Chapter 7: Intercepted

When Mandrake was well enough to keep his feet under himself, they began their journey. They travelled by night and hid and rested by day, walking instead of flying to avoid detection by human aircraft. Being RainWings, Mandrake and the others found that they actually preferred the routine of sleeping through the daylight hours-it left them feeling energized and ready for the next leg of their trip.

It wasn't long before they were out of the rainforest. Mandrake had heard stories about the other lands in Pyrrhia but he'd never truly been able to picture them. Sprawling mountains, cities beneath the ocean, countries so devoid of life that the sand was the only thing that moved-these were all things he could only wonder about, having never really seen them.

For now, they were crossing through some very muddy swamplands. The MudWings seemed happy enough to be back in their natural environment-they were more relaxed and less jumpy. The RainWings however, did not share their enthusiasm.

The grime kept getting stuck in between their claws and scales, causing a niggling sense of discomfort as the day wore on. Mandrake's persistent exhaustion kept his attention away from it but Glimmer, Lemur and Rain were constantly trying to scrape it out whenever they had the chance.

They'd all had mud in the rainforest but it had only been during and after heavy rainfall, after which, they'd be free to try and clean themselves. There had never been this much for them to deal with.

It was daybreak now and the rays of the sun were just beginning to poke through the mangrove trees.

"We'll stop here," Reed announced. "I'll get dinner ready and then we should all get some shuteye. We've been traveling hard and we're making good progress. I estimate we'll be at the main Talons encampment by week's end."

"Where is the main Talons encampment?" Rain asked. "Wouldn't it be really difficult for a large group of dragons to stay hidden?"

"Not exactly," Reed said as he distributed the dried meat from his satchel. "This land's a big place. The scavengers have no idea where to start looking. And the encampment is very well hidden-high up in the mountains where they never venture. Makes all the negotiations we did with the SkyWings almost seem worth it."

"SkyWings?" Glimmer repeated. "What are they like? They sound like they gave you quite a hard time."

"They did," Reed said with a huff. "They're a proud group of warriors bound by honor and tradition. A really stuffy bunch honestly. When we came to them seeking a place to establish a base of operations, they refused to even meet with us. It was only when we stumbled upon one of their hidden settlements that they sent an envoy to treat with us."

"Though he really didn't treat with us so much as he turned us down flat. Said it was against their ways to let non-SkyWings set foot on their mountains. We had to promise them massive amounts of food and supplies and that we'd build our encampment a goodly distance away from anywhere they marked out as forbidden."

Mandrake listened absently to the conversation. His mind wandered elsewhere. There was an odd sound in the air. He tried to focus on it, to tune out the other noises in the swamp; the insects, the birds, the sloshing of the mud.

Whup, whup, whup, whup-

Why did it sound so eerily familiar? Where had he heard it before?

Whup, whup, whup, whup-

And why did it leave him feeling suddenly very scared?

Whup, whup, whup, whup-

Mandrake's eyes widened. He had hear it before! It was the same thumping sound that he'd heard when the flying machines had attacked his village! Helicopters,Reed had said.

He was about to shout a warning when a missile streaked into the clearing, the scream of its passage deafening all around. Reed saw it in time and lunged at it, claws extended as if to catch the deadly weapon. Dragon and missile collided in a spectacular detonation that sent Glimmer, Brook, Lemur and Rain sprawling.

Mandrake was sitting far enough from the explosion to have escaped relatively unscathed. He scanned the surrounding area. Indeed, a squadron of six helicopters were hovering like a menacing swarm just over the treetops. The inky black contrail left by the missile's passing identified the attack chopper that had fired.

He mustered his already-taxed strength and uprooted a tree from the ground. He sent it spinning and corkscrewing wildly towards the offending helicopter. The chopper rose just in time to avoid the projectile which arced toward the ground.

But it suddenly stopped falling. Mandrake reached out to it, halting it and reversing its trajectory. The tree, like a spear, rocketed upwards at terminal velocity, impaling the attack helicopter straight through its fuselage. The helicopter came apart in a massive explosion and shrapnel shot outwards in all directions.

There was a sickening crunch as the dying copter's rotor blade spiraled uncontrollably into another chopper that had been too late to escape. Both rotor blades became caught up and the helicopter rapidly lost altitude, smashing into the ground and bursting apart into a ball of fire.

But this spectacle of destruction wasn't without cost. Mandrake clutched at his chest with a claw. It felt like something, or several somethings had stabbed and lacerated his insides. His rib cage felt like it had shrunk by several times and was now pressing into his lungs and heart. He staggered, dizzy and nauseous.

One of the helicopters launched a missile at him. In too much pain to evade it, he could only stand there as the missile hit the ground before him, blasting him away in a shower of fire, mud and shrapnel.

He landed in a heap in a shallow puddle, claws scrabbling against the sides of his head. There was an agonizing ringing sound in his ears. He lay there, the pain making him wish for death. Weakly, he forced himself to look up.

His friends lay unmoving-whether unconscious or dead, he did not know. He saw two helicopters close in on Brook but the MudWing dove into a deceptively deep bog pit. The helicopters' cannons hammered out a brutal, deafening staccato and the surface of the bog pit erupted as the high caliber shells hit home.

Mandrake watched breathlessly for any signs of life. But there was nothing. Not a single bubble or sign of Brook... The helicopters hovered there for a few moments. Then, satisfied that their work was done, they turned away.

A deafening roar caught his attention. Reed was cornered by the remaining helicopters. He was badly injured-his wings were shredded and his body was covered in bloody gashes. And still he fought on, bellowing, trying to pounce at the helicopters.

They simply stayed out of reach and kept their guns trained on Reed. One of the helicopters that had killed Brook landed. It's pilot hopped out of the canopy as it opened. He and Reed exchanged a cold stare.

The scavenger made a strange gesture with its arm-a waving motion. It was almost as if it was telling Reed to go.

Reed took an uncertain step backwards, his eyes still fixed on the helicopters. One of the flying machines made a threatening advance but the scavenger held out its hand to halt it. Again he waved Reed away.

The MudWing shot a helpless look at Mandrake and the others. It was as if he was considering how to save them too. There was no way he could do it. He'd only get himself killed trying especially with his wounds. They locked eyes and Mandrake weakly managed to shake his head.

"I'll come back for you. I'll find help and we'll get you out! I promise!" Reed called. Then, he turned and dove into the undergrowth as fast as he could.

But the small scavenger wasn't done. He barked something and all three remaining helicopters flew forward in hot pursuit of Reed.

Mandrake heard Reed yelp in surprise. There was gunfire and screaming. Reed's howls of agony rose into the sky as the helicopters' rapid fire cannons cruelly cut him apart piece by piece. It felt like an eternity before his death throes faded into echoes...

The scavenger looked on, laughing callously. Mandrake's stomach twisted in disgust. Why? Why were they doing this? What had the dragons ever done to deserve this genocide?

He tried to hold onto consciousness, to try to drag himself away from the horror of all of it. But his strength waned and he sunk into unconsciousness as a heavy net fell over him. And then there was silence.

Meanwhile...

Commander Nikolai stood, a smirk plastered on his wide face. He was large by human standards-a massive hulk of a man. His pilot suit had been custom-tailored to fit his huge frame. He shook his unkempt mane of pale gold hair and icy blue eyes glared as he removed his visored helmet.

Four captures and two kills to add to his record. To be brutally honest, he'd have rather killed the other four too but the General had asked for them to be taken alive. The eggheads at the lab wanted them for study. Already he had been taking liberties by killing the other two.

But that could be justified to his superiors, he reasoned. One would've escaped had he not acted and the other was too injured to be of much use. Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

Still, he could possible have a chance at killing these dragons too. After all, he didn't have to hand them in to the scientists. He could just give them any regular dragons and they'd scarcely know the difference. It probably wouldn't even matter to them as long as they had something to dissect.

But it mattered to him. These dragons, if what he'd been told was true, had killed six pilots earlier. They'd killed two of his best men right before his eyes. They'd earned his wrath by that measure. And now he was determined to make sure they suffered for it.

"Change of plans," he told his pilots in a rumbling baritone. "Those damn nerds won't be getting their lab rats today. I've got something else in mind for these animals. Move out!"

He looked contemptuously at the slumbering dragons and remarked, "Welcome to Hell."

Author's Note:

And so things take a turn for the worse. What plans does Commander Nikolai have in store for them? How long can they survive?

So tell me how you found the chapter? How were the characters and how are you finding the story's far? Thanks for reading!

Spicydog-Never thought of it as a Jedi-Padawan relationship but now that you bring it up, it does seem like it would be appropriate. May the Force be with you XD And looks like you were right abt Jolly old Nikolai XD Nothing but trouble XD

Prryhian Emperor-Well to be honest I haven't actually read your story at all. No offence intended but I really haven't had much time to read lately. But from what you say, you sound like you're focusing more on the aspects of an actual war. This story doesn't quite share the same focus-instead it's a take on how the Scorching played out and the reasons why the tribes are what they are in modern Pyrrhia-like why the RainWings are pacifists and why everyone thinks they're lazy and useless, etc. Stay tuned to find out more!

MCZ-What makes you think Nikolai is Soviet?XD

frazzle-thanks:) words of encouragement are greatly appreciated

perfectlyclearly-Glad you do. And count on it :D