Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (46 page)

“Now that is more like it. What was the name of this dragon and its rider?” the sorcerer asked again.

“Keep your teeth together, soldier,” the senior legionnaire yelled at him.

“Silence!” Ashram sternly ordered the sergeant as he slapped him across his face with the back of his hand, leaving a nasty scratch from his ring. “Now, who was the dragon, and how many are residing at Battle Point, and all the coastal Weirs of the Alliance?” he screamed.

“Lord Ashram!” the death knight cried, bursting into the tent.

“What, Fellaxe?” the sorcerer snapped back in an angry tone.

“Our gnoll scouts say there is almost a whole legion with an Alliance council wizard, and at least two companies of land dragons are on the march barely two miles from here. All of Battle Point must be bearing down on us,” Fellaxe said with a worried tone.

“How did they get so many here so fast and undetected?” Ashram asked. “It doesn’t matter; get the behirs to the front. They will take care of the land dragons, and I will deal with this Alliance wizard. Slave, see to my mount,” he ordered his servant, who rushed out of the tent. “We shall continue our conversation when I get back,” he told the chained legionnaires. “Vetness, stay here with them and my guards. We will get information out of them, even if I have to eradicate their minds,” the Talon sorcerer stated to the drow and walked out of the tent to where his nightmare steed was stabled.

“Look, they are forming up. I count at least thirty of those behirs that you and Deless dealt with yesterday,” Dekeen whispered to Mkel and Lupek.

“They will soon find out that they will need at least three or more times the advantage in numbers to fight land dragons,” Lupek stated.

“There is also a whole clan of giants down there, behind that small hill,” Dekeen continued.

“Giants! Where?” explained Ordin.

“Quiet, my bearded friend. You will get your chance. Until then, we must be patient,” Mkel said to the dwarf.

“My hammer is growing hot in my hands, Dragonrider,” Ordin said back to him with a smile.

“A sorcerer of great power is emerging from the small tent and walking with a death knight,” Dekeen reported.

“We must let Jodem know of this,” Mkel said as he pulled his seeing crystal.
I already told him, my rider,
Gallanth told him telepathically. “Thanks, Gallanth,” Mkel answered out loud, but still in a low tone.

“It looks like the sorcerer is ordering all of their army out into formation now,” Lupek noted.

“He is riding a nightmare, so he must have some connection to the drow,” Dekeen theorized out loud. “I have only seen one sorcerer and the death knight, who wields what looks like a black iron battle-axe, as characters of power. The orc warlord looks somewhat menacing as well, but he is still an orc. It appears like they will be using the behirs in the front, interspersed by the grummish in the center, then surrounded by orcs.”

The grummish were large brutish humanoid creatures averaging seven feet tall, covered with grayish black to yellowish brown hair. They had pointed ears and protruding fangs, like some hideous cross between a bear, ape, and a man. They usually armed themselves with large spiked wooden clubs, maces, or crude axes, and wooden shields. They rarely used armor of anything stronger than leather. Orcs hired them to act as line breakers in an attack, for they had no fear and fought ferociously until killed. Their main motivation was devouring their victims, as much as the pay they received.

“The gnolls are assembling as flankers. This warlord and sorcerer are somewhat knowledgeable in tactics. Those foul wolf/man-like creatures, while dull witted, are fast and cunning. Ideal flank infantry given their two-legged speed,” Dekeen said, for he knew that gnolls were the only two-legged humanoid creatures that were faster than elves, though not as nimble.

“Yes, it seems that they are starting to imitate Alliance tactics,” Mkel answered. “The problem they will have is that we are better trained at it; we have superior equipment, a professional sergeant’s corps, better archers, and stronger forces, not to mention our metallic dragons. We also have to have faith in Daddonan and Jodem to deal with them until we can get into the fight. Remember that two of the biggest and most powerful silvers and their riders are with them,” Mkel answered.

“No sign of chromatics yet, Captain?” Toderan whispered.

“No, but that could change quickly, as Deless and myself found out yesterday,” Lupek chimed in.

“We still have to talk about that, my brother, but for now we have other things to attend to,” Mkel whispered back.

“Their army is finally moving out,” the ranger said. “Their manticores and hymenoids are taking to flight. I count at least two wings,” he continued.

“The Battle Point hippogriffs will keep them busy until Talonth and Strikenth take to the air. Which should be soon,” Mkel suggested. “Then once these poor souls are rescued, we will join the main fight,” he continued. “Dekeen, how many are left behind?”

“I see one man and three orcs outside the tent, and I hear at least four more inside, along with a stealthy figure I can’t identify,” the elf answered.

“Decray, did you hear that?” Mkel asked quietly into the crystal.

“Yes, we will handle those in the tent, for we are within a hundred yards and can rush it quickly, as long as you can take out those guards,” the ranger captain answered.

“Consider it done. Dekeen, you take the one on the right by the entrance to the tent; Tegent, you hit that orc with the small shield, for he’s the closest. I’ll silence the one farthest away. Dekeen, I have a bottle of your cousin’s best wine that says I will get the last orc guard before you,” Mkel said with a smile, for the farthest orc was approximately one hundred fifty yards away, which would be an easy head shot for Mkel with his special crossbow.

“The bet is on, my friend,” Dekeen answered as he drew and nocked an arrow.

“Decray, when you see the four fall, we will both rush in,” Mkel whispered into his seeing crystal as he steadied Markthrea on the berm and took careful aim at the orc’s head.

“Understood, Dragonrider,” Decray whispered back through the crystal.

“Fire,” said Mkel as he pulled the sensitive trigger of the crossbow, which sent the bolt flying at amazing speed, finding its mark in the back of the orc’s head, killing it instantly. Dekeen’s arrow pierced the base of the other orc’s neck, severing its windpipe and bringing it to its knees. Tegent’s seventy-five-yard shot found his arrow deeply imbedded into the man’s chest, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground. Mkel immediately cocked the crossbow, shifted his sight to the midsection of the last orc, and fired. Both his bolt and Dekeen’s arrow found their mark in the orc’s chest as he spun around to see what had happened to his comrade that was beside him. The double strike lifted him off of his feet as he fell dead.

“We’ll call that a draw,” Dekeen said with a smile.

Mkel smiled for a second before shouting, “Go!” to all in his party, and they all scrambled over the berm and sprinted toward the tents. The rangers sprang up from the scrub brush they were hiding in and were at the tent in a matter of seconds. Decray was the first in, with both his short swords drawn. The first orc in the tent didn’t know what hit him, as his blades made two deep cuts to its neck and midsection. He spun with surprising speed and grace and had both his swords imbedded in the second orc’s chest. They sunk in surprisingly easy, even through the orc’s breastplate armor.
The blades almost swing themselves
, Decray thought to himself as he noted the increased effectiveness of his swords since Gallanth empowered them. His men quickly dispatched the remaining two orcs, but a sonic blast from the drow’s staff knocked two of his men out of the tent.

“Alliance rangers, how nice of you to drop in,” the dark elf sorcerer said in a dry cool tone, as he began to power up his staff for another shatter spell blast, which he then fired at the rangers. Dekeen burst into the tent and blocked the spell with Elm’s defensive shield, and then he drew an arrow.

“Would you like to take this outside, fallen elf, or should I just kill you here?” Dekeen taunted the drow.

“It would be a pleasure to see you die in the sunlight you so praise,” the black elf replied as they faced off and maneuvered to exit the tent, never breaking their locked and intense stare. As the two walked out of the tent to continue their duel, Mkel and rest of the Keystone Weir council had just caught up to them. They all raised their weapons to smite the drow sorcerer with one massive blow, but Dekeen told them to stop.

“This is between me and the fallen elf!” Dekeen shouted surprising his friends at his unusually loud outburst.

All of them understood and proceeded into the tent with Tegent remaining outside, likely wanting to see the duel for a future poem or song.
The prisoners look horrible
, Mkel thought to himself, as he surveyed the poor wretches, bruised and bleeding from the torture they had received.

“Mkel, my men will carry them back to our griffons and get them to Handsdown and the healers,” Decray stated.

“We will cover your withdrawal,” Mkel spoke quickly, catching his breath from the long sprint he just performed. Outside, Dekeen and the drow were beginning their deadly winner-take-all duel. Elm’s dragonstone was pulsating in a red scintillating glow, which reflected its master’s anger toward the drow, for elves consider drow as the ultimate betrayers. The drow sorcerer’s dark crystal was also glowing, emitting a dull black-purplish light.

“So drow, I would like to hear your name before I put you to judgment,” Dekeen said calmly to the dark elf.

“My name is Vetness, high elf, and this sorcerer will silence that insolent tongue of yours,” the drow snapped back.

“I am Dekeen of the Draden Clan, which is the last name you will ever hear,” Dekeen answered.

“The master arcane archer?” Vetness quipped back.

“What, is that fear in your voice, dark elf?” Dekeen chided.

“Salvinesh!” Vetness shouted in the elvish drow dialect, as he raised his staff and fired a bolt of lightning at Dekeen, who nimbly dove to the side to dodge the main blast of the charged jagged beam. His bow’s spell shield did have to take the secondary energy of the deadly bolt. He rolled and instantly sprang to his feet, firing an arrow. The speed of Dekeen’s arrows surprised Vetness, who was normally quick enough to dodge such missiles. The dragonstone-empowered arrow hit the drow’s spell shield with a thundering explosion that made him step back. As the dark elf sorcerer prepared another spell, Dekeen had already nocked and fired a second arrow. The concussion forced Vetness back again, as he felt his shield weakening.

The drow sorcerer focused with all his might and managed to conjure a fireball spell from his staff and hurled it at Dekeen. The third arrow he had drawn was let loose, after Dekeen whispered a quick elven command phrase. The arrow sped through the air and directly intercepted the glowing fireball with a collision, resulting in a blinding explosion. This did not mean good bidding for Vetness, for he was not a master sorcerer yet, and was limited in the amount and strength of his offensive spells. He could not believe the power of the high elf’s bow.

Another arrow struck the drow’s invisible shield as he was trying to gather power for a return spell. The explosion and transfer of energy broke the drow’s shield and knocked him to the ground. Vetness raised his hand and fired a series of magic missiles in a barrage to attempt to keep Dekeen from firing another arrow. The Draden elf quickly moved to dodge the first two missiles. The next four were absorbed by his shield, but the last one slipped though his shield and glanced off his mithril chain mail vest. He winced at the slight burn that made it through the armor, but his mail saved him.

Dekeen then fired an arrow with a quick aim, which struck Vetness in the chest, piercing his sorcerer’s robes, with half the shaft emerging from the drow’s back. The dark elf grabbed the arrow’s golden brown fletching in tremendous agony, dropping to his knees. Dekeen drew another arrow and took aim at the dark crystal mounted atop the drow’s staff.

“What, fire while your opponent is down, High Elf?” Vetness gasped out as his dark green blood was oozing from both ends of the arrow shaft.

“Just making sure that your evil crystal does not enslave another fool and wreak more destruction,” Dekeen answered. “
Rescula se Solrela
,” Dekeen spoke a similar prayer that metallic dragons give when they kill a chromatic to save their souls, and then he released his arrow. The glowing tip of his arrow struck the crystal, resulting in a small but blinding explosion that consumed the drow.

“Dekeen, you didn’t think that would attract attention?” Mkel shouted over to his elven comrade.

“My fight already compromised us, and anytime we can destroy a piece of dark crystal, it makes the world a safer place,” the elf said nonchalantly.

“Fellaxe, what was that back at the camp?” Ashram yelled over to the death knight.

“I don’t know, but I’ll send one of the manticore riders back to check,” the warlord yelled.

“No, go back yourself,” the sorcerer ordered. “I don’t want anything happening to our backs while I have to deal with a whole legion to our front. And by the looks of those two land dragon companies bearing down on us, and an Alliance wizard, this will be a challenge.”