"Dragon!" One of the villagers suddenly warned, pointing up at a dark silhouette which was circling silently overhead.
"That looks like Tempest!" Dar exclaimed in surprise. "She must have news!"
They all watched as the enormous beast continued to circle, slowly dropping lower and lower until it finally touched down in the courtyard outside of the enormous castle.
"Tempest!" Leia exclaimed happily, hurrying over and scampering up the scarlet dragon's back.
"Hello, little one." The great serpent rumbled, reaching up to pluck the young girl from her shoulder, then gently sitting her back down on the ground before her.
"What is it?" Dar asked his old friend, noticing the grim expression on the beast's face. "What's happened?"
"The Etazk are throwing everything they have at Sierra." Tempest reported. "The fortifications that the dwarves constructed to shield the city have started to fall, and they're starting to take massive casualties."
"Has Damion arrived with the rest of the forces yet?" Shirk asked in concern.
"Not yet. He is still several hours away from the city." The huge scarlet dragon looked worried. "I'm not sure how much longer they're going to be able to hold out. The Etazk priests have unleashed dozens of winged creatures that they summoned up from the Underworld, and they're wreaking havoc among Sierra's defenders."
"Can't you do anything?" Leia asked, a feeling of dread suddenly overcoming her.
"Not by myself. There are too many of them. I wouldn't stand a chance."
They stood staring at one another helplessly.
"What if you had a little help?" Leia asked, her eyes suddenly narrowing. Something Gwynth had said several days before leapt into her mind, and she suddenly knew exactly what needed to be done.
"I'm afraid it would take me too long to locate any of my brethren." Tempest told her regretfully. "They're spread out across the world, and it would take me too long to locate enough of them to help."
"Let me worry about that." The young girl told her confidently. "Just get ready to head to Sierra." She hurried off into the keep, leaving them all to stare at one another in confusion and disbelief.
**********
"Here they come!" Langsten shouted over the roar of the battle, pointing to a pair of ships that were slowly making their way into the harbor, followed closely by the rest of the Etazk fleet.
"Prepare to fire!" Garth roared to the dwarves who were controlling the last two operational trebuchets, which had been placed atop the dockside battlements to help defend the inner harbor.
"Hold that order!" Damarius told him, pointing at the incoming fleet. "Watch!"
The two lead ships quickly set course for the docks, the warriors on deck roaring in victory. It wasn't long before one of the ships struck one of floating barrels Captain Harper's men had placed all over the inner harbor, dislodging several of the corks that kept the sea water from mixing with the chemicals inside.
The resulting explosion was spectacular. Men were sent hurling through the air as the ship was suddenly ripped in half and tossed into the air. It crashed back down into the water and immediately disappeared beneath the waves, leaving nothing but debris and dead bodies to mark its passing.
The second ship tried to steer clear of the explosion, only to strike a pair of the floating barrels, causing them to instantly explode, reducing the ship to kindling.
"Whoa!" Zayan exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Those barrels pack quite a bit of punch! How long did it take you to develop them?"
"Not long," Damarius murmured, watching as several more ships entered the harbor. "I accidentally spilled a bit of water into one of the chemicals I was using while working on a potion a few decades back. The instant the water touched the chemical, it blew up in my face. I realized almost immediately that when combined with water, the chemical became explosive. I knew that it may come in handy someday, so I made sure to keep a copy of the formula."
They watched as three more ships were destroyed, then were all suddenly thrown from their feet as one of the flying beasts crashed into the side of the guardhouse with tremendous force.
"Something has to be done about those things!" Sly snarled, scrambling back to his feet with a furious expression. "They're decimating our men!"
Even as he said this, several of the beasts landed atop the dockside wall and began rampaging through their troops, who desperately tried to fight off the massive beasts. Another beast crashed down into one of their last remaining trebuchets, destroying the siege machine, and reducing itself to rubble.
Things were quickly spiraling out of control. More ships continued to pour into the harbor despite the threat that Damarius's barrels posed. Dozens of them were quickly reduced to kindling, but for each ship that was destroyed, three managed to make their way through unharmed.
"Fire that machine!" Garth roared to his kinsmen, who immediately launched a flaming net in a high arching shot over the inner harbor, raining flaming containers down onto the approaching ships.
The dwarves quickly hurried to reload the trebuchet, but another pair of the flying creatures suddenly dropped down among them and began ripping into the machine, intent on destroying it. The dwarves drew their weapons and swarmed the creatures, their heavy hammers quickly reducing them to rubble, but the damage was already done. The last trebuchet had been rendered useless.
Sly cursed. "That was the last remaining siege machine!"
"We're just going to have to do our best without them." Damarius said helplessly. "We have to hold them off until Damion arrives! We don't have any other choice!"
They watched as several of the Etazk ships that had nearly reached the docks suddenly lurched to a stop as they struck the underwater debris, ripping great gaping holes in the ships' hulls. They rapidly began to take on water, forcing their occupants to abandon ship. Some of the Etazk managed to struggle their way to the docks, but were quickly cut down by the archers on the wall.
One of the approaching ships slowed as they approached, and a robed priest appeared at the bow, his arms outstretched.
"What is he doing?" Garth asked with a frown, pointing down at the priest suspiciously.
As they watched, the priest suddenly pointed down at the water, which began to bubble and churn alarmingly, then raised both of his hands high above his head. Tons of the stone and wood debris that their army had used to block the wharf suddenly burst from the water and rose high into the air. The priest made a quick gesture, and the debris suddenly shot forward to slam into the granite wall, shaking it so violently that it sent several of the city's defenders plummeting to their deaths.
With the way to the dock finally clear, the Etazk ship slowly pulled into the wharf. Before the vessel had even been tied off, the Etazk warriors began to pour off the ship with an enormous roar and rushed to huge granite wall, their eyes alight with battle lust.
"They've managed to land!" Damarius leveled his staff and released an enormous blast of energy that struck the ship's mast and exploded, showering the Etazk with deadly splinters, and causing the mast to crash down among the warriors, crushing a number of them beneath its massive weight.
Other ships reached the docks and more priests appeared, duplicating the actions of the first, and using their magic to clear the debris from their path. The docks were soon packed with screaming warriors who rushed forward and began to try to force open the heavy steel gates that kept them from entering the city.
"This isn't looking good!" Juco reported as he hurried into guardhouse bleeding from a large gash above one eye. "The gates won't be able to keep them out forever!"
"Start having everyone but the archers begin pulling back from the wall." Sly decided grimly. "Have them form up and prepare to face the Etazk head on once they finally break through."
"It's about time!" The heavily muscled mercenary said savagely, heading towards the door. "But it's going to take an hour or so to get everyone in position with these beasts dropping from the sky."
"I ca
n buy us a bit of time." Damarius hurried over and grasped a lever similar to those that had been in the towers, releasing more of the foul smelling liquid they had used to help keep the Etazk ships at bay. "Brace yourselves!" He took a torch off of the wall nearby and casually tossed it over the side of the balcony, then hurried back into the guardhouse, which was suddenly rocked by an enormous explosion.
The screams of the Etazk warriors lasted only a few seconds as the men were quickly consumed by the roaring inferno that erupted from the foul smelling liquid.
Two more explosions rattled the wall as the dwarves activated the defenses over the other two gates, forcing many of the Etazk to draw back to avoid being roasted alive.
"That should buy us enough time to get everyone into place." The old wizard grumbled in satisfaction.
They hurried down to join with the rest of the forces that had already started to form ranks a hundred or so yards from the granite wall that separated them from the Etazk, pausing once to allow Damarius to blast another of the flying beasts into rubble.
"Things aren't looking good." Captain Harper reported to them as he and Ignan, who was now dressed in ill fitting thick leather armor, hurried forward to meet them. "We've already lost a lot of men to those damn beasts!"
"We'll just have to do our best." Sly growled, his face grim. "We're the last thing that stands between the Etazk and the rest of the continent."
They hurried to get the rest of their forces into place while still trying to avoid the strange flying creatures who continued to swoop down and attack their forces. Their army did their best to defend themselves against the unearthly creatures, using ropes affixed with grappling hooks to snag several of the beasts and drag them down, where they were quickly reduced to rubble.
"The fires are beginning to die out!" Ignan warned them, watching the flames that had been blocking the heavy steel gates as they slowly began burn lower and lower.
Langsten, who had remained behind in the guardhouse to keep an eye on the Etazk, hurried up to them with a disturbed expression on his face.
"What is it?" Damarius asked, noticing the unsettled expression on the soldier's face.
"The fires keeping the Etazk at bay are dying out, and the Etazk are look like they're preparing for an all out attack."
"What are their priests doing?"
"They have gathered near the center gate. I think they may be preparing to use their magic to force it open."
"Have they managed to offload all of their forces?"
"Not even by half." Langsten snorted humorlessly. "There isn't enough room for all the ships to dock, so they've been lashing them together so their men can travel from ship to ship and make it to shore."
"We could sure use one of Damion's dragons right about now." Garth mumbled grimly.
"The scarlet dragons cannot harm mortals." Sly reminded him with a frown. "It was one of the agreements made when they were released from the Dragon Gem."
The ground beneath them suddenly began to tremble, causing the few remaining buildings left in the city to shake and quiver violently.
"Earthquake!" Ignan cried, desperately trying to remain upright.
"It's not an earthquake," Damarius disagreed, watching the huge granite wall as it began to sway back and forth. "The Etazk priests are attempting to bring down the wall."
They watched as the wall continued to sway alarmingly, but the sturdy dwarven built structure stubbornly resisted the incredible forces being focused on it by the Etazk priests.
"I told you dwarven stonework was nearly indestructible!" Garth laughed proudly. "It'll take a lot more than an earthquake to bring that wall down!"
An enormous explosion suddenly lit the sky, and a huge section of the wall was blown inward, raining fist sized chunks of granite down onto their forces. Damarius managed raise his staff and use his magic to shield himself and the others from most of the debris, but their men weren't as lucky. Dozens were injured and killed as heavy chunks of the wall rained down upon the unsuspecting warriors, many of whom were still busy attempting to ward of the flying creatures that continued to harass them.
"Here they come!" Juco roared as the Etazk warriors began to pour through the missing section of the wall and charge directly towards them.
It was instant chaos as the two armies finally met with a tremendous crash that could be heard for miles around. Though they were vastly outnumbered, the fact that the bulk of the Etazk army had yet to actually reach land gave the defenders a distinct advantage over the invaders, but that advantage was quickly being nullified as more and more of the Etazk continued to stream through the missing section of the battlements.
"What, in the name of the gods, are those things?" Zayan asked as dozens of huge hairless wolf-like creatures appeared in the wall's opening and began to rush forward, their eyes glowing with an unearthly light.
"Something conjured up from the Underworld, no doubt." Damarius growled, leveling his staff and sending a bolt of pure energy sizzling through the air, striking one of the strange beasts directly in its face.
The bolt of energy exploded, sending chunks of the beast's head flying in all directions. The headless corpse dropped mid step to the cobblestones and skidded to a stop a few feet away, where it lay twitching. Another bolt of energy burst from the old wizard's staff, and another, and another, each sizzling through the air with amazing accuracy and striking one of the unearthly wolves, instantly reducing them to quivering masses of charred flesh.
He suddenly staggered unsteadily, and looked as though he were about to faint from exhaustion. He leaned heavily against his staff as he fought to catch his breath, his face dripping with sweat.
Sly, Garth, Juco, and Zayan hastily formed a protective circle around the weary old wizard, who had quickly become the focus of the Etazk's wrath.
"We can't hold out like this much longer!" Juco roared as he cut down a pair of Etazk warriors with two massive blows of his broad sword.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Sly asked sarcastically, driving the point of his sword deep into another Etazk's eye socket with a meaty crunch.
Juco opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a sudden earsplitting roar that echoed through the mountains, causing warriors on both sides to stop and look around in surprise.
"That sounded like a dragon!" Sly exclaimed, taking advantage of the distraction to cut down the nearest Etazk with several lightening quick blows.
The sky above the city suddenly exploded in flames which engulfed several of the strange gargoyles, instantly reducing them to dust. Another blast of flames erupted seemingly out of the thin air, destroying several more of the flying beasts, who had forgotten about the city's defenders, and were desperately searching for the source of the inferno.
"I think they're veiled dragons!" Damarius exclaimed in surprise, still searching the sky for any sign of a dragon.
"They almost have to be veiled dragons," Sly agreed with a worried look on his face. "unless Tempest and the scarlet dragons have learned to turn themselves invisible."
"They must have been attracted by the sounds of the battle." Garth grunted, removing an Etazk warrior's head with a casual looking swing of his battleaxe.
Yet another blast of flames exploded in the sky above their heads, causing everyone to look up in surprise. They watched in astonishment as nearly a dozen enormous dragons seemed to materialize out of nowhere and began to rip into the flying gargoyles savagely. They quickly destroyed the last few remaining creatures, then began to slowly circle over the city, causing both the attackers and defenders to stop and watch with fearful eyes.
"This can't be good." Juco murmured in a worried voice.
"Would you please stop saying that!" Sly snarled, his eyes locked on the serpents above.
One of the circling dragons suddenly tucked its wings and dropped from the sky, slamming to the ground amongst the Etazk with earth shaking force. It immediately began to rampage through their ranks, sending them fleeing in terror from the m
assive beast.
Another pair of dragons suddenly dived down towards the harbor and began breathing fire down upon the fleet of invading ships. The screams of the Etazk who were unlucky enough to still be trying to make their way to shore were instantly silenced as they were enveloped in the massive inferno.
Within seconds, nearly every ship in the harbor had been set ablaze. Those few who were lucky enough to escape the dragon's fire by diving into the water quickly drowned, pulled to the bottom of the harbor by the weight of their own armor.
"What are they doing?" Sly asked in astonishment, watching as yet another dragon crashed down into the Etazk's ranks, crushing one of the unearthly wolves, and sending dozens of warriors hurtling through the air, where they crashed down among their own men.
"Who cares?" Juco asked, splitting another Etazk warrior's head open with a vast overhand blow. "They can do whatever they want as long as they do it to the Etazk! We're still dangerously outnumbered here, in case you hadn't noticed."
"Not for long!" Damarius suddenly smiled. "Look!"
They all turned to see a massive force of mounted tribesmen charging towards them with Damion, riding his massive warhorse Storm, leading the charge.
"It's about damn time you showed up!" Sly roared to the huge warrior as he charged passed.
The tribesmen slammed into the Etazk army with a resounding crash, decimating the already panicked soldiers who were busy attempting to flee the rampaging dragons.
The veiled dragons leapt back into the air as the tribesmen approached and returned to circling overhead, leaving the remnants of the invading army in complete disarray.
The Deola took advantage of their enemies' disorder, cutting down entire regiments as the tribesmen continued to pour into town, eager to join the fray.
"Where have you been?" Sly demanded as Damion and Raven rode back up to join them. "The Etazk nearly finished us off! If it hadn't been for the veiled dragons appearing when they did, we'd all be dead right now!"
Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) Page 34