Chaos

Chapter 6 : Son, This is War

Darius's eyes flutter open from the light of the morning sun hitting his closed eye-lids. His hands wandered around the unfamiliar surface he was sleeping on made of something similar to ragged metal pieces. He forced his eyes open and in his blurred vision, was met with a face hovering over him.

"Rise and shine ~" a very irritating voice sang into his ear.

He shot up to sit in alarm as the person leaned back slightly to avoid bumping heads with him. For Darius, waking up on the lap of his enemy when they were supposed to be at each other's throat was not the most exciting experience.

"Wipe your saliva first before you freak" Raidan pointed to the corner of his mouth with his usual irksome smirk on display.

Darius gave his best glare as he rubbed the back of his hand against his mouth. "What happened?" he asked, voice raspy.

"You fell asleep. That's what happened" Raidan stood up from sitting cross-legged, dusting himself off. Darius's eyes followed him, not taking it for an answer.

"Alright, I put a sleeping charm on you. I need you at full energy for today's fight" Raidan rolled his eyes, acting as if what he did wasn't a big deal.

"You wha-"

"Calm your wolves. You're still very much alive and you were sleeping like a baby on my lap the whole night. That should make up for it" he grinned at Darius as if that'd make everything work out and help him escape from the wrath of his new companion.

"No time to argue. Wake the others. We're arriving in 10" Raidan's expression turned serious as he narrowed his eyes into the distance, trying to take in as much landscape as he can. Darius tsked, his alpha blood boiling in annoyance receiving an order, but grunted in reply helplessly before kicking Romulus gently to wake him up and pass over the job.

The ground underneath their feet jolted and lowered suddenly making Darius lose his footing for a split second. A few of the warriors had perked up their heads in confusion before Romulus had even got around to wake them.

"Medeis?! By 10, you didn't mean ten seconds did you?" Darius crouched down and held onto a scale as the dragon jerked sideways a second time.

"I didn't. That is a past tense. But I do now" Raidan clenched his eyes shut as he pressed both hands on the dragon's neck, struggling to fight for control. "Get ready to jump. I'm losing the rein. I'll get us as low as I can" he shouted causing thirty pairs of feet to shuffle around, bracing for impact.

A roar, many times louder than a lion and fiercer than a thunderstorm. One which was laced with fury and anguish, echoed across the woods for miles as the dragon broke free before it twisted and turned in the air, attempting to shake off the intruders on its back.

"Okay. Plan B. We're jumping" Raidan concluded, puffing his cheeks and breathing out as he glimpsed down at the distance.

"From this height?! Are you mad?" Darius finally freaked and yelled straight into his face.

"Just jump straight. I know you won't but trust me on this one" Raidan rambled quickly and signalled something to a few of his men. Half a dozen of them mumbled beneath their breath in a language Darius didn't speak nor understand. Thin strips of purple appeared string after string, overlaying both diagonally and perpendicular before it forms a glowing net, summoned out of nowhere.

"Now!" Raidan let go of his grip and started to fall, followed suit by his warriors.

"Yippee-ka-yay" Darius muttered sarcastically watching him fall. "Alright, let's go. Jump'' he commanded as he himself pushed off from the dragon and fell against the wind.

He fell at a speed that the wind blew upwards against his back, making whooshing sounds in his ears. The blue-grey dragon above appeared smaller and smaller as he dropped before it flew elsewhere, no doubt to wherever a tamer called it from. Darius curled up into a ball, ready to transform into his wolf form in hopes of reducing the impact when he hit something soft, decreasing his speed as he sank into it and bounced him back upwards as the net tightened itself back up. The purple web rebounded several times as the rest met the surface. Groans and coughs uttered out from contact.

Everyone alright? Darius checked his troops, searching for anyone missing. Romulus he called out.

Yes sir. Everyone made it on our side he coughed several times, trying to stand on the wobbling surface.

Can I get my thank you now? Raidan chuckled behind him.

"I thought you had it under control" he turned to face him, taking his annoyance out on Raidan, his pride damaged from having being saved by his equal.

"Suppressing a 30ft intelligent being is hard enough as it is. Try adding an influence, having complete chemistry and bonding with it, snatch the reins from you. Oh but since you're not the one holding up a dragon with thirty people on it for one whole day, I'm sorry your majesty for saving your ass twice from falling to your death" Raidan spoke through gritted teeth, restraining his anger by pushing it back as much as he could.

"Sir!!!" Romulus screeched in frustration, squeezing his eyes shut, causing the two, bickering to jump in surprise. "It's not the time to be arguing".

He was met by silence as the whole troop looked at him as if he grew a third head when he finally took a peek of his surroundings.

"Uh.what I mean is. T-the tamers should be up ahead. I-I can smell the dragons.." he started, tripping over his own words and trailed off in confusion, his cheeks still flushed from the outburst.

"What about the dragons?" Darius asked, trying to read his face and turned his own senses on.

"Nothing sir, I thought I caught snuff of another dragon" Romulus replied, still twitching his nose around.

"A fourth one" Darius stated from his own inspection.

"No sir, only three. But the third scent is a bit off"

"There is another one in the cave. It must be out of your range. And what do you mean the other one is off?" Darius furrowed his eyebrows.

"The dragon we jumped off of is not there. It's replaced by another dragon. Did they call for reinforcement? Is it allowed sir? The rules strictly said 30 warriors and only 3 dragons were allowed for them" he looked up at Darius, expecting him to explain.

"What do you mean it's not the same? Are you saying you can personalise the scent of each dragon?" but was met with questions instead.

"Can't we all tell them apart sir? I mean each person has their own unique smell. Isn't it the same for dragons?" he answered, unaware he was the only one.

"The third one outside. It's gone" Darius narrowed his eyes, double checking to make sure if he had it wrong. "Hey, kid. If you really can tell them apart, check which one it is that disappeared".

"The new one, sir" he answered after a sniff. "But, I don't understand. It was there one second. We would know if it flew off. How can it disappear just like that? Did it go into the cave? Are the tamers in the cave too? I can't sense them".

Darius glared at him, making him zip his mouth instantly "What are you talking about? They're right there beside the dragons" he narrowed his eyes at him before signalling the other werewolves to check.

"We can't sense anything sir. They're too far off" the soldier checked his peers in confirmation as they nod back at him. "It must be your heightened senses as a hybrid, sir" he said half-bitterly.

"If that's why, what's with Romulus?" he glanced back at the younger kid, who was not sure himself and grimaced a grin at him.

"Alright. Take this sometime, somewhere else. We're running out of time" Raidan cut in. "What is it about the fourth dragon? Is it the one protecting the eggs?"

"Probably. We don't know that for sure but the scent takes a turn from other normal dragons" Darius sighed.

"A weird dragon inside. A vanishing dragon outside. Hmm this is getting interesting" he grinned. "Are you sure the third one didn't fly off somewhere?"

"I'm sure"

"Then what about the one inside? How is the scent different from the normal ones? Is it an ice dragon?" Raidan took Romulus's role in interrogating Darius.

The young kid's ears perk up at the mention of ice dragons. Although they were in a war and the dragons had been the cause of many of their villages burnt down, Romulus had always been fascinated about the creatures. To add to that, ice dragons were rarely seen coming down to the south. They were mostly couped up in the upper quarter of the globe while the fire dragons were commonly seen ravaging the battlefields, causing destruction.

"It's not an ice dragon and I.don't.know.what.it.is" he forced each word out through gritted teeth, frustration creeping up his head. Romulus's face fell, disappointed at the news.

"Okay? So what do we know?" Raidan pressed.

"That the day where we're gonna end up killing each other is nearer than we think?" he glared forcefully at him.

"Well ouch" he muttered under his breath. "Two dragons right? We'll take care of the dragons. Your soldiers cover the tamers for us".

"12 people against 2 dragons? Are you sure you can take them on? Don't go and get us all killed. The third one could come back too" Darius looked at him, cynical about his plan.

A dark fluorescence blue rope, made of the same material as the net that caught them appeared out of thin air into Raidan's hand. "Made from pure magic. They don't break easy" he smirked and pulled it towards two opposite directions to demonstrate. Lightning sizzled around it before dispersing along with the cord.

"You intend to use it as a lasso?" Darius sniggered.

"Giving it a thought? It's not such a bad idea. And you'd be surprised at how much force it takes to snap them" Raidan chuckled, a mischievous glint entering his eyes. "And even if the third one does come back 12 of us is just about enough time to stall the dragons, sneak into the cave and out. They were chosen from the best you know?" he answered with a sense of pride in his army.

"Who's going in the cave then?" Darius watched wearily, not trusting him in splitting the group in his favor.

"The two of us?" Raidan raised an eyebrow.

"Fair enough" he murmured.

"Alright we're spreading out. Follow my-"

"Our" Darius growled.

"Follow 'our' lead in initiating the attack then we'll leave the rest in your hands" Raidan rolled his eyes at his behaviour.

Location -

Two dragons coil in rest on the ground, guarding the mouth of the cave along with several humans dressed in navy blue and red patterned uniforms patrolling the area.

"Sire, it's been a while since captain went in, shouldn't we go check?" a soldier nudged his superior, standing to his left.

"Sit your ass down. It hasn't been more than 10 minutes. He said he'd send a signal if something went wrong and took Sadon and Rowan with him, did he not?" he scolded, hitting him lightly on the back of his head. "Plus we're not stationed at the entrance for nothing. Keep your guard up" he glanced down at his colleague.

The ground rumbled as soon as he finished speaking, two bodies wearing the same dragon's garment dropped from above the cave in front of their feet. Vines cracked open the ground and wrapped around the dragons rooting them to the spot. Mana ropes with a noose at the end of them, infused with Raidan's lightning element, slipped around the neck of each of the dragons and pulled their heads down to the ground resulting in an ear splitting screech from the beasts.

"Sorcerers" the older soldier spat out the name in disgust. "Go check the men" he pushed the boy beside him to a body.

The poor boy stumbled amidst the mayhem and knelt on both knees, flipping the body on its back with trembling hands. Lifeless eyes which last displayed shock and fear stared up at him, blood dripping from his mouth. Three long diagonal claw marks ripped through his shirt, deep into the flesh. The cuts were ragged, bones from the rib cage visible in some parts and pieces of flesh were spotted, splattered on the ground.

He sucked in air sharply and scrambled backwards away from the corpse in horror, his bloodied hands covering his mouth as bile rose the back of his throat. Red veins creeped from the corner of his shaky eyes, tears welling up when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Son, this is war. You'll have more than enough time to grieve later if you survive. Right now we've got to fight back before more of our people die. Bear with it for now and soldier on. Now get up". It was the older soldier from before. He lifted the boy from his arm, back onto his feet and pulled him away to the sidelines. "The shapeshifters and the sorcerers teamed up. This isn't looking good".

"Listen. Our dragons are held down by magic and we're nothing without them. We need to get them free and moving, you hear me?" he grabbed the boy by his arms and shook him, trying to snap him out from the shock.

"The Earth elementalists are struggling to keep them from breaking free. I'll distract them to weaken the binding. You'll have to channel all your feelings, the need to protect, the sorrow, even your anger. The dragons have the potential to turn this battle around. The tamer has to pull that potential out. You have to do it, son" he looked straight into his eyes and smiled sadly as tears formed in his own eyes. "I couldn't save him. You have to live on" he whispered, choking back his sorrow.

With widened eyes, he watched the person turn and leave, running into the middle of the battlefield with nothing but a sword in his hand. Fire erupted in a protective circle around the two dragons making the man halt suddenly, blocked by the wall of flames. He took a few steps back and braced himself before jumping into the circle, disappearing into the burning fire.

The boy pushed himself up and staggered to follow the man into the circle with no strengths in his knees. Blood spilled around him and seeped into the ground, coloring it red. Be it by the ruthless huntings of the wolves, the thirst for blood of the vampires or the silver tipped swords of the dragon tamers. But the sure thing is, they were losing. As humans holding no power without the dragons, they didn't stand a chance against the shapeshifters with every physical aspect amplified.

Flames danced in his eyes as he stood right in front of it, letting the heat hit his face in waves of warmth. He held his hand close to the fire, feeling it on the tip of his fingers. It was a normal fire. The sorcerers didn't seem to have extra energy to waste on a barrier to keep mere humans out when there were also the shapeshifters keeping them in check.

He took a deep breath in, barely holding himself from breaking down and jumped through the flames to the other side. The ground hit him like a ton of bricks when he landed sideways on his cheek, no doubt bruising all over his right half. He grunted in pain as he picked himself up again, taking in the state inside the encirclement.

The dragons continued to screech, fighting to break free from the collar, forcefully chained around their necks. One settled down when it caught sight of the young soldier and purrer, bringing it's head down, closer to where he stood. His eyes darted quickly, counting roughly ten of the sorcerers when he saw his superior from the corner of his eyes, crouched down, laying low from the sorcerers' scope with the help of the dragons filling up most of the space.

The lad watched as the other tamer stealthily trod behind an Earth elementalist, who had both his eyes closed and palms pressed to the ground. He drew his sword and raised it up with both hands before he brought it down upon his enemy with no hesitation. The sorcerer did a 180 turn last minute and hit the flat surface of his sword, shattering it into pieces. He stumbled a few steps backwards from the force. Panic flashed through his eyes before he composed himself to keep his cool.

"You must be thinking how" it was a statement, not a question. "Even though I'm pouring all my focus onto keeping these ugly creatures from running about and wrecking everything, I can still feel it when someone steps into the land, five feet radius around me" he dusted himself off and faced the tamer with the intent to kill.

Cold sweat trickled down from the top of his forehead as the tables turned on him when his eyes fell on the kid crawling towards the dragon on his fours. He shifted his eyesight back on the threat in front of him.

"Ignorance on my part, I should say" he chuckled, stalling for time.

"Your people are dying and you are going to meet your demise soon. Yet, you laugh?" the corner of his mouth tugged up in irony and amusement.

"I think you might need a mirror" he smirked back as they heard a commotion coming from the side. It made it possible for the dragon to free a small part of its body when the sorcerer left his post. With a sweep of its tail, the dragon whipped aside half of the magic users binding him, sending them flying.

The sorcerer summoned up an earth wall in hopes of blocking the attack to no avail. It wasn't even close to enough as it crumbled down when the tail crashed into it, throwing him a good few yards away but missing the tamer by an inch.

The dragon let out a roar in freedom as it broke apart the vines entangling it, no longer enforced by magic. He tore down the ropes tethering it's companion before it lowered itself down for the tamer to climb up.

"Sire" the boy shouted, waving his hands as he stands on the back of the dragon.

"Hey kid" he laughed in disbelief, but with pride in his eyes. "You did it" he jogged and stopped beside the foot of the beast, leaning against it to catch his breath. "They're still shackled to the mana ropes. See if they can snap it in two" he hollered up.

He nodded, a smile playing on his lips at his own accomplishment and patted the dragon with his small hands, telling it to rise. It jerked it's head sideways to tug at the rope when electric crackled from the leash and spreaded to it's whole body, also jolting the boy on it. Another roar of anguish filled the sky. An excruciating heat and pain swallowed him whole and dissipated in a millisecond while it left him unable to move, on the edge of fading into unconsciousness.

His vision blurred and wavered as he looked down to the man, yelling his name in concern. A second figure he couldn't make out joined his vision, sneaking up on the tamer. He thrashed around in alarm, no sound coming out from his throat when the remnant of the broken sword from before sunk into the man's throat.

His heart skipped a beat. All he saw was red. The emotions he swallowed down from before rose up to the surface as he screamed at the top of his lungs, the two joining in his wailing as the ropes binding them snapped in one yank before the lightning could generate.

Their wings flapped once, creating a gust of wind that put out the circle of fire. Every single soldier on the battlefield stopped to stare in surprise, relief and horror as the creatures invaded the fight. The tide finally turned. The dragons bowed down their heads once again for the tamers to climb up and attack anyone else, lunging in for a scratch with their front paws.

They took off after every tamer alive was on board and safe, retreating for the time being to tend to the wounded and reorganise. The boy slipped into darkness alongside the calls of his comrades.