Dragon's Revenge

Nori steps out of the shadows, revealing herself under the moonlight. She looks disheveled, like she hasn't slept in days. "I've come to finish you off, Elodie."

"Stand down, Nori." Jonah commands.

"Shut it, traitor!"

"Nori, you look like shit. Being on the wrong side is taking its toll on you."

"I'm on the right side of history. Everything went to shit the minute Elodie stepped foot into the trials. And Jonah, an Aelon, really?"

"Elodie's parents were murdered!"

"As were Jebels! This goes both ways, Jonah. But don't worry, we're going to wipe the planet free of them, so the deaths can finally end."

The fire inside Elodie burns hotter than the bonfire now. "You think you can beat me?"

"Think? I know I can."

"You genocidal maniac!"

Nori starts walking toward her. "Say goodbye to your little girlfriend, Jonah." She picks up the pace and starts sprinting, shifting simultaneously. "This is your end!" She jumps high in the air, raising a fist, ready to smash it down on Elodie when she lands.

But just before Nori connects with her, a shifted Jonah blocks the hit, sending Elodie tumbling to the ground. "Elodie..... get....on.....defense!"

Elodie lets the rage consume her until she's shifted. "Nori!"

"I see you, dragon wrench!" She hops onto her feet. Jonah flings Nori her way and she stops her with an outreached arm. Nori drops to the ground, but breaks her fall with her hands. "Good move."

"You want more?"

Nori runs at her again, but this time, Jonah intercepts and grabs her throat. "I don't think so." Elodie grabs Nori by the back of her neck. They lift her up and slam her into the ground, knocking her out. After Nori's knocked out, Jonah takes Elodie into his chest, calming her breathing. "Are you okay?"

"I am. I just-"

"Ahhh!" The echoes of screams fill the air, coming from the direction of the bonfire. "We need to get on the offense!"

Jonah takes her hand and they bolt over to the bonfire. Jeremiah and a few other Jebels are terrorizing the Aelons.

"Jeremiah!"

"There you are, your highness. You know, none of this had to happen! It's all your fault."

"Help!"

"Ahhh!"

Her attention is diverted to Sasha and Abe, both in the middle of losing battles. "You get Sasha, I'll help Abe."

"On it." Jonah shifts and runs into battle while she takes her efforts over to Abe.

A Jebel in shifted form pounces on top of Abe and is about to deliver a death blow when she arrives, grabbing them from behind and head butting him into the ground. The Jebel warrior collapses in pain on the ground. She grabs Abe's arm and yanks him to his feet. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, not hurt. I see your skill set reaches further than water challenges."

"Thank you for the compliment. Now find somewhere safe to hide!" She looks around at the chaos, then spots Desmonda and her heart drops.

The woman is slowly backing away, her hands up. Jeremiah stands in front of her, about to attack.

"Jeremiah, think about what you're doing. This is not the way."

"This is the only way, Desmonda. Although..... Morgan did have one last thing to say to you."

"What?"

"Good riddance!" Jeremiah lunges at Desmonda. Elodie sprints toward Desmonda and leaps through the bonfire. "Argh!" Jeremiah's about to take her down when the Aelon tackles him to the ground. They both roll over with a thud. A dirt cloud rises from their splash.

"Desmonda, run!"

"Be careful!" Desmonda clears the area of battle.

Jeremiah growls in anger, but then sets his sights on Jonah. "You'll pay for that, Aelon wench. But with the blood of your lover." He runs full speed at Jonah.

"Jonah!" She pulls out Sasha's gun and shoots Jeremiah in the side, forcing him to collapse. She tries to shoot again, but there was only one bullet in the chamber. The gun is empty.

"Oof!"

"Asshole." Jonah leaves his side, unscathed. He hurries back to her, fear etched across his face. "Have you seen my mother?"

"She's safe. But this..... this is a catastrophe." She looks at the battle still raging around the bonfire.

"It is, but we can take care of this. Together. Ready?"

"I am always ready."

"That's my warrior wife. Let's get to it." Jonah leads the way to one of the Jebels. One by one, they take them down. Jonah throws them up, she slams them down. But no matter how strong they are, the exhaustion starts getting to them. "I don't know how much longer we can fight like this." He looks around at the Aelons and Jebels rumbling like there's no tomorrow. "We need a Hail Mary move to stop this!"

"I have an idea." She says. "What if I do what Morgan did to you?"

"The forbidden remote-link?"

"Yes! It pretty much had you incapacitated."

"I'm not so sure-"

"Jonah, what other choice do we have?"

"You're right, we have no choice. But the minute I think it's hurting you, I'm pulling you out."

"I can handle this." She takes a few steps away from the battle with Jonah carefully covering her. She closes her eyes and concentrates on connecting with every single Jebel in the area. She feels a strand of her consciousness exit her body and build a bridge with them. "I can feel them." The sounds of battle suddenly quiet, behind the veil of her focus. "I can feel everything."

"If you're going to do this, Elodie, now's the time!" Like lightning, everything around her slows down. She can see Jeremiah running toward them. She can see Abe and Sasha fighting. She can see Jebels tearing down Aelons. "Elodie, now!"

She dives into the mind of all of the Jebels. She can hear their thoughts, their minds hellbent on destroying the Aelons. "Can you all hear me?"

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Ah, so you can hear me." She can feel their fingers bubbling inside of her fingers. When she balls a fist, they ball a fist. She takes a knee and makes all of the Jebels take a knee. "This is going to hurt more than it hurts me." She inhales as much air as possible, then screams so loud that all of the Jebels collapse. She exits the link, exhausted, only to see Jonah staring down at her.

"You continue to astonish me, Elodie."

With the Jebels defeated, they help the remaining Aelons to their feet. Jonah grabs Sasha by the arm, keeping him steady, who looks around at the injured Aelons. He notices one laying lifeless on the ground.

"Ramir?" He hobbles away from Jonah toward the body, holing back tears. He checks to see if he's breathing. "Ramir?!" Everyone turns now, watching Sasha try to do CPR. "C'mon!"

"Sasha, I'm so sorry for your loss." Elodie says.

"We haven't lost anything! He's alive, I know it." Another Aelon tries to pull Sasha away, but he doesn't budge.

"No, no, no, no." Jonah searches the unconscious Jebels, his expression panicked.

"Jonah, what is it?"

"Jeremiah, he's not here!"

"I felt Jeremiah when I had the link, he must still be here."

"He could've escaped."

"Elodie, Jonah, take a look at this." They run over to Abe. He points to some fresh tracks and blood just outside of the field of battle. "My hunting days are over, but I know Jebel tracks just as much as I know the scent."

"C'mon, let's go."

"Wait just a second." Jonah stops and she tries to gather her thoughts. "You should stay here just incase any of the Jebels regain consciousness."

"What? I'm not letting you go alone."

"Jonah, have my back by having theirs."

"I can have both of your backs."

"Jonah, they need you."

"Okay, okay. But if you're not back in ten minutes, I'm coming for you."

"Alright, ten minutes."

Jonah snatches her into his arms and kisses her. "Ten minutes."

She follows Jeremiah's tracks and blood until they swerve back to Sasha's house. He's sitting at the foot of the hut, holding a gash on his neck in pain. His eyes are closed as if he's meditating. "Don't try to sneak up on me. I can feel you."

"You're going to pay for what you've done."

"Is that so? I might be injured but you're not at a hundred percent either. Plus, I have Morgan. He's helping me."

"Morgan is not going to be able to stop me."

"He won't have to. He's giving me strength, feeding it to me from afar."

"What, how?"

"You're too feeble to understand. You couldn't even take me down with a mindlink."

"I couldn't then, but I damn sure will now." She tries to shift, but nothing happens. There's a block in her mind. "What? What did you-"

"Haha! I told you. You're too weak." Jeremiah gets up and stalks toward her. "I put a mental lock on you. No shifting, no dragons. Just me and you."

She thinks about all the Aelons that were killed and balls her fist. "Bring it on!"

Jeremiah launches a fist at her. She dodges the fist, parries around him and throws an elbow toward the back of his head. He dodges with ease, then tries to spin and punch her in the gut. She jumps back before it lands. "It's almost like we're evenly matched without powers."

"I'm stronger than you. Always will be." She analyzes his body. As he swings combinations at her, she dodges while repeating words in her head. Gut, chest, face.

Just as he's about to punch her, she dodges and punches him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him, making him bellow out in pain. "You bitch!" Then she punches him in the jaw so hard, she knocks him out.

"I was going to say that your ten minutes are up, but it seems you handled it already." She turns, only to see Jonah walking over.

Jeremiah gasps for air, suddenly jerks up and his eyes roll to the back of his head. "Morgan will see you soon." His body seizures and collapses. He's dead.