Talan turned sharply about, but Drakar skimmed close to the fallen Marrow Shards. The red dragon roared her disapproval, and the black dragon, too, wheeled about.
The diversion of the dragons had allowed the small band that Raine led to return to the safety of their comrades, and the Ha’kan archers dissuaded any of the bat-like creatures from coming too near. They flitted about in an angry, turbulent cloud.
Raine sat on her horse out in front of her army, ignoring the occasional dive from one of the flying Hyr’rok’kin, or casually slicing it in two if it came too near. She peered down the canyon.
The foot soldiers were beginning to make their way through the opening. They were slowed by the remaining spikes and the fallen Marrow Shards, but their numbers were increasing.
“Companies, prepare!”
Nerthus sat on her horse in front of the imperial force, the largest present. Dagna sat next to her. They would march down the left side of the canyon. Senta and the Queen sat in front of the Ha’kan force, and they would march down the right. Skye and the Tavinter would provide ranged support. Elyara had raised a platform from the sand, and Idonea stood where they could look out over the battle. Gimle soon joined them.
Raine raised her arm, then sliced her hand downward, and the assembly as one began marching forward. It was an awesome sight, the steel plated armor of the imperials, the red and gold armor of the Ha’kan, the gleaming leather of the Tavinter. Raine had made the decision to forego cavalry, and now Senta understood why. Speed would not be in issue in this close confinement. Once the horses had gone forward, they would have nowhere to turn if needed, not without trampling the infantry behind them. The majority of the horses had been left behind for retreat, if it came to escape.
But that one, Senta thought, eying the Scinterian. That one was not retreating. She would die on this battlefield or kill every last Hyr’rok’kin here.
The dragons wheeled about behind them and Raine watched the entrance carefully. The wind was kicking up the sand and making it hard to see. Their self-made canyon was creating its own weather system. But through the haze, Raine could see the massive, wheeled contraption she was looking for. The catapult was slowly being pushed and pulled through the opening by a multitude of Hyr’rok’kin. The monsters growled and gnashed their teeth as they strained from exertion.
Raine continued to scan. How many catapults were there? It was crucial they destroy them all before the dragons fully engaged. She could see a second coming in behind the first. She could even make out that deadly golden rope. This would be the most dangerous part of the battle, when they would meet the Hyr’rok’kin head on, without the help of the dragons and at the mercy of the winged miscreations.
The catapult was coming into focus now. It was heavily plated which meant it would be resistant to fire, truly a weapon designed to be used against a dragon. It might be possible to destroy it with brute force, but that would entail wading through an army of Hyr’rok’kin. There might be some spell that Elyara or Idonea could use against it, but Elyara was tasked with holding up the walls while Raine wanted Idonea to reserve her power. But there was something else they could use.
“Skye,” Raine called out, dismounting her horse as Skye ran over. “Can you create one of those balls of light?”
“I think so,” Skye said doubtfully.
“No thinking,” Raine said, “just do it.”
“All right.”
Skye took a deep breath, and everything fell away. The bats dive-bombing her disappeared. Raine’s casual swatting of the foul creatures seemed very distant. The army behind her was there and yet not there. She held her hands out and apart, one palm up, one palm down, as if grasping emptiness. The air began to churn between her palms and light filled the empty space. The light formed into a ball and Skye took a deep breath, focusing. In response, the light grew more intense, and as Skye began to spread her hands apart, the light grew bigger. Soon, it was near her height in diameter.
A trickle of sweat ran down her temple but she ignored it. She had been practicing on increasing the speed of her projectiles, but this one was so large, it would take monumental effort just to get it moving. She tensed her shoulders, braced herself in a stance, and pushed the ball of light outward as if she were pushing against a wall. And the huge ball of light slowly began to bob and float across the battlefield.
Skye relaxed. Once the ball was moving, the spell required no effort. It was hard to get it in motion, but she had yet to figure out how to get it to stop. Normally it would just keep going until Raine touched it.
Raine wasn’t going to stop it today.
The ball of light floated across the battlefield in an almost leisurely manner, confusing the Hyr’rok’kin who stopped to look at the phenomenon. It didn’t look dangerous. In fact, it looked ridiculously benign. So much so that the Shard foot soldiers began laughing, awful guffawing and croaking sounds. It floated toward them silently, gently, and the closest soldier reached out to touch it.
It incinerated his hand off. He screamed, holding the cauterized stump, but that was not enough warning for the nearest Hyr’rok’kin who stood in the ball of light’s path, befuddled by their comrade’s fate. The ball went through them like hot steel through butter, meeting no resistance and turning them to ash. The ball continued to float forward, unimpeded, but now the terrified Hyr’rok’kin struggled to get out of its way, pushing and shoving one another, trampling those unfortunate enough to fall. The ball didn’t care; it just slowly floated through them, gently annihilating everything in its path.
Raine watched the progress of the sphere of light. Skye had good aim. The ball was heading right toward the first catapult, and would likely catch the second as well. The Hyr’rok’kin superiors were screaming at those holding the chains that pulled the catapult forward, but they were panicked, haphazardly pushing and pulling in all directions so that the catapult went nowhere. As the floating ball neared, having cut a clean path through their entire force, they threw the chains to the side and fled, despite the blows and curses of their commanders.
The ball of light bobbed along, its speed and direction still constant, and as it reached the catapult, it didn’t slow down. It passed right through the base of the armament, burning a perfectly round hole through the heavyweight structure. The Hyr’rok’kin stared at the burning edges of the huge hole, incredulous, then ran in terror as the colossal weapon began to collapse. Pieces of metal and wood rained down on the Hyr’rok’kin, crushing dozens as the remains toppled over.
But the ball of light wasn’t finished. It still floated on in its dreamy, indifferent manner, burning everything in its path that was too slow to get out of the way. It was not directly in line with the second catapult, but it was close enough. It reached the weapon and began shaving off the entire right side, leaving a moon shaped outline that smoked and burned. Removed of its support, the second catapult swayed, then toppled to the ground with a massive thud and cloud of dust, taking many more Hyr’rok’kin with it.
The army of Ha’kan and imperials cheered.
“I wonder how long that ball will go for?” Raine said, and Skye had to laugh for the Scinterian was utterly casual.
“Maybe all the way to the Veil,” she speculated. “I still don’t know how to stop it.”
“You’re tired,” Raine said, noting Skye’s fatigue. “I don’t want you in hand-to-hand combat. You stay back and coordinate the archers. You’re going to have to keep the winged Hyr’rok’kin at bay.” She leaned close. “And you stay on the Queen.”
Skye nodded. Halla was insistent that she ride into battle with her troops, a possibility that wouldn’t even have occurred to Skye a few months ago. It was appropriate the Queen lead with her First General at her side, but her death would be devastating to the Ha’kan, and personally devastating to Skye. Dallan would be inconsolable. Raine did not need to tell her to protect Senta and the Queen: her eyes would be on them constantly.
Now that the Hyr’rok’kin wer
e in disarray, the slow march of the small army resumed, then picked up pace. It became a head-long charge as Raine went sailing into the front lines of the enemy, swords flashing in a whirling blur of death. The front forces of the imperials and Ha’kan clashed with the monstrosities, and Senta was pleased to see her front line hold. She dismounted to better get into the fray, as did the Queen. The Ha’kan did not have the advantage of numbers that the imperials had, but they had a very disciplined method of fighting. They maintained close ranks, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder, and as the front ranks tired, they rotated to the rear in tight coordination. The exception was the First General, who fought out front ferociously, her broad sword swinging in a huge arc that destroyed everything in its path. The Queen, too, fought up front, but she with sword and shield, dancing nimbly about and slicing here-and-there.
Senta tried to stay near the Queen, but a horde separated her. Her blood turned to ice as she saw the group of Hyr’rok’kin attempt to isolate the Ha’kan leader, knowing the value of this prey. But their attempt was in vain as a multitude of arrows flitted in, unerringly finding the throats, eyes, or hearts of the foul beasts. Senta glanced up at Skye, who along with a few of her rangers, had found a ledge on the wall. Skye smiled grimly, and Senta once again thanked the gods for the day that girl had walked into the Sjöfn Academy.
Nerthus had also been unhorsed, and now attracted the attention of a horde as the Hyr’rok’kin commanders directed the foot soldiers her way. Her men fought to get to her side, but they were walled off by a mob of the panting, drooling monstrosities. The coppery smell of blood was in her nose as Nerthus reconciled herself to her fate, determined to take as many of the foul creatures with her as possible.
But that fate was not to be as a spinning circle of death broke through the wall. Raine was covered in blood, little of it hers, and struck with the force and speed of the gods themselves. Nothing stood before her sword, and anything that dared try was destroyed. Every part of her body was a weapon as she kicked, punched, elbowed, kneed, thrust a sword, parried a thrust, impaled, then head-butted her enemy. She leaped, dived, rolled, turned, jumped, slid, hopped, ducked, and the dozens of Hyr’rok’kin that tried to engage her at any given time could not land a blow. She quickly cleared an area around the Knight Commander and reunited Nerthus with her men before she danced off to another part of battle. The imperials were stunned, never having seen anything like it.
The Hyr’rok’kin were not known to value the lives of their comrades, and the foot soldiers themselves were considered expendable. Knowing this, Raine was prepared when the Hyr’rok’kin archers fired a hail of arrows into the mêlée, a hail that would surely kill more of their own soldiers than the enemy. The thinking was simple and brutal: if they lost a hundred soldiers for every one of the enemy, the smaller force would still be depleted.
But Raine had primed for such a contingency, and the First Scholar of the Ha’kan stood above on the platform and raised her arms. Gimle was not good at destruction magic like Idonea, nor natural magic like Elyara, and she certainly didn’t have Skye’s extraordinary gifts. But she was very good at one thing: protecting her people. The air above the battling troops shimmered, then solidified into an aqueous form. The arrows bounced harmlessly off the ward. It was the largest shield Gimle had ever conjured, and she couldn’t hold it for long. But she didn’t need to as the Hyr’rok’kin archers stood stupefied, unable to understand why their arrows weren’t working.
Raine smiled and her expression alone was enough to terrify the Hyr’rok’kin around her. But for every one that fled, a dozen more replaced it. She glanced to the imperials, then the Ha’kan. They fought valiantly, but they were starting to get tired, that was evident. And although the Tavinter scouts darted through the fallen Hyr’rok’kin, retrieving arrows, their supply would not last forever. It was time. She gave the signal.
Two dragons swept down over the battlefield, and once past the front line of their own troops, rained down fire on the never-ending supply of Hyr’rok’kin that funneled in. The flow of battle changed in an instant. The Hyr’rok’kin were no longer pressing forward unabated. The winged creatures that had bedeviled those on the grounds now had to deal with an overpowering foe. Talan spun in mid-air and let loose a circle of fire around her, something she had been unable to do with the rope draining her. The flying Hyr’rok’kin screamed in pain and went hurtling into the ground, lighting their own troops on fire. The black dragon dove and dipped, striking out with both claw and fire. The Hyr’rok’kin milled about in terror, running into each another. There was only one escape from the canyon and there were still foot soldiers pouring in, so they crushed one another in their panic.
“Fall back,” Raine ordered. It would be best to let the stupid creatures pile in while Talan and Drakar destroyed them. The Ha’kan and imperials began an orderly, coordinated retreat, shields still forward.
And then disaster struck. Raine saw it out of the corner of her eye, what she had feared and what had caused her to delay the attack of the dragons for so long. It was a third catapult, slowly being wheeled through the entrance of the canyon. Talan saw it but it was clear that Drakar did not as he continued to dive low and strafe the Hyr’rok’kin. Raine watched in horror as the great machine was brought to bear and Drakar hovered above the ground.
“Drakar!”
The black dragon turned at the warning roar from his mother, but it was too late. The catapult fired, the golden rope snaked out, and the barbs on its tip hooked into the flesh of Drakar’s wing near the webbing where it joined the body. As they had with Talan, the flying Hyr’rok’kin dove in to capture the free end of the rope and wrapped it around any part of the dragon they could. But where they had managed only an ankle with the Ancient Dragon, they got Drakar around the neck. The black dragon plummeted to the earth like a meteor, crushing the Hyr’rok’kin beneath him.
Talan roared in fury as hell hounds set upon her son. She dove in, then pulled up short. They were already reloading the catapult, and if they were lucky enough to get her a second time, this battle was over. She wheeled about and swept away in anguish. This one would be up to her love.
And Raine was already calculating the way, her fury fanned by the cries of pain of the fallen dragon and the taunts and shrieks of joy of the Hyr’rok’kin. Drakar had fallen about a fourth of the way into the Hyr’rok’kin army, so a large part of their force was between them. She would not risk the imperials or the Ha’kan to such numbers. She turned and signed an emphatic command to Skye.
Skye drew back. She was not certain she could cast the spell again. But one look at the thrashing, helpless dragon infuriated her. Raine had been specific. Not as large, but it had to be fast. She stood up from her crouched position, raised her hands, generated a ball of light perhaps a third of the size of the previous, then hurled it with all her might directly at Drakar. It was moving fast, much faster than the previous one, and it incinerated a path through the Hyr’rok’kin with demoralizing ease.
And Raine was right behind it, sprinting as fast as she could. Her legs churned, her arms pumped, her lungs burned, and she ran so fast that even the swift Tavinter were stunned. She followed the burning path of destruction the sphere cut through the Hyr’rok’kin, knocking down those few who had the presence of mind to try and stop her. The floating ball cleared the ground troops and burned through a trio of hell hounds that weren’t smart enough to comprehend the danger. The rest of the beasts realized the peril and backed off from the orb that was floating right towards the dragon. Raine cleared the edge of the mob and with a final burst of speed, launched herself forward and into the ball of light just as it was touching Drakar’s skin…
And the ball of light disappeared.
Very slowly, Raine got to her feet. She turned and faced the pack of hell hounds and the Hyr’rok’kin army. She drew her short swords, the blue and gold markings standing in bold relief on her forearms and biceps. Her eyes were ice blue as she stood ready to defend the black d
ragon with her life. The Hyr’rok’kin milled about uncertainly. This was the most dangerous creature in the mortal realm, that they understood. This one had just dismissed, with a touch, the ball of light that had destroyed everything in its path. This one had killed more of their kind than any had in generations, and it had been her people, along with the dragons, that had destroyed their army centuries ago.
But right now she was outnumbered thousands to one. Her reinforcements were trapped on the other side of an army. Her mages were far away, their power diminished by the distance. That red dragon could not come to her aid without risking capture. And she would risk her own safety to protect the creature lying behind her.
Raine did not care. She twirled her swords about her wrists in a practiced manner. She took a stance, took a deep breath, then spoke in Scinterian the words that her father spoke when facing a hopeless battle.
“Let’s play.”
The horde screamed and charged.
The sand in front of Raine erupted and the largest wolf that anyone had ever seen exploded from the depths of the earth. He was followed by a pack of wolves that poured forth in an endless stream, black, gray, white, mottled, wolves from the forest, from the plains, from the mountains, from the glacial north, barrel-chested beasts with sharp fangs and glowing eyes. They snarled and charged outward in every direction, meeting the hell hounds head on. The gigantic wolf stood upon his hind legs and battled the foot soldiers and Raine joined him at his back. They fought ferociously, losing some of their number, but taking down hundreds for every one that fell. The Hyr’rok’kin were at a loss as to what to do, so did the only thing that they knew. They died one after the other, hoping to wear down their foe.
“We can’t keep this up forever,” the huge wolf growled.
“I know,” Raine said, “let me get Drakar loose, and then we can flee.”
She sheathed her swords and ran up onto the back of the fallen dragon. She struggled with the heavy rope, using all her strength to pull the cord from him. But at last she was able to free his neck, and no sooner did the rope touch the ground than the black dragon was on his feet, spewing fire at those behind him.
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