Esmeralda of Dracosia: Chapter 20
Chapter 20
It rose like a pale flare of forewarning.
Slowly but surely, the bleached disk of the white moon took its place in the night sky, with no regards to how painstakingly long it was taking to do so. It made its way leisurely up the starless sky in a routine fashion. It had no care about what was to happen tonight, though it was in itself the message bearer. To the moon, this was just any other night. Just another night to spread its full glow to sleeping dragons, then to sink again for the sun to take its turn. It hadn’t a care in the world. It hadn’t a care of the world other than to do its duty.
Esmeralda’s duty was very different from that of the celestial body. She had dragons to guide and protect, and she would not stand separate and watch them fall alone. Still, Esmeralda’s chest filled with more anxiety every minute. She was about to engage in a battle that would make Dracosian history—if there was any Dracosia left, after this—yet less than a year had passed since she had first come to this land. Aurora and Stelleona claimed that Esmeralda was part of a prophesy to end Nymaul, but how would she do that? Oh, what she would give to be carefree and routine like the moon above at this moment.
Carefree and routine; that was something than none possessed at the moment. All was silent. All eyes on the moon. Silently waiting for…
What?
None, not even Zhishi, could foresee what would happen next. Each dragon in the dark could only stand prepared for what they believed they were facing. Which, in a sense, was something all knew:
The fear of the dark.
Tension rose with the moon, each growing higher and brighter. What were they up against? What was coming to great them? The race to this spot, the edge of the black mountains where Wildurnens and Lindworms alike were perched, seemed to still continue as the disk rose. The cold of the night gripped them from their noses to tail-tips, leaving some to wonder if it was really just the cold that nipped them.
Restlessness found its way into all hearts, those eager for battle or not. Dragons paced to and fro, some snorting smoke, others casting worried glances.
Time went on, and new feelings had arisen. Tension and restlessness gave birth to question and doubt. Some dragons in the army began to give the elders and leaders odd looks, as if all this was just an overreaction.
Pyrose asked the unanswered question: “What have we come out here for, Orion?” His steady gaze and tone did not bear any hint of curiosity. He knew why they had traveled here. All knew what the Wyvern meant. What was the point of this?
Orion met Pyrose’s gaze for a long time, his golden eyes searching his soldier’s. The leader then cast his gaze slowly over the Dracosian army, and looked to the moon. It still rose with a cold but steady slowness. Then, the golden dragon spoke.
“We are here for one reason, and one reason only. Our world is in danger. Nymaul, whatever he may look like, whatever armaments he may possess, is coming tonight. And we must be here to stop him.”
Thunder roared in the dark sky, yet no cloud covered the moon.
“We are dragons of Dracosia. From Wyverns to Grottoskims, from Lindworms to Frost dragons, from Lungs to Wildurnens; our tribes made a commitment at the beginnings of Dracosia to unite and come together when dark times fell. If you will not stand here, with me, and will not abide by that pact, then why are you here now? Why even bother? If you will not protect what is your land, your home, then go. All of those who do not stand for Dracosia may leave. Now. For when the Nightmare Dragon takes to the sky, you will either be the one who stands with us, or the loner who is engulfed in shadow and forgotten forever. This time, it’s unite…” The wind picked up, growing so strong that some dragons had to dig their claws in the ebony stone, “….or die.”
Suddenly, the ground around them began to rumble from inside, as if all earth would upheave its rocky depths. All dragons turned their eyes to the mountains around them, where the great structures themselves shook like trees in a wild thunderstorm. Dragons lost their footing and fell face first in the dirt. Some tried to steady themselves by flying, but the ear-splitting avalanche disoriented them, and they fell to the earth.
Just as Esmeralda thought it couldn’t get worse, the rumbling increased, and an almighty CRACK! filled the air. A crevice split the ground just behind the army, flinging rocks and shrapnel into the air. Some dragons barely saved themselves from falling down. The army retreated away from the chasm quickly, and as they did so, scalding lava erupted out of its depths in a massive wall of molten earth and flames. It drowned the blackness of the sky with a scalding orange-red color, and nearly dwarfed the mountains around it in size. More cracking set the army in panic, and the wall of fire expanded to enclose the whole mountain range in a circle of heat.
Suddenly, Esmeralda felt a cool chill seep across her body. The other dragons seamed to feel it, too, for in unison the turned their eyes to the moon. Slowly, its pale glow was banished from existence by a massive expanse of blackness. The enormous form expanded to block the sky, and an unsettling mixture of heat and coolness filled Esmeralda—a familiar mixture. A deep feeling of dread fell upon the emerald dragon, for she knew what this blackness was. And it had a name.
Where the moon should have been, a pair of enormous red eyes illuminated the ground below them with a gaze hungry for war. The shadow’s form began to take the shape of a body. Its expanse stretched out into four great plains of leathery wings. Then came a thick neck to support a strongly-jawed head, with teeth as big as the tallest of trees sprouting from the maw. Jet black ram’s horns jutted and curved from the head. Suddenly, the being let out a deafening roar, spewing more molten lava onto the charred mountains around them. The towers of rock began to form into distorted, twisted shapes around the behemoth of a dragon, bending like rib bones and sharpening to spikes.
“Nymaul,” Esmeralda choked out in a whisper.
The ancient monster snapped out his wings, and the lava walls grew higher. Cracks exploded up the sides of mountains, bursting from the inside to free thousands upon thousands of Shade Stingers. Hissing and snapping of countless maws filled the air, along with the deep, rumbling laughter of the Nightmare Dragon. The low bass of his voice sent terror into Esmeralda’s heart.
“My, my, dear shadows, look at this!” he boomed, shaking the ground. “Why don’t we have a little fun with these, mmhmm….nice little playthings, shall we?”
The Shade Stingers hissed eagerly in reply.
“Do be careful, though….we wouldn’t want to break them, now would we? Of course, they could just surrender now, but what fun would that be?”
Orion roared to center the army. “Steady yourselves and get into position! Remember what your training has taught you and remember what we fight for. We are the army of light and life for this land; we are the Army of DRACOSIA!”
“FOR DRACOSIA!” shouted the dragons, extending their battle claws and letting out jets of flame.
“So be it,” Nymaul muttered. With that, the giant dragon reared on his shadow-surrounded legs and sent a hailstorm of fire into the sky. The Shade Stingers hissed and ran forward, a wave of black scales and white glowing eyes closing in for the attack. Darkness swirled at their feet, and lightning crackled in the air above.
Orion dashed forward, followed by a wave of his own. Dragons of every color of scale and armor flew forward, charging at the maelstrom of serpents with a determined frenzy. As Esmeralda rushed forward with the army, filled with those she knew, those she loved, and those who were complete strangers. Not all would make it out of the fight, but here, charging with all the battle-able dragons Dracosia had to muster, Esmeralda felt a renewing sense of determination.
Time seamed to slow as the dragons grew ever closer to the Shade Stingers; the ash swirled softly in the air, the wings and pounding feet all around beat to the pulsing of passionate hearts. Esmeralda looked over the dragons and watched Orion surge forward on powerful wings. Nightingale and Zhishi twirled high above, ready to test their aerial dives. Aurora’s ancient and scared wings lit slowly with the magic of a thousand years. Burn roared and shattered the mountain ground with his fellow Lindworms slithering behind him. Frost spiraled on all rocks that the Frost dragons passed. Even the Grottoskims swarmed in a hurricane of feathery wings. Yet all was strangely mute to Esmeralda…….The calm before the storm, she thought, remembering Aurora’s words.
Esmeralda closed her eyes and glided two more seconds. Her heart became alight with a fire of hope as she came in wing’s length of Orion, the Stingers inches away. The golden dragon made eye contact with her, and Esmeralda understood at that moment—these were more than an army. They were her friends. Her family.
And that was something Nymaul couldn’t take away. Not on her life.
The waves of forces clashed with a thunderous commotion.
Stingers slashed on either side of Esmeralda, but she skillfully spun out of the way. A creature attempted to jump on her, but the emerald dragon sent a burst of flame in its direction, reducing it and a few others to black dust. More Shade Stingers fell in similar fashions, one after another dispersing into the air. But this hardly effected them. More and more crept out from the mountainside, turning the ground into a squirming tide of bodies.
Suddenly, a dozen Shade Stingers flew past Esmeralda in the air, the monsters dematerializing as they hit the mountainside.
“HA! I’d like to see you try that again!” shouted Zhishi, twirling through a maze of rock spires with agile grace. Out of nowhere, three Stingers jumped out at him and knocked him off-balance. “I take that baaaaaaaaaaak!” he shouted as the creatures chased after him.
Below her, Esmeralda spotted Tundrica alone, surrounded by twenty creatures, all attacking at once. The Frost dragon let out a stinging jet of ice and crystal from her maw, freezing a good many of the creatures. However, it wasn’t enough. They converged on Tundrica, seeking to single her out and incase her in their shadow.
Esmeralda landed beside the light blue dragon, squashing a few creatures at the same time.
“I don’t need your help,” muttered Tundrica, back to back with the magic wielder.
“It seems you do,” Esmeralda replied, scorching more creatures with flame.
“Yeah?” huffed Tundrica, blasting a few creatures back with a powerful wing beat. “Well, why don’t you make yourself useful and go tackle some other creatures?”
“Why don’t you stop resisting my help and we can tackle these together?” retorted Esmeralda, just as the two dragons spun and whipped the circle of creatures back with their tails.
Tundrica blew another bout of ice. “I can handle myself! I don’t need your help; I don’t need anyone watching over me. I’m not a hatchling!”
“I never said you were,” said Esmeralda. A flash of understanding flickered through the two dragons’ eyes as they locked gazes. Sharing a short nod, the two fought as one; fire and ice against the shadow. In a matter of minutes, near a hundred creatures had been vaporized by the swirling, white and orange elements.
At that moment, Frystor flew over the pair, shouting as he whipped by: “Atta girl, Tundrica! Make your father proud!”
The younger frost dragon beamed, then gave a curt nod to Esmeralda. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
With that, the two parted ways.
Esmeralda lashed a few more Stingers with her tail, but they kept coming thick and fast through the mountain cracks. Waves of the creatures seemed to sprout from the exits, and during all this, Nymaul looked on. His shadowy form did little more than glare and breathe the occasional fire storm, but Esmeralda could just make out an important feature. He was smiling.
Esmeralda saw a flash of bright red, and looked left just in time to see Burn barrel over dozens of creatures with an unbreakable gate of momentum. The rocks cracked at his feet, responding to the Lindworm’s earth magic. Suddenly, an idea clicked in Esmeralda’s head.
Through the haze of the fire-lit sky, Esmeralda quickly located the able-bodied form of Orion. Esmeralda flew over to join him quickly.
“Ah! She returns!” he called, pouncing on the Shade Stinger that had just slashed the Leader across the side.
Esmeralda blocked an attack with her wings. “I have a favor to ask!” she called.
“And what dose Milady wish?” Orion smirked, tripping up four creatures with his tail and bucking more off his back.
“Well,” Esmeralda lashed at a group of Stingers trying to bite her, “I have an idea.”
“Do tell.” Orion jumped in the air and flattened the Shade Stingers beside Esmeralda.
“Thanks.”
“Continue?”
Esmeralda dodged a silver stinger. “The entrances on the mountains where the Shade Stingers are getting out. If the Lindworms can manipulate the rock to block or close the crevices, cause an avalanche, something—”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Orion, ramming into three creatures that were about to hit Esmeralda. “Distract them while I give the order?”
“You sure know how to charm a girl,” Esmeralda retorted, smiling as Orion laughed and took off.
Esmeralda shot into the sky like an arrow, piercing the smoky grey clouds while she muttered a chant:
“Wings lift high for taking flight,
Yet now do more as they alight!”
With a burst of golden energy, Esmeralda felt her wings growing warm. Yellow flames danced across the membranes, clinging and sliding like rain water. With a fearsome roar, she dived vertically towards the mass of Shade Stingers, pulling up at the last second and sweeping the whole row clean with her wings as she flew past. The creatures that she did not hit attacked, but Esmeralda reared back into the sky. One stubborn Stinger clung to her back, managing to give Esmeralda a good scathing before the emerald dragon could toss it to the ground. Pain flared through Esmeralda’s scales, but she flew it off. Now was not the time, she convinced herself.
More fire flicked off her wings as Esmeralda increased her flapping. To her surprise, the flames began to gather together as she twirled in midair. Determination grew inside of her as she increased the fireball, looping in the sky several more times before she hurtled the fire at the still-swarming sea of Shade Stingers. To Esmeralda’s satisfaction the flames caught, and diminished a few hundred of the monsters. Again she began to loop, forming several small fire bursts and tossing them at every large group of Stingers she saw.
Suddenly, A bright flash of light came out of nowhere, blinding the creatures below. Light bursts similar to shooting stars rained down on the creatures, as well, dematerializing even more. Esmeralda looked up to see the cause, and to her surprise and joy, there was Aurora.
“I do hope you don’t mind my joining you—I just could not resist a good magic show!” called the elder over the roar of battle.
“Not at all, Teacher, not at all!” Esmeralda called, diving and slamming more creatures with her fire-lit wings.
Aurora and Esmeralda continued to attract the Shade Stinger’s attention, drawing them as far from the already packed mountain entrances as they could. They caught the attention of several Dracosian dragons, as well, who looked on with awe at the magic wielders. More and more Shade stingers fell, but compared to the great thousands still emerging from the mountains and dwarfing the Dracosian army, they appeared to do very little.
Suddenly, Nymaul let out a roar much fiercer that any Esmeralda had ever heard before. A great rumbling occurred, and for a few seconds Esmeralda was afraid another mountain entrance would appear and let loose even more creatures. However, with a great roar, the mountainsides shuddered and crumbled, covering the gargantuan cracks and blocking the Shade Stinger’s path. Now they were even, Esmeralda thought. All the creatures, though still extremely large in number, would be all there was. No more reinforcements.
The whole landscape shuddered, and Nymaul grew more agitated by the second.
“You think you have made a victory, puny dragons,” he roared, “but as long as I stand, shadow will continue to block out the sun!”
To Esmeralda’s dread, Shade Stingers began to seep slowly from the shadows of the mountains. They were still coming. What could they do now?
Esmeralda closed her eyes. She knew what they had to do.
“Aurora!” she called, a hint of shakiness in the emerald dragon’s voice. “It’s time.”
Author’s Note:
Hello! You can find the previous chapters of this story by checking out the iGlobe Archive at the top of the screen. Once there, you can either click on the “O” beside my name for chapters 1—12, or click directly on my name for chapters 13—current. Thanks!
~Christina Relich