Chapter XI: The Verge of Tears
Sun Park held reservations about her assignment. She didn't doubt the intelligence of Fred Nerk, or his resources. But she questioned his methods. This was not the best pairing for a scouting mission. It was necessary that members of a scouting party were detained, stealthy and detached. Members of scouting teams had to be not only resourceful, but also determined and utilize restraint and tact.
Reisha, the Caribbean Dragon of only seventeen years was breathing heavily as the two dragons crossed the small dry riverbed. The Dark Armada had forces a mile away, and Fred Nerk had tasked them with scouting their troops. With his simple matter of fact briefing, as well as his edict from the Dragon Council, effectively giving him joint control over Lao Shi and his forces. She couldn't help but feel the same uncertainty that Lao Shi had shown. Fred Nerk, although a simple Commander on the same level as Sun, and at a lower rank of Lao Shi, had been given even greater power.
The dragon master couldn't help shake the feeling that the Dragon Council, without the input of Lao Shi, viewed the council member as a liability due to his grandson's recent problems. They feared that Luong would wish to assist his family, rather than fully engage in the war.
Sun reverted to human form as they neared the wizard encampment; she raised a hand in signal. She hoped the young dragon had enough fortitude to stay alert and quiet enough so that their mission would succeed.
Reisha whimpered.
Sun rolled her eyes in minor annoyance, which was quickly replaced by sympathy and guilt. The younger dragon did well to be fearful; Adren Karr had killed her older sister.
As they drew within almost earshot of the camp, she could feel magical webs of energy that stood as a sentry to the camp. Webs of magic spun in every direction, spread out in such a way as to alert the caster to someone's approach. The dragon master clicked her teeth together in annoyance, it seemed that everything was conspiring against them.
"We'll need to weave around the webs," she whispered almost inaudibly, chanting a light incantation that made the enemy's defences visible.
Reisha nodded meekly, following the elder dragon's lead. After five minutes of contorting and shifting to arrive at the bare outskirts of the camp both dragons froze in complete disbelief. There were only five humans sitting around a small campfire.
The younger dragon made a move to speak, but was quickly cut off by Sun's raised finger. They had to listen in on their conversation.
Of the five wizards that stood before them, there were two who sat within the confines of thick cloakes, fully hiding their features. The one wizard that caught Sun's attention the most, however, was the youngest of them, one who looked so familiar to her.
A centaur came running toward the small group of wizards, to which the young wizard stood up, "What is it Kengah?"
The centaur seemed to be fighting something within his head.
One of the cloaked wizards rose from his seat, whispering a light incantation.
"He's controlling them," lip-synched Sun, hoping that the young dragon could understand her words in the darkness.
"My lord," started Kengah, fully under their control, "the Griffins were completely and utterly defeated,"
"How?" said a short and stocky wizard, he had a scar on his neck that made its way to his eyes.
"Reinforcements from the Dragon Army," continued Kengah, "Commander Nerk leads them,"
The cloaked wizard who remained seated turned his head ever slightly, "Nerk is their intelligence commander, Elias and I will take care of him,"
The cloaked wizard who stood shook his head, and turned to the younger wizard identified as Elias, "Go with-," he paused, the younger wizard wasn't paying attention to him he realised.
Elias was looking out into the darkness, in their direction. Sun held her breath, and hoped that Reisha had enough to do the same. The young wizard's eyes seemed to bore into them, as if he could sense their presence. From the corner of Sun's eye she could see that many of the webs were connected to him, they were roving about in the area in which they hood.
Reisha gripped Sun's arm tightly.
Calm yourself! Sun screamed within her mind, hoping against all odds that they could remain undiscovered long enough to slip away.
Elias returned his attention to the older wizard, "My apologies master,"
Sun could see the wizard's body stiffen, "Afire!" he shouted, aiming a blast of energy in their direction, it wasn't targeted at them, and was meant to simply startle anyone in the area, revealing their location to him.
Reisha didn't realise, she screamed and entered her dragon form, throwing the elder dragon aside.
"No!" shouted Sun.
The cloaked wizard that stood, laughed, "Another Caribbean Dragon?"
"You," said Reisha with venom, "the Dark Hunter,"
He pulled the hood of his cloak down, revealing himself to her, "Yes, I am Adren Karr, High Commander of the Dark Armada,"
Reisha screamed in rage.
Adren stretched his hand out, "Blessed light and darkness, strike this being with blindness,"
Reisha screamed a new scream, one of confusion and fear.
Sun began to slink back, in an attempt to escape. She knew that even together there was no hope in battle against the Dark Hunter; he had felled the best of them in combined forces. Elias blocked her pathway with an evil grin, "Stay and watch her suffer,"
Adren strode up to the blinded dragon, which fought with ferocity against an enemy that she could not see. He drew his arm back; it took on the form of his deadly dragon claws.
"No!" shouted Sun, attempting to pull away. Chains of magic bound her feet and arms, pinning her to the ground.
With a sickening thud, Reisha's now lifeless body fell to the ground. Her blood ebbed into the dirt.
With a gasp Sun bit back tears; the poor child didn't even have a chance.
Adren turned to regard the dragon master and smiled, "It seems that we have ourselves a real life prisoner of war, as a dragon master, she'll have much intel to share with us,"
The still cloaked wizard who was seated climbed from his seat and walked towards her, in the faint glow of the light she could finally make out his features, his eyes looked solemn, a bit sad even.
Sun gasped as she suddenly realised who he was, "You're-," The cloaked wizard brought his hand down with a quick blow. Sun Park tasted blood, and darkness.
Interesting guesses, I won't tell you who was right or wrong, I don't want to spoil the plot for you. All I can say is that the story is going to unfold in ways that cannot be truly foreseen, (I have tentively decided to write two sequels to The Thousand Year Curse, the plot of both are underway and even now are being put into place through this story).
The Blood That Binds Us won't be updates this week, my apologies, but I will update it next week for sure. Please read and review, and I hope you enjoy.
Any tips of character developments or problems with dialogue? Please give me your ideas, suggestions and thoughts in the review! I gladly accept them (even if I may not implement them on that specific character). Do you think each character is sticking to their "character"?
Also, who do you prefer to have their own short story fanfic, Adren Karr or Sabrina Khan? Please vote in my poll (located at my profile page) and review!
Thanks in ADVANCE!
Stay Tuned for Chapter 12 (to be released on Tuesday, or Monday if I get enough reviews, hint hint. lol)
Chapter 10: Powerhouse
JakeRoss2
