Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm (5 page)

“What is more disturbing is the appearance of this demon and berserker class of chromatic dragon. Again Gallanth, Talonth, and Strikenth slew both of the demon types and the berserker dragons; however, their increased power and strength was duly noted. Their breath weapons also have considerably more destructive power. We also learned that only one out of ten chromatics that undergo the ritual to become a demon dragon survive it. So we are reasonably sure that neither the Covenant nor Tiamat would risk that many chromatics to attempt this. We also learned that Tiamat is gaining her strength back, as evidenced by the increase in dark-crystal weapons empowered by her blood, and is directing the Talon Covenant as well as the Usurper Five chromatic dragons.” He continued to project scenes from the battle. “As we have seen, a demon red was slain by one of our gold dragons and would have been handled by a silver if it was alone. This is the worst they can field, so while formidable, they are not insurmountable. These are unfortunate developments but are likely not the only experimental creatures they have concocted,” Hestal explained.

“We do also want to thank Queen Eladra, for our combined powers of foresight were what prompted sending Gallanth, Mkel, and Jodem to Battle Point just in time. This as well as keeping a silver dragon here at the Capital Weir in reserve and the coordination with Talonth and Colonel Lordan served us well. This preventative action saved hundreds if not thousands of Alliance lives and proved a deadly blow for the warlock Ashram’s army and two chromatic dragon wings,” he commented as Eladra smiled in acknowledgement. “We also have several apprentice wizards soon ready for service and are preparing a dozen more dragonstone crystals to bond with twelve new wizards within a week or two.”

“Thank you, Master Wizard Hestal; I know if you or your fellow magic users gain any new insight, you will share it with us, as we will with you.” Becknor said.

“Colonel Lordan, we will start the report from the weirs with you.”

“Thank you, sir, Michenth; Eladran Weir, as I stated earlier, is doing well. Both our silver mine and our production of the cooling and lighting crystals are meeting quotas, but I know demand is rising. I also know we will be able to make levitation crystals as soon as we are instructed. The issue of the patrols along our borders has been answered by General Frankrest, so we look forward to receiving those forces and will make preparations for their arrival. We are coordinating with Keystone Weir for both scout missions and if we have to combine forces to counter the fire giant threat. That is all we request and have to report at the present, sir,” Lordan quickly stated.

“Colonel, in the interim, until the legion arrives, we can possibly help you on your southern boundary,” Glaiventh, the bronze dragon who oversaw Machren Weir with his rider, Sighbolt, offered Colonel Lordan and Talonth.

“Thank you, Glaiventh, but we know you are already stretched thin watching the long coastline of your peninsula region, and with the increased saragwin and pirate attacks, you need not be stretched anymore,” Lordan answered.

“Your offer is well appreciated, however,” Talonth added.

“On a happy note, one of our bronze dragon pairs, Killenth and his mate, have an egg ready to hatch. Another bronze pair will perform their mating flight soon, and we have two brass dragons and one copper dragon ready to lay eggs.”

Eladran Weir was the sister weir to Draden, just slightly larger in height and dimension. Its position was chosen to best guard the southeast border of the Alliance where the Gray and Smoking Mountains met.

Eladran Weir itself sat away from the main mountain chain at the top of the Conesquen Valley and overlooked the huge Eresta Lake. It was the headwaters of the Conesquen River, which flowed almost a thousand miles to the Adelif Peninsula. This was the easternmost border of the Alliance. The Eresta Lake was over fifty miles across and very deep. It kept the needs of Eladran Weir’s bronze dragons met, as far as their propensity for swimming and fishing. The dwarf builders took advantage of the mountain’s natural layout and made it very defensible from all sides but especially from the north and east. It commanded the whole valley so any invading force would be under full view from its peak. Its twenty-two dragon complement, while only a fraction of what once was housed there before the Great War, was still one of the most feared wings in the Alliance after the Capital Wing.

Killenth and Fieranth, with their mates, were the fierce bronze dragons of Eladran Weir, and they demanded the same ferocity from the copper and brass dragons in their respective squadrons. Just as Mkel and Draden Weir had a strong relationship with the elf clan of Draden Forest, Eladran Weir had a similar alliance with a large community of centaurs. Outside its predominantly cavalry-oriented forces, Eladran also had an aerial battalion of a mix of hippogriff, and giant eagles.

“Thank you, Colonel, Captain Mkel?” General Becknor nodded for Mkel to speak.

“Sir, Lord Michenth, we have already notified our wagon smith of the levitation crystals, and he is preparing to design and refit our stock. My best archers are also preparing for the new crossbows to train our soldiers and make them proficient as quickly as possible. Again, the weir strike garrison is ready for anything we might have to face, and we will incorporate the Draden Regiment with any operation. Gallanth has become very proficient in ground teleportation, as we executed with the Battle Point Legion. I know he has informed all dragons present of his teleportation techniques, as well as his overall experience with the fight at Battle Point. Keystone Weir will maintain our defensive agreement with Battle Point until the assigned dragons arrive, and even after that, we will still look in on them. We are maintaining our quotas of heating and cooling stones, and those details will be reported by our weir merchant Captain Hornbrag to his Capital Weir counterpart later this week. We created a dragonstone broadsword for a ranger captain from Battle Point of 80 percent mithril, which seems to possess flame-strike capability, as well as the wizard staff for the Freiland apprentice, as I mentioned earlier,” Mkel reported.

“Eighty percent mithril, isn’t that a little much for a non-weir officer?” Therosvet asked.

“Sir, you should have seen him take down a powerful orc general armed with a solid black-iron battle-axe. He saved the legion’s line from faltering. He fought bravely and saved dozens. Ordin has also found a new vein of mithril that more than makes up for what we used in that sword. The weirs will receive their share of the mithril when it is mined. As for the garrison, it is fully manned with twelve over our total authorized complement, and our elf and dwarf companies are always present and ready. Trade is still flourishing both from the Severic and the merchant routes from the east through Battle Point. Our combined exercise with the Draden Regiment two months ago went extremely well and gives us confidence in our ability to react quickly and maintain our name as the Strike Legion. To also end on a positive note, Silvanth just flew her mating flight a few days ago,” Mkel finished.

“Very good, Captain. I am glad to hear the good news. Please keep up the good work and my compliments to Silvanth and you, Gallanth. Master Wizard Slidess, Trikenth, it is High Mountain Weir’s turn,” Becknor said keeping the meeting going and adhering to his usual hour- to an hour-and-a-half-limit.

“General Becknor, Michenth, High Mountain Weir has been very watchful of the passes from the northern and eastern lands through the northern Gray Mountains. Our outposts and scouts have been reporting a greater frequency of attacks on the villages and small tribal regions of the western Kaskar Kingdom. Their payment of tribute to the ice giant clans has apparently not been working as of late. Our legion is just below fully manned and has suffered four casualties these last three months in small skirmishes, but we are short on cavalry and land dragons, as you know. If we have to begin sending troops across the Gray Mountains, we will need more mounted soldiers or these levitation-crystal-powered floating wagons,” Slidess explained.

“Our production of cooling and heating stones has been on target, but demand has gone up significantly. Our dragons are all well and fit to fight, in spite of our brass brothers complaining of the upcoming winter,” Slidess addressed the council with one hand resting on his sapphire dragonstone wizard and fighting staff. His last comment brought a slight chuckle from a few dragonriders, for all knew that brass dragons did not like the cold. “I am also training three apprentice wizards at present, and they will all be ready for independent service by winter,” the dragonrider wizard explained.

“We have also seen a rise in the activity among the ice giants and the white dragon packs in the northern mountains—mostly raiding the Kaskar and independent villages—but they have been probing along our borders. On a brighter note, my mate will be ready to fly soon, and we have one copper and two brass dragons either ready to lay eggs or ready to hatch. Our one bronze dragon pair will also be ready to mate soon as well. Our two wings and our legion stand well and will accept any challenge thrust at us,” Trikenth added to his rider’s comments. The silver dragon more or less coordinated with the weir’s legion for Slidess, who while a powerful wizard, was not trained as a military officer. Trikenth and the legion commander therefore made most of the tactical decisions.

High Mountain Weir was set on a remote but large peak on the edge of the northeastern portion of the Gray Mountains, roughly seventy-five miles from the sea. It guarded the mountain passes and northeastern border of the Alliance from any incursion from the forests on the other side of the mountain range and from the unsettled lands and western portion of the Kaskar kingdom. Only a small town stood in the shadow of the weir, but a larger port city thrived along the coast to the northwest. This Weir was not the choice of assignments for either men or dragons, but it did have its beauty, as it was overlooking the majestic mountain range. The legion assigned there was basically of standard Alliance configuration, just slightly short of cavalry because of the thin passes and lack of good maneuver room in the mountains. The dragon component of High Mountain consisted of three silver, four bronze, eight copper, and nine brass dragons.

“Understandable, your need of cavalry, General Frankrest; would you have your staff put out an offer to cavalrymen across the Alliance to see if anyone would want a little tour at our northeastern weir?” Becknor requested.

“That would seem to be a good assignment for a Battle Point unit since you are giving them dragons, but I’m also sure that there will be other volunteers, if not only for the higher weir pay, for the chance to get into any action,” the Alliance senior general responded.

“Thank you, General Frankrest. Vermax, Tyrenth, what of Ice Bay Weir?” Becknor asked.

“General Becknor, Michenth, to date, even Ice Bay has seen several small-scale attacks in the trade lanes by saragwin and the pirates. They are mostly harassment raids, for they never number more than a small party of saragwin or one pirate ship. When we are called, Tyrenth and I or one of our bronzes is quickly dispatched if a navy ship is not in the immediate vicinity, and the aggressors are eliminated. While small in number and frequency, these raids are keeping us busy, especially combined with the occasional white dragon pack attempting to strike ships or venture close to our coasts from their lands in the frozen northeast.

“Our legion is maintaining just below full strength, and we have been rotating them with the Ice Bay fleet’s naval infantry to give them some relief and a little cross training. We are scheduling a full-scale joint exercise with them before our winter takes full hold. We are also maintaining our numbers of cooling and lighting crystals that we are required to make, but the supplies of raw gems for dragonstones and for the metallics’ power source have been growing slightly scarcer. The merchant ships traveling to our port are not as anxious for our gold and products as they once were, but this is likely due to them being afraid of pirate attack on the long journey, unless they pay for our protection. As the good admiral knows, our fleet does not have enough ships to provide all the escorts needed, so the dragons patrol the sea lanes and respond to distress calls via seeing crystals. We are keeping the peace, but we are getting stretched thin,” the senior dragonrider explained as he ran his fingers through his short, brown unkempt hair.

“Lord Michenth, our latest hatchling, the bronze dragon Savrenth, and his rider will soon be ready for their advanced training here at the Capital Weir. He is strong and exceptionally adept at magic use. He will make an outstanding addition to our weir’s wings,” Tyrenth added. “The white dragon wolf packs are getting bolder, as they are venturing farther out to sea and further south. So far, they only put up slight resistance, preferring to flee from any show of force. We will keep you informed.”

Ice Bay Weir was situated on the inset of the large northern bay and port that was named after its propensity to freeze for a short time in the harsh northern Alliance winters and the storms it endured from time to time. The weir itself was actually shielded from most of the ocean’s fury, being at the southern end or inland part of the bay. It was the largest mountain of a small grouping that the city surrounded. It was the second most northern port in the Alliance and thrived on fishing and trade. It was also the primary export location for most of the elvish goods and crafts that King Denaris and Queen Eladra’s kingdom produced for foreign markets. Ice Bay also had a small amount of mineral wealth, mostly gems that were mined by a small clan of dwarves. They rotated in and out of the region, for they were not fond of the cold either. Ice Bay Weir was just slightly larger than Draden and carved out in a similar fashion, with a commanding view of the bay itself.

Vermax and Tyrenth oversaw the assigned legion at the Weir, which was just slightly modified from a standard Alliance unit, as well as the fleet stationed in the bay in conjunction with the respective commanders of those forces. The legion had one land dragon company assigned to it and reinforced them with a unique unit of latoucs with riders. Latoucs, which were sometimes called sea serpents, winged serpents, or sea dragon snakes, were a creation of the most talented Alliance and elven wizards utilizing python and dragon blood. They were very powerful magical creatures, growing up to thirty feet or more in length, three to four feet in diameter, with a twenty-foot wingspan. Their wings varied in coloring and were dragon-like in appearance but were proportionately wider laterally. They could speak rough common tongue and Draconic but could not bond to their riders like metallic dragons.