Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm (10 page)

The outer surface of the fortress was made to look very natural, mimicking a true mountain. There were hundreds of culverts and drainage ways that channeled rainwater into the weir and into small pools on its surface to support the giant eagles and other avian life that called it home and nested there. On the lower levels, the defensive works were almost hidden in the surface of the structure but strategically placed to allow arrow and ballista fires down and for interlocking support between positions. This would make any attempt at siege or attack of Machren Weir very difficult and extremely costly.

Sighbolt and Glaiventh commanded the unique legion at Machren, which was composed of a mixed giant eagle and hippogriff aerial battalion; a mixed cavalry battalion of heavy, medium, and light horse; one reinforced land dragon company; a sea elf battalion, which resided in the bay and in the bottom of the weir; a sapper battalion, which also specialized in marine construction and defense works; and three infantry battalions of which one was light and one medium; and one amphibious battalion mounted on latoucs. The latter specialized in operations in the swamps and in fast strikes for the many islands off the coast. The weir also had a ranger company, which operated in a quick-strike capacity in the surrounding islands against pirates and the elusive lizard men in the swamps. Two giant clans also reinforced the weir’s complement with one mountain giant and the other thunder giant, a very powerful force unto itself. The dragon complement of Machren consisted of six bronze, seven copper, and eight brass dragons.

The city of Imiana lay on the tip of the Adelif Peninsula, which Machren Weir overlooked and protected. A vibrant port city renowned for its trade, shipping, merchants, beaches, and festivals, Imiana was the jewel on the end of the stick of the Adelif Peninsula, which took in trade from the many coastal islands and from all over the southern seas. Since the advent of the teleportation circles, it had become a favorite resort town and vacation spot for all in the Alliance. Even elves came to enjoy the pristine and picturesque coastline, mostly under the guise of communing with their aquatic cousins.

Sighbolt continued his report, “We have one of the ambush ships ready for action. These are old merchant ships that are rigged with spring blades on the sides to skewer a saragwin boarding party, for they like to mass attack at one time. Then we plan to counter ambush with a company of sea elves and mounted latoucs waiting to attack as a rapid reaction force, for they are much faster swimmers than the saragwin with their dolphin and killer-whale mounts. I have a good feeling of success with this tactic. This will also make our escort duties easier, for the saragwin will not know which ships are easy targets and which are akin to grabbing a spine fish.”

“Machren Weir is also pleased to announce that one bronze egg is ready to hatch, a young brass dragon and rider are ready to go to Draconia, and a copper pair are ready to mate,” Glaiventh added.

“Lastly, I want to wish the Creator’s strength to you, my son, and to young Gallanth. You deserve it, and you might need it in the near future,” Sighbolt said with a warm smile to the younger rider for he was actually older than Gallanth, being over two hundred years old himself, as one of the eldest dragonriders in the Alliance. Mkel again thanked the senior bronze rider, who had been his father’s mentor.

“Thank you, Sighbolt, Glaiventh. Your efforts are indeed appreciated,” Michenth stated.

“Selenth, Dkert, how does Talinor stand?” Becknor asked.

“Excellent, General Becknor, Talinor does indeed stand well. The mountain weir of the two rivers and our stout little neighbors are always ready for service to the Alliance. Since we are not on the boundaries of the briny seas, this apparent undersea war does not affect us. Our mining has been both profitable and no doubt beneficial to our cause and the Alliance as a whole,” Selenth stated with the normal arrogance and rapier like wit of a copper dragon, and he, being the only Weirleader copper, had the ego to match.

“While we have noticed our flow of gems harvested from the mountains has slightly slowed, we have uncovered new veins of gold, iron and copper. We will do our best to maintain our supply of quartz stones for the seeing crystals and comfort stones to the Alliance. I and my rider have personally helped the dwarves break through a particularly tough wall of rock to get to the metal ore. I do smell gems in the southernmost mountain, but we will not be able to get to them for some time, for the mines must be shored up or else we risk a massive cave-in. Once we reach this bounty, we should be able to supply a substantial amount of the crystals needed for the Alliance’s future levitation needs as well as gems for dragonstones and for our consumption. This should be enough to make up for the mountain in Ferranor that the Tekend clan will not allow the dwarves to mine since they claim ownership and are aided by the arbitrators’ unholy alliance with them and the nature purists. I still do not understand how Scimenth and King Drekar allow them to even challenge their claim in the Alliance courts of all places,” he stated somewhat with disgust.

Valianth took a deeper breath, as did his rider, almost as if saying, “Here we go again, for one of Selenth’s tirades.” Copper dragons were well known for their lack of patience and almost insolent, jokester-type attitudes; they had little tolerance for what they considered as stupid or trivial.

“To look at the projection of life, one brass and one copper dragon pair are ready to mate and one brass egg is ready to hatch. We have conducted a fairly successful exercise between our dwarven brothers, the giant clans, and our own mountain legion and will continue to watch over the Severic just in case the saragwin attempt to venture upstream. I am also almost ready to attempt to teleport part of our legion, and as the first copper dragon to do this, I look forward to instructing my other copper brethren.” Selenth, being the only copper at the Dragon Council, sometimes tried a little too hard to prove himself. The more powerful species had some doubts as to his ability to perform a mass teleportation successfully, and if he failed, many could be lost in the process. Thus far, only gold and silver dragons had attempted this feat, and only the strongest of the bronzes were currently training for it as well. The mines of Talinor were the primary producer of the quartz stones used for making seeing crystals as well as for a healthy supply for the heating, lighting, and cooling crystals and other mineral wealth.

“Our brass dragons are delighted by our crystal production, for they especially enjoy keeping the Alliance talking,” Selenth quipped with a slight dig on the brass dragons’ propensity for excessive conversation.

“Our mining and production of quality opals for healing stones is also good. We have King Ritheud to thank for these and our continued success in our mining,” Dkert spoke out in his normal soft but concerned tone. Everyone at the council was surprised that he actually got a word in during one of Selenth’s infrequent pauses in his speech.

“Excellent, Selenth, Dkert, the cooperation and bounty we see from Talinor is always to the Alliance’s benefit,” Valianth stated quickly to prevent Selenth from starting up again.

“Thank you, Master Dragon, but the dwarves of Talinor have one request. Since we are in the center of the Alliance and do not have the benefit of any threat from our borders or the sea, I want my dwarves to be included in the next fight. It has been too long, and I want a scrap. We can’t let Ordin and his clan have all the fun, and we must show our giant friends in Talinor what my dwarves can do to their distant kin,” Ritheud spoke out with a smile on his broad, bearded face as he looked at Golefad. The thunder giant nodded with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, breaking his normally somber look.

“We will keep you in mind for that task, for you are the Alliance’s ultimate reserve forces, King Ritheud. Selenth, we know you are likely the most capable copper dragon we have, but there are many bronze dragons that have not even attempted mass teleportation yet, so you will have a dragon from the Capital Wing present before you attempt this feat,” Valianth stated—or actually ordered.

Selenth argued, “This is not necessary; I know my ability and—”

“The decision is made, Selenth, there will be no more words on this matter,” Valianth stated with a slight rise in his commanding voice. Copper dragons, while short on tempers and jesters by nature, were fierce opponents. In spite of their mediocre flying ability, they were masters of the tooth and talon fight, being able to tear black and green dragons to shreds and even match a blue. Their powerful legs were made for digging, jumping, and running, and their thick hides, which they could make even tougher if necessary, were hard even for dragon fangs and talons to penetrate. Selenth, being the most prominent copper dragon in the Alliance, had a slightly draconically uncharacteristic ego about him, which showed from time to time and was usually brought back to measure by one of the Capital Wing dragons. He and Dkert were nonetheless very capable at Talinor, and even with several bronze dragons coming of age, there was no talk of replacing him as Weirleader dragon.

Copper dragons had a deep, rich copper color with greenish tints to the terminal ends of some of their scales and wings. They had short, almost pug like snouts with two large, flat-sided ram like horns that emanated from the tops of their heads and two smaller lateral cheek plates that started under their eyes and fanned out to the back of their necks. They had manta like wings that extended the whole length of their bodies similar to brass dragons’ but with a forward V appearance in flight rather than a manta like inverted V. They always sought companionship and loved to revel, making them ideal for working with dwarves. They derived nourishment from almost anything but preferred poisonous things, including giant insects and wyverns, and were determined hunters. They derived energy from not only gems but certain metals, such as manganese and magnesium, as well as anything iodine-based for their fiery acid breath weapon, like other dragons did from gems. While still good fliers, they were more adept at combat on the ground and in narrow spaces, being very nimble on their feet.

Most coppers averaged thirty to thirty-three yards in length and had a wingspan of fifty yards or more. Their magical ability was mostly earth-based; they were able to manipulate rock, while still having command of very powerful spells. Working well with dwarves, because of their temperament and love of rock, the copper dragons made excellent miners. They were also able to smell various metals and gemstones under the surface.

“Dkert, King Ritheud, we thank you for your efforts and exuberance. Without Talinor Weir’s productivity and reserve strength, the Alliance would not be at the point it is today,” Becknor stated diplomatically. Talinor Weir was uniquely situated in the center of the Alliance, in the middle of the Talinor Mountain chain that straddled a tall but thin waterfall from a high, picturesque crystal lake, which were the headwaters of the Missora River. The weir was housed within the south mountain of the border of the lake with the second-largest dwarf kingdom centered on the opposite mountain or the dwarf north mountain, which was also the throne of King Ritheud. Talinor had a contingent legion comprised of two mountain infantry battalions, a cavalry troop, a sapper company, a catapult battalion, a land dragon company, and a ranger company. Their dragon contingent consisted of three copper dragon pairs, four brass dragon pairs, and one single brass and copper dragon.

There were two mountain giant clans of approximately forty each, who resided in the weir and the surrounding mountains, and one clan of thunder giants far back into the mountains to the south whose cloud castle was destroyed by the chromatics. The dwarf king Ritheud was a just but firm leader of the extended dwarf community of Talinor, which was the second largest dwarf kingdom in the Alliance. He was an accomplished miner as demonstrated by the production rates from their mountains. Ritheud wielded a pure mithril, large, double-bladed dragonstone hand axe that could be thrown like Ordin’s hammer or Padonan’s glaive and a studded mace for his off hand.

While deadly in battle, he was also an intelligent dwarf and an able leader. He was the first dwarf monarch to extend a hand of friendship to the giants after the Great War, overcoming the natural dwarf prejudice against their ancestral enemy. This had made him well known among the good giant races. Ritheud was of above average height for a dwarf, being five feet tall, but was built as solid as granite. His broad face and ruddy complexion against his dark-brown beard reflected his common, sensible, down-to-earth view of life and his drive for excellence. He loved his clansmen, the Alliance, dwarven ale, and his many dwarf wives and concubines.

Dkert was one of the few dragonrider clerics in the Alliance with most being either fighters or wizards. He was a soft-spoken, easy-tempered man, with his wavy blond hair, emerald-colored eyes, and boyish face reflecting his good-natured personality. His stocky build, which made him look like a tall dwarf; his innocent smile; and his quickness to heal a wounded comrade, all led him to be favored among the dwarves. A student of the earth, he had almost as much knowledge of rock and stone as the dwarves he worked with. This combination of knowledge, skill, and personality made him an ideal copper dragonrider. In spite of him being a devoted cleric, he was still scrappy in a fight, wielding his mithril pick/hammer weapon very effectively.

“Golefad, will you please address the council?” Therosvet asked the twenty-five-foot-tall thunder giant, who was sitting in an oversized stone chair off to the far side of the council room. Golefad, the giant monarch who loosely answered for all thunder giants and most mountain giants, began his remarks in his deep but crisp voice, which almost seemed incongruous with his large, pale-green elvish face. Thunder giants resembled immense elves more than men, unlike their slightly smaller mountain giant cousins. However, this must not be mistaken for physical weakness, for a thunder giant could pick up a white dragon and throw it like a small dog. They were the strongest creatures in the world after the dragons.