Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (17 page)

“Did you all sense the demons? Xanorax has summoned the demons of Kronton. He must have been alerted to our coming for him.”

“Yes, Grapore, I sensed it, but I also feel a dominant dragon, one that I do not recognize. Does anyone here know which dragon it is?” Asks Moredown. None of the dragons recognize Cormygle’s signature, but they are aware he is here.

“The demons are very strong and can kill us, but they are not immune to our breath attacks. They will have to come into the open to face us, and our strength and size can overpower them. We can shred them with our teeth and claws, but this dragon concerns me. Blethstole did not say anything about a dominant dragon being here.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, Moredown. We can take the demons, but pay attention because Xanorax will surely be looking to use his magic, while the demons have our attention. If this dragons fights with them, then we have big trouble,” Grapore says.

“Well, what do you think, Grapore? Should we go in, or should we go back and tell Blethstole?”

“I don’t know, Sawbelk. What do you all think? We have to decide for ourselves. If we do go in, we have to work together and watch each other’s backs.”

“I say we go in. We are dragons. Eight of us against four demons, one Warlock, and one dominant dragon. Did anyone else detect any other threats?”

“You sensed the same as I did, Jarclause. This is why we are after the magic-using races of man. They are becoming very powerful and gaining powerful allies. We go in and kill them all. If we are defeated, then at least we go out fighting and not dying in our sleep like our ancestors,” Grapore says.

The dragons look around at one another and nod yes in agreement with Grapore. They decide to go after Xanorax and are ready to fight against demons and dragons as well. The dragons here do something that has never been done before in dragon history. They make a pack to protect one another, to look out for one another, and to work together in a unified hunt for Xanorax. Blethstole, gathering all the dragons for this third Dragon Feast, was a first in dragon history, but now these eight dragons have sworn to one another to be brothers, and this is very significant. The dragons are uniting in organized groups, and the dragons are evolving into a very powerful united species. They take to the air and head for the home of Xanorax. They know their strength is in the air, so all the dragons unleash a devastating aerial assault. They are firing magic missiles, lightning bolts, and fireballs and then swooping down and leveling his home with a barrage of breath attacks. After about thirty minutes of constant attack, the home is left flattened and burning. The dragons had expected some sort of retaliation by now, but still, their target eludes them. Not only that, but there is no sight of demon or dragon as well. They can sense that the enemy is near, but they could be hiding anywhere in the surrounding forest. “Grapore, they do not dare show themselves while we are in the air. They know we will devastate them.”

“I know, Vendel. We are going to have to go down to the ground and seek them out. Everyone, be at your best and protect one another. There is no telling what kind of traps they have for us down there. Let’s go get them.” The dragons descend to the ground where Xanorax’s home used to be. They blow with great breaths, clearing the area of debris and burning rubble. Once on the ground, they look around, very alert, ready for a quick attack, but nothing greets them except quiet.

“They are afraid of us, Grapore. They hide in the forest, knowing death awaits them.”

“Easy, Moredown. Be ready for anything.” The clearing where Xanorax’s home used to be is about a half mile around, and right where the tree line meets the clearing grows a wall. It grows very fast, creating a dome up about a half-mile high, and encloses the dragons inside. All the light is shut out, but there are about twenty blue crystals dotting the dome that give off a soft blue light, making the inside look dark, but with blue highlights, visibility is possible throughout. “Grapore, what is this? What is happening?”

“Jarclause and everyone else, our battle begins.” The dome has an opening at one end, making it look like a huge igloo and in walks four demons followed by Cormygle with Xanorax on his back. The opening closes behind them. The opposing forces face each other, knowing a great battle is about to take place.

“Ahahahahahaha!” A voice echoes through the dome, but no one in the dome is speaking. “Dragons, how nice of you to come to our little arena. The dome around you prevents the events of within from being felt by any other, so the loss of your life here will not be known to any other dragons, and this is what we want. The dragons think they are taking over the Maglical System, but they are being targeted just as the races of man are for the real leaders to rise and take control.”

“Grapore, is this him? Is this Vemenomous?”

Vendel is in no mood for talk. He is at the far left of all the dragons, and he strides forward at the demon at the end of the line across him. He gets to about twenty feet of Ropenoose and lets loose his Breath of Velvet Sting. This attack releases a thick spray of tiny velvet stinging cells. The attack covers the target and sticks to them, causing uncomfortable itchy reactions. The victim starts to swell and itch. This can be a fatal attack as each tiny cell that is like a very small sliver injects a very small amount of venom. The infected area swells and itches and can be treated, but the victim still has to contend with Vendel. Ropenoose shoots his arms straight up with metal hooks at the ends that stick into the dome wall, and he pulls himself out of the way, getting hit only in the feet with the breath attack. Vendel jumps and flaps strong with his wings and grabs Ropenoose out of the air with his right hand attached to his wing.

Spikel looks up to see Moredown who has jumped and used his wings to fly far enough to come down on top of him. Vendel’s attack has caused all the dragons to act in similar fashion, and they all attack. Moredown comes down right on Spikel, and Spikel draws first blood as his spikes grow and impale Moredown. Two spikes from his chest impale Moredown in the lower portion of his neck, just above his belly, and he slaps both arms to the side of Moredown, sending four more spikes deep into the dragon. Moredown looks at the demon now stuck to the lower part of his neck and screams in pain as Spikel kicks both legs into the upper belly of Moredown, sending four more spikes deep into his flesh. Moredown grabs the demon with his right hand also attached to his wing and pulls the demon from his body, biting down on Spikel’s head, crushing it, and biting it in half. He rips the portion from its neck and swallows. He then bites off the rest of the head and swallows. He continues to feast on the demon, biting off each arm, ripping the torso piece by piece with his powerful and sharp teeth. The battle rages as Moredown eats Spikel. Vendel has veered to the left with Ropenoose, landing on the ground.

Eforgantic charges from the other end of the line at the dragon opposite of him, and he is so fast. Within seconds, he has covered the distance between him and Jarclause and leaps, landing on the neck of Jarclause, sinking the claws on his hands and feet into the dragon. He immediately begins to bite huge chunks of scale and flesh from the dragon, and Jarclause surprisingly keeps his cool through the pain and turns to Sawbelk right beside him. “Sawbelk, take care of this tick.”

“No problem, Jarclause.”

Sawbelk unleashes at point-blank range his breath attack on the demon eating Jarclause. Sawbelk’s breath attack, the Breath of Strink, is like all dragon breath attacks—devastating. It is a sticky strawberry-colored liquid that engulfs its target and hardens very quickly. When it hardens, it shrinks, crushing its victim or victims. Eforgantic is engulfed in the liquid but continues to bite huge chunks of flesh from the dragon. Sawbelk finishes his attack and moves on. Jarclause waits while the Breath of Strink hardens, which takes about two minutes having no effect on him but crushes Eforgantic, and he rips apart the demon attached to his flesh with his teeth and consumes him while tears fall from his eyes. Eforgantic did cause Jarclause great pain and deep wounds but now lays dead in Jarclause’s stomach.

Ropenoose throws his right arm to the mouth of Vendel, circling his mouth with rope and squeezing shut, preventing him from using magic, biting, and using breath attack. He then grows his left arm, and it wraps around the neck of Vendel and squeezes tight, strangling him. Vendel pulls the demon away with his great strength, but the demon simply grows his ropes longer while maintaining their stranglehold on Vendel. Vendel uses his left hand claws to slash at the rope at his neck, trying to cut it, but Ropenoose keeps growing his rope, and even though Vendel is cutting the rope, it keeps growing and wrapping around his neck. Indigeion comes to the aid of Vendel and grabs Ropenoose from the hand of Vendel. He stomps Ropenoose to the ground with his hind right leg and bites the ropes in half, releasing Vendel from their stranglehold. Vendel slumps to the ground, gasping for air. Ropenoose tries to shoot a rope with a dagger at the end through the head of Indigeion but is too late as Indigeion bites off his head and begins to feed on the demon.

“Thank you, Indigeion.”

“No problem.” Indigeion finishes eating Ropenoose as Cormygle lands on Vendel. He has landed on Vendel with his hind leg on Vendel’s neck, crushing it into the ground. Cormygle is more than twice the size of any of the dragons here and breaks Vendel’s neck as he violently crushes it into the ground. He lowers his head face to face with Indigeion and gives a menacing snarl as Indigeion backs away. Xanorax jumped off the back of Cormygle before he landed on Vendel and comes down onto the back of Indigeion with his Life Stealer, sinking deep into the flesh of Indigeion. Indigeion bucks and screams as the Life Stealer begins to drain his magic and strength. Cormygle races at Indigeion before he rolls over on Xanorax, crushing him. He grabs Indigeion’s head with his right front paw and slams it to the ground, immobilizing him, while Xanorax steals his life force. Grapore has taken to the wing and is coming to the aid of Indigeion, but Cormygle sees him and stares right at him, letting him know that any closer approach will be met by Cormygle, and Grapore veers away.

Maulplice has multiplied many times as he advanced on Obronge and is attacking him now. Obronge has killed many of the replicas of Maulplice with his Breath of Hairire, but many have still made their way to Obronge and attached themselves to him. They are feasting all over Obronge with their sharp mandibles, digging deep holes in his flesh. Obronge is swatting at them and biting them off, and they just keep multiplying. He is rolling around and calling for help, and Jarclause comes to engulf Obronge with his Breath of Petrone. This breath attack covering any living being petrifies around them and begins to change the victim into limestone. In no time at all, the once living being is now a limestone statue of what it used to be. Obronge and Maulplice are engulfed in the lime-colored goo breathed by Jarclause, and a few minutes later, Maulplice has been turned into many small stone statues of the demons that were feeding on Obronge. Obronge was badly wounded all over by Maulplice and is in bad shape. Cormygle notices this and casts lightning bolt spells that shoot from four places on each of his wings. They are very powerful and blast Obronge into many pieces, killing him instantly. The five remaining dragons head over to Cormygle and watch as Indigeion flaps with his head under the paw of Cormygle, and he twitches and losses his battle to the Life Stealer. Xanorax stands, exhilarated, having finally stolen a life force with his Life Stealer and a dragon no less. He turns to face the dragons with all the confidence he has ever felt. He is noticeably stronger in magic, glowing blue, and looks physically stronger. He looks to see the five remaining dragons flanking in an arch around Cormyle and himself.

“Ahahahahahaha!” A laugh consumes the dome for all to hear. The dragons have shown why they are so far the rulers of the Maglical System. “You have fought very well, dragons. You have only lost three to four of my demons. Of course, not even five of you are a match for Cormygle and Xanorax. Enjoy your last moments, dragons, as you will be erased, and no one will know. Ahahahahaha.” The sound goes away. The tension in the air is thick as is the quiet. Cormygle walks toward the dragons and shakes his body. The saddle and reins on him disappear, and his newly formed dragon body is clear for all the dragons to see. He is very impressive. As large as Pryenthious, Dribrillianth, and Blethstole. As magically powerful as all of them and a presence the smaller dragons instinctively cower to. Cormygle is now the color of his Carbonheight Hills. A dull black, not shiny like Blethstole. He has a solid, very hard bone frill that extends from the back of his head, forming a long fan with eight sharp points on it that when he tilts his head to the back of his neck fits flush with his neck. Other than that, there seems to be nothing exceptional about him. No tusks or horns anywhere on his body. He stands on all fours. His wings come out of his back and are not attached to his front legs. The one noticeable thing about him is that he is the perfect dragon form. Everything about him is power, beauty, and confidence. He walks naturally cocky. He swaggers and shakes, knowing all wish they had his presence. He acts like he is not at all interested in the dragons but is fully aware of their movements. He shows off a trait that of all the dragons, only he possesses, thanks to Zenondour. He has eight long scales that start at the base of his head. They travel down his neck to his shoulders, and each one is solid scale that he can raise off his body. They are nine feet long, and when extended to their full length, they harden and straighten, forming eight long spears, encircling his head at its base. When they hardened, they become the same carbonite material that grows in the Carbonheight Hills. This hard carbon material is almost diamond, created from incredible pressure and heat. It is not diamond, but it is the hardest known substance, and it can pierce diamond. This is the only substance that can cut through the diamond skin of Dribrillianth. Zenondour has made this possible for Cormygle, and now he is the only living being on all the worlds that can take on Dribrillianth and penetrate his armored skin with a weapon. There is one drawback to Cormygle extending his carbonite scales. When he extends them, this leaves the skin of his neck exposed with no protection. It is the same soft skin as any and can be cut with a sword. It can be shot through with an arrow or any magic. “Dragons. I hate dragons. They tormented me. They outcast me, and now they are my prey.”