Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm (12 page)

The banners from each alcove were fluttering in the light breeze. Each marked with both the weir symbol and an embossment of the type of dragon perched at that particular landing. Mkel looked up at the dark-blue standard with its blood-red keystone in the center. The image of Gallanth’s head embroidered in golden thread almost radiated in the center of the keystone.
The
Capital
Weir
seamstresses
are
very
talented,
thought Mkel. Those were the colors that had led the weir into battle, flying beside the Alliance Republic flag. He also knew that the whole weir garrison would soon be marching to battle holding them proudly. He just hoped that he could do them well as their leader and he and Gallanth could get them all back.

After Gallanth had woken Mkel to get ready, he had flown down for something to eat. The Capital Weir grounds crew had a side of the large grouper fish ready for him. These were huge school fish that grew to eighty feet long or more and were a favorite prey of the bronze dragons. A full-grown specimen could satisfy a whole dragon wing. The larger ones could only be taken down by a bronze or larger dragon, the immense sharks of the southern waters, or a whole pack of killer whales. Gallanth liked his well seasoned, and it took a whole barrel of the region’s famous bay spice to get the several-hundred-pound piece of fish to his taste. This spicy concoction was made by halflings and the chefs from Lancastra.

Mkel looked behind him when he heard the down stroke of a huge pair of dragon wings and felt the rush of air from inside the weir. Gallanth had finished his breakfast and now joined him on the alcove as the halfling weir workers were getting food to the landings. “Your breath smells of the Lancastra spice, my friend,” he called to his dragon as Gallanth walked up behind him.

“You are not the only one who enjoys spice in their food, my rider, and remember, I breathe fire,” Gallanth answered with a hint of humor as he lay down behind his rider.

“Maybe you should breathe a little fire to clear your mouth of its aroma,” Mkel joked back to his dragon, who snorted in response in a sort of short dragon chuckle.

The handpicked legion was now assembling to the east of the parade ground, as was the aerial hippogriff battalion behind it. Mkel knew the Capital Wing was still in the weir getting ready. The huge flags of all the weirs and the Alliance provinces were also carefully lined up along the moveable platform in the center of the parade field where the master of ceremony would speak. Mkel knew that his friend Canjon and his brass dragon, Amerenth, were to officiate the opening ceremony and lead the games to begin. Mkel remembered Canjon and his talkative brass dragon negotiating a very skillful treaty during the formation of the Northern Confederation, comprised of the Alliance, Freiland, Southland, and the kingdoms of the northern shore of the Ontaror Sea. While very effective in battle, his and his dragon’s negotiating skills saved more Alliance soldiers’ lives than his sword or Amerenth’s claws ever could have.

“Jodem, Toderan, well, I see my weir council has finally decided to join us for breakfast,” Mkel chided his friends.

“There were some small matters to attend to this morning, sir, with some of our soldiers in the competitions today,” Toderan answered.

“I talked to them on the crystal earlier, and everything was fine,” he said with concern.

“Not our people, Captain, with their positioning for the games with the judges. It was a small disagreement and has been resolved,” he answered.

“I have faith in your negotiating abilities, Weir Sergeant,” Mkel replied.

“The wizards of the Council of Thirteen are almost giddy with excitement at both their part in the opening ceremony and the unveiling of the avenger dragons, along with the spiked drakes and dragon horses,” Jodem also commented.

“Jodem, how are our new young brothers?” Gallanth asked.

“According to Master Hestal, they are anxiously awaiting their debut, pacing behind the walls on the parade grounds of the prison island,” he answered.

“I look forward to meeting them.”

The bugles then sounded as the crowds started to gather in the seats by the thousands. Mkel saw Gallanth pick his head up and look north, and a second later, Valianth emerged from around the corner of the mountain giving a deep challenge roar with Amerenth close behind. Therosvet and his dragon did have a flare for theatrics. Seeing the two dragons so close in flight, Mkel forgot how small the brass dragons were in comparison to their huge gold cousins like Gallanth. Amerenth was roughly twenty-nine yards long, which was a little over one-half of Gallanth’s length. While still large and very fierce, the brass dragons were the smallest of the metallic dragon species, with only the white chromatic dragons being smaller.

They both circled around the parade field and then back-winged well away from the stadium seating so as not to stir up too much dust and loose grass. They both then walked over to the ceremony announcement platform, and their riders and passengers climbed off. The reaction from the crowd was almost thunderous as the dragons bowed their heads in salute. Two council wizards who flanked the platform raised their staffs and projected a huge image of that area up into the sky, so all the tens of thousands could see the proceedings. General Becknor and Colonel Therosvet walked up to the podium with Canjon, the Capital Weir senior cleric close behind them. Canjon drew his long sword and embedded it into a notch on the podium, its emerald dragonstone glowing as it amplified his voice.

“Ladies, Gentlemen, Friends, and Dragons of the Alliance, we welcome you to the thirtieth annual Honors Day Games,” his smooth but crisp voice echoed against the stone side of the mountain. A large cheer arose again from the tens of thousands gathered to watch. “The demonstration we have for you and these games and competitions will be particularly spectacular. The Wizard Council of Thirteen, in conjunction with our elf friends from Allghen Forest, has several surprises for you, which you should all enjoy. We want to thank King Denaris and Queen Eladra as well as King Drekar and the dwarves for their continued friendship and support to our great nation. We also want to remember the purpose of this auspicious event and the very name of this special day. Honors Day is to remind every one of us of the sacrifices of those brave Alliance soldiers and sailors, elves, dwarves, and especially the dragons, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the very freedoms for which the Alliance stands. For all those who have looked outside themselves to serve now, and in the past, for a greater good, thank you. Master Cleric Taylag, will you please render the invocation?” Canjon completed his remarks.

“Thank you, Captain, my children, let us bow our heads in prayer. Great Creator, master of all creatures and the heavens, we give thanks to you for the prosperity and gifts you have bestowed on us and for our great republic. We thank you for giving us the courage to see the good in all and the strength to defend it. We also thank you for our dragon benefactors, without whose power and guidance, our nation would not be the shining beacon that it is today. May you bless all those who have served and sacrificed for us and continue to do so. Amen,” he finished to the almost immediate cheers of the crowd. Mkel saw the image projected into the sky change to focus on a stunning young woman, who had been picked to sing the anthem of the Alliance. The war cry of Tegent’s griffon broke the short pause before she started to sing. He and two other master bards would provide the music for the anthem on their dragonstone-powered lyres.

All rose and began to mutter the words as the young girl sang the song. Mkel felt the tears well up in his eyes, for he knew what it meant; he was also thinking of those who died defending the republic. After the song, all sat down and General Becknor moved to Canjon’s sword and spoke, “Citizens of the Alliance, on behalf of myself and the Arch dragon Michenth, we declare the Honors Day Games open.”

At the end of his brief speech, four other wizards teleported to the flanks of the platform and fired dozens of multicolored fireball bursts into the air, where they exploded in brilliant flashes of light and almost deafening claps of thunder. Therosvet quickly mounted Valianth, and with a jump and a heft of his polished golden wings, they were airborne flying toward the crowd. The second largest gold dragon in the Alliance burst through the smoke and went into teleport at the last second before flying into the amphitheater, disappearing in a blue-streaked flash. The crowd went crazy with applause as Tegent, his bards, and a large contingent of bugles, flutes, and drums began to play the opening music. Canjon moved back to his sword and began the introductions.

The legion standing ready to the north began to move across the parade field in front of the stadium. The wizards’ projections focused on the marching soldiers, whose steel armor and weapons gleamed in the morning sun. Canjon began to speak.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the Alliance is proud to present the winner of this year’s military competition, the 49
th
Legion from Atlean, the Viper Legion. It was a very tight race with Draden’s Strike Legion and Denar’s Iron Legion very close to them. The infantry are formed for battle, armed with the finest swords, spears, and armor of any army in the world,” Canjon explained as the three line battalions marched by the reviewing platform. The legion commander, walking in front of the color guard with the large Alliance flag and the legion’s standard of dark blue with a white viper poised to strike, gave General Becknor a salute with his sword and then turned to the left and saluted the premier’s review box, which held General Frankrest, Premier Reagresh, King Denaris, Queen Eladra, and King Drekar.

“Now we can watch as they prepare for an enemy assault,” Canjon continued as the battalions stopped; the ranks split with the heavy infantry stepping out for the missile troops to have room. Upon a single command, the infantry locked shields and with another command readied their spears forward. The wall of armored men looked impenetrable, but they then all knelt down as the archers and crossbowmen raised their weapons and fired. Four hundred arrows and bolts streaked through the air and landed just yards before the first row of bleachers. The crowd first gasped and then erupted in applause.

The legionnaires’ segmented armor was highly polished as were their helmets and shields. Some soldiers were wearing the new dragon-scale armor that was slowly being fielded. It capitalized on the basic strength of real dragon hide with small pieces of a low-grade mithril-steel alloy resembling scales overlapping each other in an interwoven mesh pattern with dark wood twine. When struck, it spread the impact over a large area, like dragon hide did, and the tiny mithril-alloy plates made it extremely difficult to penetrate. This armor was very much sought after and only cost a fraction of what actual dragon-hide armor or mithril chain mail and plate armor did.

Each Alliance soldier of the legion’s three eight-hundred-man line battalions had his superior armor, a strong tempered broadsword, a two-piece long spear, and a dagger. They were broken down into six companies of approximately one hundred forty soldiers in three platoons, each with three nine-man squads and a leadership section. The missile soldiers or archers were all armed with long composite bows or heavy crossbows and short swords. Even the boots they were issued were of excellent quality, with the soles made from the wax plant created by the elves and waterproofed by another extract they gave to the Alliance guilds.

“The 49th’s cavalry, one of the best heavy-horse battalions around, follows the infantry. They are otherwise known as the chargers, the Alliance heavy cavalry; some are paladins, all exquisitely decked out with polished armor for both rider and mount. The lead horse is carrying the battalion standard, with all their battle streamers hanging below the flag and the yellow silk scarves, the cavalry’s color, hanging from their long lances. They wear breastplate or plate armor and wield hand and half swords, battle-axes, or long-handled maces. These are the shock troops of the army—fast, agile, and powerful. Those who choose the path of the paladin are especially inclined to possess magical armor or arms, with either mithril-alloy or dragonstone-enhanced weaponry. The standard cavalry battalion is roughly four hundred eighty mounted horses strong. All are parading in good formation behind the infantry and also deserve a good round of applause.”

Then upon command, the squadron commander raised his dragonstone fire blade sword, which became immediately engulfed in flames, and shouted an order. The whole squadron, almost in absolute unison turned and galloped several hundred yards away from the seated crowds. They then did a sharp turn, and when the colonel sent a fireball from his sword into the air as a movement signal, they performed a frontal charge with lances pointed forward. At full gallop and all abreast, they looked like they could plow through a mountain but stopped just short of the reviewing stand, with excellent coordination.

“Citizens and Civilians of the Alliance, now that looked impressive; how about a hand for the cavalrymen of the 49
th
!” Canjon continued. “We would now like to welcome the fighting land dragons of the Viper Legion,” he continued as the cavalry turned to fall in behind the marching infantry and the wizard’s projections switched to the forty-eight land dragons that were now approaching. They made the ground tremble a bit with their heavy footsteps, which were almost in unison. “The men of the 49
th
’s land dragon battalion are proud to demonstrate their and their wingless dragon partners’ capabilities.”

The lead land dragon carrying the battalion commander was in front of the column with his standard-bearer waving the battalion’s colors from the battle cage on top of his brownish-green mount. A small yellow outline of a land dragon on a red flag with the number “49” in gold embossment shone in the upper left corner. The colonel raised his lance and shouted a command, to which his dragon roared an echo command to the other forty-seven land dragons. They immediately all roared in unison in an ear-shattering response. Immediately, all the crews readied their oversized ballista and the dragons moved on line while turning away from the amphitheater. He raised his lance again and fired an energy blast at a central wooden target approximately one hundred yards away in the middle of the parade field. All at once, the land dragons breathed a line of fire to that spot while their crews fired an explosive-tipped ballista spear to their full range of one thousand yards. The torrent of fire from the land dragons rose over sixty feet into the air, while the combined strikes of the ballistae echoed in thunder booms and flashes of light on the field to the delight of the cheering crowd. The dragons then turned and began to exit the field behind the cavalry.