Paul sat up in the car, it was pitch black now. He didn't have a watch but assumed that it was around 10 o'clock. He opened the car door as quietly as possible and got up making his way to the back of the car. He took a leak and then had a quick look around. He heard nothing but just before he was about to get back in the car he saw two specks of light glowing far off, eyes. He quickly sat in the seat and closed the door.
It was alright he thought. Probably just a coyote or raccoon. He peered out again and this time saw three sets of eyes which were much closer. He felt the gun at his side and began cursing himself. After recklessly shooting at the dragon rider he only had two shots left. Now he could see six creatures all humanoid in shape. His hands now began to shake uncontrollably. He heard a gasp, his wife was now up.
"HENRY DEMONS!"
"Just keep quiet don't wake the kid. If they try to open the door I'm gonna kill them."
One of the beings was now right outside. Its yellow eyes lit up its face but two appendages on its head were still obscured by the darkness. Paul now knew what they were, but was all the more terrified. It was the warrior bunnies. She looked right in his eyes and then held out her hand and used her index finger to tap on the glass of the driver door.
Paul grabbed the door crank and lowered the window to a slight crack. "I have a gun I'll blow your brains out!"
"Commander Paul?" She asked.
Paul grabbed his gun and attempted desperately to steady himself. "Who wants to know?"
"Its ok we're with your friends. You have to come with us it's dangerous here."
"Leave us alone. I don't want to hurt you."
"Commander we must leave now. We have no time."
He looked around, they had surrounded the car. There had to be a dozen of them. "I have my wife and son with me you promise no harm will come to them?"
"Yes."
"And I can keep my gun?"
"Of course but we must leave now."
"Don't make us!" Cried Mary.
He closed the window and turned to his wife. "We have no choice theres too many of them. Hold James and stay close to me." Tears were coming down her face. He touched her cheek. "Mary trust me." She nodded. He then opened the door.
A cannon was shifted into position in a trench on a hill overlooking the town below. In a rather small amount of time three lines of trenches had been dug on the hill overlooking Spencer and now the artillery and machine guns had been moved into place. Smoke could be seen in the town. Several buildings had been burned but it was largely intact. Many of the guns had been taken from the surrounding area. Some did date back to the civil war but WWI and Spanish War guns were more common.
The Colonel had arrived at this point with his staff.
"I'm concerned about having so many primitive guns on the field. Not only is there a shortage of ammunition for them, but some have not been fired for several years. They could very well explode." Said one officer.
"Those older guns are meant to more terrify and cause confusion in the opening barrage. I made sure that guns acquired had been tested at least once a year. The three modern guns will then fire more accurately once they start retreating. More guns will arrive soon but I intend to launch the attack before their arrival." Said the Colonel.
"Sir the the battalion is in place and the 12th are ready to advance at your command." Said another officer.
"Then we attack in two hours at 0900. I see no reason for further delay."
"I still think casualties could be high." Said the Major. "I think we should wait until more artillery arrives. It's already here we just need to move it in place."
"It would take two days to bring in all the guns. More time would only give more advantage to the rebels in scouting our position and better prepare their own. No we will proceed."
"We don't need all the guns simply delay the attack until dusk. More artillery will be here and we'd have a better time for surprise."
"That will be all Major." After dismissing his staff he confided in his Lieutenant. "Does everything appear to be in order?"
"Our scouts have caught glimpses of the enemy. They appear to have primitive weapons but also appear to be using sorcery like how the Major describes."
"What has been seen? I need examples."
"They seem to create fire and water out of nothing destroying buildings and killing people in the process. It's best not to let them get too close but fire on them from a sizable distance."
"Have you found this dragon the Major keeps shouting about."
A creature has been observed flying which could be described as such, but they appear to keep their distance only attacking isolated groups. It appears to have a rider and acts like a horse. I believe that it could be killed with a direct hit from an artillery round, but simply using gunfire to take out the rider will render in neutralized."
"And what of Commander Paul?"
"He has left his house and appears to be on the run. Most of the remaining National Guard has been reassigned to areas far away from here but the majority of them are unaccounted for. We only have one instance of a platoon sized unit of men whom were found dead."
"And how did they die?"
"Some appeared to have been drown by water and others frozen in ice."
"Frozen in ice?"
"Men who took up positions on top of a storage warehouse were covered in ice as if they had been hit by an arctic freeze."
The Colonel took this information in. What the Major had said appeared to be true so it appeared the National Guard could be trusted, but that was of little comfort as the enemy had powers that were not understood at all. They seemed to be able to kill dozens of men at once by supernatural means. It was best to take the Lieutenant's advise and fire from further away. "One more thing. What way will the breeze be going?"
"From west to east."
The town was to the north meaning that any gas fired wouldn't blow toward the enemy but at least it wouldn't blow back to the hill either. "Understood Lieutenant that will be all."
The Calvary gathered on the hill and drew their sabers before receiving their orders to advance. They emerged from the base of the hill and were seen moving through the town below encountering no resistance. A great amount of debris was in the streets but the horses were easily able to clear the obstacles. Once they reached the end of the town they were able to reform on the grass field before riding toward the woods.
Suddenly several black objects appeared from the wood line and flew across the sky before falling on the horses. Several men were hit and the horses fell, they were arrows. The Calvary quickly responded by firing their rifles but could not see the enemy beyond. Another round of arrows caused gaps to form and smaller groups split off. Then opposing horsemen appeared just as the Calvary was about to enter the woods. They were well armored and welded swords, axes, and bows. The attackers immediately broke in fear only taking a few scattered shots. Their enemy were not humans on horseback but half horse half man. This shock was enough to break the already scattered attack.
The Calvary retreated but the fresh centaurs were easily able to catch most of the horsemen. They would mostly cut the horses legs causing them to fall crushing their riders. A few turned to fight but they were easily surrounded and massacred. The soldiers sabers and bayonets were easily rebuffed against the centaurs heavy swords and axes. The only advantage they had was firing rifles from a distance which easily penetrated the centaurs armor but fire could not be concentrated effectively. Only around a dozen men made it back to the hill.
The centaurs were in hot pursuit but once they reached the hill organized rifle fire shot most of them down, and once the calvary was fully cleared machine gun fire started. Then artillery opened up but the centaurs did not break and most were killed. They appeared to have some strategy attempting to surround the hill but they were soon all gunned down.
Before the battalion could advance a large army of men appeared brandishing medieval weaponry. Another barrage of artillery caused them to scatter to the town. The Colonel ordered every building to be leveled. Once the town was sufficiently saturated the woods behind were hit but the old guns did not have the range to hit the area effectively.
The main army now advanced toward the retreating enemy and were greeted with carnage. It was especially brutal to see the remains of the Calvary mutilated and hit with artillery blasts and their leaders sought for them to advance as quickly as possible before they could fathom the situation.
A loud shriek was heard and the men covered their ears. Several explosions fell upon their position. The leaders feared it was friendly fire from the artillery unaware of mages hidden in the distance. They then were attacked from the air as dragon scouts swooped down on the troops.
The Colonel was observing from the distance. "Contact the airbase have them launch any fighter or scout planes available!"
Now it was the army that was taking shelter in the remains in the town which was now strewn with bodies of both sides. Another shriek was heard and the great dragon emerged from the woods. It blew flames into the air and the soldiers in the town immediately broke cover and fled back to the hill where most were attacked by the dragon riders.
The Colonel turned to the Lieutenant. "How was I not told about that thing!?"
The Lieutenant responded by tapping Morse Code attempting to alert the airbase to scramble any aircraft they had available.
The Colonel ordered a full retreat back to the hill and for the artillery to be reloaded to hit the dragon once it got close. Although most of the the men below were lost a sizable reserve was still available to launch a second wave once the enemy was repulsed again. The Colonel's throat was tightening up. It was an all too familiar situation of back and fourth fighting with no land gained but many bodies being piled up. A couple explosions bombarded the hill but once again the source of the fire could not be pinpointed.
The great dragon continued forward with flames coming out from its open maw resembling a furnace. The Colonel realized that it was an attempt to get his forces to break cover and flee from the hill as they had done to the soldiers in the town. It was important to hold firm and not be intimidated. Once the dragon passed through the town he ordered every gun to fire and once again the rounds that hit failed to penetrate the shield around it.
With the situation desperate an order was given to fire the nerve gas. The guns were loaded and two rounds were fired just in front and to the left of the dragon, but the gas too failed to reach the creature simply being blown around the shield. Then the wind shifted and a breeze was blown back toward the hill. The siren had emerged and caused the cloud to blow toward the hill. This proved to be disastrous as only those who had fired the artillery had gas masks, and the men broke and fled. Those from the artillery crew acted fast putting gas masks on the Colonel and Lieutenant and brought them down to the Colonel's waiting car.
The Major had already been there waiting for them. "What happened what's…"
"SHUT UP!" Replied the Colonel tossing the mask aside.
The car sped away, but not before the Major saw several men emerge and wraith on the ground.
"Colonel we can't just…"
"Lieutenant what did you notice about the dragon?"
He was baffled attempting to get his thoughts together. There was a barrier around it that seemed to glow blue when it was struck.
"Did you notice anywhere it was vulnerable?"
The Lieutenant thought. It appeared to be protected from top to bottom. Any attempts to bomb it from the air would likely have the same result. But perhaps… "Underneath?"
"There is only one thing I know of that might kill it but it's not gonna be pretty."
The Great dragon took to the air and rendered the hill a flaming inferno before flying off.
Back at the airbase the Sergeant was barking orders as new information came in. The scout planes were in the air and the bombers were preparing to take off.
The Captain appeared. "You gotta get out here now!"
The Sergeant immediately exited the building and went outside seeing the bombers readying for takeoff. But a large object flying across the sky caught his attention. Two fireballs which had once been planes fell to the ground, and the remaining scouts were now flying away from the large creature. It was the great dragon flying toward the base.
"Aim all the guns at it and get those bombers in the air!" He ordered.
As the first bomber took off the guns opened up but ricocheted off the shield. Flame from its mouth burned the plane taking off and then swallowed up the remaining bombers. It then landed and faced the Sergeant with its glowing maw the last thing he ever saw.