It had begun 15 miles away. The AI had locked onto the oncoming monsters, tracking their movements and mapping any patterns it could pick out. Barda also made sure to watch the movement of the dragon riders, mapping out any commands they gave their beasts.
Closer and closer the beasts flew. Moving at 13 knots, the dragons were on the battlefield in no time at all, interrupting the humans from killing each other. The Gumina side retreated to their camps as they shouted in joy, recognizing this was their hidden trump card.
On the flip side, the Tristanites had grim expressions as they scrambled to get away from the battlefield. They took to the woods, hoping to find whatever shelter they could in the forest. Behind them, the devils in the air unleashed their payload of fire breath.
Like a hunter, Barda eyed one dragon. It was in the lead, and it seemed to command the others behind it. If he could take it down, he would disrupt the formation, hopefully buying his side enough time to get out of harm's way. It was a pipe dream to believe he could save everybody, but at least he would be giving those that mattered to him a chance.
The beast was majestic as it flew, making even Barda take a moment to admire the beauty of it. However, now was not the time for site seeing, and besides, he had it on video, free to admire whenever he wanted as a form of memory.
Tang!
The wooden arrow was loosed. Barda wanted to test the beast's capabilities first, so he went with the wooden arrow. He didn't think it would kill it, but it would give him a vast amount of data.
Barda had estimated the thick scales to be as hard as steel, so he didn't bother shooting at the beast's body since it would be pointless. What he did do was shoot at the eyes, which he estimated to be the beast's weak point.
Just as the arrow was about to strike, the dragon blew fire at it, instantly incinerating it. However, Barda had succeeded in doing one thing, pissing it off. It locked on him with fury as it began its descent, ready to turn him into ashes as it had done his arrow.
Step one complete, I have it's attention. Now, what to do? Barda wondered as he turned his steed to make a quick escape. He knew the horse was no match to the dragon, especially with his weight on it, but he needed a split second.
Barda had learned something. The dragon was not just using its breath for offense, but also in defense. If he was going to get it, he had to find a way to go around the beast.
Astride the dragon, Barda saw the rider lick his lips as if savoring a meal to come. This made Barda throw away any plans he had at that moment. No one, absolutely no one, get's to see him as a piece of meat. Barda was pissed off to no end, and this time he could do something about it.
When he had been handed the horse, Barda had appreciated the fact that they had given him 2 full quivers on either side. One had wooden arrows while the other had steel arrows. He also had his own specially made bronze arrows. Each with its merit and demerit. Make no mistake, there were the steel-tipped wooden bows, and the steel arrow, in which case the entire arrow was steel.
So far he had been using normal wooden arrows. They were readily available if he needed to replenish since everyone else on the battlefield had been using them too.
Steel arrows had reduced flexibility on a longbow, but they had massive penetration when used by expert hands. They were ideal to use against shield bearers since they could pierce through the shields. However, they were very slow and easy to evade or strike away by a swordsman. Barda had 20 of them.
The bronze arrows were the best in terms of speed and accuracy due to the flexibility through the air. There was also the advantage that only Barda had them since they were custom made by him for himself. He also had 20 of the arrows.
By now, he had already fired hundreds of normal arrows all over the battlefield and had been a real headache to Commander Dana. The commander was watching the showdown between the dragon and the archer with bated breath. who else would be so brazen to attack a dragon with a simple bow?
Tang!
This time, the bronze arrow found its target. The beast yelled bloody murder as the rider tugged it upwards and away from its target. It the reigns in place, it could do nothing more than move as commanded, veering off-cause.
"What did he do?" Lady Maara, who was also watching as she ran away from the field, asked in bewilderment. For a moment there she had been sure he was dead, especially with the beast eyeing him like lunch, then suddenly it was flying away screaming?
"He shot the rider? Who the f*ck does that?" The commander didn't know whether to be pissed off or impressed by her nemesis and his resourcefulness. She didn't know it was petty pride acting on his behalf.
No one took note of the other dragons as they descended and blasted their hell blast on the battlefield, decimating lives in their wake. Barda had only dealt with one, the others were still unhinged and free to unleash their destruction.
Barda cursed as he watched the wanton destruction left by the monsters, but then came the moment he had bee waiting for. The turn. It was the one moment the dragons would be most vulnerable if anyone could take advantage of the blindspot.
Given the speed and momentum, Barda estimated the beast would take 2.342 seconds to make a complete turn, which meant that if he was going to make a clean shot, it would have to be before they began the turn. This was also since he was planning on using a steel arrow. Due to its slow flight, it would take way more than 4 seconds to hit the target.
Prediction, flight patterns, wind speeds, and even the Coriolis effect were all variables Barda took into his calculations as he made his shot. Everything that could be put into consideration was put in.
Tang!
The arrow came flying in at 300kmh, but due to the prediction and skill of the archer, the arrow's aim was true, heading for the eye. By the time the dragon saw the steel arrow, it was already too late to fly away or melt it, so it did the next best thing, it blinked.
The arrow found its aim, no doubt about that. Even commander Dana had confirmed that with her eyes, with deep trepidation. Everyone had expected the dragon to yell in pain, perhaps they were too accustomed to Barda's miracles that they expected him to deliver one more.
It didn't happen. The scales were just too thick to penetrate. His steel arrow, despite being built for just this purpose, did not penetrate the scales on the eyelid. All it did was enrage the beast.
There was something else bugging Barda, the other 3 dragons were roaming around freely. truth be told, he saw that they wanted nothing more than to help their alpha tear him to pieces, but their riders were keeping them in place attacking his allies.
Barda wanted them to focus on him and only him, which was why he was going through all this shenanigan fighting the alpha. Fortunately, they were an easy fix.
Tang! Tang! Tang!
3 bronze arrows were pinned on the dragon riders, throwing them off their dragons, which, of course, only served to enrage the dragons even more. Now Barda had a real headache. 4 dragons with their eyes on Barda ready to tear him from limb to limb.
Let's dance my babies, Barda said as he licked his lips. Now pay attention because this could get descriptive. Come to think of it, there is no way to describe what transpired next.
Barda shot arrow after arrow, one man dancing with 4 dragons. Neither one managed to penetrate the dragons' hide and scales, while tells you just how tough they were. However, what he did achieve was continuously throwing them off their aim, disrupting their flight patterns, and generally keeping them busy.
Barda knew he was just delaying the inevitable, sooner or later they were going to figure this out and find a way around him. Hopefully, by then, most people would have cleared out. Barda had no intention of dying here, but he could only guarantee his escape. Having no way to kill the damn beasts, Barda could only use delay tactics.
Barda was down to 4 steel arrows, he had exhausted the bronze and normal arrows he had. He was getting ready to fire his last ammo before making his escape when a notification rang out in his mind.
[Recommend host to increase the power output by 5%].