Descendants of Fire

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.

But that would change.

In a few hours they would stream from their mountain purchases and descend upon the villages. Their wings would block the stars, their rage the only company in the cold night. They would light the black skies with blazing fires, show no mercy to the Humans who raided these lands, killed their kind, and stole their home. They would take back what was theirs.

It was as it was foretold.

Neera shifted in anticipation, her scales scratching against the sandstone rock upon which she crouched. A company of birds flew away in a scatter. She glared at them, silently cursing their movements. Not that she could blame them for leaving - when a dragon moves you should get out of its way. This time however she didn’t need the attention a flock of birds brought. They could catch a wandering Human eye, drawing their gaze to her outcropping along the mossy mountain walls. Notice the large shadow in the depression of the rocks and sound the alarm.

Her commander had done his best in placing the dragons, the sun set behind them, cloaking them in obscurity. It’d hide them from most curious eyes - Humans whose weaker gazes couldn’t handle the full sight of the sun. But there was a chance that even with eyes like theirs they would spot them from their watchtowers. And that would stop everything before it had even begun.

Neera waited, feeling the vibrations of the world beneath her. She listened.

Waited for an outcry.

A shift.

The sound of the alarm…

Something that would give them away…

She willed everything inside her to be as quiet as dragonly possible. And waited.

A moment.

Two.

Silence.

Neera relaxed, her heavy body sinking as she dropped her strained hold. Her golden blood still thundered under her scales but that would not betray her.

Not like it had the night the Humans came.

But she didn’t want to think of that now.

Instead she cast her gaze over the Valley. What had once been their beautiful forested breeding grounds, with trees that stretched to the sky and trunks as wide as small dragons, were now desolate grasslands, pocketed with small, crude villages the Humans had created. Dirt paths connected them, ugly scars over the fields that had been lovely flower beds, winding through the barren landscape, leading to their scraggly town on the far bluffs. Watchtowers dotted the roads and perimeter of the Valley, full of Humans waiting for a Dragon who dared to come too close. The watchtowers were the tallest structures now, looming over the land, mocking the memory of the trees the Humans had cut down to make them.

Atrocities in Neera’s opinion. Atrocities that would soon be laid to waste. It wasn’t far off now, she noted. The sun had sunk behind the momentous hills, casting the Valley in twilighted shadows. Excitement thrummed through her, it took everything to keep still. How her wings itched to take to the skies and fly to the villages. She could feel her fire in her cavern next to her stomach. It was flickering with sparks. Ready to be unleashed.

Patience was a knife in her side. The night could not come fast enough.

Energized for the future, Neera’s eyes wandered down the sheer rock wall of the mountain she was perched upon. Off to the left in an alcove not unlike her own she found what she was looking for, another dragon, also waiting with what little patience he had. Ommo, her best friend. He must’ve felt her gaze, he turned his bark brown head to look up at her.

Are you ready for this? Ommo’s deep voice rumbled in Neera’s mind.

What a silly question. She nodded to him and whispered back into his head, Of course I’m sure. Aren’t you?

There won’t be any going back, Ommo raised his head, No matter what, everything changes tonight.

That didn’t matter to Neera. She had nothing to lose. Nothing except her place in their society, but was a place even worth it if they lived in a diminished world like this? Ommo had more to lose, his younger sister awaited their return. If the other Dragons didn’t appreciate what they did here today he may have to leave with her in exile. After all they’ve lost it would be crushing. But what was one more loss? Neera’s family hadn’t survived the attack.

A flash of images erupted into her mind. Black scales, her brother. A spear. Golden blood winding its way through the crevices as he urged her to run. Neera shook herself. This was not the time to think of such things. Only of what was to come. And if the worst that could happen for Ommo was to leave his sister alive and well, then she thought it a reasonable price for actions that will begin their liberation. Ommo eventually had seen it that way. After the Fates whispered their visions into his head.

Neera had never taken the Fates seriously. They, after all, hadn’t saved them the night of the Amethyst Fire. But she had new appreciation now after they spent the last convergence whispering into the ears of anyone who’d listen. They spoke of signs and stars. Something about how the time was right to take back the land they had lost. Neera had liked what she heard. Saw it fan the flames of ire amongst her fellow Dragons, even the Council members. She had roared with the majority that night against the Ruler. The Ruler tried to quiet them. Asked for their patience. For more strength.

That was absurd. The hatchlings of the Amethyst Fire were grown now, they would have no more strength than this Neera had argued. The Ruler, the Dragon chosen to lead them, had glared at her, refused to listen. She had turned her birch-golden body away from Neera, sending a message to the convergence that her opinion was nothing. Neera seethed. The Ruler never had done enough; she was too scared to act. Too scared of what actions would mean. Neera was not.

Neera would do something. She was tired of tucking tails in fear. Tired of pretending that losing half their kingdom, their sacred grounds, was any kind of peace. Her fellow Dragons roared with anger that night, throwing their frustration like spears. Neera joined them, begging for blood, begging for revenge. Their roars knocked down bits of stone and dirt that loosened from the dark cavern walls. They would make the Humans pay.

She screamed her promise then and she kept it now. Didn’t even hesitate when her Commander whispered an illicit plan in her ear. To set in motion a war to take back what was theirs, to force the talons of the Ruler. If she did not give them permission they would take it. Damn the consequences. They would come back heroes or criminals, but that was no matter to Neera. Nor the chosen Dragons of their legion that now waited for the signal before they razed the Human homes to the ground.

Ommo was still looking at her. She knew he feared the consequences of their return. But not enough to stand aside. This is more important, she tried to reassure him with a distinct gaze.

His eyes betrayed his hesitation. What will war mean? He asked. Would it destroy us too? Ommo looked away.

We’ve already been destroyed, Neera thought.

Now it was time to be the crusaders. To be as unforgivable as the Humans have been. They would feel their wrath.

It was time.

Finally, darkness had fully descended upon the Valley and Mountains. The indigo sky stretched from the Great Sea over and beyond the ranges of the white-tipped peaks behind her. Pin-pricks of light sparkled in the deepness. Stars.

She once thought her sister had flown so high she’d touched the stars. Her brother had laughed at her. Later that night they had both become carcasses.

Neera shuddered away the memory and turned her gaze to the Valley. The watchtowers glinted with warm lamplight. This was what they had to avoid, until just the right moment. Adrenaline sparked in her veins. How long had Neera waited for this day, this moment. Finally, finally it was here.

She looked to the sky and waited. There, the signal. The stars became blotted out and reappeared as a shadow moved across them. The Commander.

Neera stretched her emerald dark wings, felt her strength in them. So much larger than she had been the day the Humans took everything away. They would understand just what a mistake it was letting her live that night.

She slammed her wings down, the push rocketing her into the air. She dropped a moment before flapping them again, letting their movement raise her up and up. Neera felt the cold wind around her, skating over her scales, whispering at the webbing of her wings. It felt so good. So filled with purpose. She climbed into the sky, following the pattern the Commander had given them, falling into place beside Ommo. They, and a handful of others, would be flying to the cliffside town. And reign fire from the heavens.

They swooped through the sky, moving as fast as they could. The faster the speed meant the more likely the Humans would ignore them as just a passing swallow or shadow in the eye. Neera could barely breathe. Sparks of excitement and threads of worry pumped inside of her, twisting inside her stomach with glee and anxiety. They passed over a watchtower, Neera’s stomach clenched. The tower was outfitted with weapons, weapons she’d seen spill the entrails of her family members. Slice through Dragon scales like a claw in water. The Humans had aim too. They trained, hunted her kind to practice it. Those that stood on the towers had some of the best talent. They were quick, before she could turn they could throw one of those deadly spears and stop her heart.

Relief trickled through her as they passed over without being spotted.

One down, a few more to go.

The night was deadly quiet as they continued on. They banked to the left, giving a wide berth to another watchtower.

Waited.

Safe.

Soon they’d be known. But not until just the right moment.

Neera looked at Ommo and could see the concentration in his face. Everytime they passed a watchtower he would close his eyes as if waiting for the alarm, for the spears to start flying.

So far, so good.

They precariously passed another one, this time low, so low Neera could feel the tall grass tickling her stomach. She held her breath. This passing depended on luck, hoping the Humans wouldn’t be looking down. Hoping that with the present truce they wouldn’t be expecting an attack such as this. As quietly as they could, they beat their wings and glided over the grasslands, staying just above the ground for the next bit of distance before rising up some.

Neera waited. She saw Ommo look behind him. He turned back without alarm. They must have gotten through. Excellent, she grinned over at Ommo. He grinned back.

The adrenaline coursed through Neera. With each wingbeat they drew closer and closer to their targets.

They were approaching the bluffs now. The Town glowing with candlelight in various windows and pyres. Only one more watchtower between them and there. The group hurtled towards it, a tall wooden splinter rising from the ground. Ugly as all Human things were. Neera chuckled as they came within a few wingbeats. This watchtower was different. Because this one…

A gong rang out. Far behind them a solemn call like a child wanting their mother after a nightmare. Distant but more and more frenzied with each moment.

Neera glanced back and saw the beautiful glow of red flames brightly devouring wooden houses and buildings, a plume of dark smoke wafting to the stars, illuminated with a yellow glow.

It had begun.

The alarm sounding from that watchtower was traveling through the others. Spreading one after another, a chain of warnings. It wouldn’t reach this tower though. Neera prepared herself, felt the fire grow in her cavern, as natural as breathing. She could see the Humans running towards their weapons and gong. But they didn’t have the time.

A few mere moments passed and the Dragons were upon them. Their squadron leader began spewing her fire; Neera, Ommo and the others followed suit. They set the structure a blaze - their hot flames incinerating the wood, traveling as they spiraled around the tower, ensuring that every stake was touched. The tower groaned, the wood cracking underneath their hot flames. Neera watched with joy as it crumbled to the ground, sending up a plume of dirt and dust. Neera and the others broke through the glowing smoke, their bodies outlined in the brightness of destruction behind them. They flew higher into the sky and separated into different paths for they each had specific places to burn.

Neera and Ommo banked right. They would sweep the city from the far side.

Drifting with the wind, Neera caught a current from the sea. It smelled of salt and brine. She breathed deeply. It had been much too long since she’d smelled the sea. They neared the end of the cliff line and turned. Such symmetry between them, Neera offhandedly wondered if her sister, an extraordinary flier, had ever flown like this. She would never get the chance to ask her. The Humans had gutted her and left her to burn in their unnatural amethyst flames. Neera took the memory, the image of her sister’s broken, bleeding body, gutted and being consumed with violet flames, and let it fuel the rage inside of her. These things had so much to pay for.

She landed in the far end of the town, smashing several carts and boxes. She whipped her tail back and forth, shattering walls and causing screams.

Good, she thought. Fear me. Die before me.

Neera raised her head back and bellowed. Her roar erupting with fire from her core. She let it rain upon the town, falling like comets upon them. Neera moved. She did not trust these Humans to not come at her with their poisonous tricks. She quickly set this district aflame and moved on, thundering along the roads, barely wide enough for her large body, making sure to crack every foundation she could. Periodically, once her fire rekindled, she’d set the wooden structures ablaze and watch how the Humans would scurry in their soon to be graves. This is what they felt like all those years ago, she marveled. So powerful.

Neera worked her way through the parts of town that she was assigned to. Screams came from behind her, Humans calling for one another, calling for weapons, calling for their lives. Blood-curdling fear. Neera remembered it all too well. It was high-time they learned it. She would teach them how to have nightmares.

There were more coming for her now. Those that had gathered their wits about them. It was time to be going then, before they got too close. Neera slashed with her tail a clearing about her, wood and dirt and stone crashing to the ground, smothering out screams as the perpetrators were buried under the rubble. She gathered some fire and released it in a similar arc, one last sweep as her job was done.

She watched the Humans, the ones she could see, scramble for cover or take the damage to the skin. Watched it molt and melt them. Kill them. She spread her wings and with a few powerful strokes had lifted slightly into the sky. She saw something that caught her eye. In the rubble, fires burning all around her. A Human. Tucked away against a wall that hadn’t fallen. The Human had two smaller ones next to her, they cowered into her figure, all three with matching scrapes and burns blooding their darker skin. But this Human didn’t cower. This Human stared right at Neera with eyes of ice blue.

With hatred.

So much hatred.

If Neera cared she’d be impressed. She might even have used her talon to take her life. But that was more effort than necessary. The fire would take her. So she left the Human with the ice eyes and began flying towards where she would meet with the other Dragons. She needed height and turned to the sea, circling back at a higher altitude. Neera took in the Town. Such damages, nearly every structure smashed or in flames. They had done so well. Now the Humans could feel their pain. Neera looked some more. Ommo should be nearby, he was tasked with the winding structures that clung to the cliffs that allowed the Humans to build docks on the beach. She could see from her height that he had succeeded and those wooden planks were falling rapidly onto the sandy shores. He must have headed back already. He was unlike her in wanting to see their handiwork.

Neera circled once more around the Town and began making her way to the far mountains. Once, she had taken refuge there after a night lit by unholy flames. Tonight she redeemed this memory in triumph instead of tragedy. She hoped her family would be proud.

A figure was ahead of her she suddenly realized. Large - a Dragon. How odd, she thought. The Dragon was coming towards her. Growing closer and closer. She extended her neck, watching the figure become larger and larger until she recognized that square shaped head. Ommo! What was he doing, she wondered.

She called out to him, but the words died on her tongue. Something was wrong. His wings were flapping viciously, he was fleeing. What had happened?

Neera looked past him and realized their mistake.

They haven’t flown this land for so long, they didn’t know that the Humans had expanded their Town. Expanded it with a second watchtower. One that wasn’t lit with the telltale flame. Her stomach dropped. She looked to the ground near the tower. The other Dragons of their group were heaped onto the earth, a pile of scales and gleaming blood Neera could see up from here. Panic seized at her insides, she felt her fire go out. They had to get out of here. Had to get somewhere safe. The others…the others it was too late, but she could go, she and Ommo. They had to get away.

Her gaze sharpened onto her fallen kind. She could see the blood running down them like rivers. Her blood would not join them. Not after all this time. Go, they had to go.

Ommo was almost to her. Neera began turning around. She wasn’t sure where they would go, maybe out to the grasslands and then to the mountains, hoping to avoid any straggler Human. Halfway through her turn Neera saw it. A Human stepped to the edge of the tower and raised a crossbow. A wooden shaft, drenched with poison sat in it, Neera was sure. She watched horrified as the Human aimed it in their direction. She scratched at the sky, trying to propel herself farther away.

She called to Ommo.

He looked at her, helpless.

The Human fired the weapon.