Page 8 of Drakhana's Secret
I’m reaching my limits when the pandemonium finally stops. Everyone in the clearing goes silent. We are all listening.
I wait for another long moment. I don’t want to put down the field too soon. Maybe the dragons are just waiting for us, watching us from a distance.
Baba approaches me. She closes her eyes. I can feel her reach out with her senses.
After a few moments, she opens her eyes and touches my shoulder. “They’re gone.”
Only then do I drop my hands. The forcefield melts away, starting from the top all the way to its widest part. When it’s totally dissolved, we lay witness to our once peaceful village turned into a smoking ruin.
There are still some fires raging in some places. Male dragons have emerged from where they have hidden themselves and start putting out the flames as best as they can. The smell of burning flesh is cloying and clings to the nostrils.
That’s when the children start crying in earnest. Some have their parents running to them and giving them hugs. While others look around, no one is claiming them. That’s when my heart breaks. I wonder how many orphans we have now.
I’m numb. I can’t feel my arms or legs. I haven’t moved from the center of the clearing.
In the span of a morning, too much has happened. We were attacked and we lost our homes. My eyes roll to the back of my head and my legs give out from under me.
Six
Gallant
The next morning, I’m flying high on my victory when I walk into my office. Finally, all the fighting vermin have been booted out of the city. Branson is rounding up the last of them and kicking them out.
Why did it take so long for us to join the fight when willing feels so good? I go grab myself a coffee from the pantry, not even needing my assistant to get it for me. I’m sipping at the heavenly brew as I enter my office and start my day.
I spend most of the day restructuring our trade deals and looking for new buyers for the inventory that I have in our warehouses. It’s not that hard when you have a top product in your hands. Everyone wants to get their hands on our miracle salves and tonics.
By the end of the day, I’ve successfully unloaded all but a few boxes that we have left from the deals that have gone bad with the ice and fire clans. We don’t need them to prosper. They are merely a means to an end that we no longer have the patience for.
If they want to act like children and attack each other, then have at it. I for one have done my job and am moving on to greener pastures. I’m even thinking of putting up our own factory that can make even larger batches of the stuff so that we can sell them in the big retail stores around the country.
I know a hot product when I see one. Having it available to the masses will ensure the future of the earth clan dragons. We’ll have more money than what we know what to do with.
That’s the next thing that I’ll bring up with the council. I’m sure they’ll be interested in the new venture. The earth dragons pride themselves on helping. What better help can we give than providing a product that people will actually use?
It’s pretty late by the time I call it a night. Branson walks into my office and gives me an update on what I’ve asked him to do.
“We’ve conducted a final sweep of the city and there are no longer any ice and fire dragons within city limits,” he says.
“That’s good.” I stand from my desk and power down my work laptop. I might just take the day off tomorrow because I deserve it. We all deserve it.
I’m about to tell Branson that when I see his face grow pale. Before I can ask what’s happening, he points at one of the windows behind me. I turn around and catch several fire dragons in the distance, flying toward our building.
Without having to think about it, Branson and I run out of my office. I break the fire alarm glass and pull it down, ensuring that anyone still in the building will be evacuated. We make it to the lobby just as the first attack happens.
The fire dragons surround the upper levels of the building. They blast it with their flames from all sides. Branson and I along with other earth dragons who were still in the building stand out in the street, watching the fire dragons go at our building.
“I can’t believe they would risk exposure like this,” I say.
“It’s a blatant attack,” Branson responds, his mouth sounding dry. “It’s their response to us kicking them out of the city. They have become too bold for their own good.”
Once the building is on fire, it no longer looks suspicious that dragons are behind the attack. In the distance, sirens from fire trucks blare. They are coming closer to respond.
“Well, two can play that game,” I say, already calling on my dragon.
Branson does the same, but not before giving orders to the dragons that are with us. We are ten in all. More than enough to dispatch the fire dragons who think they can attack us and get away with it.
We take to the sky in hot pursuit right as the first fire trucks arrive on the scene. The building is no longer my concern. It can always be rebuilt. What I’m concerned about is avenging the pride of my people.
