Tales From The Day of the Dragon

[Warpath]

We never saw them coming.

To most they were creatures of myth, legend, or prehistory at the very least: long gone from the world. They were placated gods or revered ancestors to those more familiar with them - millennia dormant, like to sleep until the end of days.

We couldn't have guessed at their numbers, their power, their unfathomable minds. Nor could we comprehend the depth of their unreasoning hatred for us.

They announced themselves in a single day of mass bloodshed, masterfully coordinating attacks on cities across the known world. Most of them struck and then moved on, leaving death and mass devastation in their wake. Those were the lucky places.

They started this war on that day...that day that sparked a new era on Althanas.

Where were you on the Day of the Dragon?

[Resolve]

“Explain to me what it is you do here, again.”

Resolve stared down Rayse as she leaned back in her seat, arms crossed. He sat across from her, where he pored over some documents with a side of scotch and a smoke. He had chosen a booth in the back, but such a precaution hadn’t been entirely necessary; with it so early in the morning, the rest of the tavern remained nearly empty.

“Simple,” Rayse started. “I offer loans to businesses in need, with interest.”

“And if they can’t pay them back?” Resolve asked, brows raised.

“I get their business. Of course I’m not just going to replace them, they can still work there as my employees, with a small kickback to me. I also guarantee them from my competitors.” Rayse took a drag off his cigarette and blew the smoke upwards, where it mixed with stale air.

Resolve sighed. “How is that any different from a protection racket?”

Before Rayse could answer, screams flooded through the open doors. Resolve rushed to see what was going on outside, but Rayse merely took a swig from his bottle. A few screams in Radasanth was of no conce––

ROOOOOAR!

Rayse jumped from his seat, looking toward the door where Resolve stood tense.

“...The hell was that?” Rayse asked.

“Look,” she said.

Rayse walked over and both of them took a cautious step outside, mouths agape as they looked up into the sky.

What other reaction could they have had when faced with a gigantic, flying dragon? Its blackened scales sported red splotches as if magma wept from its body, and it stretched as long as a jousting arena. At that size, it could have easily swallowed a horse whole –– and perhaps it had, as it dropped something cart-sized and very much on fire onto the street in front of the tavern. It burst into a plume of embers and smoke, not unlike like the blaze that originated from the beast’s toothy maw. A mess of screams and explosions followed its every movement.

More shrieks erupted from other parts of town and the sky lit up in a sea of red and yellow. There were more.

Resolve clenched her fists. “Where the––? Come on, we have to help!”

“No thanks,” Rayse said, ready to turn back into the tavern, gather his belongings, and get out of there.

“You’re just going to let it destroy everything?” the girl glared.

“In Radasanth?” Rayse shrugged. “This place is full of righteous do-gooders just waiting to show off their ridiculous power. I'm sure it will be slain by lunch.”

“What about all your businesses? You'll let it blow up all the stores you're extorting?”

“Extorting? I’m not–– hey!”

Resolve decided whatever he had to say was entirely unimportant in light of such danger. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him down the street, toward the screams and the fire and the gargantuan creature that now perched atop the bakery a block away. It loomed menacingly, surveying the neighborhood as if daring any of the fleeing ants to approach. The sounds of crumbling civilization rang in from the surrounding neighborhoods and it basked in the symphony.

“You can handle the fire,” the girl thought out loud as she pulled Rayse behind her. They skulked up the storefronts that led to the lizard’s current nest, pausing under awnings for cover. “If you can distract it, it’ll give people a chance to evacuate, and I can try to… how do you slay a dragon, anyway?” She glanced back at him, perhaps expecting his questionable background included expertise in such things.

He shrugged again, and she sighed. If only she could ground it, then at least the destruction would be contained and more of its potential victims could get away…

[Rayse Valentino]

A blood-curdling scream sliced through Resolve’s hesitance; the beast poured flame into the building across the street, baking anything and anyone left inside. The stench of burning nearly sent her head spinning, but such horrors only fueled this “righteous do-gooder” even further.

“I just need you to get its attention,” the girl pleaded. “Get it to hold still, even if just for a second. Got it?” The man stared at the flying terror as if he hadn’t heard a word she said. “Rayse?”

“Huh? Oh, right. One winged monstrosity, coming up!”

He lifted his hand and pointed his right, be-ringed index finger at the dragon, and the strangest sense of recognition hit him. Have I seen it before? No, impossible. Then why…? No matter. A small blue flame blossomed from the tip of his finger and he pressed his thumb against the steel ring. Resolve wondered how something so insignificant could distract something so big, but then with a flick of Rayse’s thumb, a great plume of fire burst forth. The shot exploded against the dragon’s face in a scathing, red-hot flash that inflamed its magma-like sores, causing them to glow white between its dark scales.

The menace wasn’t fazed, but it did notice the pair of ants that dared to snare its attention. It tilted its wings upwards and descended quickly, massive legs crashing down on the street, tearing it asunder and catapulting chunks of stone in every direction.

The two of them did not realize how big it truly was until now, and this agitated even ever-impassive Rayse. A flame-laced roar erupted from the terror’s hell mouth, and the pair just about trembled with awe in their figurative boots.

But lives were at stake. Even if Resolve knew she couldn't stand against such a creature, she had to at least try.

Rayse stepped back and glanced aside to discover that she had vanished from where she stood. The girl reappeared in midair above the dragon's head, then as she dropped in altitude, she conjured a massive spear and jabbed it hard into its massive, golden eye. The weapon fractured easily under the force as it struck its third eyelid. Resolve hissed an expletive or two as she plummeted toward the ground, and the beast frothed flustered flame in her wake. Again, she vanished.

Resolve hit the ground hard beside Rayse. She barely managed to land on her feet, the impact rippling through the pavement. At this point, she was quite fortunate that the only part of her that smoldered was the trailing end of her violet sari.

“The fuck are you doing?!” Rayse shouted. He had thought they were just buying time, not actually engaging it. “Let’s go!”

Alas, his comrade wasn't listening, as per usual. The exorcist had barely recovered when her form blinked away from sight yet again, flickering for a split second at the dragon's side where she slammed ineffectual blasts of energy against its scaly cheek. When it snapped sparks in her direction, she leapt invisibly to its opposite wing, where she conjured an enormous blade and attempted to slice it through the membrane. The limb shuddered and fluttered against her effort, colliding hard against her meager strength and sending her breathless into the air.

The girl jumped planes once more, this time to minimize the damage from impact she couldn't control. She wasn't quite sure what she hit –– it happened too quickly and painfully to register –– and soon found herself in a gasping heap on the flagstones.

"Gods damn it," Resolve muttered in contempt of her human frailty as she tried to pick herself up, but it proved itself a more difficult task than expected. Radasanth spun and she cursed some more.

“Shit! Resolve!” Rayse yelled as she collapsed across the square.

The reptilian giant slammed its tail into the ground, tearing a shockwave through the streets and shattering nearby windows. Its maw glowed as flames grew in its throat, its bulk threatening as it hovered above Resolve. Rayse grit his teeth and broke into a sprint toward the exorcist. He arrived just as the fiery breath engulfed the intersection, conjuring an inferno that brightened the sky.

When the smoke finally cleared, both of the dragon’s challengers were gone.

[Otto]

Report ID: IV.III.XIV.I.V.CXXVIII
Date: 19 Wyronius, 15,345 S.C.
Incident type: other (dragon incursion, severity level one)
Reporting officer: Corporal Otto Bastum (5th Plt., 1st Co., Logistics Bat. 14, 4th Infantry Div., Corone Armed Forces)
Officers present: Corporals Otto Bastum, William Tallow, and Fadime Mansour, and Private Carrin Fitch (as above)
Location of incident: Radasanth West Quarter, Old Teria District

On the 18th Wyronius 15, 345 S.C., at approximately 1600, Old Teria Mall came under attack from a large, airborne creature, since identified as a dragon. This creature proceeded to sweep the Mall repeatedly and bombard the area from above with breathed fire. I, Corporal Otto Bastum, was on patrol nearby with Corporal William Tallow in Blackwell Avenue at the time this occurred. Upon noticing the disturbance, we immediately responded to the scene...




* * *



"It can't be," William rasped. He and Otto stared over the shingled rooftops towards Old Teria Mall, where a broad, winged shape swooped in and out of view between the chimney stacks. With each dive came a distant wind-distorted roar, and a steady spate of screams from that direction grew ever louder.

Otto opened and shut his mouth a couple of times. Nothing came out. He gave William a wide-eyed look instead - and dashed off towards the impossible thing.

The orc's mail jinked and janked with every bounding leap. He heard William's lighter footfalls behind him as the man powered along in Otto's wake, over treacherous cobbles and under the shadow of pale, dwarf-built houses. The people came soon enough; silent now and white-faced, stricken with the overriding impulse to flee. They streamed shoal-like against the two guardsmen, and even Otto had a hard time fighting the flow. Some moved with single-minded determination, while others seemed in too much shock to move themselves. These few were either being pulled along by loved ones who were loathe to leave them behind, or were simply being pulled along by the tide.

"Out of the way!" Otto bleated. "City Watch, make way!"

A soot-covered woman, her hair matted with blood, anchored herself against the flow by seizing onto Otto's forearm. "There's nothing left," she stated.

"We need to check the area-"

"There's nothing left," she said again, this time with vehemence. "The bricks were melting, alright? Up and down the whole street, everything is ash or melting!"

William sidled up behind his colleague. "Otto, I think these are all the survivors we'll get. We need to start here."

There was another roar off in the distance. The dragon had departed from the Mall, but away from them. Hope that the beast was leaving for good flickered briefly in his chest, but it was crushed at the sound of more cries of terror from the city. Otto realised that this wouldn't be quite all the survivors of the initial attack. People would have fled down whichever exit was closest to them, and the dragon was in pursuit.

"Alright," Otto said. "Alright, I think I know where we can take these people."




* * *




... I identified that the closest reasonable haven was the Bleddyn Library. Corporal Tallow and I directed survivors from the Mall towards this location. We met with assistant librarian Luned Bleddyn, who was already aware of the situation, and who agreed to shelter civilians for the duration of the assault. Ms Bleddyn further informed us of two other dragons assaulting the city: one other juvenile and an adult. Upon leaving the library, the time was approximately 1645. Corporal Tallow and I returned to the Old Teria District to continue directing civilians towards the Bleddyn Library. Upon re-entering the district, we encountered Corporal Fadime Monsour and Private Carrin Fitch...




* * *



The brilliant crimson tabards came into view first, their owners marching purposefully around a street-corner baker's shop. Then followed a wary-looking band of citizens: artisans, shopkeeps, errand-runners, people of leisure, and more besides. To a man, they had their necks craned to the clear blue sky above. It wouldn't help. The dragons were keeping low when they flew in for an attack, enough so that the buildings blocked them from sight until they were on top of you. The first thing you'd hear was the dull roar of wing-rent wind, before a blooming roar signified your end.

The distant figures caught sight of Otto and William. One of the them waved. Otto waved back, and they two groups approached each other. He wasn't surprised to see that the other guards were from his own squad, which had been rostered on to patrol this district. Fadime and Carrin: the former a Radasanth-raised but Fallien-born woman, the latter a young but earnest recruit yet to earn his corporal's stripes. No one stopped moving once they got within speaking distance, though. Fadime and Carrin continued to lead their wards on, so Otto and William stepped in line beside them.

"Did you hear?" Carrin asked of William. "There's three of them about."

William just nodded.

Otto looked at Fadime. "Where are you taking these people? The garrison?"

"No," she clipped back. "We can't. It's been destroyed."

"Wait. That... no-"

"It was one of the first targets," she continued, while her eyes swept back and forth along the street. "The keep's been gutted, as have a few outlying buildings. They just kept at it, until the stones began to glow. You can't imagine the heat." She pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed. "The whole city's going to go up. Every time we form a bucket chain, one of those things comes along, and - well..."

Otto couldn't imagine the damage. He tried, but failed, and so put it out of his mind.

"Bill and I have been taking people to the Bleddyn library. It's safe," he added, when Fadime shot him an incredulous look. "It has... protections on it, and it's close. I can't think of any better place to go at the moment."

Fadime mulled this over. "Yes," she said at length. "If you're sure about that. And even if you're not, then we're probably no less likely to die anywhere else in this city."




* * *




... Corporal Fadime and Private Fitch assisted us in moving civilians from the Old Teria District to the established haven. We evacuated Blackwell Avenue, Old Teria Road, and Earl's Street, which were at risk from spreading fire. We also exercised our authority in seizing provisions from the Blackwell Grocer (itemized in appendix I), so as to supply refugees with adequate nourishment for the duration of the crisis.

At 1800, a dragon returned to the area...




* * *



"Here it comes!"

Otto had been dreading that warning for the last couple of hours.

"Move it, move it, move it!" he shouted at the civilians filing through Luned's front gate. They didn't need telling twice. One look down the street revealed an inbound shape in the sky, sweeping low over the rooftops and along the street. Some people screamed, others swore, but all of them began to bolt as fast as they could for the library door. Luned stepped back to allow the traffic to enter more easily. It was helped by the orc at its rear, forcible pushing and carrying those who might have been at risk of being left behind.

Time passed far, far too slowly for Otto's liking. But Fadime had given them a good, early warning from the library's roof, and Otto stumbled inside just in time to hear the massive creature land on top of a building opposite them now. There was a tremendous crackling as shingles split and scattered under its weight, and they could all hear the tortured supports groaning in protest to the new load.

Luned slammed the door shut behind Otto. "Ot's okay," she told him. "We'll be safe in here."

"William's still out there," he replied.

Luned's expression turned mortified. Otto didn't wait for words or gestures, though - he sprinted out the entryway, up a flight of stairs, and into the spare room which overlooked the front street. Fadime was already there staring out the window. Otto caught movement through the pane: a great leathery wing, blazing yellow in the afternoon sun, furled itself up. He cautiously approached beside Fadime.

It was the first time he'd properly seen the dragon.

And it was huge.

The building opposite was a two-storey house, and the creature's tail easily reached from the roof to the street. Talons each as large as a man gouged into the tiles, and every shift of its body resulted in a chorus of splintering ceramics. It gleamed like polished obsidian, and Otto could barely make out that it even had scales, the gaps between them were so fine. Its giant maw swung idly back and forth as it considered the library. Liquid-like fire dribbled from between its teeth and ran in rivulets down the roof, which had begun to emit coils of smoke.

"Where are Bill and his group?" he whispered.

"Take a guess," Fadime muttered.

Otto let his gaze drop to a first-floor window on the dragon's perch. He saw worried faces peeping back out at them.

"Oh, gods. They're going to roast alive if they stay there."

Fadime scowled. "The dragon will set fire to the street in any case. Just like the Old Teria District, just like the garrison. Just like every other part of the city they've gone to."

"What's it waiting for, then?" Otto wondered. "Could it know about the library's protections? Godsdamnit, William, come on!"

"Maybe it- wait." Fadime leant forward and peered at something further down the street. "What's that?"

Otto followed her gaze, and his heart began to sink. A door several houses down the street slowly opened, and William Tallow emerged. As they watched, he backed up into the middle of the road with his eyes trained on the dragon. It was too busy eyeing off the library to notice him, but all that changed when he raised a hand to his mouth and let loose an ear-splitting whistle.

"William!" Otto stuck his head out of the window and screamed as best he could. "No!"

The dragon had its mark. It launched into the air as William turned and sprinted down the street, showering tiles and masonry from its claws. Before the entire structure could subside, though, the front door opened and people began to pour out towards the library. The dragon was too committed to pay them mind. Otto caught one last glimpse of his partner diving for another doorway, before the beast closed in and let loose a blinding jet of flame which consumed the structure.




* * *



A light morning wind was coming in off the water. It worked its way through the field tent's numerous gaps, carrying with it the stink of ash and an even worse miasma from the medical pavilion. It ruffled the pages of Otto's unfinished report. The sheafs strained and flapped against his hand, then slowly settled as the breeze died off. He just stared at the paper for a while, unwilling to form the words in his mind, much less put them down in ink. But pretending wouldn't change things. After an age spent sitting as still as a statue, he finally set the nib scratching across the page again.



... The citizens that Corporal Tallow had led to the library managed to make it inside without casualties. The dragon then proceeded to attack the shelter. Apart from superficial damage, the structure and its occupants remained unharmed. The dragon desisted after several attempts, and set alight the rest of the buildings around the library before departing.

Corporal Monsour, myself, and Private Fitch attempted to search the wreckage immediately after this assault, and once it had cooled enough for a proper investigation to take place at 0600 this morning. We found no trace of Corporal Tallow. Thus it is of my opinion and of the other officers present that Corporal William Tallow is MIA, presumed dead.


Otto let the pen lie still again. William's loss was something that felt strangely numb for now, but it snagged his attention every time his thoughts strayed across it. The man had been Otto's partner since he came back from the war, over a year ago. His first friend, come to think of it. The CAF was full of rotten souls, but William hadn't been among them. Nor was the rest of Orman's squad, come to think of it. They were all decent sorts, all misfits of one type or another. And now there was one less.

The death toll was still being counted. The CAF was operating from a handful of surviving watch houses and some hastily-pitched tents in the remains of the old fort. But although the dragons had gone, Radasanth was still tearing itself apart. Fires still raged through sections of the city, looting had become widespread as people tried to find enough supplies to survive, and a disproportionate amount of CAF resources were being funnelled into protecting the more affluent sections of the city - which left everyone else to fend for themselves. Otto was too tired to care. He should probably feel bad about that, but he had been working through the night to save what they could of the city.

Gods help them if the dragons returned, because there might not even be a city left to save the second time around.

[Luned]

When the world decided to exist again, Resolve collected herself slowly. Never had even just breathing been so difficult, and she winced through her first moments of new consciousness. The girl sat up with a shallow gasp and a groan, clutching at her side where bruised ribs threatened to snap all over again. “Fuck,” she muttered, and that hurt even more.

“You need to breathe normally,” Luned instructed as she stood over her, a hand on Resolve’s shoulder to keep her down.

The exorcist looked around bleary-eyed, glad that at least her head was relatively clear. They were in Luned’s bedroom; she understood this from the position of the wide window to the left and the cluttered workspace underneath it. Outside, a haze of dark smoke dimmed what should have been a bright noon sky, and Rayse watched the coal-like glow of the burning city through glass with muted interest. He stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the frame.

“Rayse told me what you did,” Luned continued, crossing her arms across her chest. She spoke evenly, her tone low and harsh. “Are you stupid?”

Resolve blinked. “Oh gods,” she said as the gravity of the situation hit her. “We have to find Otto––”

Luned’s stare hardened, her posture rigid as she stood imposingly over her friend. “He’s working on evacuations. You aren’t going anywhere.”

“What about Rosie?” Resolve despaired. “She and the girls at Moody’s are helpless, I’ve got to––”

“I’m going to be frank with you, Resolve,” Luned began, bristled. “This library may make me seem powerful, but I’m not. The protections are just a relic from when Bleddyn was here. I’m just a scribe, and I healed you knowing that it means I may not be able to help someone else. Don’t you dare waste that. Got it?” Resolve’s lips parted to protest, but Luned spoke over her again. “No. If you go back out there and get yourself mangled again, I’m not helping you. As a matter of fact, I’ll deal the death blow myself because I’ll be beyond rage that you wasted my fucking energy.”

Stunned by Luned’s sternness, Resolve allowed herself to be pushed back down on the bed. The scribe offered Rayse a fierce glance –– one that imbued him with babysitting duties, if anything –– and left the room without another word.

Out in the shadows of the hallway, Luned hoped to find a moment to collect herself, but had no such luck. The library had never been so full, and she had given the rest of the living quarters to Petru as a makeshift infirmary. He and his volunteers rushed from room to room as more evacuees flooded the building, many needing minor patching up simply from the rush of their escapes. Too many arrived with more serious injuries –– in particular, the most frightful burns their young physician had ever seen.

One of these victims was a child. Her hair all but gone, she laid under a blanket near the doorway of the room across the hall, tearless sobs racking her tired little body. Luned’s stomach churned, and she evaded pangs of guilt as her mind drifted other places.

Where was Flint?