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by azrieljohnson

A Warrior's Destiny

Chapter 19

I woke up from a nap to the darkness surrounding the Fort.  I should have went back to sleep, but once I wake up I usually do not try to sleep again.

Earlier in the day Rebecca, Chen, Walt and I had gone to the Quartermaster building as General Braggs had instructed.  Rebecca and I put our tents next to one another.  Walt and Chen were about twenty feet away on either side.  Obviously, we were still inside the walls of Fort Angel, but the rest of the Hell Bringer's tents were a little farther away.  We weren't sure enough of ourselves to trust the other soldiers yet.

I sat up and yawned.  Then I grabbed my Dragon's bane sword and started sharpening it.  My patch lay on the ground next to the scabbard of my katana.  My black and red bandana, sign that I was to be in the coming battle, was wrapped around my forehead.  My tent was closed and I felt safe. 

I thought furiously and breathed deeply as I sharpened. 

Scrape. 

Could I handle this celebrity? 

Scrape. 

Was I good enough? 

Scrape. 

It was my first big battle against the Dragons. 

Scrape. 

Was I fast enough? 

Scrape. 

Was I strong enough? 

Scrape. 

Would I be able to live up to the reputation that preceded me?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.  My katana had cut straight through the Green Dragon's neck without stopping.  I was trained by the great Plato Kingsley.  I couldn't be worried by this.  I had to be strong.  I had to be mentally ready for this battle.

I heard movement outside of the tent. 

I looked up and called out, "Who is it?  Who's there?" 

Then something scratched, I said again, "Who is it?" 

There was still no answer, so I sheathed my katana and went to the front of the tent to see.  I opened the zipper from the bottom and Rebecca was there, smiling at me.

"Hello my darling," I said smiling back and she kissed me softly.

"Want to come with me for a walk my dear heart?" she asked.

"What about 'The Butcher,' Rebecca?" I said, remembering General Braggs' admonition. 

"We'll take weapons with us.  So we won't be in violation of any rules.  What do you say, my dear heart?" Rebecca shot me a flirtatious grin that I could not resist.

I smiled at her and shook my head, "Sure thing my darling." 

I grabbed my katana and walked out of the tent hand in hand with the woman I loved.

Rebecca and I walked into the forest.  She walked in front of me.  The sun was gone now, but the moon was not out.  The only light we had was any that was from the Fort.  We carried no torches or flashlights with us.  There was weird energy around.  However, I noticed I could see fairly well, even without the light.  That must be a Vrack trait.

We were just out of sight of the Fort and Rebecca stopped.  I stopped, as well, surprised. 

"What's wrong Rebecca?"  I asked.

She said nothing.  The wind blew her reddish brown hair as she turned back toward me and grabbed my face in her hands, pulling me down to her.  She pressed her lips to mine hard and passionately.  She pushed me up against a huge tree.  I dove into her kisses, just as passionately as she kissed me.

Her hands touched my chest all over, caressing me over my shirt, then under my shirt.  Her nails traced lines on my skin.  My skin perked up with goose bumps.  I uttered a moan of pleasure at her touch.

Her mouth kissed my neck all over, shivers raced up and down my spine as her lips and tongues caressed me.  I'd never felt this pleasure before. 

"Oh god I love you," my voice moaned.

She kissed me and I closed my eyes. 

"No, I want you to watch me," her velvety voice said.

My eyes opened again and she smiled at me.  She opened her mouth to say something else, but smiled again instead and began to unbutton her shirt.

Slow, agonizingly slow, she undid her shirt.  She would undo a button and make a little gesture to me and undo another and make a different gesture.  A wink, a smile, a lick of the lips, different gestures.

Fifteen buttons later she opened her shirt.  She wasn't wearing a brassiere, my eyes opened wider and my arousal became greater as she revealed her endowments to me.  Her shirt dropped to the grass and she began to tease me with her pants.  Very loose fitting camouflage pants.  Military issue.  She undid the first button and did a little movement with her hips.

Rebecca growled a little, a sound I'd never heard her make.  She pulled me to the ground and straddled my lap.  She slowly slipped my shirt over my head.  Her fingertips trailed down over my chest.  I sighed a little.  She leaned up against me and brushed her breasts against my chest.  It tickled slightly.  The shivers I felt before were nothing compared to what I felt now.

She leaned up and I tried to follow her lips with mine.  She nibbled my left earlobe and whispered, "Relax."

I sighed immediately following her command. 

She pushed me down and stood up briefly to strip off her pants.  I looked over her fully naked body.  I saw the perfection of her breasts, the small tuft of hair shrouding her womanhood.  She smiled and began to unfasten the buttons of my pants as she straddled me. 

I reached down and grabbed her hands, "Rebecca, I've never done this before."

"Okay, then I'll be gentle with you," her voice was throaty and full of lust.

"Not too gentle," I said softly to her.

The feelings of love and lust danced with each other like the waves in the dusk sunlight.  Our breath matched one another as her mouth gave me pleasure I never knew possible.  Teasing, touching, fingers lightly caressing me.  My mind had completely shut down and my body ruled me in an illicit partnership with my heart.  My fingers ran through her hair and she moaned sending more sensations through my body.  The more passion she put into her task.

Her movements were simple and small, but they affected me profoundly.  Occasionally she would look into my eyes and I could see her green eyes flash, conveying her passionate love for me.

I began to reach my zenith with her expertly guiding me.  My hands threw back above my head and I couldn't move aside from the spasms in my nether parts.  I whispered softly, "Oh Rebecca.  Oh Rebecca."

She moved faster and faster until I could no longer control myself.  Her mouth accepted my sweet release and continued to move accepting however much I had to give.

As the final spasm subsided, Rebecca and I heard a shrill noise.

"The Attack Alarm," she said in fear.  "JR, the Fort is under attack, we have to go back."

I lay there winded for a moment, "Those Dragons have the worst timing."

"JR!  This is no time for jokes," Rebecca yelled, already with her pants back on and her shirt going over her head. 

"Hurry!"

I sat up pulling up and buttoning my pants.  I grabbed my shirt, putting it back on.  Rebecca was dressed and running toward the Fort before I'd even stood.  She ran towards the doors of the Fort that were closed.  She looked at me with her sword in hand.  She looked back at me waiting for me to get there.  From over the walls, we could both see the flaming buildings that Red Dragons had already attacked.

I pushed out my wings and flapped, high enough to see the Hell Bringers fighting with the Dragons that were surrounding Fort Angel.  I growled and swooped down gathering Rebecca in my arms and flying over the wall.

I sensed more Dragons than I could see flying around the Fort.  My psychic bond with the Dragons was stronger with more of them in the vicinity, and hearing the thoughts circulating in their heads, I flew faster around the Fort.  I saw Greens, Whites, Reds, and one Black, probably the leader.  I deposited Rebecca next to her father and I flapped going back up into the sky to engage.

The first Dragon I met was a Green.  It saw me and turned away from its target, a soldier I didn't know.  The Dragon spread its wings to take flight.  I dove down and swung my sword cutting off the top of the Dragon's skull.  I landed and I raced off to the next Dragon.

A White Dragon was chasing Nelson, its wings strong and poised in pursuit.  The White Dragon shot a huge volley of ice breath at Nelson who was overcome.  I growled and flapped taking flight again.  The White Dragon saw me and growled.  It turned and tried to breathe its ice at me.  Before it could muster the breath, I cut its throat.  It fell to the blood soaked earth, sending tremors to the surrounding warriors.

I banked left towards a Red chasing down a soldier I'd not met.  I swooped down and sliced the top of his head off.  General Braggs' laser beam shot out and one of the White Dragons fell.

The sky was filled with smoke, but I was too concentrated on the defense of the Fort to be affected by it.  Time and efficiency were the main orders of business now.  Danger and fear were the inspirations. 

I saw Kingsley.  He was fighting a Red Dragon.  His sword was flashing.  The Dragon couldn't touch him.  The huge Red was bleeding profusely from many cuts.  The allergic sizzle of Dragon's bane was burning the Red's scales.  I breathed a volley of fire to distract the Dragon and Kingsley slashed through its neck cutting off its head.

Two more Dragons fell, a Green and a White.  I was pursuing a Red.  It was flying away from me.  It stopped and turned to breathe a cone of fire at me.  I penetrated the fire with my sword held out and felt the sword pass through the back of the Dragon's skull.  The fire stopped and I was unscathed.  I let the Dragon fall and I heard the death scream of a female soldier.  I looked around for a moment and saw Rebecca, sword in hand, battling a Green Dragon.  Two more Dragons fell, a Green and a Red.

I banked right and saw Kingsley throw a javelin right through a Red's heart, then a Green came behind him and he turned dodged and decapitated the beast with his sword.

A couple soldiers were being rushed by a Green, they both rolled under its claws and stood up, one grabbed its tail, and the other cut it off.  The Green crashed into the ground and the first soldier stabbed through the back of its neck.

Walt, Rebecca and Chen were fighting the last Green.  Braggs and Kingsley took on a White.  Finally I saw the Black Dragon. 

The Black saw me.

Traitor, he thought to me. 

Evil doer, I thought back. 

We dove at one another. I breathed my fire at him; he let forth his smoke at me.  I was confused until I felt a hot rock hit my chest.

I growled in pain and clutched my chest.  I started to fall, then the Black Dragon fly away to attack more soldiers, his screech taunting me, You've just encountered the Dragon Heart, you fool! he thought to me.

You don't get away that easy! I yelled to him in my mind.

I roared and pried the rock from my chest.  I sped towards the Black Dragon, letting another cone of fire at it.  He screamed in pain and turned back to me.  I swung my sword at his neck, but he dodged and swatted me with his tail.  I was knocked to the ground.

The Dragon Heart flew away with one thought to me, We'll meet again son of the Tyrant!  You haven't heard the last of the King of Sunset Red!

Kingsley was squaring off against a White Dragon.  He finished it off with a slash of its throat.  General Braggs shot his laser out and took out a Red immediately after.

I looked up to see Rebecca and Chen had distracted a Green Dragon, I turned to see Walt slash through its neck.  I smiled, and then pain shot through my body from hitting the ground so hard. 

The ominous figure of a Red rose from behind some trees.  It let loose a huge volley of fire right at my friends.  Forgetting my pain, I rose and jumped into the air towards the Dragon.  I swung my katana and chopped off the top of the Dragon's head, it fell and I landed right away.

My heart stopped. 

I couldn't hear.

I couldn't see.

I could only feel the dread of what I feared the most.

I snapped back to my senses when I heard Rebecca scream.  I turned quickly.  I looked to my left, Rebecca lay huddled on the ground.  To my right was Chen.  He, too, was unhurt.    Then I looked forward.  There lay the ashes of my best friend.  His huge broad sword still red hot from the fire of the Red Dragon. 

A single tear rolled down my cheek.  I couldn't move.  I just watched as the last remnants of heat rolled off of his body.  Being immune to the fire never gave me appreciation for the heat and burning potential, I never gave thought to Walt's Human frailty.

Slowly, I walked toward the ashes.  More tears flowed down my cheeks.  My best friend was taken from me by this stupid war and the stupid Dragons who started it. 

It was my fault for letting him die.... 

If I had been faster, stronger.... 

I crashed down to my knees.  My voice quietly repeated his name.  My ears barely heard it, but his name boomed inside my head. 

His name... stuck in my head, repeating over and over....

Walt, Walt.

The charred flesh smell burnt my nostrils.  It didn't fly away like paper ashes would, it stayed still as the wind tried to blow it away.  I sensed Rebecca and Chen, on either side of me, but neither touched me.

Finally I reached my hands into his ashes and then used my ashen fingers to smear four lines on each side of my face.  The ash mixed with my tears, I cried. 

My tears fell like a rain storm. 

My eyes felt like an inferno.

I stood with my wings out.  I walked through the Fort my feet stepping on Dragon tails or smashing skulls into the bloody ground.  I had to find Lieutenant Kingsley.

He was standing next to General Braggs. 

I didn't wait for formalities.  My purpose was blood filled and my growl was inimitable as I said, "They killed Walt.  Tell me where Sunset Red is, now."

He looked at me, "Walt?"

"Sunset Red," I repeated, my smoky, ashen face was a mask of horror.

"I'm not telling you where it is," he said firmly.  "You'll only get yourself killed."

My voice seethed with anger, "You'll tell me where it is, or I'll beat the answer from your lips, sir."

He was taken aback.  General Braggs was speechless.

With some hesitation he thought to me, southwest, five miles.  You get yourself killed, Rebecca will never forgive me.

Smoke rolled from my mouth.  Before taking flight I turned my back to Kingsley.

If I don't avenge him, Walt will never forgive me.

I flapped my wings once and I was gone.