Blackwell stood alone in the center of the battlefield, his face turned upward. “Why fight for these humans? They are nothing. Let them destroy themselves, Skyhawk,” he yelled.
They are my children.
“They are worthless. Your children are the dragon races. You should care for them and not these useless creatures. Let them fight and destroy themselves.”
I cannot do that.
The dragon king swooped low over the battlefield, selecting a place to land at its far end.
Little ones, this is not your fight. This is my old enemy, and I must see to this matter myself. I will put you down safely behind the lines.
The words, spoken only to the travelers, brought no comfort. As Skyhawk landed, allowing them to disembark, fear swallowed them. They watched, filled with a terror that paralyzed them, as the dragon king began to change. He seemed to shrink in upon himself, growing smaller and smaller, and as he did so his wings gave way to arms, and his tail and hindquarters to legs. His shining, crystal scales transformed into pale, white skin, and his pointed snout into a human head. His head ridges disappeared only to be replaced by a mane of shining blond hair. He wore white leggings and tunic, and a cape of shimmering crystal flowed from his shoulders.
“Do not be afraid, little ones,” he said. “It is I, and I am here with you. I will not let harm come to you. But I must fight this enemy on his own terms and correct what once went wrong. Wait here for me, for I will return.”
He strode off, his cape collecting and reflecting sunlight like a thousand crystals.
“This isn’t good,” Larkin said, tearing his gaze away from Skyhawk’s departing back. “Blackheart is the one who gave magic to humans in the first place.”
“I don’t like the way this is turning out,” Allard said.
“Can’t we do something?” Patrik asked. “We can’t just wait here and let him fight our battles for us. We’ve got to do something.”
“But what can we do?” Redwing asked. “Larkin, you still can’t flame, and Patrik, you still don’t have any magic.”
Rat appeared to have made the decision for them, for she charged after the departing Skyhawk, seemingly intent on catching up with him. Wizard Allard, forgetting his fear, chased after her. Patrik, unable to let those he loved go into battle without him, didn’t stop to think. He bolted after them with Larkin and Redwing right beside him.
They ran toward the battle line, their feet kicking up dust in the dry, dead plains. Wounded and dying magicians called out to them, but they had no time to stop and offer help. Several times, a magic user threatened the dragons, but was too frightened by Skyhawk’s appearance to carry through on the threat.
They reached the clearing where Skyhawk and Blackwell stood, just as Rat charged out of the crowd. Her scream was filled with all the power and anger of a mountain prowler as she leapt, claws extended toward Blackheart’s face.
“No, Rat,” Wizard Allard yelled, dashing after her, but he was too late. A bolt of lightning shot forth from Blackwell’s hands. Allard grabbed the huge cat by the tail, pulling her away from the blast. The lightning, already loosed, slammed into the wizard, tearing a huge hole in his chest.
“Allard!” screamed Patrik. Forgetting the danger, he bolted toward his fallen master. Blackwell, raised his hands again, but a bolt from Skyhawk sent him reeling. Patrik reached Allard, and turned him over. “Heal him,” he begged Skyhawk. “You can do it.” His tears left streaks down his dusty face.
“It’s too late, little one. His life spirit is already gone,” the dragon king said, his gaze never leaving Blackwell who was rising to his feet. “I am sorry.”
“No!” the boy shouted as pain and white hot fury surged through him like the fires of the Flaming Mountains to the south. His agony propelled him to his feet and rage drove him forward. Head down he exploded from Skyhawk’s side, tears streaming down his face. “You killed him!” He screamed and launched himself across the clearing toward Blackheart.
The dark dragon seeing the boy racing toward him, raised his hands, his black fingernails gleaming darkly in the sun. A smirk creased the corners of his mouth as he prepared his attack. His right arm shot forward and a thunderbolt of lightning shattered the ground in front of Patrik as if he were only toying with the boy.
The hair on Patrik’s head frizzled with the heat, and the hair on the back of his neck and arms stood up straight. Skyhawk saw his opportunity and struck out again, his dragon’s magic hammering Blackheart to the ground. Patrik tackled the fallen wizard, striking out blindly with his fists.
As lightly as if the boy weighed no more than a sack of feathers, Blackheart grabbed Patrik’s arms and flipped him over. Blackheart jumped to his feet and raising his arms prepared to strike. From the battle line, Larkin roared, a full-fledged dragon-cry, full of anger and desperation. With one downward sweep of his wings, the dragon took to the air, and swooped in low over his friend. Blackheart whirled, his robes whipping out behind him like bat wings as he set his sight on Larkin. Fire shot out from his hands, slamming into Larkin’s side. The little green dragon crumpled in mid-flight, plummeting to the earth.
Redwing bellowed, and prepared to charge when Skyhawk commanded, “Stay back, little daughter.” He sent another bolt of lightning down on the evil dragon.
Blackheart reeled under the assault, and Redwing rushed to Larkin’s side. She grabbed his tail in her teeth and pulled him out of the battle zone. As she did so, Patrik rose to his feet. Head down like a charging bull he rushed the evil wizard.
This time Blackheart did not toy with the boy. He sent a shaft of lightning straight into the boy’s body. It jerked him backward like a puppet on a string, flinging him ten foot-lengths from the battle zone. Redwing rushed to his side, her unshed tears filling her whirling eyes.
The evil magician turned to the dragon king. Undamaged by the attacks, he strode toward him, arrogance causing his boots to kick up dust with every step.
“Skyhawk,” Blackheart shouted, “why fight for them? It is the dragons that were your first creation and the dragons that should rule the world. These humans are nothing. Let them kill themselves in battle and let the dragons rule as they were meant to.”
“This battle will leave my world unfit for human or dragon,” Skyhawk said, raising his hands for another strike. “It must stop now.”
Little children, leave this field of battle.
Every mind, dragon and human alike, heard the command, and began fleeing the battlefield. Yet, not one left the field entirely. They moved almost three hundred foot-lengths to the rear, and then turned to watch.
A ball of light enveloped Skyhawk as he left his human persona behind and transformed into the gigantic crystal dragon that was his true nature. A black shadow, darker than night, engulfed Blackheart as he transformed into an enormous black dragon.
Even the humans were able to hear the gasp of shock that the watching dragons voiced as they recognized the wizard’s true nature. It was Blackheart, Skyhawk’s nemesis, and the one who had given humans magic thousands and thousands of seasons ago.
With one upward thrust, the dragons were airborne. Skyhawk folded his wings and dived for the black dragon. When he was within striking distance, he extended his claws and raked them down Blackheart’s back. The dragon screamed in fury, flames bursting from their mouths. Skyhawk wheeled around to avoid them, but was too slow. Flames blazed down his left wing. His flying power crippled by the strike, Skyhawk had no choice but to move in closer to his enemy.
He folded both wings against his side, faking a freefall dive and allowing Blackheart to move in for the kill. As the black dragon attacked, Skyhawk opened his uninjured wing and struck, sinking his teeth into the dragon’s neck. The black dragon’s wings beat the air with furious strokes as he tried to free himself from the dragon king’s clasp. But the huge crystal dragon hung on with the determination of one who knows he’s right and is willing to fight for it.
The black dragon began to tire, and still the dragon king held on. They began to tumble in a free-fall to the earth, spinning faster and faster out of control, and closer and closer to the ground. “Let go, or we’ll both be killed,” Blackheart begged.
Some things are worth dying for.
Tears began to form in the eyes of the watching phoenix dragons, causing them to shimmer in the sunlight.
Blackheart, underneath the dragon king, hit the ground first. The earth shook, knocking the watchers to the ground, and a dust-filled mist larger than any storm cloud ever seen, rose up from the immense chasm caused by the impact of the two enormous dragons. As the dust cleared, crystal white claws appeared at the edge of the gigantic hole. One claw at a time, the dragon king pulled himself up and out of the monstrous canyon that their bodies had created.
It is over, little children. Blackheart is dead, and with him dies his magic. My human children, you will now be as I created you to be. Magic will no longer exist in my world. Befriend your brothers and sisters, dragons and humans alike. Follow the example of Larkin and his friends Patrik, Redwing, and Allard who did not let danger stop them from helping each other. Live in peace, my little children, for what was once wrong has now been made right.
The dragon king’s head slumped down onto his forelegs and as both humans and dragons watched, his body began to shrink in upon itself, growing smaller and smaller, until with a flash of light, it disappeared.
A keening moan, like the wind whistling through a tunnel, filled the air as the watching dragons grieved for the dragon king. Larkin, wounded and unable to stand, began to cry, his tears running down his snout and landing on the ground. He could hear his brood mother telling him that phoenix dragons never cry, but he didn’t care. He cried and let the tears wash away the dust of the dragon king’s death on his face.
As his tears fell on the dry, dusty earth with a little plopping sound, they were followed by strange cracklings. Larkin jerked back in surprise, for wherever his tears had fallen, a flower grew.
Redwing, seeing Larkin’s tears also began to cry, as did those around her. It was as if the dragons were shedding all the tears they had held back for thousands of seasons. The dragon tears caused flowers to break through the soil, bringing life back to the land that magic had destroyed.
Epilogue
“Ouch! That kitten’s got teeth,” Larkin complained.
Patrik used both hands to detach the black and white kitten from Larkin’s tail. “Rat, why don’t you discipline your children?” he said to the cat that was lounging in the sun on the front porch.
The kitten in question quickly made her way back to Larkin’s switching tail and pounced on it again. Her littermates joined in, and Larkin eased himself into another position, hiding his tail beneath his body. “The wizard would have liked to see Rat’s kittens,” he said.
“I know,” Patrik said. “I miss him an awful lot.”
“So do I. But I don’t miss things the way they were.”
“Neither do I. Now, nobody has magic, and I’m not an oddball. People now come to me to ask for help in doing things I’ve been doing all my life.”
Half a season had passed since Blackheart’s death, and humans were still learning how to live without magic. More importantly, dragons and humans were now working together to get things done. Dragons helped with mining and transportation, and humans helped the dragons by doing things with their hands that dragons couldn’t do.
Redwing landed in the clearing next to the wizard’s cabin where Patrik still lived. “Time to sing in the sunset, Larkin,” she said. “Want to come, Patrik?”
“Sure. I wouldn’t miss it,” he said, rising slowly to his feet. His wounds still weren’t healed completely and neither were Larkin’s. The boy and the dragon not only kept each other company most days, but leaned on each other when their injuries slowed them down.
“Are the dragons going to cry tonight?”
“Probably,” Redwing said with a disgusted sigh. “They cry all the time now and Larkin’s singing makes them cry even more. The council area is so overcrowded with flowers there’s hardly room to land.”
“The wizard would have liked that,” Larkin said.
“There is that,” Patrik and Redwing said together, a smile on both their faces.
End
∞
Extras
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Dragon Tears
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When You Wish Upon A Star
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The Journey Home
Read an excerpt from:
The Journey Home
Chapter One – Old Red
“My feet hurt, Thomas.”
Cassie turned to face her older brother, tears streaking through the mud and grime on her face.
“Keep moving.”
“But why do we have to walk in the water? Why can’t we walk on the ground?”
He gave his sister a shove to hide the tears that threatened the brave image he was trying to maintain. The young boy knew he had to be strong, with enough courage for both of them since his younger sister was unable to protect herself. “Keep going,” he said. “Momma said to follow the river to the Choptank River Bridge.”
“But she didn’t say to walk in the river. Why do we have to do that?” She put her hands on her hips, just the way Momma did, and Thomas lost the battle with his tears.
“To throw off the dogs,” he said at last. “They can’t smell us in the river. Now keep going.” The boy’s voice was harsh as he choked on his tears.