A Dragon's Rider (Unedited)

Chapter 36

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"Why? Well little bird, that is for me to know and you to find out." He sighs. "Well, at least I get to finish the job."

He leans towards me, hands outstretched.

I scream.

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His hands tighten around my throat in a split second and my hands come up to his. I pull at his fingers and try to get any bit of air into my lungs but he is too strong. Black starts to creep up into my vision and I know that any second I can die. My attempts to wrench his fingers off my neck become more feeble until I have no strength left.

"What a pretty bird." John laughs "Too bad all birds fall." His maniacal chuckle reaches my ears and I know I will die. I will die and Amipere will die with me. So will Rayne. And everyone else I care about. Everyone I love will be dead. And I can't stop it. I am useless. I am weak. Just as I am about to accept this fate, the pressure on my neck leaves. The crushing hands fall away and I gasp; sweet mouthfuls of air rush through my nose and mouth, into my lungs. The black recedes from my vision and I look around for John. When I finally find him, he is on the ground, Soul on top throwing punches everywhere. John shouts as one of Soul's punches connects with his eye. I can see that John is losing though he continues to fight. Soul lands punch after punch and I hear John's rasping breaths. I look away for a moment to look for rope, or something to restrain John with and I hear a pained gasp, one not from John. I whirl around and see the positions reversed, Soul on the bottom and John on top.

Through gaps in their fighting, I see the long handle of a knife protruding from Soul's chest. Blood is staining the cloth around the wound and I know he will die if I don't do something. I turn, desperate to find something to help and I see a misplaced book. It's a hard cover and appears to be a course book. I run over and grab it, a bad weapon is better than none at all at this point; I sprint back to John and Soul. Without hesitating, I whack John upside the head with the book and it throws him off balance. I push him off Soul and whack him again. Then again, then again, and once more for good measure. I can tell he's still breathing but my main goal is to help Soul. I drop the book and hurry to kneel beside Soul. I rip a wide strip off my shirt and apply pressure around the edges of the wound. The knife seems to be stopping some of the bleeding and I don't know if I can hold back the blood if I take it out. He blinks up and me and attempts to speak. All that comes out of his mouth is blood. The knife must have pierced one of his lungs.

"Z..z..zircon, you must d..e...feat Jo..john. He means to k..k..kill the d..d..dragons and their r..riders. St...st..starting with y..you and Ami..Amipere." He wheezes slowly and painfully.

I take his hand and look back at him. He smiles then grimaces. I can see a single tear run down his face before blood bubbles up to his lips and starts to foam. He convulses once, twice, three times before going still.

"No. Soul! Soul!! Soul! Don't leave me!" My desperate cries are met with a blank stare and I know, deep in my heart that he is dead. I check his pulse just to be sure and when I feel nothing, I start to shudder. Hot tears fall in rivulets down my face as I cry. I cry for the sweet man before me who gave his life for mine, for the good person who made the largest sacrifice. I cry for the injustices of this world, how the brave fall so the weak may rise. I cry for Soul. Then, I hear John stirring on the ground behind me and something snaps.

I have felt useless for the past weeks because of him. Because of him, Soul died. And because of him, Amipere is dying.

Push me down, I will get up; throw me to the wolves and I will return as leader of the pack but you put my family and friends in danger and you will die. You will hurt. You will feel my pain.