As the sun dwindled further down in the sky, the army took the opportunity to attack in the cool evening air. Tigris ordered his men to prepare for combat. Derik took a deep breath, it had been a long time since his first conflict in New Baden, but he felt a little more prepared than previously. Plus, it probably would be harder to slip away in the flat sand.

Their company had continued to follow the army after they had set up a supply depot in the remains of their campsite. Just yesterday, a group was sent out to reconnoiter the enemy forces. Derik had heard from Titus that the higher-ups had determined that they should pursue the enemy force. They possessed superior numbers and wanted to make it to Dinar as soon as possible. Derik could barely see them from their elevated position; they lay in wait across the dunes facing them directly, prepared from battle.

Ahead of them, the different regiments of men broke out of marching configuration and formed up into two lines. The sounds of horns preceded each of their movements as they deployed into rectangular groups with a large gap between each formation. Ballistae attached to carts were manned and loaded.

The groups of foreign troops that had accompanied them set off to the flanks while the man in the golden plate, along with some fellow officers, took positions to oversee the battle. Derik breathed a sigh of relief as armored crossbowman set up an array of spiked shields along the ground surrounding the officers and baggage carrying horses. They could provide a buffer in case anything drastic happened.

Small bands of men had made their way back to the Palatine lines, carrying more than a few wounds. The forward vanguard had been picked apart by camel riders who engaged with javelins.

"Look, we should be out there fighting with our brothers. Why are we stuck sitting back here?" Marcus asked.

"In case you forgot, our top priority is protecting the inquisitor and his escort," Tigris responded.

Derik was quite content with hanging out near the rear personally.

Inquisitor Utrecht had made his way up the hill to meet with the group.

He addressed them, "If I am to die. One of you must kill this woman." He directed their attention to the priestess who was held captive.

She gave them a disinterested stare; as Montag spoke up. "I will do it." he volunteered.

The inquisitor nodded in approval, "Good man, you serve your country well." He took out a spyglass and began to survey the battlefield in more detail. "Looks like the demon king himself is heading the army," he said.

Lina reeled back. "May I see," she asked.

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The man handed her the telescope. She ran her eyes across the army until she saw a man cloaked in jet black armor. He wore a helmet with a pointed snout and rode atop a molted brown steed. She began to clutch her locket, and Iris came to comfort her with her touch.

Squadrons of men with nothing but clothing sallied out from Palatine lines to skirmish with the enemy. Derik watched as the men began to harass the enemy with darts. The Baliskar forces were pressured by the hail of iron darts, and they began to advance on the Palatine lines. Battle would be upon them soon, and Derik hoped he wouldn't be forced to do any fighting.

"What I the holy emperors name is that?" Magnus pointed and yelled.

Two faint silhouettes had appeared on the horizon. Lina took another look with her spyglass and murmured, "Dragon."

Gonzalez snatched the telescope from her hands as Derik reflected on what he had just heard.

"Dragons? That doesn't sound very good."

The two figures closed in rapidly and were soon visible to the naked eye.

There were a pair of dragons that Derik saw. One looked about what he had imagined large wings, a dull-green scaley hide, and a mean-looking set of teeth to boot. One appeared more like a flying cobra and had a set of white feather wings that propelled it off the ground.

The dragons dived in low and strafed the skirmishers who retreated behind the lines of Palatine heavy infantry. Even in their loose configuration, the fiery breath of the scaled dragon and the poisonous venom of the other carved massive gaps in their formations.

The heavy infantry formed into a solid line as the skirmishers ran past, scrambling to interlock their rectangular shields. The dragons attacked again. They failed to cause as much damage as the two armies began to close with each other. They hovered over the battlefield doing precision strikes at outlying soldiers.

Derik wiped the sweat off his brow and relaxed his tensed muscles until he saw the reptilian dragon set its eyes upon them. It soared towards them, but its companion didn't follow.

The soldiers that stood with them stood staunch in the face of the incarnation of danger barreling towards them. Montag stepped in front to shield the inquisitor and his prisoner with his body. Tessier slunk off to the edge of their group while Gonzalez crouched down on the sand, clutching his nasal helmet. Iris frantically flipped through the pages of her book. The inquisitor took out a pistol from his jacket.

"Wow, he is packing heat." Derik thought.

As the dragon edged closer, a barrage of bolts began to fly through the sky. The crossbowmen and ballistae unleashed their fury on the dragon. The dragon wasn't deterred. It continued to fly in low, gliding towards the officers and pack animals.

It continued to gain ground, but every meter was paid for in blood. Its wings became tattered. Bolts chewed their way through the leathery skin like it was paper; a lucky ballista bolt had even made its home in its chest. Lina nocked an arrow. It soared through the air. At first, it seemed to have missed, but it made an abrupt change in direction and lodged into the beast's eye. Letting out a roar that reverberated throughout the battlefield, it descended into the sand.

Derik exhaled the air from his lungs.

"That wasn't so hard," Gonzalez said.

"He jinxed it," Derik thought. The dragon rose from the indent it left in the sand. The bolt fell off its body along with a scale.

"We didn't penetrate their armor!" Magnus yelled.

The dragon continued along on its path of destruction closing the distance with long strides.

"Brace yourselves!" Tigris ordered.

Derik cursed his luck. Seems like they would have to fight, and he was unsure of their chances.