by T. A. Miles
He was addressed infrequently by anyone other than the officers immediately around him. Among those officers, he was quiet, except when he felt something needed to be said. He preferred to learn by observation where possible. And when there was nothing to actively learn, he carried himself to the highest level of the ship and watched the sea ahead of them. There were no signs of enemies, but no on anticipated sign of Xun’s forces until they’d entered the Southern Kingdom.
It was while Alere was standing at the highest railing, thinking about how his cousin might have been handling his own assignment of leadership back in the Verres Mountains, when a commotion began to stir. There was nothing of note ahead of the fleet. Turning toward the waters behind them, Alere did take note of a problem, only it was not in the water.
A swarm had stirred off the island cliffs. Several black-bodied, winged creatures were suspended in a loose formation overhead, drifting like hung ornaments. That formation broke apart quickly when the swarm lowered with sudden interest on the fleet, as if it had taken the creatures some time to discern the ships from the cliffs. The creatures were immediately familiar to Alere. It would seem that the young dragons that had been blocked from their previous cave had found new places to roost among the islands. If not them, then some of the ones that had originally surfaced during the adult dragon’s assault.
The soldiers were responding quickly, just as they had at the Imperial City. Rows of bowmen were hurriedly formed and arrows flew to targets. The successful strikes resulted in the bodies of the young dragons careening into the water, like tumbling rocks from the cliffs. The surviving beasts continued to spread and make dives for potential prey.
Alere watched as one of the dragons made a swooping path across the main deck and up. He stepped back from the railing, drawing Aerkiren and turning to follow the dragon’s course visually in the moments it crested his level and passed low across the deck. Its wing clipped the end of a flagpole while it maneuvered to return on opportunity it had missed.
Following the width of the deck, Alere watched the dragon and anticipated its path, intercepting the creature with an arc of light off the edge of Aerkiren. The wound that burned through its shadow-infected body sent it diving toward the water in two pieces. A heavy flutter of presence behind Alere inspired him to quickly turn and knock a second dragon back with a stroke of his blade which burned more than cut while the creature attempted to maneuver from him. The magic of the Twilight Blade drew more of them. Just as any keirveshen, they were attracted to what displayed the most light, even if the source of that light was their end.
They were larger than many of the swarming shadow beasts of Yvaria, however, and difficult to keep ahead of while they formed a concentrated circle around the topmost deck. Alere placed himself beneath an awning with a wall to his back and continued to fight them, though some had begun to land upon the deck itself.
Wen Haifu and others had made their way up the stairs and began to fight the beasts with sword and spear. At least one man was immediately raked by tooth or claw and shoved out of the way by his fellows, so that they might defend against frenzy.
Alere braced himself against the wall and sent a forceful arc of magic at the dragon horde gathering in front of him, scattering them at least for a moment. It was a moment during which he was able to unbox himself from the wall. It had been his intention to join the other soldiers, but it was a slightly larger of the dragons that barreled into him with the force of a ram, knocking him off balance enough to give merit to its attempt to lift him from the deck. Alere swiped at its underside with his sword while being dragged. His heels never left the deck outside of his own attempts to regain his step, but the creature was stubborn letting go. His back struck the edge of the railing and he was being pulled against and over it.
He twisted to face the railing while making another strike at the persistent beast. His center of balance was already off when it let go. Alere tumbled forward too far, though with his free hand already on the railing he managed to control his fall. He wound up gripping the railing with one hand while the other yet held Aerkiren. His feet dangled momentarily before he propped them against the start of the eave below. Beyond the low slung eave was the distant surface of the water, some disturbed birds dancing hurriedly across it in an attempt to make their escape without taking to the dragon-infested air.
Looking up, Alere was witness to a flight of dragons yet again, as they rushed from the deck and down. Following what, Alere couldn’t say, since both he and his sword were currently hung at the railing. He observed their path, looking ahead to where they seemed to be going, instead of after him.
The surface of the water remained alive…. not with birds, he realized, but with fish, which were breaking the surface in a frantic display. The water beneath them became darker—Alere presumed with the reflection of the descending swarm—but the darkness was swelling and gaining color. Shades of green and gold caught the sun’s light in a series of flares which followed the rising motion of a true dragon out of the water. The gargantuan beast breached with grace that held Alere to utter stillness while he watched its crested head ascending. Long tendrils of iridescent color streamed from its face and when it opened its mouth, it was as looking into a pit of unfathomable depth. Alere felt as if he were falling while the beast was rising, so keen was his perspective in that moment.
The fish were swallowed. The serpent closed its mouth before taking in any of the shadow dragons, but they were scattered by its presence. Alere watched it rise to half the height of the ship before it began its descent, crashing with equal force to grace upon the surface of the water. Seawater fanned upward, raining over the ship, and Alere, and anyone exposed to the open spaces of the vessel.
BY EVENING, a count had been performed regarding the amount of young shadow dragons that had been killed aboard the ship and that were likely dead in the water. The collective estimate was seventeen to twenty-seven. Seventeen corpses were found on various decks among the fleet. The discrepancy of ten related to those that had been taken by arrow and allowed for the possibility that any one of the creatures had not been killed. The survivors had retreated to the cliffs. Wen Haifu assured Alere that a hunting expedition would likely happen after the troops returned to the Imperial City.
Normally, Alere would have hoped to participate, but currently his mind was on the sea dragon. The men were convinced it alluded to victory in the fighting ahead. Alere believed there was a greater meaning behind it.
Alere held on to the experience throughout the days that followed, and caught himself looking to the sea more than once with the ambition to eye the dragon, but it did not show itself again.
The shores of Xun eventually arrived, with enemy ships to greet them. They had none of the colossal dragon boats, but they had a number of medium class vessels, all of which—they quickly learned—were armed with ballistae. The Fuan-Li had weapons of its own. Among the ballistae, they had a mystic. Alere had not been aware of that until each of the enemy’s projectiles managed to tumble and fall well short of their targets. It was plain to him in those moments, that he’d met another aeromancer in Kong Dan.
Looking toward the man, Alere noted a small unit of men protecting him while he concentrated on the prayer and focus required for his spells. One of the unit officers commanded the firing of the ballistae aboard their vessel, while one of the Fuan-Li further back had already targeted a tower on the shore. The lookout had likely been the one to spot the fleet from a distance. It would serve them no further, its wooden construct obliterated by the iron head of the missile that had been shot at it with tremendous force.
“We should advance while the wind spells are at work,” Alere said to Wen Haifu. His experiences with Xu Liang told him that it would be unwise to rely solely on the endurance of a mystic actively casting spells.
The older general agreed with a nod, confirming Alere’s concern. “Kong Dan will tire before too long and have to recoup.”
Wen Haifu move
d off. The order was given and the smaller ships pressed forward. The maneuver inspired the enemy to bring forward their vessels of matching size. A battle of arrows waged between them. Before long, fire arrows were sent across, decorating the sails with flames on both sides.
Alere could contribute very little from his distance, but did his best to observe and study, and to make suggestions where he felt them relevant or helpful.
The battle was waged for hours. It wasn’t until sunset that the Ji fleet began to advance significantly, having overtaken several of the enemy’s ships, which forced the others to retreat. There were two choices; to follow after the departing vessels or to go ashore and lay siege to their outpost.
“Reinforcements are on the way from the north,” Kong Dan reminded. “By land.”
“Then we should pursue, if we’re to meet the main forces at Bei Xo,” Alere reasoned.
There were several men gathered around the table within the ship’s office. All of them were looking at Alere. It was not a decision that any one of them could not have made on their own. But it was a decision all of them were waiting for him to make, because they believed they were being guided by him.
Alere had not endeavored to establish any sense of camaraderie with any of them—with the possible exception of Wen Haifu—but that seemed to not be what they required. If they felt that there was some godliness about the bearers, then it may have been that they already assumed they would be regarded distantly, but simultaneously led to victory that only the gods or those gifted by them directly could achieve.
Alere was an elf, equipped with his father’s sword. He was not a god, nor did he feel directly blessed by any of them. He felt tested by them constantly, and his current situation was no exception. He was not comfortable with command, or with so many strangers looking to him for direction. At the back of his mind, the echoes of his past reminded him that he was an heir to an elven house and perhaps he should have been in some way prepared for a future that required leadership of him. He had not been prepared, however, and those he’d been leading before he left Yvaria had been family.
He did have family in Sheng Fan, though. And for their sakes, he would do this.
In Kong Dan’s silence, and with the expectant and hopeful eyes of the other officers on him, Alere finally said, “We’ll pursue.”
Kong Dan gave a discreet nod of approval.
“To Bei Xo!” Wen Haifu rallied.
The remaining officers repeated the words with fervor.
IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE of the night that the armies of Tzu decided to begin their advance. Tristus was awakened out of a somewhat restless sleep and rushed to strap on his armor. With Dawnfire in hand, he met his fellow officers at the wall. The trees were in blackness beyond the fort’s torches, but the sound of movement through the brush was clear, and evidently what had alerted the watchmen.
Tristus strained to see shapes, but they were too buried in night. Looking down the length of the wall to either side of him, he noticed that their own soldiers were lining it and drawing bows. Ye Huo and Zi Shu were both beside him.
“We can’t let them lay siege to the fort,” Tristus knew. “It would endanger our supplies.”
“Yes,” Ye Huo agreed. “But it may be a ploy to lure us out.”
That was a valid option. Tristus nodded.
The sounds of movement intensified while they waited, alluding to a great number. Tristus envisioned them stationing themselves in rows that would rush out in an attempt to overwhelm. There was a vast clearing around the fort, which Tristus believed had been established by construction of the base. As well there was a moat dug around the edges of the clearing that required crossing by bridge. It would not be a simple task to rush in, but it would not be impossible and their odds would greatly improve if they were able to establish their own bridges by way of some of the siege weapons Tristus had been introduced to in the illustrations that had been in the war manuals. It was also possible that they were aligning catapults. Already, the fort had four such weapons assembled and were currently being armed to shoot over the walls and onto the enemy.
The wait went on for several minutes, anticipation rising. And then something large rushed out of the forest…something indescribable. It was a hulking mass of significant height, moving at a phenomenal pace for a thing so large. For an instant, Tristus believed it was a dragon, but that it was housed with something over its back and he couldn’t fathom the dragon that would allow itself to be equipped with anything by any man.
“Elephants!” someone shouted.
Tristus looked in the general direction of the cry, then over his shoulder as a catapult fired. “Elephants?” he wondered openly, but knew that he would receive no answer. The answer was visibly in front of him.
The creature bleated with aggravation at the sudden crash of rock very near to it, but was undamaged and charged onward. There were more behind it.
Arrows fired, targeting the elephants, but also the troops running after them. A boulder stopped the advance of several, moments before the wall shook with the aggressive footfall of one of the elephants at the base of it.
They certainly had the strength of a small dragon, but it became quickly obvious that they were not living battering rams. The trio of men sitting beneath the hood of an elaborate saddle were only trying to gain the nearness to fire closely upon the wall. Well, two of them were firing. One of them was guiding the beast, and he was guiding it along the length of the wall, possibly to avoid the threat from catapults. Bowmen fired and were fired upon. Boulders from the catapults littered the ground as they smashed apart upon impact or bounced to rest. By the sound of splashing in the water, some of them rolled into the moat.
It was when an enemy catapult fired upon the wall that Tristus took action. It was almost reflexive to turn the Dawn Blade in his hands and generate a disc of golden light which not only briefly lit the area, but which dispatched the enemy boulder in fragments that rained down upon the battlefield, causing tighter groups of men to scatter and causing injury where they couldn’t.
Cheers were let out then, and Tristus was reminded of the purpose behind his presence there. That was all well and good, but he knew that he could not possibly cover the range of the enemy’s catapults.
In that precise moment, one of their slung boulders arced over the wall and directly on top of one of their own catapults. The devastation was immediate and breathtaking, but the loss inspired an idea.
Tristus turned to face the oncoming forces again and began another rotation with the Dawn Blade. When he felt he had enough of its energy generated, he released it upon the blackness directly ahead of him. The disc tolled across the darkness, leaving a spiraling trail of golden streamers in its wake, and then a brief impression of the object it collided with. Tristus was content with the sound of the catapult coming down and quickly moved down the wall to align himself where at least one more may have been stationed.
The next missile flew too quickly for him to complete his defensive tactic. The boulder dropped directly onto the wall just steps ahead of him. At least two men were crushed so quickly, it scarcely seemed that they’d ever been there. The force and weight of the projectile took down the battlement floor, and Tristus fell into the hole it made, unable to compensate for the lack of footing. He attempted to brace himself for a better landing than to strike flat against the debris-covered boulder. He managed a brief landing that further disturbed the broken timber and sent both him and it sliding to the ground.
One of the elephant riders swiftly tried to take advantage of the breach and was greeted with a stream of fire that Tristus had to duck away from so as not to get burned. He followed the rapidly thinning line of flame to Zi Shu, then looked to the gap in the wall. The elephant had turned back. It might easily try again, or they might receive another strike from the catapults that would tear more of the wall down.
Tristus hopped onto the boulder and slid down on the enemy side of the wall. He used Dawnfire to once
again eliminate one of Tzu’s weapons. Someone’s arm jerked him quickly backward, out of the way of an oncoming elephant, which let him know that the soldiers were following him out. He steadied himself, then turned to thank the man who’d assisted him.
The soldier regarded him with the smallest of nods before they mutually decided to charge the enemy. The cheers of their joining allies followed them out onto the field.
The elephants were attacked with pikes and spears while simultaneously being harassed by the bowmen still on the wall. The foot soldiers were put under similar stress, though applied much of it to their opponents as they continued to come across the bridge. As far as Tristus could tell, that bridge remained the only access across. They had only to defend it until the enemy tired of trying to cross it. That also meant that they had to clear the field of the intruders who had already come across.
One of the elephants was brought down. Tristus heard it before he looked to confirm that the noise had indeed been the felling of such a beast. Sometime afterward, Tristus managed to thoroughly alarm one of the remaining two by lighting a disc of magic directly beneath it. The creature had no care for either the sound or the movement of the light and reared in a panic. Its riders tumbled to the ground and the elephant began seeking an outlet for escaping the chaos.
Tristus wasn’t able to keep track of where it went. He focused on the combatants nearest to him, but found that they were quickly losing interest in challenging a weapon of the gods. They began to retreat, partly for that, but largely—Tristus thought—for the sheer amount of soldiers stationed in the fort. And that wasn’t even the whole of them. More would be filing in on the way to Xun. It seemed likely that Tzu would be back in greater force, since witnessing the seriousness of Ji’s intent to put an end to the rebelling. For that reason, they would have to be sure to leave a large enough force stationed here, on the possibility that Du would not come through with further support.
