Finally!

Chapter five is finished, and it's going up tomorrow, on New Year's Day! In that wait, I'm going to start on chapters six and maybe seven. Hopefully I can get them up in a decent order. :)


Nathan

Minecraft!

I bought Minecraft PC yesterday! And yes, story fans, I have a Christmas break... Hopefully I can get myself to write on it!

Dragon Wars Chapter 4!

Here is Chapter 4 of uncompleted story, Dragon Wars! It would be great if you guys could report any errors, inconsistencies, etc. [You're probably getting tired of basically the same greeting every chapter. It's just more of a reminder for you now. :)  ]

“Get up!”

Cedrik rubbed his eyes and looked around. The room was dark, that didn’t tell anything about the time of day.

“Cedrik, you must get up! Our scouts have reported that Sucron is bringing a large army to this cave. Your dragon is already ready for the evacuation.” Ben said hurriedly.

Cedrik sat up and stretched. His eyes wildly looked for his sword. He found it and put his belt on, then attached the scabbard to his belt.

“No, put it on your shoulder, it’s going to be a rough ride.” Grere said as Cedrik stopped and attached it to his shoulder.

“Where are we evacuating to?” Cedrik asked as he pulled his boots on.

“To the island of Troywen, the capital city and fortress of Tire. It’s the safest place you could ever be in these times. Besides, it’s the closest fortress.”

Cedrik picked up his bag of belongings and followed Ben out of the hut. The cavern was dimly lit, and the dragon riders were running about gathering their maps with their secret bases on them and putting them on the dragons.

The dragons were in a circle, silently talking about the attack. Cedirk made his way over to Grere, his dragon gave him a toothy grin and a silent hello. Cedrik turned his gaze to the other dragons and observed the colors, as he didn’t have much time to look at them before. The white one must be an ice dragon, he thought.

 He saw and found out the dragon classifications from Grere; white was ice, blue was electricity, yellow was heat, brown was rock, and too many others to name here.

Ben mindspoke to all of them that it was time to go, then Cedrik climbed up and sat on Grere. The other riders did last-minute preparations and did the same. Then one-by-one each of them went through the hole in the cavern. The dragon rider’s faces were ashen, knowing they would die sooner or later now that their cave was found.

When it was Cedrik and Grere’s turn, his dragon walked through and emerged in the dark wood.

When the last of the dragons walked solemnly out, they all flapped their scaly wings and emerged above the forest. The wind slapped Cedrik in the face and he fully woke up. They flew over miles and miles of green trees, and Cedrik wished he could enjoy the view. He could see a dark blur on the horizon, and guessed correctly that it was Sucron’s army. An hour that seemed like forever passed, and Cedrik could finally see that his guess was indeed correct. He gulped.

“There are at least ten thousand grogs surrounding the forest down there! All for thirty-something dragons?”

“There are more than thirty dragons here, Cedrik. Look around.”

Cedrik took a glance at the other thirty or so dragons in front of him. His eyes bulged and he gulped, then grinned. There were at least one hundred other dragons here!

“I believe Sucron likes to be prepared. The other three-quarters of the dragons were patrolling, hunting and scouting.”

Cedrik glanced down at the army, and hoped they were out of arrow reach. Apparently they weren’t. A volley of arrows struck one of their dragons, and he fell fast to land on top of dozens of grogs. Another fell, then another.

“Try to fly higher.”Cedrik suggested.

Grere nodded, gave Cedrik a grin, and flew higher than the rest of the dragons. Fortunately, they were out of arrow reach now. Unfortunately, there was a cloud separating them from the rest.

Ten minutes later, they descended from the clouds.

To find the army marching north. Towards Troywen.

“This is not good Cedrik.”

“You can say that again. Where is the rest of our camp?”

Grere curved his neck upward, stared at Cedrik, and said: “This is not good?”

Cedrik looked at him strangely, then understood. “It’s a figure of speech, Grere.”

Grere uncurved his neck. “I will never understand “human figures of speech.” Nor do I want to.” He sighed. “I can see the rest of the fleet about a mile ahead. I don’t think they know that Sucron has not given up.”

An hour later, they stumbled onto Troywen’s dragon landing platform. Cedrik couldn’t admire the great white city, as he was trying to deliver his message. Fast. He wildly looked around, then was relieved to see his father running towards him.

 “Cedrik! You made it! I thought we had lost you in the arrows.” Gunter said as he ran up, panting.

“We flew above the clouds.” Cedrik jumped lightly off Grere and landed with his legs like springs supporting him, as Ben had instructed.

“I should have thought of that long before we went through the arrows!” Gunter said mournfully.

“Sucron’s army is going to be here by tomorrow night.”

Gunter pulled out his sword halfway, looked at it, and put it back. “I know. It is very unfortunate. We all will be ready. As soon as I reclaim the throne of Tire.”

A screech filled the air. Then another. Father and son looked up in wonder, than the father’s eyes widened. He started running for the citadel, dragging Cedrik behind him. “What is it?” Cedrik asked his dragon.

“Some form of flying creature. Evil, by the sound of it.” Cedrik turned around and started running. He felt a gust of wind on his neck, so he knew his dragon took off.

Gunter entered the conversation. “Scrells. We must be careful, they have unbelievably good hearing. They are smaller than a bird, yet bigger than a dragonfly. They can sting like a wasp, have poison like a snake, and they make good spies. Sucron probably sent them ahead to spy on us.” Cedrik did not ask any more questions, for he did not like fearing things for what they really were.

They came to one of the five gates, and ran through just before it closed. The city was in an uproar. He looked up, and saw that the sky was black. A few soldiers fired arrows, but they only killed one or two, if any. “There are thousands of them!” Cedrik exclaimed mentally. Half an hour later, through many gates and up hundreds of stairs, they made it to the citadel. A black shadow flew towards Gunter, and stung him in the chest.

“Aurrghhh!” He stumbled, fell to his knees, and lay on the ground, while breathing heavily. “Cedrik. Remember what you have learned. Act on it. The Screll has a sting that poisons the body, and kills the person instantly. Get inside the citadel, and reclaim the throne, for I cannot.”

Cedrik stood there, unbelieving. Shocked. In one swift stroke, the only family he had had was lost in an instant.

“Go! Now!” Gunter suddenly stopped breathing, and closed his eyes. Gunter’s body gave out a convulsion, as the poison took his toll. Cedrik just stood there. He faintly heard someone calling him, telling him to go on.

“Cedrik! Cedrik! Cedrik move now!!!”

He stumbled. He regained his senses and made a deliberate effort to go on. He had to go on. He had no choice. He ran up the stone steps, and made it to the large grey tower on top of the hill. Black blurs whizzed everywhere. He sprinted inside and closed the door as soon as he was in. He heard a thump on the door.

“Do not open the door! It’s the scrells!”

Cedrik realized something. He had been fighting for friends, family, and the other hundred dragons. Now he was finding that he wanted revenge. Revenge for what had been done to him, to his friends, what had been done to his family.

“Revenge may be the quick way to victory, but it is not the right way.” Ben said. “You must find that the greatest enemy is always yourself. You could become like Sucron. Do you want that? To be his servant? Succeed him? Do not be so hasty to deal out revenge, or you will become like him.”

Cedrik looked around, and walked further into the corridor. He found himself in the throne room, empty. He glanced at the magnificent throne, grimaced that he would be the next person to sit on it, and looked around. Statues of dead kings lined the room, and paintings of their great deeds were on the walls.

He looked at the statues, that were completely white. The same crown was on every head, but what they were holding was different. One had a gear in one hand, and a book in the other. Symbols for technology and wisdom. Others had other things, such as olive leaves for peace, and a staff for traveler, or a scepter for someone who ruled his people well. He stood there, in awestruck wonder, when his eyes came across his father’s statue. It looked younger, nobler somehow, and he stood with a dragon egg in one hand and a sword in the other. A symbol for dragon rider, and warrior.  

Ben ran into the room, panting. “Cedrik. There you are. You are the last hope for Tire. You must be crowned king! If you don’t accept the throne, he will take advantage of that and pick off Tire’s cities, one by one.” His face straightened in sympathy. “I know your father was just killed today, he was a good friend to me too.  But you cannot allow yourself to be self-centered in this way.” He backed off a bit. “It’s your decision. I’ll let you have some time to think it over. I’ll be in the Hall of Records if you need me.”

He turned around, and started walking away.

“Cedrik, what are you doing? This is your only chance. The whole world could be destroyed because of your decision. You knew your father for only a little of your life. I have not known my family at all.

Cedrik looked up, a glint of determination in his eyes. “Ben?”

He stopped. “Yes?”

“I’ll do it.” 

Chapter 5 is not finished yet as I am writing this, so please be patient. I will post it ASAP.

Nathan

Dragon Wars Chapter 3!

Here is Chapter 3 of my un-completed book, Dragon Wars! Feel free to report errors, incosistencies, etc. This chapter is a bit of a long one compared to the others, because I had to combine two very short chapters.

Cedrik was dimly aware of being locked in a prison cell as he laid on the floor. Ben nodded.

"It was about time you woke up. I have a plan to get out, but I hope that the sword is nearby."

"Why do you care about a rusty old sword that just happened to belong to my father?" Cedrik said groggily. “And how come you already had a plan? I just got in here.”

Ben leaned closer. "Because it was your fathers. And he was once a king of Dagor.” He leaned back against the stone wall. “To the second question, you were being analyzed by the head scientist here to figure out what line of dragon keeper you came from.”

“My father was the king of Dagor? What used to be the most powerful country in all of Tire?

“Yes.” He sighed, “You are. I am getting very tired. You slept through everything, so I had to do three hours worth of thinking, knocking, and looking at the wall." Ben said while shaking his head.

"I still don't see why we absolutely need the sword.”

“You may not understand now, Cedrik Penning, but you will understand later. Your father will be able to tell the tale better than I ever could.”

Cedrik looked confused. "My father is dead. I saw him die."

"He isn't. He will explain everything when you meet him."

"You, and I and my father, and the rest of the remnant," He pointed to Ben and then himself, "are the only ones left, right?"

"Correct. My dragon died in the war between the continents." Ben said sadly.

"Now, mister know-it-all, what are we supposed to cut the wall with?" Cedrik remarked playfully. “It is, kind of,” He knocked the wall, “solid rock.”

“You shall see. I believe that I remember the ‘fetch’ spell. Hmmm…” He muttered seemingly unintelligible words, than Cedrik gasped as he saw his sword and scabbard float towards the edge of the cell. He grabbed it out of mid-air, slipped it through the bars, and returned it to his belt.

“Are you expecting to cut a rock wall with a—"

“Wait…" Ben held up his hand. "Three-one-thousand. Two-one-. "

Suddenly, a red glow emanated from one of the walls, in one spot, then it slowly moved around and made a circle. Then a dragon burst through, with gravel and stone chips on his back. Shaking them off, he turned quickly.

“Quicker than usual, aren’t you, Grere?” Ben said.

"I'd rather both of you get on before those newly-equipped lasers on the wall shoot us all down." Grere insisted impatiently.

Cedrik and Ben jumped over the remains of the wall, climbed onto Grere, ready for the sudden burst of speed that would take them far away from this fortress. Grere crouched, then released a mighty flap of his wings and was in the air. Shouts of, “They’re getting away!” and “After them!” sounded behind them, but had no meaning, for they were already far away.

The lasers Grere had talked about fired on them. Green, blue, orange, red flashed next to them. Grere dodged three, but couldn't avoid the fourth. It splashed onto his wings, creating a red glow. Grere grunted, but pressed on. They went on for another hour or so, then Grere landed awkwardly in a large clearing, with some types of catapult contraptions.

What Cedrik felt from Grere kept him quiet for a while. Fifteen dragons were in the forest, with another fifteen dragon riders.

Ben jumped off Grere then walked into the very middle of the circle. He waited thirty seconds, and then he spoke.

"Mephelosheth fanuhel!" He shouted.

He means, "We come in peace, and the dragon is a friend." They aren't afraid of you, Cedrik, because you are a youngling.” Grere mindspoke.

“Boy, sometimes you should at least show me a little respect.” Cedrik said back jokingly.

First, there was hesitation in the dragons' advance. Then they slowly came forward. All fifteen were different colors. Yellow, blue, orange, green, and purple just to name a few. He noticed that there were no fire dragons, probably because they were all evil. The dragon rider that appeared to be the leader was a man, appearing to be the age of in the forties. The man wore black clothes, and Cedrik almost thought he disappeared when he went into the shadows. He was on a black dragon, one of the famed speed dragon class.

The man greeted Ben from his dragon.

"What brought you here? I thought the UC executed you. How did you escape? Who are they?" The man asked.

"An important errand, and this youngster rescued me, well, sort of.  He and his dragon were rescuing me, when we got caught, his dragon melted a hole in the wall, and here we are. Oh, his name? His name is Cedrik, and his dragon is Grere." Ben stated.

"Did you say Cedrik?" The man said mysteriously.

"Yup. Meet your long-lost son, Gunter." Ben said.

Gunter jumped off his dragon, running toward Cedrik with his arms outstretched. He engulfed Cedrik in a huge bear hug. “Dad?” Cedrik asked mischievously.

“Yes, son?” Gunter replied. 

“I’m fourteen.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry. Thought you were five again.” Cedrik’s father whispered as he walked backwards away.

“No, I meant that I can understand why you left me now.”

“Oh, that.”

 “Excuse me gentlemen, but if my sources are correct, we need to move right now, because there’s bound to be a search party coming to find us.” Ben said.

“Bring ‘em on!” Cedrik’s dragon shouted.

“That would be illogical, nephew.” The speed dragon thought quietly.

“Now I have a speed dragon that lives for logic as my only living relative. Can’t get any better.” Grere’s voice dripped sarcasm as he rolled his huge eyes.

“Grere?” His uncle thought.

Cedrik jumped as a black arrow came out of the forest and bounced off Cedrik’s scabbard, landing softly on the ground.

Sorry to interrupt, but let’s get out of here! Ben’s thoughts came into everyone’s brains. Cedrik jumped onto Grere, and found that everyone else was on their dragons. Ben was with Cedrik’s father, on his dragon.

“Logical.” Gunter said.

“Please be quiet, It takes a lot to stay on this dragon with the rider jabbering.” Ben thought.

“I’m not jabbering, I haven’t said a word.”  Gunter cracked a smile as he replied.

The sixteen dragons leapt into the air. All sixteen looked down to see what they were going to fight. They saw a battalion of troops, all of them having swords and crossbows. All sixteen dragons also decided it was time to move instead of fight.

“Where are we going?” Cedrik asked.

“To the Cave of Shallows.” Someone said.

The journey continued for an hour or two, and after it they saw a large cliff.

They all headed south towards the cliff, next to the Cave of Shallows.

An hour later, they landed in a clearing, and beyond the clearing was a hole in the cliff, just big enough for a dragon to pass through.

“I’ll go through first, Cedrik will go last, and the rest of you in the middle.” Gunter announced. He and his dragon passed through without much trouble. Cedrik waited unceasingly for his turn. Finally, Cedrik went through with Grere easily. When they made it through, Cedrik’s mouth dropped open. This wasn’t just a small hole-in-the-wall cavern hideout, this was a huge fortress!

There were twenty more dragon riders, with dragons. They were in colors that Cedrik never knew about, like very dark brown, and whitish green.

The cavern itself was fifty feet high, and he could barely make out the ceiling from the little light.

“We must hurry; they have already started the negotiations. The ambassadors of Nahor and Tire have just arrived.” Said a dragon rider, apparently a leader.

Cedrik jumped off Grere and jogged, following the three leaders. They passed through an ancient-looking cave, with strange markings on the walls. An old wooden door stood in front of them, and inside, there were sounds of men talking.

 When he walked through, he saw three men and two dragon riders. They turned their heads to the newcomers, and one of the men jumped from his seat and exclaimed, “Is that him? Is he the heir?” While pointing at Gunter. One of the dragon riders waved him away, and the man sat down.

“Yes.”  Said Gunter.

“Anyway, did Tire agree to assault Sucron?” Ben interrupted.

The man that exclaimed Cedrik was the heir slowly stood up. “Tire pledges it’s troops to the King.” He then sat down again.

“And does Nahor agree as well?”

Another well dressed man stood up. “Nahor does not recognize the King, nor pledge it’s allegiance to the crown.”

Gunter’s eyes looked as if they were inflamed. “Then you shall stand alone!” He barked, and the room suddenly grew dark and cold.

The person from Nahor sat down quickly and avoided looking at Gunter again.

The room lit up again, and the ambassadors prepared to leave. Cedrik chanced a glance up at his father. His father was not in the greatest mood. He decided that maybe he should leave. He started toward the door as the ambassadors were walking through.

“Cedrik.” His father said.

Cedrik stopped in his tracks.

“Sit down, and you will learn why you are one of the heirs to the throne of Tire.”

Cedrik turned, walked over to one of the many chairs in the room, and sat down. The chairs weren’t very comfortable, but they were better than the stone floor.

“I was once the King of Tire, the only dragon rider King since before Tire and Nahor was even established. I did not know my father, but I was told that my father died in the war between the continents with Sucron.

Apparently the King was good friends with my father, for he adopted me as his son after he heard, as he was old, that his other sons died in other wars. In a battle against fifty thousand grogs, through his last breath, he told me and my dragon to take care of Tire, and let no evil person take control of it. Years later, I married your mother, and then you were born a few years after that.

Sucron was rising in power much faster than anyone had expected. We couldn’t do anything to stop it. I felt that the fate of Tire was in the hands of dragon riders. I gathered as many dragons and dragon riders as I could, and put them here. You had dragon rider blood in you, so I searched for a dragon egg for years.

“I found the egg, one of the hundred eggs in the dragon clutch that was supposedly destroyed by Sucron. I gave it to you, and it hatched immediately. Then I was attacked by Sucron himself, and got stabbed. I couldn’t heal the stab with my powers, and I was about to die when a friend came and put me back into fighting shape. I am only here because of that friend.” He looked at Ben.

“Well I wasn’t about to let you just lay there and die.” Ben said rhetorically.

Cedrik didn’t say anything. He had a lot to think about. He yawned.

“I guess It’s time for someone to eat and go to bed, huh?” Gunter said with a slight smile tugging on his face.

“Yeah.” Cedrik said and yawned again. It was the last thing he remembered until the next morning.

Stay tuned for chapter 4!

Nathan

Dragon Wars Chapter 2!

As always, I am open to criticism, so feel free to report grammatical errors, inconsistencies, etc.
Enjoy!

In the darkest corner of the world, in the country of Screallion, a dark hall lurked, with a great throne in the center. On the throne, was a very large creature, as tall as two men. It’s eyes were as fire, and a great club lay at his feet. Dark was his armor, dark was his crown, and Sucron was his name, for it meant Pure Evil in ancient tongues.

A lone man approached him. Fat, and visibly terrified of Sucron, he trembled in the light of the eyes. “T-The boy was too fast, m-my lord. He got away on his d-dragon.”

Sucron’s eyes flared. His voice thundered through the hall. “You had fifteen fire dragons at your disposal!”

“But my lord, the dragon was a forest dragon! He must have had some speed dragon blood in him as well!”

“They will pay for it. I will get the boy, with or without your help!” With the words “without your help” Sucron seized his club, stood up, and advanced.

“I will n-not fail you ag-gain, my l-liege!” The man pleaded desperately with the approaching menace.

“Oh, I know you won’t.” Sucron swiped his club and the person wasn’t there. He was on the wall, dead and in pieces. Hundreds of rats converged on the body, and before long it was just bones. The last of the Elite Assassins had died. Grogs from underground caverns and nicks in the walls hooted and yelled and hissed. Sucron wanted revenge.

And he was going for blood.

*****

Cedrik crept out of the forest, his muscles tense. The sun had set, and he was getting tired. He looked around, then relaxed. The dragons had given up their search. 

"You can come out now. They are gone." Cedrik said. There was a rustle in the trees, and then Grere stepped out. He stretched his legs, and craned his neck forward.

"Do we have to find out why no one opened the door?”

“Yes.”

“But it could be dangerous.”

He cocked his head at Grere. “You just wanted to fight all fifteen dragons at once. Now you are afraid of a house that could have nothing in it?”

Grere put on a cheesy smile that could have scared anything or anyone half to death. Thankfully, Cedrik was used to it.

He ran to the farmhouse, picked up a nearby rock, and smashed it into one of the windows. He made sure there were no glass fragments hanging, and climbed through. He then tumbled to the floor on top of some glass fragments.

The house was in shambles, pieces of the ceiling were hanging, and timbers were showing underneath. The wood floor was a mess, with food all over it. Some very fat, black mice were eating happily.

 He walked into the bedroom, and saw a crystal. Strangely, it was intact. “Why didn’t they destroy this?” He wondered out loud, and picked it up. The crystal lit up, and Cedrik’s eyes widened. On the surface was scratched a short message: I’ve been taken.

Cedrik mentally leapt to his feet, dropped the crystal, ran to the window, and tumbled through it. He found that Grere was ready to fly.

"Did you hear that? It's already in the evening. We have to move if we want to find him."

Cedrik climbed up his dragon.

“You aren’t tired yet?”

“You kidding? I could fly for miles.” Grere flapped his wings once, and was immediately in the air and climbing fast.  Cedrik urged him to fly faster to the north.

*  *  *

Hours later, Cedrik was asleep on the ground next to a glow rock. The place was on the edge of the tree line, the massive fortress was about half a mile away.  His dragon was snoring rather loudly, a few yards away on the other side of the fire. Grere woke up, then quietly woke up Cedrik.

 It was about midnight, the perfect time for trying to break Ben free, which neither of them had tried before. A few hours ago, Cedrik was studying every detail of the huge fort, and had gotten the information he needed from a soldier, captured, and forced to tell them where and what to do.

Cedrik hopped onto Grere, checked the bound man, and both were thankful for no moon. Grere started his fast run, for flying was useless in the dark with the stars to show them. When they got to the wall, Cedrik brought his sword out, careful for it not to glimmer.

A soldier walked on the wall above them, and they both pressed their backs against it, Grere rather awkwardly. When he turned away, Grere hopped up and quickly disposed of the soldier by flicking him off the wall silently. He pulled Cedrik up, and they cut into the wooden flooring. Grere lowered Cedrik into the room, Cedrik disabled another soldier in just the right place, and he cut through another wood floor.

He saw Grere jump down to the grass outside. "Wait there. I'll tell you when we will get back."

Okay.

Cedrik opened the door that led to the dungeons. He went down a corridor, down a stairway, and was met with several prisoners in cells with bars of iron.

"Who in this room is Ben?" Cedrik whispered. He was met with false acclamations.

"I'm Ben!" One prisoner said.

"No, I am!" Another exclaimed.

"What are you all talking about? I am!" Said another.

"I am!"

"I am!" another person argued.

"Quiet!" Cedrik hissed through his teeth. He had an idea. "Who was Gunter Penning?" He whispered.

"Uh… My uncle!"

"My Granddaddy!"

"My Mouse!" One frail prisoner said while holding up a dead brown mouse. Other prisoners looked at him in disgust. An old man came to the edge of his cell. He was old, probably around fifty. A beard and part of a hood covered his face.

"He was your father, Cedrik. You look too much like your father to be a coincidence. Now how do you plan to get me out of here? The next guard to come inspecting is in around ten minutes. After that, he'll sound the alarm."

Cedrik broke the lock with his sword, and then flung the door aside. He grabbed Ben and ran toward the door.

"Grere, check the guard’s minds. Is there any way out of the prison besides running directly to the guards?”

“No. You are going to have to kill the soldier.”

Cedrik cringed. He had never killed someone before, and he certainly didn't want this to be his first.

"Well at least knock him out." Grere said with disgust.

He turned toward the prison entrance, brandished his sword, and waited. He counted to six hundred, and then tensed his muscles. A young man walked in. Cedrik hit the unknowing soldier on the head with the flat of his blade and passed him as he fell down.

With Ben following close behind, they slowly exited the prison area on tiptoes, careful not to disturb the other men outside. He slipped out and readied himself. He found he was staring at twenty men, with their weapons ready. 

"Put your weapon down, boy." The leader said—for it was apparently the leader—and Cedrik dropped his weapon. He put his hands up when the men put points of swords next to him. Ben put his hands up, and apparently wasn't worried.

"Not again. I was beginning to think that I would be rescued by a fourteen year old boy." Ben said, shaking his head. The last thing Cedrik heard was a loud clank, and realized too late that the pommel of a sword had slammed onto his head.

Stay tuned for chapter 3!

A Break

A little break from the usual; a ship named the Blackhawk created by me with lasers and engines galore. My uncle "taught" me how to build good ships [Mostly I watched him build his own ships].

Story readers: don't worry, chapter two will be scheduled to upload the day after I post this. I'm sorry for the delay, but as most humans in the U.S.A., [ :) ] we do have school. Please stay tuned!

Nathan

Dragon Wars

Here is Chapter 1 of my new story! Enjoy... Oh, and this chapter is unedited, feel free to point out any grammar mistakes, I am welcome to criticism.

Chapter 1

The Invasion

 

Fourteen-year-old Cedrik raced over to where his dragon burned a finish line in the grass. In the shadowy forest, he ducked under loose vines and climbed over grey rocks. By the time he reached the burn mark, his dragon friend was half hidden in the late morning sunlight, sitting on the soft green grass. Cedrik sprinted past the finish mark, stopped, gripped his knees, and started panting.

"You always win." He telepathically told him.

“I know the forest by heart, you know. It is impossible to beat me. Plus it helps that I am a lot faster than you.” Grere said back, almost smiling.

Cedrik smiled, then started walking in the direction of home.

"Come on, we need to be home by noon."

His loyal companion followed him, flying over everything in the way. When they got to the house, Grere ran and leapt nimbly to his favorite perch, on a fallen cedar tree, now just a log and brush that used to be branches. Cedrik ran up to the small shack, noticing that his trip wire across the doorway was limp, meaning someone or something was inside.

Grere looked at the attentive Cedrik. His ears perked up, curious.

"Is everything okay?" The dragon asked.

“I think so. I wonder who visited our home in the middle of nowhere. I hope Sucron’s spies aren’t here.” Cedrik said.

Cedrik cautiously stepped up to the wire, then over it. He walked in the room and was startled by an old man.

He was gruffly greeted by the old man, somewhere in his fifties.

"Hello, boy." The man said.

Cedrik ignored the greeting with questions. "Why are you here? Who are you, and where did you come from?" He said, while studying the man. He was dressed as a peasant, but Cedrik knew he wasn't because he was very round. He gasped as he recognized the man that killed his father. The man ignored the three questions with a grunt.  “Recognize me, kid? You are the last of the Pennings. You are to come with me now!" Cedrik jumped at the command and ran out of the house. He ran to his dragon, suddenly afraid of the man that was trying to grab him unsuccessfully.

"Let's go Grere! We have to try to get out of here! You see the medal hanging from his neck? He is the man that killed my father!" He said as he climbed awkwardly onto the dragon's back.

The older man stumbled and fell.

"Get him men! He's getting away!" He said as he panted, obviously not used to chasing youngsters.

Grere brought him to the edge of the clearing, then lifted off and then flew in and out between the trees, knowing the fastest way out of the dense, green forest. Suddenly, a loud trumpet blast alerted Cedrik of at least twenty men, all individually riding on what looked like fire dragons.

This is a dream. It has to be! Cedrik thought wildly.

They weaved in and out between the brown trunks of trees, occasionally brushing against branches. Eventually, the fire dragons slowed then stopped one at a time, because the forest was too dense for them to keep up.

"I think we lost them. I wonder why they wanted you." Grere said suspiciously.

 My father said as he was dying to go to Ben, my father’s best friend, when Sucron’s forces show up. Well, they did, so I think we should go, right?

“Alright, but next time think it through a little longer. Do you have your father’s sword?” The dragon said.

“Yes. I have it right here.” He said while pointing to his back scabbard. “Let’s go see Ben.”

An hour later…

  Grere came to a halt in midair, and then dove downward toward a small clearing in the forest.  When he landed, Cedrik climbed down, and then ran to the old farmhouse. He knocked on the door, then waited. He knocked again. He waited impatiently. He tried to open the door. Locked.

“I think I am in big trouble.”

Grere snorted, then said something.

“The fire dragons are about a mile away. We should go soon.”

Cedrik ran over, readjusting his scabbard on his shoulder. He jumped onto Grere, then felt himself elevate as the dragon traveled up.

“How close are they now?” Cedrik asked.

“They are about a minute away, if they go as fast as they can.”

Cedrik relayed that into his brain. I think we have a fight on our hands. Grere crouched, then sprung himself into the air. Cedrik drew his sword, gleaming silver-gold in the afternoon sun. “I have no idea how to use this.”

“Pretend you do, Cedrik.”

Cedrik raised it once the fire dragons came into distinguishable sight. The dragons swept towards Grere, their rider's swords shining.

Grere let loose a fire blast, smacking into the first of the pack. The dragon that was fireballed fell to the ground, screeching the whole way. The rider plunged, his clothes in flames. Cedrik cringed. He did not want to kill anyone. Obviously, his dragon had no problem with it. “Grere, you should just fly away. Can’t we outfly them?”

“No. Unless…”

“What?” Cedrik demanded impatiently.

“Unless there is an opening. They have us surrounded.”

“Perfect.” Cedrik mumbled.

 The biggest dragon and his rider flew toward Grere and Cedrik, a fireball plowing the way. Grere dived beneath the bigger, more experienced dragon. Cedrik accidentally scraped his sword against the belly of the bigger dragon, and the dragon screeched.

The dragon's nostrils flared, smoke and sparks coming out. The dragon turned, then let loose a torrent of fire.

Grere dived, climbed, and swerved to avoid the fire. Cedrik held on, not used to such a rollercoaster ride. Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, a fireball grazed Grere's tail, and Grere yelped. Cedrik thought of something horrible.

“We can’t stand a chance, Grere! We have to get out of here before the slower dragons catch up to the others.”

“Cedrik, there is something I haven't told you about me yet. I am a Forest Dragon, as my mother was, but my father was one of the few Speed Dragons.”

Cedrik stared at his friend. A forest dragon was rare enough, but the speed dragon was the rarest of them all, much less the possibility of a Forest/Speed dragon. He then stared even harder. No wonder Grere was able to outrun the other dragons so quickly.

“Okay, get us out of here now.”

Grere threw himself into a screeching dive, faster than anything Cedrik felt before. The other dragons followed them down, not as risk-taking as Grere. Grere folded his wings in and traveled even faster. He arced into a loop when he neared the ground, and Cedrik's dark brown hair blew about wildly.

 “Now what? Challenge fifteen dragons more powerful than you or me?"

“No, but I was going to try”.

Cedrik rolled his eyes. Overconfident dragon. He thought.

"I heard that."

He mentally kicked himself. Eavesdropper.

"I heard that too."

A fireball rocketed past them. They swung around then flew to the tree line. Grere landed softly in the forest, and tried to hide himself with his natural green camouflage. Cedrik hid his sword underneath some leaves, not risky enough to have the sun reflecting off of it.

"So this is what you had in mind."

“Yes. They will find us pretty quickly, so stay quiet.”

“I am being quiet.” Cedrik joked.

“You know what I mean.”

A small Lego movie I made...

This is a thirty-four second test Lego film I made a while ago in 1080p. It would be in around 3K if my computer had that resolution and Windows 7 supported it...

Unfortunately, I was unable to add music or voices to it. Music was because the original video had the LOTR soundtrack, "The Black Gate Opens" but I was concerned about copyright issues, so I just erased the music. 

Voices, because I was going to do a longer film, but school came up so I ran out of time. Plus the fact that the structure in the scene was destroyed soon after the filming of this scene due to space issues. Keep in mind that this is only a test film, I will see about making longer films, possibly with voices.

Also, I did not get up at three in the morning to publish this, I am testing the scheduling as well.

Nathan

Ah. Been a while, hasn't it?

The reason being, is that I switched computers--again--because the computer I had before was an Acer D250, and it was getting slow. [I can see you scrambling across to your search website to see what that is. If you read the text, you could have known that it was a netbook. If you weren't scrambling to the search website, well, good for you!] But, it was reliable, and worked perfectly for a year and a quarter. If you're wondering if I bought this computer [A Dell Latitude E6400, 14" laptop] new, no, I did not--thankfully--or I'd probably be bankrupt. They were used when I got them, and I had to uninstall some programs and even install Windows 7 on the netbook because XP was giving it issues.

I have now finally figured out how to upload things on a schedule so they automatically upload them, so I will be doing that for my three-year-old stories.

That's all for now,

Nathan

There! I fixed it!

Packing tape rules!

I lost the tiny pins for my watch so I just taped it. Works fine, all buttons are accessible.

Duplo blocks are still useful to me...

The Eye of Sauron!

Star Wars 7

Here is Chapter 1 of my book, Star Wars 7!





Chapter 1

The Galactica Fleet

“Tie fighters coming in from mark 254!” Luke gripped the controls like the defense turret on Tatooine. He swung his X-wing toward a nearby Tie fighter, and fired his quads right at the target and destroyed it.

“Yahoo! We did it!” Wedge Antilles’ smile turned into confusion as he looked to the left. “Whoa! What is that??”

        “Looks like an Imperial fleet to me,” said Luke.

        “No, the left side.”

Luke paused as he saw a gray ship that was big enough to be an empire star destroyer, from the books he read as a kid. “It’s a battlestar!!”

        “That’s a battlestar??? That’s the Battlestar Galactica?”

        “Yep.”

                                      * * *

“Hey, Starbuck, do you think those are Cylons in those ships?

        “I don’t know, I have to get a good look at them. Maybe I can go out in my ship and take a look.”

        “I think I’ll go with you.”

* * *

        “Luke?” Asked Wedge.

        “Yes?” Luke responded.

        “Do you see those specs next to the Battlestar Galactica?”

        “Yes.” Luke answered.

        “I think they are coming to meet us.”

        “Well good luck in trying to make friends.” Static came as the specs grew into dots, then into triangle ships. Finally they could here a voice on the COM.

“What are you doing in gamma quadrant 57841?” Asked a voice. Luke hesitated before he spoke.

        “Blasting tie fighters.”

        “Well who are you anyway?”       

        “Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles. What’s yours?”

        “Starbuck.”

Antilles explained that they were fighting the mighty Empire and trying to destroy them.

        “Maybe we can work together.” Antilles said.

        “I guess we’ll have to, with that big army chasing us.” Starbuck answered.

* * *

On the rebel Solar they began to make plans.

“I think we should lightspeed over to Remus and set our base there,” said Leia.

        “Maybe we can, but remember there is an Imperial outpost there, we have to fight to get there,” Luke advised.

        "Or we could send a couple of our sneakships, and blast our way through,” Starbuck said.

        “I think we should send ourselves, and a squadron of e-wings. Is that okay?” Luke volunteered.

        "Sounds great! Let's go!" Wedge said.

       

Moments later, in their e-wings and vipers, they zoomed off to Remus. “50 fighters and tie fighters coming in,” Leia exclaimed.

Luke gripped the controls again the same day, and blasted several Tie fighters. Starbuck, with his experience, hit 20.

“5 star destroyers! X-wing squadron, y-wing squadron, a-wing squadron we need help!” Luke said. Moments later, in the cloudy sky of Romulus, 36 ships were coming-and something that had green, blue, yellow and orange blinking lights that is as big as a star destroyer- a Battleplanet!

Whoosh! The orange flame separated from the Battleplanet like a cat running from a dog. Aboard the Battleplanet…

        “Rocket approaching enemy, commander.”

        “Good. W going to show those Imperials what we have in store for them.”

* * *

BAM! The rocket hit all five of the star destroyers.

 “Uh-oh.” Luke said

        “What?” Wedge replied.

“The third death star is here.” Luke calmly explained.

“The third death-OH NO!” Wedge exclaimed.

Suddenly a green flash whooshed past them and destroyed the fleet of 36 ships. Then, the death star light-speeded away. “Hey I have some 23 ships coming out of lightspeed on my scanner and they seem to be the red sector type!”

“Hey rebels! My name is Nathan Skywalker and these are my far-off friends!”

        “Wow,” said Wedge. “Do you know what that means Luke!”

        “I never knew I had a brother,” said Luke.

        “Are you my long lost brother? The one I have been searching for years?” Nathan asked.

        “Maybe, but I didn’t know if I had a brother.”

Nathan zoomed his Jedi starfighter over next to Luke’s x-wing and said to his companions:

        “Take your c-fighters back at the red sector. I think I want to check this out.”

        “But sir, we don’t know if they are the SSi Ruuk we’ve been fighting for years!” the commander exclaimed.

        “Maybe it’s time to face them if they are. I have my lightsaber right here just in case.”

        “Ok then, you are on your own.” Then the 22 ships left the same way. 30 minutes later, Nathan met Luke and the rest of rogue squadron on the ship Solar.

 “So, when’s our next battle?” Luke asked the general.

        “About in 5 minutes, so be ready to launch.”

        “Ok.”

Starbuck and Boomer stepped in the launch area. “We are ready to blast more of those tie fighters.” Starbuck said. Han and Leia stepped in. “We are going to go in the falcon and try to bomb this base." Leia said.

2 minutes later, they were all in they’re fighters when the general began to count down.

 “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and GO!” Whoosh! All the fighters launched into the star-sprinkled sky.

 Suddenly, Nathan picked up something on is scanner. “Hey, looks like we are not the only ones out here.”

Then there came a voice: “Fighters, I am Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise.”

        “WOW!” Luke exclaimed. 

101 ways to increase your chances of a car crash:

LOLOLOLOLOL

Go ahead and count, it's 101 heads!
LOL

Pictures galore

I haven't had internet access and enough time to post on my blog for a while. A few days ago we went to Mt. Rushmore, and here are some pictures to prove it:

 

 

 

 

My siblings and I picked out souvenirs from the gift shop. As you'd expect, the little ones [2-6] picked out things like, [brace yourself] plastic binoculars that barely work. Ellianna [8] was a little in between, picking out a supersized nickel. Kevan [10], Justan [12], and I [14] bought pocketknives, Kevan and Justan bought small ones while I got a big one, because I had money to pitch in. Anyway, all three had an etching of "Mt. Rushmore" with a picture of it, and on the other side it had our names. Pretty cool, huh? I'll show you mine:

That's all for now, folks!
 Before I forget, Andi, did you go on any road trips or did you generally stay in one state for the rest of your life?