Chương 14: The Plan Breaks

[Evolution Quest Available.] Roy had read the message twice before believing it. The golden letters hovered above the field, visible against the dull afternoon sky despite the weak winter sun. Orion stood several paces to his right with one hand resting on the handle of his axe. Aurelia had stopped beside the new cabin, a coil of rope hanging forgotten from one arm. Talia and Garrick stared at the three siblings rather than the message.

Kindle, Shale, Nimbus, and Clover had gathered among them, drawn by the sudden tension even if they could not understand its source. The rest of the notification was visible. [Evolution Quest: Overcome the Draconic Adversary.] [A hostile draconic presence has detected the Communal Hearth.] [Adversary Intent: Claim or remove bonded drakes.] [Flight or abandonment will not prevent pursuit.] [Household cooperation required.] [Failure Condition: Dissolution of the Communal Hearth.] [Estimated Arrival: 16: 42: 11.] The final numbers began counting down. Roy looked toward Orion. His brother's face had gone still in the way it did whenever fear became too large to show honestly.

"What does it say?" Garrick asked. Roy dismissed the notification before answering. The countdown shrank to a small line at the edge of his vision but continued moving.

"A hostile dragon is coming," he said.

"It has sensed the drakes and intends to take them." Talia wrapped both arms around herself despite the coat she wore. Garrick straightened, though the sling across his chest limited how imposing the gesture could become.

"When?" he asked.

"Tomorrow morning. The estimate is precise enough that we should assume shortly after sunrise." Orion looked toward the woodland path, then the distant hills beyond it.

"We will evacuate tonight."

"No," Roy said.

"We move Aurelia, Talia, Garrick, and the drakes south. You and I remain here and draw it toward the farm."

"The quest says abandonment will not prevent pursuit."

"Then we divide."

"That makes us easier to kill." Orion's jaw tightened.

"It keeps some of us from being in the same place when it arrives."

"If the dragon can sense the drakes, it follows whichever group has them. Separating them from us leaves Aurelia and two injured children facing it alone."

"I am not a child," Garrick said. Aurelia turned toward him.

"You are sixteen, injured, and currently unable to put on your own coat without assistance."

"That does not mean I cannot fight."

"It means you cannot fight a dragon." Garrick's face reddened, but he held his ground.

"You took us in. I will not hide while everyone else risks dying." Talia touched his uninjured arm.

"You cannot draw a bow properly yet."

"I can use a knife."

"Against a dragon?" Her voice remained soft, but the practicality cut through his defiance. Aurelia crouched beside Nimbus, who had drawn close enough that her pale serpentine body pressed against Aurelia's shoulder.

"We are not sending them away," Aurelia said.

"The threat is coming because the drakes are part of our home. Treating them as something to discard the moment they become dangerous would surrender before the dragon arrives." Orion looked toward the four young creatures. Kindle stood near his boot, staring up as though waiting for an order. Shale remained farther back, broad body half sunk into a patch of exposed soil. Clover had rooted himself beside the cabin, his leaflike frills lowered beneath the clouded sky. Nimbus trembled against Aurelia.

"We are not surrendering them," Orion said.

"Then evacuation is finished as an idea," Roy replied.

"We cannot outrun something that flies, and we cannot hide magical signatures it has already sensed." Orion turned on him.

"Do you have a better answer?"

"Not yet. That is why everyone needs to stop suggesting solutions before we identify the problem." Silence followed. Roy walked toward the center of the field and turned until he could see the cottage, cabin, barn, tree line, and shallow slope together. They could not become strong enough to defeat an older dragon before morning. No training, transmutation, or last-minute skill would close that difference. Preparation was the only resource they possessed in a meaningful quantity.

"What makes a mature dragon impossible for us to fight?" Roy asked. Garrick answered first.

"Size."

"Strength," Orion said.

"Fire," Talia added. Aurelia stroked Nimbus's neck.

"Experience."

"All true." Roy looked upward.

"But flight is the problem that makes every other problem worse. If it can remain in the air, it decides when and where every exchange happens. It can burn the buildings from above, land beyond anything we prepare, or leave the moment a trap becomes dangerous." Orion followed his gaze.

"So we ground it."

"We prevent it from taking flight."

"With what?" Roy looked toward Nimbus, who immediately shrank closer to Aurelia. Roy hated the fear in her eyes. He hated more that the plan forming in his mind depended upon asking her to do something she had never safely attempted.

"We saw what Nimbus did with the boar," he said.

"Shale can dig a chamber beneath the field and create several narrow channels leading upward. If the channels taper toward their exits, they will concentrate the pressure when she releases the water." Aurelia understood first.

"You want her underground."

"Yes."

"Filled with how much water?"

"As much as she can hold."

"You do not mean 'safely' hold." Roy met her eyes.

"No." Nimbus made a low, worried sound. Aurelia knelt fully beside her.

"What happens to her?"

"I do not know. She has never carried enough water for this. The pressure required to damage an older dragon's wing could injure her internally even if the tunnels work perfectly."

"That does not make sacrificing her acceptable."

"I did not say it did." Nimbus looked between them. Roy crouched as well, keeping enough distance that she could move away if she wished.

"The attack would need to happen once," he told her.

"You would be hidden belowground. Aurelia would stay with you. If you do not want to do it, we will try to find another plan." He did not know whether another plan existed, which Nimbus seemed to recognize as well. She pressed her head beneath Aurelia's hand, then looked toward Roy and gave a small, frightened chirp. Aurelia closed her eyes briefly.

"I remain in the chamber," she said.

"I monitor every injury. If it becomes too dangerous, I stop her whether the wing is damaged or not."

"What do you need from Shale?" Orion asked.

"Everything underground. A central chamber large enough for Nimbus at maximum capacity. Several firing tunnels aimed toward likely positions in the field, because we cannot know exactly where the dragon will stand. Escape passages leading to the barn. Trenches beneath the field and weakened sections of ground for later traps." Shale's head rose at the mention of digging.

"He can do that before morning," Orion said.

"He will also make the first attack. We need the dragon to expose a wing. If Shale strikes from beneath with the element of surprise, the dragon will spread its wings to recover balance." Kindle gave an agitated bark and stepped forward. His ember-bright ridges flared.

"You are not being excluded," Roy said.

"Your fire probably will not penetrate an older fire dragon's scales. You can still threaten its eyes, attack damaged tissue, and force it to react while Orion moves." Kindle remained displeased but stopped advancing. Roy turned toward Clover.

"Greenbind seals the pressure channels and reinforces the chamber supports. We also use it for adhesive traps and one breakable projectile. That is less dramatic than attacking first, but the entire plan fails if Nimbus's pressure escapes through the walls." Clover's frills lifted slightly. Orion looked across the field again.

"What are our roles?"

"You and I remain visible. If the dragon approaches in a human form like rumors suggest can happen, we converse. We keep it talking and guide it toward the prepared center."

"And after it transforms?"

"You become the primary lure. Your ability gives you the best chance of surviving close enough to control its attention." The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Orion did not object to being assigned the most dangerous role. That worried Roy more than an argument would have.

"And you?" Aurelia asked.

"I coordinate the traps."

"What kills it?" Orion said. Roy looked toward him.

"We ground it. Impair its vision. Control its movement. Wear it down. If it realizes the cost is too high, it may retreat."

"And if it refuses?" The countdown at the edge of Roy's sight continued falling. [Estimated Arrival: 16: 31: 44.] He did not have a satisfying answer.

"Then we keep adapting," he said. ─── 🐲 ─── The red dragon understood the tunnel. His ruined wing had barely struck the ground before his head snapped toward the opening through which Nimbus's water had erupted. Smoke rolled between his teeth. The scales beneath his throat glowed with heat. Roy saw what was about to happen.

"Orion!" The dragon lunged toward the tunnel and opened his jaws as fire poured downward. Orion moved with intense speed. He came up beside the dragon's head with one boot striking the edge of its jaw. The reinforced hatchet in his hand flashed downward, its cutting edge layered with pieces transmuted from Kindle's and Shale's hardened eggshells. The weapon struck the softer scales near the dragon's mouth. It barely did anything despite Orion's full power swing, but one crimson plate managed to split.

The dragon's head jerked sideways, breaking the stream of flame before it could fill the tunnel. [Adolescent Red Dragon — Health: 93%.] Orion vanished and appeared again near Roy before the jaws closed around him, but the dragon's tail followed. Orion pushed Roy back and escaped the center of the sweep, but the outer edge clipped his legs and sent him rolling across the snow. He struck the ground shoulder-first and lost the hatchet. Kindle charged.

Flame engulfed the dragon's face, but the adolescent narrowed his eyes and pushed through it. Fire washed harmlessly across crimson scales, though the softer flesh around one nostril blackened beneath Kindle's sustained attack. The dragon swiped. Kindle leapt backward, only barely clearing the claws. Roy raised one arm.

"Shale! First trench!" The soil beneath the dragon's foreleg collapsed. His limb dropped shoulder-deep into a narrow concealed channel. Greenbind-coated roots and reinforced timber braces snapped inward around the trapped leg, tightening as the dragon's weight pulled against them. For one heartbeat, the mechanism worked exactly as planned. The adolescent lost his balance. His injured wing struck the earth again. Orion recovered his hatchet and rushed the exposed side while Kindle attacked the torn membrane.

Roy felt the battle shift.

"Pull him deeper!" Shale moved belowground. The trench widened beneath the dragon, dragging packed earth toward the trapped limb. Then the adolescent roared and wrenched upward. Greenbind stretched without breaking, but the timber anchors weren't so fortunate. Wood tore from the trench walls. Roots ripped free in sprays of frozen soil. The dragon hauled his leg out with half the mechanism still clinging to his scales. The dragon smashed the braces beneath one claw. His copper eye found Roy." You planned this."

Roy moved toward the next marked path.

"You announced your arrival." The dragon surged forward. Orion crossed his line of sight, striking the damaged wing and retreating toward the loosened ground. The adolescent turned after him, taking two heavy steps along the intended route.

"Now!" Roy called. Shale destabilized the surrounding soil, the surface sagging beneath the dragon's weight. The dragon immediately stopped. His head turned toward the cloth markers, shallow trenches, and packed lines crossing the field, understanding quickly replacing fury. The adolescent slammed one forelimb into the ground ahead of him. The loosened earth collapsed without his weight upon it, revealing the broader trap before he entered.

He tore aside one of the marked stakes, then swept his tail through the others. Roy's signaling system vanished beneath splintered wood and snow. The dragon had learned from the first trap. Preparation gave them an advantage only until he understood it. Kindle attacked the injured wing again as Shale erupted beneath the dragon's opposite shoulder. The combined assault forced the adolescent to twist awkwardly.

Shale's skull struck the joint of one foreleg hard enough to stagger him, and Kindle's flame curled across the bloody tear in the wing membrane. The dragon caught Shale before he could burrow. One foreclaw closed around the Burrowback Drake's shoulder and drove him into the ground. The impact split the soil as Shale cried out. Kindle darted closer, aiming flame toward the dragon's eye. The adolescent lifted one hind leg to crush him.

Orion appeared beside Kindle, seized the smaller drake around the middle, and disappeared again as the claw struck empty earth. Shale dragged himself free when the dragon turned, but one side of his body sagged. His earlier injury had worsened, and blood darkened the soil beneath his foreleg. Their strongest physical drake had landed two clean ambushes, and the adolescent remained above ninety percent Health. Roy understood the numbers.

They could survive only a few more failures, but the dragon could survive dozens of their successes. His head swung toward Roy again.

"You hide behind hatchlings and call it protection."

"They chose to defend their home!"

"You forced immature creatures into pain because you were too weak to surrender." The accusation landed because part of it was true. Nimbus had screamed beneath the field. Shale could barely stand. Kindle's strongest fire had accomplished almost nothing. The dragon advanced toward Roy.

"Give yourself to me," he said.

"The others may yet be spared."

"No," Roy replied. An arrow struck the dragon's cheek, the shaft bouncing from the scales. Garrick stood near the cabin with a bow held awkwardly in his good hand. His injured arm remained bound against his body, making a proper draw impossible. The dragon looked at him with contempt as Garrick knocked another arrow, not intending to retreat. Clover crouched behind a low barrier several yards to his left. Talia knelt beside him with her own bow ready.

The Rotbloom Drake pressed both forepaws around the bulb fixed behind her arrowhead, applying one final coating of fresh Greenbind. Garrick fired again. The arrow glanced from the dragon's brow, and the adolescent turned fully toward him. Talia then rose from cover. Her form was practiced rather than elegant, shaped by childhood hunts more than disciplined training. The shot did not depend upon perfection. Roy had given her the distance, the angle, and the moment.

She released the arrow, and it struck beneath the dragon's eye ridge. The thin bulb shattered, and Greenbind spread across the eye, cheek, and surrounding scales in a thick green-brown sheet. The dragon recoiled and blinked, the adhesive smearing beneath the eyelids. He scraped one claw across his face, spreading it farther as the material began curing in the heat rolling from his scales. One eye sealed shut. The adolescent roared and lunged toward the cabin.

Garrick threw himself into Talia, dragging her behind the barrier as the dragon's tail smashed through the structure above them. Timber fragments exploded across the snow. Kindle attacked the dragon's open eye. The adolescent turned his blinded side toward the flame by instinct, buying Talia and Garrick enough time to crawl toward deeper cover with Clover close behind. Their contribution was finished, but it had also mattered. The dragon's depth perception was damaged.

He turned his entire head to track movement, exposing the blinded side whenever another threat forced his attention away. Roy tried to use it.

"Orion, left side! Shale, tunnel three!" The dragon ignored Orion, and charged directly for Roy. Roy sprinted across the field as claws tore through the place where he had stood. The adolescent no longer chased the fastest target or followed the obvious lure. He had identified the person directing every movement. Orion reappeared between them and struck the hatchet into the dragon's shoulder. Another scale chipped, but the blow barely slowed him. The dragon swept Orion aside and continued toward Roy.

Roy abandoned his observation point. Once he began moving, the field ceased to be a plan and became disconnected fragments: broken stakes, collapsed trenches, damaged tunnels, and allies he could no longer see all at once. The dragon smashed through a Greenbind-reinforced barrier without slowing. He drove one forelimb into the ground above a firing channel, collapsing the tunnel before Shale could use it. His tail struck the corner of the new cabin and split several outer boards.

Every prepared advantage disappeared faster than Roy could replace it. Aurelia emerged from the barn. Her face was pale, portions of her skin singed, and dried blood marked the skin beneath one nostril. Nimbus was no longer with her. She reached Shale first, dropping beside his injured foreleg and pressing both hands to the torn muscle. Golden light spread beneath her palms. Roy saw the exhaustion in her posture and knew Nimbus's attack had nearly emptied her reserve.

She could keep Shale moving, but she could not restore everyone. The dragon endured the damage to his wing, compensated for the blinded eye, broke every restraint through mass and strength, and learned from each failed attack. Roy's original plan had assumed enough obstacles would eventually wear him down, but the battle had proven the opposite. They could not defeat the dragon's body. Roy glanced toward the broken opening in the field. Nimbus's underground chamber remained below it.

The cavern had been built to contain her wagon-sized, water-swollen form. Several narrower escape passages led away from it. Its roof had already been weakened by firing channels, impacts, and the dragon's movements overhead. A different plan assembled itself from pieces never meant to connect.

"Shale!" Roy shouted. The Burrowback Drake turned toward him.

"Abandon the other traps. Collapse the supports around Nimbus's chamber. Not the center yet—the outer edges. Make the cavity narrow." Aurelia looked up.

"He can barely move!"

"We only need him to dig."

"He has no strength left!" A golden message appeared before her. [[Weave Reserve Empty. Vitality Toggle is now available. Activate?]] Roy could not see the words, but he saw her face change as she read them.

"Do not," he said. She looked toward him.

"You do not know what it says."

"I know what that expression means." Her attention returned to Shale, then she spoke.

"Activate!" Aurelia gasped as golden light flared. The glow beneath her hands deepened from warm gold to something sharper and almost white. Shale's injured leg steadied, but blood immediately ran from Aurelia's nose. Dark marks formed beneath the skin along her wrists as though invisible pressure were crushing her from within.

"What did you do?" Orion demanded.

"Kept him moving."

"At what cost?"

"We will discuss that later!" Shale plunged beneath the earth. The ground around Nimbus's former chamber began to tremble. Roy pointed toward Kindle.

"Pressure the dragon from his open side. Force him to turn toward the sealed eye." Kindle barked and ran.

"Aurelia, keep Shale functional until the collapse." She nodded through clenched teeth.

"Orion, you lure him toward the basin." The dragon was already watching Roy. Orion saw it too.

"He will not follow me."

"No." Roy stepped into the open. Orion seized his coat.

"Absolutely not."

"He knows I planned this. He wants me."

"That is not an argument for giving him the opportunity."

"It is the only reason he will commit to another trap." Orion tightened his grip.

"You cannot escape him."

"I know." For once, Roy did not disguise the fear beneath humor. Orion released him slowly.

"Tell me exactly where." Roy pointed toward the section above the chamber.

"Wait until he puts his full weight forward. Then take me out of the path and strike the injured side. Shale collapses everything beneath him."

"And if I am too slow?"

"You are not." Roy ran before Orion could argue. The dragon followed immediately. Kindle attacked the open eye from the left, forcing the adolescent to turn his Greenbind-covered side toward Roy. Shale shifted the ground beneath one hind leg, making the dragon misjudge the distance of his next step. It slowed him for less than a heartbeat, but it was enough for Roy to reach the basin. The ground beneath his boots felt hollow.

He turned as the red dragon bore down upon him with one eye sealed, one wing hanging in bloody strips, and enough strength remaining to tear the cottage apart stone by stone. Roy allowed himself to stumble. The fear required no performance. As the adolescent lunged, Orion appeared beside Roy. One arm locked around his chest. The reinforced hatchet struck the dragon's damaged wing as Orion pulled Roy away.

"Now!" The earth vanished beneath the dragon as Orion leapt away with Roy. The dragon crashed through the chamber roof as timber supports snapped. Packed soil, snow, and stone collapsed around his body. The ruined wing caught against one narrowing wall, twisting beneath him as more debris poured into the cavity. Shale moved through the surrounding earth, destroying the outer supports one after another. The dragon roared and tried to climb the tightening cavern. Every movement brought more material down.

His wings could not spread. His shoulders jammed between broken beams and compressed earth. Then his body contracted. The immense red shape folded inward. Wings, tail, horns, and armored mass collapsed into the smaller human form he had worn upon arrival. He slipped between the narrowing supports and vanished underneath the collapsing roof. By some miracle, Roy's makeshift plan had worked.

"Everyone to the exit, right now!" The family converged on the only remaining opening that led to the basin. Roy and Orion approached from the field. Aurelia followed with one hand pressed to her ribs. Kindle moved at Orion's side. Shale dragged himself from the soil, barely upright. Together, they rushed into the open basin tunnel, placing themselves defiantly between the dragon and the open air beyond them. A few moments later, the young man approached from within the basin. Dirt coated his torn clothing.

Greenbind sealed one eye. Blood ran from the side of his face and from wounds corresponding to the ruined wing. His breathing had become heavier. He was surrounded, and within the small tunnel, he was small enough to restrain. [[Adolescent Red Dragon - Health: 70%]] Orion attacked, the eggshell-reinforced hatchet cut toward the adolescent's neck with enough force to split dragon scales. The young man raised one bare hand and caught the blade. The impact stopped Orion's arm instantly.

A thin line of blood appeared across the dragon's palm, but nothing more. The adolescent looked from the hatchet to Orion's face.

"You mistook smaller for weaker."