Wings of Fire: Nighthawk

Chapter 17: Invasion

Five days of preparation had passed as the seawings set up defences on the targeted islands. He was assigned to defend the Harbor with its inhabitants. He and Lobster sat on the tallest point of the harbor, both using spyglasses to try and see any incoming dragons.

"See anything yet?" Lobster asked, they had their backs turned to each other. This was for efficiency.

"No. Don't stop looking." Nighthawk added as he looked around at the sky. He spotted what looked like a red cloud. "There, heading towards us! They're about 10 minutes out!" He yelled and rang a bell. It was Tempest's idea, and a good one. Perfect for letting everyone know the skywings were coming and to get ready. He turned and saw Lobster pick up his crossbow.

"Let's get to the dugout. Gonna see if I can rig my spyglass to this thing." Lobster said before running down the hill towards the little bunker they had dug out together. It was more or less a vantage point for defense, and it was made of large rocky bricks. Fireproof and sturdy, just how it should be.

"Sounds good lad." Nighthawk said as he followed. The two hunkered down and got in position while the other seawings prepared to fight. They were able to cripple the skywings intelligence, which made them less of a threat. He heard a roar from their commander as the skywings got closer. Although it wasn't just skywings, there were some mudwings too, and they were holding some strange looking cacti. He'd seen it before but he didn't remember it fully.

"Mudwings.." Lobster growled under his breath. "Start shooting." He hissed and fired a bolt through the opening in their bunker. There were four other seawings in this one, a useful and armed garrison, but a possible target. "They have bombs!"

"What?" Nighthawk glanced at him and kept shooting. Bombs! How clever, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve to counter them. He pointed his crossbow and started firing, reloading and firing again. He repeated the process. Most of his targets went down, but a few spotted him and dodged. He heard a hiss as a skywing blasted fire towards the bunker. He rolled out of the way and the flames crashed into the bricks.

He saw two troops of mudwings fly towards the main village, but they were quickly intercepted by seawing soldiers with spears and daggers. Tempest led the counter attack, and to his surprise she was grabbing the Mudwings and throwing them out of the sky. One landed on her back as she flapped through the air, but due to her shear size and strength she was able to throw it off easily. Even the burly and strong mudwings couldn't compete with her, it seemed.

He focused his energy on the dragons in front of them. The ones above the water were surprised when pairs of seawings emerged from below and dragged skywings towards the water to drown them. An effective method he was surprised to witness, but not disappointed. One of the mudwing groups flew towards their garrison with a bomb, ready to release it and destroy the bunker. He went to shoot but he was out.

"Dammit! Lobster!"

"Here, take one! Make it count!" Lobster yelled and tossed him a bolt.

Nighthawk caught it and lit the end of it on fire with a loose piece of cloth he ripped off his cloak. Then he loaded it into his weapon before aiming at the mudwing with the bomb. It fired on the trigger pull and he heard it whistle through the air before impacting the cactus.

"Three.. two.. one, bang! Haha! Look at that shit!" Nighthawk roared as the cactus detonated and took out the entire wing. It knocked the survivors down into the trees below.

"Beautiful shot! Keep it up!" Lobster commented. "How's it going-" He turned to the others and two of the seawings were dead. A large skywing soldier stood over the other two, smashing their heads together.

"Nightwing.." She hissed and glared. "You must be so proud of your ability to sneak around." It was Cardinal. She was wearing some heavy armor.

"Ah, I remember you. Easy to take down. Round two shouldn't be so hard." Nighthawk said confidently with a grin.

"You don't scare me, Nightwing. Neither do you, freak." She hissed at Lobster and tapped her claws. "You won't win, I hope you know that." She glanced between the two before charging at Lobster first.

That was a mistake. Lobster was ready with his spear, pointing it in her direction. "Nighthawk, flank." He said. The Nightwing was already on it, running to her other side. She was bigger than them, but it was two against one. Both well trained. He felt Cardinal's tail slap him across the face, but due to his helmet it only made a clanging noise and the skywing roared.

Lobster had jumped at her with his spear, gracefully swinging the point across her neck. It sliced down  and she hissed again. Fire erupted from her mount and blasted the seawing in the chest, knocking him over. She ran at him to finish the job but was tackled into the wall by Nighthawk.

"You're not killing him ya bastard!" He yelled and raked his claws across her face and neck before slamming her head against the brick wall.

"You two are easy!" She growled and kicked him off before running at him. Nighthawk blocked her claws with his armored cloak, which was ripped open by the attack. "What is this!?"

He didn't answer. He just focused on winning. He rolled to the side and smacked her with his tail, simultaneously charging up his firebreath. He blasted her face, making her scream and fall over. Lobster ran at her again with his spear. He leaped and slammed the pointy end into her side, which sent it all the way through into the ground below. She couldn't move, and eventually she passed out from the pain.

"Whew, fuckin hell." Nighthawk groaned and led down to catch his breath. He was a little wounded but he would manage. "Wow.."

"Yeah, pretty good with one of these, ah?" Lobster grinned. "She's not dead, I think." The two glanced outside and saw their foes retreating. They had won

"Well that's good, because when she wakes up.. we can question her."