Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (71 page)

The Enlightened senators, who espoused to represent and champion the plight of the downtrodden, veteran and civilian alike, were actually going to fight this. Likely because they wanted to allocate that amount of gold to some useless project or subsidize alms for those who did not have the initiative to care for themselves and would rather live off of others’ generosity. The Enlightened were very generous with other people’s tax money but definitely would not be caught dead giving to charity or the church themselves. This is yet another example of their hypocrisy.

“I was just thinking, my old friend, that I would rather deal with the chromatics than the POEs sometimes, for at least they are honest in their espousal of evil, rather than disguising it like the illustrious band of Enlightened senators do,” Mkel said to Jodem as he walked into the council room.

“Don’t worry,” Jodem replied. “Remember, we have allies in this endeavor. The sister of the hippogriff squadron commander and the son of Admiral Zewal will also be giving testimony to the senate. We will also have the majority of the senators with us on this as well, but the Enlightened could stall the vote for weeks if they have the stamina to continue to talk it to death. Key senators from Machren and Lancastra will be pushing for your initiative, as well as one of our own senators from Draden.”

“I hope they can contain the flow of poison that the Enlightened senators will spew forth. Their words are akin to the vile acid of a black dragon,” Mkel said with disgust. “For if they can’t, I will,” Mkel answered with a fierce determination.

“Be careful, my young friend, politics is a whole different fight than engaging chromatics and the Morgathians. This battlefield is constantly shifting, and alliances can switch faster than a dragon can teleport,” Jodem explained. “I also think you need to see Father Watterseth before you go to Draconia. Your soul needs a little cleansing.”

“I will see our good cleric before we leave for the capital, but I must talk to Wheelor first to see how his land dragons are doing and if they are ready for the games. We must also verify by tonight who is going and who is not. The teleportation circles will be getting full soon, and I want to get everyone there in one jump if possible.”

“Wheelor and his crews have been training heavily and have a good chance to win at the games this year. Is Gallanth ready for the dragon contests?” Jodem asked.

“I’m pretty sure, for he has been sleeping heavily since the dragonstone weapon ceremony and his mating flight. The experience we gained during the fights at Battle Point will be invaluable, although Strikenth and Talonth also learned from the encounter.”

“You all should do well, but remember it is the spirit of the games and the demonstration of their power to defend the Alliance and its citizens that is the ultimate goal. No matter how ungrateful some might seem, above all, it is to honor all the Alliance veterans,” Jodem replied with a smile on his broad face. Mkel smiled back and shook Jodem’s hand as he walked out of the Weir council room toward the land dragon stable area. The wingless dragons were housed close to the hatching grounds that Silvanth would soon use to lay her precious egg. Originally bred to protect metallic dragon eggs and young, the land dragons evolved into the most formidable earthbound creatures. Unless opposed by chromatics, they remained the strongest creatures faced by any army attempting to fight the Alliance. When they marched in formation in the attack, the very ground shook to warn those that would challenge them.

Wheelor and his crews were attending to the two mated pairs of land dragons that comprised Draden Weir’s contingent. “Lieutenant, how are your crews this lovely morning? Breigor, Valkuran, Strongst, Shantor, my greetings to you,” Mkel spoke in Draconic and nodded in a customary greeting usually reserved for true dragons, giving it to the Weir’s land dragons under his charge as a sign of deference. The four land dragons of Draden Weir were among both the largest and most intelligent in the entire Alliance. Breigor had seen many battles as his brother Strongst, and they had taken down several smaller chromatic dragons with the aid of their mates. A stronger land dragon platoon would be difficult to find.

The four dragons nodded their return greeting to Mkel. “Sir, we’re ready for the games,” Wheelor said. “My crews have studied the shooting tips you left them, especially regarding follow through, hold, and consistency of their trigger pull and grip, and steady extended release. As for our dragons, I have no doubt about them.”

“I don’t know, the Battle Point land dragon crews were pretty good at holding the line against those new behir creatures, and their ballistae gunners scored a lot of hits,” Mkel teased his lieutenant.

“Well, we will just have to see in Draconia, plus most of the Battle Point land dragon crews were either injured or are out on patrol,” Wheelor quipped back.

“A bad way to win, but as long as you get a good practice out of the games, it will be worth it. I fear your skills and strength will be put to the test very soon,” answered Mkel.

“We will be ready, sir.”

“I have faith. I’ll see you at the council meeting tonight and then at the teleportation circle the next morning. Thanks for you and your platoon’s good work. Have a good day; Breigor,
preitoras
,” he added, using the Draconic word for guardian or sentinel as a compliment to their wingless dragon cousins. He nodded to all four land dragons and walked out of their stabling area.

Mkel then checked in with all his Weir soldiers that were picked by their leaders to attend the games in Draconia, which would precede the senate gathering. He would be sending one of his catapult crews, four of his heavy cavalry paladins, four rangers with griffons, and several of his best crossbowmen and heavy infantry for marksmanship, dueling, and other weapon competitions. Mkel himself was not allowed to compete in the archery contests because of his distinct advantage with Markthrea, but he competed in the dragonstone matches.

He, Dekeen, and Jodem would compete in a special category of range dragonstone weapons, which he always looked forward to. Jodem had also told him that there were two new inventions awaiting them in Draconia for the Weir to try out. One was a new type of repeating crossbow, and the other was to be kept a closely guarded secret, but he was told it would have a dramatic impact on the way the Alliance Army fought. His curiosity was piqued.

He and his handpicked teams were to meet with their counterparts from the Draden regiment to travel together to Draconia. Mkel knew that his men could field the whole team for the games, but they had to partner with the regiment because of the relationship they had.
A small matter
, Mkel thought to himself, but he still had to remind his men anyway.

The next day went quickly, with all in the Weir either in preparation for the games or still celebrating with the Freilanders. Lawrent told Mkel that he wanted to accompany him to Draconia, so the numbers on Gallanth’s back were getting tight. This meant that the big raider, Ordin, and Dorin would practically be sitting on top of each other. “Hopefully the flight will be a short one, with those two fighting like antagonistic siblings,” Mkel chuckled to himself, but he knew that Annan wasn’t going with them, for the mating flight knocked it out of her.

Mkel made it a point to go to the Weir’s barber to get his hair cut prior to leaving. All the Weirs and most of the senior general officers would be attending the senate meeting, so he knew he had to look presentable. Dodom’s shop was empty when Mkel walked in. The portly old barber looked up and smiled as he grabbed the cape he put around his customer. “Captain Mkel, welcome. Please have a seat; a little early this week?” he asked.

“We leave for Draconia tomorrow, so I just wanted to get a jump on things with everything else to do,” Mkel replied.

“Well, Weirleader, you can relax now for a couple of minutes and leave everything in my hands,” the jovial barber said, still smiling as he put the cape around Mkel as he sat in the raised chair. He then grabbed his finely made mithril hand blade he used to cut hair. “Will it be the usual?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” Mkel replied. Dodom put one of the guards on his small hand blade and began to neatly cut the hair on the top of Mkel’s head. The mithril blade with its guard cleanly cut his brownish blond hair for a smooth, even look. He then changed the guard and cut the hair on the side and back of his head closer down to skin above his ears and back of his neck. All dragonriders wore their hair short but not totally shaven, and all Alliance soldiers kept their hair short as well. Human rangers many times would completely shave their heads to make it easier to wear the different head garments used in stalking. This requirement of the Alliance for its soldiers to have short, well-kept hair, as well as maintaining personal cleanliness, symbolized the Alliance order and law over the chaos of evil of the less organized armies and self-serving kingdoms in the rest of the world.

“Thank you, my friend, an excellent job as usual. Here’s a little something for you,” he said as he tossed him a ten Drachmere coin, double his normal payment.

“Dragonrider, this is too much,” he explained.

“You worry too much, and I know you give some older veterans and some of my younger men a break at times. It is much appreciated,” Mkel replied.

“Thank you, and may the Creator bless you, sir.” Mkel nodded a reply and walked out of Dodom’s shop.

He then went back to his quarters to spend the rest of the evening with Michen and Annan. He would have to gather his things for the trip before they all went to sleep, for tomorrow would be a long day. He was always a little sad to leave his son behind, but it would be very busy in Draconia with the games and the senate gathering, and with Annan not able to go now, it would be just too hard to have him there even with Janta helping.

Lieutenant Ablich had arrived the day before, which Mkel considered a fortunate event. He was a fellow platoon leader with Mkel at the Weir’s infantry company years ago and had moved to Machren Weir for a short time to attend a learning guild. Mkel had requested that he come back as his second in command of the garrison infantry company. He worked well with Pekram, which was no easy task, and had his complete confidence. He was a tall, slender man, with a somewhat ruddy complexion, receding hairline, and gentle smile, but a warrior through and through. This made Mkel more comfortable in leaving his men on the frequent trips that he had to make for his duties as a dragonrider.

Mkel gave his final instructions on what was to be done in his absence. He was only leaving for a couple of days and could be back in minutes if the need arose, but it was always good to leave a contingency. After handing off the gauntlet to Ablich and Pekram, he told all his men to gather at the Weir entrance. He agreed to allow Lupek and Deless to stay back because of the increased movement of the fire giants to the southeast and to coordinate their patrols with Colonel Lordan’s legion’s second in command. Both of the ranger units from these two Weirs would perform joint patrols to ensure this gathering army did not slip past them or any of the border outposts in the Gray Mountains.

Lupek and Razor Claw usually either won or placed in many events in the games, but there were more urgent matters to attend to, and his two ranger leaders needed to be here, not three thousand miles to the west. Jodem, Dekeen, Toderan, Ordin, Dorin, Wheelor, Willaward, Tegent, Fogellem, and Watterseth from the Weir council would join him in going to Draconia. Lenor would also stay behind to aid Lupek in the ground patrols on the border. He knew he would need Fogellem with him at the senate session, just in case. Mkel then had all that were going with him to Draconia assemble by the Weir lake for a quick speech. Besides the mating flight, Annan also needed to stay behind for Michen and also for Silvanth if she was needed immediately for any reason. He always liked to take her and his beloved son to the games, but these were different times.

“My friends, I wanted to just take a couple of minutes to talk to you about our trip to the capital before we leave,” Mkel began. “The Honors Day games are important spectator events for the citizens of the Alliance and are good military skills practice. Gallanth and I will be with you all for as many of the events as possible, but we will be also engaged in a difficult fight of our own in the great halls of the Alliance senate to ensure the rights of our honored veterans.

“With that said,” he continued, “I want you all to know of the threat that is materializing to the east and what we could be facing soon. The army that Battle Point defeated, with a little help from Keystone Weir, was just the beginning. The fire giants gathering with chromatic dragons in the southern Smoking Mountains are a growing and significant threat to both our Weir and Eladran, not to mention the whole eastern part of the Alliance itself. Use these next several days to pursue excellence and hone your skills while putting your mind in proper perspective, which is to be as proficient as possible in your particular area of expertise. This will in turn save lives, the lives of our brothers and sisters in battle, if it should arise. I still want you to have fun in the competitions. Do your best and reinsure the confidence of the people of the Alliance in your ability to defend their freedom. As I trust this Weir, our garrison company soldiers, and our dwarven and elven brothers to always be victorious in battle, I trust you will do your best and be true to your Weir and yourselves. Gallanth and I wish you all the best. Honor above all,” he finished.

“Honor above all,” Gallanth reinforced with his booming deep voice, which was then echoed by all gathered.