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Along the combat chaos and battlecry Aden heard a roaring voice from distant —it was vague at first—coming from the center of the battlefield.
"Wyverns! Wyverns in the sky!"
Aden heard soldiers scream over and over pointing at the sky. Aden quickly turned his head toward the sky.
Out of the blue, three flamecrest wyverns—as big as a house tent— descended from the skies, their vibrant crimson scales and flaming mane reflecting the sun's glare. The wyverns' powerful wings cast shadows over the battlefield, their presence altering the very course of the conflict.
They were not ordinary creatures of war but the fearsome companions of the Dragon Knights —a mercenary group hailing from the land of the Andal the Wessen region. Flying their prancing dragon sigil embedded on their rider's cape.
Aden didn't know which side of the opposing forces the dragon riders were.
One of the wyverns swooped down and unleashed its flame upon the soldiers engaging in the middle of the battlefield—foes and friends alike. They couldn't care less about the orcs' or the human. Burn them to a crisp. Every man and orc became a human torch.
In the distance Aden saw another wyvern descend on the hill where the main Khanadi army was, they strafe their fire down upon the soldiers. The Khanadi army didn't have time to maneuver. Commander Akbar became one of the victims. burn alive on the sandy hill. The rest of them scrambled.
It was a trap. Set up by the Yuza army's commander. Thousands of Khanadi soldiers were decimated in a blink of an eye by only three wyverns.
No one knew about the wyverns, not even Khanadi's scout units.
Using dragon riders or light cavalry to attack the rear is the basic tactic of open-field battle. as the rear is where signal bearers were present. creating chaos in communication was a basic strategy in battle.
unfortunately, the Khanadi army didn't bring with them siege weapons against the wyvern, the siege weapons were left to become dusted relics in the warehouse as monuments of the age of wyverns, they never thought about using them anymore because the age of wyverns had over hundred years ago—and now they are back.
The appearance of the flamecrest wyverns shattered the conventional understanding of warfare in Median once more. The Andal mercenaries had re-introduced a new element of surprise to the battlefield, one that held the power to change the tide of battle. Emir Khanadi's forces, who had been on the verge of triumph, now found themselves grappling with an unprecedented threat from above.
Chaos erupted on the battlefield as the wyverns descended, raining fire upon the remnants of the Khanadi army. The once-unstoppable light cavalry, who had moments ago charged into the fray with unbridled fury, now found themselves faced with an unimaginable foe – a force of nature itself, capable of unleashing a devastative inferno on an unparalleled scale.
"Incoming!" Nasser's voice rang out in a desperate warning, echoing across the ranks of the cavalrymen as they desperately sought to evade the impending onslaught.
The third wyvern, its massive form casting an ominous shadow over the Khanadi cavalry where Aden rode, unleashed a torrent of flame that scorched the earth, burning everything in its path. The once-orderly ranks dissolved into chaos as the searing inferno engulfed their comrades, creating a macabre firewall of charred corpses that threatened to entomb them all.
With a terrifying screech that shook the very air, the wyvern proceeded to pluck the yellow-bannered cavalrymen from their horses one by one, its enormous claws snatching them with ease as if they were merely fish trapped in a barrel made of fire.
In a cruel twist of fate, the hunters had become the hunted. The tables had turned, and the Khanadi forces found themselves surrounded by an impenetrable wall of flame and the smoldering remains of their fallen brothers. Everywhere they turned, their path was blocked by the inferno that consumed the bodies of their comrades and the sands that had once been their allies.
Aden's heart pounded in his chest as he witnessed the unfolding carnage, his mind struggling to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the devastation wrought by these fearsome beasts. The wyverns, creatures of past legends, had descended upon them with a fury that defied comprehension, turning the once-orderly battlefield into a hellscape of fire and death.
As the wyvern's talons closed in, Aden wheeled his steed around, urging the magnificent beast forward with every ounce of his strength. His lance, once a proud symbol of his prowess, now seemed like a mere twig in the face of this elemental onslaught. Smoke stung his eyes, and the acrid scent of charred flesh assaulted his senses, but still, he pressed on, driven by a primal instinct to survive, to live and fight another day.
At that moment, the once-glorious charge of the Khanadi cavalry had been reduced to a desperate flight for survival, their ranks shattered by the sheer, unbridled might of the wyverns.
Aden suddenly found himself disoriented. He watched in horror as his fellow cavalrymen were consumed by the wyvern's flames and claws. He would never thought this battle would end up like this.
He searched for Nasser, but his fellow cavalryman was nowhere to be found. His wingman must've searching for an exit route.
"Death to Khanadi!" The battle cries of Emir Yuza's soldiers echoed in his ears as they pursued him relentlessly.
Aden heard a heavy flapping sound behind him followed by a roar. It was the third wyvern. He was pursued by a wyvern. Aden rode his horse as fast as it could. tried to outrun the wyvern in the labyrinth of flame. although Himar wasn't afraid of fire, where could he be outrunning a wyvern on a vast arid land with nowhere to hide?
The wyvern lunged forward and clawed at Aden. Himar dodged left and right. The dragon rider toyed with him, he didn't even bother to blast Aden with his wyvern's flame. Aden could hear his loud and annoying laugh—a distinct Andal's laugh.
Himar was an agile horse. He was able to dodge all the wyvern's claws by outmaneuvering the wyvern. He was snaking his route, making the wyvern have to land and fly again over and over again just to chase the brown horse and its rider.
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"Agna!" the wyvern rider uttered some foreign word, it was not even the word of Wessen common tongue. Aden and Nasser knew the Wessen tongue.
The wyvern puffed its chest—ready to fire upon Aden. suddenly Himar fully stopped. Flung Aden forward. Aden felt a sting of heat from his back and hearing his horse screeched in pain ruptured Aden's ear. Himar let himself burn by the wyvern's flame. It was his final sacrifice for Aden.
lying on the ground, Aden could feel the heat on his skin and inside his heart.
"Shit!" He cursed.
Aden's war garb caught on fire, he rolled on the ground slowly, and the dust and sand extinguished the fire.
The dragon rider surveyed the scene, among the smokescreen his gaze falling upon Aden's defiant form.
When Aden tried to stand up he was staggered to his feet, his body aching from the impact of the wyvern's assault. His once-proud steed lay motionless nearby, a casualty of the dragon's fiery breath. Facing the wyvern and the rider with Gritting teeth, Aden unsheathed his shamshir, the curved blade glinting in the flickering flames that surrounded him. He would not go down without a fight.
For a brief moment, the dragon rider considered finishing off the lone warrior, along with his fallen mount. However, the approaching footfalls of friendly soldiers gave him pause. With a tap of his feet to his wyvern, the dragon rider took to the skies, leaving Aden to face the oncoming enemy soldiers.
Aden's grip tightened around the hilt of his shamshir as the first enemy soldier charged towards him. With a fluid motion, he parried the incoming strike, countering with a sweeping arc that cleaved through the soldier's defenses, felling him in a single stroke.
Another soldier advanced, seizing the opportunity presented by Aden's momentary vulnerability. But Aden was no easy prey. Pivoting on his heel, he brought his shamshir to bear, deflecting the soldier's blade and following through with a lethal thrust that pierced the man's armor, ending his life in an instant.
Yet, as Aden turned to face the next wave of attackers, he found himself vulnerable once more. An enemy soldier had slipped past his defenses, blade poised to strike from behind. In that fateful moment, Aden braced himself for the inevitable, his eyes narrowing in grim acceptance of his fate.
But the strike never came.
Instead, a familiar figure emerged from the chaos, their blade intercepting the would-be assassin's strike with a resounding clash of steel. Nasser, Aden's comrade and fellow Jinn, stood before him, his sword already whirling in a deadly arc that dispatched the enemy soldier with brutal efficiency.
"Hop in!" Nasser extended his hand, a wry smile playing across his features, even in the midst of the carnage that surrounded them.
Aden couldn't help but return the smile, a fleeting moment of irony in the face of their dire circumstances. With a nod of gratitude, he grasped Nasser's hand, allowing his friend to pull him onto the back of his steed.
They rode off to find an escape route. with a horse's color that stands out among the crowd and chaos on the battlefield, the wyverns didn't even target Nasser. No wonder everyone called him Lucky Star.
Their escape was cut off by infernos, dust, sand, and smokescreen. Aden was looking for a way out until he saw a standard-bearer rider of his banner waving a retreat flag signaling the escape route.
"Head toward the west, look for twin mountains!" The standard-bearer rider's words were abruptly cut short as one of the wyverns swooped down, crushing him under its massive claw with a sickening crunch.
Aden and Nasser heeded the call, spurring their mount toward the west, where the escaping friendly soldiers were headed. As they drew nearer, they caught sight of Captain Akim leading the way, his figure a beacon of hope amidst the carnage.
But just as they had a chance to regroup, a heavy roar echoed behind them, sending a chill down their spines.
"They are back!" Aden yelled at Nasser's ear as he warned his comrade about the impending doom coming at them.
Three wyverns had taken up the pursuit, their massive forms cutting through the air with terrifying speed.
"Spread out! Head to the twin mountains!" Captain Akim's voice rang out, a desperate command that reverberated across the battlefield. "Look for caves!"
The soldiers scattered in every direction, seeking to evade the relentless onslaught of the wyverns. Captain Akim's strategy was clear: by spreading out, they would become more elusive targets, making it harder for the dragons to pick them off one by one.
His bannermen had to survive at all costs. With that thought driving him forward, the captain ordered everyone to disperse, their only hope of survival lying in the treacherous terrain of the twin mountains and the shelter of its caves.
The three wyverns split off, each pursuing a different group of the fleeing Khanadi cavalry, their talons and fiery breath leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Aden glanced over his shoulder, his heart pounding as he heard the heavy flapping of wings approaching closer from behind.
"Jynx!" he cried out, alerting Nasser to the impending danger as another wyvern took up the chase, its jaws agape and its eyes burning with primal hunger.
"What is it?" Nasser asked, his focus unwavering as he guided their mount through the chaos, his only concern finding a safe haven amidst the raging battle.
"Wyvern on our tail," Aden shouted, his voice strained against the roar of the wind and the thunderous beats of the dragon's wings.
"Shit," Nasser cursed, his expression hardening. "Aden, look for an escape route!"
Aden scanned their surroundings, his eyes straining against the thick clouds of dust that obscured their vision. "The dust is too thick, I can barely see."
Frantically, he searched for any sign of their standard-bearers or any friendly banners, but none could be seen through the haze of battle.
Suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye from behind, and before he could react, a torrent of flame engulfed them.
"Gahh!" Aden cried out, his voice mingling with the agonized screams of their steed as the searing heat licked at their exposed flesh.
The wyvern behind them unleashed its flame. Aden and Nasser were blown away from their horse. The wyvern's blast made the dust around them get thicker. Aden didn't see Nasser anywhere again. He might have been burning to a crisp or ripped apart by the wyvern.
Aden ran in the opposite direction to split up. If Nasser survived he might've done the same—to make them a harder target for the dragon rider. The dragon rider must choose between one of them. The wyvern took off to the sky again instead of having a headache to pick between two insignificant targets. The dragon rider had better things to do.
Lungs burning, legs leaden yet propelled by sheer terror, Aden ran blindly away from the scorching apocalypse that had erupted across the battlefield. Only when the roars and screams faded to a dull throb in his ears did he finally falter to a stop, chest heaving.
He whipped his head around, eyes wild, scanning the hellscape that surrounded him. No wyverns wheeled overhead, and no goblins or Yuza soldiers gave chase. Only the crumpled forms of the dead and dying littered the ground, wreathed in billowing banks of acrid smoke. The airborne grit stung his eyes, coating his skin with a grimy layer of pulverized sand and char.
Aden allowed himself a shuddering breath, then another. He was alive, at least for the moment. Cracked lips parted in a silent prayer of thanks as he snatched up a discarded canteen, guzzling down the tepid dregs to slake his raging thirst.
All around him, the world had descended into madness. Dark silhouettes flitted through the roiling haze, the shapes of men locked in a desperate battle. Screams and the clang of steel split the air in an unholy chorus. Yet the skirmishes seemed almost... background noise, mere accessories to the true horror that had been unleashed.
The Yuza onslaught was relentless, their foul army of beasts and inhuman monstrosities cutting an unstoppable swath across the field. But Aden realized with a mixture of relief and cold dread that he now found himself on the very periphery of the conflict. The wyverns' fiery barrage had kicked up such dense clouds of obscuring dust that he was rendered practically invisible to the melee raging all around.
A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. He had to seize it while he could.
Scanning the churning maelstrom, he caught flashes of movement - the unmistakable silhouettes of wyverns winging their way westward, hot on the trail of the shattered Khanadi forces. His gut clenched. The obvious escape route toward the Twin Mountain passes was cut off, at least for now. East, then. He would have to circle around and make for the eastern valleys. It was a longer road, but his only path to potential safety.
Jaw set in grim determination, Aden began loping eastward, staying in the concealing shroud of the dust storm as he put one foot in front of the other - fleeing from the abject devastation crashing in his wake.
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