by A. J. Walker
Suddenly, Ivan’s voice rang through his mind, giving them the command to draw their bows. Theodor heard the collective stretching of the cavalry’s two-hundred-and-fifty bows bending, ready to fire.
Loose!
The muffled twang of the hundreds of bowstrings all snapping tight against the air sounded near Theodor. He watched as the deadly arrows flew through the canopy of the forest, disappearing into the leafy trees. He wondered for a moment how many would make it to their intended targets and, likewise, how many would become lodged in trees. He heard howls and screams as the orcs in the distance fell victim to their arrows. The monsters’ cries sounded much closer than he’d imagined they would be.
Ivan mentally commanded the cavalry to take aim once more. He waited several long breaths and gave them the command to loose their arrows a second time. Seven times they did this, until finally Theodor saw the first of the orcs break through into view.
“Fire at will!” Ivan shouted, no longer concerned about giving away their position.
Theodor began stringing and loosing his arrows in quick succession, picking off orcs as fast as his arms could move. There were too many for him and his men to shoot them all down. As soon as one would fall, two more emerged behind, rushing toward them with malice in their eyes. In a flash, the elves swept in on foot, rushing the orcs at an angle and colliding with the wall of mottled-skinned bodies. Theodor watched in horror as he saw the pure gore of battle begin to unfold before him. He ordered his men to charge.
The once clear line of elves, humans, and orcs had become blurred in the fighting. Theodor had exhausted his supply of arrows before the orcs became mixed in their ranks. Wielding a two-handed broadsword, Theodor was a formidable adversary atop his horse. As Theodor slashed from right to left through the thicket of orc bodies milling around him, he glanced around, attempting to locate his fellow cavalrymen and Ivan. He couldn’t see more than thirty yards through the dense vegetation engulfing them. Directly around him, the elves dispersed among the thick bodies of orcs while most of his cavalry held together in a conglomerate of horse and men. His eyes quickly scanned to where Ivan stood, wielding his sword wildly and expelling waves of energy from his palms, knocking over multiple orcs with each blast. Ivan had become completely consumed by the enemy and was taking on twice as many orcs as his entire cavalry.
Kicking his heels hard into his horse’s side, Theodor urged his steed toward Ivan and the canvas of gray orc heads surrounding him. Bellowing a war cry, Theodor pointed his blade and plowed into the pile of orcs, galloping at full speed. He’d managed to penetrate deep into the swarm of orcs before his horse slowed. He slashed and stabbed faster than he knew possible. Despite his attempt to help Ivan, Theodor quickly discovered that he had only made the situation worse. The orcs’ attention turned to him, their collective dark eyes peering up at him as they circled in around him. Realizing he was about to be overtaken, Theodor whirled his horse around. Spurring the steed on, he charged forward, running in a circle and clearing a small space to ride. He continued to slash out at the enclosing orcs as he rode in increasingly tighter circles.
Ivan took notice of Theodor’s predicament and as the orcs enclosed around him, he called to his dragon, Jazz, Theodor is in trouble. I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment, could you help him?
Jazzmaryth responded by leaping away from the mass of orcs she’d been taking on and gliding through the trees to Theodor’s aid. She landed in the midst of the chaos, crushing those who couldn’t get out of her way. She swept her long, scaled tail as she cleared a break in the orcs for Theodor and his horse to come in behind her. Jazzmaryth opened her jaws and expelled a jet of fire, roasting a line of orcs between herself and where Ivan stood. Theodor slashed through the thin wall of smoldering orcs to enter the clearing she’d created and rode to Ivan’s side.
“There are too many!” he shouted to Ivan.
Ivan continued to spout waves of energy from his palm and replied, “I can’t hold them off much longer! My strength is wearing!”
As he spoke, Theodor heard the deafening roar of a dragon, followed by the sweeping shadow of several dragons passing directly above the treetops. Ivan cursed and shouted to Theodor, “Go to your men and try to hold our position. If we’re overrun, retreat to the foothills of mountains,” he pointed behind them in the direction of the Frozentip Mountains.
Theodor nodded, turned his horse around, and spurred it on through the orc and elven ranks. Ivan ran the charred path to Jazzmaryth and swiftly mounted her. Together they burst through the forested canopy with two powerful flaps of Jazzmaryth’s wings, quickly tailing the enemy dragons.
Theodor hurried his horse as he rode through to his cavalry. Once reunited with them, he led his troop in a final push against the advancing orcs. They charged into the orc ranks, battling hard to hold their position firmly. It wasn’t until Theodor noticed the roaring cadence of armor-clad feet marching in from the distance that he realized the orcs had only been the first wave of the attack. When he made the realization, the collective clanging of chainmail moving in unison suddenly came to a halt in the trees beyond them.
Why have they stopped? Unless, they’re about to fire on us, he thought.
Theodor shouted, his voice carrying over the noise of battle, “Take cover! Enemy archers! Take cover now!”
As soon as the last of the words left his lips he heard the uniform rush of arrows leaving their bowstrings. Raising his shield over his head, he held his breath, waiting for the arrows to descend. Like large clumps of hail tearing violently through the leaves and branches of the forest, the enemy’s arrows came down on them in a flash. Theodor watched from under his shield as several arrows glanced off his horse’s thin armor-plating, covering its mane. His arm recoiled at the hard pounding of two arrows lodging themselves one after the other in his raised shield. Many of his fellow horsemen weren’t as lucky as he was. Theodor watched in horror as many of them were struck down and lay writhing on the forest floor.
As the last of the arrows riddled the ground, Theodor knew there’d be more to follow. He shouted to his men, “Retreat! To the hills! Retreat!”
Pulling hard on one side of his horse’s reins, he spurred it hard, rushing toward the base of the mountains beyond the forest. The elves followed suit and left the fight with the cavalrymen. Once Ivan and Jazzmaryth were forced to engage the dragons, the orcs and the second wave of enemy forces had become too much.
They gathered at the top of the sloping hills beneath the mountains. From here, the enemy would have to fight them uphill. Theodor lined out his troop alongside the elves. They’d backed themselves against a cliff section near the base of the steep mountainside. From this position they could use the topography to their advantage and fight downhill, into the enemy. The cliff section at their backs ensured the enemy forces couldn’t attack them from their rear. It also left them no escape, however.
Theodor and his troop waited alongside the elf army, examining the tree line below. To his surprise, no orcs emerged from the trees. He watched in the distance as Ivan and Jazzmaryth fought three riderless dragons in the sky above the forest. Ivan used the mountains as obstacles to help them outfly the other dragons. Others around Theodor gasped as Jazzmaryth unleashed a stream of flames, covering the riderless dragons in a plume of fire.
Theodor winced as the dragons projected plumes of fire at one another and became washed in flames. He expected the engulfed dragon to reel away in pain from the intense inferno, but to his surprise they didn’t. Theodor didn’t know that dragon scales have the ability to withstand any flame produced by themselves or any other dragon. Theodor was shocked when the attacking dragon emerged unharmed by the flames. He found it difficult to keep his attention where the more threatening concern was—on the tree line below. Theodor noticed nearly everyone in his command had taken their eyes off the trees where the orcs were, and were watching the dragons fighting in the distance.
Theodor shouted to his men, “Keep your att
ention on the tree line! We don’t want to create an opportunity for the orcs to launch an attack while we’re distracted.”
This fight is far from over, he thought. While he remained watchful of where the orcs could potentially emerge from, his eyes glanced to the sky where his friend still battled three dragons.
IVAN HOOKED HIS HEELS into Jazzmaryth’s armpits as he wielded his sword and thrust it forward. His blade cut deep into one of the enemy dragons’ underside while they flew under the large beast. The dark dragon peeled off its path and spiraled down to the forest floor below, breaking treetops and limbs as it crashed fatally to the ground.
Ivan’s focus narrowed on defeating the two remaining dragons who attacked them with relentless anger. Banking tight and to the right, Ivan and his dragon collided hard into one of the pursuing dragons. Jazzmaryth bit down forcefully into the enemy’s neck. She latched her jaws in a vice-like grip to its body and kicked at the dragon’s side with her hind legs. Using her long claws, she sliced deep through the beast’s thick scales.
The fighting in the sky momentarily captured Theodor’s attention; he watched in awe and rose out of his seated position, coming to stand on Jazzmaryth’s back. Leaning forward to compensate against the wind speed, Ivan began to move, slowly at first, but faster with each step. He hurried down the length of her elongated neck and gained a decent striking position on the enemy dragon. Ivan flipped his sword so the point faced down, and violently stabbed it through the back of the dragon’s skull. Still locked in Jazzmaryth’s deadly grip, the dragon’s wings folded limply at its side as Ivan’s blade withdrew from its massive head. Ivan’s dragon unhinged her jaws and the enemy dragon slipped from her mouth, falling motionlessly to the mountainside below. The third dragon tailed them, but once its comrade fell from their grasp it sped off course toward the mountain peaks.
After the dragon fell, Theodor turned back to find the open slope between where his troop and the elves held their field advantage still clear of enemy forces. Several of his men were still watching the tree line, but he noticed many of them with their heads craned, watching the aerial battle unfold.
“Keep your eyes on the trees,” Theodor reminded them, but he knew many would only hold their attention for several minutes before averting their attention as he had.
The third dragon flew behind a mountain peak, concealing itself from the cavalrymen and elves’ line of sight. As Ivan and his dragon flew closer to the peak, a stream of fire shot out from near its tip. The flames coated Ivan and Jazzmaryth in an orange plume. Theodor worried that his friend would be badly burnt, and unable to continue the fight. To Theodor’s surprise, the orange flash of fire dissipated and Ivan sat stoically atop his dragon, unharmed by the flames. Ivan arched his sword in a hewing swing as a bright beam of energy extended out from the blade’s tip.
The dragon leapt off the mountaintop and back into view, attempting to escape the magical force of Ivan’s blade. Despite its efforts, the enemy dragon’s right wing came into contact with the beam, cutting the wing clean off its body. The dragon began to fly out of control, spiraling down as it frantically attempted to regain control of its flight path. The beast couldn’t fly properly and descended out of control toward the base of the mountain.
Realizing the dragon’s trajectory, Theodor saw it was going to collide with their ranks who were lined along the base of the mountain.
“Get out of the way!” he shouted to all those who could hear him.
Those who’d been watching the aerial battle unfold had already come to the same realization and were moving quickly away from the dragon’s crash course. The half-winged beast’s underside swung within inches of Theodor’s head before it crashed hard into the field below them. Its large, scale-covered body slid into the earth, creating a trench in its wake.
As it came to a halt, the dragon rose slowly to its feet. Shaking the debris off its body like a wet dog, it turned to face Theodor’s troop. The beast’s dark eyes swayed with the wavering of its large head as it focused a deadly glare at them. The injured dragon’s chest began to swell and glow bright with fire welling from inside it.
“Get to cover!” Theodor shouted, realizing the dragon was about to engulf them in a wash of flames.
Before any of them could react, Jazzmaryth came crashing down onto the dragon’s back, digging her claws deep into its scales. The injured dragon craned its neck skyward and released its flames, expelling them high into the sky. Theodor shielded himself with his arm as the radiant heat from the dragon’s fire flooded over them. Mid flame, Jazzmaryth opened her mouth wide and shot her neck forward like a viper striking its prey. She bit down hard on the back of the dragon’s skull, crunching its head in with her powerful jaws. Twisting her head sharply, Theodor heard the enemy dragon’s neck pop loudly. When she opened her mouth, the dragon’s caved-in head fell flaccid to the earth and smoke billowed from its dead nostrils. She leapt off its body and glided away from the creature, landing lightly between the cavalry and elf army. Theodor’s jaw hung open at the sheer power of Ivan’s dragon.
As darkness fell with no sign of movement from the orcs, Theodor’s men made ready for camp. They set watchmen to stand sentinel, taking shifts once every four hours.
Theodor and Ivan sat close around a warming fire as they kept watch over the battlefield while the others slept.
“They may outnumber us, but for now, we’ve got them scared; thanks to you two,” Theodor said, looking at Ivan and his dragon.
Ivan smiled slightly, “Yeah. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it sometimes.”
“You’ve come a long way since leading our training squad.”
Ivan chuckled slightly.
After a moment of silence, Theodor recalled something that had been on his mind earlier during the aerial battle. “How is it that you and the dragons weren’t burned by their fire today?” Theodor asked.
“I thought you’d be too busy fighting orcs to find the time to watch me and the dragons fight?”
“I would’ve been, but after we gained the uphill position they didn’t come out of the trees,” Theodor replied.
“They’re smarter than they look, aren’t they?” Ivan asked.
“Who do you mean, the orcs or the dragons?”
“Orcs.”
“They must be following orders. I’ve never known an orc army to be wise enough to adopt a battle strategy so strictly.”
“I think you’re right,” Ivan stated. “The other groups of orcs we’ve battled along the elven front would charge right up any mountainside to get to us. It worries me that they haven’t.”
Theodor took a sip of water from his canteen, “You didn’t answer my question. How was it that you or the other dragons weren’t burnt to a crisp by the fire like the orcs were?”
“Dragon scales are resistant to flames, unless they’re altered by magic. Most dragons and their riders will protect themselves with magical barriers as well. That’s how I was unharmed by the dragon fire. Jazz and I alter the chemical components of the fire that she expels. The altered flames can break down a dragon’s barriers and work to deteriorate the thickness of their scales.”
“You said your strength was wearing on you while you fought the orcs. How much of your energy does it take to repel fire from the dragons?”
“It depends on the ability of the dragon,” Ivan replied. “If my energy is running low, Jazz can assist me when we’re flying together. We combine our energy stores, making us more powerful. A dragon without a rider has never been able to outmatch us,” Ivan could tell by the blank expression plastered on Theodor’s face that he needed a more relatable description. “Most of the time it’s similar to fighting off someone with your sword for about a minute. If the dragon is more powerful it can feel like a ten-minute battle with each spurt of flame; it all depends. I’ve also got a few energy reserves in this necklace,” Ivan pulled a chain from under his shirt. Attached at its base hung a small light-blue crystal, gleaming in the firelight.<
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“What does it do?” Theodor asked.
“The elves gave it to me when we came back from the Dragon Wars. Jazz and I can place extra reserves of energy inside it and draw upon them when needed during battle. Using magic in excess takes a toll on your physical strength. The energy flowing within me can be replenished on its own, but it takes time, and often during battle there isn’t enough time to allow it to restore itself.”
“What happens if you use all that’s stored inside the crystal?” Theodor asked.
“Then it’s just down to my natural energy. If I were battling a lesser sorcerer, I could make it last for hours, but if I were battling Merglan, for example, I could make it last minutes if I were lucky.”
“What would happen if you used all the magical energy you can generate?”
“Most likely, it would kill me,” Ivan said shortly.
“So there’s a chance it wouldn’t?”
“I’m not exactly sure. None of those who’ve experienced it have survived, but I read something during my studies of a potential way to survive.”
“I see.” Theodor nodded slowly. “But nobody knows how to do it?”
“Yeah, not anyone the elves or humans know. The page that spoke of it in the text had been tampered with. It only mentioned that it might be possible, but the rest of the chapter was unreadable.”
“Well, I hope that you’re never in that situation,” Theodor said.
“Yeah,” Ivan replied.
Ivan and Theodor didn’t see any movement in the trees for the rest of their watch. When his replacement came, Theodor was glad to be relieved of his sentinel duties and get some much-needed rest.
