A Dragon's Heart (14 page)

The time had come for vengeance. Despite Drakk and Jex’s protests, Aislinn mounted atop Jex’s back as they readied to take to the skies. Gandore had finally pinpointed a location of where General Asshole’s headquarters were located. All of the dragons were dressed in the ancient battle wear of their time, sporting the iron stomach plates to cover their biggest weak spot. With scales harder than armor, the soft underbelly of a dragon was the only place bullets or knives could penetrate, bringing the giant beast down. Other than the underbelly, their other weak spot was their eyes, where a single knife or bullet could leave them blinded. They wore a helmet of metal surrounding their head with eye guards made of the same steel as the chest plate with the exception of tiny holes, giving them maximum visual without allowing any object the ability to penetrate. The only part of their body not covered in metal was covered in layers of scales, which could only be penetrated if the enemy got close enough to shove a knife or sword between the scales. It could happen but for one to get that close they would surely die while only bringing minimal damage to the dragon.

Aislinn had even created special earplugs spelled with protection against any weaponized sound waves they had used previously, and had perfected numerous protection shields and spells that should keep them all safe while they completed their mission.

“You ready to kick some ass?” Peyon said, stretching his wings and claws, cracking his knuckles.

“Hell yeah. Let’s go make some fuckers extra crispy recipe.” Joslin grinned.

Drakk rolled his eyes at the two. One Peyon was enough. Two with the same hunger for battle and pissed off attitude was too much, especially when a female was involved in the dynamics. “I swear you’re a female version of Peyon. Are you sure you didn’t have a long lost twin that your mother didn’t tell you about?” Drakk said unamused.

“Most kills wins picks up dessert!” Brak announced.

Peyon scowled. “That’s my game, what the hell, bro?”

“What, you afraid of a little friendly competition? Scared I might kick your ass, are you?” Brak teased.

“I’m in!” Xavier shouted.

“Me too!” Dag grinned. They all turned to stare at the second oldest dragon, surprised he wasn’t pissed at their childish games. He never participated in any of the things they came up with to amuse themselves, always being ‘too mature for such nonsense’ as he had so often reminded them.

“Pshh please. You pussies don’t stand a chance,” Jex laughed in his usual cocky way.

“As if! I bet Aislinn and I beat all of you put together.” Joslin winked at Aislinn who laughed.

“Oh it’s on. Don’t cry too hard when we kick your butt, girls,” Gandore playfully added.

“Since everyone is on board, let’s go kick some ass!” Drakk took flight with the others behind him. The sun was just starting to disappear behind the horizon and nightfall would be coming soon. The darkness gave them more of an advantage with their eyesight, but also allowed the moon to amplify Aislinn’s magic as well as their mating magic.

The cool night air whipped through Aislinn’s hair, rejuvenating her. Up in the skies with the people she cared most about was the most freeing feeling she had ever experienced. She looked around, awestruck by the beauty their formation created. Drakk’s golden scales shimmered in perfect contrast to Gandore’s platinum coloring. Brak’s black scales changed color in the moonlight, where Joslin’s were as dark as the night. Peyon’s turquoise scales glimmered in the moonlight, looking almost like a floating body of water. Xavier’s emerald and white seemed to float on the clouds, while Dag’s sapphire coloring was richer than any stone she had ever seen next to Jex. He turned and winked at her, his gray eyes glowing in the darkness. Jex’s red and black appeared like war paint in the night, viciously targeting anyone who might stand in the way. She was in the middle of the most powerful and dangerous beasts on Earth, but had never felt so safe up on the back of her dragon and admiring the beauty that surrounded her.

By the time they approached the compound that lay deep in the middle of the desert, they descended, landing in a secluded spot and went over the plan. Not much information had been revealed, so they didn’t know what they were walking into. Aislinn reached out to the spirits, using their guide to feel how many people they were up against. “At least twenty, maybe more. There are underground bunkers that I can’t get a lock on. Langston is here.” She drew a blueprint of the rooms in the sand with a stick, marking an ‘x’ where Langston hid deep in the heart of the Earth.

“Cowardly bastard. He has all of his men stationed outside of the chamber while he sits in a room virtually un-penetrable. Is there another entrance? Surely the bastard has a hidden escape route. He’s stupid, but not so that he won’t save his own ass.” Gandore examined the dirt drawing carefully.

“What about here? With the mountain being cover, it would make most sense to have a tunnel that ran underneath and come out on the other side.” Xavier grabbed the stick and drew a circle. “Here.” The others looked at it and nodded.

“Joslin, you and Dag go see if there is an opening along the mountain baseline,” Drakk instructed.

“You got it.” She jumped into the air with Dag on her right wing and they flew off into the darkness.

“While we wait for them to return, let’s go over the plan. DragonBuy is operated out of this home base. We know that most sales are done anonymously online, but there has to be an actual storefront somewhere. While Jex, Aislinn, Brak, and I go in through the front, I want you, Gandore and Peyon, to gather all the Intel you can. Both of you are more savvy with that kind of stuff than the rest of us. With Joslin and Dag at the escape exit, we will charge in from the front. I think it goes without saying that the only person that needs to be left alive is Langston, and as long as he is coherent enough to answer questions, he can get a nice up close and personal encounter with the devil.”

“What if he doesn’t talk? We may be ending the black market trade for dragon organs, but there is still a bigger battle ahead. We only know a little about what they are planning, and even then there is no way to locate these secret cults they hide behind,” Xavier questioned.

“No, but the Guards know everything about anything. They have been around longer than the Skull and Bones, Illuminati, and any other bullshit radical groups man has concocted over the centuries. The Templar Guard originated before Christ walked the Earth,” Drakk answered.

“So, how are we going to find them?” Aislinn leaned back against Jex’s chest in the confines of his large legs.

“We have been looking into finding them, but the legends are holding true. You don’t find the Guards. They find you.” Drakk knew this to be true but he had hoped they would have been able to find them, but had had no success, and after tonight, they would be once again visited by the phantom group he had no doubt when word traveled of what surely was going to be a massacre. For centuries, the Guards had remained anonymous, only allowing information given on a need to know basis. No one knew who led them, nor could anyone find out. There was talk the leader was immortal, having magical powers that made the dragons look like dime store hocus pocus.

Drakk turned, hearing Joslin and Dag return before they touched down. They waited until they had rejoined the group before speaking.

“You were right. There are two separate exits. One here, and the other here.” Dag drew where they were located on their makeshift dirt map.

“Shit. Okay. Good job. Joslin, you cover this exit, Dag, you cover this one. Remember, keep Langston alive. Let’s move.” He flipped the invisibility cloak on, looking back to see the others do the same as they flew up once more. Aislinn clung to his mane, gripping her legs around his neck firmly to hang on through the more bumpier ride he gave than Jex. If they weren’t about to go into battle, he would have enjoyed her position a lot more. Joslin and Dag parted ways to cover their post.

As they got closer to their mark they began to land, all except Xavier who would stay in the air. Aislinn had to admire the quietness that the humongous beasts held, landing as softly as butterflies on a bush. Drakk set down with the slightest of a jolt.

Aislinn moved to Drakk’s tail as he lowered her to the ground. She opened her mind, allowing her powers to surround them all in a protective shield. Though they were all to remain invisible throughout the mission, the humans weren’t stupid. Langston had gathered information from Joslin and the others while under his control, and who knew how many other dragons had suffered from his hand. They had no idea what technology awaited them.

"I’ll continue to circle the perimeter watching for any sign of an ambush," Xavier said and angled his large form up and over the area to begin his recon of the surrounding area.

Jex moved forward to bust down the door but Aislinn stopped him, shaking her head. In a flip of her wrist, the large rolling door unlocked and creaked open. Jex grinned. He loved watching her do her gift. He couldn’t help but admire her strength and independence. It turned him on.

As if he had read his mind, Drakk walked by and bumped his shoulder, glaring and nodding for him to proceed on. They still hadn’t been detected, and the longer they went on that way the better. A man wearing a security badge and yielding a flashlight and pistol got up from the desk and headed in their direction. The monitors he had been watching showed people in other areas of the oversized warehouse moving around, boxing containers for shipment. Before Drakk was able to get to the man, Jex bent down engulfing the man’s head in his jaws and bit it off in one chomp, leaving nothing but a bloody corpse to fall to the floor. He spat out the head, snickering when it bounced like a basketball and rolled across the floor. “
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
done lost his head,” Jex whispered where only they could hear.

"Seriously, you take a man's head off and crack a joke," Drakk said and continued walking, shaking his head.

Gandore followed them into the room, stopping by the security desk to check out the monitors. He located the records room immediately and motioned in the direction the others needed to head. He and Peyon went to the left, while the others went to the right.

Aislinn stayed tucked between Drakk and Jex as they made their way down the long corridor in single file. The corridor was large but not nearly large enough for two dragons to walk side by side. Drakk bypassed the three doors along the way, heading straight for the last room where they believed Langston to be. Brak stayed behind, remaining at the entrance to avoid a rear attack. Before they could enter, a group of men came charging out the second door that lay between them and Brak. Jex let down his cloak, grinning at their startled expressions before he opened his snout and the fire burst from his throat, the flame engulfing them. The front two men burned to a crisp, but the others were smarter. They pushed forward with some sort of lead shields, evidently fire retardant, shooting around the sides at them. Jex laughed. “Weak.”

Drakk moved Aislinn behind him and took the spot behind Jex. “Jex?”

“Yeah?”

“Game on.”

Jex let out a loud pitched, “Woo hoo!” and stretched out one of his front legs, opening his claw wide to scoop the next two men up. He closed his claw around them, lifting them closer to his face while bringing his other claw and using two of his long nails just as he would his thumb and forefinger if he had been in human form, and began pinching the limbs off the armed men who attacked with Drakk following his lead. After each kill they both would call out their count, using innovative ways to make each one more exciting.

"Drakk, Jex, am I even going to be allowed to kill anyone," Aislinn said, trying to peer around or even underneath the beast in front of her.

Both chuckled but Jex was the one who yelled, "No way, you will interfere with our count," as each continued to play games with the humans.

"Fine," Aislinn huffed, rolled her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, and continued listening to the scene playing out in front of her, only catching the slightest glimpses of the action.

At one point, they had maneuvered until they had the men in an open area where they could move more freely and Drakk tossed a guy up in the air toward Jex and Jex caught him between his teeth, the man wiggling and screaming to get away right before Jex's jaws came crunching down to tear the man in half. Blood and guts splattered everywhere. One man had moved to the side of Jex but instead of turning his head to get to him, Jex knocked him in the air with his tail. Drakk took the opportunity to spin his tail around just in time to impale the man on the tip. As the fighting continued, the man remained skewered until Jex finally stepped on the corpse and squashed it like a grape, allowing Drakk to pull free. While they were wiping the floor with their attackers, they failed to notice Langston exit from a door behind them and go after Aislinn.

Aislinn hadn’t been expecting Langston to emerge from his hiding spot and paid the price for her lack of attention. He managed to get a shot off that pierced her arm before she retaliated. Aislinn winced, and got angry. “You asshole,” she yelled as she drew up energy and released it in a ball at him. It hit the target, knocking him across the corridor and to the floor. His body slammed down hard, knocking the wind out of him. Before she could ready her next attack, he pulled some electronic device out of his pocket, aimed, and released enough voltage that when it hit her, it paralyzed her momentarily. Aislinn fought for focus. Drakk hadn’t been aware of the battle going on behind him until his tail bumped into Aislinn, knocking her to the side, and out of the grips of electricity Langston held on her, giving her enough time to counter, sending a similar blast at him while Drakk disarmed him.

"You sniffling little jackass. Sneaking up to attack a woman, our mate nonetheless." It was all he got out before Drakk blazed fire at Langston until Jex yelled.

“Stop! He needs to be alive, remember?” Drakk reluctantly stopped, leaving a screaming and smoking Langston to cry out in pain.