Brothers of Fire by Rebecca Johnson
A slight haze surrounded the singed field. Heat
still emanated from the scorched ground making it difficult for Xander to
navigate through the remains of the countless bodies, both enemies and allies,
strewn across the charred wasteland. After the raging battle had finally come
to an end, his mission was now clear; he had to find Tremin. Alive or dead: he
hoped desperately it wasn’t the latter, but either way he had to know.
Carefully stepping over bloodied claws and broken shields, Xander searched for
Tremin’s tell tale colours. Midnight blue, a wisp of green and the magnificent
hue of purple that decorated the scales on his back. He had to find him. He was
sure that if he had died in the battle, then he would have felt the loss, his
end. Yet all he had felt was a pain, a pain that wasn’t his own: Tremin’s.
Blood trickled down his arm splattering lightly to the burnt ground creating a
deep crimson on the earth. Xander payed no attention to his injuries or his
slowing pace, or the shadow that had emerged just 15 feet behind him. He
carried on determined to discover Tremin.
Xander and Tremin had fought countless battles together, man and dragon, an
undefeatable duo. Their reputation had spread for thousands of miles. They were
warriors, friends and brothers. They had always fought side by side and have
never allowed the enemy to separate them before, that was until today.
Feeling a shift in the air around him, Xander dipped his left shoulder to waist
level and gripped his sword as he swung around to fight off the attack. It was
them. The Damned. The spurge that had tried to overpower his land: the
land of Hirtage. Despite the new rush of blood dripping down his arm and down
his sword from the movement, Xander’s sword hit the soldier of The Damned true;
his sword pierced his enemy’s heart. Withdrawing his sword, Xander simply
turned and continued surveying the horizon and his surrounds.
Reaching the brow of a hill, he focused on the fresh damage to a group of trees
in a distant forest. “Tremin” he whispered praying that the wind would
carry is call across to the forest. He waited and knelt down touching the
ground with both hands. “Please Tremin answer me!” he continued to
whisper waiting for a sign from his brother: his dragon. A slight shift caused
the fine charcoal on the ground to bounce lightly. To anyone else it would have
just meant a light breeze was passing by, but for Xander it meant Tremin was
answering his call with a rumble into the land.
With renewed energy, Xander ran towards the trees ignoring his bloodied arm and
limp. He would find him. It would all be okay.
On the edge of the forest Xander stopped abruptly;
he had a felt another rumble, but this time it was a warning. Tremin was still
in danger. He prayed to the Goddess hoping for lightness and speed; he just had
to reach Tremin in time.
Silently, with an earth warrior’s grace, Xander edged around the group of
soldiers surround Tremin. He was trapped. Tremin’s glorious purple scales were
soaked with blood and marred by deep gashes. Trying to ignore the building rage
at seeing Tremin so badly injured, Xander inhaled deeply and gently blew out
his breath in Tremin’s direction. Immediately, he saw Tremin twitch his nose as
he caught Xander’s scent; his eyes blinked in acknowledgement, a new shine in
their depths.
Taking position, Xander counted the eight soldiers grouped together laughing at
their handiwork, and foolishly thinking that the selection of leather straps
would be enough to contain Tremin. They had strapped Tremin’s dangerous mouth
and chained it to two large oak trees knowing that if Tremin had access to his
fire that all would be lost. Xander waited for Tremin’s signal balancing on the
balls of his feet ready for action.
Tremin grunted and shifted his large tale and tried to rear up off the floor.
The chains kept him taut to the ground although it had the desired reaction
from the soldiers. They immediately raced to the straps, bent over and began to
secure and adjust; exactly what Tremin and Xander had anticipated. Stupidity!
Racing towards the four guards to the right of Tremin, all with their back to
him, Xander deftly raised his sword and sliced at the four soldiers taking them
down within seconds. Xander immediately hacked at Tremin’s bindings releasing
him before heading to the straps to release his mouth. The four soldiers jumped
from the other side of Tremin and surrounded Xander, not realising that
Tremin’s left claw was free. Tremin’s razer sharp claws swiped into two of the
soldiers, whilst the remaining two ducked for cover and then ran.
Finally releasing Tremin’s mouth, Tremin let out an almighty roar; a burst of
flames immediately followed in the direction of the two soldiers. Piercing
screams echoed through the forest, Tremin’s fire hitting his targets. Tremin
gave a satisfied growl, before he limped over to Xander and carefully stretched
out his beautiful wings and checked for injuries.
Xander reached his hand to Tremin’s shoulder and sent healing energy through
their bond. “Never again Tremin. Never again.” He shook his head caught up with
emotion and relief for his brother. “Next time, next battle, we always stay
together. Always.”
Small trails of smoke drifted out of Tremin’s nostrils in agreement. Lifting
his leg as a step and invitation for Xander, Xander smiled and pulled himself
up onto Tremin’s back. “We fly to the heart of Hirtage Tremin. We may have won
this battle, but the war is far from over.”
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Find information about my next writing contest, interviews, book news and more on my website.
In bookstores 6-5-2012
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