The Temporal Knights by Richard D. Parker Page A

be no interference, however, once the enemy was engaged. Any communication at a critical junction could spell disaster for the soldier, so when the safety was taken off the weapon’s system, all communications were cut off unless he directly toggled the speaker system. When the dogs were a bit over a hundred yards out Brooks stood and gave a short burst from his flame-thrower which was mounted on the side of his M18 rifle. It could spray a napalm mixture up to fifty yards and fire continuously for almost a full minute before running out of fuel. It was intended to be a defensive weapon, though still very lethal, and was used very effectively against surging Skawps.
    The dogs yelped at the heat and immediately turned back on their equally terrorized masters, who nearly rode over the top of them. Private Brooks was in full battle gear, visor down, looking at the world through his virtual screen. His sensors missed nothing except for the looks of absolute terror on the faces of the men before him.
    Sir Æthelnoth, Ealdorman and lord of these lands, eyed the devil before him with great caution and barely disguised fear, which was passed through his thick thighs to his skittish mount. His mind raced, trying to decide what to do. This could be some new demon challenging him…or it could be a dragon’s ruse. Dragons were notorious tricksters and very clever beasts. He was running his lands yesterday and saw the flying dragon with his own eyes, and put a call out for his best knights to come forthwith and join the hunt. They were hunting dragon, expected dragon, and not this man-like creature spitting fire at them now. But this was like no man the Ealdorman had ever seen before. His face was washed out, flat and dull. He remembered no stories of dragons turned to men, but he wouldn’t put it passed the foul beasts. He’d heard they could do pretty near anything. Æthelnoth was carefully considering what to do next when his young son Harden quickly raised his crossbow and fired. Æthelnoth admired the youth’s spunk, even though his small target was well out of range, but then the young man gave a war cry and charged the man-beast. The Ealdorman’s heartbeat quickened with fear and pride, and though it was against his better judgment he spurred his own horse to follow.
    Brooks saw the shot and dove to one side though after five years of hard fighting he could instinctively tell that the arrow was going to be wide to the left. He heard rather than saw the quarrel from the bow clatter against the rocks. It had arrived with startling speed. But Brooks was not concerned with such things at the moment because all nine knights and half a dozen dogs were charging his position. He fired a quick burst from his M18 and eliminated two of the dogs, and shot the flame-thrower nearly full force scorching the hair on the other four canines. The charge skidded to an abrupt stop. On his face shield he could see the targeting dots which represented Captain Hersey and the others in the area as they quickly circled around to the rear of the horsemen. The horses were now scared and very jittery, wanting to flee, and the Private knew that the situation was deteriorating rapidly. He held up a hand to the strangers, keeping a very wary eye on the crossbow. He was unaware that it could only fire one shot without a lengthy reloading process, but completely aware that if the weapon was fired now he would be hard pressed to avoid the arrow.
    Brooks slowly removed his helmet, causing General Peebles to raise an eyebrow and switch back to Private Starling’s camera. The faces before Private Brooks were startled and very afraid. Most of the men carried short lances which were pointed in his direction, though as the horses jostled nervously beneath them; most had a difficult time keeping the weapons in position.
    “Friend,” he yelled over the fifty-yard distance.
    The Ealdorman’s mouth dropped open, aghast. The dragon could talk...though exactly what it