Bonds of Fire

No Surrender

"Spread out, the trail is still hot, they have to be close. I want the dragons alive, the others: do what you have to," the lead warrior ordered and waved his soldiers in either direction.

It would only take one scan their way and Drekken knew they'd be found, so, with a quick set of hand signals, he indicated to his companions to take one direction while he went the other and then he started to remove Baby D's sling. However, the child clicked at him in alarm and he could feel her fear beginning to form at his urgency. Anymore and she would give them away, so Drekken dropped her back against his chest and, rubbing her belly through the cloth, pulled it over her head. He glanced at Malachi and Yakov, who nodded their understanding to him and then, letting his magic rise, Drekken turned and crept away from his charges.

He kept low, using the shady patches as his cover and aimed for a tree partially behind the Feras leader and the two warriors who were still in sight. Pulling in his magic, he lifted his arm and aimed at his enemy. He did not like ground combat, not having Miri under him made him feel exposed and nervous, but there was no choice but to engage. However, before he could let off a fireball, he heard the ground crunch again behind him and, turning and ducking instinctively, a laser blast slammed into the tree right above his head. He let off a blast of flame in retaliation, but it was not very accurate and his opponent dived away.

Shouts came from several directions then and Drekken took on the role of bait. Hoping to give his friends time to hide, he let off a volley of small fireballs towards the Feras commander and then ran in the opposite direction to his charges. He ran towards sunlight, hoping to pick up as many of the searchers as possible and he heard the breaking of undergrowth from at least two directions as he charged into the clearing ahead. It was bigger than he expected and he cursed at the spread of grasses ahead, but disappearing was not an option, not until Malachi and Yakov had got the little ones away, and so, zigzagging, he started out across the open ground, firing a couple of lines of flames down through the dry meadow behind him to try to distract his pursuers.

However, the distraction was not enough, because Drekken heard the whine of a laser pistol going off and then pain erupted out of his thigh. His leg collapsed under him and he went pitching forward, only a quick twist of his body stopping him from landing on Baby D. He heard her squeal at the sudden descent, but the sling held her safe. The sound of armour crashing through undergrowth behind him meant that Drekken did not have time to consider the pain that was making him see stars, instead, with combat trained stamina, he put one arm over his vulnerable charge, rolled onto his back and aimed his hand at the noise. He froze there, poised to attack, but halted by the fact that a laser was pointing directly at his chest and D, who was cradled there.

Drekken was trapped: he knew he couldn't walk, not with the lancing pain in his leg, and he could do nothing but hold his defensive position as his enemy advanced on him. He couldn't see the soldier's face, it was hidden by an armoured mask, but Drekken knew hostility and the stalk of victory when he saw it. He hoped forlornly that the boys had escaped the search party with the other little ones.

"Surrender," the metalicised command came at him.

Drekken didn't move. He still had his enemy in his sights, he could fry the man before the laser ended it, and so he gritted his teeth and grimaced at his adversary. D whimpered and he tightened his hold on her. The Feras soldier's head titled just slightly at his move.

"Relinquish the beast and you may live," the next offer came.

Drekken's blood boiled at the derision he heard there and he flexed reactively, failing to contain a growl. His enemy retrained the laser on him for that and they both came to a second halt, further fixed in their stalemate. Drekken glared at his adversary, hoping the agony spreading out from his thigh was not showing in his face and trying to stop a trembling that was growing in his muscles. He knew he could not hold his position for very long, but he was damned if he was going to go down before his time, every moment could count. Despite his defiance, however, the stance of his enemy told Drekken the man knew he was weakening and was merely waiting for his strength to fail.