Chapter 13: Black Dragon
We got to a clearing among the mushrooms - a place where we could fight the dragon. Each one of us got into position hidden among the shadows. Hornet and I climbed up one of the mushrooms. Her eyes could see further than any other, but even I could see the carnage that was unraveling. So much bolts of lightning and fire among the battlefield. Not even the darkness that consumed all could devour this spectacle. From afar, it looked beautiful. However, Hornet was able to see the battle more clearly. To her, it was more of a circle of hell. She described everything that she saw to me. Once that undead titan emerged, Hornet said to me, "That is something else. Maybe, we won't need to do anything about the dragon. Looks like General Kull did have something up his sleeve for it."
"Maybe. If that's true, looks like we'll all be going back with nothing to show for it," I replied, "I'll be taking full responsibility. Whether we fight the dragon or not, we still disobeyed orders and ran from the army. I won't let the rest of you guys take the fall, but I don't think the general will be that reasonable."
"Hah. We all decided to be here, Roach. We all know the consequences," she replied with a gentle smile.
Doc said, "Yeah. We all agreed to do this. If the general wants to execute you, then he'll have to execute me, too."
"Me, too. Though, I doubt he'll have a big enough axe to cut my head," Viking said.
And one by one the other roaches said, "Me, too."
I didn't know what to say. As I looked at every single roach who followed me, I could feel their resolve. They all knew the risks and accepted it. They would rather follow one of their own rather than the words of some outsider.
"Damn. I still wish we could fight that dragon, though. It looked like such fun," Viking complained.
"You may get your wish," Hornet replied.
We could all see the dragon shooting a blaze into the undead titan. That blaze soon turned into a concentrated beam. For a second there, I thought that the sun was about to rise. Not even this unnatural darkness could withstand the radiant, purple blast.
"Alright, Roach. Want me to get its attention?" Hornet asked as she aimed her weapon.
I hesitated for a second, but I steeled myself. The Queen wasn't there to reassure me, so I had to reassure myself. I nodded my head and said, "Shoot."
And Hornet aimed her electric crossbow straight at the dragon's glowing eyes like bullseyes. For anybody else, it would have been an impossible task, but for her, it was as easy as shooting something right in front of her.
She fired her electric crossbow seven times at the dragon in succession. Each one hitting her target. And then once more in the other eye. And that finally brought the dragon straight towards us. We all could see it take flight and come straight towards us. Its thunderous roar shook the ground.
"Everybody, get in cover. Hide in the shadows!" I ordered.
And each one of us went under the mushrooms and hid. It was almost as if we were the dark elves using the environment to our advantage.
The dragon flew overhead and looked down. It didn't see us, and was about to circle around. Then, Hornet fired one more shot. It grazed by the side of its wings to little effect, but it certainly got the dragon's attention. She hid back in the shadows, as the dragon landed near the opening. Its footsteps shook the ground. It tried to see through the shadows, but was unclear of where the shot was fired from. We all kept quiet. I could hear its breathing. It sniffed the musky air. Its breath smelled like burning charcoal.
The dragon took one more step, and an explosion went off underneath its hand. It stepped on some yellow mushrooms that were hidden with a cloth. And that was the signal for the team of roaches to charge.
"For the Queen!" the group of roaches yelled. Viking and I led this team forward to fight the dragon in a full frontal assault. It roared as we shot electricity and readied our blades. As it was about to breathe out a stream of fire, a bolt of electricity came out from the shadows and struck the dragon's eye staggering the dragon.
Hornet dashed from one shadow to the next to not let the dragon figure out where she fired from.
Doc and his team of roaches began throwing pouches full of yellow mushrooms at the dragon as it was distracted.
The dragon was surrounded, but it was like being surrounded by a small group of ants. I felt terrified, but I didn't let up. The other roaches counted on me - on us. As the dragon breathed out flames, Viking and I dodged to the sides. Some roaches were able to avoid it, but most were screaming in pain as their exoskeleton melted and peeled away.
Doc and his roaches kept circling around its sides to throw more pouches. They aimed it at the collar, but it did little effect.
I was unsure whether the dragon didn't fight as strong as I thought it would, but I suspected it was either tired from fighting that undead monster or didn't see us as a huge threat. Either way, I felt some relief. I felt like we had a good chance at winning.
But those thoughts were ill-conceived. When we got close, the dragon would swipe us away. It completely ignored Doc's team. The black dragon was only focusing on where Hornet's electric shots were coming from. It didn't take long, but it estimated where Hornet was going to shoot from next. The dragon shot out a ball of fire towards Hornet. There was nothing she could do. The blast knocked her leaving behind a huge burn on the right side of her body and face. She fell, and I became worried.
I rushed to her location as the other roaches fought the dragon. I checked on her condition. She was heavily burned, but not dead. Just unconscious. And I felt relief.
When Viking got to the dragon's legs, he swung his axe with all of his might. But it was not enough.
The dragon's eyes were bleeding, but it was not enough.
Nothing was enough.
He let out a roar that rang in my ears as he now focused on Doc's team. It breathed a stream of fire at the roaches throwing the yellow mushrooms. Doc hid behind mushroom, but the others were not so lucky as they lit aflame. Their pouches exploded in their hands as their bodies popped. Next, the dragon focused on Viking and the roaches that attacked it head on. They barely did anything to the dragon and its might. Their blades and bolts of lightning were nothing but a nuisance to dragon scales.
It flapped its wings and flung away many of the roaches without any effort.
Doc looked at the dragon's collar and noticed a large crack. He was about to throw another pouch, but he realized that he only had one. He couldn't just waste it.
Hornet's eyes were swirling around, but as soon as she awoke, all she could do was lay there in a weakened state. She still held onto her electric crossbow like it was her life. I dragged her away behind one of the mushrooms and gave her some water.
Then, I began firing my electric crossbow at the dragon. I yelled with unrelenting fury, but to a dragon, our screams were nothing but chirping noises.
Doc could see that the crack was the weakest point to destroy the collar.
Viking yelled a battle cry. He held up his axe and prepared to strike and try again.
"I have a plan!" Doc yelled to all of us. He ran forward yelling, "Viking, throw me up!"
I didn't know what his plan was, but we just kept going as we stared death in the face.
Without a second thought, Viking grabbed Doc and threw him. Viking didn't think anything about it. He never liked to think about anything. Just take orders and fight. Doc landed atop of the dragon's back. The dragon immediately noticed the roach climbing it.
When I noticed Doc up there, I began firing even more relentlessly. I didn't know what he was planning, but whatever it was would need our support. I charged forward with my sword in one hand and the crossbow in the other. Whatever roaches were left charged with me. I knew we were charging straight to our deaths, but I didn't care. I knew each one of us would rather die in battle than be branded as cowards or traitors.
"Together, siblings!" I yelled without holding back.
Viking struck the dragon even harder. Blood rushed throughout his whole body. If he got pushed back, he would just rush back in. Then, the dragon was going to crush Viking with its palm. When that happened, Viking dropped his axe and lifted his arms up. The ground underneath his shattered and cracked, but he still stood. But he fell to one knee as the dragon applied more pressure. I was surprised that he was even able to hold his ground without getting crushed. And so was the dragon.
As the dragon was distracted, Doc was able to climb without any problems besides the occasional shake. By the time he made it to the cracked part of the collar, there was only me, Viking, and himself left.
"What are you going to do now, Doc!?" I asked him as the battle ensued.
"Where's Hornet!?" Doc asked as he kept holding on to the cracked portion of the collar.
"She's down."
"I figured... Oh, well."
Doc frowned for a moment, but gave a small smile directed towards me. And I didn't like it. Whatever he was planning didn't feel right.
"Live to fight another day, brother," Doc said before taking out a pouch of yellow mushrooms. Even I could guess what he was about to do.
"Wait! Don't - !" I yelled as tears began to flow down my cheek. But there was no use arguing. Doc took one last look at me. He smiled as he struck the crack with a pouch of yellow mushrooms. It was over in an instant. The collar broke. The runes on it ceased to glow. The dragon began to calm itself. And Doc was gone. There was nothing left except ash. In his last moments, he didn't have any thought about the Queen, her empire, or the war. All he cared about was keeping the rest of us alive.
"I'm free?" the black dragon said in an empowering voice.
He stopped trying to crush Viking, and before Viking was about to continue fighting, I ran in to stop him. As soon as I held him back, he began to relax.
The dragon looked around confused for a moment. He saw the bodies of burning roaches and mushrooms. The dark landscape. And the battle afar.
"It feels so good to have control once more," he said. He looked down at me and Viking. Hornet stood up weak and came forward still holding her electric crossbow. I went over to her and lent her my shoulder. The fight was over. I had just hoped the dragon would let us go. It was only the four of us, now. Me, Viking, and Hornet. And the black dragon.
The dragon looked towards Hiroga City and said, "Dark elves... They dare try to enslave me. I will have to burn down their hubris."
Before the dragon was about to take off, I yelled, "Wait, dragon! Please don't burn down Hiroga City."
The dragon froze and stopped in bewilderment. Viking and Hornet also wondered what I was thinking. They thought that we were lucky to even be alive. But I couldn't let the dragon destroy the city.
"Strange. Why shouldn't I, little bug?" the dragon asked amused by my request, "I may not have been in control, but I could still see everything that happened as if I was prisoner in my own body. I know that you creatures are enemies to the dark elves. You should be thrilled that I'd give you an easy victory. Or perhaps, you'd rather die gloriously in battle."
I replied, "The dark elves may be our enemy, but once we win, they will be citizens of our empire. I won't allow harm to come to our own people. And I won't allow the Queen's city to be reduced to ash."
Viking and Hornet stood with me and my decision. They might not have agreed with my statement, but didn't voice their complaints.
The dragon laughed. "You are a brave, little soldier to stand up to me. A merciful warmonger? Funny," he said with a smile. He looked at the siege and continued, "Your army will not win. Your troops are only able to make it half way up those cursed walls before getting themselves eaten or shot down. Even without me on the dark elves' side, you will lose."
I believed his words. In that moment, I began to believe that there was nothing else that can be done. We defeated the dragon and gave the army the time it needed. But it wasn't enough. I felt sorrow for those roaches who died, but I still had my duty to serve the Queen. I still planned to march forward to take the city even if I was the only roach left standing by the time I got there.
The dragon laid his neck down and said, "Very well, little warmonger. I promise not to burn that decrepit city to ashes. But I will still help those who freed me. Get on and hang tightly to my scales. I'll take you to the city and help you where I can."
A moment of relief passed over us. I didn't exactly know what help the dragon would be able to do without destroying the city, but I believed that it would be just the difference to turn the tide of the battle.
I went forward carrying Hornet on my shoulders. Viking followed right behind me. I believed this dragon. It had no reason to lie. It could have just squashed us and burned down the city, but instead decided to speak to us - or more specifically to me.
We went on the dragon's back. And as soon as we got our bearings, the dragon flapped his wings and flew us straight towards Hiroga City. And as we did, all I could remember was Doc's smile. I know the Queen's Empire wouldn't remember him, but I would - not as a roach or a soldier, but as a good friend. He accepted his fate, and I would honor his sacrifice by taking this city and ending this battle once and for all.
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