War of Chaos Chapter XIII

XIII

It was the first time that the Dark Dragon teleported. In the blink of an eye, the park around him, and the tavern before him, became a dense growth of trees and a stream. The process of this transportation nauseated the dragon, but he was transported successfully. He looked up, seeing the starlit sky. Not knowing these stars, he had no idea which direction was north, where he needed to go. He then looked down, seeing that the wizard that teleported him, was still there, and the use of his magic drained much of his strength. Ares stated, “You succeeded in bringing me to a place I know not. You still have my gratitude.”
The weary necromancer looked around, still panting, and managed to say, “This is the place I remember. You are in Brazil now.” He reached into a pocket for a tool. It was the size of a pocket watch, but its face said otherwise. The face turned like a dial. The tool was shaken, but it still worked well. Looking up at the dragon, he spoke, “North is tha’ way, m’ lord.” He indicated by pointing with his arm stretched out. Ares looked to his left, and then to the sky, to get a diagram of the stars in his memory. He examined the pattern very closely. Like a human having fingerprints, there were unique patterns of stars. Without looking back, Ares told the wizard, “I know that you lack the energy to teleport yourself back to London. Just find a decent hiding spot. Neither of us know what beasts linger in this kind of environment.”
The wizard responded, “We shall look forward ta yer return.” The tone was earnest.
With his heading imprinted in his mind, the black dragon leapt into the air and swiftly flapped his wings. How glad Ares was that it was daytime when he departed from London, meaning nighttime, if not early morning, in the western world. The black dragon had no disturbance from the clear sky at night. It was suddenly warm in London even though winter was approaching. He saw that in no time, the world would be in a perpetual summer state. There would always be warmth and the sunlight never even obscured. Normally that would be good, if they lived in the first garden in the Bible. The problem there, would be that it would become a fool’s paradise. With world peace, there would be nothing to write about. With only clear skies along with plants being everywhere one was to go every day, the place would be a bore. All that Ares knew was that the elements and nature were out of balance. That was all that mattered to him.

Suddenly, the Dark Dragon was caught off-guard, making him lose his balance. Something made no sense. He did sense a magical aura foreign to him, and whoever carried it, chose now to intercept him. He felt something ram into him again, this time rousing his irritation. He hovered in the air, to look around while trying to detect the foreign aura. By the time, he could sense the aura, he was out of time to evade, for he was hit once again, but the strike wasn’t strong enough to penetrate his hide, only to make him lose his balance. He did see the silhouette of who or what was onto him, which was approaching him. This time he could evade. He rolled in the air to the side with the right timing, making the strike miss. Ares then quickly turned around. His patience was already worn thin. He thought, “I have no time to play games.” That was why he kept his eyes on the indistinct being and pursued him in the air. Now that was peculiar, for he was chasing someone skilled in flight and did have wings, but it was the size of a person. Ares really didn’t want to know what this beast was up to, but then he saw that he wasted even more time. The beast wanted him to pursue. So, he pulled up, slowing his flight until he stopped and hovered in the air again. He was rusty on a certain skill of his. There was never a wrong time to start doing it again. He concentrated hard, mentally asking for the guidance of his late teachers, and a black spike shot from the ground and into the air. It didn’t touch the beast hindering with his mission, but he didn’t expect it to. The dragon started flying toward the obscure beast whilst having the spike reshape into a bundle of vines, which further confused his target. Ares lunged into the air, which was heard by the wretched beast. It made haste in flying as Ares reached out with his good claws. When the claws did close, the beast wasn’t in the dragon’s grip. Still, he was close enough to have the sharp points scratch. Ares swung his other paw, and managed to swat against the creature. However, the result was that the creature started to fall toward the ground without slowing down. As much as it wasted his time, curiosity got the best of the dragon, for he followed the falling pest.

It was just when he alit to the soil, he could see something fallen. He looked up, seeing the spot among the trees where it fell. He approached what was laying on the ground. When getting a good look, Ares narrowed his eyes. It looked like a woman, but it wasn’t human. The real clue to that, was the clawed hands and feet. Layers of feathers seemed to flow from the arms. The black dragon remembered what Aquarius told him happened with these creatures. They were sure to know why he was here. Therefore, there would be more like this to stall him in his mission. As much as Ares wanted to avoid getting into any more conflict before facing the Light Dragon, he saw that this was something that he had to do. He doubted that he would get through to the dragon who had control of these creatures, knowing who he allied with.
Then noticing that a longer shadow was being cast of the subdued creature, Ares looked up, seeing that the sun was rising. That would mean that the interference would come to him before long. If Ares was correct, the rest of the Harpies had already known of his presence in this forest. He actually doubted that the area wasn’t really a forest. Regardless, he understood why the Wind Dragon chose to reside there. Ares didn’t forget that the Harpies were in league with the Wind Dragon. What he couldn’t comprehend was that the Wind Dragon chose to take the side of the Light Dragon. No good would ever come from one condemning what they didn’t understand.

The black dragon, not caring who would hear him, made haste in searching for the great depths of the forest, to stay out of the sun when it was to bring its light over the whole area. He was more than ready to face another dragon. He expected this one to be a challenge, never having actually seen the Wind Dragon fight. Knowing that, he wondered if a grudge was held against him. Ares did make the Wind Dragon bring out the monster in him that every non-magic human believed any dragon to be. Despite the damage they would always deal, there was no choice but to let the dragons fight each other.
All the insects, all the birds, and all the animals small by comparison to him, ran about in fear as the dragon roamed, making small tremors in the earth. Ares knew nothing on the exact location of the fellow dragon, but would likely get a hint if he was to find even a slight disturbance from light energy. How Ares would hate if it did get picked up by the Wind Dragon. He already despised the Light Dragon despite not having seen his face for a century.

Other beasts like the one spotted by the black dragon had their eyes open for him. There was something that let the leader know what happened to one, and she would spread the word to the rest. A trio of the human-like avian had been tailing the dragon upon finding a hint of the black among the green and following their curiosity. They were correct about finding the beast that was mentioned. A simple but effective strategy was thought out among the three, and they made their approach.
Unfortunately for these beasts, they were too loud to strike him without any kind of trouble. Still, there was an obstacle for the dragon. He could hear one of them approaching from a different direction. Given the circumstance, he had time to evade only one strike. He wanted to play no games. Just as the flying horrors were to reach their target, something came at each of them, and they suddenly steered off-course, which led to them hitting the ground hard. The black staffs held above the dragon without being touched, were lifted and then redirected before they were sent flying like arrows. The bar above his neck, landed through the heart of the beast before him. Because he didn’t even look at the other two, he neither knew nor cared if those two other bars missed. He stood where he’d been without even turning his head, waiting patiently for the two remaining wretches to make their moves.
Ares quickly spun as he finally heard one leap toward him, this one coming from his left. As he spun, he lashed with his tail, which the bird-like humanoid avoided as well. The dragon could see that the creature was wounded in the port wing. Before having the creature possibly reproach him, he jabbed his claws into the throat of the one still laying on the ground, blood drawn from the shoulder. Just as predicted, the wretch returned to him. It was obvious that the fight was to take to the air, which Ares obliged to without hesitation. The creature spiraled toward him, and Ares swung his paw at her, which threw her off-course again. Despite having a bleeding wing, it still didn’t want to give up even now. Not caring how the unbalanced its flight was, it thrust toward him and already knew where Ares would expect to swing, for his paw missed. However, Ares caught on and rolled whilst he was airborne. Close enough to make a move, the dragon sunk his fangs into the beast’s other wing, breaking the limb.
The game was over now that the dragon had the beast pinned to the ground. It gave off that familiar screech. Ares roared, “Where is your superior!?”
There was just another screech, and it was in the tone of a protest. So, Ares stomped with the paw that had the creature pinned down, weakening it. The dragon lowered his head, making the wretch see his blood-red eyes better. He snarled, “Where did you follow me from, Harpy?” She struggled, but not enough to concern the dragon. The woman-like bird used more of what little strength remained, just to raise her left wing, for it didn’t take as much damage as the right wing. The raised wing shook while trying to stay off the ground. The Harpy had to nudge her head to show what she was getting at. So, the dragon focused on the clawed hand, which was pointing. Looking the Harpy in the eye, Ares hissed, “Isss that where your friendsss reside?” As an answer, the Harpy quickly nodded and let out a frantic breath. To know whether she was lying, was difficult, but Ares knew no other leads. Believing the answer he got, Ares got off of the creature without doing any more damage. He was hesitant on whether to kill her to make the pain stop, or let her bleed out and still suffer. It was the latter that he chose.
While walking through the vegetation, Ares wondered if he could even try to reason with the Harpies, for they were known to be tricky beasts. He knew that they weren’t just messengers. In a way, they delivered torture, which was executed by taunting and playing cruel jokes. They weren’t mischievous, but they were harsh, for their expertise of seduction and their small but effective acts of cruelty let to deaths of several mortal men. As for the Wind Dragon, Ares didn’t know what to think of him. If it was true that he sided with the Light Dragon, there was less hope of the siege succeeding.
It was midday by the time Ares found something of interest after following only one heading. He had to refrain from looking up as if he was afraid of being blinded by the sunlight. He could hear the same kind of sound as the one made by the creatures that he had to fight. He looked around, and could make out creatures with the build of human ladies but with the wings and claws of a bird. He still didn’t know what kind of birds they were of. He had no idea what kind of business these ones were tending to, seeing they were fulfilling some kinds of tasks. The black dragon deliberately broke the trees around him so he could be seen. It was obvious that they wanted him, knowing now that he was on their premises. He was certain that they all wanted a piece of him.

The black dragon continued pacing, prompting more of the Harpies to stop and stare at him. The blood-red light of Ares’s gaze easily left the wretches startled. The pleasant warmth upon the southern world wouldn’t make up for what was believed to be an omen. The near-silence was too thick for even the Harpies’ natural blades to break. Ares just couldn’t understand it. He was forced to fight others. Why were they not attacking him? Was it just because an ebony behemoth was unusual sight in this part of the world? Having lost his patience, the Dark Dragon bellowed, “I thought you knew I arrived here! I should be no surprise to you!”
The humanoid avian stared at one another, all of them sharing one expression. They actually made sure to stare at anything but that scarlet glare, the lines of their sight being to each other’s or at least among the trees where they perched. They were next to frozen with their hesitation. The grinding of the dragon’s bared fangs became all the more reason for them to remain in the same positions like statues. It seemed that Ares would have to do this the hard way. He closed his eyes. There was no time to doubt his speed, let alone his own general skills.
Given the silence that arrived, the Harpies reluctantly, and then cautiously, turned their gazes toward the shadow-like beast, noticing his eyes closed, meaning no sign of what they were afraid of seeing. Just when the branches for perches were out of the grip of each of the creatures, they one-by-one lost their balance and were pushed toward the ground. Everything seemed black as if all the Harpies went blind. Ares knew not how many of them there were, but he would know when any of the Harpies would touch him. He could hear when a hard impact was made by someone to the soil. By the time the shadow-like beast opened his eyes again, he saw that all the Harpies that were in his range were facing the ground, a few struggling to pull themselves up.
The dragon approached the Harpies, bellowing, “I will only ask this once: where is your leader!?” All that he could hear was the woman-like birds groaning from the single move that he made to deal them pain. He added, “I will only enhance your agony as long as you give me no answer.” The first one he approached, he grabbed her with his claws wrapped around her. Holding her close to his snout, he gave a slight shake, which made the creature open her eyes, and force her to look at his. Ares’s eyes were enough to intimidate her, and she tried looking away. “Gimme an answer!” he snarled. Hearing only fearful whimpers, Ares turned his paw, to have the head of the Harpy face his maw, which was then wide open. However, Ares froze, having the head between his gaping jaws, upon hearing a voice orate, “Stop!” That was a new female voice. He saw no reason to keep his victim in his grip, and opened his claws but let her fall and roll.

The one to speak, approached the ebony behemoth. The creature was as much as woman as a human, save for the coat and wings of feathers and the claws for fingers and toes. Her long and tangled hair would have passed for gold if it wasn’t so dirty, and her feathers were a bright brown with several faded spots, possibly from old wounds. Her eyes were of a piercing yellow, like any bird of prey. She stood tall, her golden-brown claws latched onto the soil as if she was cautious, yet her human-like visage said otherwise. Any leader would at least try to exude confidence. She spoke, “Seeing as you wanted an answer, I lead the Harpies. Like you with your wizards, we are a clan, and I am queen. My name is Kallistrate.” Her accent partially resembled that of Aquarius, the Water Dragon. From residing in this territory, this creature changed how she talked.
“And you know who I am”, Ares replied. “I am the Dark Dragon. You were wrong if you thought me dead. After a defeat from so long ago, I have resurfaced.”
“I presume for vengeance”, the Harpy spat.
Ares objected, “This is not about what I want; this about what I must do. What I must do, is restore the balance of the elements. In order to do so… I think you know…”
The Harpy queen, and then the others laughed as if they he was joking, their laughs sounding like hisses except they gave off a cheerful vibe. Ares narrowed his eyes at this gesture. To refrain from striking Kallistrate, took much restraint. Instead, he lowered his head, making the Harpy standing before him, gaze into his red eyes. His flaring nostrils gave off a hot draft, which finally gave him back the creature’s attention. She froze briefly, but she got a hold of herself. She hissed, “Don’t think I don’t know why you are here! Since you know that we are allied with the Wind Dragon Daedalus, you merely waste your time here!”
Ares lifted his head, but maintained his gaze toward Kallistrate. He said, “So he really is with the Light Dragon?”
Kallistrate responded bitterly, “Of course he is! That coward only joined him to avoid being harmed!”
“Did the assault upon Greece really prompt Daedalus to join him?”
“He saw it! Just from seeing the other beasts as bloody carcasses, he desperately fled! He ran and hid like a hatchling!”
“Then why did you side with Daedalus?”
Kallistrate explained, “During the Light Dragon’s assault, Daedalus saw him up close, and merely distracted him, to flee. After the Light Dragon left, looking for another challenge, Daedalus was angry with himself for his choice of action. So, he worked hard to hone his skills until he found us. He tried to seduce me as we seduce mortal men, but it failed utterly. As a result, he took his pent-up anger out on me.” She held out her right arm and pushed back a bundle of features with her other claws. Ares lowered his head again as low as he could to see a distinguishing light patch of skin, which was one of the Harpy’s old wounds. “He did this as well”, she added, and lifted the bundle of feathers over the left side of her lower ribs, showing a long scar. Kallistrate continued as she looked at Ares, “Now you must be wondering why after all that, I agreed to follow him. He actually talked me into it once he mentioned the relation that the other Wind Dragons had with the Harpies. It was simple as that. He practiced further by sparring with us before he decided that he was ready to leave the country, which we were very reluctant to do. However, we had no choice, since we would follow him. He made us go with him to so many countries for about fifty years. FIFTY YEARS! We could not believe it! Finally, after that long, Daedalus found the one dragon he was looking for.
“We heard perfectly well what he had to say to the Light Dragon. He really did believe himself when he said that… only the strong always emerge victorious. He showed the Light Dragon what he could do, which resulted in killing two of his wizard generals. The Light Dragon gladly welcomed Daedalus to his side. Daedalus has us for his own army. Just like the Light Dragon has done, Daedalus challenged other wizards, and made every challenger suffer. It made Daedalus feel like a clan’s champion, just as he always dreamed.”
“How do you know that?” Ares interjected.
Kallistrate justified, “He told me himself how he felt. He has told me so much about his actions and how he felt.” She then wore a sorrowful expression. She had to have regretted something.
Ares asked, “Have you shame?”
The Harpy sighed, “Oh, I have had shame for years now.” Looking up at Ares again, she continued, “We actually grew up together, him and me. He is my best friend. That is why I worry for him.” So that was it. Kallistrate had mixed emotions. She was so willing to follow him even after witnessing Daedalus kill without pity. Now that she had told everything to the Dark Dragon, she let her long-lingering doubt overcome her. All that doubt was all about the Wind Dragon’s intentions. After a moment of silence, the Harpy queen asked, “What meant you when you mentioned the balance of the elements?”
Ares clarified, “’Tis all about the aura of each magical being. Aquarius told me how he slaughtered all those other creatures. However, we dragons are a source of magic. We give the sorcerers strength. I know that my former clan was eliminated, but the Light Dragon never thought of searching for dark sorcerers in other countries. The two sorcerers that freed from my prison, which rendered me paralytic, were from the Far East. The elements went out of balance due to the imminent depletion of dark energy and the immensely long absence of my aura.”
Kallistrate and her followers let the small lecture sink in. They stared at each other, and as Ares had seen of them, said nothing, as if they could hear each other’s thoughts. Even though the Harpies followed the Wind Dragon, the truth was amiss among them.

A sudden gale storm changed the atmosphere. The surprise brought the Harpies off-guard and caused them to lose balance. Only Kallistrate and Ares managed to maintain their footing. They both knew that by flying, they would have been caught in the mayhem of gusts. To bring even more shock, the Harpy queen was shoved aside, and before Ares stood another dragon.
This dragon had a pale-green hide, a plain tail, a single spike on each wing’s thumb, and spines only on his back. There were four horns on the back of his head. His eyes could have passed for blind for the grey hue of the green. His muzzle had the shape of an eagle’s beak, and slits for nostrils. The pale-green dragon stared at the black dragon with his eyes narrowed. Ares could not determine what the expression told, but assumed that a brawl was to happen, which was the last thing that he wanted at this moment.
Ares hissed, “You mussst be the Wind Dragon… Daedalusss…”
The pale-green dragon hissed back, “And I thought you perissshed, Demon.”
There was the word that he took as an insult. To refrain from striking the Wind Dragon, took much restraint. Instead, he let out his thought: “I am disappointed…”
Now that was something to surprise Daedalus, even though his expression didn’t seem to change. “Are you? Why is that?”
Ares then spoke in the way he thought about the specific situation, “Aquarius told me about you. You work so hard to become Greece’s dragon champion, but when the Light Dragon assaults your country, you come off as a bloody coward. In due time, you have a change of heart and join the dragon who threatened all other beasts and sorcerers once he finished my clan and after he assaulted my friends. You threaten your old friend and have her follow you like a pet. Now you make her keep quiet about you following the orders of an egotistic dragon.”
The Dark dragon was to see how much Daedalus hated hearing insults, for the pale-green dragon bellowed, “You speak perversely of the Light Dragon! He knows what is best for all us dragons, and all us animals!” As if it came right from his mouth, his fury caused another gale storm, which seemed to be directed toward Ares. Daedalus continued, “Your loss was predictable! It is the light that always triumphs. His side, always achieving, is the side I stand by. Your old clan has been sent to Hades: a price that you should pay!”
“Pay for what?!” Ares roared back. “We elementals all have our own roles in nature. As we follow in nature, we try to be superior to another. Because the Light Dragon and I have different ways of seeing the world, we knew that we would have to fight! We knew it would come to this! What good has he done since he built his domain? What promises has he failed to keep?”
“Everyone will get what they want!”
“What has he promised you?!”
Suddenly, the black dragon’s bellow of that question, brought upon dead silence, and his legitimate anger toward his opposite being demonstrated, caused his dark aura to generate a rain cloud, which brought shade upon them. All the Harpies let their surprise be shown to one another and their questionable master. Ares had the impression since learning of his enemy’s actions that the Light Dragon was simply arrogant. No one ever liked arrogance affecting a leader.
The black dragon maintained his position and stared toward Daedalus with his eyes narrowed. The Wind Dragon had his eyes wide and his maw ajar. In due time, as he looked around, he could see that the Harpies had their gazes toward him as well. He looked back at the dragon who stood out in the area. Ares finally got through to him, but he still had pent-up anger, which made the cloud, along with the shade, expand. A short rumble of thunder tore through the barrier of silence, but still no one seemed to have anything to say. Ares was patient for an answer, though his expression seemed to indicate otherwise.
While the Wind Dragon appeared frozen from his surprise to the question, the Dark Dragon approached him, maintaining his earnest. As he was judged to do with persuasion for someone to join or follow his cause, he circled Daedalus and as he looked at the side of Daedalus’ face, hissed, “Have you ever been ressspected by the Light Dragon…? Did he convince you that you would make right for the world…? Doesss he not ssstill depict you asss a coward…? How are hisss followers treated…?”
The mere words seemed to have stunned Daedalus, for he merely stood and watched his enemy circle him without displaying any sign of irritation. Not wanting to turn this into another game, Ares pinned Daedalus to the ground and shot black vines in random directions, as a sign for the humanoid avian to not interfere. Ares bellowed, “Anssswer me or I will break your neck!”
Daedalus sounded like he was hyperventilating as if someone cast a terrible illusion on him. In his mind, every picture of his interaction with his ally was rapidly cycled through. He managed to catch his breath, to screech, “He never made promises to me! I though he never needed to promise me anything!”
“What about his followers?” Ares hissed quickly.
“I never saw or heard how he acts toward his sorcerers!”
Feeling like Daedalus was useless to him, Ares got off the Wind Dragon, and deliberately pushed and rolled him. The black dragon’s anger fusing with the pale-green dragon’s fear caused a rainstorm upon the forest. The woman-like birds grew nervous, finding the two auras influencing such a condition to be a questionable omen. Ares bellowed, “You have a choice, Wind! Just because you work for someone, is no reason for orders to be the only thing to follow. Think not about what the Light Dragon wants, but what you want! I came here not to kill you, and nor did I come here to persuade you! I seek only the Light Dragon! If you understand why, you and your underlings will not slow me down further!” He waited patiently for someone to make a move if they wanted him to stay away from the Light Dragon. After looking around, the black dragon had the subtle hint that their answer had been given. So, Ares changed his tone, announcing, “Now then. I was looking to go north. Since the sun still directs here, would any of you kindly give me the direction?”
None of the woman-like birds were hesitant on that. Each and every one of them lifted a wing/arm with a single claw pointing the general direction. Now the Dark Dragon had his heading. There was no point in staying with the vegetation anymore. They all watched him climb the air until high above the point the tallest trees stopped expanding, and followed his single heading. Whilst in flight, Ares mentally reminded himself that this wasn’t about revenge.
Meanwhile, back on the forest floor, the pale-green dragon, having watched the shadow-like behemoth depart, deeply considered intercepting the enemy of his ally, and yet he merely stood by and took no action. With no other soaring animal to watch, his mind drifted off to another subject: one that he didn’t think about until now. It was a piece of the truth that was amiss.