by C E Johnson
‘Mother!’ Emily could sense Ammolite screaming through the link while still viewing the scene through Emily’s eyes. Emily lost her composure, closing her eyes as her body was wracked with aching sobs. She felt as if she had suddenly lost her own mother, her father, everyone she loved.
Luke was next to her, his comforting hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. “Armor piercing weaponry.” Luke steadied her. “Samil’s constructed a weapon to kill a dragon.”
Tiamat reeled from the force of the shot, and too late she attempted to gain altitude. However, all at once, she was falling from the sky, dropping like a stone, dying. As she fell, she performed a dream-link with Ammolite. Emily and Xena were already in Ammolite’s mind and they were able to see the message. In her last seconds on Acacia, Tiamat sent out images of pure love, thoughts only a mother could fully express to her daughter. There were also words she relayed to Ammolite, I love you, my daughter. Rule well. Remember, sacrifice does not mean defeat. Our lights will join again in the future. A silence descended upon the battlefield as Tiamat’s massive frame connected with the ground. At impact, an enormous multicolored pulse of light shot out from her body, an incredible death-light. The light was dazzling, primarily white, but with many facets of colors dancing through the brilliant radiance. The light bathed the field of battle and then shot up to the heavens and they all kneeled, bowing their heads to honor the light from the fallen dragon.
Emily and Xena kept their mind-link with Ammolite fully open, hoping to not only absorb some of the pain in their bondsmate, but to send support and love across the link; however, maintaining the link was painful. A throbbing agony lanced through Emily’s mind, and she continued to cry while reeling in her saddle and collapsing against the mane of her horse. After the pain diminished, she felt a depressing sadness wash through her like a cold deluge from a monsoon on a dark day. The sensation seeped into her skin and into her soul. Abruptly, Ammolite was retreating into a mental hibernation to attempt to recuperate, leaving their mind-link.
Be strong, Emily and Xena whispered tenderly.
After the silent moment of respect for the death-light ended, Samil’s army began to cheer louder and louder, working themselves into a frenzy. The army chanted, “Samil, dragon slayer, Samil, dragon slayer!”
C H A P T E R 3 7
Dragon War
Tiamat’s dragon allies were in motion, retreating into the elf forest, converging to where Ammolite was hidden to regroup. Samil, meanwhile, was on the offensive, using the change in momentum to his advantage to begin the next portion of his attack. He gave a signal to his chariots and they began to thunder forward across the Plains of Talval, metal gleaming on the green grassy plains as the rising sun crept higher in the sky.
“Prepare the front columns,” roared Dr. D. His orders were relayed with yells down along the line through the troops and the first column of soldiers stepped forward in a long thin line. They advanced with careful footsteps, avoiding a series of tunnels and pits the Lacerta had excavated.
“Samil always sends his chariots out first to wreak havoc with the blades on the wheels of his killing machines, but watch how our soldiers are walking forward in pairs,” Cameron pointed out. “We devised a way for an archer with a bow and a spearman to counter his offensive.” As he pointed at the impending conflict, Samil’s chariot horses flew across the field, swift as the wind, all raised for strength and speed. Small clumps of grass flew up from the hooves of the warhorses, and they were becoming lathered with their effort.
“When will the archers fire?” Luke leaned forward in his saddle.
“Not until the chariots pass them,” Cameron taught. “Watch this.” The archers walked several yards ahead of the soldiers with spears to become targeted by the chariots, but instead of firing or engaging the chariot drivers, the archers sidestepped the deadly vehicles just as Cameron described, barely avoiding the wheel-blades. After the chariots rumbled past the archers, they encountered the spear bearers who skillfully planted their spears in the ground, aiming the tips toward the chariot horses.
“Will the horses be injured?” Isabelle spoke with concern. She loved horses with all her heart.
“Some,” Cameron spoke grimly. The flustered chariot drivers stopped or swerved to avoid the spears. Horses began to rear and trumpet, balking at the weapons, hooves lashing in the air. “Now the archers will go into action.” Cameron directed their attention to the archers. At their close range, the archers notched and loosed their arrows, annihilating the overconfident chariot riders with a stream of missiles from the back where the chariot riders were relatively unprotected. Small puffs of red and black mist rose into the crisp morning air as the arrows struck their marks. “Now we can use their own chariots against them,” Cameron nodded toward the warriors boarding the intact vehicles of war, replacing Samil’s banners of red and black with a crest with a field of blue with a green tree, Emily’s sigil.
In a fury, Samil gestured to his signal bearers to launch the bulk of his army. Elephants began to lumber forward, while corsairs, yapoks, and thousands more ground soldiers and bondsmates began to march in endless ranks.
“His dragons are launching.” Elizabeth pointed upwards. Samil’s dragons took to the air in formations like squadrons of airplanes departing for a battle.
There’s Cyril, Xena directed Emily’s eyes toward a knight in rich red armor on a coal-black horse. The blood red plume on his helmet danced in the light breeze as if it were a snake, alive and writhing with excitement for death and destruction, while his enormous black charger looked powerful enough to smash his way through all of their troops on his own.
“Cyril’s in charge of the ground forces.” Emily studied his advance. He rode at the head of the cavalry with thousands of metal lances at his back, shining silver in the rising sun. Their gilded mail glistened, and their enameled plate armor shone with startlingly bright colors.
“In addition to his cavalry, he has a huge personal guard around him,” Anna observed. “Our plan of misdirection might be working.”
“Claire must have informed Samil that we plan to attack Cyril,” Emily acknowledged with some inner sadness at the added betrayal of her friend.
“He’s still trusting her advice,” Cameron said quietly. “Samil’s only keeping a few clusters of troops near his own platform.”
Ammolite, where are you? Emily asked. Are you okay? Samil’s dragons began to circle overhead. Her stomach rolled into a hard ball as she watched their approach.
I’m ready to guide our dragons, Ammolite spoke through their mind-link with a cool fury in her tone. She burst into view over the battlefield leading her coalition of dragons and Emily’s heart lurched excitedly in her chest. She knew she would never forget this moment as the two opposing awe-inspiring squadrons of dragons began to position themselves for an aerial battle.
“Samil must be in shock right now at seeing another multi-colored dragon.” Elizabeth glanced toward Samil’s platform.
Through her telescope, Emily could see Elizabeth was right. Samil was muttering to himself and gesturing angrily to Droth as they put another armor piercing round into their war machine. They began tracking Ammolite’s movements. Emily tried to push the panic rising in her chest away. She knew what must be done. “We need to strike at Samil after his divisions fully advance away from his position and he’s exposed.”
The ground army approached steadily like a massive storm full of destructive potential. Cyril and his personal guard fell back to observe the massive assault. War horses reared and plunged forward in a ground-shaking charge, but before the forces clashed, chaos was unleashed. Groups of Cyril’s soldiers and beasts began to fall into the traps dug by the Lacerta. Mastodons, elephants, and warriors were randomly disappearing, swallowed up by the pits in the ground that were lined with spears. Screams filled the air, along with clouds of death-smoke that drifted out of the lethal craters. Once the traps were revealed, Cyril’s forces simply sidestepped the tomb-pits and
continued their relentless approach.
“The elves will fire now.” Cameron turned Nox to watch the edge of the forest. Queen Elaina and Crittenden stepped forward with a long line of their expert archers. Once out of the tree cover, Crittenden called out, “Notch!” The long line of elves prepared their bows as one. “Draw!” The elves moved gracefully, bending their strong bows. “Loose!” he roared, and they launched a volley of arrows. The missiles took flight, whispering softly in the air as they ascended in a delicate arch before dropping to pierce flesh, fur and scales, demolishing the first rows of Cyril’s army. Huge clouds of smoke billowed up, but the bulk of the army kept moving forward with relentless intent. Again and again Crittenden roared, “Notch, Draw, Loose!” The air was alive as the snake-like arrows hissed and delivered injury and death. Moans, groans, and prayers began to fill the air.
“Now,” Dr. D roared, putting his fist high in the air, a signal to commit the battalions of his Acacean warriors to the battle. His cavalry raced down the hill in a long line, and a crack of thunder arose when steel met steel. Clumps of death-mist congealed in a mass to turn into an unctuous fog with the clouds rising to obscure the dragons battling above the plain.
Our battle is intensifying, Ammolite roared in Emily’s mind. Eerie flashes of dragon fire sent wild bursts of light through the fog whenever the dragons belched fire and magic. Occasionally a brilliant flash of death-light would shatter the fog when an honorable warrior or dragon was killed, and for a fraction of a second the battle would cease as an instinctual bowing of heads occurred. Other times, horrible heart-rending screams would come from magicians on the battlefield as bondsmates were killed.
“Your father’s troops are being forced back.” Isabelle pointed toward the carnage. The warriors from Angkor were slowly being pushed toward the elf forest by the onslaught. Dr. D made a signal, and a trumpet blared a retreat. As his forces bolted toward the trees, Cyril, his army, and his honor guard broke their ranks and began to give chase.
Emily caught her breath in amazement when she saw who was leading the bulk of Cyril’s personal guard. She saw the unmistakable aura-signature of Rios Esteppe leading her Cat Clan warriors. The magician had aged from Emily’s prior encounter with her, when she pledged her dragon-oath to Emily, but she still appeared agile and quick. Her enormous saber-tooth was fighting at her side. Emily went into a dream-link with Rios and felt rewarded when Rios’s eyes darted around to gaze at the hill upon which Emily and the horse-clan were waiting. It’s time to honor your dragon-oath, Emily conveyed.
As you command, Rios gave a low bow in Emily’s direction before putting her hand out to rest on the shoulder of a young man at her side. Emily saw the resemblance of both mother and father and assumed the young man was the son of Rios Esteppe and Gavone. There was a magnificent male lion at the young man’s side. As Rios and her son began to depart the battlefield, the warrior-magicians and bondsmates associated with her Cat Clan followed.
“Return to your position!” Cyril bellowed in confusion. “I will hunt you down if you don’t return!” he roared, but Rios ignored Cyril’s rants, continuing her departure from the battle field.
When Rios and her squad passed Emily’s hill, Rios saluted in Emily’s direction, honoring her dragon-oath. Until we meet again, Emily Dalton. Warriors from both sides gave this formidable group room to maneuver and neither side challenged their retreat as they proudly strode from the field of battle.
Even without his honor guard, Cyril continued to advance. Amidst the slaughter, a blanket of variable colored smoke continued to expand over the battlefield, with patches swirling in plumes to arc and curl in the filtered sunlight. Through this gray smoke, a row of the Javan emerged to challenge Cyril’s progression. The air resonated with the shuddering deep blasts of the Javan warhorns. Emily held her breath as Hadrian’s stallion appeared, rearing in anger and trumpeting a challenge before pounding toward Cyril’s forces to lead the Javan cavalry. Javan troops spilled from the forest at the northern edge of the battlefield like a weaponized tsunami, attacking the side and rear of the battle. Emily felt herself trembling in nervous anticipation as her brother raced forward. Let Hadrian and Dysis be safe, she murmured.
They’re both strong, Xena whispered.
Horses flew toward the conflict, and as lances met spears and swords, the animals stumbled, screamed, and rolled as their riders either scored hits or were knocked from their saddles. The air was filled with clouds of primarily black and red smoke that began to churn into the air as Cyril’s unorganized troops sustained massive damage on the new front. The red magician’s forces desperately attempted to reorganize to face Hadrian and Dysis who were angling their troops towards Cyril with Mistmaker and Smokeslayer furiously carving a path.
After the cavalry charge was complete, Javan men-at-arms and archers joined the assault in a twisted tangle of mail and metal. Sounds of carnage reverberated with an eerie cacophony over the plains. The splintering of shields, the hiss of arrows, the whistle of morningstars, and the smash of swords combined to sound like an orchestra of the dead and Emily watched in fascinated horror as Hadrian gained a small amount of hard-fought ground.
Cyril is more vulnerable without his elite guard, she hoped.
He still fights with a massive well-trained army, Xena countered. This won’t be easy.
You’re right. Cyril is starting to push them back. Emily felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She turned to Cameron and gave him a slight nod. “We have to help.” She spoke firmly, but inside she was shaking with fear.
“I’ll guide you to him.” Cameron stroked the mane of his horse bondsmate. His hand was steady on Nox, there wasn’t even a tremble in his touch. “I hope we can put an end to his madness.” Cameron wheeled on his stallion and began organizing his horse-clan warriors, placing Emily and her friends in the center of his riders. Nox tossed his head and stamped a hoof on the grassy plain, looking impatient to join the battle. “We’ll provide protection for you until we reach Samil’s platform.” Cameron saluted Emily.
“I must stop Samil before he fires on Ammolite.” Emily felt an urgency building inside her to protect her bondsmate.
Mother, Emily dream-linked Elaina, can you concentrate your arrow attack near my position to form an extra cloud of smoke to cover my movements? The elves instantly changed their targets and the air hissed with anger as a flood of their arrows rained nearby, stirring up a particularly nasty black death-cloud fog that further shrouded the battlefield by Emily’s hill. As the line of enemy troops weakened, Emily tried to give Cameron a confident expression as she gave a signal to advance. Cameron nodded. He urged his remaining horse-clan warriors to a gallop, forming in the shape of a wedge with Emily and her friends still in the center. Xena used her heightened reflexes to stay clear of the pounding hooves and the deadly formation of streaking horses aimed straight for Samil’s platform.
Emily glanced at her Earth friends through the smoke. She fought back tears that were dying to flow. What are we doing? She whispered to Xena. We’re heading straight for the strongest magician on Acacia.
We are doing what we must, Xena answered firmly.
There’s fear in their eyes and fear in my heart. Emily closed her eyes tightly.
There’s always fear before a battle, but your fear will morph into battle fury. Xena was strong, fierce, and terrible all at once.
My friends were on Earth just months ago, watching TV and playing games. Now they’re in the midst of one of the largest battles Acacia has ever known.
The pack is strong when fighting together, Xena retorted. They will not fail you.
“Are you ready?” Emily yelled to her friends.
Luke nodded with determination. Anna, Isabelle, and Elizabeth looked at her with wide eyes. “A little scared,” Elizabeth managed to say with a clenched jaw.
Isabelle forced a brave face. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll help to protect you. Get Samil. Then let’s get home.” Isabelle gave a half-he
arted grin and shouted, “I’d rather be playing my guitar right now.” They all laughed a nervous laugh together.
An arrow caught one of their horse-clan guards, and he erupted into smoke. “Let’s finish this,” Cameron roared.
Emily could see her target. Samil was tracking the dragons with his diamond weapon, watching the sky. “You must attack Samil quickly,” Cameron advised. He guided them to the base of Samil’s superstructure. “The longer you delay, the more troops will see you and come to his aid.” He whirled his horse away from the platform, “I’ll try and slow down any of his troops that approach.”
“Thank you, Cameron,” Emily called. She wanted to ride Beau up the platform, but the base entrance was blocked by a cluster of half-dead goblins, ogres and Mavet raa.
“Don’t waste your magus on them.” Luke pulled his elven rope from his backpack. “I’ve been practicing with this.” He threw the rope upwards, where it looped around a post on the top of the tall structure. Emily hiked her shield up her arm, secured her weapons, and jumped to the rope, scaling to the top with quick, heightened motions as her quartet of friends followed.
I’ll find my own way up, Xena promised. The half-deads realized Emily’s intention and began to scurry up the ramps so they could challenge Emily at the top of the platform.
Emily was the first to the top. Across from her she saw Samil, his son Aamon, Droth, and a cluster of magicians. As her feet landed on the dark ironwood, she pulled out her bluestones and whispered, Thyreos o. Her shield spell sprang up around her Earth friends who formed around her.
Samil, likely sensing the use of magic, turned from his observation of the sky to stare wide-eyed at Emily. A hooded magician was close to his side and he screamed at the individual, “You again didn’t give me good advice. Emily isn’t attacking my brother. Why did I listen to you!” Samil studied Emily and her friends intently. Flashes of dragon-fire in the sky lit his yellow teeth in a ghastly glow and he looked like an emaciated demon. “How bizarre that I’m about to complete my conquest by battling with teenagers.”