Dragons Descended Upon the Wicked (12 page)

“I think they should be dealt with,” said Ron. “They are traitors. They made their choices and they work for the six. A swift execution should be their fate. Two of our men are most likely being held captive in Genold City. What sort of fate do you think they will receive? I believe Vicon will give them a living hell.”

“We hold them captive,” said Jeffrey. “We have two guards on their tent at all times. They are chained and bound. We give them enough food and water to survive. We are not executing them, Ron.”

“Do you trust the guards?” asked Ron. “How do you know one of them isn’t working for the enemy? How do you know they are capable of stopping the enemy from entering the tent? We don’t know these people. We don’t know what anyone is capable of. The security blanket that surrounded the world for centuries is long gone.”

Ron got up and stormed back into camp.

Archery training went on for another hour. Meanwhile, in camp chicken soup was being cooked across ten raging fires. Through their travels the camp had found a fantastic group of chefs who cooked a meal every night, provided there was food to be cooked. Thankfully, many people had a reasonable amount of gold with them. This gold was used for firewood and food bought from taverns within Terrel. The first couple of nights in Terrel were turning out to be the best case scenario that they had all dreamt of. However, Nick was consumed with the fact that his two friends were no longer with him.

***

It was late in the middle of the night. The camp had eaten until their bellies were full and were all asleep, except for the guards placed around camp.

Ten blocks towards the east a congregation met in the alley of Siconmore Street. A man in a dark hood stood before a crowd of a two dozen men and women equipped with weapons, torches, and dressed in black from head to toe.

“Do you want them to take your city?” asked the cloaked man.

“No,” said the crowd.

“They will take it,” said the cloaked man. “Hour by hour. Day by day. The people of Hentrio will contaminate this great city. They are all murderers and thieves. Why do you think they have the savagery that is the arena?”

“It’s disgusting; I hate it,” said a man from the crowd.

“Follow me and hit them in the heart,” said the cloaked man. “If you follow my instructions exactly as I laid it out for you we will be in and out and they will not know what hit them.”

The cloaked man turned around and began running towards the camp of Hentrio. Torches blew in the wind and smoke rose into the night sky. Swords and readied hands whipped through the streets of Terrel. They ran a few hundred feet and the cloaked man raised his right hand. Torches dropped to the ground and were quickly exterminated by the men and women piling sand on them.

The cloaked man waved his hand three times and the group split into three groups of eight. One group went up the right alley, the next went up the left alley, and the last continued down the same street. The streets were empty and the echoes of footsteps traveled through Terrel.

The congregation had made it to the edge of camp. The center group was lead by the cloaked man and he made quick ease getting through camp using the cabins and tents as cover from the few guards on security watch. Their black clothing made it easier for them to slip into the center of camp. The cloaked man spotted a tent with two guards outside of it. He grabbed a rock and threw it to the opposite side of where they were standing. The guard on the right left his post to check what the loud thud was. The cloaked man snuck up behind the other guard. His knees were low to the ground and his footsteps light as air. The guard didn’t hear anything until a blade pierced through his neck. He dropped to the ground, clutching his throat and gasping for air. The cloaked man made his way into the tent.

The other guard had not noticed anything and proceeded to walk back towards his post. Two men from the center group snuck up behind the guard and killed him quickly. Two guards were dropped to the ground. Next, arrows were heard swishing through the air. The left and right groups were firing arrows at the ten guards who were roaming around camp. One by one the guards dropped to the ground, dead. The noises woke up some people from camp.

Screams of terror echoed throughout camp as the three groups converged onto the people. The enemy took to their weapons and powers and attacked anyone and everyone they saw. It was a planned massacre.

Nick eyes jolted open as he heard a women yelling from across camp. The king’s men were sleeping near each other and they immediately sprung to their feet. They charged head on towards the horrific scene. Swords were piercing families as Nick arrived. He conjured a dark wave attack and delivered it to the two men wearing black in front of him. He pulled out his sword and decapitated another man who tried to charge him. Footsteps grew loud behind him. Nick turned to find a man lunging the point of his blade at him. Nick turned his body once more and the blade missed its target. Nick held the man close to him and stabbed him with his sword. The blade pierced the man from his belly to his upper back. Nick pushed the man and he lay flat on the ground.

Nick looked around and found that the king’s men and other soldiers had eliminated the threat. They were all cautiously walking through camp to be sure there were no more enemies lurking in the dark.

Nick looked down at the man. He was wearing a black mask to cover his face. Nick lifted the mask to reveal that it was just a young man, a few years younger than Nick was.

“Why did you come here and try to kill as many people as you could?” asked Nick.

The young man struggled to speak. He was gasping and stuttering. “Y-You a-a-are all the e-e-nemy of Terrel,” said the young man. “He f-found us and he gave us the plan. We were supposed to bring fear to your c-camp. We just want you all to l-leave. You’re invading us.”

“He?” asked Nick. “He who?”

“The man’s name was...was...” said the young man.

“It was what?” asked Nick in a loud voice.

“Pol...it was Pol...Poloski,” said the young man.

Nick stared at the young boy as the life drained from his eyes.
Poloski is here. I want to take him now. It has been too long. Vengeance for my father needs to begin now.

Nick ran towards the tent where the king’s men were holding the captives. Jeffrey and Andrew were standing outside of the tent.

“They’re not here,” said Jeffrey as Nick arrived from his run.

“Have you seen any dragons fly out of the city?” asked Nick.

“No, I haven’t,” said Jeffrey. “Why do you ask?”

“Poloski is here in the city, and so are the captives,” said Nick.

“How do you know?” asked Andrew.

“A young boy who attacked us told me,” said Nick. “He said Poloski was leading them. We have to go for him now.”

“The main gate is the closest gate,” said Jeffrey.

The two king’s men ran as fast as they could. The four other king’s men saw them running and immediately joined them.

“Why are we running so fast?” asked Tyler.

“A member of the six is within our grasp,” said Jeffrey.

The king’s men weaved in and out of the streets of Terrel. They cut through alleys and short halls. They did not know the layout of the city but used their intuition to navigate the complex city. They knew that Poloski had the same disadvantage. The city stretched incredibly long and it was full of intricate twists and turns that would disorient most people. The king’s men carried on and found the right path. They ran down a giant open corridor called the Beloton where trading normally happened everyday in Terrel. There were vast stone arches that stretched from one building across the street to the other. At the end of the corridor there were four shadowy figures running who turned the corner.

The king’s men picked up their pace. Six determined souls could run faster than most could imagine. They rounded the corner; the four shadowy figures were only fifty feet in front of them now. They were gaining ground on their targets. Poloski turned around as the footsteps got louder. Nick recognized the large and muscular Reza. He had slick backed black hair and the gruesome scar that reached below his left eye to the top of his hairline.

The king’s men gained more ground and were finally within fifteen feet of the enemy.

“Stop right there; we have you surrounded!” yelled Jeffrey.

Poloski slowed his stride as did the three with him. They slowly turned around and raised his hands in the air.

The king’s men stood in a line. The supreme Reza had their hands readied for an attack. Dani had her arrow pointed at his head, Jacob had his sword drawn, and Tyler had a dagger in each hand, ready to be flung.

“You got us,” said Poloski.

“Slowly drop to your knees,” said Jeffrey as he began to approach him.

Poloski stood still and smiled at Jeffrey.

“If only you six were faster,” said Poloski. He then whistled in a horrific but melodic tune.

They heard a loud thump followed by the ground trembling. Another thump and the ground trembled once more. The loud thump came from the towering building just behind Poloski. A devastatingly large dark green dragon stepped out and revealed itself. It continued to walk until it stood over Poloski. Its teeth were long, sharp, and yellow. Its claws dug into the ground beneath it. Its pointed tail slashed side to side.

“See, we are not surrounded,” said Poloski. “Every single one of you can kill me right now, I have no doubt in my mind. But by doing so you would be killing a supreme Reza in front of his dragon, thus unleashing the dragon to kill and destroy everything in its path. It would not be a good thing for the innocent people of both Terrel and the people you’ve conjured up in your camp.”

“Get on your dragon and leave us in peace,” said Jeffrey.

“I have specific instructions; do not worry,” said Poloski. “I am here to pick up these three loyal servants of the six and not harm any of you lovely people.”

The green dragon let out a loud and horrifying roar. Some citizens of Terrel were alarmed and went to their windows to see what was going on in Belotor.

“Take them and take your dragon,” said Jeffrey.

The three captors were the first to mount the dragon. Poloski slowly found his way to the first spot on the dragon’s lower neck while smiling at the king’s men.

“I have to admit, I never thought Terrel would be so inviting as to let your people in,” said Poloski. “I simply had to stir the pot a bit tonight. I might’ve brewed you up another war to fight in.” He laughed menacingly from atop of the dragon, then said, “Another thing that I will admit is that I don’t like to think that you are all doing okay. It’s sickening, it’s foul, and it’s outright disgusting...Until next time.”

“Silner,” said Poloski.

The dark green dragon gained altitude fast and began to fly south away from the city.

All of the king’s men turned around and began to walk towards camp except for Jeffrey.

“No...no,” said Jeffrey.

Nick turned back around to see what Jeffrey was witnessing. Poloski and the dragon were coming full speed towards the city of Terrel flying very low.

Jeffrey began to run full speed back towards camp, as did the king’s men. They were cursing and yelling into the night sky as they ran. They were too far away. All they could do was run and watch as the dragon swooped down and laid out a blanket of fire across their camp. The dragon became a shadowy figure in the night sky as it flew away from the city. Smoke towered in the distance and screams could be heard from the inner city where the king’s men were running through. It took them a couple of minutes of maneuvering through the streets before they arrived at camp. When they were at the edge of camp, Jeffrey yelled, “Split up and help everyone!”

Fires raged across the camp. Cabins and tents burned to the ground. Men, women, and children were escaping the grasp of the flames. Nick immediately began to cast ice at the base of the flames.
Penny, where is Penny?
thought Nick.

To Nick’s surprise, citizens of Terrel came rushing in with buckets full of water as they attempted to douse the flames. Nick stood in front of a ten foot wall of flames that stretched three hundred feet to the east. Nick continued to cast his ice spell but the continuous spell was fatiguing him fast.

The bell tower bell began to ring to let Terrel know of the state of emergency it was in.

“Help me!” yelled a man from behind the flames that were in front of Nick.

Nick conjured up more ice and diminished the fire before him. Beyond the flames there was a heavily burned man stuck beneath a pile of heavy wood from a cabin. Nick began to pick up the hot and heavy pieces of wood that were on the man. The heaviest piece stretched across the man’s body, and it was slowly crushing him. The man yelled in pain from both the burns and the heavy piece of wood that was cracking his ribs.

Nick placed his hands around the wood and used every ounce of strength in an attempt to lift it, but he couldn’t do it. Nick stepped back and raised his hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated deeply. He could feel a hold of the piece of wood even though he stood two feet from it. He raised his arms and grimaced as he levitated the giant piece of wood. He threw his arms and the wood cleared the man’s body by just one foot. Nick lowered his hand and tried to help the man up. He screamed in pain once again.

“It’s my legs; I can’t feel them,” said the man.

Nick lowered his body to the floor and placed his hands beneath the man. Nick hoisted the man up above the ground and walked away from the flames.

Some people who specialized in medicine, whether it was a hobby or a job, were handling the wounded at a cabin near the base of camp. Nick made it to the cabin step by step, then lowered the man to the ground.

“You’re going to be alright,” said Nick.

“Thank you,” said the man as he grimaced in pain.

Nick turned around and saw it all. For a split second it felt like the world around him had slowed down. Every Reza was blasting ice at the fire. Every able bodied person was running back and forth from a pond with buckets, trying to kill the fire. Hundreds worked together, trying to stop the fire from burning the city.