(Dragonkin) Dragon Rider

by C. E. Swain

  Chapter Nineteen

  The morning sun rose slowly in the east, and reveled the line of solders as they fled from the battlegrounds. Most of the men of the armies of the four kingdoms who had fought in the battle were dead or dying, but the rest fled for their lives. The forces arrayed against them had been decimated, but enough of them remained to claim the field of battle.

  When the battle began, ten thousand men, stood ready to fight, but the forces of the mage king were more than twice its size. The battle went well at first, and they fought their way deep into the enemy's ranks. Victory looked to be close at hand when the mages of Kath cast their spells, and drove the assault of the kingdoms back. A second attack killed most of the mages, but the remaining ones drove them back again, and the four armies were overrun soon after.

  Only a few hundred solders from each of the kingdoms had survived, and they traveled northwest, and away from the field of death. Two brothers of noble blood rode with them, and guided them away from the remaining enemy solders. Caladon and Banadar rode at the head of the solders that survived, leading them to a place where they would be safe. They were the last two brothers of a once great family, who ruled the lands of Anrivar, which lay to the south and east of the old empire.

  As the days passed, more men found their way to the line of fleeing solders, and their ranks began to swell. Two weeks after the battle, seven hundred men, and more than five hundred refuges, followed them into the unknown. There were another two or three hundred solders that were wounded, but were able to travel without a wagon. That gave them almost fifteen hundred people to feed and guard, but they were far enough away from the enemy now, to slow down. There were several scouts from the different armies, and each had different talents. The brothers used them to scout the way ahead, as well as behind them, and warn them of any danger.

  "Where are you going to take these people?" Banadar asked his brother when they were away from the others.

  "I am taking them to the old empire." Caladon replied. "There is a chance we can escape the mage king, and find help there."

  "I have never heard of the old empire, how did you come to hear of it?" Banadar asked, curiously.

  "The old tinker talked about it when he was in Anrivar last year, and I looked it up in the archives." Caladon told his brother. "It was called the Great Dragon Empire, and it once had dragons that filled the skies, or at least that is what the tinker said."

  "And what of these dragons?" His brother asked. "Are they still there?"

  "The tinker said that was a long time ago, and the dragons are all gone now, but the empire is still there." Caladon replied. "Where else are we to take these people?"

  "You are right if it is there, but at least we are moving away from the enemy, regardless of what we find." Banadar said.

  "I agree." Caladon said. "We can do no worse."

  "The scout from the rear says that more men have joined those who follow us." Banadar said. "We cannot keep pushing them, and the wounded need rest."

  "That is why we are making camp for a few weeks as soon as we cross into the old empire." His brother replied.

  "When can we expect to reach the border of this empire?" Banadar asked.

  "I do not know for sure, but we should be getting close." Caladon said. "The scout reported a stream ahead, and I plan to stop at it. I have already sent out hunters to bring enough meat to feed us all tonight, and more if they can find it"

  "We have a few wagons from the supply train, and they are all loaded with food." Banadar reminded his brother.

  "Yes, but there is no way of knowing what we will find where we are going, or if food will be available to us."

  "So we go on battle rations?" Banadar asked. "One loaf of bread to split among a group of four a day, and all the meat we can supply them?"

  "Yes, I think we should do that for now at least, maybe later we can increase the rations to two a day." Caladon replied.

  "It would not hurt to find out how many men we have to feed, and how many women and children are with us as well."

  "That is the reason for the rations." Caladon said. "We need to know what we have, and what we need."

  "You ride on ahead and get the camp started." Banadar said. "And I will ride back, and relay our plans to the men. The thought of a few days rest and a hot meal will bring them on a little faster."

  Banadar looked at the men that he passed, as he worked his way back along the line of solders and refuges that followed them. They were tired from the many miles they put between them and the enemy, and from the battle they had fought before they fled. Several more refugees had found their way to the brothers, along with many solders that showed up two or three at a time throughout the days that they traveled. Banadar watched as the line of men and refuges streamed by, and wondered how many people were out there that had not found their way to them. More solders and refugees would find the camp while they rested, but others would not be so lucky, and would have to escape the armies of the mage king on their own.

  Caladon picked a spot where the stream made a bend, and allowed access to its water by more people, without spreading them too far apart. Wood was not a problem with the forest of different trees available to them, and game was plentiful. By the time the first of the men arrived, several deer were roasting over fires all around the camp. The wagons rolled in several hours later, and they were placed in the most protected part of the camp. Some of the women that were refuges, baked bread for the people of the camp, after the grain and meal had reached them. For the first time in days, everyone who was in camp was in good sprits.

  It took six days from the day the brothers reached the stream, for the last of the solders to reach the camp, and settle in to rest. The majority of them arrived the first day, but others were slowly making their way away from the wars in the east.

  Banadar separated the solders that could fight, from the ones who were still wounded or weak. He formed a military style camp around the refuges and the wounded, and posted guards to protect them. The moral of the solders began to rise as the discipline of army life was reinstated once again, and as more of the solders recovered from their wounds, the ranks began to swell.

  Three weeks after the camp was built people were still entering it from the southeast. It was only one or two a day, and some days no one appeared at all, but those that did found safety within. Caladon counted close to thirteen hundred solders who could fight, and another four who were still recovering from their wounds. Close to six hundred women and children, and about two hundred men who were old or disabled, were also among those that the brothers protected. Only two hundred of the solders that followed them were trained cavalrymen that still had their horses, and the brothers used them as an advanced guard. They were to relay any information they received back to one of the brothers, and protect the camp from any enemy.

  It was early in the morning, one month after the camp had been built, when the scouts reported that the enemy chased a small group of refugees in their direction. There were no more than one hundred of the enemy solders, but they were well armed, and close behind the refuges they chased.

  Caladon and his brother assembled half of the solders of the camp, and set off to ambush the enemy. The men of the camp wanted to get revenge for the loss of their homes, and to rescue the people the enemy chased. The cavalry was sent to circle around behind them, and attack from the rear once the trap was sprung. It was no more than two hours from the camp, and close to midday when the small group of solders and refuges appeared in the distance. The refugees traveled as fast as they could with the women and children in wagons, but the enemy was gaining on them quickly.

  Banadar and half of the men were on one side of the trail, while Caladon was on the other. They hid and waited for the refuges to pass, listening for the signal to attack. They had chosen a defendable location, and the solders of the small group recognized it as well. The enemy was almost on them, and the solders of the group turned to face them there, to allow th
e women and children a chance to escape.

  Thirty solders faced one hundred on a trail to nowhere. The bravery they showed filled the brothers with pride, and the men they commanded as well.

  "Surrender now and you will be executed quickly." The leader of the enemy said to the solders that faced them on the trail. "Resist, and you will be tortured for many days, until you beg for death."

  Caladon stepped out from the trees at the side of the road, and repeated the order back to the man who spoke them.

  "Not one of you will ever leave this place." He added. "So if you wish to throw yourselves onto your swords and die by your own hand, please feel free to do so."

  "And who are you to give such demands?" The leader asked with an evil grin.

  "I am Caladon. Prince of Anrivar." He said.

  "And I am Banadar, prince of Anrivar as well." Banadar said, as he stepped from the trees across from his brother.

  "Then you both can die along with this rabble." The leader of the enemy said to the men. "And we will carry your heads back to Kath along with theirs."

  "You will not be going that way." Caladon said, pointing behind them as the cavalry blocked their way back.

  "Get them!" The enemy Commander shouted, and the enemy solders began to move forward again.

  Caladon and Banadar stood with their swords in front of them, and waited while the enemy advanced. The solders who had turned to face their foes on the trail while the women and children they protected continued on, were shocked at the appearance of the princes of their kingdom.

  Caladon raised his sword, and the cavalry began to charge from behind. When the enemy solders in the back turned to face the oncoming horsemen, the brothers let out a yell and attacked the enemy in front. Their solders poured from the trees on both sides of the trail, and with nowhere to go, the enemy was cut down in minutes. Those of the enemy that were not killed in the battle were lined up in the trail and executed. The leader was wounded in the fight, but lived long enough to watch all his men die one at a time, before he himself was run through.

  "Sire's." The leader of the solders of the small group said to the brothers. "We thought you dead in the war, or we would have come to you."

  "You could not have known we were alive." Banadar said to him.

  "And as you can see, we are not alone." Caladon added. "But it is good to see you again my friend."

  "And you sire." He replied. "But we must catch up to the refuges, your sister Netera is in one of the wagons. We were able to save her, but not your mother. Please forgive me sire?"

  "It is not your fault, Gareon." Banadar told him. "The war was lost, and our lands taken, and you did well to save anyone. Our sister is the flower of our land and the people loved her. She was the target of the mage king's obsession, or they would not have chased you so far into this land."

  The enemy solders were stripped, and their armor was taken, along with all they possessed. Another one hundred horses were added to the ones they had already, and only thirteen men were killed in the battle. More than forty men were wounded, but only three more died from their wounds in the days that followed.

  When the newcomers had reached the camp, the wounded were cared for, and the refuges placed with the others. None of the enemy survived to report back to the armies of the mage king, and the camp felt mostly secure for the first time since it was made.

  Over the next three weeks, several more people entered the camp, but it was at the end of the fourth week that the solders started showing up. By the time the last of them reached the camp, Banadar counted just over three hundred. Now there were close to two thousand solders, and only around four hundred, were still not healed from their wounds. There were almost one thousand refuges that followed them on their journey as well, and most of them were women and children. More than three thousand people now made up the camp, and the brothers worried for their safety.

  "We cannot stay here." Banadar said to his brother. "There are far too many of us to remain this close to the occupied lands."

  "We will need to look for a better place to take these people first." Caladon replied. "I will send the scouts to find another stream, big enough to supply us all."

  "I think we should travel into this land in search of their king." Banadar said. "To be sure we will not be attacked by them."

  "We can leave after the new camp is found." Caladon replied. "Gareon can run the camp while we are gone."

  Three weeks later, the camp was moved to the new location, and the brothers prepared to travel into the empire. They loaded the packhorse with supplies, and extra meal for bread along the way as well. They had dried venison in the supplies in case they could not chance a fire, and a few items to trade if they were needed. When the brothers rode away from the camp, and into the land of the dragon, they believed they were ready for anything.

  The brothers rode north for several hours, and then turned west. They did not know where they were going, but sooner or later they would see someone to ask directions from they thought. The first night, they camped at what looked like an old campground once used by many people. There were still a lot of dry horse droppings close by, and the remains of many fires. They considered investigating it, but decided there was not enough time.

  Several days later a cart path appeared, but disappeared again before long, and the brothers continued on to the west. They did not see the faint trail that led north, to grow into another cart path, and eventually, into the old east road. The trees grew thicker the farther west that they went, and the land became wilder. It was a great place for the people that followed them to be safe from the enemy, but they needed to ask the king of this land before it would be an option.

  After several more days, the trees and the land became easier to travel through, and the brothers made better time. Caladon and Banadar camped beside a stream, and looked at the distant mountains as the sun disappeared beside them. They were just over three weeks from the camp of their people, and wondered if the land was empty. They had seen no one since they departed, and the cart path was the only sign of people they had found along the way. They agreed to travel west for one more week, and then turn north if they had still not found any signs of civilization.

  It was late the next morning when the brothers once again rode west. The day was warm, and the sky was clear, as they made their way through the countryside. They talked and laughed as they rode, and really paid little attention to their surroundings. Several times they thought they heard something, but it never turned out to be the people they sought.

  It was passed midday, and the brothers were once again paying little attention to their surroundings as they rode, when the man stepped from the trees close by. He startled them when he spoke, but what he said to them, made them curious as well.

  "It is a fine day, is it not?" The man said. "I hope it has found you well."

  Caladon looked at the man who wore the dragon armor, and remembered the things the old tinker had said about the dragon here. He decided that he was a solder of the empire, because of the symbol he wore, and would be able to find out where the king's castle was located.

  "It is a fine day, sir." He replied to the warrior. "And we are both well, thank you for inquiring."

  "I did not expect to find men this far south." The man said. "Are you lost, or do you seek something in the empire?"

  "I am Caladon, and this is my brother Banadar." He replied. "We represent a group of refugees who are from the kingdoms to the south of the great lake. We seek the king of this land to ask for a place to camp until we can figure out what to do."

  "My name is Menimeth." He said. "And I can help you with that."

  "We represent some refugees." Banadar said. "And at least onethird are women and children."

  "Do you seek to pass through the empire, or do you look for a place to live?" Menimeth asked them.

  'Many of the people that are with us, are the last solders from kingdoms that were lost to the mage king, but we would live in p
eace if we could." Caladon said. "We will fight as well, because the loss of our lands makes many of us want to return to the southeast, to avenge the dead."

  "There is a better way." Menimeth said. "Join the armies of the empire."

  "There are many men that may do that." Banadar said. "The army is all they have ever known, and are lost without it."

  "How many solders do you command?" Menimeth asked, curious as to how many would be with them, to protect the women and children.

  "Four hundred solders were still wounded when we left the camp close to three weeks ago." Banadar replied. "But at last count, there were two thousand. Three hundred men with horses make up the cavalry, and the rest are on foot."

  "Two thousand!" Menimeth exclaimed. "And how many women and children?"

  "There are one thousand of them." Caladon said. " But there are some old men among them as well."