor and spreading ice inside his limbs. His shoulder ached and his heart felt like a jumbled mess of quick beats and stops.
He looked around after Leeroy and Catherine, but they were nowhere to be found. They must have left him here in the alleyways among the civilians. Marcus walked toward the eastern gate. He drew his sword and kept his eyes on the ground.
His eyes searched for his friends, but he couldn’t find them. He saw soldiers everywhere, dead or soon to be. But none of them were Leeroy or Catherine. Marcus lifted his eyes to the sky, seeing the black dragon fly over him. His vision blurred and he felt his knees bend under his weight.
What was happening? Why did that thing in the sky have the shape of his gods?
Marcus’ eyes returned to the battle and he saw a beast standing on top of a soldier. Its front paws were on his chest and its teeth gleamed white in the night. Marcus walked up in a daze toward the monster and clutched his sword in two hands. He swung the blade at the beast's head and just as the gleaming metal hit its face; it looked at him.
Marcus felt power pumping in his veins, right until his sword caught on the hard neck of a muscular dark beast and he was brought face to face with his own inability. Marcus hadn’t even started weapons training and even though his body was in almost perfect physical condition, he had no experience at all in combat.
The beast snarled at him and shook off the blade, twisting its body away, and then jumped off the dead soldier on the ground. It was bleeding from the gash on its neck, but it wasn’t enough to bring it down. Marcus took a step back and brought up his sword again.
His breath puffed a white mist in front of his face and he felt like nothing else existed in this world except for the beast and him. It charged, jumping with speed and power at Marcus. He evaded, swinging his sword to the side, but dropping it in clumsy fingers. The beast caught his leg and it brought him down to the ground.
The beast’s weight snapped the leg, and Marcus felt a dazed emotion spread over him. Like someone had shot him full of energy. His leg was twisted at an unnatural angle and Marcus’ face felt hot. He watched the enemy snarl at him once more.
He swallowed, and his mind went to Melissa. Dragons save her.
Marcus heard a scream close by, like a battle cry and he saw a figure throwing herself at the beast. A sword glittered in the night and the beast fell on top of Marcus, its body going limp and heavy. Marcus groaned and pain finally shot out from his leg.
His eyes widened, and his stomach tightened.
“Get it off him,” Leeroy said.
A moment later, the beast was rolled off him by Leeroy and Catherine. They grabbed Marcus under each arm and even though Marcus’ entire body protested, he let them carry him to safety.
The night had fallen like a thick veil around Aldrion and Marcus saw close to nothing in the distance. There were two torches hanging by either side of the entrance to the army base, where his friends were sleeping inside. He stood outside in the cold, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. A new recruit in his squad, under Sergeant Tick’s command, stood guarding with him on the other side of the door.
Their thrilling task was to watch the night and if any unauthorized personnel walked up to them, they should deny them entry. But that never happened. What unauthorized fool would use the main entrance into an army base if they wanted to get in?
So far, Marcus had been tasked with running around the city and completing the obstacle course. But since that part of his basic training was drawing to an end, he was getting more advanced tasks, like guarding entrances during the night. Weapons training was starting soon and Marcus looked forward to learning something that felt more useful than discipline. Not falling asleep while standing and climbing the same wall over and over again felt useless after the recent attack.
He puffed out an exacerbated breath, and a small white cloud formed in front of his lips. He glanced over at his companion, seeing his eyelids droop for a second, then his entire body tensing. His back stiffened, and he regained consciousness.
Marcus thought this might be the most bored he had been in his life. He didn’t even have a watch or anything except for the sun to give him notice of when his duty would be over. So far, his entire watch had been in complete darkness, so he assumed it wasn’t time for him to be relieved yet.
A bell rang in the distance, and Marcus first thought he was imagining it out of sheer boredom. Then it rang louder, more furious, and Marcus’s head jerked up. His eyes roamed the night, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. His eyes wandered over to his companion, who seemed to look around him frantically and stomping his feet against the solid ground.
Marcus’ heart banged harder in his chest and his breath quickened. But nothing except the bells could be heard. Then a man came running with his sword drawn toward them and Marcus unsheathed his as well.
“What are you two doing?” the soldier yelled. “Wake up the base, you morons.”
Marcus caught the eye of his companion and sheathed his sword again. They both ran inside, banging on doors and screaming. They woke up the entire building fast and soon there were soldiers streaming out of the sleeping quarters, grabbing armor and weapons, running toward the eastern gate.
Marcus hadn’t seen Sergeant Tick, and he didn’t know if he was allowed to leave his post, so his companion and he went back to guarding the door leading into the army base. They stood there, holding up weapons and watching as flashes of light came from the wall and men were screaming.
Sergeant Tick ran out, with Leeroy and Catherine following him. They had on their padded uniforms and had swords drawn. The sergeant turned to face them outside and caught eyes with Marcus for a quick second.
“You two, stop guarding that door and come here,” he said, pointing at them.
Marcus gladly surrendered his post and ran up to the small group gathered around Sergeant Tick. He counted all ten from his squad and Marcus took his place between Leeroy and Catherine.
“This is a big one,” Sergeant Tick said. “Maybe the biggest one. I will need all of you to do your best. Your mission tonight is to gather up wounded and get them to the hospital by the western wall. If you pass any civilians, take them with you away from the eastern gate. And please, don’t get yourselves killed. Leave the fighting to the trained soldiers and focus on saving people. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” the squad said in unison.
Marcus sheathed his sword, a bit reluctantly. He wanted to fight. Ever since the last attack, he had felt like he finally understood the dragons. His destiny was to protect people. Before, protecting Mel had felt like the obvious solution to fulfilling his destiny. But now that he had been plopped into a war, he felt more and more like he needed to protect Aldrion from the beasts. That was his real destiny, fighting this ancient evil and saving the world.
He knew people mocked him for this, telling him he had a hero complex. But Marcus knew they didn’t understand. He was sure that if he could go to the chapel and speak to High Priest Alcon, he would tell him this was the time to fulfill his true destiny. This was his time to shine and protect Aldrion.
“Squad, move out!” Sergeant Tick yelled.
The soldiers moved out of the courtyard toward the eastern gate. Marcus felt his heart pounding in his chest from excitement, and he wanted to be in the battle this time. Not like last time, when he had waited it out in an alleyway with Mel.
He ran with Leeroy and Catherine, an unspoken communication between them to stick together. The other soldiers in the squad broke off into smaller groups, scouting for wounded. Catherine found a woman who looked like a civilian and seemed to have blood covering half her face.
Marcus brought his arm underneath the woman’s and Catherine did the same on her other side. Together, they helped her toward the hospital while Leeroy had his sword drawn, walking in front of them. The woman’s head dangled against Marcus’ shoulder and he felt she was out of it. Probably a hard blow toward her face had knocked her down.
They made it up to the hospital and dropped the woman down into a chair inside. Leeroy crouched in front of her and leaned his face in toward hers. He stroked her cheek with his hand and tried to meet her gaze. She looked at him for a second and Leeroy smiled at her. Then he stood up and turned toward Marcus and Catherine.
“One down, the rest of the city left,” he said.
Catherine shook her head and walked toward the exit. Marcus brought his arm around Leeroy, feeling a little winded from the walk up here with the woman. He took a couple of deep breaths, regaining his strength, and they headed back out into Aldrion.
On the street outside, people were running for their lives, screaming and waving their hands. It was a totally different scene from just a couple of minutes ago when they had gone into the hospital. Things seemed to have flipped around and gotten much worse in a matter of seconds.
Catherine, Leeroy, and Marcus looked at each other with haunted expressions on their faces. What was happening?
Then Marcus heard it, a loud growl in the sky. All of their gazes turned toward it and down by the gate, a massive bird circled the sky. It lit up from the center like glowing magma, filling its belly with fire.
Marcus’ heart stopped and his breath caught. It was beautiful and for a moment, his hands dropped to his sides and his back straightened. He felt alive. He was looking at a dragon.
The dragon made a turn in the sky and headed back toward a lane of houses by the wall. It turned its head and the glowing light inside its belly left the beast and fire spread out from its jaws, raining down on the buildings.
Marcus’ hand flew up toward the sky and he reached out to touch the dragon, far away in the distance. He wanted to command it, to say stop. But his mind couldn’t understand, couldn’t process what was happening. This was his God.
The dragon circled back toward them and a hand grabbed Marcus’ arm and dragged him away, into an alleyway. Marcus’ eyes were fixed on the sky and his mind had completely blocked out all sounds. He didn’t hear the bells, the screams or Leeroy yelling at him. All he heard was the flapping of heavy wings in the sky.
Marcus felt the cold from the stonewall piercing through his armor and spreading ice inside his limbs. His shoulder ached and his heart felt like a jumbled mess of quick beats and stops.
He looked around after Leeroy and Catherine, but they were nowhere to be found. They must have left him here in the alleyways among the civilians. Marcus walked toward the eastern gate. He drew his sword and kept his eyes on the ground.
His eyes searched for his friends, but he couldn’t find them. He saw soldiers everywhere, dead or soon to be. But none of them were Leeroy or Catherine. Marcus lifted his eyes to the sky, seeing the black dragon fly over him. His vision blurred and he felt his knees bend under his weight.
What was happening? Why did that thing in the sky have the shape of his gods?
Marcus’ eyes returned to the battle and he saw a beast standing on top of a soldier. Its front paws were on his chest and its teeth gleamed white in the night. Marcus walked up in a daze toward the monster and clutched his sword in two hands. He swung the blade at the beast's head and just as the gleaming metal hit its face; it looked at him.
Marcus felt power pumping in his veins, right until his sword caught on the hard neck of a muscular dark beast and he was brought face to face with his own inability. Marcus hadn’t even started weapons training and even though his body was in almost perfect physical condition, he had no experience at all in combat.
The beast snarled at him and shook off the blade, twisting its body away, and then jumped off the dead soldier on the ground. It was bleeding from the gash on its neck, but it wasn’t enough to bring it down. Marcus took a step back and brought up his sword again.
His breath puffed a white mist in front of his face and he felt like nothing else existed in this world except for the beast and him. It charged, jumping with speed and power at Marcus. He evaded, swinging his sword to the side, but dropping it in clumsy fingers. The beast caught his leg and it brought him down to the ground.
The beast’s weight snapped the leg, and Marcus felt a dazed emotion spread over him. Like someone had shot him full of energy. His leg was twisted at an unnatural angle and Marcus’ face felt hot. He watched the enemy snarl at him once more.
He swallowed, and his mind went to Melissa. Dragons save her.
Marcus heard a scream close by, like a battle cry and he saw a figure throwing herself at the beast. A sword glittered in the night and the beast fell on top of Marcus, its body going limp and heavy. Marcus groaned and pain finally shot out from his leg.
His eyes widened, and his stomach tightened.
“Get it off him,” Leeroy said.
A moment later, the beast was rolled off him by Leeroy and Catherine. They grabbed Marcus under each arm and even though Marcus’ entire body protested, he let them carry him to safety.
