Spring, 1331
The two squadrons continued fleeing in silence, straining to hear the marching ranks of Auxian infantry or more importantly the squeal of wheels that signaled dragon-killing artillery. Wherever the humans were, they were not immediately behind them, and the woods remained deathly silent. After what seemed like ages, the appearance of a grassy clearing ahead finally broke up the tangled chaos of trees that had hemmed the dragons in their trap.
*Thank heavens.* Kharriana muttered. *We can fly off here-*
A volley of bolts suddenly zipped past them, all of the dragons instinctively diving towards the shelter of the ground.
*Feral, the humans are attacking again!* Falknir snarled, sending a blast of flame towards the human troops streaming out in line of battle.
*Shit! They must know all the fields around here!* Hearesecha swore.
Raphrsah was shaking her head. *We have to assume all clearings in this forest have ambuscades.*
*Can we even retreat?* Mera wondered aloud, which was immediately answered by yells and the sound of approaching Auxian troops.
Throwing flames to hold off the new line of attackers, the dragons began falling back between the two Auxian forces that had them caught in a vice.
*We’re being harried like deer* Falknir growled, but he went with the combined squadrons as well. Even the insubordinate black dragon knew that being isolated would now mean death.
Though projectiles were soon flying at the wyrms in all directions, Mera and Kharriana’s forces managed to gingerly work their way out of the trap, threading themselves between the Auxian forces; fortunately their firepower was enough to prevent the enemy from closing the vice before the dragons managed to reach back into the relative safety of woods. The squadrons had been lucky in this encounter and no one had fallen despite the crossfire. Still it had been a near thing, and Kharriana had been dealt a glancing wound to her left wing.
Then as the dragons continued their retreat, a young copper of Kharriana’s Squadron suddenly began to stagger. Her squadron commander rushed over to help, nuzzling the copper’s neck and pushing her onward. Mera saw a deep gash on the right side of the wounded dragon’s pectorals.
*Durmew had been badly wounded by a bolt earlier. She's done well to hold herself this long.* Kharriana explained as she threw the younger dragon over her shoulder, before muttering more to herself, *I don’t know if she can fly at all, much less make it back to the rest of the army. We’ll try our best to get everyone out, but I don’t know if we can.*
Mera suddenly stopped and, still grasping his broken arm, turned back towards the Auxian pursuers.
*You know what? My friend was killed back there. I’m not abandoning him or Durmew in this damned forest so that the humans could choose where to slaughter us in this wooded nightmare.*
To his surprise, the members of his own squadron followed suit, halting in their tracks.
*Oh? So what do you plan on doing, Meratezatgh to get us out of this situation?* Kharriana sarcastically replied as her forces continued down the road.
The bronze dragon pointed through the trees to Miers Castle barely visible in the cliffs above the tree line. *We are taking that damned castle!*
Falknir smiled. *Great. I’m sick of running.*
*Don’t be stupid commander. * The other squadron commander called back. *Thousands of humans are after us, and neither of our squadrons are in a condition for an attack.*
*Durmew probably can’t fly right? Stay with her. Keep retreating, it’ll keep the humans busy. I’m hurt, but all of my people can still fly. The humans always think that they’re the hunters. I aim to hunt them right back!*
*You’re going to get yourself and all your people killed. I will not-*
Mera ignored the other’s commander’s anger, plunging back towards the clearing they had just passed.
*Falknir! Hearesecha! Raphrsah! With me! Commander Kharriana pull your forces back to the North woods! This will confuse them! We’ll find your squadron after a bit!*
After a second’s pause, the remainder of Mera’s squadron followed their commander.
*Stop, damn you-* The other commander called back, before the rest of her response was cut off by the foliage.
Woods and underbrush flew by him as Meratezatgh rushed forward, sweat beading from his body, trying to ignore the terrible pain arching up his left arm that amplified with every step. There were only two things on his mind.
One, the humans were pursuing them and would not be prepared for a sudden counterattack.
Two, Theragmorth was dead, and the humans who killed him would pay.
Mera charged into the vanguard of the Auxian troops as they began to enter into the forest, catching them by surprise. Before the front ranks could ready their weapons, the dragon was upon them, bowling over and crushing dozens. A few moments later and the other dragons of the 57th slammed into the human ranks as well. Tooth and claw flashed out and were quickly stained with blood. Within minutes the dragons shattered the front line, led by Mera, who as his comrades fought to join him had already plunged deep into the Auxian ranks, carving an arc of death around himself. Amidst the gruesome melee, the humans quickly focused on the obvious leader.
“It’s wounded!"
“Kill it!”
“Pikemen!” An Auxian commander called out.
Troops behind the devastation closed ranks, and a hedge of pikes quickly appeared slashing at the wyrm. However, as they began advancing, Mera reared over and unleashed a torrent of flame, incinerating the densely packed soldiers. Still they came, a few archers began firing their arrows at the dragon’s eyes while the decimated Auxian infantry attempting to come at him from his limping foreleg. Mera was forced to dance to the left and try to protect his wounded side, all the while weaving out fields of death-dealing fire. Still despite the deadly ring of fire thrown around himself, slowly the enemy soldiers began converging upon him.
Then Hearesecha managed to cut and burn her way to over to Mera, roaring to the others:
*Defend your commander!*
The human attackers faltered as the black dragon threw an absolutely massive sea of flame at the them, burning everything within 70 yards in all directions. A few moments later Falknir and Raphrsah rallied beside Mera adding their firepower to the attack, the field in front of them seeming to melt into a sea of lava. Within minutes, the few surviving enemy troops were in full retreat.
*Ah that was satisfying.* Falknir triumphantly roared, smoking rising from his nostrils, his snout covered in blood.
*They’re regrouping, bringing up their archers and artillery.* Rephrash called, gesturing with her snout at the newly advancing Auxian forces. Already arrows from hidden sharpshooters were whizzing by the dragons. *Whatever it is you are planning Mera, you’d best do it now.*
*Follow me!*
The entire field had been left burning, and the hundreds of soldiers trapped by fire and smoke went burning along with it. As the pall of exhaust descended upon the battlefield, the choking Auxian commander broke through to safety in the forests nearby.
“Where are the goddamn archers?”
“They’re coming up sir!”
Soon long lines of bowmen, clad in kettle hats and leather jerkins, with arrows draw to the bow, burst out of the woods. They came upon a scene of utter devastation. Dead and wounded troops lay everywhere, draped among broken pieces of siege engines around the smoldering landscape.
The commander looked around.
“Where are the dragons?”
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
From theroguez!
The two squadrons continued fleeing in silence, straining to hear the marching ranks of Auxian infantry or more importantly the squeal of wheels that signaled dragon-killing artillery. Wherever the humans were, they were not immediately behind them, and the woods remained deathly silent. After what seemed like ages, the appearance of a grassy clearing ahead finally broke up the tangled chaos of trees that had hemmed the dragons in their trap.
*Thank heavens.* Kharriana muttered. *We can fly off here-*
A volley of bolts suddenly zipped past them, all of the dragons instinctively diving towards the shelter of the ground.
*Feral, the humans are attacking again!* Falknir snarled, sending a blast of flame towards the human troops streaming out in line of battle.
*Shit! They must know all the fields around here!* Hearesecha swore.
Raphrsah was shaking her head. *We have to assume all clearings in this forest have ambuscades.*
*Can we even retreat?* Mera wondered aloud, which was immediately answered by yells and the sound of approaching Auxian troops.
Throwing flames to hold off the new line of attackers, the dragons began falling back between the two Auxian forces that had them caught in a vice.
*We’re being harried like deer* Falknir growled, but he went with the combined squadrons as well. Even the insubordinate black dragon knew that being isolated would now mean death.
Though projectiles were soon flying at the wyrms in all directions, Mera and Kharriana’s forces managed to gingerly work their way out of the trap, threading themselves between the Auxian forces; fortunately their firepower was enough to prevent the enemy from closing the vice before the dragons managed to reach back into the relative safety of woods. The squadrons had been lucky in this encounter and no one had fallen despite the crossfire. Still it had been a near thing, and Kharriana had been dealt a glancing wound to her left wing.
Then as the dragons continued their retreat, a young copper of Kharriana’s Squadron suddenly began to stagger. Her squadron commander rushed over to help, nuzzling the copper’s neck and pushing her onward. Mera saw a deep gash on the right side of the wounded dragon’s pectorals.
*Durmew had been badly wounded by a bolt earlier. She's done well to hold herself this long.* Kharriana explained as she threw the younger dragon over her shoulder, before muttering more to herself, *I don’t know if she can fly at all, much less make it back to the rest of the army. We’ll try our best to get everyone out, but I don’t know if we can.*
Mera suddenly stopped and, still grasping his broken arm, turned back towards the Auxian pursuers.
*You know what? My friend was killed back there. I’m not abandoning him or Durmew in this damned forest so that the humans could choose where to slaughter us in this wooded nightmare.*
To his surprise, the members of his own squadron followed suit, halting in their tracks.
*Oh? So what do you plan on doing, Meratezatgh to get us out of this situation?* Kharriana sarcastically replied as her forces continued down the road.
The bronze dragon pointed through the trees to Miers Castle barely visible in the cliffs above the tree line. *We are taking that damned castle!*
Falknir smiled. *Great. I’m sick of running.*
*Don’t be stupid commander. * The other squadron commander called back. *Thousands of humans are after us, and neither of our squadrons are in a condition for an attack.*
*Durmew probably can’t fly right? Stay with her. Keep retreating, it’ll keep the humans busy. I’m hurt, but all of my people can still fly. The humans always think that they’re the hunters. I aim to hunt them right back!*
*You’re going to get yourself and all your people killed. I will not-*
Mera ignored the other’s commander’s anger, plunging back towards the clearing they had just passed.
*Falknir! Hearesecha! Raphrsah! With me! Commander Kharriana pull your forces back to the North woods! This will confuse them! We’ll find your squadron after a bit!*
After a second’s pause, the remainder of Mera’s squadron followed their commander.
*Stop, damn you-* The other commander called back, before the rest of her response was cut off by the foliage.
Woods and underbrush flew by him as Meratezatgh rushed forward, sweat beading from his body, trying to ignore the terrible pain arching up his left arm that amplified with every step. There were only two things on his mind.
One, the humans were pursuing them and would not be prepared for a sudden counterattack.
Two, Theragmorth was dead, and the humans who killed him would pay.
Mera charged into the vanguard of the Auxian troops as they began to enter into the forest, catching them by surprise. Before the front ranks could ready their weapons, the dragon was upon them, bowling over and crushing dozens. A few moments later and the other dragons of the 57th slammed into the human ranks as well. Tooth and claw flashed out and were quickly stained with blood. Within minutes the dragons shattered the front line, led by Mera, who as his comrades fought to join him had already plunged deep into the Auxian ranks, carving an arc of death around himself. Amidst the gruesome melee, the humans quickly focused on the obvious leader.
“It’s wounded!"
“Kill it!”
“Pikemen!” An Auxian commander called out.
Troops behind the devastation closed ranks, and a hedge of pikes quickly appeared slashing at the wyrm. However, as they began advancing, Mera reared over and unleashed a torrent of flame, incinerating the densely packed soldiers. Still they came, a few archers began firing their arrows at the dragon’s eyes while the decimated Auxian infantry attempting to come at him from his limping foreleg. Mera was forced to dance to the left and try to protect his wounded side, all the while weaving out fields of death-dealing fire. Still despite the deadly ring of fire thrown around himself, slowly the enemy soldiers began converging upon him.
Then Hearesecha managed to cut and burn her way to over to Mera, roaring to the others:
*Defend your commander!*
The human attackers faltered as the black dragon threw an absolutely massive sea of flame at the them, burning everything within 70 yards in all directions. A few moments later Falknir and Raphrsah rallied beside Mera adding their firepower to the attack, the field in front of them seeming to melt into a sea of lava. Within minutes, the few surviving enemy troops were in full retreat.
*Ah that was satisfying.* Falknir triumphantly roared, smoking rising from his nostrils, his snout covered in blood.
*They’re regrouping, bringing up their archers and artillery.* Rephrash called, gesturing with her snout at the newly advancing Auxian forces. Already arrows from hidden sharpshooters were whizzing by the dragons. *Whatever it is you are planning Mera, you’d best do it now.*
*Follow me!*
The entire field had been left burning, and the hundreds of soldiers trapped by fire and smoke went burning along with it. As the pall of exhaust descended upon the battlefield, the choking Auxian commander broke through to safety in the forests nearby.
“Where are the goddamn archers?”
“They’re coming up sir!”
Soon long lines of bowmen, clad in kettle hats and leather jerkins, with arrows draw to the bow, burst out of the woods. They came upon a scene of utter devastation. Dead and wounded troops lay everywhere, draped among broken pieces of siege engines around the smoldering landscape.
The commander looked around.
“Where are the dragons?”
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
From theroguez!
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Western Dragon
Gender Male
Size 1270 x 952px
Listed in Folders
One, two, three , four and- there are only 4? Something's wrong
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