Dragon Marked

Chapter 13: 13 is not unlucky!

River was on top of Neil's dragon, flying under the whole army. The army flew in slowly, so the pillar of fire didn't notice them thinking they were just a cloud of fog rolling in. Kate was on the ground with Iona, Malik, and the other elite fighters. Surrounding the camp was the rest of the ground crew, aka the non marked fighters. Natalia was hidden far into the forest to protect her, and help the others realize they were friends. "I count eight captives, including the boy by the fire, Kate. What happened to the others? I count 23 members still. All twenty-three are wearing helmets that appear to be strong enough to crush skulls." Carol looked around the camp worriedly. Kate thought that it was now or never. They were all at the fire, torturing an innocent teenage male prisoner with pale skin, and dark brown hair. Carol informed Malik of a few more details. Once she finished, Malik decided, "That must be Oscar, Natalia's brother. We need to get the captives out. We'll have to risk It." Iona nodded and flew too her team to inform them of Malik's decision. "Fire is too risky." Kate helped Iona board Edith, and the two swooped down.

When they landed, the prisoners crowded back. Iona comforted them, "Don't worry. We are here to help. You need to be quiet, though. If you make too much noise, the Pillar of Fire will notice." Kate untied the first prisoner. "We have a group waiting to get you. For now, I need you to act still tied. Kate and Iona finished untying the seven, and They made a run for it in the direction Kate pointed. Kate and Iona slipped back into the forest. Kate gave the go signal, and the ground crew formed a tight circle three layers of people thick. The riders were backup. A rider named Xander swooped down, and scooped Oliver up. At the same time, Iona and Kate flew up on Edith. Kate called out, "PUT YOUR WEAPONS ON THE GROUND! YOU ARE OUTNUMBERED AND SURROUNDED! YOU HAVE NO LEVERAGE"

"That's what you think." A member of the pillar of fire scooped up an ember and threw it at the ground crew. Flames burst up from the ember in front of the people, causing commotion. "Get 'em!'" Once again, fire and the stench of burning bodies filled the air.

"FLAMES OF INK THEY REALLY KNOW HOW TO FIGHT! EVERYONE! ATTACK!" Malik ordered. Upon his command, everyone rushed the enemy. Dragons with riders rained down from the 'clouds', to attack pillar of fire members. "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! GIVE UP!" A pillar of fire member shouted, smashing someone's skull with his helmet. Everything was a blur of blood and smoke. Suddenly, the fire went out. River swooped down with Skylar. Skylar's dragon was glowing. As Kate watched in amazement, all the fire lifted into the sky, and disappeared after collecting into a second sun. Suddenly, the pillar of fire was weak with fear, and all of them got trampled. Victorious cheers arose from the S.A.D. Army. The causes of their troubles were gone! Everything was finished. At least, that's what they though. "I-I TOLD YOU! THEY ARE COLD BLOODED MURDERERS!" Just then, a huge army appeared lead by Damian. All the slayers. Iona groaned.

"CAN'T WE GET A BREAK?! OR AT LEST BE NICE AND SPARE A LIER'S LIFE?! NO? OK, THEN. FINE! ATTACK!" all the dragons and fighters faced the slayer army. Edith slipped away from Kate in a small form, her power. This'll be fun.

"No, Edith! It won't!" Kate grabbed the little dragon and picked her up by the tail. "One time, you have my permission to kill. Just this once. Ok? Good." As one, the S.A.D army advanced on the slayers. Skylar grumbled "I'm sick of holding fire" All the fire once agin vanished. The S.A.D army was outnumbered 3 to 1. If only they could confuse the enemy. The ground crew couldn't fight in fog yet, so that option was out. Three solders attacked Kate in unison. Kate stabbed them in the chest using the double-sided sword. Kate looked around for a new target. Kate was a killing machine as she fell into the rhythm of battle. Stab, spin, leap, stab, spin stab, spin, stab, spin. Kate saw a glimpse of gold, no doubt what the queen was siting on while watching the battle play out before her. Kate got a running start, pole vaulted over some solders using her sword, and perfectly landed three feet in front of the queen. Iona, seeing what was happening, threw Kate's two-sided sword to her. Kate knew the slayer ways; she knew a challenge that couldn't be rejected. "JAY HUNTRESS! TWIN OF MAY HUNTRESS!" the queen turned around and narrowed her eyes. "What do YOU want? Kate started over.

"JAY HUNTRESS, TWIN OF MAY HUNTRESS, DAUGHTER OF ERIK AND FERN HUNTRESS, I, KATE SWORDSTONE CHALLENGE YOUR SOUL, WAYS, AND RANK THROUGH THE CODE OF THE ANCESTORS!" The Queen Jay fumed with anger; this was the one challenge that no one could ignore. "I, JAY HUNTRESS, TWIN OF MAY HUNTRESS, DAUGHTER OF ERICK HUNTRESS AND FERN HUNTRESS ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE, AND FIGHT TO KEEP MY SOUL, WAYS, AND RANK!" A solder gave the queen a sword. Meanwhile, Kate kept her two-sided sword. All the solders of both sides circled, one section was made up of slayers, the other was made up of the S.A.D army. Kate waited for the queen to get a good grasp on her sword "Ready to die?" The queen called out. Kate and the queen circled until the sun was behind Kate, just were she wanted it. Kate suddenly spun around, lungeing at the queen. "KATE! KATE! KATE!" chants started. Things were looking good for her, for the first time ever. The queen swung her sword, cutting Kate's side. "QUEEN JAY! QUEEN JAY!" the slayers chanted. "Ok, we are doing this now," Kate darted towards the queen, making it seem like she was aiming for the heart. In truth, she was aiming for the right shoulder. The sword hit it's true mark, and Kate drew blood from the queen. "SO, THIS IS REAL?!" the queen asked.

"YEAH, I NEVER CONSIDERED YOU MOTHER ANYWAYS!" Kate kicked the queen in the stomach and knocked her down. Kate held the Sword to the queen's heart. "Surrender, Jay Huntress?"

"Yes." The queen wheezed out. "I surrender." Kate stabbed the queen in the neck. "KATE! KATE! KATE!" there was no chanting for the queen now. When Kate finally looked up, the slayers were bowing to her. Kate bent down to pick up the queen. The queen had been fooled and betrayed by one she trusted. Did she really deserve to die? Might she have truly been good, just misinformed? She had to accept the challenge, and she had to fight for her life. Kate picked up the queen's body and went to a pond. "No one drinks water from here ever." Kate placed the queen's body in the water and watched as it sunk to the bottom of the pond. Kate kneeled settled down to sit beside the pond. The top was calm after a bit, and Kate watched as peace settled the water. "May your soul find a new home, your mind find rest, and your spirit find peace. May those you love find peace with your death, queen Jay. I will remember this day for the rest of my life. May the truth always shine."