Page 61 of Fire Dragon
Just as she had rinsed the soap off her body, however, awareness dawned coupled with a certainty of innate knowledge.
She pressed her hand to her lower abdomen and drew in a slow deep breath.
There it was, a sensation of life not her own, separate and extraordinary.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered beneath the water.
She carried a powerful dragon daughter who she knew would one day serve in the ADF just like her parents.
~ ~ ~
“Why would Santos call a meeting this early?” Liam was in his master bathroom and had just gotten off the phone with HQ though it was barely five in the morning. HQ never called him at this hour, not even when he had a caravan run. Emma was in the bedroom.
When Emma didn’t respond, Liam paused at the doorway to the bedroom and looked at her. She sat on the edge of the bed staring at the red and black flames on the wall in front of her.
“You okay?”
She turned to look at him. “What? Oh, sure.” She stood up then started hunting for her clothes. “I’d better meet you there. I’ll need my uniform.”
“Right.” He sensed something was wrong, but Santos’s emergency call took priority. He made a mental note to find out what was going on with her. For now, he needed to get ready.
By the time he finished his shower, Emma was gone.
Later, arriving at the general assembly room, he didn’t see her. He grabbed a coffee then saved her a seat. There were a lot of groggy faces as the rows filled up.
Emma was quiet when she sat down beside him. Most everyone was. But she didn’t have a coffee in hand, which was unusual for her. Her cheeks looked drawn. Maybe what would no doubt be a call to arms had gotten to her. Despite her abilities, he had to keep reminding himself that she wasn’t a seasoned veteran.
Santos and two of his assistants were on the low, carpeted stage. One of them was fiddling with a monitor control. The other spoke in low tones to Santos then left.
Liam watched the woman leave. Did she just brush a tear off her cheek?
Without thinking, he took Emma’s hand. She squeezed in response. His chest felt tight. Whatever was going on wasn’t good.
As the lights came down, the audience’s soft, serious chatter drifted away.
Santos drew an unusually deep breath then said, “It’s best if you see this for yourself.”
A cellphone video started up with an agitated but hushed male voice narrating. “I hope you can see this. Help us, Field Marshall. We’re near the border of Magiffe at the southeastern end of Lake Yaardoe. My family has lived here for generations. We’ve had Magi cruising the lake for the past week. Oh, God. Here comes another attack. I’ve never seen anything like this. Hundreds are already dead. The smell, even across the lake.”
Liam could hear a low rumbling then suddenly, on the opposite side of the lake where he could see the lights of a small village, a small squadron of three Magi dragons belched fire that a second later became a storm so large that the entire village was engulfed. A few muffled screams followed then silence.
“I’m sending the video. Field Marshall Santos, please help us. There are two thousand of us here.”
As the Magi turned and headed toward the camera, the video ended abruptly.
Santos brought the lights up. He stood next to a large wood podium, a mic in hand. “This happened at 0200 hours. There are few survivors. I’ve had Intelligence reviewing every aspect of what you just saw. The Magi have new technology, an amplification device of some kind. We’ve heard rumors over the past few months, but nothing concrete until this morning.” He took another long breath. “It gets worse. We’ve had similar reports that the Magi have been planning a run at Blue Lake South though no specific dates or times were given. Our satellites have just confirmed that a Magi contingent is in the air and heading our direction.”
“How many?” The words left Liam’s throat before he could stop them. Santos met his gaze then shifted to scan the audience.
“Six squadrons of three. The Council in Davathorpe has ordered an evacuation of our region, something I concur with completely. ETA for the attack is three hours. The Magi have caught a Konbrack wind out of the east, so they’re bringing grit with them. We’re planning to engage to the east out at the Mud Flats where the population is thin. You all know what to do. Warriors remain behind. The rest of you, dismissed. Let’s make our people safe.”
The administrative staff at HQ rose to its feet and began making its way to the different exits. There were twelve-hundred pairs of feet and very little talking.
A Konbrack wind was one of the hardest to navigate and sometimes to endure. It came with sharp, jagged bits of rock and sand picked up from the volcanic deserts at the western edge of the Animarragh Mountains.
As people shuffled out the doors, a distant evacuation alarm sounded over the lake. A long blare then three short blasts. The sequence would repeat for a full two-minutes, rest for five then resume until city patrols could confirm that every resident had left Blue Lake South. Liam glanced in the direction of the bank of windows that faced west. The sky was still dark.
It was moments like these Liam wished for an air force. But the continental governments of Dusane had agreed to limited warfare because of the horrendous engagements recorded on Earth. There were no bombs, no planes, no tanks, no drones, no long-range artillery on their planet. All battles were fought dragon-to-dragon and with only those weapons that could be transported via the backs of their kind or their riders. Even the Magi restricted themselves to these rules. Any escalation that had mutual self-destruction as a logical end, was avoided.
