The creatures and their riders made it to the dwarfs first, but they did not stop to fight, instead they divided into two groups and went around the fighting so they could face the horsemen head on.
They had barely started to file back into their center ranks when they collided with the horsemen.
Draek pulled up before the impact happened. Hayden heard the sounds as the horses ran head first into the horned creatures. He tried not to look down but he couldn’t help himself.
Some of them hadn’t met yet so he watched as the horses tried to use their weight and momentum to knock their opponents over. It would have worked if their opponent was smaller or slower but these creatures were neither.
The horses did what they were trained to do, what they had been bred for. When they slammed into the dwarf’s mounts some of them were impaled instantly, others were hit by the creature’s front arms, but a few unlucky ones got smashed to the ground and torn apart by the monsters teeth.
Hayden could see the horsemen trying to stay in control of the battle, a battle that they had lost control of very early on. They tried to keep their men together and further wedge the dwarfs into two groups.
The dwarf’s creatures had the advantage over the horses, but the soldiers ridding the horses had the advantage over the dwarfs. Just like the horses had been bred for this purpose, most of the men had known from a very early age that this is what they were going to be doing. They had been training for years with these animals, honing their skills.
These dwarf riders didn’t carry weapons and it was obvious that their mounts were still undisciplined and untrained. Once the initial shock of the beasts was over, the horse men started gaining ground.
Do you think we should help them? Draek asked as the circled overhead like a vulture over a fresh kill. Hayden had been so drawn into what was going on below that he hadn’t thought about helping out.
He drew another arrow and sent it racing down to plant into the shoulder of a dwarf rider. The dwarf grabbed his shoulder in pain and, by doing so, he yanked hard on the reins. His mount obeyed and rammed another dwarf, the two beasts and their riders tumbled to the snowy ground.
I think we should. Hayden notched another arrow and sent it after another dwarf, he noticed Shane was throwing his spears and causing pain and havoc for the dwarfs. They both dove down over the dwarfs, and their dragons released their fire over their biggest groups.
The dwarfs had forsaken most of the armor that they normally wore; it was too cumbersome to wear while controlling their mounts. Shields were impractical and impossible to use while ridding so they too were not carried. Those were two mistakes a lot of the dwarfs wouldn’t get the chance to make again.
The other dragons were still focused on the fight in the skies, trying to round up the last of the red dragons and reform all the wings. None of them noticed what was going on below except for Hayden and Shane.
The first pass that they made was devastating. The creature’s instincts told them to run away when dragons were near, but they were so close together they could only climb on top of each other as they tried to escape.
The dwarfs realized their mistakes when Draek and Rilora exhaled fire down upon them. Nearly half of their numbers succumbed to the flames; many others were gravely wounded or lost their mounts.
The horsemen did not cheer as their enemy was burnt down. They closed ranks and marched their horses forward, killing anything that moved in their way.
The dwarf riders tried to get their mounts to jump into the ranks of the horsemen. They were trying to kill their enemy, but also so the dragons couldn’t burn them. Draek and Rilora continued to dive down over the battle then turn around in the air and do another pass.
They stopped blowing fire and used their teeth and claws to do their killing. They grabbed the animals in mid air as they tried to jump over the horsemen’s lines. Once they had them in their grasps they would use their claws or teeth to kill them. If they didn’t have a good enough grip on them to do that safely then they would just fly up and drop them.
Hayden and Shane continued to rain down their bolts and spears, injuring or killing all they hit. The horsemen continued to push into the dwarfs, dispatching the riders with a quick blow of their sword.
Other dragon riders finally realized what was happening on the ground and flew down to help out. Two full wings joined in to help Shane and Hayden, and in no time the dwarf riders and their wicked mounts were all dead.
Hayden had hoped that some would surrender, but they continued to fight to the last man. When there was only one dwarf rider left he did no slow down his assault, he continued to lash out and drive his mount to attack as if he still had an army to his back.
The dark horned creatures were the dwarf’s last hopes. With them gone the battle had been won, but the dwarfs were not giving up their losing fight.
The only dwarfs remaining were foot soldiers that had been in the initial advancement. They stood in a large clump with their backs together; they still had their weapons raised.
Draek landed just behind the ring of foot soldiers that had the dwarfs surrounded. Hayden stayed in the saddle and sheathed his weapon as he waited for everyone to find their place.
Elizabeth and her wing landed, they got off their saddles and waited for the man who led the ground battle to greet them.
“Elizabeth the Gold, it is an honor,” the man said as he bowed down before her. He wore armor like the other soldiers, but his was still shinny and had no sign of damage on it.
“General Guthren, I see that you have managed to defeat the dwarfs.” The general smiled and bowed a second time. “But at a great cost of our cavalry, I couldn’t help but watch your charge get shattered by their beasts. If it wasn’t for my brave riders we would be cleaning your bodies off the field.”
All sense of pride quickly left the general’s face, and he tried to bow again and grumble on about being sorry, but Elizabeth pushed past him and made her way to where the dwarfs were.
The others in her wing flanked her on either side; they walked in the same way as they flew. More ground troops ran in to surround the dwarfs.
Dragon wings still flew throughout the sky. Draek looked up at the dragons and Hayden watched as they broke into three groups: one group seemed to be heading back to Celestial City, one group went off the way the dwarfs had come, and the smallest group stayed behind and continued to circle over head.
Where are they going? Hayden asked about the group that was heading to where the dwarfs had originated.
They are going to pursue the red dragons that had escaped and take back the Northern Tower. Elizabeth wants it back as soon as possible. Hayden watched as they disappeared into the clouds.
What are we supposed to do? he asked.
She wants us here. Draek did not sound happy about being forced to stay here and Hayden did not want any attention from Elizabeth right now.
She pushed past soldiers who had their weapons drawn and pointed at the dwarfs. There were less than a hundred dwarfs left alive.
She glared at them and took her time letting them see her, letting them know that it was she who had defeated them.
“Lay down your weapons.” She spoke loudly but was not yelling.
The dwarfs did not respond to her demand, they looked at her as if she was nothing more than a bug telling them what to do. She smiled at them and waited patiently for them to obey, as it became apparent that they were not going to do so she made them obey.
One of the soldiers next to her had his bow and arrows on his back, the bow had not been unstrung yet. She reached over and took the bow gently in her hand and drew out a single arrow. She examined them carefully, making a show out of it for the dwarfs.
She notched the arrow and gave the bowstring a slight tug so she could feel the weight of it. When she had finished her inspection of the bow she faced the dwarfs again, this time the smile was gone.
“Put down your weapons.” Her voice left no question that
it was a demand that should be obeyed.
The dwarfs no longer looked defiantly at her; instead they looked confused and afraid and looked to each other for guidance. One dwarf tightened his grip on his battle axe and stepped forward.
“We will never…” he began to speak but was unable to finish. As soon as he got the first few words out Elizabeth drew back the bow and fired the arrow in a blink of an eye. Hayden had never seen anyone fire so fast in his life.
The dwarf never realized what she was doing and never made an attempt to dodge the arrow that sank into his neck.
He stopped speaking and just stood there, looking at the arrow shaft that was protruding out of his neck. He looked back up at Elizabeth, his face sad and confused, like he did not know why she would do such a thing.
His body fell backwards, to reveal to the dwarfs behind him. They all clenched their weapons and began to scream at Elizabeth. She grabbed another arrow, notched it and pulled it back to full draw.
“LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
The dwarfs finally obeyed her, one at a time they stepped forward and threw down their battle axes, maces, and whatever else they had carried into battle.
She did not release the tension on the bow until the last dwarf dropped his weapon. Elizabeth looked at the pile of dwarf steal in front of her. She handed back the bow to its rightful owner and then made her way in between the dwarfs and their blades.
“Mercy,” a dwarf near the front said softly. The dwarfs around him pushed him and scolded him for showing weakness. Hayden could see the dwarf who had spoken, and he could tell by the shortness of his beard that he was younger then almost every other dwarf.
He kept his hands around a necklace that he wore; he kept playing with it between his fingers so Hayden had a hard time making it out. From the few glances Hayden got of it it looked to be a small metal hammer.
Elizabeth stopped to look at the dwarf that had spoken; she was like a cat that had just heard a mouse.
“Please, I have a wife, and she is pregnant with our first.” The dwarf continued to talk even though his fellows continued to try to silence him. He had tears falling freely from his eyes and he stared at the hammer in his hands.
“Mercy? You ask for mercy?” She raised her hands to the dwarfs as she spoke. “You have openly attacked and killed my people; you march towards my city with the intent for war. You challenge us in battle, and all this has been done for no reason, we have done nothing wrong to you, and yet you ask for mercy?”
When the dwarf she was speaking to did not answer her she looked to the others, but they all remained silent. Finally a low, gruff voice came from the middle of the group of defeated dwarfs.
“You attacked our clans for no reason; you captured and killed our people for no reason. When we retaliate you say we have done so unprovoked. Your reign has come to an end, Elizabeth The Gold, the scale has been broken and now everyone will see you for what you are.”
The dwarf spit at the ground at her feet. Elizabeth turned her back to the dwarfs like she was thinking about a difficult subject.
“No one will know about this if there are not any survivors. Kill them all.” She walked away as the soldiers surrounding the dwarfs drew their bows back and fired into the midst of their enemy.
Hayden could do nothing but watch as the dwarfs were shot down. Some tried to run at the soldiers, even though they had no weapons they swung at the soldiers with their hard fists. But it was all for nothing, even the ones that managed to knock down a soldier or two were quickly run through.
The dwarf who had spoken up about mercy just stood amongst the chaos. He was unmoving like a stone in a creek, as all the dwarfs were running around him screaming, fighting and dying.
He kept his hands tight around his hammer necklace, saying a silent prayer that only he could hear. Then he brought it up to his lips and gently kissed it, as if he was kissing a new born baby’s head.
Then two arrows struck him in the chest; he was still wearing armor so the arrow did no pierce him all the way through. He staggered back a few steps from the impact of the arrows. Another flew and hit him just above his right hip, then shortly after that a fourth one found its home in his back left shoulder.
He still tried to stand, but he had to drop to his knees. Hayden jumped out of his saddle and ran as fast as he could to the dwarf. He was the last one still upright out of the almost hundred dwarfs that had been there.
Soldiers were moving around from body to body, using their spears to make sure that they were dead. He was the last dwarf left alive.
Elizabeth raised her hand to stop the thirty archers that were about to end the dwarfs life. She walked slowly to where the dwarf knelt, being careful not to step on one of the many bodies.
She stopped before the dwarf, blood starting to slowly drip out of his mouth. He was starting to have a hard time breathing, death was almost with him, but he still raised his head to look her in the eyes.
“Mercy?” she asked him mockingly. The dwarf stared at her, never pulling his eyes away from hers. He sucked in his lower lip and shook his head. Elizabeth nodded her head at the dwarf’s answer.
Hayden made it to the edge of the soldiers, they had all moved in closer now that there was no threat from the dwarfs. He pushed people out of his way, grabbed men by their helmets and yanked them back if they didn’t get out of his way.
Every time he moved a person two more people took his place. He knew he had to be getting closer to where the dwarf was but he felt like he was making no progress in the throng of armored people.
He pushed his way through the last group of people but he tripped on someone’s foot. He fell face first into the bloody snow. He propped himself up just in time to see Elizabeth draw her blade.
She carried a long thin blade that had a slight curve in it. The blade was small but it was also strong and sharp. The first thing someone would notice about it was that it was gold, just like the rest of her armor.
She looked the blade over as she held it in her hands. She cradled it like a child and she admired it like a painter; it was a killing device and a work of art. She pointed the tip of her blade in between the dwarf’s eyes.
“Ever seen a blade so beautiful?” she asked the dwarf. He continued to stare at her, but he could not help but to quickly examine the blade. He allowed a small smile to cross his face.
“I have seen children make better blades to chop wood with.” His smile grew larger as the words left his lips.
Elizabeth joined him in his smile. She pulled the blade back over her left shoulder and brought it across in one smooth motion. She held the pose for a second and then returned the blade to its sheath.
Hayden thought that she had cut in front of the dwarf for a second. The dwarf remained perfectly still and the smile still on his face. But then he fell to his side and his head rolled off his body.
Elizabeth bent down over the dwarf body and grabbed something, then made her way back to her dragon.
“I want all their bodies burnt, stack them up and let the dragons burn them up.” She passed Hayden, who was still lying down on the ground. He started to get up when he realized she was staring at him.
“Hayden The Silver has fought bravely today. I watched you kill dozens of dwarfs from the ground and then take out just as many dragons.” She threw something at Hayden which he caught against his chest. “A little something to remember this day by.”
She walked over to her dragon and jumped into the saddle. As her dragon jumped into the air Hayden opened up his hands to see the hammer necklace the dwarf had been wearing; the chain was still intact but there was a blood smear on the hammer.
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Hayden and Draek were on their way back to Celestial City, flying in their normal flight pattern with Hayden in the lead. Giles and Sebastian had both made it through the battle, but Hayden did not know what they had done during the battle. He knew there were a lot of drag
ons in the air but didn’t remember seeing them.
Hayden and Draek kept their minds open to each other. Hayden was lost and confused about what had happened. He knew battles were something he was going to have to go through, but he never imagined them going the way this one had gone.
He knew that he would never forget the smell of the burning bodies. He looked back over his shoulder and he could still see the tower of black smoke rising in the cold air.
As they had flown away from the battlefield it started snowing, and the snowflakes were giant puffs of white that looked like clouds slowly falling from the sky. As they had gotten higher into the air, Hayden had looked over the battle field and noticed that the snow was starting to cover it up.
Nature was trying to cover the blood and bodies, trying to cover the red with white. Trying to forget what evil had happened, something Hayden would never be able to do.
Hayden kept looking down at his hands; they still had smears of blood on them. He was already starting to see faces of dwarfs in his head. The things that he had done were starting to haunt their way into the darkest points of his mind, staying in the shadows where Hayden knew they were there, but he couldn’t see them clearly.
Hayden, enough. Draek’s voice was soothing and friendly but also stern and commanding.
The deep voice of his dragon resonated in his mind and kept him from slipping into madness.
You acted bravely, and honorable; you did what you had to do to stay alive. You did not attack innocent people who had no way of stopping you. You were in a battle with warriors, and they were intent on killing you. You did what you had to do. Draek’s reasoning started fortifying itself in Hayden’s mind.
He started realizing that Draek was right, and that if he wouldn’t have done what he did then they would both be dead.
Thank you Draek, I am sorry for thinking that way. Hayden never had trouble admitting when Draek was right, which happened to be quite often.
It’s ok, Hayden. We don’t have to like the things we are forced to do, but we do have to find a way to live with them. The dragons that I had to kill today, they were no different than I am now. In another life we could have hunted together, flown in a wing as equals. In another life. Draek started to pull his consciousness away from Hayden’s.
The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) Page 41