Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow

by J. Michael Fluck

  Immediately, Gallanth was airborne, quickly sailing down to the Weir grounds beside the lake; many of the garrison’s men were starting to form, and the cavalry’s horses and the four land dragons were getting saddled and rigged up. Gallanth gently back winged so as to minimize the dust he churned up and landed with his back feet first.

  “You’re almost late for your own exercise,” Jodem chided Mkel as he walked from the staging area beside the stable.

  “Master Wizard, time is a relative concept, plus we still have an hour before the company has to be on the training grounds,” Gallanth replied.

  “And we are the overseers for this exercise, not to mention the Weirleaders,” Mkel added as he slid down Gallanth’s neck to his raised forearm.

  “Be you the commander or not, Colonel Wierangan would not be pleased if the garrison was late for the exercise, and we don’t want to spoil our good relationship with our non-Weir comrades,” Jodem said with a slight smile.

  “We will be ready. This company has never been late or failed under my command in the past, and this day will not be the first. Have the officers gathered yet?” Mkel asked.

  “They are making their way to the council room. Toderan just made his last rounds to inspect the men,” Jodem informed him.

  “Then I suggest we make our way over to the meeting room,” Gallanth said as he started over to his traditional place in front of the huge opening to the council room. “I guess this means ‘follow me,’” Mkel said to Jodem as they both started walking toward the hall. As they entered the room and Gallanth settled down on his belly, Toderan walked in closely followed by Willaward, Tegent the Weir’s bard, Clydown, and Lenor. Pekram and the infantry lieutenants with their senior sergeants walked in right after them. All gave greetings and sat down. Dekeen, Deless, and Lupek entered from beside Gallanth, and Ordin came up from the corridor that led to the stairs from the lower levels. All gave Gallanth the customary salute and a greeting to Mkel. Wheelor was the last one to arrive, which was customary for a land dragon man. Land dragon crews were never in a rush but still very dependable.

  “All right, gentlemen, shall we begin?” Mkel said as they all sat down. Breakfast was brought to them by several halfling kitchen help, to facilitate the preparations for the exercise. They would only meet for a half an hour or less, just to clarify any last-minute details if need be. “Please eat and listen if you all are capable,” Mkel said with a smile. “Jodem, if you please,” he added, nodding to the wizard. Jodem placed his staff on the stand in the middle of the U shaped table and focused on the dragonstone. The sapphire glowed and emanated a dazzling blue light, which grew and took the shape of the grass field in front of the Weir over the large stone bridge that spanned the Severic River. The plain led to the opening in the Gray Mountains and the Alliance border with the unsettled lands beyond. The legion and settlement at Battle Point lay over five hundred miles to the east; it was the lone outpost between the Alliance and the Morgathian-held lands much farther east.

  Mkel spoke as Jodem manipulated the images taking form over the floor. “We shall form the standard linear battle line anchored on Ordin’s dwarf company. The infantry will form on both sides of the dwarves as we discussed earlier, 1st Platoon to their left and 2nd and 3rd to their right. We will use the standard formation with heavy infantry up front, two lines deep, and the archers and crossbowmen behind, providing missile coverage. Use the standard attack method of stopping every ten paces, splitting to allow the archers to fire and then re-form the line and move forward with shields locked.

  “Two of the elven archer platoons will be positioned in the center to support the dwarves,” he continued. “The third archer platoon will support 1st Platoon, and the elf heavy infantry platoon will be held in reserve. I want to practice them plugging a break in the line; I will signal to that platoon leader to simulate the breach through the seeing crystals. The land dragon platoon will split section, with one team on either side of the line. Remember if we face the fire giants, the land dragon’s fire breath will be limited in effectiveness against them, so it will come down to a close-in fight. The catapult section will be located in the center and rear of the line, protected by the sappers until they are needed.

  “Willaward,” Mkel added, “you will initiate fires with your longest range solid stones first. Begin firing on my command or Lupek’s, if I become unavailable, launching at your maximum range of two thousand yards. When and if we face them, you would use the spiked ammo to surprise the first couple of giants that would try to catch them. For the exercise, just use solid stones and then switch to the dye canisters to simulate the dragon’s fire projectiles intermixed with a couple of real canisters for the spectators’ pleasure. Remember, Lieutenant, you fire first, and the more of them you take, the less the infantry and cavalry have to deal with.”

  “Yes sir, we will bring fire and stone down on them,” Willaward replied.

  “I have faith, Willaward. Lieutenant Wheelor, you will concentrate your ballista fires on the large targets, simulating giants, trolls, and ogres,” Mkel continued as the land dragon leader nodded an acknowledgment. “Lenor, I will signal you as to what side you will lead your paladins to charge, so be flexible. I would normally put you in a heavily contested area with the larger foes or enemy cavalry, which could take the form of orcs on hellhounds or dire wolves. We could feasibly face both. Pekram, I would like you to take the garrison line and Toderan will take over control of the battle if I get too engaged in a fight with the chromatics, which we will assume for the latter part of this exercise. Jodem will be observing from above, mounted on Vatara, to view the operation after walking in front of the garrison line for a couple hundred yards, and Dekeen will provide the dwarves and our men additional cover with his bow. Ordin, you and your brother will take the exact center of the line as usual. I have faith in your ability to handle a couple of giants, but today please take it easy on the wooden targets,” Mkel said as he smiled at Ordin.

  “I will try, Master Dragonrider,” Ordin replied with a smile that showed through his thick brown beard.

  “Lupek, take the remainder of your rangers and perform aerial attack missions, but I feel that when we have the actual battle with this army, they will have some sort of winged contingent to deal with, be it manticores, giant wasps, or wyverns, so keep that in mind, my friend,” Mkel said. “Lastly, Gallanth and I will be circling above as if we were taking care of any unfriendly chromatic dragons or aerial threats, and we will perform a ground attack as the last event. A reminder to everyone: Silvanth will be conducting attacks against you with a light frost breath to test your reaction to an attacking chromatic dragon in a dive. Remember your shield drill and announcing the direction and type of attack. You may practice your targeting skills as long as all leaders ensure they have practice arrows. Silvanth has an extremely tough hide, as Gallanth knows, but I don’t want to risk her any undue pain. She is getting testy, for it is near her mating cycle, and we all know what that does to a female.” They all chuckled.

  “Captain Vicasek and Colonel Dunn, what is your primary plan of resupply for the exercise?” Mkel asked of his support corps leaders.

  “We will focus on an immediate resupply of the catapults,” the colonel replied, “followed by arrows and bolts to the elven and human archers and crossbowmen. Afterward, we will practice evacuating and treating the wounded. Watterseth should be with the infantry line if we are to be facing the enemy force that the rangers said we might, plus Silvanth will be able to protect the supply and healer wagons should any giants or dragons slip past you or the line. Additionally, Lady Beckann is only a call away. That will also allow immediate healing to any who need it right there at the fight.”

  Support corps units were essential in Alliance military doctrine, for an army without food, healing support, and resupply was not effective over the long haul. This was viewed in such high esteem that the support corps batt
alion in a legion was commanded by an officer of almost equal rank to the legion commander. He oversaw all logistics operations for the supported unit, which was usually guarded by the female metallic dragons and senior clerics. This usually gave them adequate protection, freeing all combat forces to concentrate on the battle at hand.

  Watterseth might be needed in the front line, backing up the infantry, Mkel thought to himself quickly if this fight is against the giants. “That is likely true, sir, especially if there are any liches or beholders,” Mkel replied to the senior support corps officer. “Father Watterseth, would that suit you to be with the infantry versus the support corps as long as Silvanth is available?” he asked the cleric.

  “It would be my honor, Dragonrider,” the cleric stated.

  Watterseth was indeed a powerful cleric, with the unique ability to be fierce in close combat and able to cast both strong offensive spells and even more powerful defensive spells. With his special mace, powered with a dragonstone given to him by Silvanth, he was also able to perform amazing feats of healing after a battle. The mace was a standard Alliance weapon of power wielded by clerics. It had a vertical grooved shaft like a pillar with a flattened square between the shaft and the ball head piece. The mace was made of a high-mithril-content alloy with the dragonstone on top of the ball. Each legion and Weir had a senior cleric who not only was the religious leader, but also acted on behalf of the men on many different occasions; they also were the chief combat healers.

  “Any questions, gentlemen?” Mkel inquired. Silence indicated the answer. “We’ll go down by the numbers and start with the dwarves, Ordin.”

  “I, my brother, and the dwarves are ready for the drill and for the giants; no changes to our numbers, my dear dragonrider,” the burly dwarf replied. Dwarves were very stout and tenacious fighters. The average dwarf was slightly stronger than an average man and had a very tough constitution, capable of taking severe blows. They also had an intense hatred of orcs and giants, which went back for generations. They would be especially valuable in the coming fight with the fire giants.

  Their company consisted of one hundred twenty dwarves. It was well known that it was easier to break a wall of reinforced stone than a dwarf battle line. They wore either hardened scale mail or dwarven plate armor and carried large shields. The first rank wielded dwarven war axes or war hammers, with the second rank wielding Urgoshes (an axe/spear combo), and they all had at least two throwing axes or hammers. While they were all resolute fighters, their squad leaders were extra tough; the three platoon leaders answered to Ordin and Dorin, the joint commanders of the dwarf company. The platoon leaders, while not commissioned officers, were the toughest of the lot. The brothers gave the company a heavy knock-down punch, with Ordin’s powerful hammer of thunder and lightning and Dorin’s pure mithril bladed axe which is capable cleaving through almost anything like Mkel’s sword.

  “Excellent, Ordin; Dekeen, what say the elves?” Mkel asked his elvish counterpart.

  “All four platoons of elves are ready and will meet the garrison on the field. As always, you can depend on us, and the infantry platoon is prepared for the reserve mission,” the elf clan leader added.

  Elves were very mobile, being able to run faster and farther than humans. This made them very suited as a mobile reserve, for they were also very deft and sure of foot, as well as being able to see and hear better than humans. Elves could cover almost as much ground as a cavalry unit.

  The archer platoons of the elves could muster five times the firepower and had a longer range than any other race could hope to produce. Just this company of elven archers could route a battalion. The archers wore either elven chain mail or studded leather reinforced with elven mail; they had long swords as a backup. The heavy infantry had elven chain mail with banded armor, or occasionally light plate armor. They wielded either long swords and large dark elm wood shields or double-bladed spears. The elves that mastered those weapons were extremely dangerous in close battle. It was akin to walking into a round saw. An elven fighter of high experience led this platoon and personally wielded his mithril-edged double-bladed spear. Dekeen was the overall commander of the elven contingent.

  “Pekram, are you and your platoon leaders ready?” Mkel said to his senior sergeant of the infantry garrison company.

  “No problem, sir, the company is ready. We have two soldiers out, one for a family issue and the other with a fever. Otherwise, the men are ready,” he replied in his usual confident but slightly insolent manner.

  “Lieutenants, do you concur?” Mkel asked the infantry platoon leaders.

  “Yes sir,” they all echoed. Even though the three platoon leaders were officers, Pekram was still in charge of the company after Mkel. He was a company senior sergeant and also a fanatical fighter in a melee. The three platoons of over forty men apiece were further divided into three twelve-man squads, consisting of eight infantrymen armed with long spears, large metal or elven elm wood shields, long swords, and daggers. They were issued standard banded or scale armor. The other four men were the range or missile soldiers, armed with long composite bows or heavy crossbows with at least thirty arrows or sixty bolts, backup long swords, and small bucklers; they wore scale armor with chain mail or banded armor.

  All the company’s weapons and armor were masterwork or better, with an arms and armor smith shops in Draden to support this as well as a similar shop in the Weir itself. The squad leaders were either fighters or senior ranged weapon soldiers of greater experience and usually possessed some sort of magical weaponry. In a usual operation, the range weapon men fired at enemy formations as soon as they crossed the three-hundred-yard mark. The heavy infantry formed an armored buttress with their long spears and heavy shields, until the spears were broken, then they fought with their swords, with the range weapon men and squad leaders filling in with their long swords after they were out of arrows or bolts to plug in gaps in the line. They also had two canisters of dragon’s fire, which when thrown, burst into flames in a five-yard radius. This could devastate the front ranks of an enemy line.

  The platoon leaders were well-trained commissioned officers, aided by the platoon’s senior sergeant. Both had fairly powerful magic or mithril alloy weapons of some sort. Several battle healers were assigned to each platoon, making it approximately forty men strong. While Pekram basically commanded the company, Toderan and Mkel were the overall commander and senior sergeant of the entire garrison.

  “Lieutenant Wheelor, how say you of the land dragons?” Mkel asked the tall, lanky officer.

  “All four of our dragons are up and ready, as are their crews,” Wheelor replied in his strong mountain accent. The land dragon platoon consisted of four dragons, two mated pairs, and their crews made a formidable force in their own right. Land dragons were just slightly smaller than white dragons but just as strong, averaging fifty feet long and resembling a wingless cross between a gold and a bronze dragon. They were of average intelligence, and while unable to blood bond with humans, they grew very attached to their crews. They could speak crude Draconic and breathe a line of fire out to one hundred yards. They had very powerful claws and a strong bite capable of rendering giants and comparable-sized creatures. Their crews, mounted on armored platforms on their backs, fired a ballista to a decimating eight-hundred-yard range (ballistae were either tipped masterwork blades capable of taking out an ogre or manticore on a successful hit or blades topped with a grenade of dragon’s fire that burst in a fifteen-yard-sized area). This would do double the damage to a single creature if struck. The land dragons were used as a spearhead or breaking force in an all-out land battle or to face larger opponents the infantry encountered such as giants, which they had an intense hatred of. Giants, on the other hand, had a great fear of land dragons and often retreated at the sight of them.

  While they did not possess wings, they moved as fast as horses and could jump short distances. Their hides posse
ssed the same magical resistance as their true dragon cousins, capable of taking several spells or magical damage as well as being tough to penetrate with a sword or spear. The magic shields they generated were weak by comparison to those of metallic dragons but still capable of taking several spells.

  In battle, the land dragons could break most enemy formations and were employed to protect the infantry. Land dragons always worked in pairs to give themselves mutual support, especially if facing a chromatic dragon. They coordinated and cooperated very effectively together as teams. Lieutenant Wheelor very masterfully maneuvered them in combat and split them into two dragon pair sections for more flexibility if the situation dictates. While Mkel was a dragonrider and infantryman at heart, he had a great fondness for the land dragon units. The crews had a certain laid-back attitude about them, but they went out of their way to protect the infantry. In land battles, they were hard to match and were the mainstay of the Alliance Army.

  “Excellent, Lieutenant Wheelor; Lenor, how about the cavalry?” Mkel asked his senior paladin sergeant.

  “We are looking pretty good. We will be four paladins short, though, for we are running two patrols on each side of the break in the Gray Mountains,” the wiry, toughened paladin replied.

  “Good, my old friend, you’ll just have to tighten up your formation. I will give you the signal as to which side you will counterattack from, so keep your seeing crystal handy. Remember during the exercise today that you’ll be the ones who will either back up the land dragons against the giants, ogres, and trolls or carve through an enemy cavalry charge, which will likely be mounted on dire wolves or hell hounds,” Mkel directed.