When they finally reached the farmhouse, Archer and his men were in low spirits. They looked around, none of them entirely clear on what the plan should be. It was a difficult situation, and once Archer made a choice, he would have to defend that choice with his life and the lives of his men.
He signaled for them to follow him around back. Maybe they would be able to sneak attack the remaining Guardians.
His men followed dutifully, until they had nearly reached the back door. Archer peeked in every window he could find. The coast seemed to be clear. Maybe this would be easier than he thought.
If the Guardians were holding Tanna, maybe they would have him in a cellar or a tunnel. Maybe he would be in the huge barn behind the house. He wouldn’t know for sure until he had the upper hand.
One by one, he gave the signal for the men to transform into their dragon forms and prepared himself to bust the door open.
Before he had the chance, an earth-shattering roar nearly knocked Archer off his feet.
“What was that?” he whispered. But nobody answered him. All eyes were on the monstrous beast behind them.
When Archer turned to face it, his blood ran cold.
The ugliest dragon he had ever seen, a Frankenstein cacophony of Loni, human, and dragon shifter body parts, was looming above them, staring down at Archer and his small group with wild, frenzied eyes. It was horrific, and Archer could tell that his men were paralyzed in fear and revulsion.
Archer had to make a move, or the beast would maintain the advantage. It already seemed to have it, towering above the normal shifters by at least ten feet. Still, it would be better to be moving than to be sitting ducks, and Archer pulled the sword from his hip and charged.
***
Alana’s blood was boiling. Who was he to tell her what to do and order her around like an inconvenient little dog? Since when had she sacrificed everything she knew and loved only to be with such a stubborn, arrogant fool? Why did Archer assume that he was more powerful than she was? He was walking right into a trap and he couldn’t even see it. But Archer didn’t seem happy until he could control her and tell her where to go. He probably thought that he was protecting her, but it was he who was walking right into danger without being able to see it. She had never been so insulted.
She growled and rubbed her temples in agitation. Were all relationships like this? She had heard about bull-headed men before, but this was too much. Maybe she should just give up and go home. Archer seemed to believe he had it under control, so why shouldn’t she? It would really show him if she let him have his way. He’d get himself and everyone he was with killed.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar shook the ground and Alana’s heart nearly stopped. The beast in their dreams. She knew suddenly that it had been unleashed.
She had come all this way to protect the man she loved. She couldn’t turn back now, even if he was being rash and foolish. She had to save him.
Alana followed the sounds of battle, running with all her might. It didn’t take long for her to find the desolate farmhouse. From a distance, she could see the battle raging. Several dragons flying around the monstrous beast from her dreams. It swatted at them like flies and there was already one man down on the ground, struggling to live.
Alana tried to find Archer, but she had no idea what he looked like in dragon form. Suddenly, a tiny figure became clear to her, hacking away with a sword at the beast’s legs. It was Archer. The beast hissed down at him and with frightening speed, swooped down and lifted Archer into its jaws.
The world became a blur as Alana’s body shapeshifted into her impressive dragon form. Archer was being swung wildly in the creature’s mouth as the other dragons tried, to no avail, to injure the beast. Its reptilian eyes were placed in sunken pink human flesh, and its body seemed diseased, splotched with scale and flesh with no discernible pattern. So this was what the Guardians had been working on for so long. A dragon-human hybrid. Their own abomination to counter the threat of alien life.
Alana flung herself at it and soon the creature was on its back. Archer managed to scramble from its mouth and crawl to safety. Alana would have to handle this on her own. Soon, they were engaged in a life or death battle as the other dragons sat back in awe of her impressive strength. They did their best to help, but Alana did the most damage, relying on instinct to find where the beast was most vulnerable to attack. She sunk her teeth deeply in its loose flesh and cringed as a foul aroma was unleashed. This was the weapon to end the war between the Guardians and the shifters, and that meant the Guardians had played it smart.
“Run!” she exclaimed urgently to the others. The gas that the hybrid’s bloated body released was noxious; something that wasn’t found on Kaldernon because it was toxic to all life on their planet. Alana realized suddenly that she was probably going to die. But she was satisfied to know the others would be safe, and were running for their lives.
She fell limply to the ground as the poison began to overtake her body. Just a few more breaths of it would kill her. But she was prepared to die.
Suddenly, Archer was between her and the hybrid, his eyes hard and serious. He stripped his shirt off and covered her nostrils with it and started to attack. He had been studying the way the hybrid moved from a distance and realized it was stitched unartfully together. If he could hack and slash at the stitches with his brute strength–always his preferred method–it wouldn’t be able to withstand the impact. It was an imperfect creation.
Alana’s eyelids were heavy as she watched Archer take on the beast alone, standing protectively over her. The gas didn’t seem to affect him for some reason. Maybe because he had been born on Earth and was protected outside of his dragon form. Whatever the reason, Archer fearlessly fought the hybrid off, hacking at its stitches until suddenly, it crumbled to the ground.
Alana was so weak that she had reverted back to her human form, and Archer lifted her over his head as he slashed the beast apart. It would have been impossible for either of them to defeat it alone, but together, it lay in a heap on the ground. Archer held his breath and ran as far away as he could before striking a match and throwing it at the corpse. The gas ignited immediately, and the farmhouse, the barn, everything the Guardians had there, exploded.
The force of the explosion threw Archer backward. The group of shifters were waiting for them on the other side of the property, and Archer stared sadly at the scene. He had been hoping to rescue Tanna, but it seemed as though he was a goner.
“Long time no see,” a deep voice suddenly said to him.
“Tanna?” he asked in disbelief. “I thought you were–“
“While you were fighting that thing, Thom figured to look for me in the barn. Got me out quick. Never been better. Thank you guys.”
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Archer exclaimed, throwing his arms around Tanna in a big hug.
“Me too. And who is this?” he asked, raising his eyebrow approvingly at Alana, who was standing weakly beside Archer.
“The woman of my dreams,” Archer replied. “And my hero.”
Tanna nodded approvingly. “Well, thank you all.”
Together the band moved slowly through the forest and returned to the Kersh clan’s underground settlement, each of them grateful to be alive.