The MudWings were regrouping after their retreat, their spirits shattered and in its place brewed anxiety, panic, and some fear.

  "I don't think they followed us... Right?" One of the soldiers that survived the front line whines.

  "I hope not. They had such strange weapons. If I didn't hide in the back the whole time I don't think I could have got close to one." The dragon next to him reminisced.

  A slimmer MudWing, almost a dragonet, joins in with a different view of the battle.

  "You're all focused on the dragons, but did you see the scavengers? I saw some on their backs! I think one of them could even block spears being thrown!"

  "They've even trained scavengers to fight?! We're doomed! How will we be able to see them in the dark? Do you think we can surrender-" Some of them chime in with the same idea.

  Their commander overhears the mention of surrender and roars in front of them.

  "All of you shut it! Stop moping around and think of other dragons for a change! Who do you think will fall under their mercy if you don't fight?!" He shouts and is met with silence. "I should rephrase. Did you feel a shred of mercy from them?!"

  They start murmuring about the answer to the question, but eventually come up with a unanimous answer of "No!"

  It wasn't hard to realize when they looked back and remembered just how little hesitation their opponents had.

  But some of the smarter dragons were already starting to figure out their next problem that raw confidence can't make go away.

  "But... How are we going to see them if it gets dark?"

  General Slate was ready for that question.

  "Yes. They stopped chasing because it will be night soon. But now we have time on our talons!" He announces confidently, as appearing unsure would harm morale further. "Even if they can see in the dark, this is our land! This is what we're going to do: ..."

  "...Start digging!"

  I was sitting on the beach with Gale and the other dragons as we were waiting.

  The sandy beach was much more pleasant than that messy swamp.

  Everyone was clearly trying to enjoy their time before we would soon have to go even deeper.

  Some of them already found animals that weren't present on our home island.

  And even some of them were complaining about it.

  "I hate this place. It's too messy everywhere we go, and there's nothing to flavor this meat with."

  It's not like this was a vacation, how can they expect seasonings here? I could only scoff and turn my attention to the dragon pestering me for attention.

  A dragon that was a bit smaller than Gale was there trying to get me to respond as I ignored her thinking it was Gale being annoying again.

  I couldn't even think of what to say besides "What?"

  This dragon had a white streak of scales traveling over her eyes to the corner of her maw.

  "Finally! I just want to be your friend!"

  "Why so sudden and randomly..?"

  "I want to know all the cool people when I get home. I saw how you shot that spear out of the air, so it was so easy to choose the right one!" She seems to be squealing at me like some kind of fan.

  I could hear a faint huff as well as a grumble from the side.

  "Lucky; already getting popular." Gale grunts.

  He seemed to be much more serious than usual, which I just attributed to the situation we were in. But this dragon talking to me just seems like Gale if things were normal.

  I can't be sure if she is also just an oaf like Gale, yet.

  "Ah. I got scout duty... I have to go now." She complains, "My name is Flameshot, remember me! Especially if you do something awesome!"

  Ugh, what does that dragon think? That I'll become some kind of war hero?

  It was getting quite boring until the commander finally said something.

  "We might have a couple hours left before dark, and I know everyone is probably tired from the flight and battle. So you should take this time to get a rest." He announces to the arranged dragons.

  Many were immediately happy with that.

  None of them really even seemed worried about sleeping in enemy territory. Of course some were going to stay awake, but the main reason is that they won so overwhelmingly they don't even consider being attacked as a problem.

  Gale seemed to be one of those celebrating dragons.

  I wasn't one to complain either, but I was more worried about what would happen in those couple hours.

  We might have time to rest, but the enemy dragons will have time to fortify.

  But I'm not the commander. It's not my place to worry about such things.

  I wouldn't get any sleep if I kept worrying about it, and I would be wasting this time if I didn't.

  Still, it can't be easy to sleep with the damn sun shooting rays at me.

  "Hey, oversized blanket, do you mind turning the lights off over here?"

  Gale half hisses indignantly, but complies like the pushover goober I expect. Maybe it's just for me, but that still makes him a pushover.

  His wings do a perfect job of blocking all that light out.

  "Maybe you'd stop being so bossy if I roll over and squish you~" He complains.

  "I'm older than you anyway." I retort and start trying to play out a dream in my head hoping it'll drag me along quickly.

  ***

  Flash was an important member of Safe Harbor's most successful merchant company.

  It paid outrageously, mainly because not many are stupid enough to even think of travelling.

  This time, instead of drinking to another success, he was left blankly sitting in the lobby with nothing but the looks of pity he was all too familiar with seeing directed at others.

  It just made it agonizing for that look to be coming from his own group.

  The cookie cutter words only made it even worse.

  "Hey, sometimes things happen. But it could always be worse."

  "This is already the worse outcome! We've done this so many times without issue; I got too confident and tried to cross that clearing too boldly. It's my fault!" He snapped.

  Of course, from anyone else's perspective a single person being able to lure away an entire group of those flying monsters was an overwhelming win.

  But he knew that timid mess wouldn't even think of doing that on purpose.

  "I know you're not up to it, but we still have to make the next run. We already committed to a client." Snow mentioned.

  "I'm still coming." Flash denied sitting this one out.

  "Are you that desperate for the pay? We're using the same route, but you can't expect anything unrealistic like finding your sister or something. You should know better than anyone what happens to every idiot that holds on to that crazy hope for too long."

  "Hope is the only thing that keeps them alive for that long. Now I realize it's not something you can understand until it's your turn." He reaffirms, "She was half of this operation. And still is."

  "You should just cry just someone normal." Snow chides.

  "If I cried that would just make it real. I'm not crying until I die, and I won't give those fucks the satisfaction of seeing me cry either."

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  ***

  I was jolted awake by a talon squishing me and thrashed for the giant idiot to cut it out.

  The giant idiot was none other than Gale forcing me awake because it was finally night.

  It was time to continue the fight.

  I was still covered in sand, unable to forget the vivid nightmare that seemed to instill some form of doubt in myself.

  Well, I expected this. They were still dragons, after all.

  It's not like I expected to go into war without having nightmares of their fearful or pained expressions.

  But they started this, what excuse could they possibly have?

  It was better to just clear my mind. The sound of waves crashing on the shore was sufficient for that.

  I was ready when Commander Ashwind finally led the formation forward at a slow pace---slower than I expected.

  The air was cooling down without the heat from the sun, and because of all this moisture everything was already getting foggy on top of it being dark.

  Nothing much happened other than bouncing up and down on Gale's back.

  That changed completely when an entire dragon burst out from the mud and lunged at him, roaring an apparent war cry.

  I reacted quickly and loosed an arrow straight at the dragon's skull.

  From this distance and at full draw, there was no way for it to glance off. Instead, the arrow flew straight through with an audible crack!

  The attacker fell dead, with the arrow plugging most of the blood from leaking out.

  That wasn't the only one though, and it seems we were lucky this one didn't have a spear.

  The other dragons with worse reaction times weren't so lucky. At worst, we've already lost a few more.

  Another inconvenience is they seem to be paying more attention to the humans this time. Not that they were easy for them to get to, but they didn't easily fall for the same peekaboo trick.

  For some reason this was all getting to my head more than usual.

  There was just a shred of doubt why these dragons would dare to just come do such a thing if they didn't know how hard it would be to defend a counter attack. But at the same time it was unfathomable what excuse they could possibly have; they still did it.

  Out of everyone, Ashwind got faced with the enemy's commander himself.

  His opponent seemed just as big, if not bigger than he was. Add on the excessive bulk common to these dragons, and it really started turning into a scene that parted the action itself to make room.

  Unlike the rest of the fighting, neither of them were mindlessly lunging forward with a spear or biting.

  The MudWing commander seemed aware enough to avoid being caught after a reckless attack.

  The first thing Ashwind tried was to end it in an instant with one of his two crossbows, but the MudWing managed to deflect that with his spear and managed to dash into range.

  Ashwind threw the crossbow in his face as a distraction and barely sent the spear flying away into the muck.

  It was truly dazzling, enough that you could say most of the conflict had paused around it.

  Perhaps it was just a spectacle, or maybe it was because the outcome would decide the winner here.

  They might not be used to facing dragons that fight patiently and with weapons like us, but that could still change given time to adapt.

  The sounds of their roaring and growling were now the loudest, or maybe just the only sounds on the battlefield.

  The MudWing decided to use his best advantage by trying to break through with fire breath, but Ashwind fanned his wing to blow back the stream of fire just long enough to dodge out of range.

  They were both covered in small nicks and gashes from barely in-measure attacks. And...

  Ah!

  He shot his other crossbow through the flames and smoke, there's no way he can dodge that!

  Yet somehow the crazy toughie manages to get out of that with just a flesh wound.

  It's so insane it feels unreal.

  However, not all of them were as captivated as I was.

  I had to learn this the hard way when a different MudWing charged Gale again, only this time it was clearly aiming for me specifically.

  I was naively surprised and was late in reaching for my quiver, and that might have been it if they didn't suddenly get clotheslined by a near dragon-sized sword.

  The pristine silver blade was now a bloody mess, but such was the fate of any sword meant to be used.

  "Uh... Thanks." I was shocked and could barely stutter it out when I finally processed what happened.

  The dragon wielding the sword was entirely white with just a black underbelly, a terribly unlucky pattern to be born with for a dragon that uses a sword. Those white scales will and already have been stained with blood.

  Whether that's a bad thing could depend on whether you're on the enemy's side or not, I suppose.

  "No problem. I'm just happy everything I learned didn't go to waste!" He responds casually, paying no mind to his red tinted scales. "It's a shame none of them have or are any good with weapons though."

  "...They have spears?" Gale glares doubtfully at the dragon after the admittedly absurd statement.

  "What good are those things if my sword cuts through them like butter? They could have at least reinforced the shaft with metal." The swordsdragon scoffs while seeming to chuckle while thinking about it.

  When we finally turned our attention back to the center of the action, it became obvious who was losing.

  The MudWing commander was healing somehow. Who knows what kind of sorcery or magic he must be using, but it was happening.

  Everyone seemed too immersed in it to actually help or notice.

  "I think the commander is losing. Someone has to help." I vocalize, assuming the swordsdragon would easily be able to solve this.

  "There are way too many dragons between us. I'll just get blocked if I try to get over there to intervene." He declines.

  Now I had a decision to make. It was hard enough to tremble before it.

  But when I was about to lose hope, I started to remember what got me here in the first place and how ingenuous I must have been to sign up as if it was never going to actually come to this.

  I could even remember the sparse back yard where it started.

  ~~~

  "Look, we got you a present! Don't you like it? It's a toy bow!"

  I'd never seen a bow before in my life until my parents brought me one. It was just a weak version with softer blunted arrows, but I loved it so much that I didn't hesitate to cry when all the initial arrows degraded too much to be accurate, until I got more.

  The first thing I ever shot at was just a makeshift target---a bag of sand tied to a tree.

  I took a while aiming, before finally letting go as the arrow grazed the side of the bag and sent it spiraling in a circle.

  But I'd still clicked my tongue in irritation because I missed where I was aiming.

  "Wow~ Beginner's luck is incredible. What a sign! Do you want to be an archer when you grow up?" My father cheered and tried to solidify me into what they saw I was gifted at, but it was just what any parent would have said---until I tried again and hit the then-moving bag again.

  That left both of them shocked.

  "I'm going to be the best." I declared monotonically.

  After that, I had a more mischievous game idea when I looked over at the striped dragonet that was barely bigger than me at the time.

  I tried to hit the dragonet with an arrow but missed.

  Then I missed again and got caught.

  "I win~" The dragonet exclaimed and squeezed me.

  ~~~

  After a few moments of thought, I knew what I had to do.

  -- "I'm going to be the best"

  I can't be the best without proving it.

  "Then I'll just have to do something stupid." I utter and leap down with my longbow to the dragons surprise.

  The mud squelches under my landing.

  Only now does the true scale of the battlefield really hit.

  Despite the spectacle, there were still a few dragons fighting.

  Both sides were dangerous in this situation.

  I have to get through.

  So I just started running, only to bump into Subcommander Eno and his group of bow-wielding dragons which were idling at the back, useless in this closely packed battle.

  "What are you---nevermind. I see. If you're going to do something that insane then swap bows with me." Eno paused me and forced his own bow in my hands.

  I looked down at it and noticed it was much shorter and easier to move and run with, as well as curved on the ends.

  "Will this-"

  "Of course it's powerful enough. Hurry up and go be a fool before I change my mind."

  I decided to take that literally and continued running.

  Just getting there proved a challenge in its own right.

  The MudWings no longer just ignored me and actually tried to swipe or bite at me.

  I managed to dodge all of them but I couldn't stop moving or turn around to retaliate. They couldn't lunge at me too far without ruining their fighting distance and being defeated in an instant.

  Commander Ashwind was definitely feeling the accumulated damage. And the MudWing finally lunged completely, but breathed in as if ready to spew out a scolding flame.

  He was basically close enough for Ashwind to grab and slit his throat, but instead turns and whips Ashwind with his tail.

  It was muscular enough to send Ashwind flying away and stunned against a tree.

  He was ready to close in to finish it, but I arrived just in time and loosed an arrow which was barely blocked by his wing, piercing straight through while being deflected off course.

  He hissed in pain and looked between Ashwind and me trying to decide which is more important to focus on and eventually chose me.

  I could hear a few commotions from the dragons around us, and I could swear that I could make out the word for 'what' in the old language.

  It was clear that their commander being challenged by a human was even more of a spectacle.

  But for me, this was a new experience. And I'm not even thinking about being in a real war.

  Just about how I could see myself regarded, in more clarity than from any of the rest.

  This was the first time in my life I've ever been afraid of a dragon.

  Things almost felt slower as I watched the dragon charge at me, likely expecting an easy win.

  There was no angle to hit his eyes like this, and penetrating shots might not kill fast enough, especially with such a hulking build.

  But I didn't come unprepared, I knew what to do.

  Even though I was shaking, I waited.

  Until the dragon was right over me, and I rolled under his belly and into his blind spot with three arrows held in one hand.

  In just a few seconds or less, I cycled all three arrows at near full draw. Point blank.

  One plunged deep into the base of his neck, the other two struck the amber underbelly.

  The dragon roared in pain and I swiftly ran out from under him and barely dived away from a desperate tail swipe.

  I had no time to dawdle around on the ground, so I quickly got up and we were turned to face each other again at the same time.

  This time he was looking more sharply down at me, I had a clear shot at his eyes!

  I might not have time to prepare consecutive shots, I have to hit on the first try.

  All of the adrenaline must be kicking in at once, as it almost felt like time was slowed in this moment.

  My legs wouldn't move, not this time. They were just too heavy despite being in perfect condition.

  My focus tunneled so extremely that it seemed my arm and my target were the only animate things in the world.

  Even the arrow seemed slower than a snail as it cut through the air and pierced the dragon's eye perfectly.

  Eventually everything settled down, and it suddenly felt like a single second had turned into ten.

  The only thing that mattered though, was that I did it.

  But inside, I knew. I don't have time to freeze like that ever again.

  The MudWings were devastated and almost in even more shock that they just watched a human defeat their commander.

  It must have been impossible from their point of view, but it happened.

  Ashwind was going to be fine as well, but given the circumstances, celebration was more important.

  Gale managed to run over to partake. I had to tell him to stop because there was still something I almost forgot to do.

  Commander Ashwind landed against a withering tree with a decent amount of relatively dry moss.

  I approached, exploited the opportunity to pat his snout when he can't do anything about it just for a laugh to take the panic away, then covered a handful of arrows with clumps of the moss secured by some plant fibers.

  I was quite proud of myself for such a crafty idea as I held three in my right hand and the other three alongside the bow.

  "Alright, Gale. Light these up." I requested.

  Once they were lit by Gale's fire, I aimed upwards and shot all six into the sky simultaneously while screaming.

  "We wonnnn!"

  I couldn't be as motivating as a commander's words, but actions have always spoken louder than words.

  As demonstrated by the MudWings whimpers and silence, and our dragons roaring victory cheers as the arrows shot into the sky as brief, but bright flashes of light.