If the captain was giving any orders, his words were drowned out by the thunderous roar of the avalanche as it thundered into their ranks at the rear of the column, sweeping them away effortlessly and burying the wagons with their siege weapons. Pacian’s, words were lost in the cacophony as he realised Nellise and Sayana were in amongst the archers who were struck. He looked on in surprise as a moment later, the sorceress, holding tightly onto Nellise, shot upwards through the snow and rock to clear the rubble that crashed into the rest of the army.
The avalanche, pushed onward by ever more snow from behind, poured over the edge of the cliff, stifling the screams of those who had survived the initial impact, as they were thrown to their doom on the rocks far below. Azurefang glided into the fog once more, leaving the remnants of the army to pick up the pieces before her inevitable return.
“To me!” Captain MacTavish roared as the avalanche began to subside, calling those that still stood to his side. Slowly, the stunned force began to respond, while Pacian watched as Sayana and Nellise drifted gently back to earth.
“We must bring it to the ground or we will have no chance to strike back!” Valennia yelled to the Captain.
“The archers were supposed to do that, and they’re all but gone!” MacTavish shot back. “We need to fall back and regroup.”
“The road is blocked, Captain,” Nellise pointed out, dusting the snow and rock from her robe. Around her, two dozen dwarven soldiers gathered, clutching at their weapons with fear in their eyes. Of the remaining force, only half a dozen carried crossbows, and the chances of them forcing the dragon to the ground were slim. More than that, without the rest of the army to attack her, bringing Azurefang down to ground level would only make it easier for her to eat them.
“I can get her attention,” Sayana declared quietly, pulling out her shining vythiric axe. She ran its edge between her thumb and index finger, leaving a trail of frosted ice along the head of the axe.
“What exactly are you planning to do?” Nellise asked quietly as the captain gave out orders to the rest of his soldiers. In the distance, the sound of the dragon’s beating wings grew louder once more.
“I’m going to hit her really hard with my axe, and then dive for cover,” Sayana confided.
“I like this plan,” Pacian said with mock enthusiasm. “I think I’ll just skip the first bit and dive for cover if it’s all the same to you.”
I have something to confess, came the dragon’s voice into their minds once more, silencing everyone present. I’m not really a spirit of air and earth and I never dance. It was a lie. I hope you can forgive me for being untruthful, but be quick about it as I’m going to kill you very soon.
“She’s stark raving mad,” Pacian muttered in disbelief as the grey silhouette of the mighty creature came into view overhead. Without hesitation, Sayana leapt straight upwards into the sky, using her levitation powers to soar at least fifty feet in the air, whereupon she drew back her arms and threw the shining axe straight at the immense bulk of the dragon as it glided past.
The axe glinted in the sunlight as it flew straight and true, whirling through the air to strike the side of the monster. The roar that came forth from her gaping maw echoed across the mountains, and with a sweep of her mighty wings she suddenly altered her course.
Sayana reached out one hand and the axe extracted itself from the side of the dragon, Flying back into her waiting grasp to be thrown once more, this time at the tail.
The axe flew high this time, and Sayana was quick to draw it back to her before it disappeared into the mists. Azurefang pivoted in the air and with one beat of her immense wings, came straight at Sayana. As soon as the axe was back in her hand, the sorceress started to fall through the air, plunging down with the dragon altering course in pursuit. As she emerged from the mists above, Pacian managed to get the first proper look at Azurefang in all her terrifying glory.
Her scaly hide was blue in colour, the rich blue of the sky. Immense teeth three feet long lined her gaping mouth, and the dragon’s head was easily twenty feet in length. A long, serpentine neck snaked down to the bulk of her body, which was far more lithe and agile than Pacian had assumed. But even with all of this, the thing that most caught his attention was her eyes, which blazed with unimaginable fury and seemed to pierce his soul with their intensity, promising terrible and certain death.
The sight of the diving dragon was too much for Pacian who, along with a large number of the dwarven soldiers, broke ranks and ran. Only Captain MacTavish held his ground, bellowing order to his army to hold the line. Pacian caught a glimpse of Sayana plunging into the mounds of snow from the avalanche, just as the dragon snapped its jaws shut. It missed the cunning sorceress, but had been so intent on catching her that it ploughed into the uneven earth of the avalanche and tumbled to a stop.
The dragon thrashed about as she sought to regain her footing, having sunk too deep into the snowdrift to flap her wings. The dwarves that had bolted at the sight of her plunging through the skies skidded to a halt at the sight of the momentarily helpless creature. Valennia, still standing her ground, hesitated for a moment longer before making her intentions known.
“Charge!” she cried as she bolted in, her weapon poised to strike. The dwarven soldiers — including their captain — followed her in with their guttural war cries echoing across the mountains. Azurefang hadn’t fully extricated herself from the snow when the warriors fell upon her, chopping and stabbing at her scaled hide with a vengeance. She was far from defenceless, however.
The dragon swatted aside two soldiers with one of her rear claws, and snatched up another hapless soldier in her jaws, crushing him to death in an instant. Her fangs dripping with blood, she shrugged off their attacks and used her wings to bat the dwarves aside with ease, leaving an ever-increasing pile of broken bodies strewn over the battlefield.
Valennia tried to cut through the thick hide with her scythe, but found her weapon was turned away more than once. Her fury rising, the akoran warrior spun the weapon around and leaped into the air, bringing the point down upon the dragon’s winged claw and plunging straight through it, into the earth. Azurefang bellowed, almost deafening Pacian who stood transfixed by the battle taking place twenty yards away.
Her triumph was short-lived, as Valennia was bashed with the dragon’s other claw, sending her sprawling across the ground and into a pile of snow. The dragon’s eyes glowed with insane rage, her wrath was terrible to behold as she bit and clawed at the rapidly diminishing force before her.
During this time, Captain MacTavish had been assembling his remaining archers, including Nellise, who finally brought their crossbows to bear. At this range, the weapons were more than capable of piercing the dragon’s armoured hide. The captain roared for his men to continue pressing their advantage, for if she took to the skies once more, they were surely doomed.
“Nel, look out!” Pacian cried as he saw the dragon start to draw in a chest full of air. He bolted for Nellise, leaping at her just as blue flames burst forth from the dragon’s maw. Pacian crashed into the ground with Nellise, his back on fire as they barely managed to avoid the worst of the flames. He immediately began rolling around on the snow to douse his clothing.
Captain MacTavish and his archers did not fare so well however, and only the charred remains of their bones were visible, lying upon bare rock glowing red from the intense heat and billowing clouds of steam. Azurefang pulled herself out of the snow and flapped her wings, charging off the edge of the cliff and returning to the skies once more.
Pacian raised himself off the ground and took in the scene of devastation before them. Of the warriors who had charged in with Valennia, only half a dozen still stood. Everyone else was either dead or grievously wounded, and there was no way they were going to be able to finish off the dragon in this condition.
“We need to get everyone out of here if we want to continue drawing breath,” Pacian surmised, speaking to Nellise. “That bitch is going to swing back
here in a minute or two and bathe us all in fire.”
“No argument here,” Nellise replied. “Thanks for saving me, by the way.”
“Thank me later,” Pacian growled. “Help out the survivors while I find a way out.” Nellise nodded and hurried over to check on the wounded, while Pacian turned his attention to the immense snowdrift that blocked the highway. The quickest way through would be to melt it, but it was unlikely that Azurefang would be willing to oblige any requests. They did, however, have someone at their disposal that could handle the task.
“Sy! Are you still alive?” Pacian yelled at the snowdrift, in the direction he last saw her as the sorceress plummeted into the ground.
“I’m okay,” came the muffled reply from nearby. Pacian moved in closer, unsure of her exact location until steam started rising from the snowdrift. Apparently, he hadn’t been the only one to think of this idea.
“Clear a path for us through this snow,” he yelled. “We’re getting out of here.”
“Don’t bother with the rest of us,” came a faint, broken voice from near Pacian’s feet. “Get yerselves out of here afore she comes back.” Clearing aside some of the snow and detritus, Pacian saw a dwarven sergeant lying on the ground, clearly in pain.
“Hold tight, sarge,” Pacian assured him, “we’re getting everyone out of here, okay? What did the captain call you earlier? MacIntosh?” He was surprised a moment later when a rough hand reached up and grasped his arm tightly.
“That’s Sergeant MacIntosh to you,” he grated, “and don’t be daft — ye’ll all die if ya don’t get out of here right now.”
“You’re lucky I don’t take orders from you,” Pacian muttered, pulling the dwarf’s hand off his arm. From nearby, the light of Nellise’s crystal washed over them, and Pacian guessed it should be enough to get the sergeant back on his feet. Torrents of steam billowed from the snowdrift as Sayana burned her way through, but it was a slow process — they were going to need more time.
“When that path is open, grab as many of your people as you can and get out of here,” Pacian quickly instructed the sergeant. “I’m going to keep her busy for a few minutes.” The look of incredulity on MacIntosh’s face reflected his own disbelief as those words came out of his mouth, but he knew they didn’t have any choice. The sound of the dragon’s wings was growing louder with each passing moment, and he was the only one who didn’t have something better to do.
“Nel, get them out of here as soon as the path opens up,” Pacian called to her as he strode over towards the ground to her crossbow. “I’m going to borrow this for a minute.” It had been a few years since he’d bothered to use a crossbow, as it was very hard to hide something that big under his coat. In this case, his throwing knives wouldn’t be much good against the hide of a dragon, so he levelled the repeater at the sky and swallowed loudly, trying to stop his hands from shaking.
Pacian slowly moved away from the rest of the group while keeping his sight aimed along the length of the crossbow. Although he hadn’t thought of a plan, an opportunity usually presented itself at some point. The sound of wings beating through the air became louder and louder, and his heart leaped into his throat as soon as he spied the silhouette of the dragon bearing down on them.
Despite his lack of recent experience, Pacian was confident he could hit something as large as a dragon, provided it came close enough. His instinct to run was growing with each passing second, and as the dragon emerged from the fog in all its terrifying beauty, it was all Pacian could do to keep standing.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw Nellise guiding the wounded towards a large gap that was opening in the snow, and hesitated. There was something about her presence that was both reassuring and inspiring, and for once, Pacian stood his ground and met the oncoming horror with an uncommon calm.
Azurefang was heading straight for the survivors of her previous attack, and almost seemed to be ignoring Pacian altogether. Aiming just ahead of the dragon’s path, Pacian pulled the trigger and felt the thrum of the weapon as it sent an enchanted bolt careening through the air towards its target. His aim was true, and the air rippled from the sonic blast upon its flank which had the desired effect of distracting the monster.
Pulling back on the lever, Pacian dropped another bolt into place and let fly, striking the dragon on its sleek underbelly, this time drawing a dull roar from the beast as she pivoted in the air and headed directly for him. The immense creature filled his vision as it descended upon him, wings pulled back into a dive.
With its head squarely in his sights, Pacian dropped another bolt into place — with one swift shot, he could strike her in the head and kill the damn thing. But when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened and he groaned silently as he realised the cartridge was empty.
A sudden burst of flame erupted in front of him and Pacian instinctively dove to one side, as the blue flames scorched the earth and melted snow where he had been standing a moment before. He felt a rush of air as the dragon soared past, far too close for comfort, and slung the useless crossbow around his back.
You scatter to the winds like so many mice… in the wind, Azurefang said in his mind. Mice don’t have wings, so why do they think they can fly?
“That doesn’t even make sense!” Pacian yelled back at the insane dragon as she slowly turned around for another pass. “You’re completely mad, and I bet you couldn’t even kill me if you tried, you stupid bitch!”
You are very loud, mouse, and insulting. But I accept your challenge, the dragon replied casually.
Pacian glanced over to the others and saw that Nellise was helping a badly wounded Valennia limp through the narrow passageway Sayana had created, followed by a dozen dwarves carrying their wounded comrades.
The dragon landed on the ground, creating a small hurricane as her giant wings buffeted the snow. With her wings folded, her head snaked forward and those immense teeth came at Pacian with terrifying speed. He had anticipated this and was already in motion, tumbling away from danger in a fast cartwheel as the gaping, fang-toothed mouth snapped after him.
As soon as he was on his feet once more, Pacian sprinted forward, moving in under the reach of her head and dodging to one side as the expected claw attack came at him from the left.
Pacian didn’t stop for a second or allow himself to think — he was operating on pure instinct. As he dashed past, he noticed several crossbow bolts protruding from her underbelly. He reached over and wrenched one of them around, drawing a bellowing roar from Azurefang as the bolt opened up her wound even further. A feeling of rage settled in as Pacian scrambled around, a familiar and welcome sensation that honed his senses and pushed him to his limits.
As the dragon tried to manoeuvre around to attack him, Pacian used her bulk as cover as he laboured for each breath. He had always been a sprinter and didn’t have the endurance to keep running over long distances, a fact that Aiden had always been more than happy to exploit. He did have a secret weapon however — the magical ring he wore.
Recalling exactly how Aiden had spoken it, he said the command word and held out his palm, as if pushing something over. The dragon was slugged in the underbelly hard enough to force the wind from her lungs.
From all of her combined wounds, Azurefang was definitely bleeding out, but he had a feeling she would still outlast him. His efforts kept her interested, however, and after a quick glance over at the surrounding area, he could see that the rest of his allies had escaped. He stood alone.
Satisfied that he’d done what he could, he resigned himself to eventual death at the blood-covered claws of the dragon. Winded and unable to run any more, Pacian stood there as the dragon positioned herself for the final strike. Before she could even snap her jaw at him, Pacian was unexpectedly knocked off his feet. Small, gloved hands picked him up and looking around, he saw a familiar mop of wild red hair. A moment later, Sayana leapt forward and shot through the air.
Pacian held on to her for dear life as they soared twenty feet ov
er the land, with the dragon looking on in bemusement.
I was wrong… mice can fly, Azurefang lamented as they shot through the air to safety, leaving the wounded dragon to lick her wounds in the icy wilderness.
Chapter Six
Aiden fell through the air for a few yards before slamming into a hard floor, with the others enduring a similar impact. The flash of light subsided, yet it still took a long moment for Aiden’s eyes to adjust to the dim conditions. What he saw did not fill him with confidence.
Gone was the cluttered laboratory of Alain Dufort, with its shelves, desks and chairs. Aiden and his companions were in the middle of a large, empty room that tilted at a slight angle. The walls were rife with corrosion and decay, though underneath the dirt he detected a slight metallic sheen. A mournful wind blew past his ears, carrying with it the stench of earth and humidity one would typically find deep underground.
“Where in the name of Kylaris are we?” Sir William breathed, his voice reverberating slightly off the metal walls.
“We’re not in Alain’s house anymore, that much is certain,” Maggie replied cautiously, standing up and dusting off her legs. “Aiden, what have you done?”
“I was reading that passage in the book,” he explained. “I must have been mouthing the words aloud without knowing it.”
“Oh, that’s great,” Ronan chided him. “A mysterious book with arcane writings in it, and you go and read it without even a hint of caution.”
“Easy now, I’m sure it was an accident,” Sir William said, getting back on his feet. “I think it’s safe to assume Alain was reading that book when he vanished. He might be around here somewhere.” The magic appeared to have transported them to a random location, which Aiden found odd to say the least.
“What’s that you’re standing on?” Maggie pointed out. Aiden glanced down to see something inscribed upon the floor. Stepping aside, he could see it was an arcane rune carved into the metal floor, nearly five feet across.
Soldiers of Ruin Page 10