Dragon Blade
Page 14
A wagon was brought up to the bridge. General Andrewson and his staff were offloaded. They were all in shackles but otherwise unharmed. General Dreighton approached on horseback and said, “As per the treaties of old, since you are senior officers you are to be released here to return to your own army. You won’t be harmed. But know this: King Dorian has decreed that since your liege lord disregards treaties as he sees fit, we will not honor such a treaty in the future. If you are again caught on Corisian soil, you will be executed without trial or ceremony. Go now and tell your king that it is in his best interest to cease hostilities against Corice.”
The general and his officers were released from their shackles in full view of the Bournese soldiers who were watching from a safe distance. The staff officers immediately turned to make their way across the bridge, but the general called them to a halt.
“You are in no position to dictate any terms to the officers of Bourne,” Andrewson said. “The only reason you managed to overcome our forces on the field was through the treachery of rebellious troops on our side. When I return with troops who will remain loyal, we shall see who will be executed. I will personally drag that son of a dog you call king before my Lord in chains to beg for his worthless life.”
Delno slid down from Geneva’s neck and walked to General Andrewson. “I am beginning to believe that you are either as mad as your men think you to be, or you are such a fool that you believe that you will be allowed to get a force into Corice again. I truly do feel sorry for the men under your command.”
Andrewson smiled. “Your dragons won’t be here forever, fool. When they are gone, we will have little trouble conquering Corice. We have some surprises of our own.”
“The future is always in motion,” Delno responded. “We shall see in due time. For now though, I am done with you. Get yourself across this bridge before my patience fails, and I throw you into the canyon. He turned and strode back to Geneva without so much as a backward glance.
The Dragon Riders and General Dreighton stayed to oversee construction of the fortifications at the bridge. The first step was to be a timber palisade directly across the bridge itself. That would protect the workers while they built a stone structure that would be completed with an iron gate. Once the stone rampart was built, the timber would be removed.
Thick hard wood trees were quickly cut and put into position. As the timbers were being placed, Andrewson sent a messenger across the bridge to inform the Corisians that Bourne felt the wall was a violation of treaties with Bourne, and if construction wasn’t stopped, he would have his troops attack immediately. General Dreighton told the messenger to tell General Andrewson to go pound salt up his arse.
Shortly after the messenger got back to his camp, a large group of Bournese soldiers gathered in preparation for a charge across the bridge. General Dreighton called for archers, but Delno had them wait until he gave the order before firing. While workers continued to put the large logs into place, Delno set about constructing a magical barrier about midway across the bridge. The Bournese troops were allowed to march right up to the barrier. The front row of six men was quite surprised when they walked right into the shield and were stopped as if they had hit a wall. More and more men gathered on the other side of the shield. Many tried to penetrate it with spears and swords to no avail. The officers were yelling useless orders and frantically trying to get the men to double their efforts. Several men fell from the bridge to their deaths in the canyon. Eventually, with the Corisians laughing and jeering at them, the men of Bourne retreated. Once off the bridge on the other side of the canyon, they were able to send a volley of arrows at the men still working on the timber palisade since the shield only extended across the bridge itself; the Corisian archers returned fire. Unfortunately for the soldiers of Bourne, the Corisians were more accurate. Over a dozen Bournese fell dead, and the remaining men of Bourne retreated to a safe distance.
Delno healed the Corisian workers who had been hit by arrows. There had been one death on the Corisian side of the canyon. The men continued working for the rest of the day and far into the night. By the next morning, a large timber wall completely blocked the bridge. Then the workers started construction on the stone works that would keep the bridge impassable to the Bournese Army.
“What if they bring up siege engines to destroy the stone works like they did in Larimar?” Adamus asked. Rita nodded her head in agreement with his question.
“If they do that,” Delno responded, “they will most likely weaken the bridge as well, since the stone works are anchored on the stone of the bridge itself. Our own siege engines will then destroy the bridge completely. Once all of this madness is over and lasting peace is achieved, we can build a man-made bridge across this chasm. Until then, the only other passes into Corice from Bourne are much too narrow to get siege engines into, so the fortifications we are building at those will hold. Stone Bridge is the easiest passage, and the most accessible; as in the last war, it must either be held or destroyed completely.”
That night Delno concentrated on the Dream State and Geneva as he drifted off to sleep. It worked; he found himself standing with Geneva on a ledge within moments. Geneva was a bit surprised to find that he had come of his own accord.
“I don’t think I could have come if you weren’t here, though,” he said to her.
“No, I don’t think so either, Love, but it is a nice trick and has saved us time this evening. There are several non-bonded dragons who wish to speak with us. They were quite surprised to find that Marlo had flown to get Nat and even more shocked when the two of them bonded. They wish to discuss this.”
He was about to answer when two females soared down to land near them. He knew they were not really this close in life; that the Dream State was a psychic creation, but he was still impressed to be in such close proximity to them.
“Hello, I am Delno Okonan, bonded to Geneva, and friend of Marlo.”
“I am Sheila, and I also know Marlo,” the larger, red dragon said. “I am concerned that you have spoken with Marlo, and she is now bonded. How have you done this? There are those of us who do not wish to be bonded. You must not do this again.”
“I have done nothing,” Delno replied. “Marlo offered to bring Nathaniel to me so that he could help with the plague in Larimar. They became bonded on the trip. It was not my doing; I had not anticipated it, but Marlo is happy with the bond.”
“Yes, Marlo has always been fascinated by humans. I believe she has always wanted to be bonded but never had the opportunity,” the other dragon said shyly. “She spent many days pining over the men she watched. I believe she will be much happier now that she has found a partner.”
Sheila sat pensively for a few moments before she spoke. “Alright, I concede the point. That Marlo has found a way to become bonded is no great surprise, but this still produces a danger for the rest of us if we interact with humans. Suppose we find ourselves bonded when we don’t wish to be?”
“That may be a danger,” admitted Delno. “However, what of the dragons who aren’t bonded who wish to be? If I have no right to promote this, do you have the right to prevent it?”
Sheila lifted her head and started to make a harsh reply but there was a ripple in the “fabric” of the Dream State and the other dragon said hastily, “He makes a good point, Sheila. None of us have the right to interfere either way. If a dragon wishes to be bonded then she should be allowed the opportunity. If a dragon is content with her status as non-bonded then she should not be forced into situations that would put her in close proximity with humans.”
“Of course you would take that side, Saadia,” Sheila replied, “the fact that you would like to be bonded is no great secret.”
Saadia, a smaller dragon who was the color of a light blue summer sky with no other markings, hung her head. “I do not deny that I hate the loneliness. I also do not deny that I find the Dream State a poor substitute for actual companionship,” she said softly. Then she raised her head somew
hat defiantly and continued, “But the choice should be mine, not yours or anyone else’s. If I choose to seek out a human, you have no right to interfere.”
Delno waited for Sheila’s angry reply, but was pleased that the red dragon didn’t make one. Instead Sheila said, “You are right, of course, Saadia. I have no right to decide such fate for others. Legends speak of such things happening in the distant past, but it has been so long since an adult dragon has bonded that I had thought those legends were false. Even among the oldest females, who have watched this world for more than six millennia, none can remember such a thing happening, though all say that it did happen in the past. I suppose it will take some time to get used to the idea.”
“I appreciate your open-mindedness, Sheila,” Delno said. “I believe that we have mutual enemies who are waging war on two fronts: here in Corice and south in Horne. Those enemies seek to take any such choices from us. I believe that if our enemies succeed, they will not only seek to destroy all dragons and riders who oppose them, but all dragons who are not bonded as well. The leader of these enemies hopes to establish himself as supreme leader of the world and he knows that as long as non-bonded dragons exist, there is a chance that Riders will arise who can oppose him. He will eventually try to kill all free female dragons he cannot bring directly under his control.”
“Are you then proposing that we seek to bond and commit ourselves to your control?” Sheila asked suspiciously.
“No, I am not suggesting that at all. Certainly I would help any who seek to bond with humans to do so if they ask, but that is not my goal here. My goal is to ask for aid in our fight against a mutual enemy for the benefit of us all. Those who wish to remain non-bonded are certainly welcome to the life they choose.”
“And if you win this war, what of those dragons who remained neutral?” Sheila asked him.
“I don’t seek dominion over them. My ultimate goal is to unite the Riders under an oath of service to the intelligent species of this world in the hope of preventing this war from being repeated with new players in the future. As for those we refer to as Wild Dragons, they are free to do as they please, just as they have always been.”
Sheila sat thinking for several moments before responding. “I believe you,” she said finally. “I will talk with the others of my kind who might aid you and contact you with their answer. However, don’t expect too much until they have seen some proof of your loyalties. We have been tricked before by men who were Riders and should have been true to their word. Many of the dragons who were there for that will be slow to respond favorably to your plea for help.”
“I am near the lands you call Corice,” Saadia said, speaking up. “I will come to you and we will talk. I am willing to help you, and perhaps I might find someone worth bonding with, as well.”
Sheila stared at Saadia for a long moment and then shook her head and said, “I suppose that was to be expected; you have always felt the loneliness more than I. I will not try to talk you out of this daughter, the decision is yours to make.”
“Thank you, Mother; I feel that my future, even if it brings me death at the hands of our mutual enemies, lies with men.”
Delno and Geneva bade Sheila farewell and then, before leaving the Dream State, told Saadia that she could find them at Larimar later that morning.
Chapter 14
The next day, with the construction of the stone works well under way at Stone Bridge, Delno told Rita and Adamus of his meeting with Sheila and her daughter in the Dream State.
“Having more dragons will certainly be a help, but can they be trusted to act in our best interests?” Adamus asked.
“As long as it is in their best interest as well, I can’t see why not,” Rita responded. “After all, they are reasonable beings. So long as their fate moves with ours we should make good allies.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Delno replied, “to a point.” The other two Riders stared at him while he collected his thoughts. “Dragons who are not bonded are at a definite disadvantage in battle, even against ground troops. We aren’t just along for the ride when the dragons make a strafing run. We maintain shields that keep their hides free of arrows or other missiles. When fighting another dragon and Rider, we use magic while they do the flying and maneuvering. We are a team. In either case, the lone dragon is more vulnerable and we will have to take pains to help them as best we can.”
“It is rare for an arrow to penetrate the hide of a dragon,” Adamus remarked. “Even your bow isn’t powerful enough to penetrate a dragon’s scales.”
“Yes, but the scales get slack if the dragon is fatigued, leaving enough space for an arrow to get between them if the angle is right. Fighting a war can be quite fatiguing,” Delno replied. “Also, their eyes are vulnerable. If enough arrows are aimed at their heads when they make a pass one is bound to hit the mark. The eyelids are somewhat armored but you can’t aim with your eyes closed.”
“That will present a problem,” Rita said, “We will have to try and maintain shields on two dragons at once. That doesn’t strike me as an easy thing to do. Have you ever tried it, Delno?”
“Not yet,” Delno replied, “though I have done similar acts of magic when shielding more than one person at a time from a mind probe. However, we may be putting the wagon before the oxen in this situation. Sheila has said that she will speak with the other dragons; none have joined us yet.”
“You’re wrong, Handsome,” Rita said, “Two wild dragons have joined us so far. Marlo and Saadia have joined outright, more will come.” Then she smiled seductively and added, “You can be very persuasive when you want to be.”
Delno almost laughed as Adamus blushed at Rita’s double entendre. Adamus was a young man and a bit embarrassed at Rita’s sometimes blatant sexual references. Delno didn’t get the chance to respond to any of it, however, because just then an alarm was raised; the Bournese were trying something to stop the construction of the fortifications.
The Riders quickly mounted and took to the sky where the dragons would be most effective. Once in the air Delno saw the reason for the alarm: the Bournese had spent the night constructing two small catapults and were now launching pitch balls at the wooden palisade. Archers were standing by to shoot fire arrows at the pitch once they had enough of it on the wood. Green wood had been used to frustrate the use of fire arrows, but the pitch would burn long enough and hot enough to make even green wood catch fire. Since the stone works were barely begun, this was a serious threat to the wall and could lead to another battle for Stone Bridge.
“You have to give them credit for tenacity,” he said to Geneva.
“I’d rather they go away so that I can give them credit for having some good sense,” she responded.
Delno quickly began drawing energy from his surroundings and concentrated on the nearest catapult. The machine was nothing compared to the huge trebuchets that had been brought to Larimar, but it didn’t have to be. The trebuchets were large siege engines that used a weighted arm to hurl rocks that weighed nearly twenty stone through fortified walls. These catapults used saplings as springs to launch balls of soft pitch that weighed less than two stone. They were merely a way to get the pitch to the wood while remaining just out of bow range. Instead of knocking the wall down, they would then use flaming arrows to ignite the pitch and burn the logs.
Rather than concentrate on the catapult itself, Delno was concentrating on the pitch balls that were setting beside it. They began to bubble and smoke. The men who were handling them backed away as several of the balls burst into flame. The crew tried desperately to put the fire out before it consumed the catapult itself but they didn’t have water near to hand, and beating at it with tarps and blankets only smashed the balls and spread the flames. The wood of the catapult itself began to burn a few moments later. The men manning the machine were forced back by the heat.
“One down, one to go,” he said.
“Make it quick, Love; they’ve got the range with the second one.”
Delno realized that in his haste to destroy the machine before it could launch more pitch at the wall, he had inadvertently caused it to launch the flame that might well destroy a section of the palisade. He watched as the flaming orb seemed to sail in slow motion toward its target. He tried to erect a shield that would stop it, but found that the slow motion was an illusion of the adrenalin now rushing into his system; his own actions were moving just as slowly. He failed to get the shield up in time and the ball hit its mark. Within seconds the pitch that was already splattered on the wall caught, seconds after that, the flames were nearly fifteen feet high once all of the pitch was burning. Delno swore as a cheer went up on the Bournese side of the bridge.
Delno could only watch as workers climbed the palisade and began a bucket brigade to try and dowse the fire that was burning brightly on the other side of the wall. The Bournese archers quickly took position and began shooting at the men on top of the wall. One man fell with an arrow in his chest.