Zawkane jumped in-between them and the approaching dragons. “You will do nothing of the sort,” he bellowed, baring his teeth and growling.

“Oh, and why are we to listen to you traitor?” the other dragon asked, returning the aggressive welcome with his own growl.

“Why should you listen to me,” Zawkane said stepping forward. “Because I am Derkomai Zawkane, begotten of Zawkhal and defender of honor.”

The other dragons stared for a moment. They then burst into laughter. The middle one spoke again, “The only true statement in there was who your father was. You are no longer a Derkomai and there is no honor here.”

“Yes, these here are my friends,” Zawkane said back. “And as friends I must defend them or lose my honor.”

“Your honor,” the other dragon said laughing again, his fellows did as well. “You lost that long ago.”

“Only in your eyes,” Zawkane said getting ready to fight. “I helped a dragon falsely accused. He was given the highest penalty for a decision he was not ready to make. He was forced into it years before any honorable dragon would have made him decide. Yes I helped him get away, but it was the honorable thing to do.”

“Well, maybe in your eyes it was honorable,” the other dragon answered. “But the command came straight from the mouth of Sirrush himself. That is why there is no redeeming yourself, you went against our leader.”

Tom noticed a state of shock hit the faces of Chaphar and Shehleg. “We could go on and on like this,” Zawkane said. “But it all comes down to one question. Will you leave us be, or must I force you too?”

“Ha, you think you can beat three dragons all by yourself?” the other dragon asked.

“I’ve done it before,” Zawkane answered.

“But he is not alone,” Tom added. “There are four of us.”

“Like you can do anything boy,” the dragon said. He then added trembling, “Oh no! Its, it’s a…human! Run!” The three dragons burst into laughter.

“Okay, you have crossed the line for the last time,” Zawkane said stepping even closer. “You all will leave now, or prepare yourselves for the final battle of your lives.”

“Are you threatening me?” the dragon asked growling.

“Not in the slightest,” Zawkane answered growling louder. “I am stating a fact!”

“Then I am proud to say this conversation is over,” the other dragon said smiling. “We will now decide this in battle.”

Chaphar said just loud enough for those at his sides to hear, “We should get out of the way now.” They then proceeded to run out of the battle zone.

The three dragons formed a triangle around Zawkane. After glancing at each other they all charged. Zawkane stood motionless until the last second when he flapped his wings to take off. The three dragons anticipated the move and leaped into the air.

To their surprise, Zawkane flapped but remained on the ground. They all collided into each other head-on. At that moment Zawkane ran out from under their fall. They hit the ground in a giant heap where he had stood moments before.

They fought the others off of them and stood up. They turned to Zawkane who was shooting them a humorous stare. Their expressions grew angry as they made another triangle. They glanced at each other again, but this time Zawkane charged.

He blew a stream of fire over his chosen target. The dragon noticed him coming and began opening his wings but the fire overhead prevented him from taking off. Before he could prepare another defense, he was hit with so much force he flipped backwards.

Zawkane held the dragon’s head down and steadied his shoulder. Then with a swift motion, Zawkane bit his neck. The dragon squirmed but the grip was firm. Every second brought Zawkane’s jaws closer together.

The other two dragons brought themselves to their senses and ran to their comrade’s aid. By the time they got there, the squirms were nearly gone. The one prepared to slam Zawkane away with his claw, but when he swung, Zawkane had left. He scraped the chest of his fallen comrade and the body became a corpse.

“I tell you again,” Zawkane said. “Leave.”

“Not in your lifetime,” the dragon, who had always spoken, said.

“Well then give me one favor,” Zawkane said through bloody teeth. “Stop fooling around and fight me.” Every word Zawkane said dropped more blood to the ground. The green grass was now dotted with red.

“With pleasure!” the other dragon answered. He then took to the air. Zawkane followed a second later. Zawkane chased his opponent but couldn’t catch him. He was about to blow more fire, but the other dragon darted to the left.

Zawkane attempted to follow, but his body was at least ten feet larger. That size difference allowed the other dragon to get out of danger. The second dragon, who had been trailing Zawkane, slammed into his side. They both tumbled to the ground.

Zawkane began pushing the other dragon from him when the first dragon landed and overpowered him. The two dragons began clawing ruthlessly at Zawkane’s stomach. Zawkane wasn’t a match against two dragons.

“We must do something!” Tom yelled, beginning to run out.

Chaphar gripped his shirt, “Don’t be stupid. You’d never last.”

“Look!” Shehleg said jumping ahead of them.

Zawkane had used his tail to grab the one dragon’s neck and tossed him away. Zawkane was then able to push the other off of him. He then took hold of the nearest dragon’s head. With his leverage he took advantage of the flexible neck by bending it so the head was against its own body. Zawkane then pushed its horns deep into the ground.

The dragon squirmed but it couldn’t stand up or risk breaking his neck. Zawkane turned to his second opponent who was amazed at the ingenuity of the move. Zawkane winced as he stepped toward the dragon.

When his eyes opened again, the other dragon was nearly upon him. Zawkane lowered his front legs to the ground and jumped with his rear legs. The attacking dragon was forced to the ground by Zawkane’s back.

The dragon quickly threw Zawkane off his back. Red streaks spread down the black dragon’s side as Zawkane’s back spikes had cut his scales. Zawkane had the same injury. Zawkane slowly got up but he was spilling pools of blood from his torn underside.

The other dragon leaped toward Zawkane and Zawkane lifted a claw to stop the blow. At the last second he changed his mind and lowered it. Then just as the other dragon impacted on his side, Zawkane swung his claw up and dug it into the other’s neck.

The other dragon tumbled over Zawkane and clutched his nose, but Zawkane pulled it away. The other dragon landed on the ground and attempted to stop the bleeding, but it was to no avail. Two dragons were now down, but there was still one left and Zawkane was weak. Tom couldn’t tell if Zawkane stood a chance or not. Tom knew he wouldn’t let this dragon be defeated.