Chapter Eleven, Grudge

Daniel asked, "Um, just freeing the dragon?"

"I don't think I can allow that…", the guard replied.

"He's my friend."

"What?"

"It's a long story."

"And the bombing of Oberstleutnaut Schleicher's bedroom?"

"You know better than that."

"Orders are orders…"

"That's not an acceptable answer. I know you're aware that I was framed, and that you're concerned about also being arrested."

"I'd rather not risk eating bullets and forever being known as the guy who helped a person marked as a traitor."

"I'll hit you in the head hard enough to leave a large bruise. Then you can claim that I knocked you out."

"Still, you're going to release a goddamn dragon. I'll bet you a bottle of schnaps that the AA gun crews are going to shoot at it immediately."

"Wait, where did you get it from?"

"All I know it arrived chained up in a cage off of a boat. Dr. Bergenstråhle pulled some strings to get a boat and some crew members for a short 'expedition'."

A gunshot ranged from the hallway, a hole appeared in the door, and the guard crumpled to the ground, screaming "MAMA!"

Daniel dashed forward, picked up the guard's rifle, and ran behind cover, narrowly missing two bullets. Dr. Bergenstråhle calmly walked into the room, firing another round at Daniel.

"Dr. Bergenstråhle, how did you figure out where the…"

"A person's nervous system can be his liability. You were muttering things after you passed out, and I took interest in it."

"So what do you plan on doing with Zahnlos?"

"Aww… That's so cute, you gave a reptile monster a name. A shame that I'm going to dissect it, alive, without any anesthetic."

"He's the last dragon alive."

"That makes it even better."

"Why?"

"Didn't I tell you? Father died. Mother died. Family broke up. You really think I'm going to forgive a mindless species that wreaked my life?

"I came across several diaries left behind by a Swedish squad tasked with killing the dragons, and I do believe your father was a member of it."

"And?"

"The point is that someone told the squad to kill the dragons. And there were gold nuggets in the cave, and of course lots of dead American miners sharing the field of death. I know you can put the dots together."

"That doesn't matter. Your friend is going to die, and you're going to also die from the firing squad."

"What would you do if someone wanted to suffocate you to death by igniting piles of explosives and triggering a cave-in? Everyone has the survival instincts, and it only takes a bit of misunderstanding to turn it into a cycle of cruelty."

"I... don't... CARE!"

"Then what do you care, other than killing the dragon?"

Dr. Bergenstråhle stood silently.

Daniel then filled in the silence, "Every man has a choice. To either go home as a man, or as a murderer."

Dr. Bergenstråhle threw a key at Daniel, then walked over and hit a button. A massive steel sliding door on ceiling opened, originally meant for firing test rockets.

"Take it, undo the locks on the chains, and get out of here before I change my mind."

"Please point your gun away from me."

"Fair enough."

Daniel looked at Dr. Bergenstråhle briefly before picking up the key and walking towards Zahnlos. When the locks started to fall off one by one, the dragon's head perked up. Before he was finished undoing the locks and chains, it screeched, snapped the remaining chains and locks, and hurdled towards Dr. Bergenstråhle.

"Zahnlos! NO! STOP!" Daniel yelled, as Dr. Bergenstråhle pointed his pistol at the incoming dragon. But before he pulled the trigger, the dragon abruptly stopped and turned around to look at Daniel.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

Daniel climbed onto the dragon's back, and nudged it to get Zahnlos to start flying. He then looked back as they lifted into the heavily cloudy air through the opened ceiling, and saw Dr. Bergenstråhle walking away, dragging the wounded guard with him.

The doctor then suddenly started firing at Daniel and the dragon, though missed all of the shots while ranting, "I have no home, because the entire neighborhood was leveled! And all I'm going to face is a bunch of starving, hobo people, and foreign soldiers stationed everywhere, if I ever get off of this island without sleeping with the fishes! I hate smooth talking motivational speakers like you!"

Daniel was about to relax when he noticed something ongoing below at the base.

A firing squad, and someone was tied up to the pole.

Anton!

"Dive Zahnlos! To there!" Daniel urgently pointed.

"Former Gefreiter Schäfer, you have been charged with dozens of minor offenses, destruction of military property, and most importantly, treason and murder by fragging your commanding officer. Do you have any last words?"

"Could you send someone over to get something out of my left pocket and read it? Trust me, it's not a bomb."

The officer looked to the side, and motioned one of the firing squad members to walk over to Anton. He then pulled out a reddish-brown card.

275 meters!

The soldier read, "Go Directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect 200 dollars."

"Return back to your position." The officer ordered.

200 meters!

When the soldier returned back to the line, the officer yelled, "Ready!"

125 meters!

"Level!"

50 meters!

"Fire!"

Daniel watched in horror as Anton shuddered and slumped over.

"It's too late Zahnlos, pull up!"

The officer and everyone in the firing squad watched in amazement and confusion as an dragon swooped over them.

And then the air raid sirens blared.

There was an unwritten rule among the anti-air gunners, that if it's big, flying, and it doesn't have German markings on it. Shoot it. If it looks strange, shoot it more.

"Never mind! Get down, use the buildings as cover!"

Zahnlos rolled its eyes, signaling to Daniel, "Down, up, which is it?" as it dove down again until it was just above the pavement.

Many of the AA crews couldn't get a clear sight onto the dragon due to obstructing buildings, but one crew had a clear line of sight.

Daniel refused to look behind him as large chunks of concrete were blasted out of the surrounding buildings by a determined quadruple 40mm AA gunner. However, it proved to be difficult for the gunner to track the target since he had never engaged an aircraft that flew just above the ground, thus almost all of the shots were behind by a second or so. A glass was also heard being shattered, shortly followed by someone loudly swearing to kill whoever ruined their last peppermint schnaps bottle.

Then there were explosions everywhere. But the explosions weren't caused by bomber aircraft.

Over 20 battleships, battlecruisers, and cruisers were blindly bombarding the island base before prioritizing various targets, and the Germans never noticed that a naval fleet was sitting in their harbor due to the heavy fog and the still-broken radar until it was too late. The large, heavily fortified anti-ship artillery guns quickly responded back at the locations of the naval guns' flashes, unknowingly revealing their location to incoming allied aircraft.

Dive bombers soon appeared, all of them attempting to target the anti-ship batteries and the airfield. Several fighter aircraft also dove to apply suppressive fire on the AA guns and draw their attention from the dive bombers. Many of the aircraft were turned into falling, burning scrap metal by the AA guns, but it didn't stop them from causing more destruction, nor did it stop a fresh wave of approaching aircraft.

As Daniel and Zahnlos exited the field of buildings now unopposed (as the AA crews decided the allied bombers were a larger threat than the dragon) and flew across the harbor, he noticed Paul at the docks, who was staring back at him, before running off to the airfield for deployment.

Author's notes:

Terminology (German words):

-Hauptgefreiter: (Lance Corporal)

-Oberstleutnaut: (Lieutenant Colonel)

-Schnaps: Strong alcoholic beverage