A/N: For anyone who has yet to watch the movie Reign of Fire, this may be quite confusing for you. It is a story based on this movie, and, I might add, a slightly dark fic. I hadn't originally intended for it to be that way, but during the process of writing I tried my best to portray what happened, people's responses, their feelings...etc as accurately as I could, based on the situation (which in itself is incredibly unrealistic, but makes for good story material). Please review and let me know what you think with each chapter, or simply wait till the end. I openly accept all constructive critisism on storyline, structure...etc. But, if you watched Reign of Fire, didn't like it, and are just reading this because it's a HA fic, you might as well click the back button on your browser and find something else to read because this really takes a sharp turn away from all the basic HA story plots out there.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and please let me know what you think.

Important: Anything in Italics is what's written in the journal. Anytime you see one of these - at the beginning and end of a portion of the story, it represents the start and finish of a flashback. Everything bold is present day(in the story).

Hope this clears some stuff up.

Arnold's Flight

By Angela St. Mathew

Chapter one: For to Have a Story no One Has Heard...

I'm starting this journal with the hope and prayer that someday someone will be around to read it. Even if those of us here now don't survive this, I pray this will find it's way into the hands of someone with a brain, someone who can find a way to stop this madness.

I'm not even sure where to begin explaining, but I'm sure if you survived you know exactly what I'm talking about. But let me try to begin somewhere. The first dragon showed up in London, unearthed by a crew of railroad tunnel workers. After that they seemed to spread like wild fire all over England, expanding to the surrounding regions with a speed that was literally unstoppable. It took them a couple weeks to show up in New York (they got to Canada first).

It started with one that flew over Manhattan, burning the tops up buildings and taking up any people it could reach. By the next day, Tuesday, there were hundreds swarming in from the air over the ocean.

Within five months, there were literally thousands of them clowding the sky and claiming building tops of their own. The buildings that were left standing, anyway. Mostly just the frames are left, everything else burned in the inferno of the dragons' breath.

People died by the millions, either set to flames or eaten whole by the demons. That's all they seem to do. Scratch that, it IS all they do! They just burn our city and eat it's people. Mostly they eat. It's almost like they're smart or something, because they seem to know that if they destroy all our houses and buildings, we'll have no where to go but out into the open.

Arnold placed a hand over his eyes as memories and emotional termoil rushed painfully to the forefront of his mind. He wasn't sure why he was bothering to do this. He wasn't sure why he was reading a journal he'd began twelve years ago, why he was opening himself up to all the memories he'd kept blocked away for so long.

He remembered being so angry that first week, so distraught with how stupid people were for running out of their burning houses and into the streets, only to have a fire-breathing demon swoop down through the smoke and take them in an instant.

And he saw it.

Through his bedroom window, nearly paralyzed with shock, Arnold had watched it happen just across the street. He vividly remembered seeing his neighbor rush out of his house, only to have his entire upper torso crunched off. He saw a kid from school insinerated before his eyes.

It had only been a couple seconds of his life, but that couple seconds, and the moments that would follow, had completely stolen away the 13 year old child that Arnold was.

He read on...

My grandpa was one of the few people in our neighborhood with a brain enough to lead us directly to the sewer opening in the street after there appeared to be no dragons on the warpath nearby. Only four of us made it in before the dragons came back. Three made it to the next day.

Arnold could feel his arm muscles tensing with anger at the memory. His grandpa had been so insistant that all the boarders get into the sewer before he did. Arnold had wanted to help get all the boarders out of the house, but Phil had made him go with grandma and make sure she was safely away from the manhole once underground. Grandma had been strangely quiet and submissive, not like her crazy self at all. She hadn't said a word as Arnold hurried her along the path and around a corner, told her to stay there, and ran back to the opening just Ernie was coming down the ladder.

-

Arnold started up the ladder but Ernie stopped him. "What're you doin'?"

"I have to go help grandpa!"

Ernie grabbed Arnold by the arms and pulled him away from the ladder. "You can't go out there!"

"Let go!" Arnold demanded rather viscously, just as the rumble of dragon fire carried across the street, a horrible explosion rocked the earth, and a man's scream was heard as Mr. Huyne tumbled into the manhole and landed with a terrible thud onto the concrete. He was enveloped in flames, and Ernie yanked his shirt off and began slapping the man, padding out the fire.

All Arnold could do was watch the opening that lead to the streets above. Without a moments hesitation, he made a mad dash for the ladder and started up, but Ernie caught him again. This time he wasn't gentle and let Arnold fall a couple feet into the floor by the moaning Mr. Huyne.

Ernie climbed up, took one look outside, and climbed back down, sliding the cover over the manhole on his way.

Arnold remembered yelling at him, demanding he open it back up. He'd tried to go up the ladder again, but Ernie wouldn't let him. Regardless of his recently achieved height, Ernie was still stronger. Arnold had cursed and screamed for the first time in his life as he fought against Ernies hold on him.

He hadn't noticed it then, but in his mind's eye now Arnold could still see the grief stricken expression on Ernies face.

-

A/N: That's all for now. I'm not sure when I will get the next chapter up, but hopefully it won't be too long. But buckle up for a long ride, because this story is alot bigger than I'd ever planned it to be!

Angela