Defenders of Kron - The Black Dragon (25 page)

Belster and Aaron were the first to fight. Belster was ready with his bow that was pointed towards Aaron. He shot an arrow at Aaron, the arrow came so fast that Aaron lost his balance and fell onto his knees. Belster laughed and shot another arrow at him, but this time Aaron struck the arrow with his sword. After that, Belster shot many arrows at Aaron nonstop as if he wanted to hurt him. Alfadon, Dan and Ony looked tensed. Aaron was continuously dodging the arrows. He suddenly realized that he had learnt and was using a new move which was about speed and absolute presence of mind.

Dan was happy to see Aaron learn so fast.

“Stop” said Alfadon.

“It’s enough. Time for the next contender. Belster, I have to remind you, you are helping them train.” Alfadon sharpened his eyes as if he was warning Belster.

Jane got up but Belster interrupted “Let the boy come next” pointing to Flynn.

Everyone was looking at Flynn now. As he got up trembling, he knew that he might end up getting badly hurt today. There was no way that he could fight the lightening fast arrows with his small knives. He walked into the arena. All eyes were fixed on him.

Belster and Flynn stood facing each other for some time.

“How are you going to protect yourself now boy?” Belster asked as he shot an arrow towards Flynn that barely missed his left ear. Flynn moved to the side and looked at Alfadon.  But Alfadon just sat in his chair and didn’t say anything.

“Defend yourself!” said Belster as he took another aim at Flynn.

Flynn fumbled on the knives. He picked four knifes and threw them at Belster. But before it could reach Belster, he shot the arrow towards Flynn. The arrow pieced Flynn’s arms and he fell down with a scream.

“Hold your arrows Belster” Alfadon said loudly which stopped Belster from shooting another arrow at Flynn.

Aaron and Jane immediately came to Help Flynn. Dan and Ony came forward too.

“If such weaklings are among us, it is better if they die during the training than while facing the real Evil” Belster said as he walked away.

Ony ran into the palace and came back with some herbs and dressing to tie Flynn’s wound. Dan broke the arrow and pulled it out of Flynn’s arm. Flynn gave out another loud cry. The arrow had left a deep wound in his arm. Ony covered the wound soon with the bandages and Aaron helped Flynn stand up.

As they were walking into the palace, the sky suddenly became dark and kept becoming darker as the night. The pleasant wind turned into a heavy storm. There were lightening in the sky, everywhere.

“What’s going on?” Jane asked looking around.

Alfadon looked up at the sky. “Mordok” he said “Thodin, prepare your army.  The enemy has attacked” he shouted.

Thodin hurried back in. It was very hard to stand in one place, everything was flying around. Even plants were getting uprooted.

“Everyone, inside now” screamed Ony.

They ran till they were safe inside the palace walls. They closed the doors and windows behind them.

Alfadon, Dan and Ony left with king Thodin, leaving Aaron, Flynn and Jane in one of the safe chambers.

“Can you see what’s going on outside?” asked Flynn holding onto his arm. Jane looked outside the window and backed off immediately.

“There are thousands of them, outside the gates” she said.

“Thousands of whom?” Flynn asked looking at Jane.

Chapter 23

The Black Dragon

“Lurgs!” Jane looked at Aaron who had the same horror on his face as she did.

“We have to keep Brandon safe. Jane can you bring him here now?” Aaron asked.

Jane nodded and ran out to fetch Brandon. There was a big rush in the halls and almost every room in the palace. The maids and servants were scared out of their wits; they were trying to find places to hide. The soldiers were armored and were getting last minute instructions in the common room. Jane slipped into Brandon’s room. Brandon was awake and was playing with a bunny.

“Brandon, we have to leave now” said Jane.

Brandon got up and asked “Why? It’s still play time”

“Brandon, it’s not safe here. I will take you to Aaron. Come quick” Jane pulled a small jacket from the wardrobe and put it on Brandon. Then she carefully took him out of the room holding his hands tight. As they were back in the halls, Jane spotted Ony.

“Ony, over here” she shouted holding Brandon tightly amongst all the rush.

“We can help you. Let us fight too” said Jane.

“No, none of you are trained for this yet” said Ony keeping one hand on Jane’s head for a second.
“Besides, they are dangerous and ruthless”

“But there are thousands of them. How will you defeat them?” Jane asked.

“We will see about that. Just stay inside at any cost and take care of the boys” Ony said and rushed away.

Jane sighed and walked to the chamber upstairs where Aaron and Flynn were waiting. Brandon was delighted to see Aaron.

“Aaron, what’s going on? Why is everybody running?” Brandon asked.

For a moment Aaron didn’t know how to explain all this to a little boy. He took a deep breath, he knew Brandon has to know everything if he is going to be involved.

“Brandon, look” Aaron picked him in his arms and stood near the window. Bandon saw the army of Lurgs outside, waiting to attack them.

“Those are bad men, they threw me into that nasty place with the big spiders” saying this, Brandon jumped off Aaron’s arms and hid behind Jane.

“Yes Brandon, they have come to fight with this kingdom. I want you to be safe. You should be here in this chamber and should not go out.” Aaron told Brandon pulling him from behind Jane.

“Will you be here with me too?” asked Brandon.

“No, I have to go and help the others” said Aaron.

“You can’t go out, none of us can. Ony asked us to stay out of the fight. We are not yet train for this” Jane said.

“I cannot just sit here while they fight, they need all the help they can get. And I think I can take down a few Lurgs” Aaron said as he checked his sword.

“You are too precious to lose to Lurgs Aaron” Alfadon said as he entered the room.

They turned back to look at him.

“I cannot just sit here, that will be cowardly” said Aaron.

“I understand your concern, but there are very skilled men out there who will take care of it for now. You have a very important job to do. You are in charge of destroying the Evil from inside. You are not to go to battle son, we have many warriors for that” said Alfadon.

Aaron understood what Alfadon meant. There were many soldiers who can go to war but the Defenders were meant to do a very specialized job that the other warriors can never do.

“What about the others? What if something happens to them?” asked Aaron.

“Nothing can happen to them Aaron. They have been fighting the Lurgs for ages now” said Alfadon.

Before Aaron could say anything more, a loud roar suddenly broke their attention.

“What was that?” asked Flynn as he held on to the chair he was sitting on.
Alfadon looked outside the window.“Mordok” he said grumpily.

“Mordok, the Dark Wizard who killed my mother?” asked Aaron with rage in his eyes. “I will not spare him” Aaron said and ran out of the chamber flinging the door open.

“Aaron stop! Mordok is dangerous, you will get yourself killed” Alfadon yelled, but Aaron had gone already.

Jane followed Aaron in an attempt to stop him, but Aaron was mad with rage. He wanted revenge for his mothers’ murder. He reached the open terrace. He could see the huge army of Lurgs outside the palace gates. There were more pouring in. The army of the Giants too was ready at the closed gate. But they were much lesser in number compared to the Lurgs.

Dan was leading the army with Ony by his side. Belster was on the high terrace ready with his bow and arrows. Thodin was standing on the open terrace with few of his ministers and looking down at the armies. Bo was there too. The army of the Giants was waiting for Dan’s order, and Dan, was waiting for the King’s signal.

The Lurgs were stumping and thumping their feet. They carried blunt swords, spears and shields. It seemed like they had no intention to go back. They wanted to fight and had no regards for their own lives. Aaron could see that the ugliest Lurg was commanding the lurg army. There was no life in his eyes. It looked as if, he was brought back from the dead and his only mission was to kill. The shouts and grunts of the Lurgs became louder and louder. They were now approaching the gates of the palace.

Aaron looked around, the beautiful city of Arktor was uprooted, and there were ruins everywhere. The Lurgs had left the city destroyed and in pieces. The beautiful gardens were now trampled and were a mess. The roads and pretty fountains were all broken. The city was beyond recognition. Aaron felt a rage, how can they destroy something so beautiful? Thodin was looking at the same. His heart ached. The beautiful land of Arktor was destroyed in a few moments.

Thodin worried about his men who were to fight against the ruthless Lurgs. The Lurgs never had any rules for fighting. They never showed any mercy. They were bred to kill. Thodin took a deep breath before he finally signaled Dan to attack. Aaron stood there as Dan commanded the army to get their axes and their swords ready. Jane stood next to Aaron. They heard the roar again, but still couldn’t see anything.

The gates of the palace were opened and the army of Giants came out pouring. They screamed the name of Arktor and their king Thodin. Dan stayed back with his sword lifted high. When all of the soldiers were out of the gate, Dan and Ony joined them. Belster shot many arrows at the Lurgs from the high roof.

Aaron could see how the Giants penetrated the Lurg army. The Giants were now fighting among the Lurgs. The Giant soldiers were only slightly bigger than the Lurgs. But they were thrashing the Lurgs in the numbers. The Lurgs started to fall down dead and beheaded. The shields of the Lurgs were useless against the Giants, the Lurgs were getting crushed under their own shields. But the Lurgs were swifter than the Giants. They were hitting the Giants with their swords and their spears.

The Giants seemed to have gained control over the Lurgs. They had already killed hundreds of Lurgs. Each Giant soldier was taking down five or six Lurgs at a time. Dan joined in and was helping the Giants. He rode on his horse and killed many Lurgs who were unprepared for a man on a horse. But soon, Dan was circled by a group of Lurgs whom he was slaying one by one. More Lurgs came to complete the circle around Dan as the Lurgs fell.

Finally, Ony joined in, swearing and holding two axes in both hands. He was fast with the axes as he swung them to and fro. With one stroke, he was able to get two Lurgs. He was fast too. A big pile of Lurgs lay in front of him. Few Lurgs ran away seeing Ony and his axes and he ran behind them. Belster remained on the roof and was now joined by some of the Giant’s archers. Many Lurgs fell dead by their arrows.

Bo threw a few red balls onto the Lurgs which exploded on impact. The Lurgs fell far apart, Ony saluted Bo from the battle ground in appreciation.

Thodin was very happy now thinking about how well his soldiers were performing. He cheered for them. The Lurgs were finally loosing, their numbers had thinned. Now, Aaron could see the Giants more clearly, fighting the Lurgs.

Suddenly, a loud roar shook the whole place. The armies stopped fighting and looked at the sky. Nobody moved. They saw a shadow that covered the entire sky. Then, a black figure appeared that was approaching fast. As the figure become prominent, Aaron could see that it was a flying monster.

The black figure was soon clear to everybody. It was the Black dragon. He had huge bat like angled wings. His claws were long and sharp. He had yellow-black eyes that sparkled in the dark. He was scaly all over. His long neck seemed endless; he had spikes on his head and his tail.

His tail wiggled as he came towards the Giant army and pushed them hard. It flew and hovered over the Lurgs. Many Giants fell dead with the impact and the many tried to escape. Nobody had ever seen such a huge Dragon in their lives. They started to scream and run in all directions. There was big chaos. Dan tried to keep them under control, but it seemed impossible. The Dragon returned the second time and with its mighty tail, it knocked over a good number of Giants again. Bo got scared out of his wits seeing the Dragon. He ran inside the palace and hid there.

Aaron also froze at the sight of the huge Dragon. He was able to kill Giants with just one single sweep.

“Quick! Inside” Aaron pulled Jane by her hand.

As they reached the entrance of the open terrace, the Dragon flew towards them and perched on the terrace right behind them.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” The Dragon spoke in a heavy voice, looking at Aaron. “The boy in the prophecy…very interesting” said the Black Dragon.

The Dragon came very close to Aaron. Aaron shielded Jane.

“Who are you? And what do you want?” Aaron asked gathering some courage.

“It’s strange that you don’t know me. Alfadon has kept you in the dark then, so much for protecting the boy. Ha ha ha…” the Dragon gave a wisp of smoke out of his nostrils. “I am Mordok, the Lord of the Dragons” said the Black Dragon as he opened his wing and stretched them. Some of the king’s men fell off the terrace and landed on the ground. Thodin remained where he stood holding onto the parapet.

“You are not the lord of the Dragons Mordok. You are nothing but a liar” Alfadon appeared suddenly. He was standing between Aaron and the Dragon “You have stolen the magic of the Dragons”

“Silence!” said Mordok and knocked Alfadon off his feet. “How dare you speak like this to me?”

Mordok seemed very angry, but still remained where he was.

“Alfadon, for the last time, I give you a choice. Join the Evil Force and you will be rewarded. I will make you the greatest Wizard that ever lived”

“He is already the greatest wizard that ever lived, you filthy worm” said Aaron from behind Alfadon and stood next to Alfadon.

“I am not afraid of you Mordok, you killed my mother and there is nothing that can stop me from killing you” Aaron said as he pulled out his sword.