And here we are with another chapter. Our heroes reached the burnt village and now are going to pull the only survivor from the well. Flame Dragon is still at large and nobody knows, when will it appear again. But, as you probably know, he will appear real soon.

Chapter 5

,,Evacuation"

July 2, 2150

10:03

Village ruins

"What did you said?"Dora asked, hearing Ester's call.

"Someone is in this well!"Ester replied."Quick, give the Land Rover's windlass here!"

Liz nodded and quickly rushed towards the Land Rover. Girl turned the engine on and drove closer to the well. Ester grabbed the rope and wrapped herself with it.

"I'm gonna go down there and pull her out. On my mark, activate the windlass, okay?"Ester asked.

"Understood."Kelf replied.

Ester stood on the edge of the well and slowly started to lower herself down the shaft. It was cold there, but it was only more important to pull the person from the well, as it was possible for her to have hypothermia, especially when she was laying in the cold water.

"Just a little more…"Ester said.

Soon, she reached the bottom of the well and stood over the unconscious woman. She quickly picked her up and pulled the rope.

"I think it's the sign."Lon said.

Liz then turned the windlass and rope started rolling up, pulling the two out of the well. Others were keeping an eye on the rope, so no sharp stone would cut it. Fortunately, life didn't wanted to joke on them like that.

"Just a little more and…here we are!"Ester said cheerfully, as she stood on the edge of the well again.

There, Wexer and Jackie took the woman Ester was carrying and put her on the blanket prepared by Fatima. And when they did it, one thing was now visible for everyone: a pair of spiky ears.

"Elf."Yuko said."A real goddam elf!"

Others looked at her.
"What are you cheering for?"Liz asked.

"I always wanted to meet real elf, you know?"Yuko replied.

Meanwhile, Fatima knelt next to her and checked her temperature. After that, she shook her head.

"We need to quickly warm her up."she said."She has hypothermia."

"Okay, do we have any spare uniform?"Jor asked.

"No. Only blankets."Jeri replied.

"Okay, take these clothes off her and cover her with blankets."Ester ordered.

Hearing this, a big smile appeared on Suvi's face. She just couldn't wait to see naked elf. And maybe not only see…

But her thoughts were cut by Dora, which stood behind her and put one of her knifes to Suvi's neck.

"Don't you fucking dare, you pervert."Dora warned.
"S-Sure…"Suvi replied, trying to keep calm.

Soon, elf woman was covered in blankets, while Fatima hid her clothes in the back of the Land Rover. Next, she was put inside the car, so Fatima could watch over her.

"New experience, huh?"Ester asked with smile.

Fatima returned the smile.

"Well…yeah. I never treated elf, you know."she replied.

"I know, what you mean."Ester agreed and turned back around.

Third Recon Team then moved out from the destroyed village and turned back towards Coda Village.

10:21

Alnus Base, Fort Terhis

Back at Fort Terhis, work was going on as fast as possible. Just now, fighters requested by the command were being transported through the Gate on trucks. Two trucks, each carrying four Eurofighter Cyclones, the basic UNSA fighter and main EU fighter. One truck carried three Nashini Akva GP-99 close air support craft and the last truck carried Chakdrik X-55 fighter-bombers. Shakayans didn't brought their fighters or atmospheric bombers, as they were low on them and all were needed in fight against Holy Order back in their Galaxy.

Anastasia was overseeing whole operation on the newly constructed Alnus Field. Italian looked at her list and nodded.

"Everything as requested. At this pace, all fighters will be operational in no time."she said to Arlette.

Arlette nodded.

"Fortunately, ours can already go in the air."she said."Just hope no bandits will try to come to us and attack the airfield."

"Agreed."Anastasia replied.

After Battle of Alnus, Resistance scouting teams reported a significant rise in the bandit activity in the province. Forth Recon Team even reported, that they saved a town from a bandit attack just in time and just two civilians were killed.

"But if they do"Anastasia continued"they're gonna have a bad surprise."

The two returned to their work and continued to watch over the unloading of air-space fighters.

Few seconds later, Ana's hand terminal started doing the call sound. Girl looked at it and touched the call accept button. Ester's face appeared on it.

"Estie? What is it?"Anastasia asked.
"Are the fighters operational?"Ester asked.

"Only my and Arlie's."Anastasia replied."Why do you ask?"

"We need a bit of air support."Ester replied.

"Why?"Arlette said.

Ester quickly explained them the situation with the dragon and the elf in the back of the Land Rover.

"A real dragon?"Arlette said in disbelief.

"Shit."Anastasia said."I never expected that."

"Exactly. We need you in the air. Whatever happens, you have to fly around and wait for my signal."Ester ordered."And what about Emiko, by the way?"

"Emiko is helping in distribution of ammo in the base. It will surely take her few days."Anastasia explained.

"Okay, thanks."Ester said and ended the call.

Anastasia looked at Arlette.

"Seems like we aren't gonna be bored."she stated and ran to her fighter.

Arlette followed her and the two quickly entered the spacecraft. They closed canopies and activated outside cameras. Next, two fighters started taxing towards the runway.

"Tower, this is White 8 and White 5, requesting permission to start. For a patrol"Anastasia said to the tower.

"Permission granted, ensign Tocchelli."tower replied."Good hunting."

"Thanks."Ana replied.

Two fighters hit the afterburners and started speeding down the runway, until they finally lifted up into the air. Landing gear hid in their belly and they flew towards the province.

10:27

On the way to Coda Village…

Recon Team Three was continuing their way to Coda, while Ester called Alnus. When she ended, Liz and others in Land Rover turned towards her.

"And?"Fatima asked.

"Ana and Arlie will be circling in the area and join us in case of emergency."Ester explained."Until then, we're on our own."

"Always something."Yuko stated.

"I can't disagree with that."Liz said.

Ester looked at their elf passenger.

"What about her?"

"She's slowly stabilizing and soon, she should be back in her previous state."Fatima replied."Although, I don't know, what her previous state should be."

"Probably the one without hypothermia."Yuko stated.

Others chuckled under their breaths.
"Very funny."Fatima stated.

Rest of their way towards Coda was very quiet. When they reached the village, they disembarked from the vehicles and were approached by Marcus.

"Why did you came here so quickly?"Marcus asked, a bit surprised by the quick return of Other Worlders.

"There were complications."Lena replied.

Then, everyone quickly explained to Marcus the situation. They told him about the dragon wreaking havoc in the area and what happened with the elf village in the forest. Next, they showed him their passenger.

"Whole village?"Marcus asked in disbelief."And only she survived?"

"Unfortunately."Ester said.

"Poor thing."the elder said."But we need to quickly get out of here."

"Why?"Fatima asked.

Marcus looked at her with serious face and said:

"Because when the Flame Dragon taste human and elf flesh, he will never stop hunting, until he will fall to sleep again."

Members of the recon team looked at each other. What Marcus said, actually could be the big trouble. And as this was happening, villagers were already starting to pack for evacuation of the village.

"What do we do?"Wexer asked.

"I think we should help them."Ester stated.

"Are you sure?"Dora asked.

Ester nodded.

"They will have no chance, if we won't help them. You saw, what that Flame Dragon did with elf village, right?"She waited, until everyone will nod."Now imagine, what will it do to a convoy of refugees. I will be a massacre there."

Girl waited until rest of Third Recon will think through it. Finally, Lena said what they all were thinking about:

"You are right. It's our duty to protect the ones in need and they are."

Ester smiled and turned towards Marcus. Coda Village's elder cocked his head, don't knowing what these strange people were saying.

"You know what? W made our decision."Ester said."You can count on our help."

"Really? Why?"Marcus asked.

"This is what we do. You don't even know, how many refugees we escorted. One word: many. So tell your people to get ready."Ester said.

"Of course."Marcus replied and turned around to go and inform the rest of the village.

Dora approached Ester and the two watched, as villagers start to prepare their wagons and pack everything. Village quickly changed from being peaceful to panicked and scared. People never felt so terrified before.

"You really have big heart."Dora stated.

"It's like Lena said. Helping those in need is our duty."Ester replied."Besides, it won't be our first refugee escort time. We already escorted numerous refugee convoys to Sol and other systems."

"That's for certain."Dora replied."So better let's hurry and make ourselves ready. This isn't going to be an easy way."

With these words, the two turned around and joined their squad in helping the villagers.

Meanwhile…

Forest near Coda Village

"Damn it!"an elder mage said, as he tried to keep balance with pile of books in his hands."Damn it!"

Next, mage fell on the ground, throwing his books everywhere. He turned on his back and said:

"It hurts!"

"I think we can't take more, master."blue-haired, teenage girl said.

Mage stood up and cleared himself from the dust. Next, he looked at his young apprentice and at the wagon.

"But I need my books!"he said."Lelei, is there something we can do?"

"I think we need to take only the most needed books."Lelei replied, with her standard emotionless face.

Master nodded his head.

"Agreed. You're pretty clever."master said and started collecting the books from the ground."But why now? That cursed dragon! It appeared half a century too early! Look how many problems does it make for us!"

Lelei, which in the meantime was making sure that the rope on the wagon will hold everything, looked at her master.

"I would like you to go to sleep too."she said.

"What was that supposed to mean?"master snorted."I'm not interest in little girls!"He then laughed creepy."I would like more shapely woman, like your sister for example…"

Before he could say anything else, he got hit with a gush of wind.

"Stop it! Magic is sacred!"he exclaimed."Don't overdose it!"

Lelei stopped and climbed on the wagon. Her master just took his own staff and joined her. He looked at her.

"I was just joking."master said.

"It's your fault, master."Lelei replied.

She then tried to force donkey, which was pulling their wagon, to move. However, he just stood there, not moving an inch.

"He's not moving."master said."I think we're carrying too much."

"You told to take everything."Lelei pointed out."I was expecting that to happen."

"Don't worry, I am a mage after all."master said.

"Isn't magic sacred?"Lelei asked, quoting her master."It shouldn't be overdosed."

"However…"master wanted to say.

But before he could, Lelei grabbed her staff.

"But in this case, we have no choice."she stated.

She pointed the staff at the wagon and whispered a spell. Seconds later, wagon was surrounded by a blue aura and started levitating. Donkey felt that the weight became lighter and started pulling. Two mages were on the move.

"I'm sorry."master said.

"It's okay. I always knew you are like that."Lelei replied.

It took them some minutes before they reached Coda Village. But once they got there, they saw a giant column of wagons on the main road. They stood in place, not moving at all. Master cocked his head.

"What's going on out there?"he asked.

"Master Katou! Lelei!"one of villagers said, approaching them.

Two mages turned to him.

"One of wagons was overloaded and it's axis broke. It's blocking the road."villager explained.

"Helping in evacuation is one of our main duties!"a new voice said.

Two mages looked in that direction. Next, they saw a young Human woman in a strange attire which appeared from between the wagons. The attire looked like a jacket with gloves, as well as pants and boots, ended with some kind of vest and strange helmet on her head. She was followed by two others. They ran to the front of the column.

"Fatima, take care of the wounded. Lor, Jeri. Keep an eye on the dragon."the woman said.

"On it!"three voices said.

Next, Katou and Lelei saw a tall, around two meters tall, humanoid creature with triangular shaped head, accompanied by a smaller, fatter one covered in brown fur. Taller creature was dressed in something resembling armor, while smaller one wore a simple shirt and pants, with vest similar to the one of young woman.

"It's the first time I hear this language."Katou said."And what are these things? I never saw Beast Men like that."

"It's the first time I see such clothes."Lelei added.

"They look like soldiers. But these Humans were women. Then how?"Katou wondered.

"I will check this, master."Lelei said.

Young mage jumped off the wagon and followed the Humans and creatures accompanying them.

"Lelei, wait!"her master called behind her.

Lelei, however, didn't listened. She was running, until she reached the front of the wagon column. Once she reached it, she saw a horse laying on the ground, next to fallen wagon, foam in his mouth and young girl laying on the ground.

Mage approached her and put her hand on her chest.

"She's in danger."she stated.

Then, one of strangely dressed Human women, the one with slightly darker skin, knelt alongside her and few times tapped her arm. Next, Lelei saw a blue, transparent energy, which moved from the girl's head to feet. Woman bit her lip, after she looked at her arm.

"She has concussion."woman stated."Scanner also detected the skull damage."

"Please, move away."another woman said."It might be dangerous."

Lelei, however, started to feel an urge to find out, who these people and creatures were. And why were they here.

"Medics?"she whispered.

Suddenly, horse whined and stood up on it's back legs and aimed the front ones at her. Lelei just watched the hoof approaching her, paralyzed by the sudden fear. Animal was about to step on her, when…

Three blue lights hit it's side and horse fell on the ground, with smoke coming from it's shot wounds. Heavy body fell on the ground and didn't moved anymore. Lelei looked at it for few seconds.

Next, she turned around, to see another creature, this time resembling humanoid ant, dressed in purple plate armor, with blue markings.

"Nice shot, Wexer."the fur covered creature said.

"Thanks."Wexer replied.

Lelei just blinked a few times.

"Hey."the girl with darker skin called."Everything's alright?"

"They saved me…"Lelei whispered.

Meanwhile, Jackie approached Ester, which was checking information from HQ on her hand terminal.

"Hey, Estie."Jackie started.

"Hm?"Ester asked.

"About these refugees…We're not gonna take care of them the whole time?"Jackie asked, bringing Ester's attention."I mean, they surely have some local lords or nobility, right?"

Ester shook her head.

"I talked about it with Marcus."she said."None of local lords and leaders returned from the Battle of Alnus Hill."

Only response from Jackie was just the opened mouth. She just returned to her job in helping the villagers.

That night…

22:43

Canyon several kilometers away from Coda

A group of bandits was sitting around a small fire they made of wood. This would be nothing strange, if not the origin of the wood. It was wood from a destroyed wagon, which the bandits robbed earlier that night, killing the family traveling with it. Now, they were eating and drinking the family's food.

"I heard that whole Coda is moving out."one of bandits said.

"That's good."another said."Do we have enough men?"

"Find the new ones."the leader ordered."After the last battle, many marauders left."

A grin then formed on his face.

"Together with them, we might be able to take care of a whole town not only village."he said happily.

Other bandits quickly took the same way of thinking as their leader.

"We could overthrow the local lord!"another exclaimed.

"From bandit leader to lord…"the leader dreamed."I like it."he added, as victorious smile formed on his face.

A smile, which stayed on his face forever.

There was a quick flash and blood gushed, much to the horror of other guards. Some of them almost screamed in fear, when the head simply slid down the neck and landed on the ground. The smile only made it more terrifying.

"Gentlemen. Thank you for this beautiful night."a girly voice said.

Bandits stopped looking at his beheaded leader, noticing a person behind him. It was a young-looking girl with giant axe in her hand. She licked her lips and looked at them with smile on her face.

"I'm really grateful"she said, lifting her axe up"for giving your lives to me."

She then quickly slashed one of bandits, making the others back off.

"The Allfather is greatly happy."she continued, walking up to them."He wishes your presence in his domain."

With quick swing, she took out two more bandits. She put the axe on her arm and looked straight at them.

"I'm Rory Mercury."she said."Apostle of God of Darkness, Emloy."

Bandits then fully understood, who were they facing. This didn't helped in calming them down even a bit.

"It's one of the Twelve Apostles! Rory the Reaper!"one of bandits shouted.

"She…She's wearing the outfit of Emloy's Oracle!"another one pointed out.

"Run!"
Bandits then started running away, trying to get as far as they could from the Apostle.

"I don't think so."Rory said.

She quickly followed them, laughing at the same time. Every bandit she chased down was immediately slashed with her axe and fell dead. Apostle used some debris like projectiles and crashed some heads with them. One of bandits was literally cut in half, as he tipped on a rock and Rory reached him.

Soon, whole canyon looked like a simple battlefield, with bodies, blood and limbs laying everywhere, painting the ground red. Rory looked around and noticed, that the only bandit that survived, was crawling away from her on his back. She smiled.

"And where do you think you're going?"she asked.

Bandit in fear watched the axe lifting up in the air, before it literally hit him like a falling rock, lifting cloud of dust.

July 3, 2150

13:57

Coda refugees convoy

After spending a night on a small glade, convoy again started to move. Ester quickly divided the placement of vehicles and thus, Land Rover was riding in front, Catcher was in the middle and Fennek was driving on the end of the column. For now, refugees were not bothered by any bandits and dragon was nowhere to be seen.

But there were other problems. Sometimes, wagon was stuck in the mood. Fortunately, villagers could count on help of Resistance soldiers. They helped to push wagon out of mood and when villagers were feeling a bit out of mood, soldiers were singing for them. This lighted the situation a bit, which also made the Resistance soldiers feel good.

"…Erika!"Ester ended singing and the children riding with them in Land Rover clapped their hands.

"You're a wonderful singer, miss Barkhorn."a young girl said.

"That's nothing."Ester replied."And please, call me Ester. I don't even have twenty years yet."

Ester's eyes then moved on the elf. Fatima was making another scan of her.

"How is she?"she asked.

"Her state is stable."Fatima replied."She should regain consciousness soon."

"Really? Cool."Ester said."But sucks at the same time."

Liz looked at her.

"What do you mean?"the British asked.

"The refugees. Do they even have any goal?"Ester replied.

"I suppose not."Fatima said."Running is tiring."

Meanwhile, at the back parts of the column, Katou and Lelei were riding right behind the Fennek. Older master yawned.

"I want something to drink."he said.

"I don't think we will have a time to stop soon."Lelei replied.

"I think they're going to run, until they will be far away from the dragon."Ester summed."Refugees are the same everywhere."

Yuko peeked between Ester and Liz's seats.

"Can't we ask for additional vehicle? Or some dropships at least?"she asked.

"No."Ester replied."We're behind the fronline, so enemy can let us loose. But if they would see bigger unit, they could try and take us down. Civilians could be caught in crossfire. And I don't want this to happen."

Suddenly, Liz stopped the car and looked down the road. Column behind them, seeing this sudden move, stopped too, but almost crashed into the Land Rover. Everyone in the car looked at Liz.

"Someone's coming."she said.

Ester quickly activated her helmet's visor and zoomed it. She could see a swarm of crows over the road.

"Crows…?"she said, a bit confused.

But then, crows moved away, revealing someone on the road. In Ester's eyes, the person looked like a simple little girl. But does simple little girls carry giant axes with them? That wasn't right, that's for sure.

"She looks like a little girl."Ester said.
"But what does she wants?"Yuko asked.

Girl then started to slowly walk in their direction. Crows were following her on every step. Like they were listening to her.

"Where do you come from?"she asked."Where are you going?"

"Should we talk to her now?"Fatima asked.

"I dunno…"Ester replied.

"It's Apostle!"one of children said.

Before anyone could react, children opened the back door and jumped out of the vehicle, running towards the girl. Ester and the others just watched this with confusion. Children were joined by some older villagers.

"Apostle?"Fatima asked.

"But surely not the Apostle of Jesus."Yuko said.

Other three looked at her.

"No religion jokes."Fatima pointed out.

Children approached the girl.

"Where do you come from?"she asked.

"From Coda Village!"a boy said.

"We had to run."an elder woman said."There was a Flame Dragon. We had no other choice."

"I think they are…praying to her."Liz noticed.

"So she's wearing this thing because of religion?"Ester guessed, looking at girl's outfit.

Suddenly, she made an eye contact with the girl. Don't knowing why, Ester felt a bit uncomfortable. Girl approached the Land Rover and looked at it.

"Who are they?"girl asked.

"They are helping us. They are good people."another boy said.

"So you weren't chased out of the village?"she asked and boy nodded."How does this thing work?"

Boy threw up his arms.

"I don't know."he said."But it's more comfortable than our wagons!"

Girl smiled and licked her lips.

"Oh, comfortable?"she asked, turning to Ester."Then I would like to try it too."

Ester turned off her visor and could only smile.

"H-Hi. How are you?"Ester asked.

Not knowing when it happened, Ester saw girl sitting on her knees, with her axe laying in the back of Land Rover. Ester wasn't used to such situations. Only persons she ever had sitting on her knees were her little cousins. But they never were wearing anything like this one!

"Wait a second!"Ester cried out."It's a bit tight! Please, move!"

"Oh, crap…"Liz muttered.

"Hey! Don't touch the weapons!"Ester exclaimed."I said, don't touch!

Meanwhile, on the outside, villagers and Resistance soldiers alike were watching the situation unfolding in the Land Rover with mix of awkwardness and confusion on their faces, don't knowing, what to do.

"Should we intervene?"Lena asked.

"I…don't know…"Dora replied, truly unsure, what was rare in her case.

Others just threw up their arms.
"Don't touch, damn it!"Ester said.

Two hours later…

After the little 'incident' with the Apostle, she introduced herself and joined the convoy. Currently, the scenery started to change from more lush and green one, into something resembling desert. Convoy was slowly moving through the desert even slower than before.

"Ana, Arlie. How are you?"Ester asked Anastasia through her terminal.

"Still in the air. We landed for a night sleep, but we're in the air now."Anastasia replied from inside her Cyclone's cockpit, her face covered by helmet's visor.

"Good. Keep an eye on that dragon. Inform us when you see it."Ester reminded.

"On it."both Anastasia and Arlette replied.

Ester turned off the communication mode and activated the holo-map. She looked at the red dot representing the Land Rover and area surrounding it.

"According to map, this is Roche's Mountain."Ester said.

"Hey, it's close to Alnus, right?"Liz asked.

"Yeah, sort of."Ester replied."I would like it all to be over."

She looked at Rory, which was now peeking between their seats. Ester immediately turned her eyes away. It was true, she preferred girls than boys. But this Apostle was too interested in her and it was too uncomfortable.

To change her thoughts, Ester looked through the window and back at the column, which was long for around kilometer.

"It's so hot in here…"Liz said."Even desert I know some desert planets colder than this place…"

"Yeah."Ester agreed.

Suddenly, something caught Ester's attention. She narrowed her eyes and saw a silhouette on the sun. It turned out to be a small dragon, like wyverns used by the Imperial Army and Allied Kingdoms.

"Not a big deal. Dora could shoot it down with…"Ester thought, before she had to stop.

Out of nowhere, the Flame Dragon appeared and eaten the wyvern with one, big chomp. Next, it turned it's attention on the convoy.

"Fuck me!"Ester shouted."Everyone, grab your gear!"she added to her radio.

Dragon then started flying towards the convoy, breathing fire. Several villagers were not so lucky and got caught in the fire, while others started running in panic.

"It's real Flame Dragon!"Katou exclaimed."I never seen such thing!"

At the same time, his apprentice was maneuvering the wagon, not to get crashed or burned by the dragon.

"Hell no!"Dora exclaimed, looking at the view from Fennek's turret camera."It's bigger from up close!"

"You don't say?"Lena replied, firing APC's turret at the dragon.

But bullets simply bounced off the dragon's armor. He breathed fire at the Resistance vehicles, but they quickly evaded the attack and returned fire, still not making any impression on the beast.

"It's like these classic Godzilla movies!"Yuko exclaimed."Shame we don't have Mecha Godzilla!"

"I agree with you for once!"Liz replied, evading being stepped on by the dragon.

Dora fired a series from Fennek's MG, but it also didn't made any impression on the dragon. Beast swung it's tail, almost hitting the armored car, but Jor, which was sitting behind the wheel, evaded in the last second.

"It seems like bullets are not effective!"Lena said."Wexer, try the lasers!"

Chakdrik nodded and stood up, opening the upper hatch of the American APC. He aimed his TY-11 laser assault riffle at the dragon and fired a short series. Lasers flew in the direction of the dragon. But, much to ant-like alien's surprise, they simply disappeared after impact.

Wexer hid back and shook his head.

"Even lasers make no impressions on him!"he said.

Ester activated her communicator and connected with Anastasia and Arlette.

"What is it?"Ana asked.

"We need you here right now!"Ester shouted."Dragon is making a damn meal from us!"

"Damn it."Arlette said.

"Easy, we're on our way! Just hand in there!"Ana replied and disconnected.

Ester bit her lip and looked at the dragon. She wasn't sure if they manage to keep up like this. Human military vehicles were equipped with thermal protection, able to withstand a strong heat. But this fire surely had temperature almost as big as the Sun! This was too much!

Suddenly, the elf in the back of Land Rover opened her eyes and stood up. She put her head between Liz and Ester's seat, almost making the two jump.

"When did you…?!"Ester asked.

Then, elf started saying something in her language and pointing at her eye. It took Ester few seconds to know what she meant.

"Eyes?"she asked and elf nodded.

Ester looked at the dragon and activated her visor's zoom mode, closing on the head. And then, she saw and arrow sticking out of the dragon's eye. She finally managed to find a way to defeat the dragon.

"I will thank her later."Ester thought and grabbed her radio."All units! Focus fire on the dragon's eyes!"

"Understood!"everyone replied.

All light and heavy weapons then started aiming at the dragon's head. This actually made something to it, as beast visibly got staggered. Ester smiled, seeing it.

"Now, Dora, there's your chance!"Ester said.

In Fennek, Dora changed on the ATGM launcher and aimed it at the dragon. She had to do it. She had just one shot. And now was her chance to kill probably the biggest creature she ever faced.

"Die!"she exclaimed, as ATGM flew towards the dragon.

Leaving smoke behind it, missile was coming straight for the dragon's head. But, as if the fate wanted it, dragon moved in the last second and instead of head, missile collided with it's arm. There was an deafening explosion, as missile exploded.

Dragon gave a roar of pain, right when his arm literally fell off him. It crashed into the ground and dragon was preparing to fly away.

"Damn it!"Dora exclaimed.

"He's trying to run!"Suvi said.

"Wooo-hoooo!"Arlette exlcaimed.

In that moment, two Eurofighters flew over the convoy, firing their guns and 50mm guns at the dragon. Simple MG bullets maybe didn't hurt the dragon, but 50mm managed to break few armor parts.

Villagers watched the two metal dragons fire at the Flame Dragon, while Resistance soldiers started cheering. Villagers joined them, knowing they are saved.

"Preparing for the second run."Anastasia said.

Fighters turned around and this time, they locked their missiles onto him. Arlette and Anastasia pressed the firing button and unloaded their missiles on him. Their impact was strong enough to bring dragon to the ground.

"Okay, let's finish this."Arlette stated.

Fighters then opened their bomb bays and dropped two cluster bomb on the beast. It's armor already weakened by the missiles and 50mm, didn't withstood the tens of submunitions and soon, it erupted with fire and blood.

Next, everything became quiet. Everyone looked at the dragon, waiting for it's move. But it didn't happened.

"Fatima?"Ester asked their medic.

Israeli pointed her terminal at the dragon's body and scanned it.

"Scans confirmed it."she said."That thing is dead."

"So it's over?"Jackie asked.

"Seems like it."Ester said, exiting the Land Rover.

Then, she bowed in half, took off her helmet and vomited. This day gave them too much emotions, that her stomach couldn't handle it.

That night…

Many villagers died during the fight with the dragon. According to Fatima's calculations, around ¾ of the Coda Village inhabitants lost their life. Because of that, soldiers helped in burring them and now, they were all praying, aliens to their gods, Humans to theirs. Ana and Arlette landed their fighters and joined them.

Ester heard a soft sobbing behind her. She turned around and saw a little, around seven years old girl, standing behind her. She smiled and patted her head.

"Everything will be okay."Ester said softly.

After the prayers ended, villagers went to their wagons. Ester observed this with Dora.

"I talked with Marcus."Dora said."Some of them will go their families or hide in some towns and villages."

"You think they will make it?"Ester asked.

"Dragon is dead. They surely don't need our help anymore."Dora said."But…"

Ester looked at her.
"But?"she asked.

"Marcus said, that they need to take care of their people. And they can't also take care of children, wounded and older people."Dora said.

"They just want to leave them?"Ester asked, shocked.

Dora nodded.

"They have enough of their problems, Estie."Dora stated."I couldn't change their minds."
"O-Okay…"Ester replied, unsteadily.

Ten minutes later, refugees left. Resistance soldiers waved to them. Villagers waved back. Some of soldiers actually let out a tear, even aliens. When farewells ended, Ester sighed, thinking about the next steps.

"What do we do now?"Fatima asked.

"What do we do?"Ester replied.

She looked back at the group that was left with them. Some children, some older people, two mages, Rory and the elf, or Tuka, as she introduced herself. It seemed, like there is no other choice.

"Well."Ester said, more cheerfully."Just leave everything to us and everything will be good!"

Hearing this, Resistance soldiers smiled and some even chuckled.

"What?"Ester asked.
"Nothing."Ana replied."We just knew you'll say it."

Ester scratched back of her head.

"I would never leave anyone in need."she replied."Okay, go in. We're getting back to Alnus!"

With her words, everyone entered the vehicles and turned towards their final goal and safehouse. Where these people were about to start a new life.

XXX

Before anyone says something, I know. I just killed the Flame Dragon! But don't worry. I know what I was doing. But what will replace it will be revealed later in the story, so stay tuned!

Trivia:

Eurofighter Cyclone-designed by Eurofighter GmbH and produced for European Union Joint Military, fighter serves not only as European fighter, but also replaced the aging Indian-made Jackal in United Nations Space Alliance Air Force. Descendant of Eurofighter Typhoon, it can easily rival even the best Holy Fighter fighters and bombers.

Akva GP-99-Nashini close air support fighter, designed by Akva Spacecraft Designer. It first time saw fighting during the Garvan Insurrection, when five Nashini star systems, known as Garvan Cluster, risen against Nashini Republic in 2106. Since then, it became the main Nashini space fighter.

X-55-Chakdrik fighter-bombers designed by Xezeri Corporation, one of two biggest Chakdrick spacecraft producing companies. It entered the production in 2136, six years after the start of the war. It turned out to be perfect anti-ship craft and soon, all of Chakdrik fighter-bomber wings were equipped with it, replacing older X-32.

When this is said, I can already say see you in the next chapter!