Drachenara

by T. G. Neal

  It was the seventh day, the one in which they were expected, that the King’s Legions arrived in droves. Behind them was a caravan of supplies, and a slew of soldiers prepared to fight and die for the King’s bidding. It was late in the evening, and the sun was already setting when they arrived. Vaelen, Rolyat, Commandant Broadsblade and several other high-ranking officers rode into camp first.

  Upon dismounting, the Commandant found Daja and the two met and spoke in his tent. While they discussed the ins and outs of the further plan, the others who had not seen each other in days came to speak again. When Aurelia saw that Vaelen has arrived she didn’t just walk to him, she ran. She saw his boots hit the ground and she wrapped her arms around him. He returned the gesture. “Aurelia,” he said, laughing. “It’s good to see you too!”

  She let go and backed away a bit. “I was starting to think we weren’t going to see each other until we marched north.”

  “It was a long trip.” He said, looking back at all the soldiers as they arrived. “But now I’ve done my job. I just have to fight when the time gets here.”

  “That’s it, huh? Fight.” She asked, turning and walking, gesturing for him to follow her.

  “That’s what I do best. It’s what we’ve been doing all along, isn’t it? Maybe once we’re done here, we won’t have to do it again.” Vaelen said, hands at his sides.

  Aurelia nodded and led him through the camp. “The Scouts are analyzing the situation now. We’re going to rendezvous with the southern Drachenaran border garrison first thing tomorrow, then march up the southern side of the Cedargrove River, around Giltshore, and into Drachenara.”

  “Listen to you,” Vaelen said, smiling. “They’ve turned you into a regular commander in the ten days we’ve been apart, haven’t they?”

  Aurelia shook her head and smiled. “You overhear it enough, and you start using the words.”

  “So, it is,” Vaelen said. “Listen, I— “

  He started to speak, but then the Commandant and Daja approached them. Daja spoke first, “Vaelen Wraithson, I knew your father. He was a great man. I’ve been told you may live up to his legacy. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person. Listen, we’ve made a decision.”

  The Commandant nodded, “Instead of making camp here tonight, we’re going to push ahead for several hours into the darkness. If we’ve been being watched, they will be expecting us in three days. This way it will be in one. We can push up the engagement to the night, two nights from now, giving us enough time to catch them off guard.”

  Vaelen nodded, “I can certainly see the strategic advantage in that.”

  The Commandant spoke again, “I expected you would. Then comes our next decision. Because our early scouts have reported that a lot of citizens of Drachenara have left, we’re expecting Jorvig and Miliria to have set up inside the walls with their soldiers. We’re going to send in advanced teams, archers and swordsmen first, to thin out the horde. Aurelia, we want you to go with the advanced team of archers, under command of Lieutenant Gilbreath. Vaelen, you’re going to push inside the castle walls with the swordsmen, following an immediate attack by Subterfuge.”

  Keneya was within earshot when he heard the plans. “I’ll go with Subterfuge. I know their tactics.”

  Another voice approached, the red-haired woman from Mreindale. “I’ll vouch for him, sir.” She answered.

  The Commandant looked at the two of them and nodded, “Guinevere, you lead your men into the city. Take this one with you,” he said, gesturing to Keneya “I want you to clear a path to the castle. Take out archers, any siege weaponry, traps; you know the routine.”

  Guinevere gestured for Keneya to follow her, and they left.

  “Vaelen, you’ll be accompanied by Rolyat, who will act as protector, fighter, and healer to you and your team after you breach the wall. Aurelia, once they’ve breached, the Lieutenant will lead you and the rest of the archer team in to find Jorvig and Miliria, and stomp this out at the source. All the while, the rest of the Legion and the Silver Sort will be engaging the guard and the troops inside the walls.” The Commandant was weary, it was obvious in his voice, but he knew a tactical advantage when he saw one, and he was going to take it, even at his own physical expense.

  Daja concluded their conversation by directing Vaelen and Aurelia which groups to make themselves comfortable with, effectively splitting the two of them up until the battle.

  That night, they uprooted the whole force, and began the relocation. It was no simple movement to do such, but it was done effectively.

  As they traveled, they stayed as far out of sight as they could, and instead moved to the west just enough to be out of sight and made camp on the riverbanks for the night. It amazed Vaelen how a force so large was able to move so effectively as a whole, especially when some of the troops weren’t even doing it out of belief. Their set up that night was quick – there was no length setting of the tents, or tools, and dinner had already been had before this most recent excursion. They slept on the cold ground, and they did so quickly. It was two hours after mid night when they all were able to sleep, finally, and they slept soundly from exhaustion.

  On the third day, when they arrived at Giltshore, they flanked the town and moved into the forests, ready to make the trek around the lake, and directly into Drachenara. As the group of twenty-thousand strong marched onward, a surprise caught them off guard. From the shadows of the forest came a volley of arrows aimed at the forward line. The attack was so swift it was undefended; Forward Scouts hadn’t seen any troops here in their previous runs. The snap whistle of arrows sailing through the late afternoon sky broke the nearly-silent low rumble of the Legion’s movement. In the low light, with the sun already beginning to hide behind the western hills of the tall valley, the arrows were obscured from view. Then, several soldiers on the forward line were struck with arrows, taken off their feet, and felled on the cool ground.

  Broadsblade waved his hand forward, arrows from a line of archers arced into the forests. By the sounds of the screams, a few soldiers were hit, and it sounded as if the rest fled. From what they could see, several of their attackers remained, while several others attempted to mount their horses and ride back toward the castle. Following the arrows, the first ranks pushed into the forest and combated the soldiers who remained, striking a definitive first blow against the Armies of Drachenara and Stormvale.

  The Commandant rode up front. “Third Legion, make camp here, spread out through the woods! Scouts, see if you can find whoever fired on us, if they yet live, kill them! Advance teams, First and Second Legions, on me! We ride now!”

  There might have been a hold up, had there not been an immediate attack. Now, with their surprise possibly ruined, The Commandant had to move with a sense of urgency. The Third Legion remained behind to put up camp and prepare for reinforcements. Meanwhile, the First and Second Legions marched at full speed toward Drachenara, toward the coming battle, toward the hell they may or may not have signed up for. As the massive force of men and women marched, the wildlife displaced. Large flocks of birds took flight from the trees. Vaelen and Rolyat rode in formation with the swordsmen riders he was attached to. In a glance across the lines, as they came out of the treeline, nearing the city of Drachenara, he could see Aurelia, riding amongst archers. Vaelen whispered, “Maker, let her be okay. Please, let her be okay.”

  “There they are!” Shouted the Commandant.

  As they topped the hill, seeing Drachenara there before them, they could also see what amounted to maybe two-thousand troops. One of the officers near the Commandant called out, “We’ll drive them into the ground! Attack!”

  Long ahead of the swordsmen and the archers, Keneya and Guinevere, as well at the rest of Subterfuge stood atop various rooftops, ready to spring into action. Guinevere turned and placed her red lips against Keneya’s and smiled. “Like old times?” She asked.

  “Like old times.” He responded. Then they jumped off the building. The targeted efficiency of th
e rogues was unlike any other. While Keneya and Guinevere hit the ground to pick off guards here and there, others ran along rooftops, killing archers who were posted in windows on duty. Together, they moved like lightning, Keneya ran along the side of a nearby building, springing off and slicing the hamstring of a guard with the dagger in his left hand, and then followed through by stabbing the guard in the chest with the dagger in his right hand.

  Simultaneously, Guinevere threw a knife, striking a guard in the center of his throat, bringing him to a knee.

  Keneya quickly sheathed one of his daggers and removed the throwing knife from the guard’s throat, and then immediately threw it at another one rounding a corner.

  Dipping low and pulling the knife out of the chest of the now-dead guard, she ran down the center of the street toward the Drachenara Keep at full force, when she came to a crossroad with a fountain she stopped. Keneya caught up with her and stopped as well. Straight in front of them was Drachenara Keep, to their left and right were two divisions of troops. Keneya looked at her, then the troops, then back to her. Then he put his hands up in the air.

  “You’re surrendering?!” She yelled.

  The divisions of soldiers marched towards them, sixty troops, thirty on each side.

  Keneya whistled. Out of the darkness went several blurs that resulted in slit throats. As the soldiers came closer to Keneya and Guinevere, their screams seemed louder than reality. Behind them they could see Vaelen and Aurelia approaching with their teams, weapons-drawn, cutting down guards on the way. By the time they arrived at Keneya and Guinevere’s side, the group fought as one cohesive unit. Together, the swordsmen, the archers, and Subterfuge cut down the mass of sixty men in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Then, in one of the taller clock towers one of Jorvig’s archers fired a flaming arrow up in the air.

  Time seemed to suddenly slow down, as a rain of burning stone rained down from above, pelting the keep, the soldiers, the citizens – everything – with siege ammunition. The city was effectively set ablaze.

  Vaelen ducked and dodged the raining fire as he pushed toward the keep. The closer he came, the better he could see, and now he could see the troops forming a barrier outside. These wore red cloth and were covered in a more detailed armor, Vaelen ascertained that they were the elite guards, better trained than the others, as some even managed to cut down some of Subterfuge. Vaelen went headstrong into the thick of it. “Find Jorvig and Miliria! They’re here!”

  Aurelia paused with her unit of archers, and they all took aim, firing upon the men at the door protecting the Keep. Some of the arrows found hold, others bounced off shields and armor, hitting the keep walls and falling to the ground below.

  Vaelen swung his sword, knocking his first opponents blade to the side, and then swung again with the might claymore, caving in his armor and shattering his collarbone and ribs. He angrily pulled the man aside and swung for the next one. With each swing his arms ached painfully. The heavy blade would make contact with a shield and would knock the man aside. Then Vaelen would finish the man. On the next, the claymore would shatter the tempered steel of their blades. Each strike would jar his person, vibrating the cold collision of death deep in his joints. He roared at each of them with beastial rage. A warm light radiated around him, and he felt rejuvenated, casting a quick glance back to see the hands of Rolyat at work, stitching his tearing muscles back together.

  Beyond the city walls, Jorvig’s Army marched toward the city from the forests to the north, colliding with the Legion forces already there combatting them. The Commandant watched on as they rained fire down on the city, and he could hear screams of all sorts from within. “Get scouts back there!” He shouted, swinging his signature broadsblade, cleaving a soldier at the hip. “You! Get inside and help them!”

  Nearly the full force of the Jorvig and Miliria’s army had collided with the Legion there, in front of the city gates. In the midst of the turmoil, a courier ran to the Commandant’s side. He turned back, grinned, and sent the courier away with another message.

  Moments later, their own siege weaponry came into play. The Third Legion, in their setting of camp, also pushed in the first line of siege weaponry to the line. Behind a cluster of boulders, in the edge of the tree line, flaming barrels of thick black oil went tumbling through the sky, striking at the edges of the land where Jorvig’s army was encamped, setting the forest ablaze.

  Hundreds fell by the minute, halved on both sides. Screams blanketed the would-be night silence with a tumult of death or dismemberment.

  Vaelen looked around inside, felling soldier after soldier. Then it occurred to him. “He isn’t here!” He shouted. “He wouldn’t fire on his own keep!”

  Rolyat swung his hammer, thudding with bright energy, catapulting his target backward and into the wall. As he did, a large burning hunk of stone coated in oil came crashing through the roof of the Main Hall. “I agree. Where then?” Rolyat shouted over the commotion.

  “Find their camp. Find him. He’s waiting until its necessary for him to intervene.” Vaelen shouted. Then he ran back out the door. He had only lost one soldier since entering the city, and now he, Rolyat and the others made their way back down the main path. As he passed Keneya, he shouted “We have to find their camp, he isn’t inside!”

  Aurelia fired arrow after arrow, killing soldier after soldier with vicious effectiveness. Though all along she kept her cool, in the back of her mind a rage was building. Jorvig, she thought, seething with anger. You destroy what our family built. She put an arrow into the eye of an enemy combatant, and instantly withdrew it, using it on another enemy, sinking this one in the center of his skull. You try to destroy me. The next arrow hit a man in the adams apple, sending him to the ground gurgling. You try to kill the ones I care for. She killed another. Where are you?! Coward!

  Vaelen and his swordsmen found horses who were left riderless and rode through the amalgamation of men and women on the battlefield, fighting and dying without a choice. He set the horse into a sprint and saw where the fireballs came from, and he pressed there with vicious intensity. Only a yard behind him, Rolyat rode just as quickly, as hard as his horse could be ridden, toward the trees; toward their enemies.

  As Vaelen fought off men, one by one, there seemed to be more and more coming. Jorvig’s forces near Drachenara were being pushed back to their camp.

  The conflict continued raging, finally disabling the siege machines that caused such havoc to the city, yet the soldiers continued.

  In the midst of all this, the silhouette of a human stepped out of the large fire that was beginning to consume the forest. When Vaelen caught glimpse of the silhouette, he saw Miliria, nearly transparent, walking towards a group of men. She outstretched her hand and turned Legion soldiers to ash with a single gesture. Vaelen continued to defend himself, watching as she used her dark powers. “Witch!” He screamed out.

  Time screeched to a halt around him. She turned to him with a smile on her face. “Do you believe I am a witch?” She asked, her gravelly disembodied voice echoing around him, among all the soldiers who were now frozen.

  “You are the monster behind this all!” He screamed, voice breaking in his effort.

  “Monster? No, I’m not the monster. I’ll show you a monster.” She laughed and suddenly became a black cloud of smoke that shot straight toward a mass of Legion soldiers.

  While Vaelen cut down soldier after soldier, finally catching a break, he began rallying Legion Soldiers together to push them harder back.

  Aurelia had five arrows left in her quiver. By the time she arrived at the burning forest, she saw Vaelen finally catch a moments respite where he wasn’t deflecting blades or taking lives. She rushed through a mass of Legion soldiers and started approaching Vaelen when she heard the enemy commander scream a command to retreat. The retreat horn blew, and victory was at hand for the Legion. Following the scream, came a deep, guttural, howling “No” That resounded deep into the forest and the surrounding area.

>   Aurelia looked to the flames, that now leapt higher and higher, beginning to lick at the leaves of the trees in places. In the midst of the fighting, several red-caped soldiers remained, and four ran towards Vaelen. She pulled one arrow and loosed it, sinking it directly into the heart of the first soldier. Vaelen ran through a second one. Protecting his back, she fired a second arrow, sinking halfway up the shaft into the soldier’s heart. Then she quickly fired her third arrow, right into the heart of the last soldier.

  The Commandant behind her yelled “Easy! Watch the flames! They’re covering their retreat!”

  Aurelia looked now, her attention turned just past Vaelen at a mass of Legion soldiers who were being hit and knocked airborne, the sounds of the impacts clearly shattering not only their armor, but their bodies. She bolted toward Vaelen, who was now rushing towards a creature unlike anything she’d ever seen before – except once. It had skin like a human, reddened by exertion, heat and blood. It was so large that it appeared to have shed most of its clothing. Its eyes bulged along with every vein in its body, and it roared in a most inhuman way. Everything rushed back to her again; Cynthia, the vision, the sounds, the feelings. Everything. “Vaelen, no!” She screamed.

  Behind her, from the corpses of fallen enemies, rose two burnt-black skeletons who seemed to peel out of the shells from which they once rested. Rolyat stepped in and used his Holy power to completely disintegrate one, while taking a long, wretched finger that penetrated his skin in a weak point in his armor. He yelled, but he turned back and gave it another vibrant flash of light before collapsing to his knees, grinding his teeth in agony. As he fell, he felt the dark embrace of evil magic inside of him. He struggled for a moment to keep himself from succumbing to the cold, and instead used his last stores of energy from the Nitorae to stay death in its place.