Red Hand Heights (Location A)

[Amaril Torrun]

Jerichol watched fearfully as some of the enemy women threw fire onto the river. His first thought had been that the flames would die upon impact with the water, but he was mistaken. Several fires were now spreading all over the river, burning away at the living things above the surface, while the things below started to boil. The young dragon and his small force was trapped. In front of him was an entire enemy army, perfectly capable of destroying his precious life. Behind was an insatiable wall of flame, consuming everything on its heated path toward the group of Faoi.

If I am going to die, I will die doing as much as I can for Mother.

Just as he was sending a telepathic instruction to attack the enemy, chaos ensued. His foes were scattering, yelling and he even heard a few rattling death cries. With no option to travel through the flame, he gave the command to attack the now vulnerable enemy. His small number of Faoi came short of meeting up with the angry, feminine army, instead running into what appeared to be an organized force of wolves. The adolescent dragon wished he could be back in the water, where the Faoi were more much more agile. On the hard ground, he knew they would be in for a difficult battle. There was nothing else he could do however, and he allowed his reptilian allies to crawl and slither toward the canine beasts. The Faoi were, after all, quite hungry.

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“We forgot our cannons!” Hector punched one of his soldiers square in the back, hardly attempting to hold back his anger. Ready to get into the battle, he rushed his men into place and yelled at the The Drakes for being so slow. There was a battle going on and he didn’t even know who his enemies were yet. A few men turned, including the newly battered one, seemingly to retrieve the forgotten weaponry. “Forget it you fools! Don’t you see we don’t have time for stalling! We need to get in there while our foes are weakened and distracted!”

Darith shook his head in distaste. Hector was an annoying leader with hardly enough respect to go around. The draconians were meant to mingle with Hector’s soldiers to re-enforce the ranks, but they stayed to one side nonetheless. The entire force was an odd sight, strained with biased opinions toward each other. If Amaril had been there, he would have dealt with the matter, but none of his advising generals would hear of such an “amateur” move. To go into battle, he would be a prime target of the opposing forces, they explained. The half-dragon listened to them, though he made it perfectly clear that he would fight with the army at some point during the tournament.

Darith’s thought about the nobility of his leader was ended abruptly with the shrill cry of one of the Faoi. The sound traveled in a wave until the entire front of the army was screaming wildly. Too dark to see, Darith whispered to his own men, “Be ready to retreat.”

At that same moment, one of Kataneen’s children yelled toward the rest of the Split Breeds. “We’re being attacked by oily, shadowy things! They’re trying to wrap around anything they…” The voice was cut off, followed by a roar as one of the shadows tried to absorb the young dragon. The adolescent wouldn’t allow it though, swiping his claws and tail repetitively. The unnatural being didn't stop moving however, and the dragon was dumbfounded. "They can't be killed by normal means!"

Just then, several more of the shadowy figures came, seemingly from the ground.

“Cut them down. Don’t stop our advance!” Hector urged his men to move forward, regardless of the unnatural forms of their enemy and their inability to see properly. He didn't even care if the creatures couldn't be killed. That only increased the importance of getting out of the area and attacking the rest of the enemy instead.

Beyond the battle with the shadows, the unseen battle between the Split Breeds’ two enemies could be easily be heard. Hector perked up at the sound of more foes. “Footmen, come to the front and push these creatures back to the depths of Hell, in which they came! Archers, prepare to fire on the rest of our enemy!”

Hector only needed them to get a little bit closer.

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The rogues found their plan immediately foiled.

The noise of the battle seemed to have just started diminishing when they heard Hector’s commands. Within minutes, they learned why the level of sound on the battlefield was quieting. The sound of hundreds of footsteps was all they could hear, but the situation was obvious. Their enemy was on the move.

“We’ve only got forty six of us. We can’t hold them off with such small numbers.” A rogue turned and started to dart back toward Amaril and Kataneen. “We’ve gotta warn our leaders.” Eight others nodded in agreement and followed.

Just before the rest joined the few runners, a second rogue spoke his mind. “What about Hector? He’s our true leader and deserves our loyalty more than that half-dragon beast.” The rogue’s statement met much more enthusiasm than the first and the rest of the rogues ran as silently as possible toward where they had heard Hector last.

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“I should have gone with them…” Amaril paced back and forth restlessly. The sounds of warriors screaming their battle cries could be heard easily.

Kataneen shook her head. “You know why you need to stay behind. This is our first true test of companionship between our three separate forces. We don not know how it will work out and it would have been foolish to send our leader into what could possibly turn into a mess.”

“That’s exactly why I need to be there!” Amaril quickly toned down his voice. “I should be with the main force of the army, to lead them and show them that we are all in this together. How can I earn their trust by staying behind?”

“Even so, you can not change the past. You must deal with the fact that you will not be a part of this initial battle. There will be more opportunities if you are so willing to risk your life. I will not advise against your decision to fight again.” The elderly dragon turned to join her children, who were watching the cailpis and mearogs trapped behind their cages.

Amaril looked in the direction of the battle longingly and caught the faint outline of several figures in the moonlight. He grabbed the hilt of his sword, but quickly realized the approaching people were Hector’s rogues.

“Men, why are you here? You were sent to weaken the enemy from the side.” He sent a piercing stare into the foremost rogue, intent of showing them that he was indeed a leader.

“Sir, the enemy seems to have similar plans. We heard a significantly large force traveling in the same manner as us. They seem to be on a path directly between ourselves and Hector’s force. I think they mean to attack him from behind. If they do, they’ll be forced to fight the battle from both sides.” The rogue’s eyes and those of his comrades showed great fear at the thought of losing their general.

Amaril turned and ran toward the group of sibling dragons and their mother. “Hector and Darith are going to be caught between two armies. I don’t think we have time to reach them before the enemy does, but we can attack from behind as well. I think now is the time to send our angry friends here loose.”

The speed in which the dragons reacted startled Amaril. In a mere minute, they had every single horse that was connected to the cages under their telepathic control and had them start pulling the Dheathain beasts forward. The half-dragon quickly remembered that some of Kataneen’s children were in the same danger as Hector and Darith. His thought about the dedication to family was interrupted by an anxious statement by his elderly dragon general.

“When we release these creatures, we must get away as fast as possible. My children and I will not be able to control them like we do the Faoi.”