The Broken Seal - Chapter 11

It took a few minutes to coordinate everything but soon all dragons were airborne, Sasha and Gwenn carrying the Librarians on their backs. It was a novelty for all of them. No human had ever rode a dragon, so they all had to learn how to accommodate each other. The dragons had to keep a level plate, and not flap their wings too suddenly, to avoid throwing their passengers out, and the humans had to grab on to anything to stay on their mount's back, but not too tight, and not on something that would be hurtful. 

When they felt confident enough, they flew towards the army. The plan was for the dragons to remain in the air, attack one by one in a dive and breathe fire on their enemies. Sasha and Gwenn would stay up until Shaitan went down the hill, and after that they would land and protect Sasha who would destroy the seal. They were hoping to spare as many lives as possible, but they knew there would be casualties. On both sides.

And so they executed their plan. Seated at the base of her neck, Jacob watched from Sasha’s back as the dragons swooped in turn at the edge of the army, lighting up whatever had the courage to grow. Ezekiel was holding on to him like ivy, swaying and risking a deadly fall for both of them.

He was watching Shaitan down below on his hill. It was indeed big and red, with horns and it was surrounded by a dozen or so humans. It was gesturing left and right, obviously giving orders to its troops.

After a few minutes of the dragons’ ballet, the demon decided to move away from the seal and into battle. It was the moment they had been waiting for. Sasha and Gwenn dived, breathing fire to drive away any remaining person and the Librarians jumped on the ground. Gwenn flew up at once, joining the fight.

When the smoke dissipated, they saw the seal on the ground, a disk of black stone smaller than they had thought, covered in engravings. And blood. The body wasn’t human. Antinoos had been the sacrifice that had allowed Shaitan to come back.

When they saw Sasha and the Librarians, Shaitan’s army turned back to the hill and tried fighting their way back. Everyone took their weapons and started defending their position.

« Sasha, whatever you have to do to break the seal, do it now !! »

Still in her dragon form, Sasha grabbed the cadaver and threw it away. She stood over the seal and scratched her forearm deeply. Black blood spurted out and fell on the seal who started to vibrate and absorb it. There was a loud scream and the dragons concentrated their attacks on Shaitan.

Jacob saw what she had just done and ran back to her. « Sasha, what the Hell ? »

She kept her arm above the stone, making sure her blood was falling all over it. « That’s the only way to break the seal. The blood of a dragon. »
« Isn’t that enough, already ? »
« No. All the blood. »
« What ? »

Sasha turned her head and her eyes looked sad. « I’m sorry, Jacob. I didn’t want to tell you before, because I knew you would ask for some time to research another way. And we didn’t have time. »
« And there’s no other way. »

Sasha shook her head. Her blood was running free, covering the seal little by little. She folded her wings and sat down.

How much more blood could she lose before passing out ? Did dragons even pass out ? Questions swirled in Jacob’s mind and he couldn’t focus because all he was seeing was Sasha bleeding out.
He saw a wide shadow and Cairn landed beside them.

« I felt your pain, Sasha. Mother ? »
« I have to do it, Cairn. One of us has to give his life to send this demon back to where it belongs. »

Cairn hesitated, lost for words. « What if I join my blood to yours ? What if we all do ? Then there would be enough blood and you wouldn’t have to die. »
« It’s never been done before. I don’t know if it will work. »

She looked so tired, her scales had tarnished and her breath was short.

« It’s now or never. »

Cairn scratched his arm as well and joined his blood to his mother’s. The seal shone under the blood, like in fusion. He roared loudly and in a few seconds all the others landed close by. They all looked hurt from the battle, the golden dragon had a broken wing, and Maya’s flank was bleeding.

« Let everyone give some blood, so Sasha doesn’t have to give all of hers. »

One by one, they all came and dropped some blood on the seal. Most of them didn’t need to hurt themselves, since they were already bleeding.

They all heard another scream and saw Shaitan coming back. It was carrying a sword as big as a human and it looked furious. The dragons took flight, leaving Cairn, Sasha and the Librarians around the seal.

When it saw it covered in blood and vibrating intensely, the demon cried in rage and tried to reach the dragons. Eve shot her pistol straight at it, but its wounds didn’t slow it down.

The explosion blasted everyone away.

Stunned and dizzy, it took Jacob a minute to be back on his feet. He walked slowly towards Sasha and kneeled beside her. 

« Hey, you’re still there ? »

Her head was lying on the ground, and her eyes closed.

« Sasha ? »

He put his hand on her muzzle and stroked her scales. She shifted under his palm and he was caressing her nose. He smiled softly as she opened her eyes.

« Hey. »
« Hey yourself. »
« Do you need a transfusion, or something ? »

She had a small laugh and rested her head on his lap.

Jacob looked around. Everyone was slowly emerging, but the demon was nowhere to be seen, and there was nothing left of the seal.