Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (11 page)

With that, the dinner was officially over and everyone started to get up and leave to go back to their barracks and their quarters.

Mkel shook Ordin’s hand and bid him a good night. He headed to the stairway that led to the caverns and tunnels under the Weir that housed the dwarf community. “Good night, my friend,” Mkel said to Toderan.

“Just a few things to look after, Captain,” he replied.

“No, we can do the final checks tomorrow morning, Senior Sergeant,” Mkel chided. “There will time before the exercise; just have to have faith, my friend.”

“All right, I’ll see you early tomorrow in the meeting room,” Toderan said. “Have a good night.” He turned and walked toward his quarters.

With that, Mkel picked up his overactive son and gave a nod to Annan and Janta to follow him over to where Gallanth was resting.

“Are you ready, my dragon friend?” he asked. “Let me get a drink first,”
the gold dragon replied, raising himself up on his four tree-trunk-sized legs. He turned slowly so as to not hit anyone with his huge tail, walked over to the lake in the center of the Weir’s ground inside the mountain, and lowered his massive head down to drink. Hundreds of gallons water rushed down his throat, after which he lifted his head and walked back to Mkel and Annan. Gallanth knelt down, and Mkel positioned Annan and Janta, climbed up on the saddle, and held Michen after he secured the flying straps.

“All ready,” he spoke to Gallanth. The dragon turned to the far side of the Weir and spread his wings; with three steps and a downward stroke of his wings, they were airborne. In no time, they landed on the platform that housed his sleeping chamber. Gallanth’s ledge was basically a huge carved cave that connected to Mkel’s living area to the left side and Jodem’s quarters and laboratory to the right side. “Thanks Gallanth,” Mkel said as his dragon turned around and lay down on his bed of coins and gems.

Gallanth actually slept on the Weir’s treasury reserve. First to keep it safe, and second because a dragon’s hide is so tough the layers of gold and silver, being very soft metals, actually feel like laying on a comforter or a mattress to the immense dragon. Over the years, the dragon’s weight made a nearly perfect imprint of his forty-five-yard-long body on the pile of coins. “Rest well, Gallanth,” Mkel said. “Have a good night, my rider, and good night little hatchling,” he replied, giving a last wink to Michen and closing his huge eyes.

Mkel carried Michen into their living quarters, with Annan closely following him. They told Janta to go and get some rest. Her room was down the hall from their main chambers. Michen ran to the room and jumped on the resting elf hound. The two-hundred-fifty-pound-dog gruffed slightly with the impact, raised its imposing head, and licked the infant’s face as he rolled around on the canine’s side. Elf hounds are bred by the elves to serve as fierce, dependable guards. This special breed, aside from having the normal canine alertness and excellent hearing and sense of smell, could see perfectly at night and could detect invisible entities. They could also change the color of their coat to blend in with their environment for a perfect camouflage. Slightly more intelligent than the average dog, they made perfect guardians. Unless an individual was fully armed and armored, one of these large dogs could tear limbs off of the average man, although they were gentle and very tolerant of children.

“Come, little one, it’s time for your bath,” Annan said.

“Baath,” he repeated, getting off of his guardian dog and running into their bathing room.

“Do you have the towels and soap, dear?” Mkel asked.

“Yes, it’s all laid out,” Annan replied. “What’s the news from Lupek?” she continued.

“The fire giants are gathering for something just east of the Gray Mountains, between us and Eladran Weir, as well as many chromatic dragons and other Morgathian types,” Mkel explained.

“This doesn’t sound good,” Annan said with a worried tone.

“Don’t worry, we will handle it; Gallanth always looks out for me,” he assured her.

“This might produce a lot of casualties; how will this affect your trips to Battle Point and Draconia?” she asked.

“You know we always do everything we can to minimize friendly casualties, but if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. You can accompany us to the capital if you want,” he said with a smile. “Although you will have to share the seats on Gallanth’s rig with Ordin, for he wants to see his cousin from Ferranor.” Mkel was teasing, for he knew that she did not like the gruff dwarf.

“He can’t go with anyone else?” she said slightly irritated.

“No, you know that he likes Gallanth and has known him longer than both of us have been alive. Besides, he will only fly on Gallanth, for as you know, the only thing dwarves fear is flying,” Mkel chided back.

“All right, but he must sit in the rear seat in back of Janta,” Annan demanded.

“I’m sure he will not mind,” Mkel said, smiling again and lifting his wriggling son out of the bath while he pulled the drain plug. He handed Michen to Annan, who waited with fresh towels to dry him off. “We need to put him to bed now, for tomorrow will be an early day,” he added. They put his nightclothes on and carried him to his crib. “Night, night,” he said to the infant.

“Night, night,” Annan echoed.

“Nigh, nigh,” the little boy said, looking at his parents with his wide deep blue eyes as they handed him his bottle.

“Good night, my little hatchling,” Gallanth said from his landing.

“I thought you were asleep, my friend,” Mkel asked.

“Just wanted to wish the little one a good night; we will be ready for tomorrow morning,” Gallanth replied.

Mkel and Annan walked into their bedroom. “How’s Silvanth?” Mkel asked.

“She’s been gorging and sleeping mostly. I think she will rise to mate in another two or three weeks,” she replied.

“Will you will be riding her tomorrow for the exercise?” Mkel asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I will have to ask her tomorrow. I know she will fly for the training, for Gallanth already had her agree to that,” Annan added.

“He’s hard to say no to,” Mkel said.

“You should be so lucky,” Annan said with a wry smile.

“I get your point, dear; get some sleep,” he replied and gave her a kiss as he lowered the cover on the lighting crystal.

CHAPTER  II

War Games

M
orning came quickly. Gallanth stirred and telepathically called Mkel to rise.
Wake up, my friend, or we’ll be late for our own exercise
, Gallanth’s words echoed in Mkel’s head. “I’m up, Gallanth,” he answered. “Let me take a quick bath and I’ll meet you on the ledge in twenty-five minutes.”
All right, I will go down to the lake and be right back
, the dragon replied as he stood up and outstretched his massive wings before flying off the ledge. Mkel walked into the bathing room and turned on the water and adjusted it to the proper temperature.

The infrastructure of the Weir was impressive indeed. The water was supplied from two massive tanks that rested on the top tier of the Weir. The water was heated by one of the quartz heating crystals that Gallanth created by adding a bit of his blood and then blowing a line of fire at it. These heating crystals were placed at the point of use and could heat up the water almost instantly. They lasted for years depending on the type of crystal or stone used, with corundum being the preferred mineral and quartz being second. Gallanth made hundreds of heating crystals a week, and Silvanth made cooling crystals.

These crystals were for the military and also for sale to the general public. The dragon’s blood absorbed into the very structure of the crystal and then took the initial energy from their breath weapons, being fire, cold, or lighting. The stone then radiated heat, cold, or light upon contact with a human or other creature. Each crystal was enough to warm a large room, a small house, or a large tank of water, with smaller ones even woven into clothes to warm or cool the wearer. Legion soldiers could wear full armor in the middle of summer and not be overheated, or they could stay warm on the coldest of days.

The tanks that supply the Weir with fresh water held at least ten thousand gallons apiece; they were glass-lined, reinforced-steel vessels. They were supported by large steel beams and connected to the distribution pipes that went to all the Weir’s rooms, food preparation areas, bathing facilities, and stables. They were fed by pipes that collected water from the upper tiers of the mountain and by water from the spring that also fed the Weir’s internal lake.

Sanitation was handled in a similar way, with all waste transported through copper pipes or stone channels that led to a series of chambers located on the eastern lower end of the Weir. A group of dwarf-bred otyughs resided in these chambers. These nasty, grotesque creatures were disgusting, insect-like beings that fed on refuse, excrement, and offal. They basically ate anything they could get ahold of but prefer organic wastes. Their ovoid bodies had four thick stubby legs; a gaping, sclerotized sharp-toothed mouth part; six long, barbed tentacles; and two small eye stalks. Their bodies averaged six feet in diameter, and they weighed over five hundred pounds. They will only grow to the size of their environment however. These creatures could also draw water up through their legs and body and filter it of all organic and inorganic materials for both food and for their exoskeleton. Their bite inflicted a severe infection, but if they were fed with a steady stream of wastes, they were not overly aggressive.

Overall, the otyughs made very effective garbage disposals. They also treated sewage, excreted oxygen through their integument, and produced small waste briquettes that could be used as a clean-burning fuel or for fertilizer. Great care must be taken when retrieving the briquettes, however. Usually Jodem or a wizard cast a sleep spell over the creatures before any of the Weir’s work crews went into their chamber, or several cooling crystals were thrown into their pits, which caused them to go dormant. All of the Weirs and most of the major cities and towns use these creatures to treat sewer flows and to recycle garbage.

The wastewater that flowed into these pits was emptied out of the chambers after it was filtered by the otyughs and then channeled through a series of pipes that collected into a small marshy area to the north of Draden Forest at the base of the mountain. The drinking water was filtered up through the deep underground fissures in the eastern part of the Weir landing. It was treated by several lighting crystals that purified it of any contaminants with a mild electric charge mixed with the air. A filter feeder type of dramite moved the water from the draw wells to the holding tank. These small creatures were another invention of the dwarves; they were created like the otyughs hundreds of years ago and bred for their natural ability to channel and filter water. The dwarves somehow managed to harness these creatures, which were corralled for waste management needs and the creation of breathable air to supplement the natural oxygen-producing molds they cultivated. These subterranean mold growths also produced usable oxygen and emitted small amounts of light. Dwarves even managed to brew a type of ale out of certain kinds of underground molds and fungus (only they could usually stomach this ale, however).

Gallanth landed by the part of the lake that was nearest to the stables. Jern and his work crew were already waiting for him; his team wheeled out two portable ladder platforms. Gallanth knelt down and rested his head on the ground. The stable crew pushed the platforms up to either side of his neck. These ladders were needed, as the girth of the base of the gold dragon’s neck was taller than two grown men. Three rigging experts scrambled up each side of the ladder steps and started to unbuckle the straps that fastened the oversized saddle to the three main support straps.

Gallanth’s saddle could hold three people comfortably (four with slight crowding). Mkel’s front seat held his moveable crossbow firing platform arm, while the back seats just had fastening straps. A small cab could be fastened over the back seats to keep the elements out; it was even equipped with a warming crystal (at Annan’s request) when Gallanth or Mkel wanted to preserve the strength of their magic shields, which can keep the wind off of the rider and passengers. This was not normally needed, as the invisible shield that Mkel’s weapons created could stop wind and rain with little effort.

Once all the buckles were unfastened, the crews connected the crane hooks to the main support rings and gave the signal that they were ready. The crane crew acknowledged and moved two horses forward, straining on the pulley cables and raising the several-hundred-pound flying rig off of Gallanth’s back. The crews then gave the three one-foot-thick leather laminated support straps a quick check and hurriedly moved down the ladder steps, moving the platforms away from the dragon’s neck.

Gallanth carefully rose to his feet and walked into the lake until he was totally submerged. The center of the lake was several hundred feet deep but crystal clear and quite cold (not to a dragon’s thick hide, though). He emerged and walked back to the shallows by the shore, shaking off the excess water and fanning his wings to dry. Dozens of halflings filed into the water and began to scrub Gallanth’s thick hide with a special gritty soap that both cleaned and polished him at the same time. When the workers were done, he dove back into the deep of the lake to rinse off. He then went back to the same position and knelt down, and the saddle was lowered back onto his neck and refastened. Two whole cooked seasoned steer halves were waiting for him upon his return from the lake, which he engulfed quickly. After that, he got back up, thanked Jern and his crew for their efficiency, and flew back to his ledge.