Getting to the den of Iron Claw the Wicked, wasn't a journey that was too lengthy. It was a seven hour walk, and since the platoon set out at the crack of dawn, they got to their location by early noon. Now they didn't rush into the dragon’s nest directly, no, because after such a long session of walking, everyone needed an hour to regain their strength.
The need for a break was one of the things that held them back, while the tactical disadvantage they had here, was the second thing. The platoon had to climb up a rocky mountain, just to get close to the nest here.
The mountain featured many cliffs, and edges that could kill a panicking person faster than the dragon would. There was a cliff that had a huge, deep river underneath it, so someone might get lucky enough to land on the river upon conflict, assuming that they could withstand splashing on the river after falling from a two-hundred meter tall cliff. The latter was the most comfortable death upon impact.
Fighting at the top of a rocky mountain was really disadvantageous, a lot of people were going to get hurt! Guard Master Zedim didn't like that fact, so he didn’t bother resting at all, but he started running around instead, to try and make the best of use of the area that they were in. The survivors of the dragon attack had drawn him an overlay of the place back in the city, but now that he was here to see the top of the mountain himself, he realized that several issues regarding their plan, had to be toggled quickly.
Iron Claw the Wicked was about a hundred meters away, so he wanted to be quick before his platoon was spotted. The platoon were setting up a small camp, as quietly as they could, because they were wise enough to not underestimate the sensitive ears of a dragon.
Speaking of dragons, the seven tiny dragonflies had joined the platoon, along with Georgie. They were bound to be useful, and the dragonflies were proving themselves helpful already, because they started scouting the area without making too much noise. It was unlikely that they would startle Iron Claw.
Seven illusionists had tapped into the brains of the dragonflies, and in the meantime they drew landscapes as best as they could, for the Guard Master to look at later on. They drew a bunch of landscapes with a loose hand, without putting too much attention to detail, so they ended up throwing away a quarter of what they drew. Afterwards, they put the pieces of parchment together, in order to create a big, table-wide map of the perimeter in front of them!
It was very useful, but not exactly whole. At the middle top section of the map, right there on the edge, was where Iron Claw was resting. The dragonflies didn't get too close to that area, so the parts of the map where their target was supposed to be, was riddled with uncertainty, they didn't draw anything there. This was problematic too, because they'd have a blind spot in battle up until they saw the dragon themselves, and this could lead to a lot of casualties unless they were extra cautious! They were hoping for the best.
Guard Master Zedim returned from his scouting session, thirty minutes later, and after he looked at the maps, he smirked in response. Zedim managed to get a grounded look at at least half of the map that the illusionists drew, and with this whole aerial map to his advantage, his head started spinning as he tried to figure the best strategies for the platoon to use!
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“I saw that big bastard on the other side there, he's sleeping. However big you think he might be, he's even bigger, but we do have a couple of advantages.” He explained.
Zedim then continued to formulate a plan, he kept drawing on the map in front of him. At some point he started writing plans so quickly, that no one, apart from himself could understand what he wrote, regardless of how they spoke the same, goblin tongue! From the looks of it, he was convinced that they could use at least half of the battle formations that he planned back in the city, while the other half were new. His platoon had memorized those battle formations entirely in a short time, so surely, they could have a look at the last-minute ones, and act accordingly.
“Hmm… yes…” He grunted, as he drew a dot right in front of where Iron Claw was sleeping, and this dot signified the position that he was going to take in battle.
Guard Master Zedim was in the third realm of mana, regarding mana quality. He was a dragon within mere men, but not many people talked about his mana quality, because it was a topic that was strictly taboo. Either way, him facing the dragon head on, was the smartest thing he could think of, because at close range, he could deliver an unholy amount of damage! The fun part of his plan was that he planned to bury himself within rocks and dirt, to avoid the dragon's attention at first. He wanted to attack it from underneath, if he got the chance!
Anyway, the platoon continued to rest as he drew all of those plans and battle formations. They kept chucking meat down their throats, because if they were to be focused enough to fight one of the greatest fiends in Valporovus, then they needed their strength! They had to be as focused as they possibly could be.
Forty minutes later, he called everyone over, and thoroughly explained his new plan to them. They were to make use of this rocky mountain as best as they could, they were to hide between wedges, and since most of them could summon fireballs, they hoped to burn Iron Claw alive before he had a chance to fight back!
Since a lot of portions of the plan still remained the same, they knew where to go without causing too much of a ruckus. The plan they had, was also supposed to help them approach slowly, without rushing, just so they could get a better feel of the battlegrounds before they actually went into battle!
The plan, since the beginning, was to allow the illusionists to go first. They could mask their own steps through magic, and if the rest of the platoon was unlucky enough to be spotted by the dragon before they got into their battle positions, then the illusionists could buy them some time. They could blind the dragon with their countless attacks, which in turn would give everyone the space to get ready!
“Okay, men and women… Let's bring this bastard down today, eh? Let's declaw him once, and for good! Everyone knows where they're supposed to go, and when to attack, let's not mess this up.” He spoke to the platoon, and he asked them not to cheer, nor to make any noise.
After they nodded in cooperation, he took the illusionists with him, and they started slithering between the rocks. Five minutes later, the rest of the platoon was supposed to follow suit, but for now, they were taking care of the first step of their orders. The platoon of 320 warriors was supposed to split into five groups, each consisting of 64 goblins!