15- Mark of the Dragon
#20 of The Legend of Rift Book III: Downfall
"Oi! What's stopped you?" The irritated voice of a mole yelled to a wagon. The rest of the convoy stopped, a mole sighing to himself.
"Ah, we've lost our fookin tyre! Give us a few moments to get 'er up and go'in again."
The first mole growled, a green drake patting his head. "Calm down Hiroshi, even with this stop, we'll be at Dragon's Claw at nightfall. Queen Shara doesn't know where it is, so we are in no trouble of being discovered."
"You are only partially correct."
A fireball hit the broken wagon, knocking out the moles and destroying its contents. The dragon put himself in front of the convoy, gasping at what his eyes saw. "M-master Rift?"
The dark orange dragon shook his head. "I am no longer him. Now, you have been caught assisting the enemy by transporting supplies from New Schatten to a secret rebel location. You can assist us in locating the place, or we will destroy both you and New Schatten."
Before the question in the green drake's maw could be released, a large red dragon landed at the end of the convoy. A bead of sweat fell from his scaly face as the large drake snatched up one of the moles, dropping the furry rodent into his mouth in one bite. An orange paw connected to the side of his face, darkening the area of impact.
"You should answer immediately, or my acquaintance will eat them all."
The drake's face paled. He would lose either way, either surrender the city of Dragon's Claw, or let his friends be eaten. He nearly made a decision when the orange dragon stopped him.
"Time is up. Carmine, enjoy."
The green drake was quickly knocked to the ground, with his head forced up, watching as the red dragon ate everyone in the convoy. Then, Carmine began lighting all of the wagons into flames. The helpless green drake watched in horror, witnessing all of his work being reduced to ashes.
Rift watched with a blank expression, no care for the consumed moles. He flipped the green drake over and with a quick strike of his tail, plunged it into his chest. The drake screamed in agony before falling unconscious. The orange dragon released the drake and shook the blood from his tail, walking to a nearby tree.
Carmine's attention turned from the burning wagons to the sound of a tree being knocked down. He watched as Rift began clawing the once strong trunk to mere chips of wood. The larger drake began to worry, the younger one having done this multiple times since they began trying to find where hundreds of dragons were hiding. "You don't seem to like those trees."
Rift stopped and looked at the remains. "I'm not sure. Part of me just tells me to do it." He growled to himself and began walking away. "Better live up to our promise, New Schatten is about to look like Old Schatten."
The larger drake grumbled and began to follow. "Yes, boss..."
The two didn't care to watch as the gravely wounded green dragon slowly crawled away. "Must inform Master Kara."
Kara, Silvus, and Sithris stood in horror as they beheld the sight before them. Wagons lay charred to ash. Supplies lay scattered all around. And blood, a dark red trail coming from the green drake that had perished upon arrival at Dragon's Claw.
"Who could have done this?" Kara questioned in shock.
Silvus sighed as he noticed a large paw print. "Carmine, has to be him. Only fire dragon large enough to fit this print." He blinked as he noticed another set. "These ones are different. From a dragon surely, but this one is smaller."
"You two, over here right now." Sithris stood, mouth agape as the others joined him. The remains of the tree filled their vision. "Why does this look familiar?"
The silver drake looked at the two mates in confusion as they seemed to know something he didn't. Kara answered his questioning thoughts as she suddenly blurted out; "That has to be Rift!"
The electric dragon could feel a sliver of hope forming in his heart. He noticed the questioning look on Silvus' face. "Rift always tore trees to shreds when in emotional distress. I never understood why trees, but it was always a sort of mark."
"Guys..." Silvus looked at the ground. "It can't be him. The Guardian orb went dull. That only happens if that Guardian is deceased."
Sithris sighed. "You're probably right. Besides, we all know he wouldn't ever stand being near Carmine." Kara joined in his sadness.
"Let's get back to the city. I need to check something with Rose, but then we'll decide what to do from there." Silvus hid his thoughts from the mates. How can things add up and not at the same time?
"Please Queen Shara, show some mercy, release my daughter!" An older dragoness pleaded. "I haven't seen her in months!"
The turquoise Queen sighed. "Not this shit again." She stood up from her throne, smirking as she noticed several dragons poised to attack her panthers. "Your daughter was organising an attack on me. What makes you think I would release her?!"
The older dragon whined. "She did no such thing! She's just a child. Please, you will never have to see her again, just let me take her home."
"Alright." Shara grinned. "You have convinced me." She turned to a panther. "Bring in the whelp."
The panther nodded and walked away, nodding to the other panthers in the room.
"Tell me, what do you think of the word gullible?" Shara looked to the dragoness. "Would you say I fit that description?"
The dragoness blinked. "Wh-I'm not sure I understand my Queen? You are not gullible, you have survived decades away from your kin." A bead of sweat fell from her forehead.
Shara growled. "Then explain why you saw me gullible enough not to know of the resistance fighters in my Palace?" She flicked her tail, grinning as the dragoness turned away.
The panthers quickly spun around, daggers quickly catching the dragons off guard. A dozen bodies of scales collapsed dead to Shara's glee.
"I deal with you rebels on a weekly basis, I knew it was coming." the Queen hissed. "Bring the whelp over!"
The dragoness screamed as the panther walked up to her and dropped a skull, her daughter's. "You monster! She was a child!" She clutched the skull tight in her arms.
Shara shrugged. "I don't see why you're screaming at me, Fire Guardian Rift did it." She walked around the older dragoness. "But for attempting to overthrow me, consider this my parting gift to you. With a quick slash, her claws ripped through the dragoness' throat.
"Neala, we're back!" Kara smiled as the hatchling ran over and hugged her and Sithris. She looked up and gave a smile to Kardia, thanking her for watching the little dragoness.
Silvus pulled the gravid female into a hug, giving her a small but loving kiss. "I need to go see Rose. I got to talk with her about something."
Kardia nodded slowly and watched as her mate disappeared through a portal. She turned back and blinked as she watched Sithris and Kara stare at each other. "Don't do it guys..."
The two mates nodded and each kissed Neala on the head. Kara smiled softly. "We'll be back tonight, Kardia will watch you." Sithris looked up at Kardia. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Nonononono! This is the opposite of what you should do. Silvus is going to lose it when he gets back." Kardia sighed and gave a slight smile. "But you seem set on going to New Schatten, so I can't force you to stay. I'll keep an eye on Neala, you do what you need to do."
The black drake smiled and gave her a hug. "Thank you."
The two mates walked out of the house and took off. Sithris wasn't fully sure what he was expecting, but he felt a hope that had long been gone.