Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (77 page)

“Yes, my brother, she started to allude to this but was killed by a Shidanese black scarab assassin before we could get more information from her,” Gallanth answered.

“This could mean many things, Rapierth,” Jodem said; “an all out war with the saragwin, the Shidanese, or a combination of these. Open war at sea will affect trade and commerce for the Alliance. The Freilanders are also experiencing this, as you know.”

“Only a week ago, my rider and I had to respond to a distress call from a merchant convoy,”
Rapierth stated
.
“They were attacked by a whole tribe of saragwin and two kraken. We killed the evil beasts, but strangely they were uninterested in fighting the two Alliance warships defending the merchants. They just focused on sinking the unarmed vessels themselves, even though it was costing them lives from being exposed to the naval infantry’s and Alliance ship’s arrows and ballistae.

“What are the sea elves saying of this?” Dekeen asked.

“The normal skirmishes have escalated into full battles,”
Rapierth explained,
“as the saragwin have been carrying greater and bolder incursions into sea elf territory. They have been reinforced by Shidanese ships ferrying orcs and other powerful sea creatures, including black and green dragons. All of the bronzes from the coastal Weirs, along with our supporting dragons, have been increasing our patrols of the sea lanes and experiencing ever intense fights
.

“Yes, Rapierth, my Freiland friend had a saragwin hunting party attack his raider ships only a few miles from Sauric Bay,” Mkel explained to the bronze dragon.

“The saragwin took us by surprise by being in Alliance waters,” Lawrent stated, “but they mistook us for merchants at night and got more than they bargained for. They did have a sea witch of some power, though, and while my wizard slew her, he was taken by a lucky spear thrown by a saragwin chieftain.”

“We knew of your fight after the sea elves found the saragwin bodies the next morning, but we assumed you handled it since we didn’t get a call for assistance from you, and far be it from us to assume otherwise,” Rapierth replied with a bronze dragon’s usual sarcasm.

“We shall discuss this further and get the whole Wizard and Dragon Council to think this matter through, not to mention the senior Alliance military theory and strategy soldiers as well,” Gallanth stated
. “
Until then we must always have a sense of caution but look to the games now, for the people of the republic want to view the competitions, and more importantly trust in the Alliance’s might,”
Gallanth ended the conversation to focus everyone on the closer target, at which they acknowledged.

“My friends, before we start to practice for the games, I think we need breakfast; we have a lot to catch up on,” Mkel corralled everyone up and ushered them to the dining hall of the Weir. He wanted to talk to his old friends before they got too serious into practicing for the games and the demonstrations.

After they had breakfast and talked for over two hours, they decided to fly the racing course, for Mkel did not want to shoot so soon after eating. They all mounted with Lordan and Talonth leading, as well as half the capital dragons including Strikenth, Falcanth, Draconth, Tigrenth, Lionoth, and several female dragons from the Capital Weir and other Weirs. Silvanth would occasionally fly the race, but now that she was nesting, she would not place the stress of a race on herself, for fear of losing the precious egg inside her.

Eighteen dragons gathered on the practice field in front of the Weir’s north entrance, where the contests and the actual race would take place. Mkel stood up in his flying saddle as far as his riding straps would allow him, to view the other dragons. He sat the highest, as Gallanth’s back was at least a foot higher than the next biggest dragon there, which was his older brother Falcanth. He enjoyed the view, for he rarely saw so many dragons this close together, being from Draden with only Gallanth and Silvanth there. Lloydell and Falcanth took charge, being the senior rider and gold dragon.

“All right, my friends, we will do a slow run around the flight course for the race. For the younger dragons, please keep an altitude of at least five hundred feet so as not to knock over any citizens or ships. During the actual run, we will fly lower to negotiate the sharper turns around the city, but today is just a familiarization run and to get the people of Draconia in the mood for the games. This as well gives all those of the Enlightened faith a little stomach ache,” Lloydell said with a smile on his weathered face. “My brothers and sisters, you will follow my and Gallanth’s lead and not pass us; keep an even pace,”
Falcanth stated to all dragons present. Falcanth had a great fondness for his younger but larger brother, as did Lloydell for Mkel, who he felt slightly responsible for; he was also proud of him for being the son of Jmes, an Alliance officer and a dragonrider. All dragons nodded an acknowledgment and began to move apart for room to spread their wings for takeoff. Mkel, Lordan, and the members of the Capital wing that were present gave Lloydell a salute, for he was a senior colonel, with only Therosvet and Becknor being higher in rank among the military officer dragonriders.

As soon as they were spaced well enough, Falcanth gave a signal bellow, which was then echoed by all dragons present. The earth shattering combined roars rumbled across the field and into the city. Falcanth took to the air, with Gallanth right on his tail. All the other dragons followed behind them. The rush of air from the push of so many massive wings almost seemed to flatten the already smooth parade ground. Mkel looked back at the crowd of dragons behind him.
An impressive sight
, he thought to himself, as if he could lead all these dragons and take on the whole Morgathian Empire. They rose quickly to the agreed altitude and soared east and then south to round the large Weir Mountain toward Sauric Bay and the large port of Draconia. Sauric Bay was more like an inland sea, being over a hundred fifty miles long from its northern to southern shores and almost three hundred miles from the city to the ocean past Rom and Rem Weirs that guarded the choke point that separated the bay from the ocean. It provided a definitive buffer from the sea and a large source of income for the fishermen that inhabited the shores of the bay.

Mkel looked back to see Rapierth instinctively looking for large grouping fish in the waters of the bay. Bronzes were excellent large fish hunters, and he knew Gallanth wanted to look for some as well, an unusual treat for him. They began to cross over the edge of the bay and the Weir port. The ships were lined up to the docks by the hundreds, maybe thousands. The port of Draconia was very well thought out in its construction. The natural rise of the ground from the piers was reinforced by thick granite and dwarven concrete walls that shimmered in white and gray. Many cuts in the walls allowed for easy loading and unloading of the ships, but all could be quickly closed by carefully poised blocks in case of a hurricane storm surge or an invading seaborne assault. Attacking to the north would force an enemy army to move past or through the Capital Weir, and moving to the south they would have to cross over many small tributaries of the Severic River and well-placed swamps. These allowed for proper drainage from the city while also making an invading army get bogged down in the attempt.

The buildings and structures of Draconia were equally well made and sturdy. Dwarven concrete and brick were an extremely strong material, and when reinforced with steel rods, they made excellent structures. Most buildings in the city were constructed in this way, but the larger or taller ones were built in a pyramid-type of fashion for even greater strength. In the center of the city rose a great pyramid that reached a height of almost a thousand feet; this was ringed by four others that rose up to six hundred feet. The middle structure was the capital seat of the Alliance. It was the center of the government of the republic, and while holding all vital works and directorates, it was the home to no one. Its flat top mounted a massive mithril and gold triangular ovoid that showed brilliantly in the sunlight and also glowed in the focused lighting crystal illumination at night. All services were centered from here as well as the ringed Great Hall for the senate gathering arena. One of the two of the smaller surrounding pyramids that lay east and west of the main structure actually housed the senate chambers, with the other being the Grand Arbitrators Court and Council. The pyramid to the north was the premier’s temporary home with all his staff and support, and the last structure to the south was the headquarters of the Alliance Army and Navy. This was the center of power of the Alliance, where all decisions and indecisions were made.

The huge Alliance flags were flying from atop all four of the smaller pyramid structures, and a gold and mithril coated triangle symbolizing the trinity of the universe and the Creator showed brightly from the outer face of all pyramids, as if to announce to all four corners of the world. The rest of the sprawling city surrounded the central government pyramids. Some of the housing and guild buildings rose up over two hundred feet, for Draconia was also the center of most of the major guilds in the Alliance. These ranged from the Wizards’ Guild to the ship building guild, and everything in between. A great deal of merchants, businesses, and storage structures also dotted the city.

With Draconia being fully illuminated and powered by dragon-supplied lighting crystals, at night the capital almost glowed, being truly a city of light on the raised land above the bay. Mkel did notice only a few warships were docked, which was strange for the largest port in the Alliance and home to three fleets of the large galleys, warships, and support ships that made up the mainstay of the navy.
This must be due to the increased patrols and escort missions Rapierth was talking about
, Mkel thought to himself.

You are correct, my friend,
Gallanth told him telepathically.
At any one time, the navy has well over half its warships out to sea. Their operational tempo is putting a strain on them and the coastal Weirs, according to Rapierth
. “I know the navy had decommissioned several older ships as part of the Enlightened downsizing plan after the Great War, but don’t we still have enough warships for the job?” Mkel asked.

There are only about nine hundred ships in the entire Alliance Navy, and they have over five hundred to sea right now,
Gallanth added
. The bronze dragons have been very busy, providing cover and fighting the many saragwin and their sea monsters. These belligerents have been mostly preying on merchant ships of all the Alliance allies, not to mention the pirates the Freilanders have been fighting
. They began to make the hard bank to the left toward the immense Befran Bridge.

Named after one of the Founding Council members, the stone, concrete, and steel bridge spanned the six-mile-wide mouth of the Severic River connecting the communities on the south shore to the city limits of Draconia. The bridge would not have been possible to construct without the combined knowledge of human, dwarf, and elf builders and strengthened by dwarven concrete and steel. It stood one hundred fifty feet above the water in its center, allowing all but the largest galleys and warships to pass. Gold, silver, and bronze dragons could even fly under its center portion between the largest supporting pillars. The brass and copper dragons could go under it closer to the shore, thus making a tighter turn and enabling the smaller dragons to gain on the faster larger dragons, all of which had to fly under the bridge as part of the race.

Mkel looked to his left at the docks and noticed that people were gathering to watch the makeshift wing of dragons flying past. Most of those he could see through his crossbow’s sight were waving, for almost all of the usual flight paths for the Capital dragons were kept on the north side of the Weir and the city. This avoided any issues with wind wash of especially the bigger silver and gold dragons. Gallanth followed his brother, who slightly angled away from the docks and toward the center of the mouth of the mighty Severic and the Befran Bridge.

Falcanth descended to just seventy-five feet above the water, skimming the surface, with a large spray from the downdraft of his gold wings separating the water in his wake. A dragon, especially a bronze or larger, could capsize a small ship by flying over it from the wash of its wings. Gallanth lined up just on his brother’s left while Talonth moved in on the right. The remaining dragons flew down and kept just behind the three leaders. Mkel could see the people on the bridge move to the side to see the wing approach and wave. The dragons split to miss a barge coming from up river. The barge captain looked very surprised, if not a little taken aback, by the number of dragons streaking by him, showering his craft with water spray.

Gallanth and Talonth started to fall back and line up behind Falcanth to go under the bridge. The center portion had the widest distance between its great supporting stone pillars and steel beams. Mkel looked back to see Selenth and several other copper and brass dragons shift to either side of the silver and bronzes behind him. The center span was barely a hundred yards wide, which while it could easily accommodate even Gallanth’s or Michenth’s wingspan, two dragons could not fly through it at the same time. The bottom of the bridge stood fifty yards above the water in the center to allow all but the tallest of ships to sail partially up the river, until the currents only allowed oar-powered or dragonstone-assisted vessels to proceed. It would be next to impossible for two dragons to fly under it at the same time. One flying directly over the other would create very unstable turbulence and likely cause both to crash into the water, or hit the bridge itself.