Dragon Clan #6: Anna's Story

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The morning light filtered past the heavy clouds and the area in front of them gradually became clearer. There were not two dragons as they expected. There were five. Five!

Carrion had told them that when he was here before, no more than two lunars ago, there were three, and he killed one. Worse, they had no way to retreat. When the day dawned, the dragons would certainly see them.

They had taken a chance and lost. If there were two dragons, even three, victory was almost certain. With five, they were lost. She turned her head slowly and looked in the direction of the others. She counted four heads in the dim light, all staring at the dragons and probably thinking much the same as her.

She set the first arrow to the string and put only enough tension on it to hold it in place. If needed, she could let the arrow fly in a heartbeat, but she tried to remember everything about killing dragons she’d ever heard.

Their heads were bony, and arrows often tore skin, but bounced off. Arrows sank into haunches and flanks, perhaps making them sick with an infection in the days ahead, but that did little in a battle. The dragon would fight and then perhaps die days from now, but that only meant she would die first. There were tales of great archers putting an arrow into an eye, but even as she looked at those dragons in front of her, she realized those were either extremely lucky shots or just stories.

Grandma Emma had told her that arrows in the neck prevented dragons from twisting and turning their serpentine necks, but those necks were thin and an arrow to either side passed by harmlessly. But her grandmother had also said that their great wings folded against their bodies several layers thick, like the fans children make from folded paper. An arrow would pierce those wings and luck shots break wing bones needed to fly.

A small sound drew her attention. Raymer was a larger shadow than the others, and he pointed to two hilltops. There was a valley between them. She watched the pale sky and found movement. A dragon looking so small it might be a bird approached, then another. Raymer and Carrion were going ahead with the attack. Time to stop contemplating and begin fighting.

Her eyes flicked to the five dragons sleeping in front of her. None had reacted so far. She looked back at the two approaching reds. They grew larger, and in the quiet of pre-dawn she heard their wings. Carrion and Raymer were directing them to the nests. She drew the first arrow back a little more.

The two dragons went lower after they cleared the pass between the hills and were out of sight, but the flapping of the great wings grew louder. One of the dragons in front of her sat up. Its head twisted and turned alertly, then the beast stood. It threw back its head and roared as the first of the reds appeared right in front of it, talons extended.

The red found the neck of the standing green and gripped with its mouth, then used its weight and momentum to slash and tear the head from the dragon. The other greens were climbing to their feet when the second red struck, ripping the side of a green open with a single slash of fore claws, then finishing the attack with the rear claws.

But instead of flying off, it spun and tore into a third dragon with its teeth. They rolled on the ground, the red with a mouthful of the green where the neck joined the body, its talons raking the underside of the green over and over. They rolled wings flapping and claws holding each other tightly together.

The attack had happened so fast Anna had little time to do anything, but now she was on her feet. The first green dragon was dead, as was the second. There were the two still engaged in fighting, rolling and trying to kill the other, but she couldn’t send an arrow that way without being sure of which was which.

The first red to attack now faced off with another green, as they circled and spat at each other. She put an arrow at the junction of the neck and body and watched the green wail in pain, almost giving the red time to attack. She let another arrow fly and another. The green lifted its head and darted forward to the red, its mouth grabbing the red near the hind leg.

While biting the leg, three more arrows found the underside of its chin, one of them Anna’s. The green released its hold as the three arrows did their jobs, and the red struck back so suddenly it held the neck of the green and shook like a dog with a toy.

Anna set another arrow. The two on the ground were still fighting, and there was nothing she could do, but the fifth, and last, was on its feet, and it had spied the humans. Instead of joining the fray with the other dragons, it turned to face them. A snarl warned of its attack. The great mouth opened as it charged.

Anna put the arrow in the open mouth and pulled another. They were on the hillside high enough to make the dragon run uphill. Its wings flapped to help, but the hill slowed it. Anna shot into the open maw again, noticing as she did that there were at least three arrows there, now.

It had slowed, closed its mouth and probably broken the shafts as it did, but it still eyed them. She pulled another arrow and took aim for the eye. No, with all of the twisting and turning she would never hit it. Her eyes fell to the forefoot. She let the arrow fly.

The dragon howled in pain and lifted the foot to examine the arrow protruding. An arrow in the foot might not kill, but it slowed the dragon. The green bit at it and finally pulled it free. But as she did, Anna put the next arrow into the other front foot. In protest to the pain, the dragon stood on two hind legs.

“The feet,” she screamed, reaching for another arrow. By the time it flew, the dragon had arrows on all four feet and had rolled to its side, screaming and howling in pain.

The red that had been fighting the other on the ground for so long leaped to its feet and charged the dragon in front of them. With a slash of teeth, the red ended it. Five green dragons lay dead. Or dying.

Carrion leaped over the stone ridge, knife in hand. He finished the last of them and fell to his knees in front of a red, holding its head in his lap and talking to it.

The other red was still snarling and screaming in victory. It moved to each of the greens to investigate and continue the fight, but Raymer was also shouting, telling it to fly away. He ran to the red and stood in front waving his arms. The dragon finally calmed from the fury of the fight and looked at him. Then it flew off, blowing dust and dirt on all of them.

Raymer turned to Carrion. “How is he?”

“Cuts, scrapes, bites. I think a wing has a tear.”

“How bad?” Raymer asked.

Carrion looked at all the blood and pulled his shirt off. He wiped the blood off and found few wounds. “We need to get it to water and clean it. Wash the wounds, then we’ll know.”

“Can it fly?” Anna asked.

“I think so. There was a stream out by the road. I’ll see if it’s up to that.” Carrion stepped back and watched the dragon stand and then extend the wings. There were three rips, but all small. If it flew slow, so they didn’t tear they’d heal quickly. The red took off and headed for the road, the other red joining it in flight.

Thief was bleeding from his shoulder, Raymer dripped blood from his knee, and Carrion was covered in blood, his or the dragons, it was impossible to tell. Anna looked down and found herself also covered, one leg almost all red.

She heard a hiss and rustle. Turning, she saw the head of a green dragon duck behind the rim of a nest. Reaching for an arrow, she was surprised the quiver only held two more. She called, “Dragon!”

All froze and followed her gaze. The dragon raised its head again, looking at her and spitting. The black acid flew less than half way to her, then made a splash in the sand. A second head appeared. And a third.

She had a clear shot, but waited. Tanner placed a hand on her shoulder. He whispered, “Take command again and get them out of here and take care of the wounded.”

She appreciated it. Killing the young of any animal felt wrong, but dragons more so because they were special. Even shooting arrows at them when they were attacking hadn’t felt right. She gave him a smile without humor and called, “Okay, let’s get a move on. We have dragons to care for and our own wounds to heal.”

The command in her voice surprised her probably more than anyone. She sounded confident and in charge, despite the weak knees and the desire to purge her stomach. “Raymer, take the lead. Tanner, you’ll stay behind and clean up this mess.”

When Raymer started limping to the path she exhaled. Thief followed, and Carrion hung his head, but went after him. She took the rear. Tanner would catch up later, but she wanted to know nothing of what he was about to do except that it was finished.

They arrived mid-morning at the stream where two wagons filled with hay had been abandoned. The mules were eating green shoots, and they eyed the filthy, bloody humans and moved further away.

Anna spotted people at the edge of the forest peering out at them. She waved them closer, but the older man and two boys refused to come very near. She called, “You can safely go on about your business.”

“There're dragons down by the water,” the man who was probably the father warned her.

Anna thought of a hundred things she might respond, but all seemed out of place. Finally, she said, “They are ours. We just fought a battle and need to clean up a little.”

All three people watched them limp past before taking the mules by the reins and leading them away as fast as the animals would walk. The two dragons were standing beside each other on a gravel bar at the bend of the stream. One reached out and licked a wound on the other.

Anna unrolled her blanket and cut it into wide strips. She walked into the water and up to the nearest, she couldn’t yet tell them apart, and soaked the rags in river water while ignoring the combined stench. She gently washed one hind leg and found only a small scratch. The rest of the blood belonged to one of the others.

Carrion and Raymer were doing much the same. Thief watched from a hundred paces away, but showed no desire to join them. Anna dabbed softly at two parallel slices caused by talons. The wounds were deep. She wished she knew which plants would help heal, but for now, clean water was the best she could do.

As she touched another raw spot on the chest of the dragon it pulled back and she found it looking at her from a handsbreadth away. She felt the soft snort on her face. One snap of the massive mouth and teeth and she was dead. Anna held still, “Whose is this one?”

The dragon pulled back. Carrion said, “It knows you are helping and is grateful.”

Looking at him, she said, “Can dragons be grateful?”

“They show that when they don’t bite your head off,” Carrion said.

Anna didn’t laugh. “How are your wounds?”

“About like yours. They need cleaning and time to heal a little.”

Anna glanced down at her knee and found the water had opened the cut she hadn’t known about, and it bled freely. She continued washing the dragon, smelling a musky odor below that of the rotting flesh of previous meals. The other odor reminded her of old leather, a familiar, yet warm feeling filled her. She gave the dragon a pat on the shoulder. “We won.”