(Dragonkin) Dragon Rider

by C. E. Swain

  Returning to where he could see the castle, Saesic waited for the morning to arrive, as the gray light of the predawn began to fill the sky in the east. He noticed that the purple and gold tents of the empire no longer surrounded the fires around the castle, and the warriors were gone as well. That was when he heard the sound of men crossing the road in the east, and he believed it was the forces of the mage king trying to surround the castle.

  Slowly he crept around the hilltop, until he could see the great road to the east, where he could just make out the shapes of warriors crossing the road. As the light slowly grew, and Saesic was able to see a little better, he realized that the warriors were Elvin. He watched as several hundred of them crossed the road to the north, and to his horror, they were followed closely by many Dwarf's with huge battle-axes. He watched as the last of the dwarf warriors crossed the road, and disappeared into the trees on the northern side. He did not know how many had crossed the road before he heard them, but he knew it was a force to be feared.

  Deciding he would not be able to escape his prison until the battle began, he once again made his way to the north side of the hilltop. The light grew brighter, and he was soon able to see the army of the mage king as it began to enter the open ground north of the castle. When he saw the army in its entirety, he was not so sure the empire would win. It was the largest force that he had ever seen at one time, and they looked invincible to him. The siege weapons were really impressive as the men began to assemble them, and Saesic sat on the hilltop mesmerized by the sight. It was not until the mage kings army began their advance on the castle, that he was brought back to his senses, by the long blast of the old horn once used by his ancestors.

  When the second blast of the horn sounded and the gates to the garrison began to open, Saesic fought the desire to watch the battle, and decided to try to make his escape. It was the hardest thing that he ever had to do, but he had no other choice in the matter. If he stayed and the empire won, he stood the chance of being trapped and captured. However, if the forces of the mage king won, he worried he would not be allowed to rule the west, but would be executed by them instead. It was the way the messenger had called him a traitor that worried him, and it began to make him realize that he would not be treated any differently by the rest of Arnoran's men.

  *****

  Commander Rayden stood in the tent, and listened to the messenger as he relayed the orders sent by Menimeth.

  "The enemy is upon us." The messenger was saying. "Your orders are to assemble all of your men as fast as possible, and by way of the trees to the west, make your way to the north of the enemy unseen."

  "Dorben, send word to all of the camps to assemble here as fast as they can." Commander Rayden said. "Then gather your men and prepare to lead the way when everyone has arrived."

  "Right away Sir." Captain Dorben replied, and quickly disappeared from the tent.

  "Do we have any patrols to avoid?" The commander asked the messenger after Captain Dorben had gone. "Or a rear guard to contend with?"

  "The king said they were all forming up in the open to the north, and that you should be able to reach your objective unobserved." The messenger replied. "You are to cut off their escape to the north. If the battle begins to go badly for the empire, you are to attack the rear of their forces in an attempt to change the outcome."

  "So, the enemy has reached us sooner than we expected." Commander Rayden said. "And the plans have changed to some degree?"

  "Yes, There will be a delay in the attack." The messenger informed him. "No one is to attack the enemy from the sides or the rear, until, after the second attack from the warriors in front of the castle. However, with your experience as a cavalry leader, you are encouraged to take whatever action you deem necessary as the battle is fought."

  "I am allowed to reinforce whatever part of the guard I believe to be in need of help?" The commander asked the messenger.

  "If you believe it is necessary, you are encouraged to take whatever action you feel is required if it would help us defeat the enemy with the fewest causalities." The messenger said. "You know the king, he is more worried about the men than his own safety, and he would fight them by himself if he could. However, you are to remain unseen until you are needed."

  "Yes, he is a bit heroic by nature." Commander Rayden said, agreeing with the messenger. "And so we will endeavor to carry out his orders in the same manner in which he himself would carry them out."

  "As will we all." The messenger said. "He is a warrior of the old empire, and though he would prefer not to be the king, his skills are far beyond anyone the empire has seen in many centuries."

  "That is why all men flock to his banner." The commander said. "All the lands of magic know it was the dragon riders that defeated the evil mage king the first time, and the men believed it will happen again."

  "And it all begins today." The messenger said. "The enemy has traveled all night to reach us sooner, but we are not so weak as they may believe."

  "Are there any other instructions?" Commander Rayden asked. "Before I assemble the men."

  "Yes, if you can take any of the enemy prisoner, you are to do so." The messenger replied. "There are a lot of men who fight for the enemy because they were conscripted into his army after their kingdoms had been overrun. They are to be protected from enemy retaliation as well."

  "Then we will do our best to see that it is accomplished." The Commander replied. "And we will capture as many as we can."

  Commander Rayden walked from the tent as the men began to arrive, and found the other officers of the Lost Cavalry waiting for him.

  "We will not be splitting up into separate battle groups until we reach the area north of the enemy position." He said. "And we are not to engage the enemy unless there is a weak spot in our lines that need to be reinforced, or we are trying to keep any who try, from escaping."

  "The scouts are mounted and ready." Dorben said, as he reached the commander. "And the last of the men have arrived."

  "Then the time has come to depart." The commander said, and mounted his horse to lead them to their destination.

  The over one thousand men of the Lost Cavalry rode west for more than a mile, and turned north as the light of the morning began to illuminate the surrounding countryside. They made their way as quickly as possible to a place where they believed they would be north of the enemies current location, when the first blast of the horn sounded from the castle. Turning east once again, Commander Rayden led his men to a place where they could see the battle as it was being fought, reaching it soon after the second blast of the horn had sounded.

  The battle for the castle at Argnon had begun, and the men of the Lost Cavalry would be there to help defend it.

  *****

  Feran began donning his armor as the messenger walked from the tent, and spoke to the guards who patrolled the camp. Seconds later, the guard entered the tent and stopped in front of Feran, waiting for his orders.

  "The enemy will be here at dawn." Feran said. "I need the captains here as soon as possible, and the men ready to ride right away. Remember, it must be done with as little noise as possible."

  "Right away Sir." The guard said, and hurried from the tent to carry out his orders.

  The camp began to come alive as men scrambled from their tents, and began to make themselves ready for the coming battle. Feran walked from his tent as the captains began to arrive, and he filled them in on the new orders as soon as all of them were there.

  "Have the men prepare to move out as soon as possible." Feran told his captains. "See that it is done with as little noise as possible, we do not want to alert the enemy to our presents until we ride from the trees."

  "It has been taken care of already." Commander Fracher replied. "And I made sure that all of their weapons would be with them."

  "How long until they are ready to ride?" Feran asked, "We need to be in position before dawn."

  "No more than ten minuets." Commander Fracher replied. "A
nd that will be well before the light of morning can reach us."

  "It appears that the enemy traveled all night so that they could catch us asleep, and slaughter us like children." Feran said. "Do not think that because they have not rested, that the fight will be an easy one. Remember, there are mage's with them, and with magic, anything can happen.

  "We have some magic of our own." Commander Fracher said. "And far more powerful than the enemy believes possible."

  "It is not the mage's that I worry about." Feran replied. "But their cavalry. Pass the word to the men to empty as many saddles as they can, without focusing too much attention on them."

  "You believe they can break our charge?" Commander Fracher asked. "After the spears have been used."

  "I do not know." Feran replied. "But a concentrated counter attack by their cavalry could stall our progress, and result in the loss of more men."

  "With the attack coming from all sides, their cavalry will be of little use except, as a way to allow some of their men to escape."

  "Then it is the north end of our lines that will be in the most peril, if the cavalry attempts a counter attack." Feran said. "Because it is the direction in which they entered the empire so long ago."

  "You are most likely correct on that assessment." Commander Fracher replied. "So we should be prepared to reinforce that side of the lines."

  "Between the both of us, we should be able to keep an eye on them." Feran said. "And if they attack in that direction, extra men can be sent to reinforce our lines there."

  "The men are about ready." Commander Fracher said, as he looked around the camp. "They are mounting up as we speak."

  "Then we should join them." Feran replied, and walked to where his horse waited.

  Within a few minuets, the men were all mounted, and Feran's army began to move to their pre-arranged position. The horses moved quietly through the trees, as the cold gray light of early morning began to fill the sky in the east, and the enemy solders began to emerge from the trees to the north.

  When Feran reached the place from which his men were to attack, they halted and watched as the enemy poured from the trees in the north, and into the open field where the battle would ultimately be fought. They watched as the siege weapons were assembled, and as the front ranks began their advance. When the first blast of the horn sounded from inside the castle, the men withdrew their bows and prepared to attack.

  "So, it begins." Feran said to himself, as he looked out at the ranks of enemy solders arrayed across the battlefield.

  *****

  Javen was awakened abruptly, but could see no reason for the alarm he felt, as he lay listening to the sounds of the darkness around him. Several minutes passed without any sign of danger, but the feeling grew stronger, and he quickly donned his armor and gathered his weapons. Strapping on his sword and knives, and slinging his bow across his back as he walked through the camp, he headed for the closest guard.

  "Wake the camp quietly." He told the guard. "We have some company, if I am not mistaken."

  "Right away Sir." The guard replied, and turned to carry out his orders.

  "Have the men prepare for battle, and quickly." Javen added. "I fear the enemy is closer than we thought."

  "Yes Sir." The guard replied, and disappeared into the camp.

  Javen mounted his horse and slowly rode north out of the camp, as the men began to spill from their tents behind him. He made his way through the trees with caution, stopping often to listen to the sounds around him, but it was sometime before he heard the sounds he was listening for.

  The sound of many men and horses echoed through the trees, sounding much closer than they actually were, but it was obvious to Javen that the enemy would reach the castle by dawn. He could tell that the enemy rode on by his position, as they drew closer to their objective, and he began to make his way back to the camp with as much caution as before. As the sound of the enemy solders began to fade, Javen worried less about detection, and more about the coming battle. By the time he had returned to the camp, the messenger had arrived from the castle, and Javen hurried to meet him.

  He listened intently as the messenger relayed the new orders from Menimeth, but of all the armies of the empire around Argnon, he had the least distance to travel to get into position. He called his captains to him when the messenger had departed, informing them of the change of orders when they arrived.

  "As you know, the enemy has arrived early, and the battle will be fought this day." Javen said. "But very little has changed as far as we are concerned. We will be delaying our attack for a short time, and we will ride from the trees and wait for the signal, but in the end, the attack will still be the same."

  "We will be using all of our weapons?" One of the captains asked. "The way we have trained the men to use them?"

  "Yes," Javen replied. "And from the same position in the trees. I want the men mounted and in attack formation, before first light."

  "What about patrols?" The captain asked. "Are they no longer a threat?"

  "I do not believe the enemy will send out patrols." Javen said. "I believe Menimeth is right, and the enemy thinks all of the warriors of the empire will be inside the castle."

  "And if they do send a patrol/" The captain asked. "Do we eliminate the threat?"

  "Yes." Javen replied. "But we are to take as many prisoners as we can, and we are to see that they are kept alive and unharmed."

  "What are we to do with the men we capture?" Another of the captains asked. "We will not be leaving anyone in the camp that can guard them."

  "They are to be taken to Commander Rayden north of the enemy position." Javen informed him. "They will hold all of the prisoners we can capture."

  "What of the ones who try to escape." He asked.

  "Commander Rayden will guard them as well." Javen replied. "We are to let them go, and concentrate on those who still fight against us. I do not believe the enemy will be able to defend against the combined attack Menimeth has devised, so I expect to take a lot of prisoners, and those who try to escape, will not get far.

  "The men are ready to mount up." The captain said. "And first light is not far away."

  "Then have the men take their positions." Javen said. "But have them do it quietly."

  Slowly the men began to ride from the camp, through the paths made in the thickets days earlier to reduce the noise, and began to form their lines in the thinner trees between them and the enemy. Though they could barely make them out as the light began to grow in the east, all of the warriors of the empire could hear the sound of the enemy as they began to pour from the trees to the north.

  The warriors of the first army waited far enough back in the trees that the enemy would not be able to see them in the growing light. They waited in silence for the battle to begin, and were relieved when the enemy began to advance on the castle. When the horn sounded from within the walls, the men knew the battle was about to begin, and they readied their bows for the assault on the advancing enemy solders. Slowly the enemy formation advanced on the castle, and their cavalry took their place behind it.

  When the second blast of the horn sounded, it was several seconds before Javen could see the emerging forces led by Menimeth, and all of the warriors of the empire who watched them swelled with pride as they formed in front of the advancing enemy.

  "The new age of the dragon warrior has begun." He said, watching the scene as it unfolded before him. "And the lands of magic will never be the same."

  *****

  Donderan, and the two hundred dwarf warriors he commanded followed the Elvin warriors north, as they made their way around the trees where Feran waited with his army. Alazen and the five hundred warriors from the Elvin kingdoms to the north, had been sent by Loren to help defeat the mage kings forces that threatened the western part of the empire.

  They made their way to a place behind a small rise in the landscape, which would conceal them from the enemy's sight until the time came to attack. Alazen watched as the en
emy forces began to pour from the trees, and out onto the open ground north of Argnon, to form their lines for the attack on the castle.

  "It does not appear that the empire is in need of reinforcements." Alazen said, as Donderan appeared beside him. "They have the enemy surrounded, and out number them by close to a thousand men."

  "The dragon rider is a crafty one, he is." Donderan replied. "And he is a true warrior if I have ever seen one, lad."

  Alazen smiled at the dwarf as he spoke, because it had been a long time since anyone had called him lad, but like everyone else, he did not know Donderan's age.

  "Then he must resemble the dragon warriors of the past." Alazen said. "For you to bestow such a compliment."