The War Of The Lance (30 page)

"I never knew such exhilaration and excitement. Silvara tucked in her wings and plunged
toward the city. Wind lashed my hair and stung my face. The ground approached with
dizzying speed, and I felt a fierce joy.

"At last the dragonarmies would get a taste of the terror they had spread so wantonly
across Ansalon. Silvara's challenging bellow thundered through the air, echoed by scores
of silver and golden throats.

"The draconians lining the walls quivered and shook under the awe of dragonfear, and only
ceased their trembling as they died. Clouds of horrific breath expelled by the good
dragons swept the draconian ranks, slaying them where they stood. Blistering heat from the
brass and gold dragons mingled with the lightning bolts spit by the bronze; spurts of acid
from the copper dragons pooled on the paving stones beside the chilling blasts of ice
spouting from the silver wyrms.

"A few evil dragons, mostly blues, had taken refuge in the city after the battle at
Westgate. Now, these rose to meet us, spitting lightning bolts, carrying their riders into
the fray. But even as they rose, the magic of the gold dragons smashed the leaders from
the skies. Then a rank of knights led by Silvara and me, carrying dragonlances shining as
bright as silver dragonwings, met the enemy and ripped into the blues.

"Silvara reached out with rending claws and tore the wing from one of the blues. I watched
the crippled creature plunge to its death. Then a bolt of lightning crackled past my head.
Quickly I raised my lance as Silvara shrieked. Her head, of silvered steel, struck the
back of the blue wyrm and that serpent, fatally pierced, followed its fellow to the
ground. The other good dragons

whirled passed us, slaying the remainder of the blues before their deadly breath weapons
could begin to tell.

“Within an hour, brother, the good dragons had settled to the rooftops and towers of the
city, spewing their deadly breath while the griffon-mounted elves showered the remaining
defenders with arrows. For the whole day the dragons remained perched on all the high
places in the city, following the plan of our general.”

Gilthanas was all for pursuing the enemy troops into their hiding holes, driving them from
the city, but his sister insisted on patience. There would be no pursuit. Instead, the
dragons of good would occupy every vantage point in the city, barring any draconian from
appearing in the light of day.

This patience paid off in lives. Seeing that their hated enemies were not about to depart,
the troops of the dragon-army abandoned Vingaard Keep during the night. Some fled south,
fearing the spring-swollen river as much as they did the good dragons. Many of these were
humans, who hoped to blend into the populace. A great number of these, it is known from
the records of the knighthood, joined the ranks of Laurana's army by the end of the
campaign. Others stole what boats they could or, in the case of draconians, tried to use
their wings to carry them across the deep torrent. (Fully half of the latter are believed
to have perished in the attempt.) When the sun next rose over Vingaard Keep, the fortress
was held by the good dragons and their elven allies.

The few humans who had survived the long and brutal occupation crept from their shadowed
rooms into the sunrise. They caught sight of Laurana's hair, trailing from her helm like a
pennant of streaming gold in her wake. Those long golden locks could be seen a mile away
on the battlefield.

“Hail to the General of the Golden Banner!” they cried. Soon it became “Hail to the Golden
General!”

And the Vingaard Campaign had begun.

Next I journey to that keep. Excellency, there to sit upon the banks of the river - and
ponder the next example of Laurana's audacity, the crossing of the Vingaard.

In devotion, as ever, Foryth Teel, Senior Scribe of Astinus

*****

To the Great Astinus, Lorekeeper of Krynn,

I am here, now, at the shore of the Vingaard River. The season is spring, as it was when
Laurana ordered her forces across - and I cannot but wonder at the courage and vision that
compelled an army to ford its murky depths. Now, when the snow is melting in the Dargaard
Mountains and along the north slopes of the Garnet Range, the river runs high and deep. It
seems propelled by anger, roaring across this great plain toward the distant seaport of
Kalaman, nearly two hundred miles away.

During its course, the river passes within a dozen miles of Dargaard Keep, yet in the next
weeks Laurana would dare to bypass that dark bastion and press on to her destination - but
I get ahead of myself. First, I must describe the crossing. The land troops of the Army of
Solamnia reached the banks of the river after a three-day forced march from Westgate.

We know from the multiple sources that the good dragons, fresh from their victory at
Vingaard, joined the landbound army at the banks of the river, some forty miles north of
the liberated fortress. The Vingaard is wide and deep here, navigable only by ferries -
except in a dry summer, when a few fords appear. Such was not the case that spring, of
course. Here, we see another example of the elven general's ingenuity - for she employed a
tactic that no by-the-book Knight of Solamnia could have imagined in his most daring
dreams.

She ferried the troops across the river - by air! One can imagine the shrill neighing of
the knight's terrified horses as they were hoisted aloft, gently, in the claws of the
largest of the great dragons. Or the poor, trembling foot soldiers, mounted six or eight
to a dragon, eyes squeezed tightly shut, praying to the gods of good (or any others!) for
their very survival.

It was still a long, slow process. Mellison records that her mistress camped at the shore
of the river for three days - we can assume that this was the time required to cross. The
baggage train, which had been light to begin with, was abandoned here. From now on the
army would survive on the food it could capture or forage. A screen of flying griffons,
mounted with elves, guarded the crossing.

The fears of the knights - that the army would be attacked by massive dragonforces in the
midst of the crossing - proved unfounded, for two reasons. First, the rout of Vingaard
Keep had sent the nearest enemy wing into chaotic flight; and second, the sheer speed of
Laurana's march seemed to have taken the Highlords by complete surprise. We know from his
own records, for example, that by the time Ariakus learned the Golden General had left
Westgate Pass, the Army of Solamnia was already gathered on the east bank of the Vingaard.

One small force did try to disrupt the crossing. Highlord Toede sent six of his green
dragons from Throtl to investigate the activities of Laurana's army. The beasts could have
wreaked terrible havoc on the heavily laden good dragons, but the griffon-mounted elves
intercepted them a few miles from the river. Nearly a quarter of the griffons and their
riders fell during that skirmish in the skies. It was a tragic and irreplaceable loss, but
none of the greens survived to pursue the attack. Gilthanas writes a long eulogy to the
bravery of the griffon-mounted elves and even the official records of the Solamnian
Knights, Excellency, include generous words about their sacrifice!

Her forces again assembled on the opposite bank of the river, Laurana was determined to
maintain the speed and unpredictability of her advance. (It is ironic to note that this
young elf maid grasped, intuitively, principles of warfare that veteran knights, too long
hidebound by doctrine, resisted until the proof became too overwhelming to deny. Thank
goodness for Laurana's persistence.)

Once again, it is the servant Mellison who provides our look into the planning of
operations, for she served tea to Laurana and her captains as they planned their next move.

Present were the same five: Sir Markham, Sir Patrick, “Sir Rose,” “Lord Sword,” and
Gilthanas of Qualinesti. Laurana announced her intention to move on Kalaman. Patrick
protested. “But we know that Ariakus had ten thousand troops in Sanction! They could have
been on the march for three weeks - and now you want to leave our flank unprotected. The
river now guards us. If we march from here, we expose the whole army to an attack from the
rear!”

“Our wagons are left behind,” Laurana pointed out, coolly. “Therefore, the rear of our
army is as easy to defend as the front - even more so, if the enemy expects to encounter a
defenseless baggage train, but instead meets the steel of charging knights.”

“True, true,” noted Lord Sword. “But we move so far from the pass - Palanthas is all but
defenseless.”

“I realize that, my lord,” Laurana explained patiently. “But I'm betting that the
Highlords are no longer concerned with that city. Their attention must be riveted upon US!
This army is a far greater threat than they have ever faced before. They'll need to
concentrate and destroy us. Ariakus - and Kitiara too - will assume they have plenty of
time for Palanthas after we've been destroyed.”

“Are they wrong?” demanded Patrick.

“Only in the assumption that they'll FIND us!” Laurana retorted. “That's why it's so
important to move quickly!”

“There will be opposition,” Markham pointed out. “The Red Wing is out there, and portions
of two others - not to mention the reserve army.”

“Of course. But with speed, we'll be able to meet these forces - and defeat them - one at
a time. It's essential that we bring the Red Wing to battle before Ariakus can join with
his allies!”

“But if you're wrong, you risk - ”

“I risk WHAT, Sir Patrick?” Laurana snapped. “Would you go back to the days of cowering
behind the stone walls of your fortress, waiting for the enemy to attack? And if we win
against that attack, then what - we wait for the next, and the next until our forces are
depleted, our supplies gone? Better to stake this army on the hope of a REAL victory - one
that will do more than protect Palanthas. We take the war into the heart of the
dragonrealms! Only THEN will our enemies face the prospect of defeat!”

(Excellency, if Mellison did not exaggerate the words, I can only assume that the Golden
General quite lost her temper. It is hard to imagine her using a term like “cower” to the
proud knight. However, it seemed to have had the effect of silencing him, if nothing else.)

“We know that much of the Green Wing remains in Throtl,” continued the elven princess.
"Tomorrow, at first

light, I will lead the dragons against them. If we can scatter the ogre ground forces, so
much the better. The main body, in the meantime, will continue its march to the northeast.
I want the Highlords to believe that Dargaard is our next destination."

“A bold plan, my general,” Sir Rose noted, with a smile. “As you know, these plains were
my home. I should warn you that the river narrows and deepens north of here. It presents a
formidable obstacle to movement to our left.”

“Thank you, Sir Knight,” Laurana replied. “I, too, knew of this river - and, in fact, it
will play a role in my plans.”

If the princess revealed that role on this night, we don't learn of it from Mellison. The
girl drifted off to sleep while the warriors discussed tactics into the early hours of
predawn. Perhaps even now the elven princess foresaw the Battle of Margaard Ford and was
drawing up her plans for that epic confrontation. But alas, we can only speculate!

My journeys, Your Grace, shall next take me along the foothills of the Dargaard Mountains.
I will retrace the steps of Laurana's army as she moved east, south, and then north -
always keeping the Highlords guessing.

Until that next message, I remain, Your Devoted Servant, Foryth Teel

*****

To the Great Astinus, Lorekeeper of Krynn,

The Army of Solamnia exploded across the plains, shocking the dragonarmies in a series of
engagements. These were distinct and isolated clashes, some of them cavalry skirmishes,
others dragonfights in the skies, and a few of them pitched battles pitting all of
Laurana's troops against equal or greater numbers of the Dark Queen's minions.

The dragonarmies were forced to fight when they had planned to march. And when they
planned to fight they found no opponents and were forced to march. Not until the final
confrontation, at Margaard Ford, did the Highlords finally assemble an overwhelming force
- and then they fought a battle at the very place Laurana had

selected. But forgive me, Your Grace; again I precede myself.

First to challenge Laurana's advance was the portion of the Green Wing encamped in Throtl.
Two dozen dragons and more than a thousand draconians - mostly vicious kapaks - formed the
heart of this legion, supported by hundreds of ogres, honorless men, and more than three
thousand hobgoblins.

These troops were ostensibly under the command of the Highlord Toede, though the records
of that ignoble hobgoblin make no mention of the battle. Our best reports of the fight
come from Gilthanas, and the interviews conducted by the knights with one Kadagh - an ogre
who served as captain of one of the Green Wing companies.

Kadagh awakened to a clear, sunlit morning - unusual weather, here in the shadow of the
Dargaard Mountains. Yet this day the eastern peaks and foothills were visible, etched in
vivid detail as the ogre emerged from his tent and stretched the kinks out of his knotted
muscles. Then, restless, his

gaze drifted to the west. He first thought that the gods had sprinkled gold dust through
the

skies. Gold gleamed in the sun, floated gently through the air. But ogres are pragmatic,
and Kadagh quickly observed the specks of metal growing steadily larger. His bellow of
alarm alerted the camp of the Green Wing to the danger.

Laurana and her dragons had caught the detachment of the Green Wing as it prepared to
march in a delayed response to the Army of Solamnia's rampage across the plain. The green
dragons squatted on the

ground, saddled but riderless, as gold and silver and brass death came screaming from the
skies. The few greens who leaped into the air were