Siege of Draestl

by Randall Seeley

  Then reality hit, and he saw a ball of fire coming at him. His instincts took over and he turned to flee toward safety. But then he looked at his friends. They hadn’t moved yet, as they were still enthralled by the paralyzing fire. They’ll be consumed!

  He acted. Gauden was the closest, so he dove at him. His goal was to knock Gauden into the others so they could all clear the path of the fireball, but when he crashed into him, it felt like he had hit a reinforced stone wall.

  Why did I choose Gauden? He’s twice my size!

  Wayd stumbled back and glanced at the fire. It was closer. They weren’t going to be able to react in time.

  But Wayd’s feeble attempt at crashing into Gauden worked. The big man glanced down at him, cleared his head, and then turned, scooped up all three of them in his arms, and dove to the side.

  The fireball narrowly passed above them and exploded into a building beyond. An enormous roar sounded as the fireball blasted into the wall and stone, lumber, dust, and debris erupted into the air. That would have incinerated us!

  There was a loud groan as the entire building shuddered and then began to collapse in on itself. They were close enough that they had to roll to the side and crawl away before being crushed. The building crashed into the street and caught fire, sending a hot blaze into the air and blocking the road.

  “Over here!” Malithan yelled through the thick of the debris as he pointed to the other side of the street.

  Wayd climbed to his feet and saw that Malithan was pointing toward a building down a side alley that would provide more protection from the dragon and cut off its line of sight. Wayd also hoped it led to other streets beyond. He figured it was as good as any and started running toward it but stopped when the dragon opened its mouth. The mouth began to fill with brilliant blue light.

  “Fire!” Wayd yelled as he, Gauden, and Owen moved back toward the burning building.

  Malithan had already committed and was in the middle of the street when he heard the warning. He stopped and turned to face the dragon.

  The dragon’s mouth opened wide and blue fire erupted from within.

  “Malithan!” Wayd yelled, fearing the worst. His friend was in the wide open. There was no way he could avoid the fire.

  Malithan dove to the ground and rolled to the side, but the shot was too wide to have hit him anyway. Instead of aiming at Malithan, the ball of fire went straight for the alleyway and exploded into the buildings, causing them to collapse in on themselves. More stone, dust, and debris crumbled into the alleyway.

  “What is it doing?” Gauden asked, surprised. “It had a clear shot of Malithan, how could it miss him?”

  Wayd wondered the same thing. But then the dragon opened its mouth and fired at another building near the last open street. As the building collapsed and fell into the street, it suddenly made sense.

  “It’s blocking us in,” Wayd said forebodingly.

  “Dear Creator,” Owen said. “The only way out of here now is through it. Curse you, Jilthrin, for being so bloody bright!”

  The dragon turned toward them.

  “Can we distract it?” Gauden asked. “Confuse it if we all go in different directions?”

  “Worth a try,” Owen said and he took off to one side.

  Gauden cursed and ran to the opposite side.

  The dragon tossed its head from side to side, then snapped it back toward Wayd, who hadn’t moved. The dragon’s focus was unyielding. Wayd heard Gauden and Owen making commotion to try to gain its attention, but the dragon’s unblinking eyes focused on Wayd.

  Well, curse me…I should have bloody run!

  “Run!” Malithan yelled.

  But Wayd stood still. If I run, it will hit me in the back. If I hide, it will decimate the building. Then he had the craziest thought of all. If I attack it when it’s not expecting…

  The fire continued to build. Continued to get brighter. Even though the dragon was more than a dozen feet away, Wayd felt the intensity of the heat. He made his decision.

  “Ahhhhh!” he yelled as he charged it.

  The dragon released the fire and a blue fiery ball came directly toward him.

  Wayd froze. He had hoped his charge would surprise the dragon and be enough of a distraction that he’d have the first strike. Instead, he stared at his impending death. He had no time to dive to the side. He had no time to duck. He closed his eyes to accept his fate.

  A brilliant light filled the air, there was a scream of rage, and then flames surrounded him. Wayd expected to be incinerated in a matter of seconds, but the flames flew beside him on both sides. The heat was intense, but indirect. What in the name of the Creator?

  He opened his eyes.

  Directly in front of him was a figure with long, gray hair matted down his back. He was standing directly in the flame, the brunt of the flames barreling into black draestl armor.

  Templar Arthron.

  Wayd watched with admiration as the Templar moved forward against the flames, holding his sword in one hand and the other outstretched as if willing the flames back. The fire from the dragon was relentless, crashing into the Templar in a constant barrage that only had reprieve when the dragon took a breath. Then the onslaught resumed. The heat was overwhelming, and Wayd found it difficult to breathe. They had to move quickly. He realized Arthron was facing him and yelling something angrily.

  “Get out of the way, Wayd! Get out of the way!”

  Curse me and turn me into a dragon.

  As the dragon fire paused as it took another breath, Wayd obeyed and sprinted to the side where the others were standing. Then another volley of fire crashed into the Templar.

  Wayd watched with fascination as the Templar was completely surrounded by flames. They crashed into Arthron with such intensity that Wayd was shocked that he could survive. But survive he did. And now that he didn’t have to worry about protecting Wayd, Arthron turned his attention to the dragon. Arthron took a step forward. But so did the dragon. The fire suddenly stopped, and it charged.

  Arthron was ready for the attack and brought his draestl sword to bear. A piercing claw struck out, trying to grab the sword and break it free, but Arthron turned the blade and struck, cutting into scales.

  The dragon roared in angry pain and turned to the side, bringing its massive tail around in a wide arc. Arthron tried to dodge, but the tail struck with intense force and sent Arthron flying through the air until he crashed into a wall in a crumbled heap. Arthron let out an exhausted grunt, then ducked as the dragon flew at him, its clawed fists crashing into the wall where Arthron had just been. The dragon tried to bite the Templar, but Arthron struck with his sword. He scored a brief strike and when the dragon reared its head back, Arthron dove to the street and rolled to safety.

  The dragon spun around and began to leap after Arthron, but stopped suddenly and screamed in pain. Then it began to belch fire in rapid succession in the opposite direction, screaming in rage and pain in between every bolt.

  What is happening?

  A brilliant white light appeared from the opposite side of the dragon, and as the dragon shifted away from it, Wayd saw its source.

  Seeker Kalaia.

  She walked with focused intensity—her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes determined. She struck repeatedly with her black seeker staff, and each time it connected, white light shimmered across the runes along its surface and the dragon screamed.

  Arthron stood up and grabbed a vial from a pouch at his waist. Wayd had seen this before and knew it was dragonsbane: a dralchom that caused intense pain to dragons by burning their scales and poisoning the very air they breathed. It was the same dralchom that was infused into the magical staff of the Seeker.

  Arthron tossed the dragonlyst at the dragon and the vial exploded. A shimmering smoke spread through the air, and as it settled, the dragon screamed and fell to the ground, thrashing. It tried to roll away from the dragonsbane, but it permeated the air and trapped the creature.

  Arthron and Kalaia c
onverged as one. The Seeker staff continued to strike while Arthron unstopped another vial and tossed it onto the underbelly of the dragon as it continued to roll. Another scream sounded as the dragonsbane spread along its surface and disintegrated its scales.

  The dragon convulsed violently as it tried to flee from its impending death. Arthron moved forward, careful to avoid the thrashing limbs, and when he was close enough, he leapt forward and cut off the dragon’s head with one strike.

  Wayd watched as the beast immediately began to transform back into a human. Back into Jilthrin. It happened much faster than the initial transformation, and within seconds, a dead, naked Jilthrin lay on the stone ground. There was no sign of the dragonlyst-laced arrow that had been the cause of the transformation. No sign of anything but death.

  Wayd shuddered.

  Arthron turned toward him. The Templar’s stance was rigid, his eyes focused, and he had the look of death.

  “Wayd,” Arthron said through heavy breaths. “We must move quickly.”

  “You saved us,” Wayd said softly. “Thank you.”

  Arthron nodded. Seeker Kalaia touched his elbow. “There are more dragons coming,” she said. “The path we came on is still clear. We’ll need to double back so we can reach the others at the castle.”

  “We must hurry,” Arthron repeated. “Gregor and the others have retreated to the castle, so the longer we wait, the more dragons and Draebek we’ll have to deal with.”

  “We’ll follow you,” Malithan said as Arthron beckoned for them to follow.

  They fell in line behind Arthron and moved past Jilthrin’s body. He could clearly hear the sounds of battle. He recognized where they were and knew they had about five blocks before they reached the castle. I wonder if we can make it that far!

  They left the streets they were on and followed Arthron through two small alleyways before joining with another road. Arthron kept them near the buildings and away from the middle of the streets to try to avoid being spotted from above, but it was nearly impossible due to the rubble and bodies that often blocked their path. It required constant switchbacks as they made their way down several streets. A few times they had to double back to find another way due to the roads being obstructed. Just make it to the castle, only a few blocks away.

  Suddenly Arthron stopped, raising a fist into the air.

  Everyone froze. Wayd’s mind raced with wild imaginations. Arthron would only tell them to stop if something dangerous was ahead. What is it? What do you see?

  Then he heard it. The sound of clanking armor and weapons rattling as troops moved. He swallowed hard. Please be our own men.

  Malithan began moving forward, but Arthron reiterated to stay still by raising his closed fist. Then Arthron carefully stepped forward to a pile of rubble to try to gain a better vantage point beyond. He barely peeked his head above the rubble before ducking abruptly. He turned back to them slowly and held up his free hand and flashed it five times followed by a single finger across his neck.

  Twenty-five men.

  No, twenty-five Draebek.

  They were walking into a patrol.

  Then Arthron’s face grew aghast and he pointed above.

  Wayd looked up and felt his heart stop. Gauden shouted in alarm.

  Directly above them, a giant black dragon descended from the clouds. But it wasn’t the dragon that made him want to run.

  It was the dozens of Draebek on its back.

  Ropes fell from the sides of the dragon and dwarves descended quickly, landing all around them. Shouts sounded from the other side of the rubble as the Draebek patrol rushed forward.

  “We’re surrounded,” Owen said grimly.

  The Draebek charged.

  6

  A Deadly Skirmish

  We tried to make Templar armor impenetrable by using draestl in a unique way. When refined, the process became almost as essential to our society as dralchemy itself. But despite our best efforts, we never succeeded making impenetrable armor. Why? Because we couldn’t discover how to protect draestl from itself.

  Gauden was the first to move. With both hands gripping his large crossbow, he fired bolts in rapid succession. The first bolt hit a Draebek that had landed right near him, puncturing his armor and tossing the Draebek to the ground. The second bolt connected with a Draebek in his neck, killing him instantly. Bolt after bolt fired and Draebek fell. In a matter of seconds, half a dozen Draebek lay on the ground, either dying or writhing in pain.

  It was enough of a distraction for everyone else to engage. Malithan rushed forward with his thin blade and struck with deadly precision. Draebek surrounded him, but he twisted and turned as if in an intricate dance, and Draebek fell with every strike.

  Templar Arthron and Seeker Kalaia fought together back to back. Seeker Kalaia’s dragonsbane-infused staff whirled and came to life, parrying thrusts, smashing limbs, and crushing any head it struck. Arthron attacked aggressively, darting in and around Kalaia, his draestl sword finding its target with every strike.

  Owen screamed with adrenaline and fought with his sword, vigorously striking back and forth. The Draebek were surprised by the crossbow bolts firing amongst them, but as they recovered, they turned their attention to Owen and two surrounded him. One kept his attention with axe thrusts while the other tried to flank him. Owen’s footwork was sound, and he rotated to keep them both at bay, but a third joined from behind.

  “Owen!” Wayd yelled. “Behind you!”

  Owen tried to turn, but the third Draebek brought up a war hammer and swung it hard. Owen was able to twist enough that the hammer glanced off his shoulder instead of slamming into his head.

  The sound of the hammer smashing into armor rang in the air and Owen crumpled to the ground. Owen looked shocked as pain coursed through his body. The remaining Draebek leapt onto him, their swords flashing.

  “No!” Wayd yelled as he charged. He raised his sword and struck at the closest Draebek. The Draebek turned just as Wayd’s sword sliced into his face.

  Owen tried to scramble to his feet, but then two more Draebek appeared near him. Wayd tried to cut his way through to Owen, but several more Draebek charged and Wayd had to step back before being surrounded. He yelled out to Owen, but Owen was knocked back to the ground and disappeared amongst the Draebek. Wayd fought as best he could, but there were too many of them.

  Two bolts suddenly slammed into the Draebek near Owen. The first bolt hit a Draebek in the face, and it screamed as it stumbled over and fell into two others, knocking all three to the ground. The other bolt hit a Draebek in the arm. The Draebek grunted, then turned his attention toward where the bolts came from, only to be hit from another bolt a moment later. The Draebek fell to the ground dead.

  Gauden stood there, his crossbow leveled and a look of hatred etched across his face. He fired again and again and Draebek fell.

  Wayd waited for another bolt to fire, but Gauden instead swung his crossbow over his back and in another motion unsheathed his staff. He wondered why Gauden switched weapons—the crossbow was so effective—until he saw that Gauden was out of bolts. A chill ran down Wayd’s spine. Gauden’s crossbow is what is keeping us alive!

  Gauden charged into the remaining Draebek surrounding Owen and brought his staff forward like a club. It smashed into the armor of the closest Draebek, knocking him to the ground. Gauden spun his staff in a figure eight and with its momentum brought the end of the staff into the Draebek’s face. There was a sickening crunch as it died. Then Gauden spun his staff the other direction, smashing upward into a Draebek’s chin and sending him spiraling away. Gauden stepped forward and spun his staff, the ends connecting viciously as the enemy was cleared before him.

  Gauden’s charge was enough to scatter the cluster of Draebek around Owen, and Wayd used the reprieve to rush to his friend. Owen had abandoned his sword and was instead in the fetal position, his arms covering his vitals. Wayd dropped to the ground and checked his friend.

  “Owen? Are you…” Wayd a
sked, fearing the worst.

  “I’m ok,” Owen answered as he turned to Wayd. His armor was battered and there were several welts on Owen’s exposed skin, but he otherwise appeared uninjured. He reached out a hand and Wayd helped him to his feet, and the process brought a gasp of pain. “Well, I take that back. I’m mostly ok. I think my ribs are bruised,” he said through painful breaths.

  Gauden downed an approaching Draebek and then turned to regard them both. “You alive?” he asked Owen with a smile.

  “Obviously. I’m standing here, aren’t I?” Owen smirked.

  “Good,” Gauden said as he scooped down to pick up Owen’s discarded sword. “Then make yourself useful,” Gauden said as he tossed the sword to Owen, then he rushed off to re-engage in the battle.

  Owen caught the sword and twirled it in his hand, grimacing from the pain. “Well.” Owen shrugged his shoulders, obviously trying to ignore the pain. Wayd gave a smile of encouragement and then together they turned toward the remaining Draebek. There were still dozens remaining.

  Then there was a shout, and they turned their attention toward the source.

  “Kalaia!” Arthron yelled.

  Wayd looked in their direction and saw Kalaia swept from her feet. She landed on the ground and two Draebek jumped after her, raising their weapons to strike. Wayd hoped that her armor would protect her the way Owen’s had, but then he remembered that she was wearing a Seeker’s cloth robes. He grimaced with the impending death.

  A bolt flew through the air, and Wayd turned to see Gauden ripping a bolt out of a dead Draebek before loading it and firing again. The first connected, and a Draebek screamed before stumbling backwards, but the second flew harmlessly to the side. Gauden cursed as he tried to rip out another bolt, but this one was firmly lodged in its victim. More Draebek converged on the fallen Seeker.

  Arthron was suddenly there, his sword swirling with death. One Draebek fell, then another. His scream of rage was primal. The Templar fought with ferocity, and Draebek after Draebek fell. He circled around Kalaia, who was wounded and winded on the ground, and killed anything that approached.