Dragon Hunter

Chapter 3: Dead Drake Down

Another blast of energy into the sky from the tight knot of elves across from them then the wyvern was once again raking their position with an enfilade of fire.

"Tuck, we need to get our wounded back to the transport!" Cooper snarled.

"I copy you, boss, but there's just two of us and ... urk!"

As the last escort rider hit the ground with an arrow through his eye, Cooper felt an overwhelming wave of despair and hopelessness wash over him. How were they supposed to win with bullets against magic and dragons??

The young biker quickly pushed the wave aside, though. If he took even a second to dwell on it, he'd paralyze himself into immobility. Then he'd be joining the escort riders on the ground, pincushioned with arrows.

First things first: counterattack. The XM7 wasn't cutting it. He needed the hitting power of the fifty. Slinging the Sig Sauer rifle, he pulled the fifty caliber off his back just as the wyvern made a third pass over the elves across from him.

Snapping it to a shoulder even though he knew the recoil from firing upright would bite him hard, he sighted on the elf with the energy weapon. Or, should he say the one casting spells? Either way, buddy was going to die first!

The elf was tracking the wyvern when Cooper found him through the scope, their protective bubble a dark gray from resisting three fiery assaults from the wyvern. Taking a breath, he let it go slow as he squeezed the trigger.

Sure enough the powerful rifle bucked as expected. But it was worth it to see the elf drop, missing most of his face.

Oddly, that made the shield disappear. Quickly chambering another round, Cooper took out an elf with a bow. 'That was for Cutter, you sonuvabitch!' he silently growled. Then he slung the fifty to bring the Sig Sauer back up. 'Let's see how tough you are without that bubble!' and he opened up with the automatic assault rifle.

Three elves immediately went down, knocked sprawling by bullets slamming into what appeared to be leather armor. Then Cooper was forced to drop to a knee to avoid the spray of arrows that hissed through the space he just occupied.

Another burst and three more dropped. Then he could just hear their screams as the wyvern strafed their position for a fourth time. Without their bubble of protection, the elves were obliterated.

Grimly Cooper slung the Sig to bring the fifty back out. Just because the elves were down, the situation wasn't over. They still had a red wyvern to deal with.

"Morgan, standby to come and get our wounded," he tautly directed as he let his dragon finding sense take over to locate the wyvern.

"Standing by, boss," his master-at-arms quickly fired back.

There. About five hundred meters up and to the south. And, despite its primary target the elves now crispy, it was still engaged in combat mode as it scanned for him.

Cooper's expression tightened as he swung the fifty up to take aim. Fine by him if that fire bat wanted to drop down and make itself a better target!

As his sights found the flapping reptile, he felt that strange shift in his perception that seemed to happen every time he targeted a dragon. The beast became a topical map of color and contour, where dark colors marked where the dragon had the most protection. And light marketed where there was the least. All he needed to look for was the ...

His finger squeezed the trigger as if it had a life of its own even as he saw through the sights that his aim had drifted off the dragon to a spot in the sky. Then the wyvern was flying into that spot and the fifty caliber bullet slammed into the light blue spot no bigger than a man's fist in its wattled neck. And Cooper watched it lurch before going dead stick and drop limply out of the sky.