Dragons, Power, Courts, And War (Book 2)

by Vic Broquard

  As Zoran brought his group partially out of the Shadows above Alun Castle, everyone saw instantly that the baron was not exaggerating the magnitude of the assault on his stronghold. His fortress had a twenty-foot outer wall entirely surrounding the castle proper, the tall Archmage tower, and the many internal buildings. A large number of soldiers were manning the walls, vainly trying to shoot arrows into the circling dragons. The castle itself was two stories tall and made from imported granite stone. The tower was four stories tall but Archmage Byrnn Arwel was standing beside Baron Cadfeel on top of the castle, utilizing the protection of the rod that the baron held aloft. Two other mages were beside him as well as two other Duska relatives.

  Acrid smoke clouds rose around them, the blacks had soaked the area with their caustic acid and it was now eating into the stone roof. Zoran had most of his group alight on top of the Archmage’s tower. No sense landing in the acid and having your boots eaten away. A dozen black dragons were circling around the castle, along with a dozen reds, blues, and whites. With forty-eight in so close a formation, they were having trouble navigating and attacking. Circling further out and not yet in the fray were several dozen blacks along with another thirty dragons of various colors. Several dragon bodies lay crumpled on the ground, victims of Archmage Byrnn and the baron. Many dozen of the soldiers were also dead, their smoldering corpses littering the ground just inside the walls.

  The instant that they appeared out of the Shadows, the Archmages and Duskas fired off their first round of devastating spells, bringing down some twenty of the dragons. Surprise took its toll that first minute. Jarka and Bernard focused on conjuring water to wash the acid off of the castle roof while Zoran, Zdenka, and the others fired their deadly spells.

  “My rod is dead! We can’t take another dragon’s breath here, Zoran! What do we do?” yelled a terrified Baron Cadfeel.

  “Move in close to us!” he yelled back.

  The dragons quickly altered their sweeping attacks, now focusing heavily on the large group of Archmages on the roof of the taller tower. Within a minute, ten dragons had shot fire, acid, and freezing frost at the group, nullifying their rods completely. The next wave hit them with all manner of magical spells, and many of their protection spells were dispelled. Much to the annoyance of the Seventeen, half of them found their Morph spells canceled and were once more armless facing the onslaught of dragons. In spite of the chaos, another six dragons fell from the sky, victims of the Archmages’ deadly attacks.

  Archmage Danika suddenly found herself armless once more, but she managed a smile. Zdenka had been right. In a battle, you never know when the Morph spell might be dispelled. She dodged a blast of fire and managed to keep her balance in the process. With so many on the roof top, they had very little room to maneuver without interfering with their companions. Using a Magnify spell, Zoran ordered, “Make for the grounds inside the walls, spread out!” Mystical Doors flashed like firecrackers. Everyone stepped out onto the stone courtyard, spreading out in the process. Still, Zoran knew that if the dragons made another massive sweep with their breath weapons, many were going to get killed. He reached a decision. “Move inside the castle. Baron, get your men inside too before they are all slaughtered.”

  Dodging cones of searing flames, freezing cold, and acid streams, the group raced for the main doors. The baron’s soldiers didn’t need a second order to abandon their walls. They dashed across the bodies of their fallen comrades and tried to dodge the onslaught, making for the doors as well. Hundreds did not make it; their dying screams only adding to the surreal scene in the desert morning.

  “Throw up Force Walls over the doors and windows!” Zoran yelled and the many mages complied.

  “My god, you really are armless, Archmage!” Baron Cadfeel exclaimed as Danika moved to cast one over the window nearest her.

  “Morph got dispelled,” she replied hastily, glancing around for more windows to protect.

  “Well, that will keep us safe for a minute. Everyone: recast your protection spells. Let’s see what they do next,” Zoran ordered. “Anyone hurt?”

  That was a rather dumb question. Many had already been injured by the flames, acid, and frost. Jarka and Bernard raced around from person to person doling out her precious healing potions until she ran out. “That’s it on the healing droughts, so don’t anyone get injured anymore,” she yelled with her Magnify spell.

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Jarka whispered to Zoran. “We are like rats in a cage in here. What are they doing out there?”

  “Circling and bringing in a host of browns,” he called out. He wondered why the browns? Then he got his answer. The browns fired off volley after volley of their powerful electrical bolts at the stone walls and doors. The doors splintered on the first round, but the five Force Walls held and would have to be dispelled for the dragons to gain access.

  “Guess the strength of my castle walls is going to be sorely tested,” Baron Cadfeel muttered. “What can we do? Join the others below ground?”

  Just then, a section of the wall stone shattered. A large chunk flew out hitting Archmage Eliska, knocking her to the ground, smashing her left arm, and then settling down on her shattered arm. Screaming in pain, she panicked for a moment. Zdenka hastily cast a Force Wall, re-enforcing what remained of that wall and quickly four others added more walls as well. As Jarka raced to help Eliska, the Archmage began laughing. She canceled her Morph spell and awkwardly regained her feet.

  “How silly of me. Cancel my Morph and no more pain. Duh! I’m fine, Jarka. Thanks for the hand up. See, there is a benefit in being armless for real,” she jested.

  Her brief levity was quickly lost amid the sounds of dozens more electrical blasts against the stone. The browns were very effective at shattering stone, Zoran discovered, making a mental note of this tactic. Both he and Zdenka looked at each other and smiled. Simultaneously, they had the same thought. When their fortress was being constructed, they had painstakingly inserted Force Walls in between the layers of their fortress walls and the sides of their fortress proper. This tactic the dragons were employing now would be mostly nullified if they attack their Brn fortress in a similar manner.

  Bernard grumbled, “Well, against so many dragons, we have managed to last a whole three minutes without getting killed, just wounded. Now here we are stopped in our tracks and trapped like rats in a cage. Fine how-to-do.”

  “Dear, we wouldn’t have lasted even this long if the dragons had not chosen to split their forces among three targets. I wonder how the others are faring?” Jarka replied, growing more and more nervous. Their two sons were leading the two strike forces, helping defend the two newer castles of Anwyn. She didn’t dare Message them for fear of distracting them.

  “What are we going to do now? We can’t surrender. The dragons will just kill us,” asked Baron Cadfeel. He was growing more and more nervous with each electrical blast against the crumbling stone wall.

  “I had no time to contact the other barons to have them send help. Besides, there just isn’t enough room for all of us to effectively battle these beasts,” Zoran sighed. “If the walls come down, perhaps we should head to your underground city and make a stand there. If they knock enough walls down, it may well block the entrance to your subterranean city and actually protect everyone down there from the dragons.” He tried to make a positive statement for the baron’s sake.

  “Dad! The north wall is crumbling! More Force Walls everyone!” Baron Tomas yelled, calling everyone’s immediate attention to the gaping hole which had just formed. A gap some twenty feet wide gave everyone a clear view of the huge number of dragons poised just outside the castle wall. Dozens of Force Walls went up, ensuing that the dragons would need to cast many Disintegrate spells to bring them down. Mere Dispel Magic spells would not cancel them. However, time would. This temporary barrier would only last a few minutes. Hence, several Archmages cast their Make Permanent spells on a number of these, ensuring that they would have to be brought
down by Disintegrate spells.

  Baron Cadfeel’s eyes drifted away from the present. His two brothers were contacting him, relaying the disasters at Castle Beanwenn and Castle Ceri. “My god, the two new castles are in ruins, Zoran! Many lost their lives there including five from the two Strike Forces. They are all holding up in the subterranean city areas. They say that they are now safe. The entrances are buried beneath tons of fallen stone and the dragons seem to have left.”

  Jarka and Bernard frantically Messaged their sons, Evsen and Dusan. Upon hearing Cadfeel’s mention of the five dead, Zdenka glanced at the two. Worry lined her face. Momentarily, the big smiles on their faces told all. “They are alive!” Jarka exclaimed, tremendously relieved. “Evsen said that they didn’t have much of a chance to counterattack. There were just too many dragons. They did get five and six between the two strike groups, though, before they had to run for cover.”

  Just as Zoran was about to suggest that they all evacuate to a safer location as well, Danika called out, “Look outside! What is happening?” Howling winds whipped up the orange-brown desert sands. Visibility shrank to a mere few feet. Grains seeped into the castle sliding between the small cracks in the many Force Walls.

  “Sand Storm!” Baron Cadfeel yelled above the howling winds. “I’ve never seen one this fierce and come up this fast!”

  Megan spotted a flock of twenty browns flying in a formation and called it to Rhys’ attention. “I bet they are heading off to attack some other human village. Looks like they are ignoring your warning.”

  “True, they are not leaving like I asked. Well, let’s follow them and see if we can find a way to get to those browns. I can see that Donatello needs more convincing to leave. Come on, after them,” Rhys stated dryly.

  Before long, they came upon one of the human fortresses. Castle Alun with its huge oasis rose above the horizon. “My god! Look at all those dragons!” Megan exclaimed. “So many different colors too! Now what do we do?”

  “Megan, we can’t deal with that many. We wait and bide our time. Look, there are a few humans battling them,” Rhys pointed out the obvious.

  “Are the humans fighting our battle too?” Megan asked, slightly confused by this unexpected turn of events. Seldom had she been here where the humans made their stronghold.

  “Looks like it. Perhaps the dragons are attacking every life form on Anwyn,” Rhys theorized. “Say, a whole bunch more defenders appeared. Wow! They just killed a mass of the dragons. Incredible.”

  “My god, Rhys! Look! Dozens of flames, frost, and acid are spewing all over the newcomers! They will be dead for sure!” Megan exclaimed.

  “No, wait. They have moved their position. Come on. Stay invisible, and let’s get a closer look,” he suggested. “Our enemies, the browns, are not doing much at all.” They moved to a different vantage point, balancing precariously on one of the many merlons of the protection parapet around the now vacated Archmage tower’s roof that was soaked in acid and scorched from the many searing flames from the reds.

  “Look, they are being forced to retreat inside. My god, look at all the dead soldiers!” Megan exclaimed. “Why are the browns not attacking?”

  “Dunno. Look, now the reds, blacks, and whites are moving off. Maybe the battle is done,” Rhys suggested.

  “No, the browns are moving in. What are they going to do?” Megan replied. As they watched, the browns began systematically unleashing their massive electrical bolts into the stone wall of the castle proper. Soon, both watchers realized what the browns were doing — destroying the very protective stone of the castle, exposing the helpless humans inside.

  “Darn, Megan, there is no sand in there, only the stone floor within the walls. If there was only sand, we could get ourselves some browns,” Rhys pointed out.

  “We have a golden opportunity, Rhys, to get us a bunch of browns. Let’s bring on a sand storm and pile sand in there!” Megan suggested, growing excited about the possibility of finding a way to directly attack the evil browns that had killed their four children.

  Both stood up, raised their arms towards the clear deep blue sky and began chanting in unison. After a couple of minutes, they ceased and waited. A huge whirlwind formed around the entire area, whipping up the desert sands. “Now, down into the sands we go, Megan.” The two opened a Mystical door and stepped out onto the sands beyond the fortress proper. There they cast their Sand Spike spells. Two small waves seemed to float on across the sands and into the fortress grounds, where already a foot of sand had been deposited.

  Overhead, the non-brown dragons decided to abandon the attack. This freakish dust storm made flying nearly impossible. One by one, the dragons flew off into the Shadows, leaving the browns still on the ground, trying to smash their way inside the castle proper. As Zoran and the others watched, a brown attempted to push his way in through the Force Walls. It took all of them working together to counter the massive force of the dragon’s push. Just as they were beginning to weaken, an enormous spike of sand shot up from the ground, puncturing the brown’s belly and shooting four feet above its back. Over the howling of the storm, the final bellow of intense pain shook the very foundations of the castle.

  Another bellow followed shortly after that and then another. While they could not see the second one, they did glimpse the sand spike suddenly slaying the third one. Upon hearing these hideous cries from their fellow dragons, several reds and blacks, who were preparing to Shadow Walk to safety, stopped and fired off several cones of searing flames and acid in the general direction of the cries. While they could not see anything there in the sand storm, they hoped to perhaps hit whoever was harming their brown companions.

  As the group watched, they saw the sand spikes being hit with the flames and acid. Part of the tip of one sand spike fused together, while acrid smoke came from the second spike as the acid seeped into the sand. Almost as suddenly as the sand spikes appeared, they vanished, leaving sand grains falling and whipped away by the winds. Then, another two hideous moans suggested the sand spikes had reappeared a little further away, but Zoran and crowd could not see them through the swirling sand. The browns promptly left as fast as they could.

  As suddenly as the howling winds had arisen, the winds stopped. Silence was total and most pronounced to those inside. As they looked out, visibility suddenly returned. They saw the bodies of five dead brown dragons scattered before the breech in the castle walls. Just beyond that point, they saw two strange humans suddenly appearing, rising up out of the sands.

  “Come on, outside everyone,” Zoran called out. “They seem to be injured.” Dozens of Mystical Doors opened and the large group stepped out on the massive mounds of sand that the sudden storm had deposited within the fortress and particularly up against the breech in the wall.

  “Rhys! I’m hurt! My arms are burned! I can hardly bend them!” Megan cried, her voice a mixture of pain and fear.

  “Me too, my chest is burning from that acid stuff! Oh no, the humans are coming out. I don’t think I can focus enough to cast any spells,” Rhys replied, fighting back tears of pain from his still smoldering chest.

  “Hello. Are you injured? Perhaps we can help you,” Baron Zoran spoke first.

  “Darn, I wish I hadn’t used all our healing potions,” Jarka exclaimed, rather annoyed that she didn’t have any left. It would have been nice if she could have come to their aid.

  Bernard chuckled. He pulled two vials from his chest pockets. “Here you go. I sort of saved two back just in case you got hurt. I wanted to make darn sure that I didn’t lose you, my lovely mage.”

  Jarka hugged him. “Brilliant dear! Thanks.” She took the potions and walked closer to the two very strange looking humans, if human they were. “I have a healing potion for each of you. It should help get the healing process going and take the pain away at least.” She handed each of the two a vial, noticing how tall they were. Both towered over her. Megan was six-five. Jarka guessed that this strange woman was perhaps ten years younger t
han she, but her complexion was quite fair, pale white, though her arms were blistering from second degree burns. Her ponytail of long yellow tresses of her thick, curly hair fell to the backs of her knees. Even though in great pain, Jarka saw her green eyes were full of life. Still, the woman was quite thin and frail.

  “I can’t move my arms,” Megan grimaced as Jarka offered her the potion.

  “Here, I’ll help you drink it,” she replied, carefully pouring it into the tall woman’s mouth, before handing the second one to the even taller man. Rhys was even taller, at six-eight with long, thick black hair and eyes. His skin was also pale, but held a slight tinge of yellow in it. His physique was also quite thin, exacerbated by his extreme height. He readily accepted her potion but watched Megan carefully.

  “Oh, it is working already! I can move my arms at last. Look, Rhys, the blisters are going down a little,” Megan exclaimed, rather surprised at the efficiency of her potion.

  Rhys then spoke, “Thank you for the healing potions, mage. We are nearly immune to the brown’s electrical discharge when we are merged with the sands, but the searing flames and acid very nearly killed us. We’ve never encountered red and black dragons before, only the wicked browns who murdered our four children a few days ago. I am Rhys Seren of Fair Wyn and my wife, Megan.”

  “I’m Mage Jarka Dragan. My husband Mage Bernard. Baron Archmage Zoran Vladislov and Baroness Archmage Zdenka. I’ll let him do the talking.” She deftly passed the ball of introductions to him.

  “Well met. Were you two responsible for the timely sand storm and the deaths of these five browns?” Zoran asked.

  “Well, yes, we needed sand in order to cast our Sand Spike spells. We discovered that regular spells sometimes do not work on the dragons, but our spike thrusts are totally effective. We’ve killed over a dozen so far. I gave Donatello, the brown leader, one day to leave Anwyn forever. He obviously didn’t and now we are going to kill every last brown on Anwyn until they do leave us in peace. We owe that much to our four children,” Rhys explained.