The Godswar Saga (Omnibus)

by Jennifer Vale

  Cursing under her breath, she sprinted across the street to the westernmost bridge spanning the upper and lower sections of the city. As far as she could tell the dragon had yet to notice her, and it reared back and spewed flame across the opposite side of the waterway. Most of the buildings here were made of stone, thankfully, but the fires still leapt from straw rooftop to straw rooftop and scorched the cobblestones black. Ignoring the panicked screams as best she could, Elade dashed to the center of the bridge before hopping up onto the edge and glancing down at the massive creature beneath her.

  During the battle at Garos a few months ago, she had gotten the bright idea to climb the city’s command tower and leap down onto an attacking dragon’s back. The plan had worked…more or less. She had killed the dragon and the riders, but in its death throes it had hurled her against the tower and broken her arm. She almost certainly would have bled out right then and there if not for the aid of Jason and Sarina.

  Tonight she was on her own, which probably meant she should at least try to be more careful. But caution wasn’t going to save this fort and the thousands of hapless villagers who were depending on it, and paladins—even ex-paladins—weren’t exactly known for playing it safe. There was only one way she was going to stop this thing, and it was now or never.

  And so Elade sucked in a deep breath, clutched her sword in a two-handed grip…and leapt off the bridge.

  Her plan, crazy as it might have been, was relatively straight-forward: she would land near the center of the dragon’s back, and her fall would give her sword all the momentum it needed to pierce the creature’s thick, scaly hide and hopefully kill or paralyze it right then and there. But the beast had obviously noticed her after all—the instant she leapt off the bridge, it reared back and smacked her with one of its wings.

  By all rights and measures, her body should have gone flying halfway across the fort. But somehow she managed to grab onto the edge of the wing and use its bony ridge as a pivot point to alter her trajectory. She flipped straight up into the air, and for a moment she feared she would crash down into the waterway and get crushed by its mighty feet. But whether through skill, luck, or pure divine providence, she landed directly atop the dragon’s bony back in almost the spot she had been aiming for in the first place.

  Unfortunately, the loss of downward momentum was a serious problem. The creature bucked and writhed beneath her, and Elade struggled to maintain a firm grip on her sword. She wildly hacked down across its spinal ridges, but the dragon’s thick hide was more than a match for a few errant swings, even from a Dawn-forged blade. What she needed was stability and brute force, and she wasn’t going to get either of those as long as she remained fastened to its back.

  Which meant it was time to try her first plan again. Mentally crossing her fingers, Elade channeled the Aether through her body and conjured a set of glowing, semi-translucent wings to her back. She braced her boots against the edge of the spiny vertebrae and jumped…and the wings lifted her up off the dragon’s back and into the air. Grinning, she grabbed her blade with both hands and prepared to fall back down and skewer it straight through its spine—

  And then a tail smacked her right in the back.

  This time, Elade soared over the waterway like her body had been fired from a ballista. Her sword flipped out of her grip and her breath fled her lungs. In desperation, she hefted her shield protectively in front of her, and a heartbeat later she crashed into the side of the nearest bridge before plummeting down into the water.

  Pain stabbed through her arm and shoulder, and once again her memory flashed back to Garos. Her ears rang, her vision blurred, and her consciousness nearly drained away…but this time she refused to give in. She forced her arms and legs to swim towards the edge of the waterway, and after a few seconds her fingers curled around one of the stone ladders. Rung by rung she hoisted herself out of the water…and then the dragon reared back and spewed yet another fiery cone of death.

  Acting on pure, panicked instinct, Elade sucked in a deep breath and dove back into the near-freezing water. A sheet of flame scorched across the surface, but the weight of her armor dragged her to the bottom with remarkable speed. Flipping her head about, she watched in horror as a cloud of steam and bubbles reduced her visibility to virtually nothing. She could feel the liquid heating around her, and she knew that given sufficient time the dragon could probably boil the water and everything within it. But she also knew it would have to pause for breath eventually, and so she crouched down on the waterway floor and waited patiently for a window of opportunity…

  The roaring storm abated with a final puff of flame, and Elade once again summoned her Aetheric wings before pushing off with all the force her legs could muster. She vaulted up and out of the near-scalding water, and with the aid of her wings she managed to flip backwards and land more or less steadily atop the archway directly in front of the dragon. The beast looked up at her, clearly stunned that anything could have survived its assault, let alone a single annoying warrior.

  Elade knew she had no chance of defeating this creature. Not now, not without her sword or any other weapon capable of piercing its hide. But ultimately, she didn’t need to kill it—she just needed to keep its attention focused upon her long enough for Darius to rally his men and secure the fortress. As long as they could erect a barrier to block out the inevitable Crell reinforcements, a single dragon would eventually fall beneath the force of sheer numbers. The only remaining question was whether or not she would live to see it.

  Whispering a silent prayer to Maeleon, Elade hunkered down behind her shield as the dragon’s breath scorched the cobblestones black.

  ***

  “The barrier is up, thank Sol, but I’m not sure how long it will hold,” Major Lennox said between clenched teeth. Like most of the other officers here in the command tower, he was a parody of his normal self—his brown hair was disheveled, his armor was only half-strapped on, and he otherwise looked like he had been yanked out of bed in the middle of the night. No one had expected a Crell attack, not with the bulk of their army tied up in the Darrowmere. Yet here they were, storming a fortress garrisoned by almost ten thousand soldiers with a single dragon, a handful of elite soldiers, and now a small incoming wave of aerial reinforcements.

  “Our griffon scouts assured me there wasn’t a single Crell manticore within fifty miles,” Darius grumbled. “Where in the hell did they come from?”

  No one replied. But then, there really wasn’t anything to say at this point. The die had been cast, as it were, and recriminations could wait. Right now they just needed to figure out a way to get the situation under control before it was too late.

  “I need an update from our men in the courtyard,” Darius said, curling his fingers over the pommel of his sword to hide his anxiety. His soldiers needed to believe their commander was fully in control no matter how chaotic the situation. “I want archers in the towers to take down that dragon.”

  “Our men are on the way, sir, but the groll have cut them off,” one of the nearby priests stammered. “They won’t be able to get to the waterway without help.”

  Darius turned and glared at the younger man. Like half the Bound in this garrison, this boy—Acolyte Janeel—had obviously never seen real combat before. But as long as he could relay messages from the priests maintaining the barrier in the fort’s main defensive towers, he would suffice.

  “Then assemble a squad and take down the bloody groll!” Darius ordered. “There can’t be more than a dozen of them.”

  “W-we’re trying, sir,” Janeel blubbered, “but it’s going to take time. The soldiers say the groll are fighting much more intelligently than we’re used to.”

  “First an underwater dragon, and now modified groll,” Lennox muttered. “The beast masters must have been busy these last few months.”

  Darius bit down on his lip and glanced out the closest window. Amberwood had fallen into a near total anarchy at this point. The fact they were harboring thousan
ds of civilians inside the walls wasn’t helping anything, either—they were wasting an enormous amount of time trying to round up and defend thousands of hapless villagers both in and outside the walls.

  Still, at least the barrier would buy them a bit of time. The dragon seemed contained in the waterway for the moment, and if anyone here had a chance of taking it down solo, it was Elade. The more pressing concern was the squad of manticore riders strafing the city. If they somehow managed to breach the barrier…

  “I need those griffon riders,” Darius growled. “Please tell me there weren’t all piss drunk in the barracks.”

  Janeel shook his head. “The first squad is lifting off now, sir. The last two should be ready to go any moment.”

  “A year ago, we had a hundred riders stationed here,” Lennox murmured wistfully. “Now we have five times as many griffons as Bound…”

  “Save your grievances for later,” Darius admonished. “Right now we need to make do with what we have. I want the first wing playing defense; order them to keep the manticore away from the barrier, but don’t take any risks. The second wing can—”

  “General!” another voice called out from the stairway. His armor bore the insignia of a lieutenant, but Darius didn’t recognize his face. He must have been one of the many new soldiers called here from the 3rd Legion. “Sir, a team of Crell soldiers just broke through our lines on the main bridge. They’re making their way towards the eastern tower.”

  Lennox frowned. “Soldiers? I thought those crates were full of groll.”

  “They emerged from the water behind the dragon,” the lieutenant reported. “I have no idea how they got in, but our soldiers don’t stand a chance without support. They have Imperators with them, sir.”

  “And probably Breakers as well,” Darius hissed. If any Breakers breached the eastern or western towers and attacked the priests inside… “I want every available soldier on this level to fan out and protect the other towers. The priests will be virtually helpless as long as they’re maintaining the barrier.”

  Lennox cocked an eyebrow. “We already have two squads of our best soldiers protecting them. If we pull away any more of our defenses, I’m not sure we’ll be able to stop the groll, let alone the dragon…”

  “Defending the priests is our top priority. Without them, we lose the fortress.” Darius closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Have any of our priests spotted Elade? Is she still engaging the dragon?”

  Acolyte Janeel swallowed heavily. “She engaged the dragon a few minutes ago, General, but none of our priests are close enough to check on her. The last we saw it had thrown her into the water…”

  “Don’t count her out just yet,” Darius said, injecting as much false confidence into his tone as he could manage. “She took out a dragon and its riders at Garos.”

  “If anyone can kill that bloody thing, it’s a Knight of the Last Dawn,” Lennox agreed. “But we need to get a message to her somehow—she might be the only one here who can stop those Breakers, too.”

  Darius nodded and forced himself to swallow the lump rising in his throat. “Yes.”

  “Sir, the Crell manticore riders are regrouping, and our men in the watchtowers have spotted four more dragons approaching from the hills to the west,” Janeel said. “Our first squad of griffon riders is ready. Shall we lower the barrier?”

  “Do it,” Darius said. “We might not get another chance. Just make sure they get it back up the moment the griffons are clear.”

  A grim silence settled over the war room, and eventually Lennox sighed and leaned against the wall. “I suppose all we can do now is wait.”

  “No,” Darius said, leaning up and drawing his sword. “We can get down there and try to help.”

  Lennox blinked. “General, you can’t be serious—”

  “You’re in charge here, Major,” Darius interrupted. “Just remember that defending the priests is our first priority. Once the enemy squads are contained, rally every soldier we have to reclaim the courtyard. Hopefully the Crell will retreat once they realize their assault squads have failed.” He swiveled around to face the guards along the wall. “You four: come with me. We’re going to see what we can do about that dragon.”

  ***

  Another cone of flame hosed down the bridge, and this time Elade had to reinforce her shield with all the power she could muster. The heat still singed the edges of her cloak, and if not for the fact she had just taken a dive into the near-freezing water, her brow would have been covered in sweat. Even when the dragon finally paused to gather its strength, she could barely see anything between the rising plumes of smoke from the burning debris and gathering tendrils of mist from the waterway. She could hear the creature sloshing closer and closer, however, and soon she would have to contend with its teeth and talons as well as its mighty breath. And that meant it was time to move.

  Bracing her boots against the scorched cobblestone, Elade leapt upwards and allowed her Aetheric wings to take over. Her flight speed was slow and awkward, at least compared to a bird or any other avian creature, but she was still able to surge off to her left and hover above the street. She had hoped to catch a rare break and spot her fallen sword somewhere, but sadly she had no such luck. She needed to come up with another way to bring this monster down…and there, glinting at the edge of her vision, was her answer: one of the axes from the groll she had cut down just a few minutes earlier.

  Elade dropped to the ground and sprinted towards the corpse. Normally, the creature’s massive weapons would have been far too cumbersome for actual combat—even the strongest Asgardian warrior couldn’t possibly wield a thirty-pound axe with any kind of accuracy. But the Aether could probably boost her strength enough to swing it a few times, and it wasn’t like she was planning on challenging the dragon to a fencing duel. So Elade quickly dismissed her shield, hefted up the mighty weapon in a two-handed grip, and charged back into the fray.

  The dragon saw her coming, of course. The beasts had excellent physical senses, and even if it couldn’t see her through the smoky mist, it could undoubtedly hear her as she surged forward and leapt back into the air. But this time it didn’t bother buffeting her with its wings, slapping her with its tail, or even dousing the area in another curtain of flame. Instead it smashed its enormous bulk into the bridge she had just been standing on and showered the entire road with smoldering chunks of stone.

  Muttering a vaeyn curse under her breath, Elade frantically struggled to gain altitude before the rubble could crush her to a pulp. But the Last Dawn employed this channeling technique to control a rapid descent, not to lift off and actually fly. She managed to weather the initial storm of pebbles and even dodge several of the larger boulders…but before she could rise above the destruction, a spinning chunk of cobblestone slammed into her shoulder and sent her careening into a nearby building. She smashed into the wall with an impressive thud, then slid and crashed into the rubble below. Without the protection of the Aether, she probably would have broken her neck. Even with it, she felt like she had just been drop-kicked by a groll. Or a dragon.

  She craned her neck upwards to see the beast already lumbering after its prey. The dragon lifted its massive torso up and out of the waterway, its mighty talons shredding the street as it hauled itself forward. From this angle the creature’s malformed features were even more obvious, and it unleashed a deafening roar as it reared backwards and inhaled—

  And then a pair of crossbow bolts pierced into its long neck, and the dragon whipped its head around like a human tracking a particularly annoying insect. Running towards the battle from the opposite side of the street, firing their weapons as they ran, was a quartet of Solarian soldiers…and right behind them, sword drawn, was Darius.

  Elade’s jaw dropped open. She wanted to rush over and yell at him; she wanted to tell him how idiotic it was for the Legion’s High General to be running around the battlefield like a lowly front-line infantryman. But she knew she’d never get the chance to save hi
m from his own stupidity if she didn’t do something, and so instead she used the distraction to hop back to her feet, pick up the oversized groll axe, and charge.

  This time the dragon didn’t see her coming. Just as it sucked in a deep breath and prepared to roast Darius and his men, Elade vaulted up off the ground and slammed the axe into the creature’s exposed flank. The dragon roared in protest and whipped its tail around in an attempt to swat her off, but Elade had already let go. Her momentum carried her up and over the beast’s spiny ridges, and she landed more or less cleanly on the edge of the waterway.

  A single blow wouldn’t kill any dragon, of course, let alone a specially-bred siege engine like this monster. The continued crossbow fire from Darius’s men wouldn’t kill it either, and even if Elade were still in possession of her sword, she doubted she’d be able to slay it before it incinerated everyone else. But just this once, she didn’t need her blade—she just needed the shield floating above her left arm.

  Twisting her body sideways, she hurled the glimmering disc with every ounce of strength her Aether-enhanced muscles could muster. It smashed into the damaged stone pillar on the opposite side of the street, and with a crackling rumble that could be heard across Amberwood, the pillar snapped off at the base and toppled over.

  The dragon didn’t have a chance. The broken pillar crashed down squarely at the base of its skull, and its head struck the cobblestone with enough force to send another shower of debris spraying over the area. But by the time the dust eventually cleared, the mighty beast had finally stopped thrashing.

  “Nice work,” Darius commented as he strode over to her and wiped the dust from his brow. “Sorry we couldn’t make it here sooner.”