Chapter 10: To Exterminate the Threat
The next morning, Atlas had went out to get some breakfast for herself, her nieces, and the human siblings. She returned to Henry's residence with the apples and killed animals to make up for the frozen foods and overnight-spoiled milk that the siblings were unable to turn into breakfast. The magi gave the apples to Kylie, who ate them and was kind enough to share some with the teens. Atlas had to tear the fur off the animals and cook them with fire magic after Yukki told her that they couldn't eat the meat like this. After everyone had eaten their breakfast, the Firestars shared their farewells with the siblings. "Good bye, Henry. Good bye, Yukki. You all take care now, alright?" Atlas said to them.
Yukki replied cheerfully, "We will! Good luck on your journey; we hope you all get there!"
"That we will," the dragoness promised them. She took off into the air and flew away.
After the family disappeared into the distance, Yukki turned to her brother and said with a sly smile, "You know, now that they're no longer here, I can get to do whatever I want."
Henry got curious and asked, "And what would that be?"
"THIS!" the sister yelled as she whipped out her frying pan and pounded her brother on the head.
A bump formed on top of the boy's skull and his head felt dizzy with pain. "Owww, what what that for?" he asked.
The girl scolded, "That was for being late with the errands last night. Do you know how worried I was? Well do you, baka?!"
"Uh... really worried?" Henry guessed nervously.
"Exactly!" Yukki yelled before she whacked him again.
Aeolus and the other village dragons woke up and went on with their business. The disaster dragon left the village to go hunting for some breakfast. He trekked through the woods, looking out for scents of live prey that he may find. He encountered some brown brocket deer eating some leaves off the shrubs. The dragon stood still as he opened his mouth to charge up lightning into his breath. The animals sensed his presence at the last second and tried to turn away for a quick get away, but the disaster dragon blew out his breath and zapped three of the deers. The creatures' hearts stopped and they dropped dead onto the ground. Aeolus went over to his prey and ate them. Aeolus finished eating his deer when an arrow flew by and missed his head by an inch. The disaster dragon lifted his head up and turned his head around to the arrow stuck on the tree. The next arrow came and struck him on the side of the neck, but fortunately, not too deep to touch his wind pipe. Aeolus let out a snarl and blew lightning at the direction of where the arrows came from. The trees were set on fire and chipped when struck by the bolts. The man behind the attack was shocked and he let out a painful scream before dropping on the ground. Aeolus looked at the man and noticed his weapons; a bow and a sword. 'So it is true; the humans have resorted to non-mechanical weapons. That means...' he thought.
Then more arrows shot out and struck the dragon on the side. Aeolus growled and bared his teeth before deciding to kill the hidden hunters. He slammed his foot on the ground and shook the earth with his earthquake magic. The humans lost their balance and the trees fell on top of them, crushing their bodies and bones.
The disaster dragon looked down at the dead hunters and thought, 'If the humans are getting other ways to persecute dragons. That means the threat isn't over.' There was no doubt in mind that the ever-so-clever and greedy humans would find new ways to hunt and recapture their slaves to make up for loss of their advanced technology. As long as the dragons' nemesis lived, no one would be safe. There was only one way to prevent the nightmares from ever happening again: annihilate the human race. To do just that, Aeolus would need to learn their ways and weaknesses fast, so that he and the other dragons can kill them first before anything happens to his race. The dragon went to back to his village to seek help for his reconnaissance mission.
Aeolus walked down through the tunnels to get to the cave where Doubloon the village chief lived. Other dragons saw the arrow wounds on him and one of them asked, "What happened to you?"
The disaster dragon replied in a gruff tone, "Humans." Aeolus paused for a short bit as the dragons went silent in shock and waited for what else their neighbor had to say. "They came at me with arrows as soon as I was finished eating. It seems like after all that has happened last night; they won't let go of their greed for slaves and power," he continued.
A terrae dragon said broodily, "Oh bummer, that means we still have to fight for our lives. Persistent little bastards."
A scared pink dragoness said, "What are we going to do? I don't want to be made a slave again. I've already suffered enough for a life time."
"We're going to stamp out every single scum who walks on two legs and wears clothes," Aeolus answered, telling everyone of his plan.
The dragons looked at him intently and a dark green-blue dragon asked, "W-we are?"
The terrae dragon asked, "But how? They've went back to weapons and have started using magic again. How do we fight them after they keep beating us every single time?"
Aeolus explained, "We pull a blitzkrieg on the humans; we strike them hard and fast before they can fully master their new found skills. But to do it successfully without the casualties of being surprised, we must take the stealthiest dragons we have and use them to spy on the humans for any weaknesses we'll use against them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have the chief to go see so that I can discuss the plan and strategy." He resumed his walk as the dragons let him through to the chieftain's cave.
The disaster dragon entered the chief's cave and told him about his encounter with the humans and say that this was a sign that they needed to take immediate action against them. "I see, so a preemptive strike right now should to put an end to this threat if we want to live in peace for the rest of our lives," said Doubloon.
"Well we could do that, but we might put ourselves at risk this way should the humans use surprising tactics that could catch us off guard. I propose send dragon with powers and skills in stealth to spy on the humans and learn everything they can, so that we can be better prepared for the assault," said Aeolus.
"Very well then, I'll call all dragons to meeting cave so that we can round up our potential spies," said Doubloon, liking the idea. He telepathically called all the dragons to come into the largest cave for an assembly. The two waited for a few minutes while a healer dragon worked his magic on closing the disaster's wounds. Soon, everyone was here. The chief cleared his voice and announced, "May I have your attention, everyone? Aeolus here has come across some humans who attacked him with their ancient weapons. We've all heard rumors yesterday that these fiends have quickly switched to non-mechanical weapons and magic to make up for what they've lost on the night of the Spell. Aeolus's wounds are proof that the rumors are the truth. So it has come to my attention that we as a species must exterminate the humans before they bring us back to the dark ages that we never wish to live again." He paused for a second to catch his breath before he resumed speaking, "Aeolus has come to me with a plan to do a reconnaissance first before we go out and demolish the two-legged monsters." He looked to the green dragon and said, "I'll let you do the honors of giving us your plan in detail, Aeolus."
Aeolus bowed his head shortly and replied, "Thanks, chieftain." He took the leader's spot on the high rocky platform and said, "Now for this reconnaissance mission to work, we need dragons who are really good at sneaking around, dragons who can camouflage, dragons who with invisibility spells, and dragons who can disguise themselves to be our spies. These spies will gather information on the humans such as what kind of weapons and magic they're using, the layout of their new home, and any weaknesses we can use against them. The spies will then send info to the chieftain, me, and other strategists to make plans for the assault that will wipe the humans off the face of Terra. Now anyone who wants to volunteer as a spy, please rise and stand over there." He pointed to the empty space on the side of the platform. Ten dragons went onto the platform to volunteer themselves as spies.
Five more dragons offered themselves up to be spies. When no more dragons got onto the platform, Aeolus looked at the crowd and asked, "Does anyone else want to help? Yes? No?" No one responded nor went stood up to walk. Coming to a confirmation that they had all the spies needed, the disaster dragon said, "So then, it looks like we have enough spies for this mission. These dragons will go outside and search for the humans' home. But for this mission to go well, they should keep to the ground at all times, unless they can somehow hide themselves in the air without their shadows showing on ground. Large dragons should stay outside the base and listen from a distance, while the small ones like this wasp pygmy we see here will infiltrate their nest to gather more information. That's all the details of my plan. Chief Doubloon, will you resume speaking?"
The yellowish-brown dragon said, "Aeolus has now given us the plan that will lead us to thwart the humans. I now commence the reconnaissance to start immediately. All spies, go out and search for the humans." The spies walked out of the cave and made their way out of the village to the outdoors. "Also, I'll ask all dragons to stay inside for now until we have destroyed the humans and their new home. This meeting is now over." The crowd disperse and went back to their caves and business. Doubloon looked over at Aeolus and said, "You know, we should share our ideas with the other dragons outside our village."
"That, I plan to do," said Aeolus. The two used their telepathy to share the strategy with the other dragons they knew and told them to pass the message on to their friends, family, and other villages/clans.
A while later, the spies spotted the human village in sight down the slope. "There it is, boys. The hairless demons' nest and look, it's even smaller than their original habitat," said a dark brown dragon looking over at the camp.
The blue-striped black dragon giggled and said, "Heh heh, this will be easy. We don't even need to spy. We should get all of us to go down and demolish the place."
The dark brown dragon shot him a stern look and said, "Hey remember what that Aeolus guy said, the humans might have devastating tricks up their sleeves. So follow the plan and learn everything about those two-legged rats." Then he looked at the night magi and said, "Eitri, use that magi of yours and make us all invisible." Eitri cast his magic on all the dragons and made them invisible to all, except themselves. "Alright, let's go." The spies went up to the village and stayed at the edge, while the pygmies went inside for closer investigation.
The spies observed everything the humans did inside the village and searched each tent. They saw that the humans were building up walls made of trees they cut down to protect themselves against outside threats; it seems like they haven't covered the whole village yet. The wasp pygmy flew over to the training area where the men where learning how to use swords and bows. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be learning any magic spells. After having obtained all the info they got, the spies went back to their village to give their report.
Doubloon listened to everything the spies had seen and replied, "I see. Very well then, you're dismissed." The spies left the room to let the council discuss phase 2 of the plan. "It sounds like we won't be breaking a sweat wiping out the humans. All we need for this assault is to have our super-powered dragons eliminate their warriors and the weaker dragons kill off the rest of them."
Aeolus came up with an alternative plan, "Or I could conjure a tornado and demolish the village. The other dragons will stay on the ground outside and pick off any survivors who come their way. Those in the air can blow their breaths and spells at the tornado to kill the humans faster."
"Hmm..." The chief thought about the plan and said, "Not a bad idea. Everyone, what do you think?"
"I guess that sounds good," said one dragon.
Another dragon spoke his reason, "It would save us the trouble of going inside the village and getting ourselves hurt by these dragon slayers." Everyone else agreed.
"Very well then, we shall go with Aeolus's plan," said Doubloon. "I will call the all available fighters for them to hear it out." The council followed their chief to the meeting room. The light brown dragon spoke telepathically to all of his villagers,'Everyone, we have come up with a strategy to exterminate the humans. All those who can and are willing to fight must meet us at the meeting cave to hear out our plan.'
The council watched the many dragons enter the assembly cave, one by one, until there were no other volunteers for the mission. Doubloon explained the plan to them and finished off by saying, "And that's how we will destroy them. As your leader, I will go with you all to carry out the assault as planned. Now do we have any questions before we go out?" He waited for a minute to hear what one of the dragons have to say, but silence was all he got. "Very well then; move out!" The chief flew over the crowd and landed at the exit to take lead as they got up to leave the village.
The horde arrived at their destination and watched the human village from afar. The dragon soldiers spread out to surround the outskirts. After a while, Doubloon telepathically asked, 'Is everyone in position?'
'We're ready, chief,' the dragons replied.
'Good!' the chief said and nodded. He looked to the disaster dragon next to him and said, "Now, Aeolus!" The disaster used his power to bring together high and low air pressures and summoned a tornado right at the heart of the camp. The humans looked up to the tornado that suddenly appeared in their camp and quickly began to panic as they tried to run away from the huge spiraling vortex. But the people were sucked up into the tornado, along with the tents, equipment, and other possessions torn from the ground. Couples, friends, cousins, parents & children were all separated from one another; having no one to hold on to through this destruction. Screams filled the air before they were drowned out by being inside the loud roaring of the tornado. The few refugees that managed to make it far out of the campsite were then put to death by the fiery breaths, jaws, and magic spells of the dragons. Aeolus moved the tornado a little around, so that it could pick up the tents that it hasn't sucked yet.
When the whole of the village seemed to be destroyed, Doubloon issued the orders to his aerial attackers, 'Breathe out at the tornado now!' The dragons flew up into the sky and blew out their breathes of various elements at the tornado to burn, electrify, and obliterate the humans. The addition of the objects and appliances colliding with the humans did more damage to them. Eitri used his magic to combine his comrades' breaths with the tornado to create a fiery, electric tornado to exterminate every single living thing inside as well as destroying the objects with them.
After a while of assault, Aeolus dispelled the tornado and let all the bodies and objects hit the ground from a very high height; killing whoever was left of the refugees. Doubloon used his telepathy to speak to all dragons, 'Everyone, don't think that Aeolus's killing move is a guaranteed hit that all the humans are dead. I want each and every one of you to scout the village and make sure that all the humans who lived here are indeed dead. I don't want there to be a survivor, so that he or she can live to tell the other humans what happened, so that they can be more prepared to fight our kind off.' The dragon scouted the campsite and the outskirts around it to check the bodies and make sure they weren't breathing. When they made sure that every single human was dead, the horde went home to tell their village that the humans' refugee camp was destroyed.
After the horde returned home, the dragons who stayed behind, went up to the fighters and asked questions like "Did you kill all the humans?", "Did anybody get hurt?", and "How did it go?" The fighters answered with yes's, no's, and other responses to specific questions.
Doubloon raised his voice to talk over the crowd and spoke, "Fellow dragons, the attack went well as planned and the humans' nest is no more! And the best part is, there were no casualties within the horde." The dragons roared out cheers for the perfect success. The chief looked to the night magi next to him and said, "Relay this message to the rest of village." The night magi did and sent the same words via telepathy. "Tonight we can all sleep well without any fear of being hunted."
Aeolus felt pride that his plan had worked like a charm. He would be using this tactic again for each human community until there came a time when he would need better strategy. 'Today, the village; tomorrow, the world,' he thought as his red eyes glared with a desire for revenge.
Bam and a few of his friends found his cousin and he said, "Look guys, there he is! Let's go hang out with him." They came up beside the disaster dragon and the royal blue patted him on the back, earning him his cousin's attention. "Wow Aeolus, you're a genius! How did you come up with a plan like that?" he asked smiling with admiration.
A longhorn dragon on the other side asked, "Yeah man. I bet you must have a big brain to make that kind of plan."
Aeolus explained frankly, "It took brains and critical thinking to come up with this plan. I had to make sure that every risk in the attack was reduced or removed as possible and come up with the smartest and efficient ways to kill the humans. Besides, the humans were still green in their new ways. They most likely never would have survived the attack. So you could say it was, what the humans call it, a piece of cake."
The dragon celebrated the victory with the food and prey they caught from the forest and songs. It was the first party that Aeolus and Bam had enjoyed in a long time since the raid at the family reunion about five centuries ago.
A lone man who had witnessed the destruction of his refugee camp from afar the whole time after his hunt in the woods, shed some tears for the loss of his friends and family whom he would never see again, never talk to again, or even hug and kiss again. The man looked at the campsite one last time before he put down his binoculars and turned to leave. Everything he held dear was lost to him and all that was left was sorrow and despair. The man sat against the tree and cried to himself. After a little while, he got up and traveled through the forest to find another refugee camp, which he made it to after a few hours later. He told the people there about the fate of his camp and what the dragons did to destroy it. The people became alarmed as they built up walls of lumber to protect their home from wingless dragons and made more weapons to fend themselves from future attacks.
Author's Note: That last part was a bit depressing. I kind of feel sorry for the fellow. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to build up the storyline.
Eitri (c) me