PROLOGUELance drew his sword from the sheath and handed it over to the blacksmith, along with the Desert Eagle he had holstered earlier. The man took it and examined them.
‘You’re asking me to combine them?’ he asked.
‘Along with sharpen it, and add that other extension. I’ll have the money here by tomorrow.’ Lance smiled slightly.
The blacksmith cleared his throat and placed the weapons on the table, near the anvil. ‘Could I borrow the stone for a couple of days, then?’
‘Can’t let you do that. You can take measurements for it, but this stone never leaves my sight.’ Lance pulled a rock out of his pocket. It was beautiful, mesmerising, and it fit into his clenched fist perfectly, comfortably. It was perfectly round, a compressed sphere.
‘I understand.’ The blacksmith pulled out a ruler and took accurate measurements, then returned it to Lance. ‘I should have it done by tomorrow.’
‘I also heard you can colour swords. You know, make it red instead of silver – for example.’ The blacksmith nodded, and Lance continued, ‘Could you make it gold and black? The blade black, the chain guard gold, and the grip both colours?’
The blacksmith smiled broadly. ‘Of course, Lance. It should take no time.’
Lance smiled again, and left.
Two minutes later, he arrived at the town stables. Passing the rows of horses and workers, he made his way to the rear of the building. Leaving through a back door, he emerged into a large field the size of a football field. A massive creature was flying directly above him, but low to the ground, barely clearing the short stables.
After a while, it slowed down and landed on the ground with its majestic rear legs. Its front legs landed near Lance, and the creature looked down at him. It roared, then pulled back the front legs and rested, laying its head near Lance.
‘Hello, Seth,’ Lance greeted.
Good morning, Lance, the creature thought back.
Even after months, Lance was still slightly surprised when Seth sent him thoughts through telepathy.‘What have you been doing?’
Flying, eating, and burning the grass here. Pity I have to waste such beautiful, lush grass.‘I agree. Maybe you shouldn’t burn the grass. It’ll take a while to grow back, if it ever does.’
I’ll do what I please.Lance laughed, resting a hand on the tough scales on the creature’s neck. ‘Stubborn dragon.’ The large, emerald eyes stared up at him. Seth spread out his wings instead of folding them up, moving them around every now and then.
Lance sat down next to the dragon’s head, stretching his arm over Seth’s neck. The bright sun reflected against the beautiful red scales, creating hundreds of shades of red. As Lance watched Seth’s eyes, he noticed they flashed yellow, before the dragon nudged him with his head.
‘Is my armour ready yet?’ the dragon voiced out loud. The voice was deep and strong, confident and firm, but it still had a sense of friendliness in it.
‘No, Smith said they’d be ready in two days.’
‘He said that last week.’ The dragon moaned and put its head on the ground again, silent.
‘I’ve asked him to colour the sword black and gold, though. Like the armour. And I’ve asked him to attach the gun to it. It’s gonna be so awesome. We should call it Desert Eagle Blade or something.’
Desert Blade.‘I agree! He’ll also add a compartment to the hilt for the stone, so I won’t have it in my pocket all the time.’
Doesn’t help me in any way.‘Let’s me call you quicker – probably.’
The dragon laughed, letting out bursts of fire. Lance looked up into the bright sky, cloudless and blue. He eventually became drowsy, closing his eyes and falling asleep.
Seth silently raised on wing over Lance, shading him from the heat.
Lance woke early the next day, and noticed that Seth was already up. Lance stood up and dusted himself off, letting the dragon stretch.
Breakfast? Seth asked.
‘Uh... yeah, you can go hunt for some.’
HUNTING? The dragon roared in his mind. Lance stepped back, wincing. After Seth realised Lance wasn’t going to give him food, he thought,
Fine. I’ll go get some disgusting mountain lion or something.‘Buying you food costs too much,’ Lance added firmly.
The dragon rolled its dark blue eyes, then flew off to the mountains a few miles away. Lance looked at his watch. It was just past sunrise. Almost time to start his shift.
He ran back home and had a bowl of cereal before leaving again, heading for Smith’s house. He knocked a couple of times, but there was no answer. He rang the bell, but still no one answered the door. Lance turned and left for the outskirts of the town. He picked up a spare sword.
‘Lance, you’re on time,’ a girl named Sidney commented. ‘That’s good, ‘cause I noticed we have the same shift.’ She attached a sheath to her belt, and slipped her sword into it. She threw a sheath to Lance, and he caught it one handed.
‘Awesome,’ Lance smiled. ‘Mine ends at ten, does yours?’ Sidney nodded in response, before leaving for the tower, leaving Lance behind. After Lance attached the sheath and slipped the spare sword into it, he ran after Sidney.
She giggled at him, and he punched her on the shoulder. They climbed the tower and looked over the flat grassy plain past the town wall. It was beautiful.
The next day, Lance woke with a start. His father towered above him, with a worried look on his face. He was in a hurry, which was unusual.
‘Lance, wake up!’ his father shook him constantly, and didn’t stop until Lance said something.
‘Ungh... I’m awake, dad.’
‘Get up, get dressed. Have you got any armour? Put it on. Grab your sword. Find Seth.’ His father searched through his cupboard and pulled out a set of clothes for Lance, before pulling out more clothes and stuffing them into a suitcase. A few muesli bars and a sandwich were also thrown in, and by that time Lance had finally rolled out of bed.
‘What time is it?’ he murmured.
‘Four in the morning.’
‘Then why am I waking up? And those are my clothes!’
His father stopped for a short time, looking into Lance’s eyes with as much friendliness and fatherly love as he could, but the feeling of worry and concealed panic never left. ‘We’re... under attack, Lance. We have no more than ten minutes before they raid the town. I heard Smith is making armour for Seth. Hopefully, it’s already finished, because you need to leave now.’
Lance got up, grabbed his clothes, still not taking in what he was told. He changed in the bathroom while his father finished packing for him.
When Lance got out, he finally noticed his father was already dressed in armour, and equipped with a sword. The only bag in the room was his, and his father seemed to be spending so much time packing that bag. The realisation hit him like a speeding car made of concrete.
Lance stormed to his father and pulled his sword out of his sheath, dropping it on the floor beside them. Lance pinned him against the wall by surprise, and shouted, ‘You’re not staying!’ at the top of his voice.
‘Lance, please. You need to leave, with Sidney. Seth will take you to San Clore, and you can stay there for a while. It’ll be safe there. This town has enough defences to protect us for a couple of days, at least.’
His father pushed him away and zipped up the suitcase. He picked it up and carried it outside. Lance picked up the stone and followed, spinning it around in his hand. He heard a dragon roar not very far away.
Within a few minutes, Lance, Sidney and Seth were at the back door of Smith’s house. The blacksmith was attaching the armour to the large dragon, while Lance sheathed his now-black sword.
‘Leave, and don’t look back,’ Smith ordered the three of them. ‘Go straight to San Clore, and you should find a lonely mansion north of the city, with a few acres of land. Meet him, and he should be able to work things out for you.’
Lance stepped forward and hugged the large man, then pulled himself onto the dragon. He helped Sidney up, and Seth grabbed the suitcases with his front legs. The dragon roared and soared into the black sky, leaving the town of Rantos behind.
Lance looked at the army approaching the gates, and his eyes widened.
He was leaving this town – the town he had built his life upon. It would never manage the raid.
His father was fighting for nothing.
CHAPTER ONE – SAN CLORELance looked down at the sea of black drawing near to his hometown’s gates. The town would be razed to the ground in less than an hour, and Lance couldn’t just watch them silently.
His right arm was holding himself onto the dragon, around his neck. His left hand was absentmindedly placed on the hilt of his sword, where the stone sat in its compartment. Sidney’s arms were wrapped around his waist, to keep her from falling off.
‘Seth, we have to go and help them!’
I can’t do that, Lance. I’m sorry.
‘Why not?’ the young man yelled.
Because, as large as I am, I’m far from strong. I have had little training in combat, and I know I’m not ready to face any army that large. They had archers and cannons with them.
‘That’s my town! That’s our town, Seth. My father, and Sidney’s parents, are standing their ground, almost surrendering to them.’
Sidney was utterly confused. ‘Lance,’ she said calmly, ‘what’s he saying? I can only hear one side of the conversation.’
‘He said he’s not strong enough for combat yet.’ He turned back to Seth, shouting, ‘I’ve done combat training. Let me go, if you can’t.’
The dragon ignored him, not changing his path. Lance kept yelling at him, and never quietened. Sidney noticed he was almost ready to jump off, so she tightened her grip on him. Lance looked back at her angrily, but then continued shouting.
Eventually, Lance’s throat grew sore, and he became tired. Sidney stopped him from sliding off, but she herself had trouble holding on. Every now and then, Seth would push her up with his wing, until they finally arrived at the mansion, north of the city of San Clore.
Lance woke, finding himself in an unfamiliar bed. The mattress was unusually comfortable, and the blanket felt soft. He pulled himself up, looking around, remembering what happened before he went to sleep.
Sidney was sitting on a bed on the other side of the room, her fingers locked together. She was looking down at the ground, not in a sad state, but rather just tired. She looked up and saw Lance was sitting up. It was clear she hadn’t gotten any sleep since they woke up at four this morning.
‘Where are we?’ Lance asked, his voice still sore.
‘Uh... we’re near San Clore. The nice man let us stay here for quite a long time.’
Lance fell back to the bed, slowly remembering everything. ‘Can’t we just go back and stop them? I can’t just lay here and do nothing about it.’
‘You’re not going to do nothing about it. We’re going to train Seth, and train ourselves. If we can, find other summoners. We’ll find out about San Clore, and if they’re threatened. Seth and I have talked about this – we’re going to fight back, when we’re strong enough.’
Lance stared blankly at Sidney. ‘I... maybe tomorrow. I’m gonna mope about us being only-child orphans now, until I run out of tears.’ He rolled away from Sidney, facing the wall.
‘I don’t think I’m an only child.’
‘Now you’re delusional. We’ve been friends since birth, and I’m pretty sure I never saw one of your brothers.’
‘Sister, actually.’ The girl stood up and walked to Lance’s bed. She sat down, and the boy rolled back to look at her. ‘I don’t know what happened to her. Mum said she left when I was around half a year old, and she’s never actually said, but she thinks my sister left because of me.’
‘How old was she?’
‘Ten years older than me. She’ll be around thirty-one now.’
Lance thought about it. ‘And you never told me?’ he asked calmly.
‘Well, I didn’t believe mum and dad, and thought they were making it up for whatever reason. Until I figured where all their worry and protection came from. They don’t know why she left, but it was around the time the League of Dragon Summoners were visiting the city.’
‘Hm...’ Lance noticed Sidney showed no emotion about it. Sidney watched Lance studying her expression.
‘I don’t care for her. I never knew her, and I barely consider her my sister. She could be dead for all I know, so I’m not going to care about her.’ She looked angry, but Lance knew her well enough to know she was just upset. She did care for her – not much, but enough to think about her once in a while.
‘Does she have a name?’
‘Mum told me what it was, but I can’t remember it now.’ Lance nodded.
Lance got up and sat next to Sidney, still saddened by the events at Rantos. Trying to change the subject, he asked, ‘Who carried me here?’
‘The butler.’
Lance noticed his sword wasn’t on him. Which was good, because he slept comfortably; but it was bad, because it held his summoning stone, and it was his favourite sword. ‘Where’s my sword?’ he asked.
‘I didn’t let him touch it, for obvious reasons, but you would’ve been uncomfortable sleeping with it on. So,’ she sat on the floor and looked under the bed, ‘I kept it here.’ She reached underneath, and pulled out the sword.
‘Oh. Thanks.’ He took it and attached it to his belt, which was fortunately still on. ‘I suppose, if you want to find her, then we need to find the LDS, right?’
‘I told you I don’t care for her, Lance.’
‘Alright, fine,’ Lance said, rising. ‘I’ll have breakfast, then start working with Seth. I don’t know how we can train him, though. I don’t want to send him to a training arena.’
Sidney smiled and stood up next to him. ‘I can understand why.’
Lance and Sidney walked through the crowded streets of San Clore, staring up at the shopping centres. They passed a large stadium, and decided to walk in. Surprisingly, there was no fee for entering, so they walked in and sat down.
The first thing Sidney noticed was that, instead of a grassy field, there was sand. It looked rough, and not too comfortable to fall on. The second thing she noticed was a large sign posted on the wall of the stadium:
WELCOME TO THE ARENA GAMESThat would explain the sand.
The last thing she noticed was two men in the centre. One was wearing black clothes, the other wearing red. She could tell, just by their body language, that they were summoners. Their swords also gave it away.
A voice rang out across the stadium, from an unknown source. ‘Let the games BEGIN!’ The hundreds of viewers in the audience screamed out, voting for one. Sidney could barely hear what they were saying, but she made out Damien and Asti. She couldn’t tell who was who.
Both summoners spun the stone in their hands, then placed it back in their pockets. One of them – the one dressed in red – looked up to the top of the stadium, waiting for something. The other instantly starting morphing.
Large black wings pushed out of his spine, as large as a dragon’s. He grew a black tail, almost like the Devil’s. He grew slightly, and his black clothes seemed to change in some way, but Sidney couldn’t tell how.
She leaned over to Lance. ‘Is that a Devil summoner?’ she asked, her eyes wide. Lance nodded slowly, also watching intently. Sidney overheard two people commenting on the Devil summoner, calling him Asti. That must’ve meant the other man was Damien.
Both summoners drew their swords, but Asti had the upper hand. With his wings, tail and size, he was faster and stronger, and all Damien could do was block as Asti sent blow after blow. They continued for a while, and Damien occasionally returned with an attack with his own, before he fell to the ground. Asti swung his sword down at him, but Damien blocked again.
A roar could be heard from above, but it didn’t sound like a dragon. The crowd went wild as a large armoured lion dropped from the roof of the stadium. It landed gracefully, but it still looked ferocious and threatening. The gold armour glinted in the sun, matching the lion’s mane. It was at least the size of a large car, as tall as an average man.
It jumped at Asti, and the winged man backed away from Damien. The lion lunged again and again, its paws outstretched, claws extended. Damien stood up and joined the lion, both pushing Asti further back.
Only then did Sidney notice a long red line at each side of the stadium, running across the width of the field. Asti was within ten metres of the line, constantly being pushed back.
Finally, the Devil summoner bolted upwards, out of range of Damien and the lion. He just hovered there, his wings beating slowly. Damien looked at his lion for a few seconds, and everyone knew what was happening. Their bond had grown so strong they could think to each other, both ways.
Suddenly, Damien jumped onto the lion’s back, then leaped at Asti and dragged him down. They landed just past the red line, and the crowd screamed out again. Sidney smiled, impressed.
‘You think you can do that with Seth?’
‘What, jump off his back? It’d be great, until I land.’
Sidney laughed, rolling her eyes. ‘No, with the bonding. Think to each other, two-way telepathy.’
‘I know it’s possible. You can create a physical bond between the summoner and animal, but it requires a lot of training. I’ve heard you can create an invisible rope, in a way, and the animal can actually move you around in midair. I’m not sure how it works, though.’
‘That’d be awesome. It’s times like these I wish I was a summoner.’
‘A lot of people always do. I’m not sure about this either, but sometimes, if someone kills a summoner, then the power is passed onto the murderer, or otherwise the power dies completely. I think it only happens at a certain time or something.’ Lance shrugged.
‘What if someone kills the animal?’
‘Nothing happens to the summoner, I believe. They’re left to mourn over the body of their best friend.’
‘Hm.’ She leaned back, watching Damien get ready for his next fight. Lance watched her for a while, studying her expression, before standing up.
‘Come on, time to go. We’ve got the whole city to explore.’
As they walked around, they found colossal shopping centres and theatres, filled with gadgets and toys. They found a weapon shop, filled with swords and guns. Lance already had everything he wanted, but Sidney browsed through.
‘I would much rather a ranged weapon than a sword or dagger,’ she said, ‘but I might as well get a dagger anyway.’ She picked up a black dagger with an ankle cover. ‘I’ve always wanted one of these.’
Lance smiled. She continued, looking around for ranged weapons. After checking out bows and crossbows, she decided to stick to guns. Assault rifles weren’t her type, either, so she grabbed two Glocks.
She took them to the counter and paid for it, while holding Lance back so he wouldn’t pay. After a little more exploring through the major city, they turned around and headed back home.
They passed a large poster that only Lance noticed, while Sidney was busy checking her dagger. The poster was mainly fire-red and dark, filled with at least six different-coloured dragons. The largest words stood out in pure white, with other words hanging below it:
LEAGUE OF DRAGON SUMMONERS
arriving in San Clore on ThursdayLance turned to Sidney, seeing whether she had noticed the poster or not. She was still focused on her dagger, so she obviously hadn’t. He knew how much she didn’t want to know about them, so he didn’t show it to her.
Although, in two days, it might be hard to hide it from her. They’d have to completely avoid the city.
‘What are we doing when we get home?’
‘Well, we spent a lot longer here than we thought, so we’ll go home and have something to eat before training with Seth.’
‘I haven’t met the owner of the mansion, so I wouldn’t mind meeting the him. It seems a little rude to use the guest beds without greeting him first.’
‘Seth and I talked to him for a while last night, and told him what happened back home. He knows Smith, and they’re close friends, so he had no problem letting us stay. I let him know you were really tired and already asleep, so he didn’t mind talking to you later.’
Lance nodded. ‘Didn’t you get any sleep on the way?’
‘Someone needed to make sure we didn’t fall off. Seth already had a problem carrying both our suitcases, anyway.’
Lance figured Sidney must have been holding him up the whole time. They both felt a wave of comfort, but neither showed it.
‘Do you know the owner’s name?’
‘Michael. You’ll like him.’
CHAPTER TWO - AFFECTIONATEWhen they arrived back at the mansion, Michael still hadn’t gotten home from “lunch" with a friend. Considering it was almost four in the afternoon, Lance and Sidney had no idea when he would get back now.
So, instead of waiting around, they grabbed their weapons and walked outside, meeting Seth in the large, open field. Michael had acres of land, so it was perfect for Seth to spread his wings.
Hello, Lance. The dragon slowed above them, landing with a thud. Sidney looked around the fields.
'Hello, Seth. We were thinking about training until Michael comes.' Lance watched Sidney glancing around. He ignored her for now. 'So what do you want to train?' he asked the dragon.
'What do you mean?'
'Fire-breathing, flying, getting used to the armour, bond-strengthening, Sidney wants to test her pistols, I want to practise with Desert Blade, and there's probably hundreds more to work on.'
'Alright. I've done enough flying and getting used to the armour for one day. I think I'll work on fire-breathing, Sidney and you can do what you want.’
Lance didn’t quite agree with Seth’s opinion, but remained silent.
He drew his blade and examined it again, still amazed by the beauty of it – including the stone nestled into the hilt. The handle was comfortable to hold, and easy to swing around. It shone in the sun, mesmerising.
'Hey Sidney, throw me a small rock or something.'
She looked around on the ground, and found a small, jagged rock about the size of her thumb. 'Like this?' she asked, holding it up. Lance nodded.
Sidney lobbed the rock, underarm, to Lance, who had his sword ready to swipe upwards. The rock flew the fifty feet, and Lance swung the sword up, over his head, and stopped in the path of the pebble. It bounced off the metal and fell to the dirt.
'What was that about?' Seth asked. Sidney picked up another rock rock and pelted it at the dragon.
'Just for fun,' she replied. 'Something you can't seem to enjoy.'
Seth sucked in a mouthful of air, then produced a jet of flames, burning the grass near him. 'I can have fun, if I want.'
'By burning the beautiful grass next to a mansion we don't own.' Lance readied himself for another rock. Sidney tossed it, and he swiped again. He narrowly missed, and the rock knocked him on the forehead.
'Ouch.' Lance rubbed his head, then sheathed his sword, the metal sliding soundlessly. 'What do you want to do, Sidney?'
'I've got both my daggers, and you've got your sword.' She reached down and pulled out the small knives, holding it up at her waist. Each blade was the size of her hand, from her wrist to the end of her index finger.
Lance rolled his eyes and unsheathed his sword. 'No dirty fighting. I wouldn't like to hurt my dear friend.'
Sidney produced a devilish grin, and took her stance. Lance did the same, and they both lunged forward, keeping their weapons steady.
Lance swung downwards, and Sidney blocked it off by crossing her daggers over. She returned with a swipe, but he jumped back. Swing after swing, Sidney blocked every attack. Lance dodged one of her attacks by sliding to the side. He took the opportunity to jab from the side, but she kicked the sword up in time.
Lance lost grip of the handle, and it spun into the air. It landed, blade-first, into the hard ground, standing almost upright. Sidney approached Lance, but he quickly spun to run back to his sword. He pulled on the hilt, but it stuck. He dodged a knife swiping over his head, then finally withdrew his sword from the hard dirt. His sword arced over his head, coming close to Sidney’s face.
He jumped up, ducked under another knife, then stood up and regained balance. His breathing came heavy and short, but he continued, slicing downwards. The sound of metal on metal filled the field again. Sidney dropped one dagger, but managed to hold onto the second, barely. Lance held his sword close to his neck, his left hand wrestling for her last blade. She didn’t give up, and ducked down, picking him up and throwing him over her shoulder. She collapsed under his weight, and they were both lying, breathless.
Lance, exhausted, grabbed his sword again, and rolled up, kneeling. He held the blade to her throat and smiled.
‘I win.’
He stood up and sheathed his sword, then held an arm out to Sidney, ready to help her up. She grabbed his wrist, and he dragged her up. The two were face to face for a split second, barely an inch away from each other. Sidney smiled, but Lance didn’t notice, and he spun to grab her dagger for her.
Sidney watched after him for a moment, then sighed and picked up the knife at her feet. Lance tossed her the other one, and she kept both in their ankle covers again.
‘Thanks.’
Seth had watched the whole fight, and was slightly impressed. He continued to watch Sidney afterwards, worried, in a way. He noticed how close they had both gotten when Lance picked her up, and how Sidney sighed afterwards.
‘Hey Sidney, climb up,’ he offered, and held out his wing to her. He looked at Lance.
Stay here, I want to talk to her, he thought to him. Lance raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and walked over to the wall of the house, leaning against it. Seth rose, his wings beating heavily and slowly. Sidney clutched on until they were safely in the air.
‘What’s this for?’ she asked, intrigued.
‘I wanted to talk to you about Lance.’
Sidney was even more curious now. ‘If you wanted to talk to Lance, you –’
Seth laughed, spurting out flames. The fire floated back towards them, and bounced off the shiny black armour. ‘No, Sidney, I wanted to talk to you about Lance.’ He decided to skip the introduction. ‘You like him, and I can tell.’
Sidney was surprised, but kept hold of the dragon. ‘Yeah, anyone can tell. It’s so obvious, but the guy can’t see it himself. I’m doing everything short of telling him.’
‘Especially when you held him on our way here yesterday. I thought that was a bit cute.' The word "cute" coming from a large dragon with a deep voice seemed strange. 'Sidney, if you like Lance, just let him know. What's the worst that could happen?'
'How do I bring it up, then?'
'Follow your instincts. You'll know when the time comes.' The dragon kept silent after that, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the calm breeze.
Sidney waited for Seth to continue, but he never said more, so her mind just wandered. Was it really the right time to talk about all this? Lance had just lost his family, and now they had to do so much if they wanted to stop any of that. Was a closer relationship worth the trouble?
Maybe it would help if they were closer, and trusted each other more. But maybe Lance needed time to think about things, and decide what to do.
'Alright, set me down. I'll talk to Lance or something.'
'That's the way.' He landed in front of the large house softly, folding his wings neatly. 'Good luck.' The dragon managed a slight smile.
'I never said I'll talk to him about this,' she laughed as she jumped off Seth. She jogged away as he nestles his head into his arms.
Sidney turned up at the back of the house finding Lance still leaning against the wall. She walked up next to him with a grin. Lance yawned and turned to her.
'What did Seth talk to you about?' he asked, curious. 'Didn't seem very long.'
'Nothing,' she replied quickly. 'Uh... anyway, let's pack up and go inside. Michael should've been here by now.'
They headed inside with their gear, and kept everything away before exploring the house a little. After a while, they heard the door open and shut loudly, before the heavy footfalls echoed downstairs. Lance and Sidney rushed downstairs, and found a large man dropping the keys on the table.
'Good evening, Sidney,' he greeted kindly. He turned to Lance and held his hand out. 'My name's Michael.'
Lance returned the handshake and gave his name. 'Thanks for letting us stay here, by the way.'
'It's not a problem. It's the least I could do for Smith's valued customers, anyway.' There was a short pause after they heard the name "Smith". 'Sidney told me about everything already. By the looks of it, it seems like you're getting ready for something, with carrying all those weapons around. I don't know what you're planning, but I might be able to help you, if you need it.'
'How so?' Lance asked politely.
'I know people - good people - who could help. What're you doing?'
Both Sidney and Lance hesitated, waiting for the other to explain. After a moment, Sidney spoke up.
'We want to get together a team or something that would work well together, and find out what the whole army is doing. I mean, maybe they just want to conquer land, but Rantos is such a small town, and there's no reason to use it.'
'There haven't been any attacks on San Clore in decades, but it is a major city. Maybe they're using your town to set up a base and launch a strike here. It's the perfect distance.'
'Then that means San Clore is in danger,' Sidney deduced. 'I saw their army - they don't have any summoners, as far as I could see, but they're strong.'
As the word "summoner" was brought up, Lance remembered the poster in San Clore. ‘What if we used the League of Dragon Summoners?’
Sidney turned to him, thinking. ‘They’d be busy, though.’ She was uncomfortable with them.
‘Not busy enough, to be visiting San Clore on Thursday. Sidney, I know, but we need them. They can do so much better than we can, and it might help them, too.’
Sidney dropped her head silently while Michael watched both of them.
‘Fine.’
The rest of the day passed quickly, with both Sidney and Lance thinking about how to get things sorted with the League. None of them were sure why they were going to San Clore, but if there was one big poster about it, then there would be many. And if there were many, then it wouldn’t just be for business.
Dinner was served, and everyone ate together. Seth was given a frozen, raw leg of lamb, which clearly wasn’t enough, so he flew off to find something somewhere else afterwards.
After dinner, Michael brought out a two-player board game, while he left and worked at something in his office. Lance and Sidney busied themselves with the game until they both eventually started nodding off to sleep. They packed up, then left for bed, wishing Michael good night on the way.
The next day was filled with training, save for the short time Lance jogged down to the shops and bought a cheap sword for Sidney to use. They watched Seth burn down tree after tree, and then started sword fighting.
After lunch, they had nothing to do, so Sidney started throwing stones at Lance again, while blocked them with his sword. Eventually, that too became boring, so they sat around while Seth hovered around.
You know about the summon-bonding thing, right? Seth asked Lance.
He nodded in reply. 'D'you want to do that?'
Sidney looked at him, confused. 'Do what?' she asked. Lance and Seth laughed, but Sidney sat blankly, still clueless. 'What?'
Lance's laugh died down. 'Seth asked me about doing the telepathic connection between the summoner and the summoned.'
'Then, until you can do two-way telepathy, stop confusing me so much!' Sidney requested with a smile. 'You have no idea how frustrating it is, listening to one side ofthe conversation.'
'Alright, alright. Sorry,' Lance apologised. 'But how do we train that, anyway? I mean, I've heard of what it can do, but I was never told how to get there.'
Sidney shrugged, 'I never knew until yesterday.'
Seth scratched at the ground, giving an impression that he didn't know, either.
The three of them were silent, thinking of other activities to pass the time. After about half an hour of practically absolutely nothing, Sidney decided to go into San Clore again. Lance followed, and Seth carried them to the outskirts. The streets were too narrow for a dragon to pass through peacefully, so Seth left to find some bears in the nearby mountains.
Once again, the two of them roamed the streets, passing by the arena again, but this time not going in. In fact, they only entered a couple of shops, and spent little time in each, leaving without purchasing anything. They both sat down at a park bench, and Lance turned to Sidney.
'What did you think of Jacob?' he asked out of the blue.
Sidney was surprised. 'What, as in Jay? Uh... I didn't know him very well. He was only in one of my classes, ever.'
Lance nodded, looking down again. Sidney looked at him, intrigued, then tried to forget about it. She checked the time. They were expected back at home in twenty minutes, but that was more than enough time to crawl back.
'What about Tyson?' Lance asked surprisingly.
Sidney rolled her eyes. 'What are you getting at?'
He shrugged. 'I don't know. Did you like either of them?'
'Not really. We never talked. And if you're asking if I have any feelings for them, then no. I barely ever knew them, anyway.'
'Yeah, alright. Did you like anyone?'
'No,' Sidney answered hurriedly. There was a long silence, and Sidney remembered the talk with Seth the day before. She wasn't sure if she should tell him, though; it could stop him from fighting back, which was what she was afraid of.
'Fine.' She wasn't sure why she was admitting it. Clearly, he didn't like her back, so it was useless anyway. 'I like you.'
CHAPTER THREE – MYSTERYLance checked the time again, then looked back at Sidney. ‘Hasn’t that already passed, Sidney? Why are you so worried about this?’
She shrugged. ‘I just don’t want to watch them today. You can go and handle that yourself, while I do whatever else. Probably talk to Seth for a while, maybe. I don’t want anything to do with them.’
Lance walked to Sidney, who was sitting on her bed. He kneeled over in front of her, almost like an adult talking to a child. ‘Alright, I’m letting you choose now. Do you want me to go and talk to someone there, or would you rather I don’t try and ask for help from them?’
Sidney looked away. ‘No, it’s fine. We need them.’ She remained silent for a few seconds, and Lance waited, checking on her before getting up and walking away.
‘Just... come back.’
Lance turned back and smiled. ‘I’d never leave you, Sidney.’ He walked out, his smile fading. He had no idea why Sidney’s sister would leave, by her will, with the League – or why they would let her.
He rushed outside, meeting Seth, ready to go. ‘Is Michael here?’ he asked, glancing around.
Almost as if he read Lance’s mind, Michael walked around the corner of the building, dressed neatly in a black buttoned shirt and dark blue jeans. He met up with Lance, and they both mounted the dragon. Lance patted Seth on the neck, and he jumped into the sky.
Lance looked forward, and above the city of San Clore, he found around twenty black dots circling in the air. He assumed they were the League as Seth soared towards them, his wings beating strongly.
Michael tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Let me handle getting you in, and as soon as you get to talk to someone, I’ll let you take over. Agreed?’
‘Agreed.’
Seth reached the city in under a minute, and landed in the outskirts, helping both of them jump off. The dragon receded back a few metres and sprawled out across the ground, resting.
Michael jogged to the centre of the city and looked up. The League was slowly dropping, descending into a nearby park. None of the dragons landed, but instead remained hovering a metre from the ground.
One of the men jumped off his dragon, but before he landed, he suddenly stopped in mid-air, and then slowly dropped to the ground. His grey dragon roared loudly, then spiralled up again, above the buildings. Other summoners – men and women – followed similarly, and their dragons soared upwards, floating high above them.
The twenty or so people in the League were an unusual group. Some were dressed in sports shirts, some in buttoned shirts, and a few had full-body cloaks. Their dragons were all different colours, ranging from white to green to black, with slightly different features.
Michael suggested Lance stay back, before he started pushing through the crowd. If he had been any more polite, he wouldn’t have gotten past anyone. Lance saw him at the front of the audience a couple of minutes later as he ducked under the ropes and slid across the side of a building. At that point, Lance lost sight of him because the mass of people were in the way.
He turned back and sat on a bench. The cheering and yelling were so loud, he felt like covering his ears with a pillow – not that he had any nearby.
After about ten minutes of the endless noise, the crowd started moving off, following the League and their dragons somewhere else. Lance figured they were going to the arena that he had visited a couple of days earlier.
As soon as everyone was gone, Lance noticed Michael round the corner of a building, now accompanied by a hooded figure with something on his shoulder. He stood to greet them.
‘Lance, this is Daniel Trent,’ Michael introduced, ‘a member of the League and an old friend of mine.’
Daniel was tall, and he was dressed completely in black – black shoes, black jeans, black gloves, and a black, full-body, hooded coat. Lance had no idea what colour his hair was, or even much of what his face looked like, because of the hood that covered everything above his lips.
‘Hello.’ Daniel’s greeting was short and almost hostile. His voice was low, deep and coarse. Based simply on his appearance, Lance’s first impression of him wasn’t exactly the best.
His eyes averted to the animal perched on his shoulder. Judging by the red and gold feathers, the down-turned tip on the beak, and the crown on its head, Lance figured it wasn’t just an ordinary bird, but a phoenix. He knew phoenixes grew to be quite beautiful, but this one was amazing. The feathers look as soft and smooth as velvet; the eyes were a piercing, yet somehow calm, shade of gold; the body shape was designed for both attractiveness and speed at the same time.
‘Phoegon,’ Daniel explained briefly. He turned his head to the bird, then raised his left hand. The phoenix unfolded its wings, showing off a shiny, smooth layer of feathers. Pushing off gently with its legs, it glided upwards with ease and circled once, calmly moving its wings. It dropped and landed on Daniel’s hand in silence.
‘Phoegon?’ Lance repeated in a curious tone.
Daniel clicked his tongue twice, and the phoenix jumped into the air again. This time, it flew higher than before, and hovered there. After a while, the bird squawked, and suddenly started growing, fast. Lance took a cautious step back, keeping one eye on Daniel and the other on the growing bird.
‘Phoenix,’ Daniel started, looking upwards. The bird was turning darker, the feathers darkening to black. The beak became squarer, and a long tail formed, with large spikes on the end.
‘Dragon,’ Daniel continued. As the body grew, the wings grew even faster. Individual feathers were shrinking, and then completely disappeared, leaving glistening black scales. The bird was now even larger than Seth. It looked darker, almost evil, and definitely more ferocious. It roared in the air loudly, then dived towards the ground, its wings folded close to its body.
As it neared the ground, the wings spread out, and the dragon slowed down, landing on the ground, still loudly.
‘Phoegon.’ Daniel finished.
Lance stood in awe and amazement, wide-eyed. The dragon moved towards Lance, its claws digging into the grass.
‘So Daniel’s not really a dragon summoner, technically,’ Michael explained. ‘He’s actually a phoegon summoner. Phoegons are much rarer than dragons, but they’re faster and stronger.’
‘I figured,’ Lance commented.
The phoegon rose its neck. Its voice had character in itself, ‘Why do you call for our assistance, Lance?’ It was a deep male voice, but not in the same way Daniel’s voice was. It was almost like a voice that would come from royalty.
‘Well, Michael, my friend and I are worried that an army is trying to advance towards San Clore, and take over the city. They’ve taken Rantos – that’s where Sidney and I lived – and they’re building a base there now.’
‘How long ago?’
‘Three days ago.’
The dragon suddenly turned his head to Daniel. His snout was a few inches from Daniel’s face, but they never said anything. Occasionally, the dragon looked over at Lance for a few seconds, but then looked back.
After the telepathic conversation, Daniel turned to Lance. ‘Are you and Sidney summoners?’
‘Sidney’s not, but I’m a dragon summoner.’ The silent talking started again, but didn’t last as long.
Daniel said, ‘We’ll help you with what you need, but don’t expect us to be there all the time.’
Lance nodded, not really understanding what he meant by the last part, but decided not to ask about it.
‘Take out your sword,’ Daniel instructed. Michael took a few steps away from them, to give them space. Lance withdrew Desert Blade and held it limply by his side.
Daniel pulled out his sword, but not from a sheath on his belt, but instead from a scabbard on his back. The long blade was black, but the handle was red and orange.
‘Attack me,’ Daniel directed. Lance followed, raising his own black sword and swung at him. Daniel’s blade stopped it, and Lance stepped back.
‘Again.’
Lance lunged at him, but Daniel just stepped out of the way and sliced downwards at Desert Blade. Lance lost grip, and the sword fell to the ground.
‘Pick it up.’ Daniel sheathed his sword again, and turned to his dragon.
‘You have a gunblade,’ the dragon noted. ‘Do you know how to wield it?’
Lance shrugged. ‘I’ve used the sword a few times, but not with the gun.’ The dragon nodded in reply.
There was another silence as Daniel talked to the dragon again, then Daniel said, ‘You have a lot to learn. Summon your dragon.’
Lance nodded, and called to Seth using the stone. The red dragon roared in the distance, and everyone watched him glide to the small group.
As Seth neared, he noticed the black dragon, larger than he himself was. Seth bared his teeth, landing. He growled, raising his neck and outstretching his wings to make himself look bigger.
‘Seth, stop it!’ Lance ordered. His dragon kept growling, now advancing on the black dragon. The phoegon remained silent and still. Lance ran ahead of Seth, standing between them. Seth looked down, quietening.
‘What was that for?’ Lance asked angrily.
Michael stepped forward. ‘He’s just marking his territory, Lance. Dragons do that, if they’re not trained in that area.’
Daniel jumped up towards his dragon, and Lance could have sworn that he hovered in the air for a second, before he landed on his dragon.
‘Your dragon has a lot to learn, too.’ The phoegon rose, his large wings beating calmly. They stayed in the air for a while, waiting for Lance, then they all headed off to the mansion.
Sidney stared down at the ground, as she had been for the past ten minutes. Sometimes, she did miss the sister she had never known. She wanted someone she could look up to and trust, and talk about anything and everything; to talk about guys and ride horses through the fields and race each other and just talk and laugh together.
She always thought about what it would be like if her mother had never told her about her sister. Her mother hadn't even told Sidney what her name was, but Sidney knew she'd feel a lot better if she had never known in the first place. She wouldn't have felt as if she was missing a massive part of her.
But she never told Lance - or anyone - about how she felt about it. The main reason was that she didn’t want anyone else to worry about it, or ever remind her of it, either. But having someone from the League near her all the time would mean she would never forget.
She had tried, once, checking the League’s member list, but the last name “Foster” couldn’t be found. The last hope she had, had then vanished, and she was left just accepting the fact.
But she still missed the sister she never knew – or, really, was sure she ever even
had.
CHAPTER FOUR – AUTOMECHDaniel jumped off his dragon, falling far enough to break a leg, but he landed gently, effortlessly. The phoegon morphed back into a phoenix, and set down on Daniel’s shoulder again.
Seth landed, growling under his breath, and Lance calmed him quietly. ‘I know you don’t like them, but they’re not bad. They’ll help us with the training.’ Michael jumped off Seth and headed inside.
Look at what the man is dressed in! He barely even has a face, let alone the rest of his body.‘That’s Daniel. Anyway, we barely know him, so...’ Lance stopped himself. He didn’t like Daniel at all already, but he needed a teacher. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
Daniel turned to Lance, with his black clothes making him seem like a nearby silhouette against the mansion. ‘Did the army have any summoners?’
‘Uh... not as far as I could see.’
‘Did you see the flag?’ Daniel asked, his voice fast.
Lance searched his memory. ‘I don’t know. They were dressed in red and black, but I never saw a flag. Sidney might know. Here, follow me.’ Lance led Daniel and the phoenix inside, looking around for her. Eventually he found her in her bedroom, rearranging and organising her clothes.
Daniel stepped forward, and Sidney looked up. She smiled up at the cloaked man, greeting him. Daniel quickly said “Hello”, as he said to Lance earlier, but this time he continued.
‘Did you see the army’s flag?’
‘What, at Rantos? Yeah, it had this red sun in the bottom centre, and dark blue and black rays of light coming from it. Why?’
Daniel ignored her question. ‘Did you see any summoners?’
‘Unless they were small, then I didn’t see any animals or unusual guys or anything.’
‘Damn.’ Daniel spun around, his cloak trailing behind him, and he left the room at a fast walk. Lance followed, confused. ‘I have to go,’ Daniel explained. As soon as they got out, the phoenix morphed back into a dragon, and Daniel jumped on. ‘I’ll be back.’
The dragon waited a while, his head turned to Daniel, then shot into the air, his wings beating heavy and fast. They headed into San Clore, then Lance lost sight of them. He walked back inside, still confused.
Michael was in the kitchen, making lunch with the butler. As Lance passed through to go to his room, Michael said, ‘He’s not half-bad, Lance.’
‘Uh... okay,’ Lance replied, caught by surprise.
‘There’s a lot to know about him, and I understand that you don’t like him, and you’ll probably hate me getting someone like him, but he’s better than you think.’
‘I don’t think he’s that bad.’
‘Alright. Trust me, you’ll figure out eventually why he acts the way he acts, and wears what he wears.’
‘Why don’t you tell me now?’
‘I think it’d be better if you learnt for yourself.’
Lance thought of something to say, but he couldn’t think of something, so he just continued up to his bedroom.
Daniel jumped off the phoegon again, and the Phoenix rested on his shoulder once more. He ran behind a building, around to a narrow alley. Two League members were waiting at the end, and they recognised him, letting him through. He found the rest of the League, getting ready for a concert.
Pushing through them, he found Simon at the back, feeding his dragon. 'Can I talk to you for a moment?' Daniel requested.
'Sure.' Simon led him through a door, and Daniel followed.
As soon as the door closed, Daniel pulled off his hood. 'I met a couple of kids from Rantos yesterday - Lance and Sidney. They said Rantos had been attacked, and by the sounds of it, it's the Automechs.'
'Rantos is only a hundred miles away. You sure it's them?'
'Either way, they said there was a massive army.'
'Damn. We have to do the concert, but it'll be dangerous if the Automechs interior it. Should we go through with it?'
Daniel looked back at the door. 'I hate those Automechs, Simon. If I had the chance, I'd kill them all myself. But we'll go through with it.'
Simon nodded. ‘Where will you be? I know Michael wanted you, so it’s fine if you go.’
‘I’ll stay at the concert. Ignaria will stay with me,’ he gestured to the phoenix on his shoulder, ‘but I’d prefer if he was a dragon the whole time.’
‘You’re quite popular, you know. Some people come only because they want to see Ignaria transform. But, I understand, and it’s entirely up to you.’
I have no problem with morphing, Ignaria thought.
Daniel turned to his phoenix.
Okay then. But be ready. ‘He wants do the transformation.
Daniel nodded. After pulling his hood over his head, he opened the door and walked out, looking around at everyone. They all seemed ready for the half-hour session of non-stop flying and mid-air tricks.
Captain Tyrone Ward walked along the row of helicopters, their rotors slowly spinning, speeding up. His gold hair waved in the wind, and the sound was deafening, but he still watched the choppers fill up with pilots and soldiers.
The Automech insignia on each chopper shone in the bright sun. The logo consisted of a missile crossing over a rifle, set on a black, blue and red background. Captain Ward thought it would be better if it had a dead dragon on it.
Four temporary airstrips stretched out behind the row of sixteen helicopters. Two fighter jets lined up on each of the airstrips, thrusters heating up. After a few seconds, four of them blasted forward, rocketing down the long stretch, and all lifted off simultaneously. The next four planes followed close behind, also taking off at the same time.
As soon as the jets had passed over, each helicopter rose into the air, the missiles on either side gleaming, red-tipped. The choppers followed the jet thrusters’ trails, significantly slower than the super-sonic planes.
Captain Ward turned, watching them leave, then left the airfield. He looked along the row of houses, finding one of the smallest ones. He unlocked the front door, and stepped inside.
About ten people sat either on the three chairs provided, or on the dirty floor. A couple of small square tables were pushed up against the wall, and a couple of steel glasses sat on each. The ten people were a few of the remaining people from Rantos. A few had driven off when they saw the army approaching, but many, many more had been shot for not complying with the Automechs.
‘Your time’s running out,’ Ward warned, although not completely sure the statement was true. ‘I urge you to tell us who the summoner is, or we’ll torture you, one by one.’
One of the grown men sitting on the chair looked up from his glass of water. Ward recognised him as the blacksmith. ‘We’ve told you, you killed him already.’
‘We would have known. Please, the lies need not continue. If you told us honestly, we promise to let you go. All we need is one person, and the other nine can leave safely. I would personally accompany you, so no one lay a finger on you.’
They sat silently. The blacksmith had also returned to his glass, like the rest of them.
‘Fine. In a few days, Lord—’
The door opened suddenly, and a breathless man ran inside, his hand still on the doorknob. ‘I expected someone to be here,’ he said under his breath, then continued loudly, ‘A soldier said he remembers seeing a dragon fly off on the morning of the battle. It was,’ he took a breath, wheezing slightly, ‘it was headed for San Clore.’
‘Then that just makes it easier for us.’
Daniel took another step, waiting for his cue to make an appearance. Simon held his hand up, silently instructing him to wait. After a while, he started counting down. As soon as the last finger went down, Daniel stepped forward, walking onto the stage opposite another phoegon summoner, Jeremy.
Make us proud, Ignaria, Daniel thought to his phoenix. Ignaria jumped off his shoulder, crossing paths with the other phoenix. Both of them started spiralling upwards, their trailing feathers intertwining, spinning around each other.
After reaching the ceiling of the stage, the phoenixes stopped spinning, and made a beeline for the front of the stage, in front each of their summoners. Daniel and Jeremy tapped once on the stage with their foot, and then bolted for the front of the stage as well. As they reached the edge, they both took a huge leap, in the direction of the crowd.
Just as they both reached their peak height, the phoenixes morphed in front of them at the same time, and both Daniel and Jeremy landed perfectly on the dragons.
The crowd cheered, and Jeremy laughed. The dragons flew inches above the crowd, and they cheered louder. As Daniel and Jeremy moved off, another four League members stepped onto the stage.
Daniel got into formation next to a white dragon, with a girl floating above her dragon. The dragon was using a telepathy string, keeping her in midair. Daniel could do the same, and quite well, but would rather not.
Daniel looked forward, at the rest of the formation. They were all set up, except for the other four summoners still on the stage.
‘Echo 2-1, do you copy? Over.’ the jet fighter pilot heard on the radio. It was from the base.
‘R-base, I hear you loud and clear. Over.’
‘Echo 2-1, subject L-Summon Dragon 63 is thought to have been heading towards San Clore on the night of the battle. Bring him back, alive, at all cost. I repeat, bring him alive. Over.’
‘What about the League? Over.’
‘If you can bring them back alive, then you do. Otherwise, fire at will.’
‘Roger that. Echo 2-1, over and out.’ The pilot switched channels to the rest of the jets. ‘Echo team, just received new intel. Subject L-Summon Dragon 63 has been reported heading towards San Clore three days ago. Our orders are to bring him back alive.’
He heard a chorus of “understood”. He smiled, zeroing in on the city, missiles ready.
Considering posts have a limit number of characters (60,000), I'm moving this over to another thread. Desert Blade Pt2
