"The shield's holding fine si... George," whispered Amelia Battlehard in his ear, having just checked the integrity of the crackling blue hemisphere of light that boxed them all in.
"So it should," he replied, much more gruffly than he'd meant to. "It is, after all, powered by this." Holding up his hand, he showed off the awe inspiring magical ring that adorned it.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "It's just that I feel at such a loss for what else to do."
Opening his eyes, for they'd been closed throughout the exchange, he exhaled and forced the tiniest of smiles onto his weary, weathered face.
"You've done all you can and more Captain. Your professionalism and dedication are a credit to your training. There's no one else I would wish to have at my side, right at this very moment."
A bubble of pride burst within her, spreading quickly to include all her appendages, especially her tail. The king always knew the right thing to say. That's probably why he was the king.
"This, stupid as it seems, is one of the hardest parts of a battle... the waiting. Inevitably in my experience, there always is some. It saps the concentration, dulls the brain, and lulls everybody into a false sense of security. Over time, I've learnt to sharpen my wits, imagine every possible scenario, every weakness, every strength... all of the possible combinations, every facet of every assault. I play them out in my mind, developing defensive and offensive strategies along the way. You'd be surprised at what you can learn, the holes that you can find, in any and every attack, and just how important that information might yet be."
"Don't you find it distracts you from what is about to come?" asked the young captain, wide-eyed.
"Not at all," he shrugged. "Most of my consciousness is still here, in the present, alert and ready to act. It does stop me getting bored and complacent though, and I would have to say that I owe my life to such an exercise, at least twice."
"Thank you for sharing with me George. I'll be sure to give it a go. I'm not quite sure how well it will serve me in the future though."
The king almost let out a chuckle at that. Turning to face the young guard, and with the biggest smile he could muster on his face, he raised his voice so that all around him could hear.
"Things are desperate, there's no point in pretending otherwise. Have I been in a situation quite as bleak as this before? Probably not! But I have been in situations where I thought I would die, where I had no right to survive. Fate, however, always had other ideas. All of these circumstances had one thing in common. I never gave up... not once. No one here should either give up hope, or stop believing we will get out of here in one piece. While I grant you a rescue of any sort is unlikely, it is not entirely impossible. So as your king, I order you all to BELIEVE, and to fight for the life that each and every one of you deserve, the life that these beings are trying to deprive you of."
They all heard, and despite how dire things seemed, the words did buoy them just a little.
3
Splitter!
So in synch with the world above, the planet wide mantra that turned the fierce orange glow of the surrounding lava into a dawn-like spectacle, crept across the underground domain of the dragons, throughout the United Kingdom. In and around the capital, the fresh morning blush revealed the previous day's death and destruction. Fires raged, thick cloying smoke circled high above, searching out the few direct routes to the surface. Death and decay wafted on what little breeze there appeared to be.
Awoken after barely an hour, she slipped out from his warm embrace, but not before negotiating one of his giant arms, that was not far off the size of her waist, before stalking off into the shadows. Quietly, so as not to disturb the rest of the makeshift camp, as that was now what the circular courtyard of the nursery ring had become, she turned the handle on the towering stone fountain, that the young dragons based here normally drank from. A high pressure jet of water flew up from its base, splashing not only her face, but the rest of her front as well. Shaking the water from her hair, and ringing out her top at the same time, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Glad of the drink, she was comforted by the fact that no one had seen what had happened. Spying her target in the distance, curled up not far from the dazzling looking purple, blue and scarlet looking female dragon that had suggested using the tunnels, whose name she'd subsequently learnt was Sunset Streak, she set off around the outside of the courtyard, hugging the darkness. It wasn't long before she approached his ancient scaly face, having been determined not to sneak up on him, for fear of how he might react. She needed to speak to him as a matter of urgency, but wasn't sure how, or even if she should, wake him up. 'Carefully,' she thought on the how. Whilst still thinking, one heavy looking eyelid rolled back in front of her, revealing a giant eyeball, bigger than the size of a football, focused solely on her.
"Good morning child," purred Gee Tee, quietly.
Instinctively she took a step back.
"Morning," she managed to squeak.
Rolling his head, first from side to side, and then back to front, the old dragon gave a huge yawn, before settling his attention back down on his visitor.
"To what do I owe this very welcome visit... child?"
It had all seemed so easy while she'd been thinking about it. But now that she had to voice some small part of it to another being, her idea, no, plan, seemed all the more crazy. It had plagued what little sleep she'd had, which she'd taken as a sign that it was the right thing to do and that she should press ahead with it. So she did.
"Your... glimpse into the future. I need to ask you about it."
This got the old dragon's attention, causing him to adjust his posture ever so slightly.
"Go ahead child. What is it you need to know?"
"I was wondering if you witnessed me in any of your visions?"
'Every being on the planet always wants to know about themselves. I thought this one might be different,' he thought, opening his mouth, about to speak.
"Is that all?" he growled, much more harshly than he'd intended, disappointed by the actual question itself.
"And any of the other humans, or Tank."
With a barely discernible nod of his head, the master mantra maker silently admonished himself for jumping to the very wrong conclusion about the young dragon leader.
"It was all very vague little one, but I'll try and recall what I can."
At this, she smiled.
"I did, as you're well aware, see Tank, swinging from that hastily erected gallows, as well as you and your band of intrepid humans. Of course, all of that has now come to pass."
Purposefully staying silent, so as not to disturb his train of thought, she wasn't sure what she hoped he would say.
"There were structures, here underground, one of which I'm pretty sure was the council building. After that, it's all a bit jumbled I'm afraid. I saw Tank in chains being led away, and what might have been the big one... you know, the one I gave the backpack to..."
"Ahhh... Hook, you mean."
"Yes, that's it... Hook," added the old shopkeeper. "It did look like him, shrouded in the shadows; that said, I suppose it just might have been Flash. Sorry I can't be any more help."
"You're sure you didn't see either Janice or myself?"