War of Eraklyon

The plan sounded simple enough. Sky, Erendor, Fritz, Mink, a few guards, and I were taking a smaller ship to get close to the Guardian Dragon while the army took several other ships to distract the raging dragon.

I felt strangely calm going into this fight. I wasn't anxious, nervous, or even excited to help stop the guardian. The only feeling that I could truly name was disappointment. I have no idea what I am disappointed with, but I know the feeling too well to dispute it.

Guided by Leaf and Sky, we boarded the ship that was to take us to the middle of the battle. I could sense Sky's anxiousness. His tight grip and sweaty palm told all. I felt bad for making him worry, but this was something I had to do. Something that I felt might change everything.

"Bloom, don't worry. I'll be right by your side the entire time." Sky tried to sound reassuring, but failed miserably at it.

I reached out my free hand, which he gently took hold of and helped me find his cheek. I moved towards my hand and kissed the side of his face. If only that were true.

I have formed my own plan to fight the guardian. As soon as we were close enough, I planned to abandon the ship and use my own dragon to fight the guardian. After all, my dragon was the 'mother' of Eraklyon. I think sensing the presence of the dragon flame will do something in regards of stopping Eraklyon's rage.

Sky took his position on the ship, captian as usual, and Mink's voice entered my head.

"I am ready when you are." I relayed his message to the others and Sky began the takeoff checklist. Engines, power core, radar, and all of the usual things that I really don't care about. I can fly a ship with ease, but I never thought of memorizing all of the names of the parts, and I didn't care to learn them now.

I could feel the floor shift under my feet and assumed that we had taken off without a hitch. I activated my dragons eye and held it out to the window. Just as we rose above the trees and hills that covered Eraklyon, I finally saw what I was getting myself into.

Eraklyon was a massive beast covered in golden armor. The little skin that was shown was a dark mahogany and wrinkled like an old prune. Bright red eyes shone through the eye slits of the dragon's helm and saliva dripped from his gaping mouth.

"If circumstances were better, I would have been honored to rule a planet in the guardian's name." Sky muttered.

"It isn't his fault." I said without thinking.

Even if I couldn't exactly see everyone on the ship at one time, I felt all of their eyes on me.

"He is angry, and I think he is under the influence of dark magic." My thoughts flashed back on the woman with the dark presence.

She puzzled me even more now than before. At first, I feared her dark powers. Something about them was hauntingly familiar and dangerous that I couldn't help but be wary in its presence. When I was face to face before, that familiarity was still there, but not the sense of danger. Something about her darkness felt natural and almost calming when she was close to me, but now… I feel a hole in myself. I now missed her presence and felt like I would do anything to feel it again, even for just a single second.

I can't focus on that now, though. Right now, I need to prepare my dragon for battle. A battle that seemed to be getting worse and worse by the second. Eraklyon wasn't just winning, he was dominating the battlefield. Just one of his massive feet could wipe out at least a hundred men and dragons. His fire swept across leagues of land, eviscerating trees, grasses, and any other living thing it touched.

Something ignited within my chest, and I was thrown back to a dream I once had. I was floating in nothing, but then, a great dragon appeared. A dragon whose eye was as big as my entire body. An eye with a rainbow hue and a powerful gaze that was burned into my memory.

"Ready." A voice I had never heard before echoed through my head. Not knowing what exactly it meant by ready, I replied.

"For what?"

The voice didn't return, but it felt like my power was swelling inside me. The great dragon's fire burned hot within me and threatened to free itself at any moment, but I held it down. I knew what I needed to do. Remembering the Silver Dragon's words, I felt my confidence in my plan grow.

Suddenly, I sensed something. I turned to where I felt the presence and stared in awe at the sight. The Sky palace had teleported and was now hanging over the mountain above the Earth palace. Another presence emerged in the back of my mind and I saw the Sea palace rise form a lake nearby.

"Enti and Abyss have come to help!" Leaf squeaked with excitement.

"Sky, the rest of the dragon rulers have come to help. We might be able to overwhelm him!" Just as the words left my mouth, I knew they weren't true. The sky dragons alone might have a chance of out maneuvering the guardian, but the sea dragons were at a major disadvantage. Only the dragons with wings would stand a chance getting close and evading Eraklyon's wrath.

"Mink, can you call Enti?" I asked the wyvern.

"I am way ahead of you. Terran is calling back his troops so the Sky dragons can take over. They are faster and have better chances of surviving the Guardian's attacks."

"Good. When do you think they will reach Eraklyon?"

"Within the next five minutes."

I turned towards the Sky palace just in time to see countless dragons pouring out of every doorway. All of them dropping out of the palace then catching the wind to take very specific formations and distinctive groups.

"Sky, the winged dragons are going to take over."

"Good. We are getting decimated on the ground. The ships are faring better, so the dragons that actually have wings will help a lot." Sky replied. He picked up the radio and relayed a message to all of the troops informing them of the reinforcements. Cheers were heard through the static as the dragons raced past retreating ships and ground soldiers. A familiar black dragon slowed and moved beside us.

"Thanatos?!" I cried, placing my hands on the glass.

"It has been too long, Bloom. We have come to help." He moved slightly, allowing me to see Basalt, River, and Moorhen flying right next to him.

"Everyone, get ready. We'll be in the midst of the fight in less than a minute." Sky announced.

It felt like a stone formed in my belly. This was it. This was probably the only shot we had of defeating Eraklyon.

I took a deep breath and headed towards the back of the ship. Sky would call me over the radio when it was time for me to head out.

"Are you sure you are ready?" Leaf asked as we waited. I could feel the ship dodge and maneuver around dragons and possibly other ships.

I wanted to say no, that I wasn't ready, but I nodded my head instead.

"Bloom, it's now or never!" Sky basically yelled over the radio.

Having served its purpose, I tossed the radio aside and opened the bay doors normally used to allow hoverbikes to land. I stood at the very edge of the platform, took a deep breath, and fell out of the ship.

I fell for all of five seconds before Mink caught me. I held on tightly to his golden spines and laid flat on his back. Everything was going perfectly, but then things went wrong. Very, very wrong.

I felt his gaze burn through me. Eraklyon had sensed my presence and was now glaring straight at us. The air shifted as the guardian sucked air into his massive mouth.

"Mink, run!" I screamed, sensing something dangerous was about to happen.

He didn't have to be told twice. Mink snapped his wings in, dropping like a stone seconds before a powerful beam split the air above us, right where we once were. A loud boom drowned out all sound and I turned the dragon eye to see that the beam had blown a hole right through a far way mountain.

"By the great dragon." Mink breathed as we stared at the mountain for a moment. Then, the air shifted again. Both of us knew what was about to happen this time, so Mink took off. Mink might be a fast flyer, but both of us knew he couldn't outrun something like that. Thanatos knew it too.

"Bloom, come to me! I will take you the rest of the way." Thana called from underneath us.

"Thank you, Mink." I kissed his head and jumped off of his back, landing squarely in between the black dragon's shoulders.

Mink immediately retreated as Thanatos descended, picking up tremendous speed as Eraklyon finished charging his beam. Just as the guardian let loose, Thanatos snapped his wing forwards, catching the wind and sending us rocketing upwards once again, easily avoiding the beam.

"He has noticed my power!" I called down to Thanatos. "He know I want to stop him!"

"Then let us use that to our advantage. The best flyers in the kingdom are here, we will exhaust his power with our speed."

Thanatos let out a roar, summoning several dragons with large wings to his side. I explained the plan, and all of the others roared in agreement. With the ease of a master flyer, Thanatos and the others easily out maneuvered all of Eraklyon's attacks. Once Thanatos tired out, I jumped off of his back onto another dragon.

"I am Grass whistle, are you ready to fly fast? The dragon asked.

Her voice was light and sweet, not something you would expect from a dragon soldier. "Let's see what you can do!"

Grass whistle was faster than I thought. Easily moving far ahead of the other dragons, practically laughing when Eraklyon tried to knock us out of the sky, all the while putting on quite the spectacle.

Finally, after ducking and dodging for well over half an hour which was pushing my dragon eye way beyond it's limits, I was close enough to set my own plan into action.

"Grass whistle, I need you to trust me completely." I began.

"Of course. I would trust the keeper of the dragon fire with my life."

"I need you to get all of the other dragon and soldiers to retreat. You and the other fast flyers included. I can handle the rest."

I sensed her hesitation, but she did as I asked, sending out a roar that nearly matched Eraklyon's in loudness. All of the other dragons heard and reluctantly turned away. Once I was sure everyone was at a safe distance, I jumped off of Grass whistle's back.

As I fell, I felt the swell of power burst from my chest, swirling around my body. The power quickly materialized into the form of my dragon, and I landed on its head. Just as I exerted power, I felt even more swell in my body. It felt like the dragon fire itself was against the guardian dragon.

At that moment, the dragon eye stopped working. No, not now!

"Use my eyes." There was that voice again.

Having no other choice, I allowed my power to sweep over my body. Washing over me and feeling the pure heat engulf me. I closed my eyes for a second, then opened them again, and I could see!

With my dragon, we circled Eraklyon several times before flying high above him. I knew what I needed to do. Eraklyon turned his head towards us and readied his beam. I fell off of my dragon's head, falling straight towards the guardian's gaping mouth, the only part what wasn't heavily armored.

I focused all of the power in me to my hands and called out my ultimate spell. "DRAGON'S BANE!"

Okay, so I am gonna branch off from the norm, and ask for your help, specifically with my characters.

I want to write better characters in all of my stories, and need your help to do it. So, when/if you have the time, please write a comment about your favorite character(s), least favorite character(s), why, what you think I could do better, how you interpret the character, and any other comments you have about the story in general.

I would really appreciate the help and if you do, I'll shout you out in the next chapter( if you are a guest… I'll figure something out).

-Echo