“Be at ease, my rider. You delivered a tremendous speech and handled yourself very well against the poisoned tongued Pogasch.”
“Thank you, my friend, but I don’t understand what happed to Debesora and her son. Why did they testify against me?” he asked.
“I sensed a deep distress from her, and fearful guilt from the boy. I would wager that they were forced or coerced to do this by some Enlightened agent. We will find out the truth,” Gallanth stated softly but in a determined tone by Mkel’s ear.
Gindren finally regained control of the senate. “I will entertain two more speakers on this subject before I call for the vote to supply funds to the healer guilds and select churches to start to treat these unfortunate veterans who suffer mind scars. Senator Golfine, I see you wish to add to the debate.”
“Yes, I believe our focus of these injustices against invisible wounds of our overindulged veterans is somewhat misplaced. I feel it would more important to talk of the barbaric way we treat our unfortunate criminals in our work prisons. These misunderstood persons should not be subjected to the harsh treatment and pain that is inflicted upon them for their mistaken acts. A society is judged on how it treats the lesser, more unfortunate of its people that have made a few moderate mistakes. The total lack of concern displayed here in these hallowed halls truly demonstrates the lack of enlightenment and superior understanding we have sunken to with the non-POE members of the senate,” he said, jockeying to divert attention from the pending vote.
“Senator, a society is judged on how it treats its veterans and children, not its criminals—how it treats those who protect us and how we protect the innocent, those who need our protection, and how we allow them to be treated, mark the true nature of a nation. Criminals deserve punishment. That practice should never change. You call this an enlightened view, ha. Your party is not the least enlightened, for you are all as dim as the twilight. President Gindren, I grow tired of this. I call for a vote,” Senator Tomsfred of the Eladran Province stated in his usual commonsense manner.
“A vote has been called for. We will now take roll,” Gindren said, seizing on the initiative that Tomsfred created. The vote went up, and the measure was passed, much to the objection of the Enlightened senators. “We will now take a short recess before we continue on several domestic budgetary issues. General Becknor, esteemed dragons and riders, and their friends, if you wish to come back after the break, you are more than welcome, but this concludes the discussion of all matters that pertain to you, the weirs, and issues of foreign diplomacy. We have been graced by the wisdom of your presence, and as always, thank you for all you do for the Alliance.”
That was all Mkel had to hear; he called for the Draden crew to depart. He asked General Becknor to make sure he could leave. The general was as anxious to go as Mkel was. As they walked out of the senate building onto the mall, Mkel asked Gallanth to get them airborne as soon as possible to get away from there. He had had enough and felt like he had just experienced an emotional maelstrom.
As Mkel motioned for the Draconian police to clear the area for them to accept their mounts and for Gallanth to take off, an old woman approached them. He surmised from her impressive attire that she was of some important stature. She managed to break through the line of constables and slowly walked over to him and Gallanth with her nurse right behind her. “Dragonrider Mkel, Rider of Gallanth,” she spoke out softly, but somehow, her words were clear even over the roar of the gathered crowds, who were still shouting competing epitaphs both in support of the dragons and against them. Mkel turned toward her just as Gallanth turned his head to look down.
“I wanted to thank you, your noble dragon, and your friends for the words you spoke in support of our veterans. I don’t know of these so-called Enlightened ones who deny the truth that is right in front of them. You helped more people than you know today,” she finished as she reached for him, raising her cane. Mkel gently hugged her to return the gesture and to support her in case she became infirm.
“Mkel, she is Admiral Zewal’s mother; her other son died of a mind-scar-induced suicide after the Great War. Her emotion is the most powerful I’ve felt in years, after your own,” Gallanth told Mkel telepathically.
“Thank you, Madam; your words make the frustration a little easier to take,” he replied as he held her loosely.
“You just keep your faith, my boy, and tell your dragon that I am honored by his words and sentiment,” she finished as Mkel’s head shot up in amazement, for how did she know what Gallanth had told him telepathically? She smiled and turned as her escorts were allowed to come through the police to help her back to her carriage.
“I am as puzzled as you are, my friend,” Gallanth told him out loud. “We are all ready for flight,” he added as he looked over to see all his weir mates mounted and securing their flying straps. He jumped up on Gallanth’s forearm and was lifted up to the saddle rig. He quickly secured his straps and called to his friends to take off. With that, the two giant eagles, and winged horse took to the sky. When they were comfortably away, Gallanth and Valianth both stretched out their wings, and with a few steps almost in unison, the two behemoth gold dragons were also airborne, rising up over the stone structures of the city. They soon joined their friends.
CHAPTER V
Ripple before
the Storm
“Mkel, you are awake?” Gallanth asked his rider, early the Sabbath morning.
“Yes, my dragon, I am. For some reason, I woke and cannot fall back asleep,” he answered half through his mind and half out loud.
“There is a strange breeze this morning, surprisingly warm for this late in the fall. Something is amiss, and I sense it is toward the east,” the gold dragon stated with concern in his voice.
“We were lucky yesterday; our hunt was successful. I bagged a good-sized stag, and Toderan got one as well,” he answered as he opened his eyes and stared at the predawn light. He then looked over and saw that even Toderan, whom Mkel knew to be an early riser, was still asleep.
Their hunting camp was deep in Draden Forest, with a small cabin that stood on the edge of a clearing just large enough for Gallanth and a few other smaller mounts to land and rest in. The fall was a favorite time for Toderan, for he lived for the hunt. Mkel enjoyed hunting as well, but Toderan relished it. They had gone stalking the morning before and then put on a drive with their small band of fellow hunters. Gallanth had slept soundly, for in the middle of Draden Forest, surrounded by Dekeen’s elves always about tending to their forest gardens and general patrols, there was no safer place than the weir itself. The previous day’s hunt proved very successful with all getting a stag or doe, and the celebrations that night, while mild, still had their effect. It was nice getting away from the weir for a few days though, and Mkel did enjoy the woods, beautiful and pristine but still carefully managed by the elves, for even nature needed a helping hand once in a while as well.
Gallanth raised his head and sniffed the air, “I can almost smell the brimstone and fire rock, but I know it is not there, not yet,” he stated softly.
“Gallanth, rest yourself; the fire giants are not on the move yet. If they were, Lupek’s or Lordan’s rangers would have alerted us,” Mkel tried to comfort his dragon through his early morning sleep haze. “Now go back to sleep, my friend. We had a good day’s hunt yesterday, and we have to send off Lawrent and his raiders soon. Then after that, we have to help that Capital copper and the Ice Bay brass dragon teleport the avengers to Battle Point. That and the shipment of the new dragon-skin armor and repeating crossbows will arrive soon, and we must field it as rapidly as possible. Our two-month lull will soon be ending,” he explained as he rolled over on his spongy bedroll and peered up at his dragon in the early morning dawn.
“Yes, my rider, I understand; I just have a sense of foreboding about the Smoking Mountains. A fight is coming soon,” he finished as he laid his he
ad down, curling it around Mkel.
“Soon is not now, my dragon, and the more we get the weir ready for this, the better, but for now, we have one day left in our hunting trip, and I want a few more hours of sleep before our illustrious senior sergeant gets up,” Mkel replied and closed his eyes again, the forest just beginning to come to life with the chirping of a few birds and the cool, late-autumn breeze rustling the few remaining leaves on the trees. As customary, Toderan woke first and roused the halfling they had brought from the weir to get breakfast ready. Mkel woke to the smell of eggs and bacon frying and the warming of sweet breads inside the small cabin. He got up and went over to eat with Toderan and his brothers, who were already wolfing down the prepared meals.
“You’d better shave today; the three-day’ growth you’ve got will make that sea serpent Lawrent call you a raider,” Toderan joked with Mkel.
“Have no fear, I won’t join his band of cutthroats and pirates, or take on any of their traits anytime soon.” He smiled as he sat down. “When we do get back today, I imagine the shipment of new armor and crossbows will be there. We need to fit it to our soldiers and start to practice with those new weapons, as well as give a few to Dekeen’s arms smith, Eldir, so he can learn to service them and reproduce them.”
“That should not be an issue, since he designed Markthrea, and they basically copied that design to make them, my dragonrider friend,” Dekeen quipped in his normal sharp-tongued manner, with a slight smile to mitigate his pointed sarcasm.
“Oh, now the elf speaks up. Why don’t you get your kinsmen to take our deer to the weir?” Toderan fired back.
“Already done, my good paladin,” he answered, as they peered out the windows of the cabin to see the deer carcasses gone.
“Damn, quiet elves, but I’m glad at least they’re on our side. Now we need to talk of the dragon-skin armor that the weir garrison is getting today. Do we know what it is configured as?” Toderan asked.
“From what Lloydell told me, they made it like a pullover heavy vest with arm guards. It will weigh between twenty and thirty pounds depending on the size of the soldiers fitting it but is much more flexible than the segmented armor now standard in the legions. It’s made of overlapping scales of that new metal that the dwarves in Ferranor discovered. It is a grayish-silver color, and while almost as strong as steel, it’s very much lighter—but nowhere near as strong as mithril silver. They took the strength of dragon skin and essentially copied it with small scales overlapping and painstakingly woven together with mithril thread and then glued them to bond together. When hit, it spreads the impact out over a large area like dragon skin. When fit over the body, there are two small drawstrings to cinch it tight around the side and hips where the weight is carried. It will be dramatic when the enemy sees this in battle and realizes all too late that it almost carries the strength of black iron. We will have the fittings and classes for it this afternoon. Now we must talk of the new repeating crossbows,” Mkel stated.
“Yes, Captain, there will be several soldiers who will not want to give up their old Alliance long recurve bows,” Toderan answered.
“Well, I would say a couple of primary instructors should be Crystinj and Poteignr, given their performance in the games, as well as Haak with the shots he made in the land dragon competition. I can be the overseer and spot instructor along with Jodem,” Mkel added.
“Sir, you know you should not be instructing; you’re the garrison company commander and Weirleader. The soldiers and sergeants should be doing this,” Toderan replied.
“Senior Weir Sergeant, you know I love to instruct. I’m a soldiers’ officer, and I always will be. Plus, you never know when someone I teach might have to make that one true shot. So how can we relieve ourselves of a missed opportunity like that? I’ll be fine, and Jodem, the true master shooting instructor, will be there,” Mkel countered.
“It’s not your shooting or coaching skills I’m talking about; it’s just that you are a commander, and the hands-on is for others,” Toderan stated.
“I understand, and with this plan I have of bringing in some of the best shooters in the Alliance Army to Draden, maybe I can fulfill your wish,” Mkel shot back with his characteristic smile.
“I like the idea of having a sharpshooter squad, but I don’t really believe that you’ll stop coaching. Just not you,” Toderan said with an expression of intrigue at the idea, along with his half smile.
“I talked to several good shooters at the games. Gemorg and his crew are interested in coming on board with us and liked the idea of a forming a sharpshooter squad. They can perform special overwatch missions and hold certain terrain for the infantry to maneuver. Even apart from the sheer deadly skill they bring to battle, from a military planning perspective, they can match or beat the same number of elves, especially with these more powerful, accurate, and faster repeating crossbows, which can multiply the company’s combat power at the ground level,” Mkel explained.
“We’ll see about those claims; just get them here first, and the truth will show,” Dekeen said, questioning the assertion but at the same time interested. “Well, as much as I have enjoyed your company these last few days, I believe you should be leaving for the weir. I know Gallanth is getting testy, for my wife knows through Silvanth that he senses something, so the faster you get your men ready, the better off we all will be,” the elf finished and got up to open the door. All present got up and walked out into the forest clearing where Gallanth was still lying down; all the other mounts were perched beside him.
They all gave their thanks and good-byes to Dekeen, who sprinted back into the woods. They then mounted up, as Mkel looked around at the forest and the trees. Gallanth rose up on all fours. He liked the woods of Draden Forest, but he did miss his son and Annan and knew it was time for his hunting trip to be over. The venison would be grilled that night, and he looked forward to tasting it with the spices the halflings were famous for. Gallanth allowed the others to get into the air before he started to fast walk to the other side of the clearing and took to the sky, just barely missing the tops of the tall oaks on the edge of the clearing. The brilliant colors of the changing leaves were breathtaking to Mkel as he and Gallanth sailed above them. The rush of cold midmorning air felt good on his face, and he let his magic shield emanate at minimal strength, for with his heating stone giving just enough warmth, he didn’t mind it one bit.
Tbok had been summoned to Aserghul to see Stalenjh. As he circled around the immense black towered castle on his lead blue dragon, Traxsus, he surmised that it must be regarding the Arianan situation. They were getting more resistant to Morgathian influence in their arrogance. He had been planning a trip to the desert kingdom but hadn’t arranged it yet—not during harvest season, for he had a hard enough time enforcing the tithing to the fortresses in his province. The Talon sorcerer, his senior dragon, and death knight had to force all of their chromatic dragons that resided in this region to aid them in the collection. Many times, his army, like everyone else in Morgathia, had to help with the harvest itself. This was a little easier this year since Ashram and Lodar had a nice portion of their army crushed by the Alliance, so he didn’t have to worry about using too many from his own forces to watch their mutual border to his north.
Stalenjh had stated he wanted to talk to him personally; again, he could only surmise why, but it was never good to go to Aserghul alone. He was fortunate that Traxsus consented to transport him without too much of an argument. “Traxsus, Stalenjh hailed us to meet him by the northeast wall of Aserghul!” Tbok yelled to the large blue dragon.
“I know, Sorcerer. Zythor told me as soon as we teleported in. I am not sure why we are not meeting in the fortress, but we will likely know soon,” he answered in his normally arrogant tone, but a little softer, as if to avoid waking a child. This was likely out of fear of angering Tiamat. They circled around and landed in front of Stalenjh and Zythor. Tb
ok dismounted and walked up to his superior and bowed, as did Traxsus to the Usurper blue dragon.
“Prefect Stalenjh, how may I be of service?” Tbok said as he stood up.
“My master Zythor, I come at your bidding,” Traxsus stated as he bowed his head, his large nose horn slightly glowing.
“Dispense with the niceties, Tbok; we have an important matter to discuss, and we must be quick before the queen mother awakens. The desert mongrel Arianans are getting a bit too bold lately. While they are helping us with the pirating campaign against the Alliance and their allies, they are also attacking their neighbors’ ships, and the Shidanese are getting ready to retaliate. We can’t afford to have them go to war with each other again and distract themselves from our plan. They are also not supplying the proper amount of gemstones as they should either, and this independent action is getting annoying.
“I want to handle this matter with a strong diplomatic arm first, before Tiamat orders a disciplinary strike against them. This is why you are here. I want you to go to their capital city, Naterah, engage with their sultan, Dalmach, and inform him of the importance of remaining our ally and the consequences of angering the empire. His northern city of Hasera has time and time again been raiding both Shidanese ships and even ours. Their emir claims these are mistakes, but this will stop. I sent an emissary directly there a week ago through the drow tunnels in the mountains to give this arrogant insect one last warning. We’ll await his answer, but this is one of your bargaining pieces.
“I want you and Traxsus to leave immediately. I will send a complement of Talestra with you on a wing of Aserghul chromatics to reinforce our message. That dung scarab must know that his obedience is vital to his existence, and his gem flow to the empire is also of great importance to us. The growing number of dragons we have is getting harder to manage, even for the Usurper Five. We can’t afford to start rationing the gems, not now when we are so close to our plans coming to fruition. You cannot fail in this Tbok or else the eastern province might need a new Talon sorcerer and lead dragon,” Stalenjh finished with a smile accented by his thick black-gray mustache. Traxsus let out a low growl, but it was countered by Zythor, which caused the younger blue to back down.
Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm Page 25