Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (49 page)

“This sorcerer is powerful,” Dekeen said to Mkel as he drew another arrow and prepared to fire.

Mkel, there are chromatic dragons inbound, at least two wings,
Gallanth’s words echoed hard in Mkel’s mind. Both Dekeen and Ashram almost simultaneously refocused as if they both heard Gallanth’s telepathic message.

“Does Gallanth know how many chromatics are coming?” Dekeen asked as he read the concern on his friend’s face.

“At least two wings,” Mkel replied to his friend.

“Two wings? There hasn’t been that many chromatics fighting together since the Great War,” Dekeen said with a slight tone of anxiety, very unusual for an elf. Mkel had never heard his lifelong elvish friend express concern like this before.

“Hah! I have a few friends coming, so I will have to deal with you later, Alliance vermin. You will pay for this intrusion. Fellaxe, I leave you to your own fate,” Ashram shouted to his second in command as he spurred his steed back toward the two armies fighting. The downdraft beats of over a dozen dragon wings began to echo up the shallow valley.

Mkel, you must fall back, Talonth and Strikenth will be calling for our aid soon, and the rangers have the Battle Point soldiers secure on their mounts,
Gallanth told Mkel. “Dekeen, I must fall back, Gallanth is calling me. Toderan, I must go,” Mkel spoke to his companions.

“I will not be long, Captain,” Toderan replied. “This puny specimen here will not be much of a challenge. Now go, for they will need you and Gallanth with the chromatics coming.”

“Call through your crystal if you need help. Dekeen, Lupek, I must go. Tegent, you stay with Toderan to watch his back. Ordin, let’s move,” Mkel called out.

“Mkel, there are many giants approaching from up the valley,” Ordin announced.

Mkel had to quickly rethink how he was to rearrange his personnel, for the giants had to be delayed. Lupek, Ordin, Dekeen, Tegent, and Toderan could do that, but he needed Ordin or someone else in the rear seat on Gallanth’s saddle to watch his back with the fight that will take place soon.

“Ordin, how many giants are there in this group?” Mkel asked.

“At least a dozen, if not more,” Ordin said, grinning with excitement. Mkel knew his friends were powerful fighters with powerful weapons, but four against a clan of giants, even common giants, without Jodem or Gallanth would be a tough fight indeed. He would take Tegent and leave his four powerful friends to fight a delay against the giants.

“All right; Tegent, you come with me. You and your griffon will be my wingman, so I hope your bow is accurate today. Dekeen, Ordin, Lupek, when Toderan finishes with that death knight, go and delay those giants. If you get hard-pressed, fall back through the scrub to your mounts and join us in the air. Gallanth and I will come back for Ordin if we can break off from the aerial fight; otherwise, don’t forget him,” Mkel spoke quickly with a slight smile, but then he was interrupted by the challenge roars of the approaching chromatic dragons. Dekeen looked up at the ridgeline to the east as the dragons appeared.

“I count two reds leading at least three blues, four greens, and four black dragons,” the elf spoke out loud. Elves with their keen eyes were experts in identifying dragons flying overhead by the silhouette or outline of their wings, torso, and tail, along with their size. The challenge roars that the different dragons emitted were also distinctive. A gold dragon like Gallanth or Valianth had the deepest and most commanding roar. A silver dragon’s was similar, just not quite as deep. A red dragon’s roar was shriller, with what was best described as an angry tone to it, for red dragons were by far the most sinister and vicious, if not the most arrogant, of the chromatic types. Blue and bronze dragons had a slight hiss to their roars, likely due to the electrical nature of their breath weapons, but blues sounded slightly more evil or raspy. The roars of the green and black dragons were very shrill and had a shallower quality to them, while white dragons were the shrillest with the most tenor, likely because they were the smallest of the true dragons.

“Thirteen chromatics with two reds; bad odds for Talonth and Strikenth. Gallanth, can you tell if any of them are demon or berserker dragons?” Mkel asked.
The red dragon on the right is a demon dragon. The aura of power emanating from him is immense. Talonth and Strikenth will need our help
. “Dekeen …” Mkel started to say.

“I know even with my elf ears, I can’t hear Gallanth talking to you through your mind, but by your expression, I can guess the answer,” Dekeen interjected.

“The red on the right is a demon dragon,” Mkel answered, “and if the blue we killed yesterday was any indication of the extra powers these dragon types have, this red will give Talonth and Strikenth a terrific fight.”

“Mkel, go, we will be able to hold off the giants until you come back,” Toderan yelled as he swung his shimmering holy sword at Fellaxe. The death knight parried the blow with his black iron axe blade, but the sword’s energy knocked it back into his hands.

“What is this, a holy sword, an Alliance master paladin?” Fellaxe bantered. “I thought they were only legendary.”

“Too bad it is the first and last you’ll ever see,” Toderan answered back as he swung his sword to the right, aiming at Fellaxe’s midsection. The death knight barely blocked it with the handle of his axe, which split off from the impact. He then gave a downward thrust with the large axe blade, which Toderan blocked with his shield.

His shield took the blow and did not buckle or splinter,
Fellaxe thought to himself. He was used to his opponents’ shields being torn asunder from his axe blows.
It must be made of mithril, this will not be an easy fight,
he said to himself.

“I’ll see you all soon; die well, death knight!” Mkel shouted. “Tegent, let’s go,” he continued, nodding to his friends before he turned and ran back into the hills to meet up with Gallanth, with Tegent sprinting right behind him.

Fellaxe knew he had to get around the large mithril shield, or he had no chance of winning this fight; he swung his axe to the left, aiming at Toderan’s right side, where he thought he could get negate his shield arm and find a weak point in his strong armor. Toderan arched back and dodged the axe swing with a surprising grace and speed that one would not think possible with plate armor. This attested to the extreme lightweight property of his mithril suit, being tenfold as strong and a fraction the weight of steel.

Toderan then moved in quickly, bashing Fellaxe’s left arm with his shield and delivering a downward stroke that sliced into the black iron armor on his opponent’s shoulder. Fellaxe let out a gasp of pain as he moved back away from Toderan. He felt the blood trickle down his shirt inside his armor. The pain was excruciating, much more than just the cut; it was as if a devastating energy had been also delivered by the blade. He also could not believe his black iron armor had been compromised.

With his left shoulder wounded, he had to switch hands on his axe, putting him at a disadvantage. He moved slightly to the right to attempt to get Toderan off guard and then swung the axe back to the left. Toderan blocked the axe with his sword under the blade and smashed his shield into Fellaxe’s chest and face, making him stagger back several steps to maintain his balance.

This paladin has great strength
, Fellaxe said to himself; the blood began to run from his now broken nose, as the face guard on his skull shaped helmet was dented in from the blow. He then leveled the axe, with its protruding point on top of the double-headed blade, and aimed at Toderan’s neck with his charge, hoping the longer weapon would give him reach over the paladin.

Toderan quickly moved to the left, deflected the axe with his shield, and used Fellaxe’s momentum as well as his own to spin himself around and deliver a hard backhand angled blow to Fellaxe’s shoulder blade between the black iron plates, cutting deeply into his back. The death knight fell forward onto the ground, gasping in pain. He did get back to his feet surprisingly quickly, given the severity of his wounds. “Do you wish to yield?” Toderan asked.

“The renowned paladin mercy? I would rather die,” he spat back, again charging and swinging his battle-axe with one hand. Toderan raised his shield, blocking the weakened swing of the axe, and thrust his sword into Fellaxe’s side, with the blade sinking deeply into the death knight’s chest. This was the killing blow; Fellaxe gasped, looking at Toderan, and then fell to the ground. Breathing heavily, Toderan turned to Dekeen, Lupek, and Ordin, who nodded in an acknowledgment of his victory, and walked over to them.

“All right, we better devise a quick plan of attack to deal with this giant clan,” Toderan spoke to his friends.

Talonth and Strikenth had just made a return pass on Ashram’s army, freezing solid dozens of orcs and Morgathian infantry in the rear ranks, so as to not endanger any Battle Point soldiers currently engaging the enemy. Lordan and Padonan targeted a behir and a beholder, as their silver dragons ascended from their aerial strike. The fire bolt that emanated from Lordan’s lance struck one of the behirs in the back of the neck, knocking it forward and to the ground.

Padonan’s glaive whirled through the air, making a direct path to the beholder who had hit Strikenth’s shield with a disruption ray. The star-bladed weapon cut through the vile multitentacle, orb-like creature’s spell shield with a thunder-like crack and sliced into its large central eye. The glaive emerged from the back of the creature’s spherical body, spun up, and quickly changed direction to go back to its wielder’s hand.

The dying beholder fell to the ground, which their kind never touched, preferring to hover several feet from it at all times. While magically powerful in their own right, a beholder was still no match for the spinning mithril-bladed glaive, which was renowned for slicing through magic shields and almost anything else. Jodem was currently engaging the other beholder from behind the front line of clashing troops and orcs.

“Good hit, Lieutenant,” Lordan said to Padonan through his seeing crystal.

Lordan, Gallanth just told me that two wings of chromatic dragons are inbound, and the lead red is a demon dragon,
Talonth quickly informed his rider.

“Padonan, we must gain altitude quickly, for we must attack them from above and draw them away from the legion. Two red dragons can wreak havoc on an army, much less than one of those demon dragons,” Lordan said again through his crystal.

“Yes sir, Strikenth already relayed the message,” Padonan replied as both dragons hefted their silvery wings with deep strokes to gain altitude as rapidly as possible. Normally a silver dragon can handle a red with slight effort, for they have stronger defensive magic shields and greater spell casting ability, along with being faster and more maneuverable in the air. Red dragons were physically more powerful, however, with only gold dragons having greater strength.

As Talonth and Strikenth flew upward, both opened their jaws and emitted a cone of cold mist that started to form a dense fog cloud in the clear sky. As the shrouding mist started to form in front of them, they split and began to circle within the white plume to expand it. They would attack from this concealed position.

“Krekon, send Voltex and one of your green and black dragons with the same from my wing to attack the Alliance legion and their wingless dragons; the rest will follow me to destroy the silvers,”
Thurex commanded, for not only was he a senior red, but a demon dragon as well.

“Yes, Lord Thurex. Voltex, take Batuul and Kakol from our wing, and Slyvar and Saarex from Lord Thurex’s wing to attack the legion,” the junior red dragon commanded.

“Yes, Krekon. You four, follow me!” the large blue roared back to the smaller green and black dragons when he split off to the left. The two red dragons and the other eight chromatics of the now combined squadron veered right and headed toward the large cloud.

“Krekon, Arathus, Klaxtor, fire into the cloud to flush these cowards out,” Thurex ordered as a billowing cone of fire cut into the mist, followed by the two lightning bolts from the blues to couple with Krekon’s fire. Just as the breath weapons extinguished, Talonth and Strikenth emerged from teleport above the chromatic wing and unleashed two ice rays, along with a barrage of spells.

Talonth cast his powerful lightning storm spell on the red dragons; the main bolt hit Thurex’s shield, followed by a rapid barrage of twenty smaller bolts, striking with blinding succession on both the crimson dragons’ invisible barriers. He simultaneously breathed a deadly icy beam at the closest blue dragon. All three chromatics had their shields rocked and faltered in flight, being forced to veer off because of the impacts.

Strikenth fired his lightning storm spell at the four black and green dragons hovering behind the reds and blues. Black and green dragons had comparatively weak shields and did not stand up well against the metallic dragons’ attacks. Strikenth’s main lightning bolt struck the largest green, with the follow-on twenty bolts hitting all four remaining chromatics in rapid succession. He then breathed his freezing ray at the other blue; its shield barely contained the powerful silver’s breath weapon.

Lordan followed his dragon’s attack on the blue with a fire-bolt from his lance, which struck the beast’s shield with full force. Padonan threw his glaive at the nearest dragon. The spinning blade sliced the black dragon’s tough skin on its right wing, cutting a long swath in the thin armored membrane. It then proceeded to gash the thick blackish hide on its lower back. The combined strikes took the chromatic squadron by surprise, putting them all off balance. The two silver dragons then dove into the middle of the group and delivered claw slashes and tail strikes to several chromatics on their way through the pack.