Sunday the 29th of December and I finally have my first day off in three weeks (yay 1). I feels good to have the annual Snoggletog story published so I can relax and play with this story for the next four weeks. It's 40 Celsius (104 F) so I'm staying in till the sun sets.

Thursday the 2nd of January: Happy New Year everyone (yay 2).

Chapter 27

It would have been difficult to name the current event happening between the crew of the Bull Ant attempting to rescue Abigail and Calla, and the townsfolk of Gran's mountain stronghold defending their home. There were too many attacks between the groups to call it a standoff, but at the same time neither side made any serious attempt to break through the enemy line; so it clearly wasn't a battle either.

The Bull Ant had advanced as far as the open clearing two hundred and fifty meters from the border wall, but had not proceeded any further. Only a small number of the mountain defenders had retreated back through the gate, but they had only done this so they could gain the strategic advantage of being able to fire their weapons from an elevated position. Meanwhile their colleagues still out in the open stood their ground against Branson and the rest of the rescue team as they sheltered behind the Bull Ants defences. Some fired rounds into the pine log shield around the nose, while the rest persistently threw rocks, sticks or any other projectile they could find.

What nobody from the mountain had noticed, was the young man flying over the eastern hill, suspended from four very eager dragons. The thick low cloud of the grey day certainly helped to obscure them from sight, but Blue still thought it would be prudent to take the long way around to lower the risk of detection even more.

With all attention diverted outside the wall, Blue managed to bring his flight board down behind the buildings beyond the tunnel entrance completely unseen by the few people still inside the compound. The landing was far from perfect, but as predicted it was the best one they had managed to achieve so far, sliding on the ground for only a few meters. Once on the ground, the dragons released their grip on the poles and began to scamper around the area, taking in the aromas of the village and looking for any signs of danger.

"Okay, follow me" Blue said as he led the dragons between the empty buildings.

The entrance to the tunnel though, was far from empty with two people on guard. Neither of them appeared to possess a firearm, but they did have heavy black batons. Every few minutes Blue had heard the sound of a gunshot and with the latest one, his heart began to race. Who was firing? Was anyone hit? Was anyone dead? He soon realised the more he delayed, the worse thing would get so he signalled the dragons to silently climb up the mountain face to a spot above the tunnel. He counted to ten, took a deep breath, and took off running.

The two guards had been watching the distant gate, preparing to fight off any of the attackers who managed to break through the lines, so they were not expecting a single rescuer to run at them from the buildings on the northern side of the compound. As soon as they heard the sound of feet on gravel, they turned to see the young man rapidly advancing on them, and they recognised him too. Satisfied that he had the two men's full attention, Blue shouted out the signal to his dragons.

"SICK 'EM!"

The response was just as unexpected as it was instantaneous. The four Terrible Terrors lived up to their name as they leapt out from above the tunnel and proceeded to terrorise the guards. One man was knocked flat on his face when Firefly and Daisy hit him square on the back of his shoulders. Rollo flapped his wings in the second man's face while Knucklehead bit his right wrist in an attempt to force him to drop his baton. The result was only half successful because of the leather strap holding the baton to the man's wrist, so when he tried to wave the dragon in front of him away, he ended up hitting Rollo on the side of his head before accidentally knocking himself out cold.

Blue felt a lump form in the pit of his stomach. Of course he had know there was a chance one or more of the dragons could be hurt during the rescue operation, just as there was for he and his friends; but they all knew the risk where as the dragons didn't. Blue disarmed the two men, giving a grave warning to the one still conscious to stay put where he was face first on the ground lest one of the dragons should shoot him in the face with a fireball if he dared to move. The threat may not have been true, but it was a particularly effective ruse. Free at last to check on his fire breathing friend, Blue knelt down and picked up the fallen dragon.

"Rollo... are you okay little buddy?"

The dragon seemed okay but his eyes were rolling around in opposite directions. Unfortunately Blue did not know if this was normal or not, but rather than take a chance the young man decided to effectively bench his injured player for the rest of the game.

"There you go Rollo" he said softly as he tucked the dragon inside his jacket.

Once again Firefly felt justified for befriending this human; he seemed to understand that when small dragons fight together, the strong ones always take care of the weak or injured.

"Come on boys and girls" Blue exclaimed as he ran into the tunnel.

Firefly and Daisy scampered along the walls in front of Blue, lighting the way with the small flames in the back of their throats, while Knucklehead covered the rear of the group. All three dragons were determined to fully protect Blue so he in turn would be free to protect the injured Rollo.

As they headed towards the room he had once shared with his sister and his best friend, the odd group would occasionally come across one or two of the few people still inside the tunnel. Almost all of them had small children with them who would scream in terror when they saw the glowing heads of the dragons advancing towards them. Blue had very strong feeling of guilt because of the fear he was bringing, but at least it meant he did not have to fight off the adults who would grab the children in their care and either retreat down one of the side tunnels, or would slip into a nearby room and slam the door.

Arriving at his old room at last, Blue was surprised to see it was not locked but the reason became obvious when he threw open the door. Instead of the girls he sought, there was only a woman he did not recognise caring for a small group of children.

"Where are the girls from this room?" Blue demanded to know.

Two of the dragons climbed around the door frame and onto the inner wall; the children recoiled in horror.

"W-what girls? This is my room" the woman replied.

"Well... where were they taken?" Blue hoped for an answer.

"Who?" the woman shrugged.

"Calla and Abigail" Blue said forcefully.

"The prisoners? I have no idea where they've been put.

"Dammit!" Blue cursed.

He called the dragons out of the room and closed the door; it was time to try another approach. Unclipping the latch on his satchel, Blue removed one of the two plastic bags inside it. From the bag he took a t-shirt he had taken from his sister's room on the Bull Ant.

"Firefly, Daisy, take a sniff."

The dragons did as they were told and once they had the scent, the pair began sniffing about the tunnel for a trail. As they searched, Blue opened his jacked to check on the patient inside.

"How are you doing Rollo?"

The weary dragon stirred slightly, gave a big yawn and closed its eyes again.

"Yeah sleep on buddy" he said softly.

Blue had no trouble following the excited dragons at first, as they moved back and forth searching for a familiar scent. But as soon as they had found the right tunnel, the pair ran off as fast as their legs would carry them.

"Come on Knucklehead, we'd better not lose them."

The last dragon followed dutifully while continuing to keep a sharp eye out for any trouble that may appear from behind them. Soon Blue was not following visible dragons, but small bobbing lights moving along the tunnels and bouncing off the walls. After a few minutes, the lights stopped advancing, simply darting around a single spot. Upon arrival, Blue found Firefly and Daisy jumping about excitedly in front of a locked door.

"Firefly; shoot!" Blue ordered, pointing at the padlock.

A single fireball was all that was needed to blow the lock off; it landed a few meters away, now nothing more than a lump of half melted and half shattered brass. The bolt on the door was far too hot now for Blue to touch directly, so he pulled the sleave of his jacket down over his right hand and very carefully lifted and slid it back. As soon as he had he pushed the door open, Daisy hurried into the room, still following the scent in her nose.

"Woah!" a familiar voice cried out from within.

"It's okay Abby, it's me" Blue stepped inside as Firefly jumped up onto his shoulder.

As soon as he entered the dimly lit room, Blue could clearly see this was nothing like the room he had shared with Abigail and Calla before his escape. Indeed he would not even call it a room; it was a cell to be sure. Inside he could just make out the silhouetted figure of his sister sitting on the lower bunk of a bed almost half the size of the entire room, but before he could ask about Calla, a dark hooded shadow leapt down from the top bunk and charged out of the open doorway and disappeared down the tunnel, almost knocking Blue down in the process.

"CALLA... WAIT!" Abigail cried out to no avail.

"Wha..." Blue exclaimed as he regained his balance.

Leaping up off the bed, Abigail threw her arms around her brother and almost squeezed the life out of him; not to mention the other dragon he carried.

"This is incredible... I can't believe you're back already. Calla and I thought we'd be here for year at least."

"I um... managed to get some help" Blue replied.

As if on cue, Firefly too some credit for helping by jumping up onto his shoulder again, causing Abigail to jump back in surprise.

"Oh my gosh... it's another one; what are they?"

"Firefly; lantern please" Blue requested.

The room suddenly became much brighter as the dragon opened his mouth to reveal a lit flame at the back of its throat. With the increased illumination, Abigail could clearly see the two lizard like creatures, wings and all.

"Oh my... are these...?"

"Dragons, yes" Blue smiled "This is Firefly and the one at your feet is Daisy."

"Firefly seems like a good name for a dragon, but Daisy?" Abigail wondered.

"It was her colouring" Blue admitted.

"Oh yes... I can see it; green with some yellow splotches. Hello Daisy."

Abigail squatted down and held out her hand to greet her new friend. But to her surprise, the dragon jumped up on to the girls arm and climbed up to her shoulder.

"Ha... this is wonderful" she laughed "I wish Calla could see..."

Suddenly realising what she was saying, Abigail stopped and looked down at her feet."

"Yeah... about Calla... why did she run away?" Blue asked his sister.

"Well... it's kinda hard to explain... I think I'd better let her tell you herself."

Blue thought for a moment before coming to a decision. Then he opened up his jacked to reveal the resting dragon inside.

"Far out; there's another one?" Abigail gasped.

"Two more here and even more back at the Bull Ant" Blue revealed "This is Rollo and he got hit on the side of the head when the dragons attacked the guards at the tunnel entrance."

"And crushed when I hugged you" Abigail realised.

"Yeah... but they're tough little guys for sure" Blue nodded "Here... take him."

Blue handed the dragon to his sister before removing his jacket and helping Abigail into it. The then called the final dragon in for a final introduction.

"This is Knucklehead and he..."

"Knucklehead?" Abigail wondered.

"Don't ask" Blue sighed "He'll protect you on the way out."

Before sending them off, Blue hurried over to the bed and took the pillow from the top bunk.

"Daisy, Firefly... sniff this" he held up the pillow for the two dragons to examine.

"Okay... seek" he ordered.

Leaping off the Dias's shoulders, the two dragons rushed out the door and took off after the fresh trail Calla had just left.

"Okay Knucklehead... protect" he gestured to Abigail and Rollo "and go home."

"I'll see you outside" Abigail nodded "Good luck."

Cradling the dragon in her care, Abigail followed the one leading her to freedom, while Blue in turn went deeper into the tunnels and headed towards the two dragon lights awaiting him at the first junction.

'Good luck' his sister had said; now why would he need that? Blue thought.

'

'

Cats are weird. Rather than stay in the main house where it is cool, Boo Cat wants to spend her time in her glass fronted room which is about ten to fifteen degrees hotter inside. Needless to say I won't let her in there, as I don't want to cook my pretty little kitty.