Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow

by J. Michael Fluck

  “No problem, my boys are ready for a fight,” Lenor replied.

  The heavy cavalry platoon consisted of thirty-six paladins of various levels of experience, all mounted on special heavy warhorses or paladin’s mounts. This constituted the Weir’s high mobility ground counterattack force. The paladins all had half plate or full plate armor and large shields. They were armed with long or bastard swords and heavy lances. Most had some type of magical weaponry or armor, with the rest being of masterwork, and half had heavy crossbows. Lenor commanded the platoon, leading with the power of his holy sword. The heavy cavalry platoon usually countered enemy cavalry or Morgathian crimson guards on mounts. They could also keep giants at bay as well.

  “Lieutenant Willaward, how is your catapult sections?” Mkel asked.

  “All up sir, all four engines ready to go,” the catapult leader replied.

  “Remember, you fire first after the rangers. You’ll need to be accurate, for depending on how long it will take Gallanth and I to take care of the chromatic dragons and how long it will take the Draden regiment to reinforce us, this will be a critical time. The more you you rain fire and rock, the more of our soldiers will live,” Mkel soberly reminded him.

  “We will be on target as always,” the tall lieutenant replied.

  “I have faith,” Mkel said with a smile, always impressed by the catapult section’s confidence. “Clydown, your sappers will be called out to set up hasty defensive earthworks and obstacles if necessary. I know you all are up to it.”

  “No problem sir, our men are always motivated to shape the battlefield for our victory,” the engineer and sapper lieutenant replied.

  The thirty-man sapper section was expert in defensive and offensive earthworks and siege operations. They oversaw the Weir’s defensive emplacements and traveled with the garrison to provide them temporary defensive structures such as earthen walls, trenches, traps, pits, and the building of siege towers, rams and various other siege techniques. The sappers were armed with picks, war hammers, field spades, short swords, and weapons that doubled as their tools for building and digging or the destruction of structures. Clydown was the sapper expert and leader of this section. Clydown himself was armed with a lesser mithril alloy short sword and similar banded armor along with a staff powered by a garnet dragonstone given to him by the copper dragon Selenth. This enabled him to move large volumes of earth and rock and could detect desired minerals or metals when directed.

  “Lupek, what’s your plan for the rangers today?” Mkel asked, although he already knew the answer.

  “Deless and I will split sections, with half of us doing aerial sweeps and the other half performing diving runs on the targets. Deless will lead the first flight to simulate us intercepting any aerial threats, for he is more accurate than I am,” the ranger leader commented with a slight smile.

  “That is an understatement, my friend,” Mkel chimed in, bringing a slight chuckle, for it was well known that Lupek was a very dangerous foe in close combat, being able to effectively fight with two weapons simultaneously. He was also accurate with throwing weapons, especially daggers and his lightning javelin, but he left much to be desired as far as employing a bow or crossbow.

  “The diving units will exhaust their dragon’s fire grenades and then switch to aerial sweeps, while Deless’s section will move to diving attacks until all grenades have been utilized. Hopefully, we will have the aerial combat under control between our griffons and you and Gallanth, and then we’ll fully concentrate on diving attacks, inflicting as much damage as we can,” he concluded.

  “Just a reminder to all to remember the signal from the ranger’s griffons as they perform a dive to check your arrow fire,” Mkel added. “I want no griffon hit with a friendly arrow, for it will bleed just as much from ours as an orc arrow, and I like our griffons very much,” he added with a smile, which even got a return grin from Deless, who was usually a very somber individual (even for an elf).

  “Colonel Dunn, sir, your focus?” he asked the support corps leader.

  “No change from the last briefing,” he said. “We will form just over the bridge and have Silvanth teleport the caravan to the far side the Weir and then back again behind the catapults. We will have all of our wagons, for if we are to fight this unholy gathering of evil, we will need to push as much support forward as possible.”

  The supply caravan was an unwieldy, long train of wagons. They had four armament wagons with caches of arrows and bolts, extra swords, spears, and the like. Four more wagons contained foodstuffs to be able to supply the garrison and its animals for a week and provisions for the dwarves and elves as well. Everything was kept cold by two ice container wagons, with many cooling crystals inside the insulated boxes on top of the wagons. Several other wagons were packed with spare clothing and parts for saddles and so on. Four more wagons were utilized to support the catapults, with ammunition, ropes, and any other necessary parts. Several other wagons were solely dedicated to care for and transport the wounded with assigned healer sections and supplies. These wagons could carry four to eight wounded if necessary. There were also three more spare wagons for any purpose needed or just for replacements.

  Colonel Dunn masterfully oversaw the smooth logistical operations of the garrison. Silvanth combined with Watterseth, with Beckann occasionally, provide the heavy protection for this group; a silver dragon of her size and a very high level cleric were a force none too easy to dismiss.

  “Silvanth will meet us on the grounds, Gallanth?” Colonel Dunn asked the gold dragon directly.

  “Yes, I will make sure of it, my good colonel,” Gallanth replied.

  “I know you are the only one she listens to, Master Dragon,” Colonel Dunn added.

  “That is not always accurate, for she shares her mood swings with my rider’s mate,” Gallanth jokingly replied; everyone present burst out laughing, for even though dragons do have a sense of humor, people were often surprised when they exhibited this trait.

  “Toderan, any comments?” Mkel asked.

  “I don’t think I could top that statement,” he said, looking to Gallanth and smiling (rare for him), “but a reminder to all your sergeants and senior fighters to take note of the performance of your new soldiers. This could be the last garrison and regimental exercise we will likely conduct before we face this threat from the southeast. So make sure everyone learns as much as possible and record it in the platoon journals, for it will save lives later,” he concluded in his normally somber but commanding voice.

  “A good point; I do not want any unnecessary casualties, for when this comes down for real, our soldiers are all we have. Myself, Gallanth, Jodem, and Senior Sergeant Toderan will do all that is possible to provide cover and protection to all of our soldiers, but you must be prepared to fight on your own, just in case. All right, if there are no questions, Gallanth and I will see you on the grounds in one hour. Fall out,” Mkel finished as he stood up and saluted. Everyone present stood up and returned the salute to the dragon and rider pair and shouted, “Never a step back!” (the Weir motto).

  All the leaders began to leave, with the exception of Toderan and Jodem. “Mkel, I will be observing from the air today after I unleash a spell or two in front of the garrison line, to make sure the coordination between myself, Dekeen, and Declark goes smoothly. I would be doing the same when we do this for real if what the rangers say is true, that they spotted at least two Morgathian Talon sorcerers. I could have my hands full,” Jodem commented with a concerned tone.

  “I will also be airborne on Alvanch to critique the formation’s coordination and to help oversee it. I don’t want any mistakes if they can be avoided,” Toderan added.

  “No problem,” Mkel said with a smile. “Between you two, and Gallanth and I, we should get a good picture of what goes on today, just coordinate with Pekram. Gentleman, have faith.”

  �
�We both do,” they collectively answered.

  “Gallanth, are you ready?” Mkel asked his dragon friend.

  “Yes; we should go see Silvanth now to make sure she is ready, then we will get in the air,” the gold dragon said.

  Everyone then walked out of the council room and went their separate directions. Gallanth and Mkel walked over to Silvanth’s ground-level sleeping niche at the back base of the interior Weir grounds.

  After a brief conversation with Silvanth and Annan, an agreement was reached on their scheme of maneuver for the exercise. Gallanth and Mkel quickly hopped back up to the ledge to finish loading his flying rig. Mkel heard the excited cries of the rangers’ griffons and the shuffling of the paladins’ horses as well as the roars of the four land dragons.

  They are all getting ready, my friend, Gallanth confirmed his thought. “All right then, Gallanth, let’s get airborne,” he replied as he stepped up onto his dragon’s forearm and was lifted up to the main securing strap and climbed to his saddle. He secured the straps and shouted to his dragon he was ready.

  Gallanth leaped from the ledge while giving a low intensity roar to signal any creature in the air to immediately go to ground. The whole Weir fell silent for a few seconds as the gold dragon’s roar echoed against the thick stone walls of the Weir interior. A cheer erupted from the ground as Gallanth glided toward the one-hundred-fifty-yard-wide entrance. He flew out of the Weir and into the morning sunlight of the late summer day, over the large stone bridge that crossed the Severic River and out over the plain beyond.

  With a few flaps of his massive wings, which seemed to make the very air shudder, he rapidly gained altitude. They circled over the field and looked down at the large array of wooden silhouette targets that were set up to simulate the enemy formation. “If it were only as easy to knock off the orcs and giants as these wooden sculptures,” Mkel said to his dragon. No, not as easy, but I have faith that the end result will be the same for both, Gallanth replied in his usual confident manner.

  By this time, the rangers had mounted on their griffons and were starting to stream out of the Weir and began to maneuver into their formations. The cavalry platoon began to trot to the bridge, with the land dragons behind them. The dwarves and the garrison company were next in line. Gallanth pointed down and back winged to a landing on the grass field in front of the bridge. He folded his wings and stood like a statue, waiting for the combined garrison to form.

  The thirty-two griffons were now landing by Gallanth, and their ranger riders dismounted and began final checks on their gear and weapons. The griffons on patrol would be missed for the exercise, but Lupek would compensate. Griffons are magnificent creatures, Mkel thought to himself: fierce, loyal and powerful. They were the second most feared flying creature after dragons, because of their strength, mobility, and intelligence, along with their keen senses and intense fierceness in battle. The golden brown and or white feathers and fur of the half eagle, half lion mounts were just slightly ruffled by the morning breeze. Their alert and intimidating stares caused all who approached them to take caution. While not dangerous to anyone not posing a threat, they were still not overly tolerant.

  The rest of the combined company team was now moving over the bridge. The paladin cavalry platoon was across and approaching Gallanth in their tight formation, with the land dragons close behind them. The dwarves were the slowest on the march, just because of their short legs, but they were tenacious and an asset in a battle line. The Weir’s infantry company was right behind them, with the catapult section bringing up the rear with the sappers moving with them.

  A horn sounded from the edge of Draden Forest, which signaled the elves were on their way. The first thing they would do would be to pack shoulder to shoulder, in a tight formation, next to (and even underneath) Gallanth, to allow him to perform a mass teleport. As long as an individual or creature was within the circle created from the tip of the gold dragon’s nose to the ends of his outstretched wings to the point of his tail, he could teleport them anywhere. This was a feat the gold dragons perfected, followed by the silvers. The other dragon races had yet to master this skill. The whole garrison could fit in that circle, but it was a drill that was practiced for exercises like this. Putting all this combat power anywhere on the battlefield, along with the seven Weir council leaders, was a small but extremely powerful force that could enter with surprise, do tremendous damage, and then be gone in an instant. This made the Keystone Weir garrison a feared force among all foes.

  As soon as all were across the bridge, they began to assemble in their assigned positions under and around Gallanth. Even though this was a well-rehearsed exercise, it still took several minutes, mainly because of the catapult wagons, for they were only so maneuverable. Mkel knew that this problem was being worked on at Draconia; he was curious to see what they came up with when he visited there in a couple of weeks.

  The dwarves moved into a tight rectangular formation under Gallanth’s head and neck, with the infantry company split on either side of them. The rangers and their griffons formed under his wings, with the land dragons in pairs behind them. The cavalry also split and formed tightly behind and amongst the land dragons, by Gallanth’s back legs. They had to be kept separated from the griffons in case the large avian creatures got hungry. The catapults formed along his tail, and the elven company stood under his belly. The land dragons, being no small creatures themselves at around fifty feet long, were still just over a third the length of the mighty gold dragon.

  Mkel spoke into his seeing crystal: “All sections report.” The palm-sized, smooth-faced quartz crystal stones were chosen to have a small amount of dragon blood added to them so they could be permanently empowered to transmit images and sounds as if looking into a mirror. The crystals were a very effective means of communication, especially during battle.

  Ordin checked in first that he was in place, Pekram was next, followed by Wheelor, Lenor, Dekeen, and Willaward. Toderan and Jodem landed just in front of the dwarves at the last minute and waved to Mkel and Gallanth to go. With that, Gallanth outstretched his massive golden wings, which extended to his full seventy-five-yard wingspan, and he let out a medium-intensity roar to ready all for teleport. His eyes flashed gold and the brilliant streaks of blue light formed in an almost vortex-like tunnel surrounding the compact group. They then disappeared from the grass field only to emerge in the field to the west of the Weir just outside of the border of Draden Forest.

  Next, Gallanth quickly enchanted the garrison’s weapons and armor. His eyes glowed in a yellowish hue and soft sunburst beams emanated from them, which he swept through the forces gathered all around and underneath him. This action, which the soldiers called “powering up,” gave all those who didn’t have dragonstone weapons extra damage ability against evil creatures and temporarily strengthened their armor. Soldiers could feel their spears, swords, bows, crossbows, and armor tingle with a warm vibration for a few seconds. This extra power, which lasted all day, sometimes provided the edge that meant the difference between life and death in battle.

  Once this was complete, Gallanth raised his head again and prepared to teleport everyone back to the grass field. Before they jumped from the field, Mkel saw the crowds gathering from the town to watch the exercise, and he noticed the Draden regiment marching up to the bridge through the eyes of the Weir dragon head stone carving or sentinel that guarded the entrance to the Weir. The dragonstones placed in the eyes of the sculpture actually gave it limited intelligence, for it controlled the airflow and internal temperature of the Weir as well as being able to defend the mountain in case of invasion. Gallanth could communicate to the sentinel to which Mkel could see what it saw through his dragon’s mind.

  “All right, gentlemen, we teleport back and immediately go into our assault formations. Are we clear?” he shouted as loud as he could. The combined return cheer of several hundred men, elves, and dwarves told him what
he wanted to know. Mkel quickly signaled to Colonel Wierangan with his crystal that they would be there in a few seconds. “Gallanth, shall we?” he said to his dragon. We shall, he replied, and with a roar, they entered into teleport and disappeared.

  They emerged at the exact place they left from but oriented away from the Weir toward the target field. Gallanth gave a ground-shaking roar, which he would do in battle if immediately facing an enemy to unnerve them. This was also an effective crowd pleaser, for the observers from the town had gathered on the opposite shore of the Severic River in front of the Weir.

  The garrison started to deploy into their primary line formation immediately after Toderan took to the air. The dwarves formed the center of the line with a forty-dwarf front, three deep. The infantry company split two platoons on the right side and on the left of the dwarves, effectually doubling the width of the line. The griffons leapt into the air as soon as Gallanth folded his wings, and the land dragons moved to their positions behind the infantry platoons. When the dwarves and infantry were locked shoulder to shoulder, Mkel ordered them to move out. As they started marching, the elves moved into their firing formations behind the dwarves. The paladins spread out their cavalry behind the elves, waiting for Mkel’s signal as to which flank they would attack from as well as the overall attack order.

  The catapults started preparing to fire as soon as Gallanth leaped into the air with a flap of his huge wings. He soared up over the front line and immediately turned and flew over the river and the town of Draden. The people of the town cheered as he passed over them and then circled back to the practice field. Lieutenant Willaward’s crews worked fast; they launched the first volley of solid clay shot, which simulated their stone projectiles, but burst in a cloud of dust on impact for easier marking. The four thirty-pound projectiles sailed over the ground troops high into the air along their ballistic arch, landing in the midst of the standing targets in a thundering impact. Jodem sent an advanced seeing-eye globe over to the crowds, and it began to project an image above the river of the catapults firing and the impacts on the target field.