Hekate calls out as the shuttle is approaching the battle zone, “Listen, you know the stakes. They hurt Daniel, they’re attacking our home, and they won’t give up until we send a message. We’ve held back for their sake, and I’m tired of it. But… I don’t want Daniel to be sad. So, we’re going to do everything in our power to scare these guys back over the mountains. Don’t let up until the last soldier has turned and run away. Or, if Choul captures the general, then we’ll try to get him to order a retreat. Failing that, back to plan ‘A’. Questions?”
Everyone shakes their heads, and Choul’s voice speaks to her telepathically, “I shall not fail, your Greatness. If I have to pursue him to the ends of the earth or capture the general who replaces him, I will bring someone of command.”
“We’re counting on you, Choul, but don’t get caught off guard by those assassins like we did. They hit fast and hard.”
“Agreed. I suspect they located your group via magic, as they ignored me during my time in the camp.”
“Good to know, but we’ve got plenty of magic users. Here’s hoping they can’t fly.”
“Should you need me, I will be listening, your Greatness.”
She nods, thanking Ucahote, “Thank you, Ucahote, for relaying to him.”
The golem bows his head as he pilots the shuttle, which will also allow him to command the battle from above. He states, “Brace yourselves. Golem strike team is dropping now.”
The golems in the back, much heavier than usual soldiers and wearing backpacks with a large piece of fabric inside for each one, hook cables to an anchor just inside the door as one of the golems opens the hatch. Wind begins roaring in the cabin as the women hold firmly to their seats.
As the golems file out, the cable pulls the parachutes out, deploying them automatically and allowing the golems to fall safely to the ground without suffering damage, even from high up out of range of attack spells. By the time the golems are in range, they can detach from the parachutes and likely survive the drop, assuming they are at risk of being destroyed during the drop.
The other shuttles deploy golems in the same fashion, dropping them directly into the ranks of the forward attack force, who are re-establishing their ranks to march on the Citadel.
Ucahote banks, guiding the shuttle in a descending arc, giving the hand signal. They’re flying slower, and the strike team members anchor their own cables to prevent themselves from falling out of the shuttle. Even though he expressly desires to avoid conflict, Daniel spared none of his secrets, it seems, by bringing warfare techniques of the militaries of his world. The other shuttles, completely manned by golems, have machine guns and are on defense for the shuttle carrying Hekate, Aoloan, Kera’tai, Treia, Gwenesphia, Vaergraes, and Illianna. They are all armed with various elemental ‘rifles’, and they take stations on either side, taking turns firing and pulling back to cycle the recocking handle. Elemental attacks rain down below the golems, causing explosions of all six of the primary elements that scatter and injure some of the soldiers. They’re beyond the point of caution, but the elemental weapons can be tuned to be less lethal, and the long range saps some of the energy. The soldiers will almost certainly survive, as long as they aren’t hit by multiple shots, but it’s no longer as much of a priority.
They spot Choul and Ryuogriar flying by underneath them, igniting lines of fire on the ground with fire breath. Ryuogriar is no longer restricted by any contract, meaning she can cause harm if she needs or wants to, but for now, she’s also abiding by Daniel’s wishes to try to turn the enemies back with minimal casualties.
Hekate does ponder as she fires, though, which Treia notices. “You alright, Hekate?” asks Treia loudly over the wind noise and the blaster shots.
“Yeah! I was just thinking… If the assassins are demon-kin, should we be focusing on the Covenant as well?”
“I don’t know that they’ll leave us with much choice. But, I’m not an expert on warfare. I’m just a soldier.”
Gwenesphia adds as she takes her turn firing, “I think they won’t give us much choice.” She pulls back, and Treia leans out next. The former lieutenant continues, “If what we discussed before comes true, they may just be waiting in hopes that the alliance soldiers will soften us up.”
“That reminds me,” starts Hekate. “You’re both okay with this? Aren’t you afraid for your families?”
Treia answers, “I’ve been talking about that with Daniel and Xyreko. For now, our status is unknown to the eastern military. I’m going to visit my parents and talk to them about it in secret when I get a chance, and if they’re willing, move them and my siblings to the Citadel. W-With your permission as well, of course.”
Hekate grins deviously, and Treia looks a little nervous, buying herself a moment of reprieve by taking her next shot.
However, Hekate adds, “I’d never deny you that. But your sister is forbidden from talking to Daniel!” Hekate takes a shot this time, and Treia scoffs. “Agreed! I’ll never forgive Daniel if he touches her!”
Gwenesphia adds, “My family will likely disown me, unless we can forge a proper treaty before it’s learned that I’m a… what would I be? Concubine?” She blushes, asking, “I-I’d like to be considered a wife, if possible…”
Hekate sighs. “You crafty, devious women, you.” Hekate shouts out of the open door, “It’s all your fault, Ryuo!”
The others chuckle, and Gwenesphia takes a shot before adding, “In any case, I am number seven in my family line, and my father is a baron. Unless their youngest daughter is an allied Emperor’s lover with the status that comes with it, I’m more valuable either serving the military or dead. So…”
“My family are commoners, so they don’t have the luxury of simply disowning me,” adds Treia.
“I see,” replies Hekate thoughtfully. “Don’t you feel like traitors?”
The two gatonine women glance at each other. They shrug as they come to the same conclusion. “We likely would,” answers Gwenesphia. “If we didn’t see how obviously Daniel and you try to remain out of it, and then get attacked by the east unprovoked. I don’t really remember what I wanted when I joined, but I know that I don’t want to be on the morally wrong side.”
Treia nods in agreement. “I’d like us all to get along, obviously. They didn’t have to come here.”
“Hmm… Well, let me just say one last thing on the matter, then.” Hekate fires another shot, continuing, “If you want to be Daniel’s wives, I’ll allow it on the condition that your loyalty will belong to me and Daniel until we all leave this world.” They both very obviously look like they’re about to answer, and Hekate adds, “I don’t need an answer yet. Take your time to think about it. I know what’s on the line.” Her big ears lay down on the sides. “I would be devastated if I had a family to lose and something happened. S-So… I don’t want to be the cause of destroying the families of people I care about. No one, ideally, but, definitely not yours.” She accepts the sentiment, perking back up to continue firing down into the army below.
Treia and Gwenesphia are left with something to think about, even if they think they know the answer.
Vaergraes does add pointedly as Illianna leans way out to make sure no one is casting spells towards them. “If it makes you feel better, you can do everything right and still be considered a traitor and nearly purged.”
The others chuckle, continuing their airborne one-sided assault. The core of the mission will fall to Choul and Ryuogriar to find the general. But, they can also watch for anything that stands out and prevent the siege from properly being established.
And, it’ll be a couple of hours of marching before the golems reach them.
***
Ryuogriar flies a little higher than Choul, remaining in her human form to keep a smaller profile. She loses very little of her magical power, and it only really affects her fire breath, but she can still do plenty of damage. In fact, being in such a small form condenses the flame so much, that it cuts more like a molten blade than burns like a fire. And, ideally, she’ll be more readily available to intercept attacks from more of the archoneldwyn assassins, wherever they came from.
Choul offers telepathically when he notices her searching diligently. “I don’t sense any more of them, your Grace.”
“I never sensed them to begin with! Th-They were right in front of us, and…”
“They diffused their presence, but they couldn’t hide it, your Grace. I learned of this technique in my travels. With your permission, I will teach you.”
She grits her teeth, but she knows he’s just trying to help. Her anger still comes from his surprise attack on Daniel, but she recalls him being a quick acting and intelligent dragon, but also one who is honorable and honest. He believed Daniel was either an ally of Morthybargaron, or a threat to Choul otherwise, and tried to end him quickly when he realized he may be the Apostle of Despair or the Harbinger of Calamity, who is widely known to have killed two dragons.
She replies quietly, “I… would appreciate that, Choul.”
“My pleasure, your Grace.”
They both scan the forces, and after a moment, she asks, “You’re sure there are no more? Wh-What if…?”
“I have no incentive to lie to you. If I wrong you here and now, it is you who will suffer. Even if I wanted to betray my Liege, there is no point if a female dragon is slain in the process. That much magical power can not be hidden, not once you know how to search. I suspect Vaergraes noticed, did she not?”
Now that she thinks about it, Vaergraes was the one to call out right before it all happened. Ryuogriar was barely able to catch Hekate when she was launched from her turret position, and Geirahoel was the first to face one of the assassins, nearly killed in the process.
“I cannot guarantee safety, but I assure you, I am searching diligently. The strongest person here, now, is a shenwulf magic archer. Mind the southeast for arrows.”
Ryuogriar looks in that direction, and she can sense the magic presence he’s talking about. She feels a little more at ease, but she wishes she could verify Choul’s words herself. Part of it is that she still doesn’t like him, which is biasing her ability to trust him, but also just the absolute reliance on him for her safety.
Thankfully, they’re moving at a high rate of speed. The dragons that have been slain, ironically including the ones that Daniel killed before the Citadel, were defeated while on the ground. It can be tiring to continue flying and breathing fire or casting magic, but it makes them vulnerable to melee and ranged attacks from human-kin.
Ryuogriar is currently still tougher than a human in spite of her form, but she’s more vulnerable than if her dragon scales were armoring and protecting her, and Choul is wearing additional armor around his true form, though his helmet is missing.
As they fly, though, Ryuogriar realizes that she has no idea what they’re looking for. “What are we looking for?” she asks, still scanning the ground and occasionally spraying fire at an open area or a tent that she can tell is abandoned.
“See the large tent with banners on it that look like a polypus?”
Ryuogriar scans the particularly large tents, finding one that meets the description, and is easily the largest of the tents. The sigil is a sea creature with many arms, reaching around a round image of Zenkon. “I see it. What is it?”
“That is the sigil of the Grand Zenkon Empire; the Strylak. I know not why, of course. That tent is the command center, but it’s surrounded by special forces. They know dragons are in play, and we need the general alive. If they’re smart, he’ll stay in there indefinitely.”
“You want me to burn the guards?”
“No. That would be easier, but against our ideal mission parameters. Behind the tent, they’re trying to tunnel through the wall. They might succeed. But, the general may also not even be there.”
“How do we find him, then? And, how do we catch him?”
“Good question.” Choul banks hard suddenly, corkscrewing over Ryuogriar, and he grabs her quickly, carrying her relatively tiny form as he accelerates. She can hear explosions and crackles of lightning as Choul braces himself. He straightens out, climbing powerfully into the air with Ryuogriar still in his massive claws. Once they’re out of range, he relaxes his grip on her, with her now sitting on his palm. “Apologies, your Grace. They were hidden in one of the tents.”
She nods. “Th-Thanks.”
“As for your question, I was thinking we could attempt to trap the whole group where they are and let the golems work their way into the camp, watching from the skies.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“You intend to summon more walls?”
“Yes. I can’t use any paralytic or hypnosis spells on them as I am now. But, placing the glyphs takes time, and I’ll need to place four.”
“How long?” asks Ryuogriar, studying the area where the command tent is over the side of Choul’s palm.
“About a minute per glyph. And, I can’t be disrupted.”
Ryuogriar nibbles on her thumb as she thinks. She asks, “Would you be able to connect to glyphs on the other side of the wall?”
He cocks his head, looking down at the wall for a moment. “I see no reason why not.”
“That’ll save us two minutes that you don’t have to defend. I’ll watch to see if I can find the general specifically when they try to move him, or some indication of where he is from the top of the wall.”
Choul assents. “Very well. What of the other two glyphs?”
“We’ll have Vaergraes and Illianna defend you with barriers, and I’ll continue to watch for signs of the general while out of sight.”
“I see no fault in this plan. Are you ready?”
She nods, and Choul flies down to the wall. Ryuogriar is still perfectly capable of flight, but she can appreciate that he didn’t just drop her into the air. He sets her down on the wall, and then steps and dives off of the outside of the wall that he created, diving towards the ground to begin placing the next two glyphs.
Ryuogriar walks briskly to the inner edge, cautiously lowering herself to her belly and peering over the edge while exposing as little of herself as possible, in hopes of not being noticed. She can see the shuttles still strafing the forward attack force, though their ranks are scattered and some of the soldiers are falling back into the camp.
Below the white dragon herself, the human-kin have a handful of soldiers, mostly humans, digging against the wall with pickaxes and shovels. They’re making some progress, but it’ll take time to get through the wall.
Ryuogriar speaks to Hekate via telepathy. “Hekate, at the eastern part of the wall, there are people digging through. Can you interrupt them?”
There’s a pause, and Ucahote replies, “Her Greatness agrees. We’re on our way.”
Ryuogriar smiles. She can picture Hekate cackling, since Ryuogriar asked her for a favor.
When they first reunited under Daniel’s companionship, Ryuogriar was afraid the little girl who became known as Hekate would never forgive her for being a dragon. Instead, they are extremely close. Ryuogriar knows she could trust Hekate with her life and the lives of her children, just as she’s confident Hekate feels the same way. The little feldrok girl had no one as a slave, but every now and then, would receive a small kindness that regrettably was far too little compared to what she deserved as a living being.
Daniel and Geirahoel recently apologized to each other for what happened upon their first encounter, even though technically neither of them were specifically in the wrong and claimed they had no hard feelings about it.
And, Ryuogriar has been unable to do the same. She enjoys teasing Hekate, but in the end, Hekate is probably one of her closest companions, even if she could be considered Ryuogriar’s daughter with how different their maturity can be.
Regardless of her thoughts, Hekate’s shuttle and the others briefly detour from their airborne assault on the forward attack force and make a beeline towards Ryuogriar’s position. It’s probably due to Vaergraes, who is very in-tune with the magic of the world, likely even more so than Choul is.
“Directly below me, your Greatness.”
The shuttles begin banking into circling flight as Hekate and her team begin firing down on the tunnelling operation. The workers there quickly scatter, but Ryuogriar underestimated one thing.
Hekate’s team proceeds to fire on the tents, carts, and anything else in the immediate area below them.
Naturally, the command tent is one of the targets, and it bursts into flames, scattering the guards, who can do virtually nothing about the range the shuttles are firing from. Even dragons have to get closer to their targets to breathe fire than the elemental blasters need, meaning dragons aren’t far off from losing air-superiority to Daniel’s shuttles combined with elemental and non-magic weapons.
But, something about that makes Ryuogriar content. She won’t be one of the strongest beings in the world anymore, once Earth’s military prowess becomes even more of a reality on Zenkon, but she also won’t need to be on the front lines anymore in that case. She can dedicate herself to her family, the future, and everything she cares about.
As she’s pondering, she notices that the only people that flee from the command tent appear to be regular soldiers. She’s still not sure what she’s looking for in a ‘general’, but they all have standard issue armor. Even the guards have more ornate armor.
It’s then that she spots a group of three of the guards following a handful of people sneaking from one tent to another.
The advantage to Choul’s wall, as far as Ryuogriar knows, is that it is immune to almost all magic, since it’s magically summoned. It’ll also dissolve on its own after a day or so.
Thus, the group is forced to flee along with the others, but they still have to ensure important figures are protected, in case there are assassins.
Ironic, since assassins were in fact in their camp.
“Choul, don’t waste more time on the wall. They’re on the move. I can see them.”
“The general?” asks the grey dragon via telepathy.
“Yes. I’m fairly confident. Same guards as the command tent, but they’re trying to escape the area. Hekate… may have burned the whole command tent.”
“I see. I’ll be there momentarily. Do not lose them.”
“Of course.”
Ryuogriar watches the handful of people duck into another tent, with one of the apparent officers glancing back at the shuttles as they bombard the encampment around the command tent and soldiers do their best to evacuate each other.
After the last one ducks into the new secret command tent, Ryuogriar keeps an eye on it until Choul lands on the wall next to her in his human form, dropping into a prone position and crawling up beside Ryuogriar. She points, “That tent there. The ones being guarded had more elaborate armor, as did the guards themselves. No one has come out since they went inside.”
Choul nods. “Excellent. Thank you. Leave it to me.” He climbs to his feet, taking a few steps back before running and diving forward like he’s diving into the water. He says through telepathy as he plummets towards the ground, “Please guide me from above, your Grace, and watch if they flee.”
“Yes. Good luck.”
Choul uses magic to soften his landing, landing in a forward roll, returning to his feet swiftly and jogging in a crouch toward the tent. “Go past the next two tents, and it’ll be on your left.”
“Got it.”
Choul follows the instructions, passing two tents closest to where he landed, and then looking left. He starts towards it, “This one, right?”
“Yes. Still no one has come out.”
Choul dashes into the tent, staying low to begin his assault. From where she is, Ryuogriar can’t see anything inside the tent, and she’s not as intune with mana as Vaergraes or Choul to be able to determine where the sources of mana around her are actually coming from.
After a moment, Choul states, “They aren’t here.”
“What!?” snaps Ryuogriar. “What do you mean!? That’s the tent they went into!”
“I believe you. But, they’re nowhere to be found.”
Ryuogriar immediately becomes suspicious, and she jumps from the wall as well, flying straight for the tent. She doesn’t even try to hide. She simply swoops down into the tent, sliding to a stop near Choul. He is standing still, unsurprised by her arrival, but also completely alone in the tent.
“How can this be!?” snaps the platinum dragon. “Where are they!? Where did you hide them!?”
Choul is understandably disappointed, but he replies as calmly as he can, “I had nothing to do with this. I’m not detecting enough mana trace for it to be teleportation.”
The tent has a handful of crates, a work bench, some tools, and a pile of extra beds, with one of the mattresses laying flat on the ground where it likely fell after all of the blasts and quakes from the attack.
Ryuogriar knows that the general is key to a major part of their plan in repelling invasions for the future. And, he was right here. Unless Choul betrayed her, there’s no way for them to have escaped so easily.
She becomes enraged, huffing as she takes several deep breaths. Choul winces, shielding his face as flames erupt from Ryuogriar’s mouth. She spins in a circle, burning everything around them as she roars. Everything around them bursts into flames. The metals that don’t burn from the intense heat melt into slag, and the fabrics, wood, and anything else burn quickly to ash.
As she pants, glaring at Choul, who is virtually immune to fire, the ground shifts nearby, drawing their attention.
The ground and ashes of several mattresses still burning away sinks into the ground, suddenly falling and causing a puff of ash.
Choul and Ryuogriar glance at each other, and Choul immediately runs towards the hole. He says, “Return to the top of the wall and search for them exiting the ground!”
She nods in agreement. “I will! Tell me which way they’re going!”
“I will! I’m going!” He jumps into the hole, which has enough room for a human-kin to drop down with ease, with a tunnel about fifteen feet below the ground. There’s a ladder that was placed into the hole, but not anchored, indicating this tunnel was dug in a hurry, and the ladder added afterwards.
Meanwhile, Ryuogriar races back up into the air toward the top of the wall.
“Your Grace, the tunnel is heading northeast, following the softest parts of the ground. There may be a more arid area, fewer trees and the like.”
“Understood. I’m almost to the top.”
Ryuogriar quickly lands on the wall and jogs to the other side to look out over the outside of the wall. She watches diligently for any motion.
She spots several buckrokhs, the beasts of burden of human-kin, mostly. They seem to just be standing in the shade of a stand of trees, but they’re unattended.
And, they’re wearing multi-person saddles.
The platinum dragon in human form is just about to jump from the wall to fly to the buckrokhs. However, a pang of uncertainty hits her. She reaches out to Hekate once more. “Hekate, I need your help. Follow me over the wall.”
“We are on our way,” replies Ucahote’s voice. It’s not that Ryuogriar is too good to speak to Ucahote, and in fact, she does include him in the telepathic connection to Hekate, as well as Vaergraes and Illianna. She just respects that Hekate is the chosen Empress of the Fievegal, and just as she defers to Hekate, Hekate defers to her in choices that affect everyone.
The shuttle approaches, and Ryuogriar instructs, “We’re capturing the general and officers. I don’t want to chance going alone.”
Hekate shouts agreeably, “You chose well! Let’s go!”
Ryuogriar steps off of the wall into flight, and the shuttle follows her, along with the others. The platinum dragon flies quickly to the buckrokhs, swooping down into a jog on the ground, and the buckrokhs snort and bellow in surprise. Sure enough, they’re tied off to the trees, able to eat grass and shrubs nearby, but ready for whoever is to use them to escape.
Hekate drops to the ground nearby, jogging up beside Ryuogriar.
“So, what’s the plan? Set them free?”
“No. These are nice specimens.”
The feldrok girl’s fox-like ears fold back as she frowns. “You want to eat them?”
“What? No. We have human-kin and human-sized demon-kin. Buckrokhs would be useful, and these are particularly well-cared for buckrokhs.”
“Oh… C-Can… you ride a buckrokh?”
“N-No…” admits Ryuogriar.
“Me neither. Hey! Vae! Can you ride a buckrokh!?”
Vaergraes replies, “Treia and Gwenesphia say they are experienced riders.”
“Ahhh! That makes sense! Ucahote, bring them down, quickly! We don’t know how close they are.”
The shuttle lowers, and Treia and Gwenesphia hop down as well, jogging over. Hekate says, “Do you object to stealing these?”
“No. Where should we take them?”
“All the way back to the Citadel, ideally. Ucahote! Send two of the shuttles to escort them!”
“It shall be done, your Greatness.”
Hekate nods. “Ucahote will send two of the golem shuttles to escort you. Be careful.”
Treia and Gwenesphia confirm their orders, and they untie all of them and mount two of the buckrokhs. “You two be careful, too,” replies Gwenesphia.
“Ha! I won’t be so easily caught off guard. But… Thank you.”
The two gatonine women bob their heads to confirm, and they click their tongues, spurring the buckrokhs forward as the others are guided by the ropes Gwenesphia and Treia are holding. The beasts snort, but they begin jogging forward towards the wall.
Hekate pats Ryuogriar’s arm, “Hey! Let’s go over there and wait on them. I want to see how surprised they are when they see their mounts are gone. Heeheehee!”
Ryuogriar smiles and nods, and they jog to a small shrub nearby, crouching out of sight to observe the area.
Sure enough, the ground shifts nearby, like a giant mole shoving the dirt up and out of the way and exposing a tunnel to the surface. The people emerging from the tunnel are in a panic, and muffled shouts are coming from further in. It’s likely that Choul is harrassing them, but he can’t do anything to actually stop them. It’s ironic that he promised Geirahoel that he would capture the general, since he can’t do anything himself other than try to trap him.
And, trapped they are. Hekate gestures her hands, and the golems deploy accordingly.
The men scramble out of the hole, with one of them wearing armor that seems familiar to Hekate. It’s not the same guy, but his outfit is just as specific and unique compared to the armor suits around him, as well as the crest on his helmet.
She grins deviously, pointing at him as she looks at Ryuogriar. Ryuogriar nods as they continue to observe.
The general comes to a surprised stop, stumbling in a circle as he searches all around. One of the other officers jogs up, noticing what the general just noticed. The buckrokhs they were supposed to escape on are already gone.
Hekate whispers, “Say, how did they even get a message to anyone to bring buckrokhs back here to begin with?”
“It’s possible they came from the forward attack force. Though, it is a little sad that he’s already abandoning the invasion.”
Hekate scoffs as the officers all gather together, beginning to bicker about the lack of buckrokhs and the dragon harrassing the guards in the tunnel. “They’re probably planning to just move back the command, but keep the invasion going. Too bad for them, they’re our real targets.”
Ryuogriar nods. “Shall we, your Greatness?”
“We shall, your Grace.”
Ryuogriar smiles. Usually, they have a rivalry at best, vying for the attention of their mutual love. But, Hekate is also reliably loyal and sincere when her real feelings are on the line.
The two emerge from their hiding place, startling the officers, who immediately draw their weapons as Hekate claps sarcastically. “This has to be the most stunning invasion I have ever seen in my life.” She comes to a stop, putting her hands on her hips. “At least the twenty thousand guys fought for a couple days. And, they didn’t even give up. Captured to the last man.”
The general snarls, “I am General Jothraligus kos Ekstragar the Third, lord commander of the Grand Imperial Army’s Third Battalion! According to the Imperial Code of Military Conduct, the mere act of threatening me is punishable by death.”
Hekate smirks. “I’ll see you your general and raise you Empress Hekate fell Lawson,...” As she’s speaking, the officers, including General Jothraligus turn pale in horror. “Ruler of the Citadel and Fievegal. And, this is my very close companion, Empress Ryuogriar gur Lawson, Ruler of dragons and second only to me.”
Ryuogriar’s smile isn’t forced in any capacity. It feels profoundly nice hearing those words from Hekate. She definitely owes Hekate a sincere apology for not treating her better as a child.
However, the young feldrok empress surprises the mature dragon with what she says next.
“Now then, if you can best me in one on one combat, General Jothy, I’ll let you go free. But, if I win,...” Hekate grins deviously. “Then you have to do whatever I say.”
***