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And then, just when I thought it was all over, just when I began to doubt that we would ever be able to defeat Ilvar, I hearda roar from behind me. I looked back, worrying that it was one of his allies coming to aid Ilvar, but it wasn’t.
It was Buck.
He was struggling through the air, carrying the broken trunk of a tree. I got out of his way, and he came forward, swinging it with all his might. It slammed against the bottom of Ilvar’s chin, sending him reeling in a spinning motion. I could see the groggy expression on his face as he was sent whirling back. Mason and I flew towards Buck and helped him with the trunk. We grabbed it as well and then, as one, the three of us flew towards Ilvar, ramming him with the trunk. It splintered against the great bulk of the obsidian dragon’s body. Shards of wood penetrated the scales, but we didn’t stop there. We drove him down into the pit of fire he had created. Smoke whirled around us, coating the air in this ashy scent. We dropped the log as we watched Ilvar’s body disappear into the inferno. There was surely no way he could survive that.
The island burned beneath us. The air was thick with heat, but there were no more dragons to fight. Mason gave us the signal to retreat, and we gladly left the island, returning to the coast, flying over the silver sea. We had all changed though. We had all faced the beasts inside us, and we would never be the same but, at least, the world endured.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Buck
I had no idea how I did it, but I survived. The last thing I remembered was plummeting through the forest and the darkness encroaching upon me. Then, there was a sense of heat. I heard a roar in the distance, and I knew that the people I loved were in danger. I managed to stumble to my feet and had the strength to rise through the top of the trees again. The sight that greeted me was a horrific one. The forest was coated in fire, burning up swiftly. If I hadn’t moved when I did, I would have been caught in it myself. I liked to think that my father reached out from beyond the grave to give me a nudge, as if to tell me that I still had much to accomplish before I died.
I saw that the others were engaged in battle with Ilvar. The great dragon was bigger than any I had ever seen before, and it didn’t seem as though he was going to stop for anyone. I looked around and picked up a broken trunk and then, I hit him.
It was over.
We limped back over the sea and came to rest on the shore. The sand was soft under our feet. The water ebbed and flowed across the sand. It was so gentle and peaceful.
“It’s like nothing happened at all,” I said.
Brett was on his knees, filling his mouth with seawater even though the taste must have been awful.
“I’m going to disagree with you there,” Brett said, spitting out the water as soon as it entered his mouth. He wore a disgusted look.
“I’m going to disagree as well,” Mason said. He was on one knee, unable to stand. His face and body were covered in bruises. Kadie stood over him like a nurse, supporting him. Iwent over to Mason and helped him to his feet. He put an arm around me, and I carried his weight. We stared across the water at the burning island. The land was ablaze and smoke rose, creating a thick mist.
“We stopped him,” Kadie said.
Somehow, looking at the island and thinking about all the people we lost, it didn’t seem like much of a victory. Mason turned around. His words were heavy and stilted as he tried to fight against his own fatigue.
“I want to thank you all for what you’ve done tonight. The humans are never going to know how close they came to extinction tonight. By stopping the powerful engines of the ship from firing, we prevented this planet from being shattered. They will not thank us, and they will not mourn the ones we lost, so we have to do that. We lost many good men and women tonight. This was never something that any of us wanted, but in the end, we did what was right, and we shall make sure that their sacrifices were not in vain. We shall live in peace because I believe that is what our ancestors intended. There is still a great mystique about why exactly they left Drakon, but I’m starting to think they wanted to make a new beginning. They wanted to leave the past behind, and become something newer, something better. We can carry on that tradition. This is our home, and our future is whatever we want to make it.”
Those were about the only words he could say before he needed to sit down again. He collapsed to the beach. I joined him. Kadie and Brett came to sit with us as well. We were all staring at the blaze happening across the island.
“I wonder what the humans are going to make of it?” I asked.
“I don’t know, they’ll probably just think that it came alive again. It’ll be just one of those random events in nature that theycan’t explain,” Brett said. “Should we be worried about the ship? They might come to investigate.”
“I don’t think they will. They don’t tend to look at anything that doesn’t directly involve them,” I said.
“We should hide it again though, just to make sure. And all the bodies…” Kadie trailed away.
“I think the fire will deal with them,” Mason said in a quiet voice. Fire always took everything away. We spent a few moments in somber silence.
“You don’t think he’s going to come back again?” Kadie asked, her voice trembling.
“What do you mean, ‘again’?” I asked.
Mason and Kadie then filled us in on what had happened in the volcano. They described how Ilvar had disappeared in the fire and how they thought they had dealt with him then, but he had somehow endured that ungodly heat.
“He was close to death. I think we pushed him over the edge. I can’t imagine he’d come back from that, but if so, I don’t think he’s going to be quiet about it. But that fire… look at it, nothing is going to survive that,” Brett said. Even from here it looked intense. The flames swirled, dancing and creating patterns that looked as though they had been painted by an artist. The smoke was a dark haze hanging in the air, making the island look ethereal.
“Jade was there as well,” Mason said.
“She was with Ilvar?” Brett asked, shocked.
Mason nodded.
