by Peter Last
Senndra grabbed Rita’s arm and dragged her away from the dorm and down the mountain. A dragon hit the mountain side in front of them and slid over a cliff. The friends left the path and plunged downhill by a more direct route. A roar sounded behind them, and Senndra glanced over her shoulder to see a black dragon bearing down on them. She broke into an all-out run, but only a few steps later, her foot hit a loose stone. She held onto Rita, trying to regain her balance, but only succeeded in dragging her friend down with her. The two girls bounced and slid down the slope into a thick stand of trees. Bushes and briars scratched them painfully while slowing them to stop. They lay still for several long seconds; finally Senndra crawled over to where Rita lay.
“I think he’s gone,” she said in a low voice. Rita nodded and started to get to her feet, but stopped suddenly. The ground above them shook with the weight of a large body landing on it, and the girls dropped into the underbrush again. Everything was still for several seconds, and the girls held their breaths, hoping that the dragon would not hear them. The ground started to shake again, making it obvious that the dragon was stalking down the slope and into the trees. Grunts, groans, and the snapping of trees and underbrush marked the progress of the dragon; it was heading straight toward Senndra and Rita. They slowly began to slither down the slope on their bellies, trying to make as little noise as possible, but it was no use. The dragon’s keen ears isolated the sounds and began to move more quickly. The companions rose to their feet and broke into a run. Branches scratched their faces, and the underbrush tripped them constantly, but they crashed forward at breakneck speed. Suddenly they burst from the trees and found themselves slipping on loose rock. Twenty feet in front of them, the slope turned into a cliff. The girls turned around and looked at the trees. The ground continued to shake, a grim testament of the beast that was approaching. The friends backed up until their heels were inches from the cliff, and they clung to each other as they waited. The tops of the trees rustled, and suddenly the dragon burst from them. He came to a halt when he saw the humans, clearly surprised to see them facing him; however, he soon regained his bravado and began to slowly stomp toward them.
As Senndra and Rita cowered in each other’s arms, they were able to discern shapes twisting into and out of the clouds that hung over the mountain. One of the shapes began to solidify, and it appeared as if it were approaching them. The girls’ hope began to rise, but the shape banked to the left and disappeared below the ridgeline. Once again, the approaching dragon was all that filled their sight. What could have almost been called a grin appeared on his face, and he let loose a ball of fire in their direction. They screamed and ducked, and the fireball flew over their heads. The dragon blew another fireball at them, and they screamed and ducked again. The dragon was less than ten feet away from the girls, and they tried to back up, but their feet found only empty space. Staggering forward to avoid falling from the cliff, they sprawled onto the ground in front of the dragon. The dragon shot his head forward and snapped his teeth at them. As he drew his neck back for another strike, they crawled backward. Senndra’s hand touched empty space, and she stopped crawling. There was no place to go.
The dragon shot his head forward, his gaping jaw ready to snap shut on its meal. Senndra saw the teeth and throat approaching. A gust of wind from behind blew her forward, and talons appeared out of nowhere, reaching inside the dragon’s mouth and ripping upwards. Blood flew from the gashes on his face, and he toppled backwards. Senndra and Rita scrambled to their feet and, following the cliff edge, skirted the dragon and clambered up the hill away from it. When they were a good distance from it, Senndra turned back and saw that it was still lying on the ground. Another dragon stood beside it, its jaws dripping with blood. Senndra recognized the dragon and slid down the hill toward it.
“Feddir!” she yelled as she hit his scales. She knew that she was going to have bruises from that move but didn’t care at the moment. She threw her arms as far around his neck as they would go and squeezed as hard as she could. Across their mental link, Feddir projected images of the mayhem and destruction that he had seen. Senndra projected an image of herself and Rita riding on him, and he lowered his belly to the ground in response. Senndra turned and saw that Rita was making her way down the slope toward them.
“Get on Feddir,” Senndra called. She climbed onto Feddir’s back. “He is going to take us up to the academy, so we can see what the situation is like.” Feddir reared slightly and projected a feeling of utter fear, but Senndra blocked it from her mind.
“I don’t care what’s up there or how many of them there are,” she said as Rita climbed up behind her. “We are part of the academy, so we are going to go see what the situation is like and whether we can help or not.”
Fear still clouded Feddir’s mental projection, but he sent a feeling of submission. He stood to his feet and with a thrust from his back legs leaped into the air and spread his wings. The massive leathery sails caught the wind, and he flapped them three times to gain altitude. He circled upward and angled toward the mountain, keeping plenty of distance between it and himself. Spots of flickering light were scattered across the landscape, and above them dragons circled in the air. No fighting was apparent, indicating that the vicious battle had been short-lived. Feddir approached the mountain cautiously but was not attacked by the dragons. He landed near the mess hall, one of the only buildings left standing. Senndra and Rita dismounted Feddir and joined the growing group of people in front of the building. They forced their way through the crowd looking for familiar faces, but finding none. No one appeared to be in charge, and to Senndra it looked like the crowd was on the verge of panic. The feeling was beginning to rise in her, causing her throat to constrict when suddenly those around her became silent. She turned around to see that an officer had gotten their attention.
“Don’t panic,” were the first words out of the man’s mouth. “The attack has been completely extinguished. Where it came from and why is still unknown; however, we are safe for the time being. Nevertheless, an evacuation is being commenced to move all of you to a safe location. Please step inside the mess hall so that we can count you and make arrangements for those that do not have dragons of their own.”
The cadets flooded into the mess hall, and Senndra and Rita followed them. They saw that only a fraction of the cadets were present, a testimony of the devastation of the attack. As they entered the hall, they stopped at a table and told their names to an officer who marked them off of a list. Then they moved into the hall and took a seat at one of the tables.
“What do you think is going on?” Rita asked. Her hands were moving nervously, and Senndra did her best to calm her.
“I don’t know, but everything is going to be all right,” she said. “We have the dragons protecting us and…”
“Sowpa!” Rita interrupted. “I haven’t heard from her since just before the attack.” She rose quickly to her feet and was about to bound out of the mess hall, but Senndra restrained her and forced her back into her seat.
“Don’t worry about her,” Senndra said. “I’ll have Feddir find her before we leave.”
“But what if she got killed in the attack?” Rita was bordering on hysterical, and she tried to rise again.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Senndra said as she kept Rita in her seat. “She is a dragon, you know. She can take care of herself. Now stop making a scene so I can tell Feddir to find her.”
Rita calmed down considerably, allowing Senndra to focus on the mental link between herself and her dragon. As she impressed the situation upon Feddir, Timothy sat down at the table. Quickly she sent Feddir in search of Sowpa and turned her attention to the young man before her.
“What news is there of the attack?” he asked.
“None as of yet,” Senndra answered. She glanced at Rita, who was scanning the room, and saw that her panic had apparently started to wear off. Senndra turned back to Timothy. “Your guess is as good as mine as to who staged the attack or wh
ere it came from. As to casualties…I shudder to think what they might be.”
“Great,” Timothy muttered under his breath. “Just great.” Out loud he said, “What happened in the battle? I was in my room when it started. Just barely made it out of the building before it was torched. I ran up here as fast as I could, but got sidetracked multiple times by enemy dragons. By the time I got here the battle was over.”
“I don’t have any details,” Senndra said. “The only thing that I know is that apparently we won.”
“Yes, we won the first round,” Lemin said. Senndra had not seen the instructor approach and was surprised at his interjection. She noticed that he was accompanied by Vladimir as he often was.
“What do you mean ‘the first round’?” Timothy asked
“He means that the attack isn’t over yet,” Vladimir answered. “The dragons that we defeated were only the front guard of the real attack force. Our scouts have brought news that another force, several times larger than the one that we have, is approaching even as we speak.”
“Which is why the evacuation is being called,” Lemin explained. “There is no way that we can hope to defeat them, so we are leaving.”
“Do you know where they came from?” Timothy asked.
“No one knows for sure,” Lemin answered, “however, my suspicion is that it is an attempt by Molkekk. I am, however, uncertain as to what he hopes to accomplish by it.”
“Eight months have passed since the last attack,” Timothy said thoughtfully. “Eight months is enough time for us to grow complacent, but not enough for us to rebuild our forces. What if this is just one part of a much larger plan? Maybe he is coordinating this attack with several others.”
“That is possible,” Vladimir said, “but where would he attack? There are only two places that an army can enter Magessa, and both of them are protected.”
“Protected, yes, but perhaps not by a large enough force,” Timothy countered. “From what I have heard, many of the soldiers which were stationed in Saddun have been assigned to different posts. The only way that we managed to hold that city in the first attack was by a considerable amount of luck. Actually the more logical attack for Molkekk would be through the pass that Belmoth protects. Heaven knows that that city is severely undermanned. Molkekk could attack either of those cities or both of them and would be assured of success.”
“In either case, Molkekk knows that our force of dragons could cause him grief, so he is removing them before they can do anything,” Lemin said. “That much is clear to me now.”
“But the academy doesn’t house all of the dragons in the country,” Vladimir argued.
“A large majority of them do live on or around this mountain,” Lemin said. “Added to that is the fact that dragon operations are usually based out of the academy. The destruction of this place will at least temporarily hinder the effectiveness of our dragons.”
“A temporary reduction in our dragons’ effectiveness is all that Molkekk needs to get a foothold inside the country,” Timothy said. “In any case, I think it is clear that this attack isn’t our main problem.”
“Correct, which means that we need to get messages to Belmoth and Saddun,” Lemin decided. “I think the evacuation is heading to Belmoth, so they will be warned. That means that someone still needs to go to Saddun.”
“Well that’s not me,” Timothy said. “I already ran that course once and don’t want to do it again.”
“What about your dragon?” Rita asked. Everyone turned to look at her, not because of the question, but because she did not normally interject into conversations.
“A dragon?” Timothy said. “No, not me. I don’t have one.”
“I suppose I could go,” Vladimir said to Lemin. It sounded as if he did not really relish the idea.
“No, I think I’ll do this myself,” Lemin answered. “I am of much higher rank than you, obviously, and as such will probably be received better. Plus I am an elf and so will be shown more respect.”
“How are you going to get there?” Senndra asked. “Are you going to borrow a dragon from someone?”
Lemin gave her a look of disbelief. “How about I just use my own?”
“You have a dragon?” Senndra blurted and immediately wished that she hadn’t.
“Do I have a dragon?” Lemin retorted. “What kind of question is that? How do you think you get to be a dragon rider without a dragon?”
“Well, Timothy doesn’t have one,” Senndra said, gesturing to her friend.
“That is another case entirely,” Timothy said with a wave of his hand.
“Why don’t you have a dragon?” Rita asked suddenly. “How are you going to be a dragon rider without one?”
“I’m not,” Timothy answered. “I never intended to be one. I didn’t come here to train to be a dragon rider, but a dragon slayer.”
“Oh,” Rita said in a small voice and fell silent.
“Anyway,” Lemin changed the subject, “it’s settled. I am going to Saddun to give them the news and perhaps bring some back.”
“You’d better hurry,” Vladimir remarked. “The enemy is beginning to circle to the east.”
Lemin left without another word, and Vladimir sat down at the table with his friends. Senndra was about to ask him a question when she felt a whisper at the back of her mind. Immediately she identified it as Feddir and listened to what he had to say.
“Feddir found Sowpa!” she said, interrupting Timothy. She ignored the clueless expressions from the boys and turned to Rita, who grabbed her in a hug. Senndra hugged her friend back, but their exuberance was cut short by an order for the evacuation to begin. Quickly the cadets scrambled to their feet and headed out of the mess hall. The two officers at the door were speaking with each cadet, making sure that all of them without a dragon large enough to ride would have a way off of the mountain.
“I don’t need a dragon,” Timothy said when it was his turn. “I’ll walk.” One of the officers was about to argue, but the other pulled him aside and whispered something in his ear. The first officer looked at Timothy with a strange expression and motioned for him to pass. Once outside the cadets quickly found their dragons and mounted them. The air was filled with dragons taking flight, and in ten short minutes, the academy was deserted.
******
Josiah raised the ax and hacked at the limb with all his might. The tool’s sharp blade sheered through the wood, and the branch fell to the ground. Josiah leaned on his ax and wiped the rain out of his eyes. Six other cadets were also chopping at the tree, and another half dozen were carrying the wood away. Already all of the branches had been stripped from the tree, and the axmen were starting to work on the trunk. Josiah wiped his face again then raised his ax for another strike. He froze at the top of his swing and let the tool fall to the ground beside him. A horn was sounding from the north wall; a horn that was reserved for one thing: trouble. Josiah sprinted for the nearest staircase. Taking the steps two at a time, he raced up them and onto the wall. The rain made movement along the wall perilous, and with his attention focused on his footing, he almost didn't see spots of light on the plain outside the city. They continued to appear out of the rain, and his mind flew back to an event little more than half a year ago when a dwarf army had approached the city in much the same manner. The only difference was that the dwarf army had been significantly smaller and had not possessed as much siege equipment. The current army was not unprepared in this aspect, and Josiah could count scores of catapults, not to mention ballistae, battering rams, and disassembled trebuchets. The army’s infantry and cavalry were also well-prepared; already the leading edges of ten legions could be seen, and as they advanced, more became visible behind them.
Josiah’s mind spun as he took in the massive army. For a few fleeting moments he wondered what the purpose of trying to hold the city would be. Surely the army before him would be able to crush the city without much trouble and then move onto the rest of the country. With a shake of his h
ead he dismissed the thought and ran for the stairs. When he reached the ground, he made a beeline for the mess hall and burst through the doors at full speed. The meal was in full swing and most of the cadets were there.
“Enemy army outside the wall to the north!” he bellowed, and the hall became deathly silent. “Everyone, get to the wall!” he shouted; when no one moved he added, “Move, move, move!”
The cadets suddenly burst into motion. Food was left uneaten on the tables, and no one stayed behind to clean it up. Shouting and the sound of boots thudding on the stone floor echoed through the room as the soldiers rushed out of the hall and into the night. Or maybe it wasn’t night; Josiah couldn’t tell. The dark clouds overhead blocked all light from reaching them. Within minutes the hall was empty, so Josiah hurried out and headed to the wall again. Cadets were already taking their places, some stringing their bows while others were preparing rocks and boiling oil to drop on the enemy. Engineers were manning the siege equipment mounted on and behind the wall. If nothing else, they would have more equipment to fight back with, Josiah thought grimly. Quickly he ascended the stairs and strode down the wall to a point a few hundred yards from the gatehouse. The problem with the city was that there were so few soldiers to protect a relatively long wall; nevertheless, he knew that the fiercest attack would come at the gate.
“Commander.” The statement came from behind Josiah, so he turned and saw that Cirro had arrived. Behind him two hundred cadets filed onto the wall and took their stations. All of them had bows and quickly readied them for use when they had reached their positions.
“Captain,” Josiah said and returned Cirro’s salute. “What of the other Captains?”
“They are on their way as we speak, sir,” Cirro answered.
“Good,” Josiah responded. Turning to the cadets that had arrived, he ordered Cirro, “Tell them to take it easy for right now. The enemy is still a good ways out and this dratted rain will decrease the sighting ability of their engineers. We shouldn’t be receiving any fire for some time.”