Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (9 page)

Sergeant Lenor wielded a holy avenger long sword of similar properties to Toderan’s but not quite as powerful as this increases with experience. All dragonstones whether mounted in weapons, wizard staffs or healing stones mature with the bonded wielder, gaining power in time, maturity and usage. This mithril alloy weapon had one of Silvanth’s dragonstones, a brilliant blue sapphire, mounted on the end of the hilt. He wore mithril-lined half plate armor in battle and had a mithril-lined large shield to give him substantial protection. His paladin’s warhorse was armored and much more intelligent than a regular horse, being capable of fighting on its own if necessary, similar to Toderan’s winged horse. While he was actually small for a paladin, being just slightly shorter than Mkel, he had an inordinate toughness about him and a natural mentoring type of leadership. Underestimating him had been the woe of many of his opponents. He also resolutely looked out for his men, always leading the cavalry charges personally.

Lenor had three section leaders in his platoon of mid to upper experienced paladins, with the remaining being junior, but hand-picked, knights. All were armed with various magic weapons, making the cavalry platoon a fierce counterattack force backing up the infantry. With all of the paladins of this troop having special mounts and magic weapons, they conferred a great deal magic resistance both individually and synergistically when charging as a unified force, being almost immune to spells until they broke up their formation.

Lieutenant Wheelor walked in behind Lenor. He was a lanky fellow, being just shy of six feet tall with short blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. His easygoing but can-do personality was typical of the Southern provinces of the Alliance. A senior lieutenant, Wheelor commanded the land dragon platoon stationed at the Weir. He and his crews practically lived with their land dragons, overseeing and controlling their movement and deployment in combat as well as their overall training and care. There were four land dragons in his platoon along with a combined crew of twenty. The land dragons were used as a spearhead or breaking force in an all-out land battle or to engage larger opponents of the infantry, such as giants. The wingless dragons used their short-range line of fire breath weapon very effectively. The crews manned armored carriages with ballistae mounted on their dragons’ backs, giving them a decimating six-hundred-yard point-blank range and an eight-hundred-yard to a thousand-yard area effective range.

Wheelor was a tough fighter in his own right, always leading his platoon from the front on top of his land dragon, Breigor, a fierce but loyal creature. The land dragons were among the most feared creatures in battle (save the true dragons themselves). The biggest land dragons could even take on the smallest of the chromatics, the white dragons, and had an even chance of winning. Their crew members usually did not like to risk this, preferring to have the metallic dragons deal with their chromatic adversaries.

Mkel had a great deal of respect for Wheelor and his crews. They were very easygoing in general and truly believed in and loved their land dragon steeds. They saved many an infantryman’s life and were feared among Morgathian forces. The hybrid creatures were more than a match for any giant or similarly sized creature, who came up very short in a toe-to-toe fight with them.
They will be needed if the giant threat comes to fruition,
Mkel thought to himself.

Senior Lieutenant Willaward then strode in from the other side of the meeting room, likely coming from the Weir’s tavern. He was the Weir’s catapult section leader. Willaward oversaw the three permanent catapult emplacements on the Weir’s defensive wall and the four mobile catapults that moved with the Weir garrison. He specialized in the deployment and operation of these deadly long-range weapons, and his expertise gave the Weir’s maneuver forces a distinct edge over any opponent’s siege weapons. Each engine of the catapult section had nine to twelve men and six per each supply wagon, totaling seventy-two soldiers. Outwardly, Willaward was a gentleman with an aloof nature, but he had an in-depth knowledge of his machines and could estimate range with an incredible accuracy. He had medium length brown hair and green eyes, always greeting people with a friendly smile.

The last of the specialty platoon leaders finally walked in as the meeting was about to get started. Senior Lieutenant Clydown was the sapper platoon leader. He was a fighter of mid degree experience but a master sapper and engineer that oversaw this unique section of the Weir garrison. His platoon consisted of thirty men who were experts in defensive and offensive earthworks, construction, and siege operations. He also oversaw the Weir’s defenses and traveled with the garrison to provide them temporary defensive measures and structures such as earth walls, traps, pits, and ramparts; his platoon built siege towers, operated rams, and developed other siege techniques. He consulted Mkel during planning to determine the best use of terrain to support a fight.

Clydown’s men were armed with picks, war hammers, short swords, and weapons that doubled as tools for building and digging or the destruction of structures. Clydown himself was armed with a mithril alloy short sword, along with his special dragonstone staff. This rod, powered by a garnet dragonstone given to him by a copper dragon, enabled him to move large volumes of earth and detect desired minerals or metals with ease.

Clydown routinely said that his men’s spades were more important than the infantry’s swords, spears, and arrows in winning a fight. While the defensive works that the sappers oversaw were definitely a combat multiplier, he did like to exaggerate.

As they walked in, each platoon leader gave Gallanth a respectful salute (the metallic dragons were the only ones who are honored with a salute indoors) and then shook Mkel’s hand. As they were all directed to take their seats, Mkel motioned to Toderan to come over to him. “Weir Senior Sergeant, do you know where Colonel Dunn is?” he asked.

“No Captain, but it is unlike him to be late,” Toderan replied. “The senior platoon sergeants will be here momentarily as well.”

“Yes, neither he nor Captain Vicasek is here,” Mkel added. “Gentlemen, may I have your attention,” Mkel said in a loud enough voice to be heard over the conversation. “We will give Colonel Dunn a couple of more minutes before we start. I assume you’ve all had an unofficial update by either Deless or one of the rangers?” A general “Yes sir” from everyone around the room confirmed his assumption. “Deless, why don’t you set up your map image so we can start right away when the support group gets here,” Mkel asked the elf.

“Yes, Dragonrider, it would be my pleasure,” the elf answered. Deless was Lupek’s second in command of the ranger platoon. He was the rare combination of a skilled ranger and a midlevel wizard; few elves and even fewer humans attained such status. This set of skills gave Lupek and his rangers a distinctive edge; Deless used offensive spells such as lightning bolts and fireballs, his defensive spells deflected arrows and missiles, and had other spells such as his surveillance ability with floating or spying eye spells. Lupek and Deless made a very powerful and effective team, which also aided in their other missions of aerial strikes and aerial combat, often deep into an enemy’s rear area or homeland. They were very mobile and self-sufficient as savvy trackers, deadly fighters, and well-trained aerial riders on their fierce griffon mounts.

“Captain Mkel,” Colonel Dunn called from the corridor, “sorry we’re late; we had a couple of last-minute details that had to be addressed prior to your exercise tomorrow. I also kept your platoon senior sergeants to help me plan, so their tardiness is of my doing as well.”

“No problem, sir,” Mkel replied.

“Gallanth, gentlemen,” Colonel Dunn added as he entered the council room with the infantry senior platoon sergeants, Macdolan, Vaughnir, and Gustoug, in tow.

Macdolan, a short but resolute fighter and trained healer, was the 1
st
Platoon’s senior sergeant. While just an inch shorter than Mkel, he was as tough as a wolverine and a devoutly loyal soldier and leader. Vaughnir was also honorable to a fault, almost a frustrated paladin in a sense, but one would be hard-pressed to find another sergeant who cared for his men more. Gustoug was a savvy, wily fighter of good reputation in battle, but there was a small streak of self-centeredness in his character. All three were phenomenal fighters and leaders.

“Good day to you as well, Colonel, Sergeants,” Gallanth replied. “Silvanth says that she will be acting as a chromatic dragon tomorrow for the exercise, so she will be delayed in providing teleport coverage for your supply trains,” he added.

“Yes, Master Gallanth, we planned for that and it should not be a problem,” the colonel replied. “Captain Mkel, please proceed without any further delay.” The colonel and Captain Vicasek sat down at the table. Colonel Dunn was the support corps commander for both the Weir’s support company and the support corps battalion for the Draden regiment. He stood at the same height as Toderan but was more thinly built with gray hair, sharp features, and an even sharper mind, especially in regards to supply and support missions.

While not known as a fierce fighter, he could take care of himself with his mithril alloy scimitar, which he wielded in an expert fashion. His renowned experience as a master logistician made the difference in several sustained campaigns. The support corps company was a mini version of his battalion; it included a healer platoon; a supply platoon for food, water, heating and cooling crystals, and clothing for the soldiers of the garrison and all their mounts; an armament and repair platoon with caches of spare weapons and arrows, as well as arms smiths and general repairmen; and a wagon platoon for transport. The battalion that supported the regiment was just a larger version of the Weir’s support company.

Captain Vicasek was the actual commander of the Weir’s support company. She was a lively, hard-drinking woman who was no pushover as a fighter herself. She stood as tall as Mkel and was solidly built but still shapely. She wielded a mithril alloy pole arm weapon with a dragonstone given to her by Silvanth; her long-bladed short spear could strike with incredible power. The weapon delivered a freezing blow in addition to its deadly curved blade head, which was a bane to her opponents. The support company was roughly one hundred twenty strong, almost equally divided into the four aforementioned sections.

“Yes sir,” Mkel replied. “As most of you know the results of the rangers’ recent scouting mission to the Gray Mountains, we will only briefly review the findings. The fire giants are massing on the western edge of their borders, apparently being reinforced by several battalions of orcs, ogres, and trolls. They are also being visited by several red and blue dragons, Morgathian death knights, and maybe more than one Talon sorcerer. If this does come to fruition, Keystone and Eladran Weirs, as well as Draden itself, are likely their primary targets, so we will have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. The rangers will give us forewarning of any attack, but the giants and mounted orcs could move fast, especially if they are supported by chromatic dragons and other aerial Morgathian forces. We will also be tying our patrols in with Eladran Weir’s rangers and centaurs, as well as Haldrin’s elves, so we will have a good lead time of any sizable force trying to enter Alliance territory.”

“Sir, why don’t we assemble all of the Weir on you and Gallanth and take the fight to these vermin in their own lands?” Lieutenant Akiser suggested.

“Lieutenant, you know that under former Premier Bilenton, we were directed not to conduct attacks outside of our borders unless attacked first. General Becknor and Colonel Therosvet fought this with the autonomy we enjoy as the Weirs, but we also have limited resources. Premier Reagresh is still plowing through all of Bilenton’s mistakes to correct this, but he has the Party of Enlightened senators fighting him every step of the way,” Mkel answered.

“Ahh, to shale with the POE cowards!” Ordin shouted out. “We should attack now.”

“I understand your concern and willingness to act, my dwarven friend, but we must be patient to allow the rangers to get the best intelligence on the giants as possible,” Mkel said, calming his ally.

“As for the exercise tomorrow, we will focus on a simulated giant attack with chromatic dragon support,” Mkel continued. “We will form a standard battle line with the dwarves in the center. Paloud and Akiser, you will be on the dwarves’ right. Howrek, you will be on their left, with the elf infantry platoon stationed behind you as a reserve. Line platoon leaders, be ready to mark a break in your battle line to allow the land dragons to pass through quickly. Since we will be facing fire giants, their breath weapons will be only partially effective and they will use them primarily to fry orcs, trolls, and ogres, so they will be pursuing the close fight with the giants.” Mkel nodded to Wheelor, who acknowledged his intent with a smile.

“Four land dragons against several hundred giants is not fair odds,” Mkel went on, “but we will have the land dragon company from the regiment, as well as Gallanth and Silvanth. Gallanth will be limited to his plasma fire breath weapon and sunburst beams for the fire giants, due to their innate fire resistance. A word to the infantry and rangers: remember that dragon’s fire grenades will only have minimal effect on the hellhounds, so save them for the ogres, trolls, and orcs. Willaward, you will also see a minimized effect on your dragon’s fire canisters, so you might want to concentrate on your fragmenting stones.”

“Yes sir,” Willaward replied.

“Gallanth and I will provide cover at intermittent moments and at the end of the exercise, to simulate us being busy keeping the chromatics off of you, then focusing on the giants. You all must think of what you must do if we cannot be there on time, so remember your aerial counterattack drill,” Mkel continued. “Jodem will be on the ground to fend off any offensive spells as well as work on the giants for both the exercise and the battle if it comes, depending on the amount of resistance we have in the air. Silvanth will simulate a diving attack by a chromatic dragon so the line company and the dwarves can practice their defensive postures. The archers will be able to fire volleys with practice arrows to hone their skills at aerial targets. She will breathe out a light ice cone, so all those that fail to shield properly will get a little frosted.