Dragon Blade

by J. D. Hallowell

  Delno was about to let them mull that over when he noticed that one of the younger officers appeared to be ill. He pointed at the man and said, “I see that the sickness you had hoped was your ally has become your enemy. As I said, our Elven healer has it under control in the city. If it has become a waiting game, it looks like we shall see who outlasts whom.”

  The Bournese general said nothing; he simply spat on the ground at Delno’s feet and then he and his entourage left the meeting. Delno noticed that the younger officers looked as though they disapproved of their commander.

  The rest of the day passed without incident; however, there was a great deal of activity in the Bournese camp far into the night. The next morning, the Bournese army had lined up, and they advanced to just out of bow range as a messenger came forward under a white flag. The messenger, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen, was allowed to approach the wall to deliver his message.

  “General Thomas Andrewson has assembled his troops and wishes to engage the Army of Corice,” the young man said nervously. “He bids those soldiers in the city of Larimar who have an ounce of courage to assemble and take part as willing participants. Those who do so and live will be treated as honorable prisoners of war,” the man stopped and swallowed, clearly reluctant to continue with the rest.

  “Out with the rest of it, lad; we are honorable men. We allowed you to get this close under a white flag; no one will shoot you for delivering your message,” General Dreighton yelled from the wall.

  The man relaxed a bit at the assurance and continued. “Those who, that is, the general has said, that those who insist on hiding behind their stone walls instead of engaging our troops honorably will be shown no mercy at all. Any who survive will live out the remainder of their days as hobbled slaves in the quarries of Bourne.” The man visibly flinched as if expecting an arrow to pierce him at any second.

  “Is that all of it, then?” Dreighton asked.

  The young man was a bit surprised to find himself still alive. He smiled apologetically and said, “No, sir, there’s one last bit.” He drew a breath and said, “Our general has also said that if the People of Larimar would surrender now, they will be treated fairly. He has also offered that any man who wishes to defect to the Bournese Army will be awarded the rank of senior private now and given ten acres of land, either here or in Bourne, when the hostilities are ended.” Then he again smiled an apology and said, “That’s the last of it, sir.”

  General Dreighton thought for a moment and then said, “Well, do you want to take my reply back, or do you want us to lower you a rope so that you can surrender and get away from that madman? You’ll be treated fairly here.”

  “To be honest, sir, I’d like nothing better than to surrender, but the general has my younger brother working as an orderly, and I’m afraid that he will do him an injury if I don’t return.”

  All of the soldiers of Corice manning the walls chuckled at the statement. They weren’t unsympathetic to the young man’s plight; they were simply amused that the state of morale had deteriorated so rapidly in the Bournese ranks.

  “Then tell your general this,” General Dreighton replied, “we will consider his offer. If the king and the governing council decide to surrender, we will give him an answer by mid-day. I would rather tell you to tell the man to go and soak his fat head in a bucket of water, but letting him think we are considering his terms might save you and your brother some pain.”

  The men on the wall laughed outright at their general’s statement. The young messenger bowed and said, “Thank you, sir. I had a feeling you wouldn’t accept the general’s terms. Thank you for not sending me back with news that might cause me trouble.”

  The man bowed again and Dreighton said, “Very well, man, off with you now. We don’t want your general to think you’re getting chummy with us.”

  The young man turned and trotted back toward his own lines. Within a quarter hour, the same youth again approached under a white flag. Again he was allowed to get near the wall.

  “The general says that mid-day is much too long to wait, sir.” The man spoke directly to General Dreighton as if reporting to his own commanding officer. “He says he will have an answer now or the troops will attack.”

  “Is that all of it?”

  “From General Andrewson, yes, sir,” the young man replied. “I have one more thing to say though, sir.”

  They stood for a moment and then Dreighton said, “Well, what is it, son?”

  “Well, sir, my brother seems to have run off into the hills while the general wasn’t looking, so if that offer to surrender is still open, I’d rather not go back to lines,” the young man said a bit sheepishly.

  General Dreighton smiled and called for a rope to be lowered. As the young man voluntarily grabbed the rope and was hauled up, there was movement along the ranks of the Bournese soldiers. Several men ran forward with bows trying to get within range to shoot their own messenger. The first man to kneel and try to draw a bow suddenly dropped the arrow he was trying to nock and grabbed at the one that had abruptly buried itself nearly up to the fletching just beneath the hollow of his neck.

  Everyone who wasn’t actively involved in hauling the teenager up looked to see who had shot the Bournese archer from that distance. There was Delno, standing tall, drawing back the string of his powerful bow and taking aim at another of the enemy archers. He let fly and another man fell when the shaft penetrated his chest through his boiled leather armor. By that point, the youth had been hauled up and was safely out of sight of the archers on the ground. The Bournese retreated to their ranks and Delno just stood where he was, in full view of the enemy soldiers, watching, his bow in his left hand now down by his side, and a light breeze making his cloak flair out slightly behind him.

  General Dreighton pointed to two soldiers and said, “You two, take our young prisoner and see that he is put someplace safe and comfortable. He has surrendered honorably and voluntarily; see to it that he is well treated.” To the young man he said, “I’m sorry that you will have to be kept under lock and key, but you won’t be harmed or interrogated. As far as you are concerned, this war is over. If we can find your younger sibling and bring him to you, we will.”

  The young man repeatedly thanked the general and everyone else on the wall as he was led away.

  “Delno, there is activity, “Geneva said. “It looks as though someone is moving among the men on the lines and preparing them to charge. I can’t be completely sure, but it looks like they are carrying some ladders.”

  “Very well, Love, join me here.” Out loud, he yelled, “Prepare to repel ladders.”

  The men of Bourne shrank back a bit as they saw Geneva rise from one section of the wall and move to get her Partner. Apparently, they had been kept so busy they had forgotten about the dragons. Rita and Fahwn took to the air as Delno and Geneva did; they were soon joined by Adamus and Beth.

  Delno could see the senior sergeants and officers moving among the men trying to motivate them to attack the walls. Some were using whips and cudgels on the men who were reluctant to move faster. Delno watched as one man who was pointing at the dragons was stabbed in the back by an officer. Delno poured his rage at the officer into the energy he sent toward the man. Within a second, the officer was hit so hard by an invisible bolt of energy that he was literally broken into pieces. Everyone around that officer simply stood staring at the remains in stunned silence.

  The initial confusion passed quickly, and a large group of Bournese charged at the walls carrying ladders. Delno had Rita and Adamus strafe the front of the line while he went for the men in the back ranks; instructing Geneva to especially target anyone carrying a whip or cudgel rather than a sword. The carnage in the front of the charge was terrible: dozens of men were incinerated outright, and dozens more were horribly wounded. The officers and the non-coms in the back had literally whipped the men into such a frenzy that many in the middle who tried to stop to avoid being burned were trampled instead
. Then, when the men realized that certain death awaited them forward and they turned to retreat, they ran straight into Geneva’s flame, and what had happened to the front ranks now became the fate of the rear.

  Geneva was good, even without practice. She effectively targeted nearly all of the leaders of the charge. When it was over, what had started out as two hundred and fifty armed men valiantly charging the walls was now half that number desperately trying to get away from the conflagration that threatened to consume them all.

  Delno called a halt and had the dragons soar up out of bow range and circle the enemy lines. He hoped that the demonstration would be enough, but apparently the Bournese needed more convincing, because another large group, at least four hundred strong, broke from the ranks and charged. This time, Delno told all the Riders to make sure to use shields, because he expected that the enemy would be ready and use arrows on them. Then he told Adamus and Rita to again target the front of the line; especially trying for the ladders, while he again targeted the leaders who were literally driving the men forward like cattle.

  The result was even more devastating than the first strafing run had been because this time the men had clustered more in groups around the ladders. Again those in the lead were either killed by fire or trampled when they tried to turn to avoid it. Again the leaders and those around them died by Geneva’s breath. Delno tried desperately not to listen to the screams of the dying men. He wished he could block out the stench of burning flesh.

  He had been right about the enemy trying to hit them with arrows. His shield had held and Rita and Fahwn were unharmed, but Adamus had taken an arrow through his right calf. Beth was unharmed because of her scales. Adamus was more angry than seriously hurt. He was busily berating himself for not getting his shield up in time.

  He watched carefully as they circled, the enemy didn’t appear to be trying to ready another charge. Delno did notice one officer beating a soldier who had left the line. The man fell and the officer continued to whip the man. Delno, almost absently, killed the officer with magic. The men standing near the dead officer picked up the soldier he had been beating and carried him off the field toward the rear. Delno hoped they were carrying the man to an aid station and not to further punishment.

  The men on the ground remained huddled together with weapons drawn as if they were grimly determined to deal with their fate for opposing the dragons. They waited for the Riders to swoop down and continue the attack. After the dragons had been circling for half an hour, the men started to retreat to their camp. At first it was just a few men, like a trickle of water through a hole in a dam, but the trickle soon became a torrent as more and more men hurried away from the carnage they had already witnessed. The Bournese had started the day with about two thousand troops; they would end the day with nearly one quarter of those troops dead or severely injured with nothing else to show for their commanding general’s foolishness.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent manning the walls. At nightfall, a group of nearly two hundred Bournese troops approached under a white flag. They bore no weapons and merely asked to be allowed to surrender. They sought only those terms the Army of Corice saw fit to offer. The gates were opened under the watchful eyes of the dragons and the men were allowed inside. About half of them were sick with the plague that Nat had already brought under control in the city. All of the prisoners were seen and treated by the physicians and then given food and water. They had to be housed in the stockyards since Larimar had no other facilities for them, but they were put in clean holding facilities and treated well. The young messenger’s brother was among them. He was sick and being treated, and the two were reunited.

  The next morning a group of men approached from the enemy camp. They carried a large white flag and bore no weapons. They were leading General Andrewson and his senior staff, who were all bound. They were allowed to walk up close enough to be heard.

  One officer spoke for the group, “We have brought this madman and his loyal officers to offer up as prisoners. We no longer follow them and have no desire to continue these hostilities. We who remain wish to surrender to the Army of Corice. We do ask, when you dictate terms, that you remember that the man who made the earlier threats and ordered those men to commit suicide trying to rush your defenses was brought to you by us. We ask for your mercy, but we make no demands.”

  “I, General Dreighton, accept your surrender. Go back to your camp and have your men gather their weapons and stack them there where you stand. When your army is disarmed, we will discuss the rest of the surrender.” He turned to his officers and said loudly enough so the men standing beneath the walls could hear, “Open the gates long enough to get the prisoners inside, and then give orders that the men bringing the surrendered weapons are not to be attacked so long as they make no threatening moves.” Then he turned back to the men on the field and said, “Do you have any immediate needs that you yourselves cannot meet?”

  The man looked as if he didn’t believe his own ears. He said, “Many of our men are sick with the same plague that has affected your city, and many were injured yesterday who need healers and medicines we don’t have.”

  “They will be attended to,” Delno said. “Go back and tell your people that the healers and at least one dragon Rider will be among them shortly. They need have no fear of the Riders so long as they don’t attempt any aggression. We will use every means we possess to help heal the sick and injured.”

  The men on the field stood with their mouths open not fully believing what they had heard. “We did not expect such compassion from those we had wrongly attacked. I will tell our soldiers what to expect and tell them that the men of Corice are a breed apart who should be praised for their mercy.”

  A group of Corisian soldiers relieved the men of their prisoners and the Bournese general and his staff were then housed in the city jail. They were placed there as much for their own protection as because of their status. Even the other Bournese wanted them drawn and quartered.

  Within an hour, Delno and the healers were moving among the sick and injured of the former enemy camp. Delno used all of his skill to treat burns, broken bones, lash sores, and any other injuries he found, while Nat and the other physicians concentrated primarily on treating the disease and preventing further infection. By nightfall, all of the healers were exhausted but the immediate crisis was over.

  Later, back in the city, Delno and General Dreighton were talking with King Dorian. The king wasn’t sure whether he should be pleased that he had suddenly acquired fifteen hundred new subjects, or upset that he now was compelled by his officers’ compassion to help relocate the men and settle them into Corisian society.

  “We should send them back - after they clean up that mess they’ve made of the plain outside our gates, of course.” Then, at the looks on their faces, the king added, “I know they brought up the prisoners and surrendered, but it’s not like they came south under duress. They are all volunteers in the Bournese Army. The fact that they deserted should be their problem, not ours. After all, they surrendered to us under any terms we saw fit.”

  “Uncle, we can’t send them home to a death sentence,” Delno replied. “If they hadn’t mutinied and brought their commanders to us, we would still be out there manning the walls. Even with the dragons, eventually some of them would have gotten through, and men would have died on our side. Besides, many of them are not volunteers; many are conscripts who had no choice but to obey orders.”

  “Well, that does put a new light on things,” Dorian replied softly. “I just wish we could execute that insane general of theirs and send them home.” Before Delno or Dreighton could object, he held up his hand and said, “I know, by treaties that have existed for centuries we can’t execute officers unless we can prove that they committed crimes against civilians. The fact that the only reason we can’t prove that against these men is because you didn’t give them a chance to commit such crimes doesn’t help convince me to abide by a treaty that they would ha
ve ignored.” Then he sighed and added, “Don’t worry; the officers will be taken to the Stone Bridge, and there they will be released from their chains and set free to return to their own country, and the men who remain here will be resettled.” Then, almost to himself, he said, “Treaties or no treaties, we are going to build a large fort on our side of that damned bridge!”

  Just then several people entered. Delno immediately recognized them all: his mother was as radiant as ever; his father was as stalwart as he remembered, and his brother looked to be in awe of his surroundings.

  Chapter 11

  Dorian seemed transfixed as he watched Delno’s mother approach. When she was only a few steps away, the king reached out to take her hands in his. “You look just like your mother,” he said, as a single tear trickled down his cheek.

  Laura Okonan attempted to curtsy, but the king held her fast and said, “You need not curtsy in my presence, Niece.”

  Laura was not surprised when Dorian called her “niece”, but it was certainly news to her husband and younger son. John Okonan stared openly at his wife while their younger son was looking from his mother to his father to his brother, and finally to the king like his head was suddenly too loosely attached to keep it still.

  “We must take refreshment and talk,” Dorian said. Then to the first servant he saw he ordered, “Bring wine and food to my private dining chamber.” He turned to Laura and her family and added, “If you will all join me, we can talk without interruption and get to know each other.”

  Delno quickly embraced his mother and father while reaching out and patting his brother on the shoulder. Then the four of them began to follow the king, accompanied by his personal guards.