The next day passed, and Emily awoke onto another early start. Emily got up, fed the chickens, then had breakfast. Talec still hadn’t returned. Emily took a step outside and looked around the street. The Inn was full and many more mercenaries had arrived. To Emily’s count along the lines of 200. They seemed very confident about their chances against the dragon. Some even joking about how rich they’ll be after selling a flamewyrm’s scales.
Emily looked out towards the mountains. It always came from there, one of the most gorgeous creatures she had ever seen. It was sad people thought to make money off its death. She stepped out and headed down the street dodging drunk mercenaries or other sleeping people. A covered cart had been set up in the center of town. Perhaps with bait inside? They tried that last year and it didn’t work. So what was in the cart this year?
Emily continued down past the Inn and towards the field. A few mercenaries stepped in her way. “Where do you think you’re heading, there’s a dragon coming, “ one of them said.
Emily paused and looked at them, “Yes, and it’s a shard dragon no less,” Emily paused as fear etched across their faces, “your contractors told you that, right?” The three mercenaries left her there heading out towards other places. Fear dawning in their eyes at the thought of a shard flamewyrm. Emily was getting better and better at respectfully getting mercenaries to leave her alone.
She continued on her way before sitting down on a log out in the fields. A few others from the town did it as well. Wait to watch it come and then return home quickly before it fully arrived. It wasn’t more than a few minutes before she spotted a small dot near the mountains, steadily approaching. A mercenary also spotted it and called for preparations to begin. Emily flipped out a knife in one hand, remembering the blood of the empire that was supposed to be forgotten long ago.
Emily got up and turned back towards the town square. She finally noticed what they were setting up. A wooden base and a figure tied to it. Emily felt tears well in her eyes as she saw Talec tied to a post, her clothes were torn and her hair a mess, scars covered her body from whippings and her body hung like a rag. Emily turned and hid between two homes. She didn’t want to believe Talec had ended up like this.
Emily sat there for a while. She finally came back to her senses when she heard the thunder of gigantic wings. The flamewyrm was here. Emily froze, she was supposed to be in her home but she was out in the streets instead. Emily looked out as the giant dragon landed in the town center, its claws landing and then its wings for support. A few cows had been put in the center, all mooing in fear.
The mercenaries had hidden amongst the buildings ready to strike. Suddenly a boulder went flying over the dragon, metal chains tied to it. Multiple other boulders also went flying from different areas. The dragon was knocked down and people rushed out to keep the chains in place. It was futile, shards didn’t obey rules. The closest mercenaries started to scream as the air began to boil. The nearest mercenaries ignited as the metal chains melted off the dragons back and it too erupted in flames. Emily watched in horror as the dragon turned and shot a beam of fire engulfing many mercenaries leaving only melted iron and ash behind. It took a step with its wings before dousing is own flames, those burning stayed burning and screaming as they suffered. Its footsteps shook the ground as it turned swinging its tail knocking aside men left and right. One of the mercenaries went flying into a wooden beam with a sickening crunch. It wasn’t long before the dragon had killed more than 50 of them without sustaining a single injury.
The dragon’s rage distracted it from the giant crossbow being wheeled into the town square. The dragon noticed it as the mercenaries loaded a giant metal bolt. It took a step and then the bolt fired. The dragon paused as it and everything near it ignited with flames. The bolt melting and hitting it as no more than a glob of molten iron. The dragon looked at the mercenaries who had fired the bolt seemingly thoughtfully, before turning them all to ash.
Emily took that moment to run to Talec. Maybe she could save Talec before the flamewyrm killed her. Emily reached the pedestal unharmed by the flames and looked at the cows, also unharmed. The dragon had spared its food from its own flames, it seemed. Talec was silent while Emily began to cut at the ropes with a knife she had. It wasn’t long before she cut the first rope. Emily paused, the town square had gone silent.
She turned around and froze. Like a mouse cornered by a cat. The dragon’s eyes watched her. They were those of a predator, its red scales glistening in the sunlight and its curved head posed to strike. No horns or spines dotted it. What predator needed defense? And it breathed. The world seemed to start again after that breath. Emily fell down and backed up, muffling a scream. It turned its head towards Talec. Then the flamewyrm spoke, “The shards gather Weaver, what will you do?” Then it grabbed one of the cows in its jaws and launched into the sky heading north.
Emily fainted and was woken later by friends from the village. It turned out Talec was sadly dead. Caused by blood loss days ago. The mercenaries that survived left town in a few days. Most emotionally scarred from the events. More than half of them who had come had died and there weren’t even bodies.
Emily sat in her home looking at a knife. Talec was dead now, still hard to believe. So much loss caused by those you loved and so many questions. What was so important to sacrifice yourself for? Emily lifted up her sleeve and slashed a third scar into her skin. The injury healed unnaturally fast and all that was left was the scar mirroring two others. It hurt less than Talec’s betrayal.
I plan on posting a chapter a week. Hopefully every saturday. No promises. Also I’ll post some information on shards.