Three days passed quickly. John spent that time getting to know the dwarfs, practicing his movements with the improved armor, and in joint training with his team. The dwarfs had done an excellent job repairing and modifying the armor. John got to know his ten martial artists and Spiz much better. There was Akra who was waiting for his family to come to Fi. He was a family man through and through, with many pictures of his wife and kids that he insisted on showing everyone. Oliar was just the opposite. He had left his family when he was eight and had been a lone wolf since. He’d learned martial arts by spying on people practicing in a dojo. He’d joined the guards because he held the empress in reverence, the only emotional tie he allowed himself. The other eight were more reserved around their baron. They all had great respect for Spiz, and John knew that he had chosen the right man for the job.

“Are you ready?” the dwarf prince Taromi asked on the third day. “Let us slay the bone dragon and be done with the last threat to our dwarf kingdom.” It wasn’t much of a kingdom. It was a stretch to even call their settlement a city. It was more like one lone fortress in a wide world.

They followed Taromi to the garage. Dwarfs entered their machines and got ready to depart.

“Only five war machines?” John asked. “Is that enough?”

“That’s all we’ve got,” Taromi patted his own iron giant. “The rest of the machines are miners and pilers and such.”

John’s men followed the war machines to where the dragon made its den. It was a good five hours away. Sunlight would be gone by the time they arrived. The war machines came equipped with flood lights so they wouldn’t have trouble seeing things.

“Here’s the plan,” said Taromi. “You and your men will be the bait. Every month we have to sacrifice eight people to the dragon. It sucks out their life essence. This time we’ll send your men in. While the dragon is distracted, our war machines will move to flank it. Just before the dragon is ready to suck out your life essence, when it is at its most vulnerable, we all attack. We must destroy the bone dragon before it takes to the sky, so aim for its wings.”

“There are two problems with your plan,” said John. “One: Are you sure the bone dragon needs its wings to fly? It most probably flies using aura. I don’t see how a bag of bones can fly otherwise. Two: Why do we have to be bait? Your men will do even better.”

Taromi shook his head, “The dragon knows us. It knows that our kingdom values its warriors too highly to sacrifice them. Without us who will protect the city against the scourge of the demons? It has to be you. The dragon will not think it odd to see foreigners being sacrificed.”

This plan required a level of trust that had not yet been established between the two parties. John was wary. What if the dwarfs were playing a double game? Taromi looked like an honest person, and John’s instincts told him that he could be trusted. His instincts had rarely led him astray, but there was still a chance of betrayal. It was time to toss the dice.

“Very well, we’ll follow your plan,” said John. “We’ll attack the dragon as soon as it starts on the life essence drain weave.”

“Its magic is potent. Be wary.”

The dwarfs parked their war machines above the cave of the bone dragon, just out of sight. They would come barreling down the mountain as soon as it was time. Half of them got out of their war machines and escorted John and seven of his men to the dragon’s abode. John left Spiz in charge of the remaining three. They’d come charging down with the dwarfs.

“I smell dwarfs,” a loud roar reverberated through the mountain. And then in a softer and more curious voice, “And humans?”

“It is indeed humans you smell, Great One,” said Taromi. “We have found you a rare delicacy.”

“Why are they armed and armored?” a large bone head poked out of the dark cave.

“We had to trick them into coming here. We told them we were going to slay your Greatness. Haha, as though we would ever think of doing such a thing! It is a good thing they cannot understand our language or we would be having trouble keeping them here. They are strong and full of life energy. We hope your Greatness enjoys your meal.”

Taromi nodded for John to go ahead. He walked slowly and calmly towards the dragon. Taromi’s dwarfs disappeared, back to their war machines on the mountain. He raised his glaive and his men raised their weapons as well. They walked on, slowly and steadily. They had to buy Taromi enough time to get into their war machines, if Taromi could be trusted not to abandon them.

The dragon came out but did not roar or make any fast movements. It did not want to scare them. It would be a bother if the dragon had to hunt each one of them down. That was probably why. John twirled his glaive. When they were about twelve feet away from each other the dragon let loose its aura shield. Its aura circuits must have been revolving a great amount of energy for John could feel its pressure. The dragon breathed out a dark mist and John could feel something trying to pierce his aura shield and suck up his life essence.

“Now,” he shouted. His men ran forward, bearing swords, spears, glaives and maces. John could see twelve foot tall projections behind the martial artists mimicking their movements. His men were giving it their all. John had been weaving Sor Al’s Colorful Particle Spray all this while. He hadn’t thought up a better name for it. He unleashed the weaves as soon as he was near. The particles exploded near the empty hollows of the bone dragon’s eyes, in a magnificent spectacle of light and sound. Colorful lightning bolts flashed through the dragon’s head and the dragon screamed in pain as part of its aura shield shattered. The black mist around them vanished as the dragon used all its energy to defend itself.

Spiz and the dwarfs arrived at that moment, taking the bone dragon on its two flanks and rear. The dragon swiped its tail around itself. They had to hold their attacks to dodge. The few seconds the dragon had bought itself allowed it to recover fully. It spat black flames at them. One of the war machines exploded. The dragon then launched itself at one of his men. Akra was going to get hit, but Oliar pushed him out of the dragon’s path and died, mauled by the dragon’s claws.

John went crazy. He weaved Dark Rainfall and combined it with a Tornado. Black knives outlined by lightning whirled through the dragon’s body, melting bone. However, the dragon’s self regenerative properties were too great. It healed itself in seconds. The only way to do it was to turn its bone to dust. He weaved a Gravitational Enoma Field and dropped it on the dragon’s head. Part of its skull shattered. The dragon raised its wings ready to take flight. John ran forward, his glaive piercing its aura shield and making a path for his phase anchor. He phased and went into the dragon’s bone body just as it took to the sky.

The dwarf’s war machine bombarded the dragon with explosive shells but they fell harmlessly on the dragon’s aura shield. John would have to finish this alone.

He planted his feet within the dragon’s rib cage and thrust his spear at its neck. The dragon had not been aware of John until that moment. It flew upside down and twisted itself about trying to dislodge him. John had been training his balance and athletics since he was two months old. He maintained his stance with ease. He wrapped a massive amount of aura on his glaive’s blade and swung with great force at the dragon’s neck. The neck crumbled and the dragon’s head fell to the ground. The dragon was not yet dead. Its body continued to fly.

Where was the source that gave the dragon’s body life. John looked around trying to see if anything looked special. He couldn’t spot anything. John then looked under him. He was standing on a bone that was full of golden runes. This must be it! John jumped out of the way and weaved Sor Al’s Colorful Particles once more. He sent them flying towards the runic bone. The colored particles swirled around the bone as though observing the best point of entry and then flew into it. The bone imploded and the bone dragon died, hurtling down towards the ground.

Below, he could see that his men were sitting on the dwarf’s war machines as they chased the dragon. John jumped off the dead bone dragon and used his last remaining aura to fly down to the ground. Spiz helped him to his feet once he had landed.

“Did Oliar make it?” John asked. Spiz shook his head. John clenched his fists and looked at Taromi. No, he couldn’t blame Taromi. It was his own fault for not being able to cover his men.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Spiz said, as though reading his mind. “Every one of us accepted the risks when we signed up for this mission. Oliar died the way he wanted to, on the battlefield.”

They returned to the dwarf’s city. The dwarf’s were happy and rejoicing but his own men were very downcast.

John called his men aside. “Oliar was a good man. One of the best among us. I shall see that his body returns to Tanis, and that the Empress herself gives him honors at his funeral. It was his dream to meet the Empress and be honored by her. This is the only way I can fulfill his dream now.”

His men nodded. “We knew the risks,” said one of them. “Walking into an unknown land, we were all prepared to die.”

“Maybe I wasn’t ready enough,” said Akra, “and Oliar knew it. He saved my life.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Akra,” said Spiz. “Oliar knew what he was doing.”

The dwarfs held a big feast for them, but they had no appetite. They decided to return to the waygate. John was given a rough map of the territory. The dwarfs would work with his engineers to make his technology functional in this place. The dwarfs agreed to barter their precious ore for produce, chemicals and medicine from Fi.

“Never noticed this before,” Taromi said, as they stood in front of the waygate. The waygate’s hollow glowed with blue light as they approached it. “This is goodbye then, friend Yohn.”

“One of many,” John and Taromi clasped arms.

Twenty dwarfs came with John to Fi, sick of their lifestyle in this dangerous world. As long as word did not spread about their bloodline, things would be fine.