Resistance C10: And Into The Fire

Resistance
Chapter 10: And Into The Fire

The others had the large black dragon crashing to the ground in relatively short order. I cocked the pistol and levelled it at his eye. "Following us to teach us... Such bullshit. Any last words?"

Out of the blue, Fenek came sailing in and slapped the pistol out of my grip, growling. "No!"

I scowled at the dragon, while walking over to pick the weapon up, only to have Fenek subsequently rest his foreclaw on me, pinning me to the ground. The other members of the Resistance stared, not quite knowing what to do. I struggled, but it was to no avail, and ended up glaring up at the dragon, adding, "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm stopping a murder." Fenek snarled, returning my glare evenly.

"Murder my arse! He's the enemy! He was spying on us!" I protested, trying again to get free, but yet again, to no avail. "That teacher shit is all crap! Remember that he said that he was watching us? Or is your memory so crappy?"

Fenek growled, ignoring most of what I said. "Look at him! He's harmless now!"

"Now. When he recovers he will not. Let me go." I snapped, still struggling.

"Perhaps we should take him prisoner. We'll be able to get more information from him that way" Fenek replied, unfazed. Meanwhile, half the Resistance members levelled their rifles at him. I made no move to stop them.

Fenek, however, panicked, staring at me with a look of betrayal. "Why are they targeting me? Can you not see them? Call them off!"

I said nothing, and in the meantime, a warning shot was fired at Fenek, who reared up in shock, allowing me to grab my gun and join the others.

I decocked the pistol and holstered it, folding my arms. "They are targeting you because you're going against our agenda. I give the orders around here. Not you, and if need be, these guys here will be more than willing to riddle you with holes. Understood?"

Fenek stared, still in shock, then nodded slowly... He frantically reached out with his mind, but I blocked off the bond. He was hurt and confused....

I nodded. "Very good," Then raised my voice, "Now stand down!"

Fenek stood his ground, silent. His emotions obvious.

"Look. First things first, no matter what, that piece of shit is going to die anyway. I'd just be putting him out of his misery. Secondly, we cannot support a prisoner of his nature. Lastly, I have security to worry about. I don't have a choice, kid, and if you're standing in my way, then you'll be hurt too. Seriously, just back off. I don't like shooting at people I actually care about." I added, drawing the pistol again and cocking it. "I'm waiting."

Fenek finally stood aside, and one of the others shot the already unconscious Errol in the head, ending him.

Meanwhile, I reopened the bond to a torrent of hurt and betrayal from Fenek. I chose to say nothing and walked back into the house, decocking and holstering the pistol on the way, and locking the dragon outside once I was done.

Eventually, the sound of knocking on the door came...

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He had pointed his weapon at me... After everything we had been through, after everything that we had spoken about... Beneath it all, he was still just an angry human... I did not understand, and couldn't ask him, for he locked me out, and made it plain that he didn't want to discuss this...

I waited outside, hoping that he would cool down and let me back in on his own accord, but in the end, I had to knock on the door... "Let me in... Please..."

There was a scoff from inside. "Why should I? All you've brought is trouble."

I sighed. "I was only doing what I thought should be done... Please, try to understand!"

The door opened to reveal a scowling Keane. "No. You went over my head, and in my books, that's wrong. You don't know the considerations involved in the decision, so don't act so righteous. Seriously. I dislike killing as much as the next man, but sometimes, in this line of work, ethics have to take a back seat "

I tried to go in, but was blocked. I stared up at the human, wanting answers.

"You are not doing that again. Understood?" He snapped, glaring.

I hastily nodded my head, biting back my disappointment. I had hoped that Errol would be spared... That these humans would show some mercy... Perhaps it would have proved to that old drake that they were more than what they seemed... Still, I had to differ to Keane's judgement. He knew better...I hoped.

He still refused to move. "You know, I'm having second thoughts about this whole rider thing. This is becoming more trouble than I care to handle."

I knew what he was going to say next, so I cut him off. "Just because Errol said that you must steal doesn't mean that you must do it..."

The human scoffed again, disdain evident in his expression. "I knew about that long ago. It's the bit about being on standby for their every damned beck and call that I don't like. Looks like we'll be parting ways."

I stared, not believing what I just heard... He wanted me to leave? To break the bond? No! I would do no such thing! I leapt into the house, nearly bowling the human over in the process, saying, "No! No... If you refuse to go, then I'll support you. You're my rider, and I'm loyal to you and you alone! Forget the council! They're the ones that sent my parents to die for a crime they didn't commit, and it is they that refuse to tell the next generation about what they did!"

Keane whirled around, weapon drawn, but lowered it as I spoke. "Fine. But remember; in the Resistance, I am your commander. Not your rider. You take my orders and obey them. Understood?"

I nodded, realising what he was doing. I was about to commit myself... To side with the humans and topple my own kind from power... I bowed to him. "You have my word and my loyalty."

He nodded, before relaxing and putting his weapon aside. "Good. Now that that's sorted out, let's have lunch. You can count yourself as partially off the hook."

"Only partially?" I asked plaintively, confused.

The human shrugged. "Yes. I cannot let you go just like that. I'll deal with that later. I have some preparations to settle. You can just run along and do your hunting and such..."

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I sent Fenek along, knowing that he would want to hunt. Meanwhile, I began to make myself a light lunch. I had been left a note saying that there would be a meeting at my place later. The reason was left unclear. I also sent a message along to Fenek, telling him to help to hide the body, which he did by simply making the entire thing disappear, blood and all, saying that he teleported it underground.

I could sense that the dragon was upset, mostly due to what I did to Errol, and how strict I was being with handling the matter... Yet, it had to be done. We couldn't risk having Errol around as a potential information leak...

Yet, the dragon didn't seem to get it... He simply saw a wounded person.... And if I hadn't been through the war, perhaps I would have too... However, things had not turned out that way. Errol was an enemy informant, or more likely, part of some kind of spy service. It was obvious enough, especially given the convenient reason of being a teacher, which was inconsistent with him claiming to be an investigator earlier on... Not to mention that he had attempted to infiltrate the bond during the argument earlier, shortly before the shooting began... I had blocked his attempt, but chose to keep quiet about it...

Of course, all this being done and said, there would, of course, be consequences. The question was only what those would be, and when they would come...

Mentally puzzling over what could be the next move, I began to prepare myself some stew...

As I began to eat, there was the unmistakable sound of wingbeats outside, followed by a loud rapping on my door. Another rider, perhaps, or a lone dragon. Not Fenek, since he had the key.

"Who's there?" I hollered over, acting nonchalant while hurriedly finishing up my food and holstering the pistol that I had left on the table.

"A fellow rider. Open up. I have important news." Came the reply. It was obviously a man, judging from his voice, and my gut told me that this was not going to be good news.

Now, the question remained on what to do... I would definitely have to let him in, but was a bit stuck on what to do afterwards...

Abandoning my food for the moment, I went to the door, pistol drawn. "You'll have to elaborate on the news part, bro." I added.

"I cannot discuss this in public, and Salamak wants to rest. Please let me in." Came the reply.

The whole thing seemed innocent enough, and I decided to let my guard down a little by holstering my pistol and opening the door. As an afterthought, I sent a message to Fenek, informing him of the situation.

The dragon, who was actually midway through having his lunch, promised to be back as soon as he could.

However, I didn't realise that a dragon's definition of as soon as possible meant immediately, for Fenek came sprinting in the moment I opened the door, bowling me over and fussing over me.

"Are you hurt? Have they been looking for trouble? Do you wish for me to fight them? " Fenek demanded as he nosed me over several times over, his eyes filled with concern, while I heard the other rider snickering in the background.

"Your companion is very protective of you. You should count yourself lucky." He remarked, as he let himself and his dragon in.

Meanwhile, I shooed Fenek off and peeled myself off the floor, shrugging. "It's a blessing and a curse. Mister clingy here can get annoying sometimes. Anyway, mind if I finish up my lunch first?"

Fenek shot me an insulted look while I went and finished up my food.

The other rider nodded in agreement while introducing himself as Saben. From his accent, I assumed that he came from what used to be Hong Kong. He had a head of unruly black hair, and defined downward sloping eyebrows of the same colour. His eyes were a chestnut brown, and sparkled with intelligence. His dragon was covered in a coat of gleaming gold scales, and had spikes running down his spine, the colour of ebony, matching his underside. He had no horns, but his sharp maroon eyes more than made up for the decrease of ferocity...

Seeing that I had inspected the other dragon, Fenek puffed himself up and started to preen with a whole lot of ceremony. He then sat himself in front of my lunch and insisted to be petted and generally given all my attention. I was amused. He was actually jealous!

As I put my dirty cutlery into the sink, Saben cleared his throat. "So, let's get down to business."

I nodded, while starting to clean the pot. "Go on. I'm listening." I made sure that my pistol and holster were concealed by my shirt.

The gold dragon, Salamak, spoke next, picking up the conversation without any hassle. "One of our elders, Errol, has gone missing in this area. His last communication was from here, around sunrise. We haven't heard from him since, and his mind cannot be found."

Oh dear... They were looking for Errol... This was not good... Still, I feigned nonchalance while stemming the tide of panic from Fenek, whose emotions I quashed too. <Keep calm.>

The gold dragon continued, taking my continued washing of the dishes in silence as consent to do so. "Your help has been enlisted to search for him."

I froze. "Has been enlisted? Am I hearing this wrong? You enlisted my help, and then came to ask me for it?"

The dragon snorted. "Yes. You are aware that your duties include helping us out when required, yes?"

"Well, yeah, but you don't just go around pulling people in to help before asking them for said help!" I spluttered, glaring at the duo, while Fenek loosed a low growl, inching has way towards me, eyeing the other dragon warily. He must have snesed that I noticed something off...

Saben interjected, saving us from another fight. "Alright, alright. Relax, all of you. Dragons are just like that sometimes. I think you should have found that out for yourself by now, yes?"

I sighed. "You have no idea. Like Fenek here. He turned up one fine day and blocked my way to my house. That's how he got me to ride him. Anyway, Saben, I happen to have a job in town and I doubt disappearing on rider duties is going to bode well for my employment status. I've waited for two months to get this job, and I'm not going to give it up just because some old dragon decided to go for a morning walk and disappeared!"

Saben shrugged. "I had a job too. Lost it some time ago due to that very reason. You see, we don't have a choice."

I shook my head. "No. There's always a choice. I'm saying no."

Fenek himself was busy trying to stare at everyone, not quite knowing what was going on. He prodded at my mind, but I had to brush him off. This was a difficult situation...

"...I don't think you can do that..." Came the slightly hesitant reply as Saben reached for his sword...

I raised an eyebrow, "No need for the knife. I'm unarmed. Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not going to comply if I have not been consulted prior to this. In other words, no."

"They'll arrest you!" He exclaimed, his hand resting on the sword, "And rumour is that you killed Elder Errol!"

I made a face. "Do I look like I can kill a dragon that's bigger than Fenek, who's bigger than my house?"

Saben drew his sword, advancing on me. "Looks can be deceiving, and I'll have to bring you in for disobeying orders anyway."

I half wanted to pull out the pistol, but chose to try talking one last time... "What if I change my mind?"

Saben rolled his eyes and took another step forward, sword in hand. "No. It's too late. Sal has already reported back. Will you come quietly?"

Fenek prompted my mind and I gave him his cue verbally. "The hell I will!" I snarled while Fenek charged at Saben, knocking him over before crashing headlong into Salamak. As Saben fell, I saw the sword fly out of his grip and clatter to the floor in front of me. I grabbed it.

However, the next thing I knew, a boot flew up and knocked the sword out of my hand, sending it flying off to one side while Saben got up with a rather graceful jump. "I can take you unarmed. Surrender now, and you'll be spared." In the background, I noticed that Salamak had already subdued Fenek...

I raised an eyebrow. "Martial arts, seriously?"

Saben smirked. "Yes. No one expects it. Your dragon has already been subdued. Submit."

I returned his smirk. "I expected it."

"Hah! I'm not falling for that!" he laughed, "Your form is terrible, even without the sword. You can't possibly fight me!"

I drew the pistol and shot him in the leg, the sound of the weapon discharging in such a small room making my ears ring. "Didn't say that I was a martial artist. Call your dragon off."

Saben crashed to the floor, a look of pure shock on his face... "You....you shot me... T-t-thats a g-g-gun! How...?"

"Call your dragon off. Then we talk." I snapped, gesturing at the dragons, both of which were staring at me. Fenek seemed equally startled, but for a different reason. He hadn't expected me to defend him... I knew that he thought that I would have run, especially after my outburst earlier.

Saben complied and Salamak let Fenek, who skittered over, go. I then gestured to the door. "Get out."

They stared at me for a moment, before edging to the door, wary of my every move. "This isn't the end, you know, sergeant. More will come, and we won't be so nice next time."

"Tell me this; how many of you know about me?" I added, while they continued walking to the door, under the watchful eye of Fenek.

"Everyone." He replied and slipped out the door, with the help of Salamak. The pain must have finally hit.

Fenek began to nose me over again, obviously worried. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Lost in thought, I replied absentmindedly, "No, I hurt him."

Fenek stared at me for a moment, confused, before finally realising that I was also half in shock... he nudged me gently, once the other rider and dragon had left, and pushed me into a chair. I collapsed into it, placing the pistol onto the table, decocking it as I did so... I was numb...

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He hadn't expected to have to shoot at the other human. I could tell. Keane had simply flopped into the chair as I coaxed him to sit, placing his weapon on the table as he did so. He said nothing, and that worried me even more...

I jumped onto the table and nudged his cheek gently. "Are you alright?"

He seemed dazed, and there was a pause before he replied, "...I shot him... He's supposed to be on our side... He's human..."

I nodded. "But he is a rider. He's loyal to the other side. Even you must know that. That's why you tried to chase me away, yes?"

He sighed. "I only heard about it. Never saw it.... Didn't think it was so true... Didn't think they knew about me... This is bad... bad..."

He glanced at his weapon, and I quickly went and sat on it. "No. You were the one who argued with me over taking sides... You won me over and now you're giving up?"

He sighed, and I glared at him, adding, "No! You're my rider! I will not have you give up like that, especially after making me do so much for your cause! What happened to overthrowing the dragons?!"

He sighed again and shook his head, shrugging. "They found out long ago. That's what happened. Either way, if we stay small, we're finished."

I growled and nipped at his arm. "So you're giving up?! Just like that?" Turning away, I shook my head too. "Then, you're not fit to lead the resistance, and not fit to ride on my back!"

His voice was low and cold as he responded. "I didn't say anything about giving up. I have an idea, we all do, and ideas are bulletproof. That's what the resistance is about. An idea. No, we will not fall. If they want a resistance, we'll damn well give them one. Since they know about us, we will give them something to fear. Tomorrow, we take the town. I will tell the others when they come."

I turned to stare at him, filled with disbelief. Was he mad? There were so few of them... How could they take an entire town? Even my help wouldn't be enough.

He read my mind and laughed bitterly. "It's easier than you think. People want the old world back. There will be little resistance. Most will support us. Mark my words, Fenek."

I gulped, seeing the determination in his eyes... He was serious, and for once, the hate was not directed at me... "I understand."

He nodded and petted my head. "Good. Now, what should we do? The rest are only coming later."

Noticing that he was returning to normal, I replied, "I want a bath."

He shrugged, snorting. He seemed to be picking up habits from me. "Then go and bathe. I'm not scrubbing your ass for you."

It had been worth a try... He was turning out not to be your run of the mill rider, even after excluding his involvement in the Resistance. At least he was warming up to me....even though I knew that the bond was partially the cause. I shuddered to think about how he would react if he found out... I would probably get chased away again.

In the end, I was chased out anyway, but for a different reason. He told me to bathe while he did the same...