The archers climbed their way to the top of the castle and exited through a trapdoor onto the roof. Those who seemed to be of higher rank ordered the lower ranks to positions around the roof. Fai took his spot at the edge of the castle and he leaned against the guard rail, taking in his surroundings.
Above him there was nothing but the sky, but Fai could sense an invisible, magical shield there; that would protect them from aerial attacks. Below him there were lower roofs and ledges, each one lined with archers and protected magically as well. It seemed that Yukito really was very strong to protect so many archers in such a fashion.
When the wizard looked down at the field he saw the thousands of soldiers amassed there, a lot were on horseback though most were on foot. Some of them must have come from neighboring villages because there definitely weren't that many people in the weaponry room before.
There was one last thing that Fai looked for before he readied himself for battle by stringing an arrow to his bow, and that was the sun. The attack was to come at noon, and that would mean the sun would be at the center of the sky.
No sooner did Fai find the sun, did a large flying beast block it from view, plummeting the area into shadow. It was a marvelous creature. It had great, flapping wings and was probably as tall as the castle from head to tail.
The dragon roared and spewed flame from his mouth, and at that point the wizard cast his gaze toward the horizon, where similar creatures began assembling, some flying and those that couldn't fly ran, all of them coming towards the human army.
"On my signal!" A voice cried out, pulling Fai out of his thoughts. He quickly found that it was Yukito. He stood atop a watch tower that was assembled in the center of the roof, and had ropes dangling from the side of it to climb up or down. "Now!"
Fai and the other archers aimed and released their first arrows. Most hit the intended targets, but they didn't pierce the skin and instead bounced off of strong scales. A few arrows were lucky enough to wound the creatures, though one arrow wouldn't bring down a dragon.
Fai grimaced as he strung another arrow and shot it into the air.
---
Before the knights had a chance to think, the ground dragons were upon them, and the battle had begun. The smell of singeing grass and fresh blood permeated the air, and Kurogane stared at the dragons that were coming towards him and Syaoran.
"Tch. More like overgrown lizards than dragons." Kurogane grunted, an excited smirk played across the usually stoic face.
"I suppose we've seen worse," Syaoran said, a small smile on his face, "Though, these dragons do seem tough." Tough was probably an understatement though, the clanging of metal and shouts of men around them proved that.
"True, but we won't die here." Kurogane pulled his sword out and held it in a battle ready stance; Syaoran took that as his cue to do the same.
"Right." The boy replied, and the two spring into action, charging at the dragons and quickly taking out the first two on their path before they continued.
---
"King Toya adopted you?" Sakura asked Misaki curiously, both of them unaware of the bloodshed occurring outside.
Misaki nodded, "I don't remember much, but I'll tell you what I do remember."
"It was a long time ago, when I was three, that the dragons attacked my village. One of the villagers purposely destroyed their nesting area a few miles south of the village, and that got the dragons angry. Normally relations between people and the dragons were good, unless one did something to upset the other, which is exactly what happened. They attacked my village, and we couldn't do anything about it. We only had the occasional sword or spear to attack with, and there was only one magician in the village, my mom, but she couldn't do anything to help. He magic allows her to enter the minds of other beings, and control what they did. Even though it sounds like it could be used evilly, my mom only used it to help people. The dragons, however, wouldn't let my mother enter their minds, and the entire village was destroyed.
"The survivors left, each heading to a village where they had relatives, or where they had people that would help them. Mom and I didn't know anyone, and so she brought me here, though she left me when the castle was in sight.
"'Go to that castle, and ask to stay there. You'll be safe.' She said to me. I asked her where she was going and she said, 'My skills need to be sharpened. I am going to train, and when I am stronger I'll come back for you.' I haven't seen her since then, but I know that she'll come back for me some day." Misaki finished, her eyes brimming with tears.
Sakura listened to the story quietly, and by the end she was sad as well. She reached out and wrapped the younger girl in an embrace.
---
Things weren't going too well for the archers.
Yukito's magic was beginning to falter after repeated attacks on the shield and with that came weak spots in the shield. If that kept up, the whole shield would disappear.
Their arrows had only managed to take out one dragon, and they were desperately trying to kill one of the remaining three dragons when the largest one charged at the shield and broke through it. The magic was pulled away from it's carrier, and Yukito fell unconscious to the floor of the watch tower.
Fai had felt the rush of magic as it was pulled away and he quickly turned around and gazed up at the sky. As he watched, he noticed how nature was indifferent to the battle going on around them. The sky sparkled a vibrant blue and the sun shone bright, now at a lower point in the sky compared to where it had been at the start of the battle. The wizard then cast his gaze back to the three dragons. They hovered together in the air before simultaneously diving down and crashing through the stone that made up the roof. Fai gripped the wall for support, and was glad he had because those that hadn't had fallen off the roof and plummeted toward the ground. The blonde didn't want to think about what sort of fat would meet them, so he focused on the scene before him.
He heard two high pitched screams and then watched in horror as the largest dragon pulled itself from the hole in the castle, holding two small girls in it's claws. One ha had to assume was the castle princess, the other was undoubtedly Sakura.
The dragon flew up into the sky, leading the two others with it, though they disbanded shortly. Two catlike creatures charged from the hole, flying after the dragons, unleashing relentless but futile attacks on the dragons.
"Fai!" A familiar voice cried. Mokona jumped up from the hole and buried himself in the fold of Fai's shirt. "They're getting away with Sakura and Misakichi!"
Fai quickly glanced around. He had to help them; he couldn't just stand around like an idiot. The mage's eyes locked on the rope from the watch tower, and a confident smile spread across his face.
"Don't worry, Mokona. I have an idea."
