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  Erin nodded, even though she wasn’t sure what he was talking about. She puzzled through his words.

  “Why would you follow a ruler like ‘Queen Entropy,’ who would allow such a terrible state of disorder?”

  “Well, ‘entropy’ isn’t a queen; isn’t a person. ‘Entropy’ is a way to describe how things – how people – react in a complex situation. Like – like during a war,” he said. “Or fighting a dragon.”

  The two of them nestled closer. Alec threw a log on the fire. They watched as the last brands of the old fire sparked and caught the new log, bringing new light and heat.

  “That is you,” said Alec, pointing to the fire. “The spark that brings light to the dark, and goodness to her people.”

  4 – The Dragon

  The sun rose on a cloudless morning. Alec was up early to make last-minute adjustments to his equipment. It seemed that even the moons waited with nervous anticipation for the day to crawl along.

  “It is easier to go search for a dragon than to wait for one,” one rider grumbled.

  Erin paced and let her senses roam, guided by her elf ring. Late in the morning, she sensed something in the distance that she did not understand. Erin looked at Alec, “I think the dragon is not far away. I can’t sense the dragon yet, but I can sense the halo of energy it creates.”

  “Are the riders ready for this?”

  “They may have fear in their minds, but they will have courage in their hearts,” she assured him.

  More minutes crawled by.

  “Look!” cried one of the riders, pointing out across the village fields.

  They saw the shadow before they saw the beast, at first a faint gray blur riding over the crops, quickly growing darker as its long outline took shape. Then from the direction of the morning moons, the dragon appeared, sinking slowly from the sky. The riders were expecting the sight but still were fearful of the unknown great beast. The few villagers from Pome who had camped nearby clustered together and clutched one another; someone cried out in terror.

  Alec couldn’t help but gasp every time he saw a dragon. The sight of the great beast belied his scientific understanding. It was a huge creature, seemingly too large and bulky to be airborne, but as he watched the dragon pivoted gracefully in the crisp air, soaring and cavorting in the sky, moving its long wings only minimally as it floated above them.

  I can sense her, Erin thought to Alec. I can feel her. She feels free – and thrilled to soar above us, through the sky. She can see us but doesn’t care about us.

  Alec was so overwhelmed by the sight of the dragon that he could not respond to Erin. Focus. He felt for his medallion, hanging around his neck, and focused dark energy. He could feel the huge reservoir of dark energy approaching, palpably reducing in strength as the dragon pivoted, soared, and wheeled.

  “That dragon is a big tank of dark energy. I can feel it working. It is consuming its stored energy at a high rate, and now it feels like it is running low,” Alec said.

  “That probably means she will soon feed,” responded Erin.

  The dragon circled above the village, deliberately letting its long shadow drag across the rooftops. The few villagers who had not heeded Erin’s warning to flee now moved with alacrity, some sprinting for shelter, others yelling and scurrying to secure animals, or crying in fear. None were preparing to pit themselves against a dragon.

  “She’s coming down,” Erin said under her breath. “Watch out.” The dragon circled the village twice more before landing heavily in a hayfield near the village wall; the grain stems underneath crumpled as it landed. With neck extended, its head was higher than the village wall. It opened its mouth and emitted a puff of flame; its open mouth resembled a gaping cavern with sharp knife-like teeth jutting from top and bottom. Its eyes darted back and forth – searching. Despite its great size and bulk, the dragon walked easily across the field with no concern for anything around it, wings now tucked close to its sides. Its long body, the size of a diesel locomotive, moved sinuously through the field, its tail flicking back and forth, like a cat anticipating a mouse. Large footprints in the crushed hay marked its path. Its skin glistened in the sun: light reflected off its scales and broke into an ephemeral rainbow of colors.

  Erin sensed and traced the twisting lines that linked with the dragon. She could feel the loneliness of the dragon. She was almost one with the dragon as it moved and twisted.

  Time to move, Alec thought to her, rousing her to the moment. Erin split the riders into three groups and led one to the side of the hayfield. She whistled a battle call and motioned her riders forward in a slow approach towards the dragon. Colin led a second group of riders to circle around to the other side, also moving slowly toward the dragon. Then the riders on each side gradually closed in on the great beast.

  At Erin’s signal, the third group emerged from the far end of the field and began to gallop rapidly towards the dragon. Erin whistled a second signal and her riders quickened their pace, hurling spears at the great beast as soon as they were within range. However, instead of catching in the dragon’s scales, the weapons flowed harmlessly over the dragon and fell to the ground on the other side. One of her riders came sweeping along the side of the dragon and swung a great battle axe at its side; the axe hit the dragon’s scales squarely but deflected without even breaking the skin.

  Erin goaded her trogus forward; she brought the animal alongside the dragon and drew her sword. The dragon paid scant attention to a single rider but continued its deliberate place towards the village. Erin focused, using the tricrystals in her sword. Dark energy flowed along her sword’s blade and it seemed to shimmer in the morning light. She slid her blade along the dragon’s side, and the dark energy in the sword met the dark energy within the dragon – a bright arc shot out where her sword touched the dragon’s skin and a dark fluid oozed from its body. The dragon reacted in pain – it jerked around and snapped at Erin. She held her trogus steady until the last instant, and then let her mount slide against the scaly skin. The impact of the trogus against the dragon was just enough to disturb its bite, and its long teeth just missed the end of the trogus’ tail.

  As the dragon turned to pursue Erin, other riders from her group came near and lowered their lances, aiming at the creature’s exposed neck. The first lance caught the underside of the great chin, throwing the trogus off-stride; trogus and rider fell beneath the big body, crushed under the animal’s bulk. The dragon turned away from Erin and faced the annoying riders; it gnashed its teeth, flicked its great tail, and felled the thrust. A second wave of riders spurred their mounts toward the dragon. It took one hop and launched into the air, then landed heavily in the middle of the riders; they dispersed quickly to avoid its fangs and claws.

  Erin whistled a battle command and riders from both her group and Colin’s approached each side of the dragon and threw their javelins, tethered like a harpoon to the trogus pommel, over the beast. Then the riders turned and pulled the javelin’s tether so that the special hooks mounted on the weapon’s tip scraped across the dragon’s back; as each hook caught the dragon’s skin the dark energy tricrystals embedded in the barb created a bright arc as they grabbed and caught among the beast’s scales. The dragon roared and twisted. Although the dark energy within the dragon bubbled up to repair the wound almost as fast as it opened, the more the dark energy flowed, the more the tricrystals released the energy, further depleting the dragon’s reserve. The dragon screamed in pain and rolled to dislodge the hooks.

  It’s working! For an instant, Alec was filled with hope.

  Then, the dragon reversed the flow of dark energy. Instead of pushing dark energy through its body to heal the wound, it started to use the javelin hook to pull dark energy in. The amount of dark energy soon exceeded what the tricrystals could handle and the hooks melted with a flash, the javelin shafts falling harmlessly to the side. The gash in the dragon’s skin quickly healed itself.

  Erin whistled for her riders to fall back. The dragon rai
sed its head to watch the retreating riders, then, with studied disinterest, turned back towards Pome and resumed its trek towards the village wall. Erin brought her trogus back to where Alec had been watching.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “I was hoping that our javelin hooks would work again, like they did the last time we encountered the beast, but the elves are too smart for the same thing to work twice. The dragon has now been trained to destroy our hooks,” Alec said grimly. “The dark energy in your sword is the only thing that seems to hurt the dragon. We will have to use my new pyramid devices against the dragon. I need you to maneuver the dragon to the middle of the wheat field over there before I can use them. That’s where I’ve set up the pyramids.”

  The dragon slithered to the edge of the village wall and scraped the stone wall with its front claws. Rocks and mortar flew with each claw stroke until there was a dragon-sized gap. It slithered into the village. The dragon’s shoulders were as wide as the street so a trail of broken façades and roof tiles were strewn in its wake; its tail flicked back and forth, knocking over flower pots and destroying doors and windows. Slowly it made its way to the wide village square, with people, livestock, dogs, birds, and vermin fleeing in terror before it. The dragon settled down in the middle of the square and closed its eyes.

  “What is it doing?” hissed Alec.

  “I think she is resting – the square is broad enough for her, and perhaps the stone pavement feels warm and good to her. I sense that she is tired from the fight,” Erin answered. She sensed again. “Yes – she seems to be taking a nap.”

  Erin, her riders, and the Pome villagers camped with her could not see the dragon. They waited nervously for what seemed an eternity. Then Erin raised her arm.

  She’s awake, thought Erin.

  Now what? thought Alec.

  Oh no. She seems to be hungry. Be careful!

  The dragon yawned and stirred, opening its eyes. The dragon sensed the few frightened people still hiding in the village. It slithered out of the square and clumsily made its way down a side street, knocking a building off its foundation as it passed. The dragon found a house with three people inside and roared. It sensed and twisted lines of dark energy. The people within cowered in fear and tried to resist but soon succumbed to the dragon’s coercive power. One by one they staggered out of the house and flopped in front of the dragon, bodies quivering in anguish. When the dragon finished, only three red spots remained on the pavement as reminders of the villagers who had been. The dragon resumed lumbering through the streets until it reached the village’s outer wall. It cut a second gap in the stones as it slithered out.

  Time to lure the dragon to the spot where we can attack it, thought Alec.

  I can’t sense the villagers from this distance, but they should be safe. Let’s see if we can twist the beast’s tail, Erin thought back.

  ✽✽✽

  At Erin’s whistle, her riders remounted their trogus and rode towards the dragon. The riders spread out until they surrounded the beast: some were positioned fore, some aft, with Erin and Colin again among the riders flanking the two sides. Once they had surrounded the beast, they charged. At first, the dragon allowed the riders’ spears to break harmlessly against its scales; then, in one swift motion, the dragon lunged towards one of the riders as if snapping at a gnat. The rider barely swerved away from the jaws in time to avoid certain death. Now the dragon was annoyed; it came after the riders. They zigged and zagged in front of the beast, picking up speed as the dragon pursued, snapping at them at every opportunity.

  One of the galloping trogus stepped in a hole. Its leg twisted at an awkward angle, and the creature collapsed forward at the same awkward angle, braying in pain. The rider leaped from the saddle onto the ground, rolled, and came to her feet before the approaching dragon. Spear in hand, she faced the dragon. Even from a distance, it towered above her. Other riders rode alongside the dragon and threw their spears; the weapons bounced harmlessly off the dragon’s scales and did not deter it. Erin was with the spear-throwers near the dragon’s flank when she heard the thump of the trogus hitting the ground and sensed its agony. Erin spurred her mount forward and saw the unmounted rider, but the dragon was closer to the rider than she was.

  My brave rider!

  Alec also heard the bray from the downed trogus, and immediately reached for his medallion. Focus. Light bent around the rider standing before the charging dragon and the crisp hayfield became a blurry image. The dragon briefly hesitated in confusion. Smell and sense disagreed with sight. The dragon followed its sense and continued to lumber towards the spot where the rider had been waiting.

  That hesitation might be enough. Erin steered her trogus towards the blurry spot. She had only one chance to save her rider, and she goaded her mount as fast as it would go. Alec released the blurring lens, and the rider reappeared. Erin’s trogus reacted instinctively and galloped past the lone rider. She grabbed Erin’s pommel and allowed herself to be pulled by the trogus, scrambling to get her foot in the stirrup and mount behind Erin. The dragon lumbered after Erin and her hanger-on; it started to overtake the loaded trogus. Another rider zigged in front of the dragon and the dragon followed the new rider, allowing Erin and her rider to escape. The beast reared up, venting its frustration with blasts of flame and loud bellows, but the zig-zagging riders slowly lured the dragon towards the middle of the wheat field where the little pyramids caught the light of the mid-day sun. Erin paused her trogus at the edge of the field and let her rider off.

  I have led the dragon to the middle of your field, as you directed, my Great Wizard. Now go to work, Erin thought softly.

  Alec fingered his medallion and focused. He felt the dark energy background and the reservoir of dark energy that was the dragon. He pulled on the dark energy from the dragon and linked the dark energy to his pyramids positioned on the sides of the wheat field. The beast responded with an anguished scream; it searched to find the cause of its pain. The dragon saw Alec and forgot about the riders; it spread its wings and launched itself into the air towards him.

  Perfect. Alec felt the dragon’s dark energy as it rose above him. Now, focus. He increased the flow of dark energy from the dragon to the pyramids. Hundreds of tricrystal embedded in the pyramids spread the dark energy into the surrounding ground, converting it into superheated rock. The ground erupted in flaming imitations of miniature volcanoes. Everything around the pyramids became molten rock, bubbling and frothing high into the air. The rapid drain of dark energy from its body caused the dragon enormous pain. It flew up, then fluttered; it weakened wings canted and the beast tilted to one side as one wing lost more dark energy than the other, then it crashed into the ground with a tremendous thud. Flames from the hot lava licked high in the air as the dry wheat stubble ignited in one smoky flash; the flames engulfed the dragon, and acrid black smoke billowed high overhead. As dark energy rapidly drained from its big body, the dragon again bellowed in rage and pain. It came roaring out of the smoke and flames and lumbered towards Alec, moving faster than he thought possible.

  Here she comes, Erin thought, and moved close to Alec’s side. She took Alec’s hand and felt dark energy flow from him; it expanded her senses, and she could feel the lines of energy from all the living beings around her – Alec, the other riders, the beasts in the woods. Lastly, she sensed and felt the oncoming dragon.

  Erin let herself become immersed in the dragon. She could sense that it had many lines of energy crosslinked inside: an angry dragon charging wildly towards a painful irritant, confused as to why it had been diverted from its mission. Erin stayed in the moment, feeling the dragon’s feelings, and began to change the lines. Stop, she thought to the dragon. The dragon slowed slightly. Stop, she thought again. The dragon slowed a little more.

  Colin was with the riders on the far side of the dragon, and directed his trogus through the thick smoke to a pre-marked point on the far side of the smoldering field. As Alec had instructed, Colin felt his
medallion. Focus. Colin could feel the dark energy that Alec was directing from the dragon into the pyramids; now he also started to help pull dark energy from the dragon and send it into the pyramids. He knew it was only a small amount compared to what Alec could do, but it added to the dragon’s pain. The boiling frothing rock around the pyramids continued to bubble and spew glowing globs high into the air. The leaves on the surrounding trees wilted from the heat and twigs burst spontaneously into flame.

  Erin continued to link with the dragon and the dragon became more and more confused. The beast continued to lumber towards the main source of its pain. It is going to get here before you can influence it, Alec thought to Erin. Alec stopped directing the flow of dark energy from the dragon and focused, producing a blurring field around the two of them.

  The great beast became suddenly confused. The main source of its pain had vanished. It stopped and looked around the spewing field in confusion. It continued to feel pain and looked around, searching for the source of its agony. It turned towards Colin.

  Colin watched, frozen in fear, as the dragon roared and started galloping towards him. The dragon plowed its way through rivers of the molten rock, throwing hot rock in every direction as it came. Release your focus! Alec thought.

  Colin could not move.

  A rider, seeing Colin’s peril, attempted to distract the dragon, but the dragon’s path did not waver. It continued to move directly towards Colin.

  A third wizard, another of Alec’s newly-trained apprentices, focused and tried to pull dark energy from the dragon. Colin, still petrified at the sight of the charging dragon, couldn’t release his focus. The dragon looked confused and slowed slightly, then continued to lumber toward Colin.

  “Colin!” screamed Erin. She could not see him through the smoke and ruckus but could sense the trouble he was having. Erin stopped trying to influence the dragon and left Alec’s side to mount her trogus. She spurred her trogus after the dragon, racing across the smoldering field, her trogus jumping rivulets of molten rock. She drew her sword. Focus. She concentrated on the tiny tricrystals in her sword and let dark energy flow into her sword. Her trogus caught up with the dragon’s tail. Erin slashed and a line of brown ooze emerged where the dark energy in her sword intersected with the dark energy of the dragon. The pain stung the dragon; it stopped lumbering towards Colin, turned, and snapped at Erin and her trogus. Erin released her focus on her sword and sensed the dragon’s intentions. She swerved only a hair’s breadth beyond the dragon’s outstretched mouth. She bobbed close to the dragon again and felt its hot breath as it snapped at her a second time.