The Hunt for the Dragon King by Harrison McArthur

Author:Harrison McArthur [McArthur, Harrison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780228823704
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Published: 2022-10-13T05:42:07+00:00

Chapter 3

The Hunt Begins

The day was coming to an end. The sunset in the west cast a reddish orange glare onto the clouds.

Since the militia was done playing war for the evening they gathered at the Pig’s Pipe Pub to relax. Soon they were laughing, joking and drinking with one another.

Jason didn’t laugh. He sat on a stool next to the bar and looked into his soda. His memories of the war were beginning to resurface. He remembered how he had been conscripted at the age of 15 to fight and how terrified he had been. Many of his classmates had also been drafted and they, likewise, had been frightened. Even now, after three years, Jason could remember how his friends and he had had weapons shoved into their hands and how they had been corralled onto trucks and sent to the frontlines.

“Don’t worry, boys,” their commanding officer, Major Eliot, had said to them as they drove to the battlefield. “We’ll all be back home in no time at all!”

Despite his reassurance, the Major had been the first to die. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet to the head. The sound of the shot’s impact would always remain in Jason’s mind. That had been his first introduction to death. Then, one by one, his friends died: Jeffery, Piggy, Michael, Frank, Colin, Williams and finally his best friend Drew. Jason was the only one left now.

As he sat there he recalled his last meeting with Lena before he was shipped off.

“No matter what happens,” she had said to him. “You are coming back to me! I promise we’ll see each other again.”

A ghost of a smile flickered across Jason’s face as he remembered her words and their parting kiss.

“I miss you, Lena,” he whispered as he gulped down the last drops of his soda.

Jason heard several of the militiamen whistling and cheering and he turned around to see what had gotten them all excited. Weaving her way through the crowds was Lilly Longstreet, an attractive girl around Jason’s age. Her long blonde hair cascaded down onto her bare shoulders. Her full lips were a ribbon of scarlet while her fox-like green eyes were framed by her long lashes. Her slender frame was bumped and jostled by the militiamen as she made her way towards the bar. Jason cursed under his breath when he realized that Lilly was coming towards him.

Sgt. O’Conner was sitting next to Jason. “She’s got eyes for you, lad,” he said to him as he watched her. “Better offer her a drink when she gets here.”

“I’m already spoken for,” Jason replied. “Besides, you know for a fact that she’s got eyes for every other man in this bar, including you, even though you’re married.”

“I admit she’s got a slight reputation when it comes to boyfriends,” O’Conner said, “but you might as well have a bit of fun while you’re young. Lena isn’t coming back anytime soon and you might as well—”

“Finish that sentence,” Jason snarled coldly, “and you’re dead!”

O’Conner went silent.

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