Thrax

No sooner had they sat down than one of the Knights sitting atop the vans spread her wings and leaped  forth, gliding to a landing in front of them.  “Thrax!” the female weredragon called in a voice that Agena now thoroughly recognized.

“Meline,” Thrax acknowledged his friend.  They reached out and clasped hands, and Agena silently remembered what Thrax had told her about Meline’s proclivities.  “I’m pleased you weren’t among the casualties.”

“Yes, but bane and damn, we’re going to avenge all of the fallen, every one,” Meline said with a hiss.

“Bane and damn, so we will,” said Thrax.  “There’s no one I’d rather have for my second-in-command than you.”

“And there’s no leader I’d sooner follow than you,” said Meline.  In the corner of her dragon eye, she noticed Agena watching them stiffly.  “Agena,” she called, “I’m glad Thrax was able to get the two of you to safety and then get back to us.”

“So am I,” said Agena.  “I feel safer with…everyone here.”

“What news of the battles?” asked Thrax.  “You’ve been monitoring the situation while we were in the air, yes?”

“Yes, we have,” Melina replied.  “Fighting is still going on everywhere.  But some of the alien ships have been taking stationary positions in exactly the places we’d expect: over the Spires and the Aerie, over the Draconite lakes, and above the locations of the mines.”

“They haven’t been repelled from the Spires and the Aerie?”

“Our forces have tried to get them away from there.  All we’ve managed is a standoff.”

Thrax hissed loudly at that, and Agena knew why.  The Spires and the Aerie were the two most sensitive places on the planet – the training academy of the Knights and the Corps and the seat of planetary government.  If those two places fell, Lacerta’s situation would be ever more dire and precarious.  Reinforcements could not reach the planet fast enough.

“Have the Mentors, the Alpha Dragon, and the members of the Aerie been successfully evacuated, at least?” Thrax asked.

“Thank Draco, they have,” Melina answered.

“Yes, thank Draco for that at least.  My mentor ordered me to contact him for further orders once the evacuation was completed.  He’ll be waiting to hear from me.”  Thrax took his badge from his armor once again.  “Thrax to Mentor,” he spoke into it.  “Thrax reporting, please respond.”

A thin beam of light shone  from the badge and became the image of Thrax’s Mentor, floating in the air.  “Sir Thrax,” said the Mentor, “I trust you’ve completed your evacuation.”

“Not without casualties, Sir.  We have some wounded and…we lost one of the vans.”

The Mentor paused a beat, then soberly said, “Understood.  I and other Mentors are now aboard a transport away from the Spires.  We’ll have to regroup our forces outside of the cities.”

“Yes, Mentor,” said Thrax.  “Where are we gathering?”

“We’ve chosen the Annex locations of the Spires, from which field maneuvers are launched in training.”

“That’s wise, Mentor.  I can call up the coordinates of the nearest Annex and…”  He trailed off at a sound in the distance, above the trees.  “Stand by, Mentor.”  He looked at Meline.  “Do you hear that?”

The two dragons turned their heads to the treetops.  Agena, watching them and watching her surroundings, saw the other dragons doing the same.  She could hear it, as they all could: a whooshing, whining sound.  Agena’s heart froze.  Could it be a bomb of some sort, or a missile, carrying some alien force for mass destruction to wipe them all out?  Would they have to flee into the cave?

A hot, startled shock lanced through everyone when voices came echoing down from the side of the cliff: “Incoming!  Incoming!”

All eyes on the ground turned to Thrax.  At once, he addressed his Mentor again: “Sir, something is happening.  I have to break contact and report once I’ve investigated.  Thrax out.”  He tapped his badge.  The hologram of the Mentor disappeared.  In a single motion, he put his badge back on, beat his wings, and rose from the ground toward the treetops.

Agena watched him fly up and away, and sent him the thought, Please, be careful.

Thrax soared up over the trees surrounding the cave opening.  He could see against the perfect blue, cloud-studded sky what they had heard and what his comrades on the cliff had spotted.  An object had fallen through the clouds, trailing thick, reddish smoke behind it.  He saw it only for a fleeting instant before it vanished into the forest about a kilometer away.  A muted crash announced its drop through the trees.  A muffled boom signaled its collision with the forest ground..

Thrax weighed two possibilities.  What had just fallen in the forest might represent a danger.  Or it might represent an opportunity.  With a whip of his tail and a beat of his wings, he angled back down to Glaurung.

When he lit back at the cave entrance, Agena and Meline headed right for him.  “We heard a crash,” said Agena.  “We were afraid something might have happened to you.”

“What was it?” asked Meline.

“Something fell out of the air into the forest,” Thrax answered.  “I think it was one of the alien craft.  I think it may have been struck in space with enough firepower to crash it, and it came down about a kilometer from here.  I want to investigate.”

Apprehensively, Agena asked, “Do you think anyone aboard it could still be alive?”

“We don’t know enough about the aliens to tell.  But I think it bears a look because even if we find alien bodies and wreckage, we may still learn things about them—things we might yet use to defend ourselves.”

“I agree,” said Meline.  “I want to go with the recon team.”

“No,” said Thrax.  “I need someone to remain in command here, and you’re the best one for that.  I’ll lead the team; you stay here with Agena…”  He corrected himself: “With the others and the civilians.”

But a meaningful glance passed between him and Agena.  He had specifically asked Meline to stay with her.  He had implicitly put her before the other civilians.  He had said, however indirectly, that protecting her was his first concern.  It did not go unnoticed by either of them.