The great white dragon flew onwards towards the northeast. The Flikal Mountains already coming into view ahead.

"How fast are you going, Slizer." Derek shouted towards the large head about 10 feet ahead of him.

"You don't have to shout. I have the air shield set up so I can hear you." The dragon flaps his wings a few times before answering. "I'm not sure, never had to measure it before. I'm can probably cover about 40 leagues an hour, at this speed."

Derek remains silent thinking that over, "Is that as fast as you can go? Or can you go faster?"

"No I'm not pushing myself. I could probably cover 70 leagues an hour if I pushed myself. Afraid that they'll send a line after us?"

"No I'm not. If they do, they do. But I doubt they will. I just don't want to tire yourself out getting us away from there. Besides its well over 500 leagues to my home." He laughs for a moment and then says, "This way we'll be able to get some sight seeing in on the way there."

The dragon rumbles a laugh. "I suppose you're right. Even with the air shield I expect you're not comfortable back there. We may want to land ever hour or so to take a break."

"I'm alright. I've had to ride horses for a fair distance without a break." The rider takes a deep breath, "But you're right it might be a good idea. And it would be a good chance to see if anyone is following us."

The dragon laughs, "And give them a chance to fly over us and miss us on the way to Eldiad?"

"There is that, Slizer, but that is a bit risky. You're a lot harder to hide then a horse."

"Considering that I could probably swallow a horse whole you're right." The dragon banks to the left for a moment to catch a thermal and rise higher into the air, "I have to say, its good to be away from the base. I don't think I handled the rejection well at that base."

"I wouldn't think so. After all you volunteered trying to make something of your dreams, and they didn't want what they call a mutant."

"Maybe." The two fly on in silence for a while. Making good time and tens of leagues. Suddenly Derek laughs, "What's so funny Derek."

"Oh I was just remembering all the other escapes I've had to do over my career. That base would have been the hardest to get out of. The almost clear sky and the full moon tonight would have made it interesting to get over the walls tonight. Not to mention the fact that not many of the places I've had to infiltrate had dragons training in it, nor guarding it. But this has got to be the fastest escape I've done."

The dragon joins in the laughter, "That's one way to look at it. But I don't think you've had dragons supporting your adventures before."

"Well I have. On occasion, but only messenger dragons. Nothing that could carry me." Derek starts to explain, "I weigh at least two hundred and twenty pounds. A messenger dragon can only carry two hundred. Not to mention all the gear I usually take with me."

Derek looks behind him towards the base. "Looks like I'm wrong."

"About what?"

"There's a couple of dots in the air behind us."

"Hold on." The dragon says before taking a hard bank to the right and into a circle. He rumbles in annoyance. "That's more then a line, Derek. It looks like a squadron. I don't think they've spotted us yet." He starts to gain altitude again.

"Why not?"

"I'm white remember? There are a few clouds ahead of us and they might hide me. They're about 20 leagues behind us. I can only see the sun dragons in that squadron behind us. At least 6 of them."

"So you're not heading directly for the clouds?"

"Yes I am."

"And with six dragons behind us, you think there's 12 more."

"Yes. They're lined up as if they're in a full squadron formation."

The man falls silent again, turning back towards the following dragons, "Just look like dots to me." The dragon beneath him lets out a roar. Derek turns to the front, "What is it?"

"Griffins."

"What? Here? Where?"

"In front of us. Where the highway cuts through the forest."

Derek does his best to stand up with his calves and feet wrapped in the belt. Straightening his legs to get a better look. The highway cuts through the forest, looking downwards to where the dragon is looking. "Damn it. Do they see us?"

"I don't think so. They're less then 10 miles ahead of us." Derek looks back towards the dragons behind them. "They've seen us. What do we do? I can't outrun them and there's six of them coming towards us."

"We're severally outnumbered. And griffins hate dragons and their riders. I have no armor and just my sword. We have a squadron of dragons flying behind us, probably trying to catch us."

"They may have known about these griffins. And chasing to catch them."

"That's hopeful thinking. Even if you're right we have to fight. How long until they're here."

"The griffins will be here in minutes. The dragons, if they have medium battle dragons with them, 20 minutes. If not; less."

"Can't be helped. Besides I wanted excitement in my life." He draws his sword.

"I'll try and flame the leader in the first pass, but I'm going to have to drop the air shield to fight. That's going to hurt you."

"Can't be helped. Lets do this." He pauses, "No wait." He calls out.

"What?" The dragon says quickly.

"How much control do you have over that air shield?"

"Pretty good control."

"Can you form a wedge with it?"

"I suppose. Why?"

"It you make a wedge with it you might be able to split you fire into two or more jets and aim it at two or more of them at once."

"I can give it a try."

"It looks like some of them have riders, Slizer. I'll do my best to keep them away from you, but some of them might have air shields themselves to block your fire."

"Then they're in for a surprise." The air shield drops and Derek coughs as the wind forces the air back into his lungs. He nearly drops his sword, before he covers his mouth with his hand to get some breath.

The griffins climbed higher into the sky lined up like an arrow. Behind them the coach that was target of the raiders sat motionless. Bodies of guards and horses lay surrounding that mainly undamaged wooden box. Some still leaking the last of their life blood.

The white battle dragon takes a deep breath and holds it for just a second and then exhales. Hot dragon fire shoots out straight at the leader. The griffin's rider raises his hand to point a golden disk at the incoming blast.

Less then ten feet from the lead griffin the jet of flame splits. Three equal jets of flame shoot forward from the split. One straight ahead towards the leader, the other two to either side aiming for the griffins flying besides the leader.

Slizer keeps breathing out the jets of flame. The first seems to hesitate as it comes close to the leader, and then blasts through the air shield. The griffin screams in terror and in pain. The impact from the flame pushes it into a backward roll. Its feathers and fur seared from its hide. The griffin falls towards the ground dead before the blast was done.

The other two jets of flame weren't as startling effective but their strikes were lethal. Both griffins flew through the unexpected jets of flame. The searing heat boiled their blood as they screamed out their pain. The feathers charring off.

The three dead griffins and their riders crashed into the forest below. The dragon and his rider didn't pay attention to the deaths or the sounds. Slizer was continuing his dive towards the tops of the trees, banking to the side to avoid the remaining three griffins.

Though shocked the remaining three enemies were quick to react. The three split up from their formation and reversed direction to follow the dive of the white dragon. The griffins are much smaller and faster then the heavy battle dragon. In open air they'd be able to avoid the deadly claws and dragon breath.

The first griffin to close with Slizer was much more wary then the leader. The magic they had to defend themselves against dragon breath was ineffective against the Moon dragon before them. Circling around it cut into Slizer's bank. Its claws extended and ready to cut into the fragile membrane of the wings.

The griffin barely had time to get its claws into the dragon's wing before a flash of steel distracted it. Derek's blade flashed in the sunlight as he tried in vane to attack the griffin. Though ineffective it was enough chase the griffin off.

The dragons wide white wings flared out as he roared with pain. The airspeed dropped radically as he turned directions trying to avoid the griffin. This led him into the claws of the other two. Only one had the time to strike. The claws from the griffin dug into the side of the dragon. Ripping long gashes into the side. Red blood started to drip out.

Slizer instinctively banked away from the griffin. The three were now in front of him and circling around to attack again. Derek readied his sword for another pass, feeling helpless as the winged creatures fought for their lives. The griffins came at the dragon again, too close for him to flame them from the skies. The enemy, expecting him to climb to get his claws into their hide. They climbed to get their claws into him instead.

Slizer flew level with his course and sped up as much as he could on his injured wing. Derek stood as much as he could with the straps around his legs and raised the sword. As the white dragon flew under his opponents the long steel blade bit deep into the chest of the griffin. Blood splattered out as the sword was almost ripped from his grasp.

The griffin was wounded terribly, but not mortally. It screamed as it looked at the other two griffins. The scream was cut short as it labored for breath. One lung was punctured and collapsed. It flew on out of the battle and away from the dragon.

Minutes passed as the dragon and griffins sought to get position on the others. The griffins got in several quick strikes along wing and flank. Enough to hurt the dragon, but nothing fatal. They were wearing him down though.

Neither Derek nor Slizer were effective in their strikes back at the two griffins. The feathered animals were just to fast. The griffins were not immune from the exhaustion of the battle. Every strike they made was countered before they could complete it, forcing them into hard dodges to avoid the dragon's claws and the bloody sword.

One attempted to stop the sword by attacking Derek directly. Its rider sought to disarm the rider with his own sword. The attack was ineffective against Derek as he fought off both claw and sword, and got his blade into the wing of the griffin.

The next pass was worse for the griffin and rider, in his search to disarm the dragon's rider he lost his own sword. The long steel fell from the air and by the carriage that was under attack. The griffin tried to roll over the dragon to get his claws into his rider. It was a costly mistake as Derek's blade found its throat. The roll never completed as it soared over the other side of the dragon, catching on the membrane of the wing and ripping long gash into it as if fell.

The final griffin flew off to the north. Its rider raising a short bow from the saddle and fired arrows back at the white dragon and his rider. They bounced harmlessly off the tough hide of the battle dragon. But Derek wasn't wearing any armor. His only hope was to hide behind the neck of the dragon. Still an arrow found him, slicing cleanly through the shoulder muscles. He cried out in pain. The sword fell from his grasp as he clutched at the wound.

The griffin was fast but wasn't fast enough to avoid a parting shot from the dragon. A fireball burst out of his mouth and shot towards the griffin, flying faster then the griffin could. The impact wasn't as great as before, but the feathers lit fire. The griffin and rider screamed to their deaths in the forest below.

Calls from more griffins came from the north. More griffins were on their way, more then the two can handle alone. Slizer formed the air shield around Derek, "They just keep coming. I don't know how many more I can take down."

"I don't know either Slizer." Derek groaned, "I lost my sword." His hand covered in his own blood as he tried to stop the bleeding.

Dragon roars echoed from the southwest. Answering the griffins' calls. Slizer banked and saw that the squadron that was following them had finally caught up, light and heavy battle dragons shot to the north towards the pair, banking towards the north. Armed and armored riders on their backs, each with a spear ready to throw. Medium battle dragons took up the rear but were not far behind.

Derek gave a sigh, "We can't go on Slizer." He gives out a soft groan in pain, "We're both wounded and they can catch us no matter what now."

"What do you want to do, Derek?"

"Land near the carriage if you can. Let's see if there's any survivors."

The heavy battle dragon turned and descended towards the roadway. His landing was less then graceful; his wings tearing more in the wind as he slowed himself down to a landing.

One-handed Derek unbuckled the belt from around the dragon's neck and proceeded to fall off. It was a short fall since Slizer could barely stand, but it was a fall. Stars shot before his eyes as he groaned again.

"Who's out there?" Asked a female voice from the carriage.

Instinctively Derek answered, "Sargent Miller, 4th Rect scout company." His voice groggy from blood loose.

"I don't believe you. Rect is over a thousand leagues from here. Don't come any closer."

"We won't hurt you." He said.

The dragon mutters, "Not like we could."

"Who else is out there with you? More griffins."

The dragon snorts loudly, "I think not."

"Then what?"

"I'm Slizer, from the Rositer clan."

A head peaks out from the window in the carriage. The door creeps open and the girls steps out tentatively. "Where are the griffins that attacked us?"

"Four down in flames, another crashed having a hard time breathing, the last flying off towards the north." Derek pauses for a moment, "You wouldn't happen to have a bandage would you?"

"What for?" She demands, looking at the dead guards and horses, "All my guards are dead."

"Well I'm not and neither is Slizer. But if you wait just a while we will be."

The woman turns to look at the two, "Don't take that tone of voice with me."

Slizer raises his head with a wince and gives out a roar, "We'll damn well take that tone if we want to, human."

A heavy battle dragon is not something easily faced down. Especially not one that is a bit miffed and covered in blood. The girl gives a squeak and runs back into the carriage and closes the door.

"You have to work on you diplomacy, Slizer."

The dragon turns and looks a bit sheepish at Derek, "Sorry."

The medium battle dragons start to land in the roadway, two sun dragons and three moon dragons settle themselves gracefully surrounding the carriage. Their riders dismount and draw their swords, surrounding the area. Two of the dragons take to the air and start slow circles around.

The leader of the group walks over to the heavy dragon and his rider, "What have you to say for yourselves?" Ready to take it farther, but stops. Derek does his best to climb to his feet. His hand still clutching the wound, blood still seeping from it.

"We got five and wounded another." The unarmored man says, "And we're bleeding to death. Now give us a damn first aid bundle if you have one, unless you want to add two more bodies to the count." He says loudly.

The armored rider gets a good look at the two. He returns his sword to his scabbard and pulls a small kit from his belt pouch. He spends a few moments tending to the wounds trying to get bandages over them. The other riders do their best to stop the flow of blood from Slizer's many wounds.

The heavy and light battle dragons from the squadron return from their hunt. The leader climbs off his dragon and throws his flight helmet to the side. He then stalks over to the wounded. His mouth opens and closes. The man looks over Derek and then over Slizer.

The squadron leader turns and shouts at the heavy sun dragon he rode in on, "Coaker summon a nature dragon, now!" The yellow dragon takes to the air immediately and gains altitude quickly.

The squadron leader turns and looks at Derek, "A nature dragon will be here soon, Sargent."

"I'm not a Sargent." Derek answers.

"You look like the description of Derek Miller that was given to me. And he," Pointing up towards Slizer, "is a match to the description of Slizer."

"That maybe, but my tour with the King's forces is over. I served my five years."

The dragon rider looks the wounded man over. He sighs, "You're going to be difficult aren't you?"

"I was a scout. We can be difficult at the best of times." He replies through a sigh.

The squadron leader shakes his head, "Sit down Derek. Before you fall down." The man's tones shift away from the mad voice of before to a more friendly tone. The timing of the suggestion was right as Derek's legs start to give way. Slizer was watching the two and listening to the conversation was there to support Derek. His reactions are fast and he steps forward to catch Derek with one of his hand like claws, helping him gently to the ground.

The ex-scout looks up at Slizer, "Thanks." He turns back to the squadron leader, "That's the most sensible thing I've heard from you dragon riders all day." His voice groggy as his adrenaline rush leaves him. Slizer almost collapses as well behind Derek. But he keeps his head up to watch.

The large yellow dragon lands in the clearing and walks over to his rider, "Rob," he starts, "I signaled, but I don't know if any saw me."

"That will have to do Coaker." He turns back to Derek and kneels down to have a look at the wound. The wounded man does his best to push him away. "Don't give me any of that Derek. I know how scouts don't trust anyone to treat their wounds, hell I use to be one. But you're not capable of treating it yourself."

Derek drops his hand and looks at the man, "You were a scout?"

"I believe I just said that." He spends a moment looking at the hole in Derek's shoulder. "The flow has slowed down." He spends a few moments replacing the blood-soaked bandage with a new one. "But you've lost a fair amount of blood already." He pulls a canteen from his belt and hands it to the man, "Drink it all down. That will help keep you from getting dehydrated."

Slizer speaks up as the conversation slows down, "Why were you chasing us?" He asks the sun dragon.

"We were told to chase after a pair of deserters." Coaker answers.

"We aren't deserters. I was never accepted into the ranks, and Derek finished his tour."

The large dragon snorts, "So you two just decided to leave, even though he was told by the Dragon Lord not to leave the base? And you just left without telling the rest of the dragons?"

Slizer looks at the equally large dragon, "I can come and go as I want. It's a dragon's right to take to the air."

"Not one in the King's forces." He said.

"I told you before I wasn't accepted. I was sitting there for a year waiting for an assignment but no-one wanted a mutant." He says biting on the emotion that slips into his voice.

"Coaker." The squadron leader says, "This isn't the time for that." He looks back to Derek, "But he does have a point. You were told to stay on the base."

Derek puts the empty canteen down, "I know. But as I said I'm not in the army anymore."

The man stands up and lays a hand on the yellow dragon's neck and then leans against the yellow hide. He starts on another track. "I should introduce myself. I'm Dragon Leader Robert Dragonblade. Leader of the 68th shock squadron." He looks down, "You were important enough to the Dragon Lord to pull us away from training to go after you."

Derek snorts, "What makes you say that?"

"A shock squadron is a special set of troops." Robert takes a moment to think over what he says, "Half of us were chosen from the scouts. The other because of their fighting ability, both on dragon and on land. We act as scouts for the Dragon Lord in most cases and his special troops for other reasons. We suppose to act as reserves in a stand up fight."

Derek smiles for a moment, "Well maybe he wanted to give you some exercise."

The man just shakes his head, "You both took out six griffins. Which is quite a feat, even for trained riders and dragons. In those odds you should have been overwhelmed. I don't know why you didn't." Robert pauses for a moment, "If you faced only a line of dragons from the regular troop I'm pretty sure you would have been able to take down a couple of the dragons in that line and injured the rest."

Slizer flares, "I would never attack one of our own dragons."

Robert looks towards the white dragon but Coaker answers, "We were told that you were deserters, and that you could have attacked us."

"We wouldn't." Derek says.

"We'll give you that." Robert says, "For now. But I'm still wondering how you took down 6 griffins, and you without any armor."

"Slizer flamed four of them as you saw. And I wounded one, and killed the other one."

"We found the one you wounded. It didn't last long after it landed and warned the other griffins."

"What happened to them."

Robert sighs in frustration, "There were twelve of them, and thirteen of us. They turned and fled. You were the only ones that got to see battle today." He swore, "We've been having problems with the griffins that Brigston smuggled into Ocklad for a while. They hide too effectively in the trees." He looks around again, "This time they hit a valuable target. Any survivors?"

"One I think. Some girl that Slizer scared back into the carriage."

Robert laughs softly as he looks at Slizer, "What did you do?"

"Well she came out and started acting like a royal brat. I kind of lost my temper and shouted back at her." He looks a bit ashamed.

"Well she is a royal brat. At least going by the colors of the wagon." He turns and shouts to one of the men, "Mike, you and Knal check out the passenger and take her to the capital." The man salutes and turns to go.

A small green dragon lands in the clearing, and walks over to the squadron leader. "You called me for these two?" The messenger dragon doesn't wait for an answer and starts to look the wounds over. "You didn't move them I hope." Her voice soft but business like as she looks over the two. She sits back on her tail and hind legs. Lifting her body up into the air. Her hand like fore claws start to open pouches attached to a belt. She starts to treat the wounds on the dragon first. "There's more here then I can handle, or any nature dragon can handle in the field. We'll have to take them back to the base."

Slizer turns his head and looks at the small green dragon, "We just left there and we aren't going back."

The green turns her head towards larger head. Slizer gives a sigh and then his head falls to the roadway. Eyes closed and his breathing deepens. Derek watches this and tries to get up, "What did you do to him." He says in anger.

The nature dragon turns her head towards the wounded man, "Healing trance, just like you." She says before Derek collapses against the white dragon's side as he is put to sleep.

Robert turns and looks at the nature dragon, "That was a bit abrupt wasn't it?"

She snorts, "That maybe but they're both wounded enough that they wouldn't survive a trip back to the base in their present condition without a healing trance. The human has lost a lot of blood, and is still losing it. I can close the wound here but that will take too much of his energy and wouldn't replace the blood he's lost."

"What about Slizer?" Coaker asks.

"He's in slightly better shape. The wounds are deep but not vital, he also has a lot more blood to lose then the human. His wings are the trouble. They're torn and I'm surprised he landed without killing both of them."

"Ok." Robert starts, "How do we get them back to the base."

"Transport dragons should be on the way. You did say a dragon was wounded in your message." She looks at Coaker, and then back at Robert, "They should be able to carry them both. I've done all I can for them here."