Dragon Battle

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Montag looked over the charred remains of the old farmhouse. The smell of sulfur burned his nostrils. It was completely desimated. Nothing at all was left of the farmhouse. Amazingly, fences and bins in the immediately surrounding area were pristine. He turned to Robin. "What do you make of this?" he asked.

All Robin could do was shake his head. They had been called in to investigate a string of strange events in Misty, Texas. "C'mon, let's go up the road and see if we can find any witnesses. With any luck the people who used to live here were able to make an escape to their neighbors house. We passed that on the way in about half a mile up the road."

"It was a thirty foot tall giant lizard," Bill repeated for the sixth time. "It breathed fire. It was after the cows. Why won't you believe me?" The young man had a small stature, but a big voice when he was excited. He was the only person who claimed to be an eyewitness of the event. As Montag and Robin questioned him, the only bit of information that supported his deranged story was the sheer terror they saw in his eyes.

The neighbor's house where Bill had sought refuge was a young guy named Sawyer. He interrupted Montag as he was reiterating his belief that there much be a rational explanation for all this. "If he's telling the truth, and I can see no reason why he would fabricate this particular story, then I think we should try to lure the beast out into to open so we can kill it."

Montag lowered his eyes at Sawyer, "Whether it's a bunch of bandits or a dragon, so you really think that's something we can fight?"

Sawyer looked confident. "Listen, chap. We know it's weapon is fire so that means we can fight it. We'll drive the fire brigade truck out here tomorrow and by this time tomorrow night I'll trick on whoever or whatever burned Bill's farm into a trap so we can fight it."

"As long as we can gather some real weapons as well, I'd welcome your invitation to spring a trap for this enemy," said Robin.

"Very well," agreed Montag. "We'll make the necessary preparations in the morning and set a trap for tomorrow evening. In the meantime, we should all get good rest, because I foresee the battle tomorrow being a tought one."

Montag and Robin spent the following afternoon convincing the fire departments from the two nearest towns that they should let them borrow a truck for their attempt to fight the dragon. Bill visited his neighbors assembling a gauntlet of weapons. Sawyer had corralled a group of the town's fastest horses and chained them up at half mile intervals between their point of attack and the dragon's den.

"You guys will be ready in an hour," Sawyer asked as the other three were making finishing touches.

"Yeah," said Montag.

"In that case, expect to see me followed by the dragon in an hour. If I can lead it into our trap, I expect you to finish the deed." With that, he rode off towards the dragon's den and everybody else finished their preparation.

"What's our strategy?" asked Robin.

Montag turned to Bill, "Did you see it the other day? Maybe you learned something that could help us."

"I've gone over it in my head a hundred times. The dragon breathed fire at anything that moved, destroyed everything that didn't with it's powerful tail, and was covered in tough looking scales just like you'd find on a fish."

"Completely covered?" said Montag.

"Except maybe for a small area on it's chest, yeah."

"How small of an area?" asked Robin.

"I didn't get a great view. Between the size of a grapefruit and a football, maybe?" said Bill.

"I could hit that," said Robin. "The strategy is that you get me a clear shot and I'll put a half dozen bullets in the unscaled spot."

Twenty minutes later, a dust cloud rose near the horizon. Squinting, Montag saw Sawyer riding one of the horses with the dragon about half-mile behind him. He stopped near another horse, dismounted, and sent the first running westward. Then he untied the other horse and rode it towards the trap. This repeated for four more switches over the course of five or six minutes before he joined the rest of the group. The dragon was never less than a quarter-mile away.

They readied the water cannon while Robin aimed his gun. When the dragon saw them, it let loose a steady stream of fire-breath. They targetted the water and let loose. The dragon was dazed. Robin aimed at the unscaled spot and fired. The dragon roared when the bullets hit it. It recoiled and sent a fresh breath of fire at the group. A group of nearby bushes burst into flames before another blast of water to the dragon's face stopped it again. Robin had reloaded and was ready for his second round. This time the dragon roared louder and fell backwards.

"We did it!" exclaimed Montag. "Good teamwork guys. A job well done. Who wants to find out what dragon tastes like tonight?"

Bill looked around at the others. "That was easier than I thought it would be."

"Yeah," said Montag. "Proper organization and planning of the right mix of skills can achieve amazing things." He smiled at the fallen dragon. "Do you want help rebuilding your farmhouse?"

Bill smiled, "I'd like that."

Original photograph was taken by Airman 1st Class Kathrine McDowell of the U.S. Air Force on 23 May 2007. It depicts United States Air Force Airmen from the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Protection Flight neutralize a live fire during a field training exercise at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. The exercise includes training in self-aid buddy care, expedient firefighting, weapons handling, and night-vision devices.

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