***Warning: This chapter gets a bit bloody. Not too graphic, but if war and everything that comes with it disturbs you, reader discretion is advised***
It was easy. To pluck the humans out of their perches while they weren't looking. It was so easy to use Ausren's technique of scaling the towers to slaughter the humans before they could even think about using those dragon-killing crossbows. So incredibly easy that Dneir wonders why they've never tried something like it before.
Of course, like all dragons, the gray warrior is proud of his heritage. Dragons are the perfect killing machines, gifted by Nerhvahnii with the power and agility to take on any opponent. And yet the humans were always so hard to kill with the direct approach.
Ingenuitive little things.
The wind is savage in the clouds as Dneir tips his wings, bringing himself in a gentle arc back around the human fort. As he predicted, water carries electricity well, and the fort is now in flames, battling against the cold conditions with no luck. He was a little worried the soaked wood housed in the fort might not light and as such poured as much power as he could into that forest strike. Apparently, his worries were for nothing as the flames now lick at the clouds, their orange glow dancing across Enozarc's scales where the little Soiraw balances on the thick stone walls. Scattered across the fortress courtyard are many shiny little bodies.
Despite himself, satisfaction whirls through the warrior's mind. Nothing is quite like relishing in the might of himself and his brethren. No longer shall they be trampled by human-kind. Why were they trampled by humans for this long? Why did they bother to dive straight down into the fort and get in reach of the humans' sharp, shiny, pointy sticks? There appears to be a better way to do it.
Why did we never try this before? Why were we always ordered directly into the front lines with no plan but to attack? All we need to do is adapt. How easy it is to kill them when they don't see it coming. Was it pride that stopped us?
Balancing on the human's rock wall, Enozarc spits more boiling water down onto the humans below him, steam curling in the air around him. The shiny little things are swarming out of their nest like agitated bees, shouting orders and scrambling to figure out how to counter the sudden attack.
And probably also trying to figure out why their killing machines aren't firing.
Remove their tools and they're nothing more than barking dogs without teeth.
Enozarc suddenly bounds down the wall and perches himself up on one of the human's watch towers, his wings spread to keep his balance. The little Soiraw might be built for the water, but he is plenty graceful on land as well. But by now, he's got to be getting close to running out of water, having blasted a good third of the humans rushing for the towers with boiling water. Soon, he will have to drop into a direct fight, within reach of those shiny killing sticks the humans have. Having no protective breastplates, the little dragon is at an even larger disadvantage.
Sweeping over the fort, angling his wings to come in low, Dneir calls on the lightning within his chest and blasts a group of humans running for their towers. It's important to keep the little things out of their towers and away from those killing bows.
Perhaps, Dneir thinks as he rotates his wings up and sails easily over the walls, I should signal Enozarc into the air and take over the attack. I, at the very least, have more armor than him. While it is true that his kind, the Enirrca dragons, are lightly armored in favor of speed and maneuverability in the air, Dneir still sports a protective breastplate that Enozarc does not. He has a much better chance in close combat with the humans than the little blue Soiraw does. No other dragons need to die on this mission. They've already lost three Soiraw and their prince attacking this fort. Though the prince is something that needs to be explored at a later date.
Dneir tips his wings, tucking one to his side and falling into a turn. With a soft whomp he spreads his wings out again and sweeps over the fort once again, feeling electricity arc off his scales as he cuts through the snow-laden clouds. As much as Dneri wants to protect his fellow dragon, Enozarc may just refuse to be removed from his post. The little one has a love for slaughtering humans that Dneir has never witnessed before. Not even the King can match Enozarc's hate for the little creatures. And not even Ausren was brave enough to ask why.
Or perhaps the black dragon just never cared enough to question it.
Either way, the Enozarc and Dneir only made one promise before they attacked: No survivors. The longer it takes for word to reach the rest of the human forces that the fort has been taken, the longer the dragons have to set up a defensive post.
The longer we have to finally make progress.
In an easy movement, Dneir once again furls his wing in, tipping his body down and around, swinging back to the fort. Whoever is in the air needs to make sure no one escapes. Gilding back over the busy courtyard, Dneir watches as an arrow finally finds its mark in Enozarc's soft neck.
As expected of him, Enozarc roars an enraged challenge to the perpetrator. However, unlike him, he does not immediately attack.
He must have finally run out of water. We really need to switch before he jumps down there and gets himself killed.
Wanting to stall the little dragon, Dneir opens his jaws, letting the wind whip through his teeth, and calls on the power roiling in his belly. Arcing across his scales, electricity erupts on the dragon's tongue.
Not bothering to wait for his partner to attack, Enozarc instead turns, snatches one of the tower's massive stone's between his teeth, and hurls it into the waiting mass of humans. Satisfaction sparks through Dneir, and he hurls his electricity into the little beings below, the strands arcing from his muzzle to the ground. Thunder cracks from each bolt, shaking the air with its power.
Snapping his jaw shut to silence the stream, Dneir uses precious seconds to drive himself higher into the air, the massive expanse of membrane in his wings causing the air to boom almost as loud as the thunder itself. Then, with altitude gained, the gray warrior whips back around and takes another sweep.
No human shall escape this onslaught. Victory is in sight.
Dropping his right shoulder, the dragon wheels around the keep and out over the forest, widening his search as Enozarc continues to hold his own. No need to worry about the little Soiraw now. He apparently has it well under control.
One circuit of the keep, sailing on nothing but the raging wind. Nothing.
Good.
Two. Nothing.
Three-- There.
Drawing air in through his nostrils, sweeping again and again around the keep, Dneir finally finds something. Out in the forest, the scent of fear, mixed with human.
Someone slipped through the cracks.
Red flashes through Dneir's mind, and before he can stop himself, a roar rips from his throat. Hunting has always been his favorite pastime. There is something good in letting savage instinct take him by storm, to lead him to his prey.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, the warrior recognizes Enozarc's call of confirmation, but the gray dragon does not care. There is prey beneath him, a scent that has been found.
The hunt is on.
Wheeling in the air, beating his massive wings against the oncoming wind and wheeling in a tight arc, Dneir drops to the tips of the trees and rockets deeper into the forest. The scent is fresh and strong, getting stronger every passing moment. The human should be caught in a matter of seconds.
Dneir draws the scent in, his lips peeling back to reveal canines the size of a human hand, and turns his attention to the forest beneath him. Somewhere down there is the little thing that thought it could run. Now to just find it.
A flash in the trees… there! Armor, ducking underneath a tree in the hopes to not be seen.
Too late. Dneir's fiery eyes are much too sharp to be foiled by a mere tree.
Snapping both wings to his sides in a violent movement, Dneir plummets through the trees, hitting the ground hard, but easily absorbing the impact with a few forward bounds. Skidding to a stop, absorbing his momentum, the dragon turns and starts stalking back through the tall, dark trees. The wind is significantly dampened below the trees, and their trunks are close enough together it might be a bit of a struggle to get airborne again. Though, perhaps that is a moot point seeing as the edge of the forest is within running distance.
Now, just to find that little human and dispatch it. Lowering himself close to the ground, Dneir opens his muzzle and draws air across his tongue. The scent of fear is strong in the air, mixed with the musky scent of a human. The shiny little escapee is close. Tail sweeping the fallen pine needles, Dneir stalks forward, keeping himself low to the ground and in a position to pounce. It is not to be forgotten that this prey is ingenuitive and predatory in their own right. Blundering into something is a very bad idea. But so is taking too much time while there is an active siege going on.
Enozarc is plenty capable, but the little dragon stands no chance against the humans on his own. Best to end this quickly and return before the blue Soiraw does something stupid. Nostrils, tongue, and ears working to pinpoint the exact location of the lone human, Dneir stalks through the trees. He leads with his nose, careful to avoid ambushes that might leave him exposed.
Moving slowly, one foot in front of the other, Dneir peers through the thick trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of the human. Unfortunately, it seems, the human spotted him first.
As the scent gets thicker and thicker, Dneir snakes his head around one particularly large tree trunk and--
"Gyah!"
Dneri peels his head back with a snarl, barely avoiding the glittering sword swung in an arc at his nose.
Found the human.
With a clicking roar, Dneir launches himself around the trunk, pouncing down on the hiding little predator. Upon impact, the sword goes spinning off into the trees, ripped from the human's hand by the force of Dneir's attack. Then, the grey dragon finds purchase in the human's armor and throws the little thing to the ground, pinning it there with a single front foot.
Now just to kill it quickly and return to Enozarc.
Raising his head Dneir peels his lips back, positioning to grab the human by the skull. The human bares teeth in response, hands coming up to push on the dragon's talons. One quick bite and it will all be over…
Wait. Dneir tips his head hard to one side, zeroing in on the human's face.
Isn't this the human that Ausren was protecting?
Fluffy brown hair, bright green eyes, it's definitely the right build… but then where is Ausren? He seemed quite dedicated, not to mention the black dragon and his human both had markings. This human doesn't have those, and definitely does not smell like the prince.
Dneir growls lowly, peeling his lips back and sniffing closely at the boy. This human is definitively not the human Ausren was protecting. Yet he is so similar to the little thing Dneir glimpsed beneath the black prince.
Perhaps they shared an egg? It's very rare for dragons to have two hatchlings from one egg, but perhaps it is a little more common in humans. Does that mean that this human is connected to the one Ausren is protecting? In that case, perhaps it is better to let the little one live, than to attract Ausren's attention.
Dneir grew up with the black prince, but Ausren was willing to protect the human against his best friend. Meaning their bond is close. But is it close enough to defend a family member of that human? Is it worth killing this little one?
Dneir bends down, looking at the human closely. There is fire in those green eyes, glaring defiantly up at the grey warrior, despite the fear that is leaking off of him. But there doesn't seem to be anything at all remarkable about the little thing.
Lifting his foot off the human's chest, Dneir only spares one more moment to scrutinize the boy. For his part, the human scrambles out from under the dragon and staggers to his feet, looking desperately around for his sword.
"I don't get it," Dneir mutters, turning from the human.
Shock seems to bolt through the boy, for Dneir watches as his jaw goes slack out of the corner of his eye. And the human breathes, "What?"
Dneir pauses, turning to look at the human over one shoulder. "Run," he replies, and launches himself off through the conifers. The human's life has been spared… hopefully it doesn't lead to the recapturing of the fort. Now all that need be done is to finish the siege.
Roaring his position to Enozarc, Dneir sprints through the trees, eating up the distance under his claws. The heavy foresting is much too dense to take off within, especially with the impressive wingspan the lithe grey Soiraw sports. The best bet is to make it to the edge of the forest and take off there.
Within moments, the dragon finds himself barreling out into the open and without hesitation opens his wings. Immediately, the screaming storm winds and the massive expanse of his wings lifts his feet off the ground. Using what little grip he retains, the grey dragon leaps up into the air, bringing his wings down and rocketing into the sky.
It's much better to be in the air than stuck on the ground.
Beating his wings hard to keep his speed in check, Dneir lines up his landing and drops to the wall of the fort. Across from him, blood mixed with saliva dripping from his teeth, Enozarc roars down at the humans milling below him. Still so many left, and so many little arrows sticking out of the little blue Soiraw's unprotected neck.
We are so close, we cannot lose now, Dneir thinks, sweeping his gaze over the remaining humans. They fight valiantly, the dragon has to give them that. Despite the many of their brethren that lay dead at their feet, they continue to mount a counter attack.
As the grey dragon surveys the courtyard, he bares his teeth in satisfaction as he finds that the human's entrances to their towers sporting the killing bows have been blocked by massive chunks of rock, thrown by Enozarc from his perch. In fact, he has almost completely dismantled one of the watch towers, using its mighty stones as projectiles.
It's time to end this fight.
Lining up his shot, Dneir calls on the electricity in his chest and unleashes it onto the helpless humans. The smell of burning flesh fills the air, and the humans scatter, running for their covered buildings.
Good, they're routing. Not wanting to waste his advantage, Dneir leaps off the wall, dropping into the courtyard. In one leap, he beats the humans to their keep, blocking off their escape.
"Form the lines!" a voice booms out over the courtyard. The human commander, desperately attempting to gather some sort of last ditch effort at a fight from his terrified troops. "It's only two! Take them down!"
Some try to heed the orders, creating a shaky line in front of Dneir.
"The crossbows are down, Fjero!" another voice protests, rising with terror. "We have no hope but to run!"
"Coward!" comes the booming reply. "We kill them the old fashioned way! With steel!"
Tired of the delay, Dneir bares his teeth, coils himself in front of their keep, and roars a challenge at them.
"Forward!" the commander called Fjero orders, and Dneir catches a flash of light as the human swings his sword forward. He's in the middle of his men, but by no means cowering behind them.
In an impressive feat of bravery, half of the remaining human forces launch themselves forward with a rising cry. In a less impressive show of cowardice, a good chunk of the forces turn and bolt for their main gate.
Dneir has only a moment to watch as the blue form of Enozarc appears in front of the gate, dropping off the wall, his dark golden eyes crazed with anger, and shreds into the first of the humans to meet him.
Then, the line of men is on the grey dragon, bristling with their metal swords. Dneir snaps the first one up by the head, immediately killing the man upon impact. No time to waste reveling, only time to kill. Winding his neck up and back, the grey soiraw launches the man's body into his oncoming comrades, breaking up their shaky ranks in seconds.
With any semblance of order destroyed Dneir leaps forward, his claws taking down another two men. A third falls to teeth, a fourth dies to the whip-like spiked tail of the soiraw, and four men at once are killed by the heavy impact of the edge of Dneir's wings.
It's almost unfair, Dneir thinks, closing his third eyelid against the splattering blood coating his grey scales. They really stand no chance like this.
Now the force is scattering, despite their brave commander Fjero's best efforts. These men value their lives more than their honor. Dneir can't blame them. However, those that turn and try to run are met by Enozarc, now deep into a blood rage, and are shred in seconds. Enozarc, as much as he likes to revel in his kills, also does not hesitate to kill in excess.
It's a blood bath, quite literally. They fall like little parchment statues, unable to hold their own against the force of a dragon. Dneir, mowing through the fleeing and fighting humans alike, finds it easy to fall into a bloodlust. Kill anything and everything that moves. That's his job.
Hunt and kill. Don't stop until there is nothing left to hunt.
Human after human falls, any that escape his claws running directly into Enozarc's jaws. The cobble under Dneir's feet is sticky with blood, his claws aching from tearing through armor, his tongue thick with running blood. There can be no mercy.
Hunt until there is nothing left to hunt.
Snatching a fleeing human by the leg, and quickly killing it with a shake of his head, Dneir finds himself thinking, Why have so many of us died to them? They are so easy to kill.
Dneir drops the human to the slick, red-stained cobble, turning to find another victim. There is only one man daring to face the grey warrior now. By the look of his armor, battered but worn with honor, this is the commander known as Fjero. In fact, his dark eyes are darkened with sorrow and hatred, but he stands bravely, coated in his comrades blood.
This one… I will give him an honorable fight.
Squaring up, dropping his body closer to the ground, Dneir hisses at the human, tail cracking behind him. The human stands on chance, even with his little circular shield and shiny sword. But a part of Dneir respects them human's bravery, and therefore will give him the honor of going down in a battle.
"Why," the human breathes, staring at the grey mass of bloodied scales before him, aware of the sounds of his trainees dying in the background. "Why… why did you attack like this? We… we weren't ready."
Dneir growls lowly, pacing closer to the human.
Taking a deep breath, the human squares up, lifting his sword into a ready position. "I'll fight to the end. I'll fight for my people against you, dragon. Even if I die, I will die an honorable death, and I will be known as the one who stayed and fought."
"I will remember your bravery," Dneir responds, stilling as the battle draws nearer.
For a moment, the human is still and silent. Then, softly, he breathes, "So you all do talk. I always thought that was a lie. You've never spoken before."
Of course not. The little pests that plague our land are not worthy of hearing us speak. Tired of the talk, Dneir bares his teeth and roars in challenge.
The human, knowing the time has come, yells back, bringing his shield up and charging forward.
Dneir springs from his crouching position, bringing his right front foot down in a crushing blow. It is caught on the human's shield, stopping the damage that would have killed the human, but shattering the wooden sheild in the process.
With a roar of anger, the human brings the sword up, aiming expertly for the gap between Dneir's body scales and his protective belly plates. However, the human did not account for the dragon's speed, and the grey soiraw easily dodges the blow, bringing his other foot down to swat the human to the ground.
With his opponent down, Dneir snaps his jaws shut on the man's skull. Just like that, the fight is over, and Dneir lifts his head to the dark, stormy sky, and roars his victory. Across the courtyard, standing over his newest kill, Enozarc echoes the call, his wings flung out wide.
FInally shaking his attention from the bloodlust of battle, Dneir casts around the courtyard. Enozarc, as expected of him as the second in command of the Crown Prince's strike unit, has handled every single human that has escaped from Dneir's own claws. The only things left alive are the dragons and those humans that are injured too badly to continue the fight.
But there is no human left running around.
Dneir lifts his head, staring across the courtyard at his blood-covered comrad. For a moment, the two simply stare at each other, the only sound the wind and the groans of those still left alive.
Then, softly, Enozarc breaks the silence, saying, "We won."
Dneir blinks, casting around the courtyard one more time. Then, not quite believing it, he responds, "We won."
For a heartbeat longer, silence reigns. Then, the little blue dragon lifts his head, spreads his wings, and roars victory to the dark sky. Dneir launches himself up onto the nearby wall, casts around the still courtyard one more time, and joins the call.
Elation rockets up his spine, wrapping around his mighty heart and causing it to beat in a frenzy.
We won. We won! We won! We took the fort!
It's a chant in his blood, and Dneir roars it to the sky once again, announcing their victory to anything within ear shot. The sound echoes off the trees before being swept away by the raging wind.
Below him, Enozarc echoes the call over and over again, beating his wings in celebration.
Finally, minutes later, when the celebrating has been done and the elation has started to wear off, Dneir drops back down to the bloody courtyard. The smell of blood is so thick that it clogs Dneir's nostrils, and he snorts violently in hopes of clearing it. When there is no luck there, the grey soiraw paces over to his blue companion.
"Are you alright?" Dneir checks, grimacing at the multitude of arrows sticking out of the little dragon's neck.
"Fine," Enozarc replies, shaking his head violently. One arrow pops out of his skin and bounces off Dneir's nose before it clatters to the sticky ground.
Dneir rolls his lip up at it, before turning to the mass of bodies strewn across the ground. "We're not quite done yet, my friend."
"You handle finding those that are alive and dealing with them. I'll handle breaking into the human's keep and sorting out the rest of them," Enozarc says, running his long, barbed tongue over his muzzle. For as much as he hates the humans, it is notable that he does not wish for them to suffer… usually.
Dneir nods to acknowledge the order, and sets off across the courtyard to do as told. Find those that are alive and end them quickly.
True to his word, as Dneir works, Enozarc sets about ripping into the doors of the human keep, tearing through wood and steel alike. Before long, there will be no survivors.
None but that one boy Dneir let run.
Turning his head up to the dark clouds, the cold wind whipping up around him, Dneir bares his teeth in a savage smile.
"We won."