Chapter 58
Late in the afternoon, the extended Leclerc family and the Dragon Riders shared a final meal together to celebrate the near completion of a job well done. This also gave everyone the chance to hear some of the stories about the Dragon Riders previous adventures. They started all the way back from when Calla literally fell into Blue's arms deep in the railgun, continuing on to their journey across space and across the world. Mallory in particular was strangely pleased to hear about Gran, and the problems the Dragon Riders had faced on the islands of the North Atlantic; not because she wanted the group to suffer, but because those stories meant it was not only the people of Lyon who had a bad attitude towards the dragons. Hopefully in the future, the testimony of the much respected Leclercs would make any future visits from the Dragon Riders much less confrontational.
After dinner, while she prepared her plane for the trip home, Blue took the opportunity to have a final talk with the man who had helped them so much.
"I guess we'll be saying goodbye soon Mr. Leclerc."
"Oui... it has been the most incredible day indeed" Jeremie nodded.
"I err... hope you don't mind me asking... but why did you go to so much trouble for us" Blue wondered "I was so pleased with the saddles but you and your family just kept on giving and giving."
"Ah... well... that is not an easy question to answer my boy" Jeremie said as he scratched his chin. "I suppose it all started with Mallory asking for a favour; I would do anything for her and Chance because they have helped me so much in the past with their little electric plane. Then came the excitement of working with such incredible creatures and it did not take long before I wanted to show off your dragons to my entire family; then I suppose we all got a little carried away. But even you, as someone who lives with dragons, must see what a monumental thing this is. And I am so pleased, overjoyed in fact, to play small part in this historical moment."
"I certainly would not call your role a small part" Blue corrected.
"Merci; it is good of you to say so" Jeremie bowed his head.
At that point, Mallory wandered over to say goodbye to her old friend.
"I'm heading back to Lyon Airport now as I want to get back before the sun gets too low."
"Of course my dear and thank you for all you've done today" Jeremie said and kissed her cheeks goodbye.
"Au revoir Blue, I will see you when you get back to the airport."
"See you soon" Blue nodded
After giving her son a goodbye kiss, Mallory boarded the plane and was soon away. When she were no longer in sight, Blue wandered back to where the other Dragon Riders were preparing to leave, only to find Dieter and Collette waiting with another gift for them.
"You and Calla have done very well during our brief training sessions, but it is very important that you continue to practice" Dieter insisted.
"And zat is why we have for you these two hardwood sparring longswords" Collette added.
"And for when you improve, you will need something more substantial; so here are the rapiers you trained with in magnetic scabbards" Dieter continued.
"Oh my goodness, these are wonderful" Blue said in awe "But what do you mean by magnetic scabbards?"
"Precisely what I said" Dieter smiled "Papa Jeremie had small magnets sewn into the spines of your jackets. Normally you would wear your scabbard on your belt, but while you are on your dragon, it would be best to have it attached to your back."
"Oh... makes sense" Blue agreed as he swung the sword around behind him.
With a slight slap, the magnets inside the scabbard drew themselves into the ones in Blues jacket, but he soon discovered a problem.
"I err... I can't get it off again" he admitted.
"Don't pull, twist" Collette laughed.
"Ah yes, that works" Blue agreed when the sword finally came away.
Calla was most pleased to receive her new sword, but there was something else that brought her even more joy as Blue discovered when he found her sitting in Windstorms saddle."
"Look at this Blue" she said, patting the right fender flap.
Seeing that she always kept her axe with her, Jeremie had repurposed a rifle scabbard to hold the axe safely while flying, as well as keeping it close at hand.
"You would have to be the most highly armed Dragon Rider of all time" Blue smile.
"When you're as short as I am, you need a lot of weapons" she replied jokingly.
"Is everyone ready to go" Blue called out to the other Dragon Riders.
Having received a positive response, Speedy and Windstorm led the other dragons into the air to the sounds of cheering from the Leclerc clan. Gage soon found out that piloting a dragon was quite different to simply being a passenger, but Abigail was able to keep the Zippleback on course while he slowly became accustomed to his new seat. As was now becoming their usual habit, all five Terrors soon settled down on the nearest convenient dragon or rider for a free ride as the Dragon Riders made their way south once more.
They were over half way back to Lyon when Calla noticed a crackled voice coming from her saddle bag.
"What's that noise?" Blue asked, having heard it too.
"It's that two-way radio Mallory gave me before we flew to the farm this morning; I forgot I still had it."
Calla reached behind her and pulled out the radio. Now that it was no longer being muffled by the saddlebag, the Dragon Riders could hear her quite clearly.
"Allo... allo... can you hear me Calla? Do not return to the airport; I repeat, do not return to the airport."
"Hello Mallory? We read you; what's wrong?" Calla spoke into the radio.
"Your dragons are in danger, mob at airport say they're not welcome here" Mallory reported.
"What do you want us to do?" Calla asked "Should we go back to Mister Leclerc?"
"Can I speak to Gage please?"
"Uh sure; hold on a minute."
Calla looked over at the Zippleback and realised if she flew too close, the wings of her Nadder would interfere with wind flow and cause trouble, so she checked to see if her saddle hooks were properly fastened before rolling Windstorm over on her back and approaching Gage upside down.
"Here take this, your Mom wants to speak with you" she said as she held out the radio.
"Allo Mama, Gage here" the young boy called.
"Gage, things are not good here for the Dragon Riders. Do you still want to go with them?"
"Oui Mama, I do; are you saying I can?"
"I have placed a backpack with some of your things at the southern end of the main runway. You should be able to pick it up and leave before anyone here can do anything about it. Tell Blue that no matter what, none of you should come back to the hangers; there are people waiting for him."
"Oui Mama, he heard you" Gage confirmed.
"Au revoir pour le moment mon fils; fais attention."
"What did she say?" Abigail asked when she noticed Gage sniff and wipe his eyes.
"She said goodbye for now my son, be safe."
"We'll do our best to make sure of that" Blue said with determination "Okay then; Calla and I will fetch the bag and Haley will take the rest of the dragons slightly to the east. We'll join you as soon as we're done."
"Roger that" Haley nodded.
As Boris led a Gronckle, a Zippleback and five freeloading Terrors away from Lyon, Calla and Blue continued on.
"I assume you have the binoculars from the Star Runner" Blue checked with Calla.
"Sure do" she replied and reached into her right saddlebag.
"Good; take a look and tell me what you see."
"Uh... I can see over a dozen people down there, but I can't tell who's who" Calla reported.
"Well we know four people who should be there, so it sounds like Mallory and Chance are outnumbered" Blue noted "Does it look like they're fighting?"
"Err... no... they're just standing around... probably arguing."
"Okay, good; if they're not in danger, I guess we'd better follow Mallory's advice and just grab the backpack and go."
"Are you sure about this?" Calla asked.
"Am I ever? But I think we could make things worse if we dive in with dragons blazing. I'll go get the parcel while you keep an eye out. Let me know if anything looks wrong. Is the bag in the clear?"
"There's nobody at that end of the airport at all; go for it Babe."
Down on the ground, the Lyon posse continued to ignore Chance and Mallory's requests to leave and go home, for they had convinced themselves that the dragons would surely return. Seeing Mallory's plane leading the dragons north that morning, had made everyone suspicious of her. As they stood their ground, they suddenly noticed the sound of a high pitched whine growing louder and louder. Looking up into the sky they saw a black streak falling to Earth at a steep angle.
"C'EST UN DRAGON" one of them shouted and they all readied their weapons and ran.
It was nothing more than a fool's errand for by the time they had reached the east corner of the hanger, the dragon had levelled out halfway down the runway, come to a stop at the south end, and taken to the sky once more continuing south never to be seen again.
"Good boy Speedy" Blue congratulated his proud Night Fury.
"He's definitely got a real advantage when it comes to high speed manoeuvres" Calla noted as she and Windstorm came alongside.
"Yeah that's one of the advantages of having several different kinds of dragon" Blue added "We get to take advantage of each of their individual abilities."
"What are Nadders good at?" Calla asked.
"Well I read that Astrid's Nadder Stormfly was able to move through forests with such stealth, you wouldn't know she was stalking you until she was sitting on you."
"Cool; Windstorm and I will have to practice doing stuff like that" Calla grinned.
A few minutes later, Blue and Calla met up with the other riders and continued southeast.
"What now?" Abigail asked.
"There are some islands off the south coast of France I think we should head for" Gage offered. "Some of the smaller ones are uninhabited so we can spend the night there without being disturbed."
"Good idea Gage, let's do it" Blue agreed.
They few on for over an hour before reaching the coast, so it was well and truly dark by the time they found a good spot, coming in to land with only the light of the moon to guide them. The Dragon Riders made good use of their Terrors as lanterns to light their way while they made a circle of stones, although the Gronckle did steal a few of them to chew on. Then after gathering some dead wood to make a fire, they set up camp for the night and got ready to sleep. Lucy and Ricky were the only dragon to object to having their saddles removed, but with Abigail and Gage doing their best to comfort the two headed beast, Blue and Calla were able to eventually complete the task.
Being too dark to go fishing, they decided to settle down for the night and try for an early breakfast the next morning. By the time they were ready to hit their bed rolls, the fire had started to die down so Blue went off to gather more wood.
"Hey, come here" Calla insisted as she followed him.
"What's up?" Blue asked.
"Just this" Calla answered as she grabbed him and kissed him.
"Wow... was that for anything in particular?"
"I don't know if you remember, but earlier today Gage came up to you and asked if you were the leader of the Dragon Riders; do you remember what you said?"
"Erm... I assume I said yes" Blue tried to recall.
"Not quite, you said yes we are. You may not have realised it at the time, but being included meant a lot to me" Calla admitted.
"Are you sure? Maybe I was just trying to shift the blame onto you for all the mistakes I've made."
"Anyone in your situation would make mistakes, but somehow you've managed to muddle through and keep them all to a minimum" Calla added.
"Well... I've relied on the rest of you to help me."
"And that is what makes you a leader and worth following."
"Funny thing is, do you know who has impressed me the most?" Blue asked.
"I assume this time you are not going to say it's me" Calla guessed.
"You do impress me and so does Haley, but Abby... she is the only one who hasn't spent her life on Earth. She's had to come to terms with all the same challenges as the rest of us, while at the same time getting used to being on what is effectively an alien planet, without all the comforts and technology she's accustomed to. And I think she's been doing an incredible job."
"Of course she has; she's a Dias and they can do anything" Calla smiled and squeezed his hand.
"Almost as much as a Linwood" Blue added as they headed back, forgetting the wood they had gone out for.
End of Act 3
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And so in the next few days, we will start the last leg of the story.
I do have some allergies Vin but they are always very minor, and usually don't hit till around October when spring hits; which is also when the magpies get vicious.
Keep safe everyone, Marty.