Chapter 2: Through the Flames
"Hold this line!" Draken screamed towards the soldiers underneath him. "If it is lost, so is the city!" There was a loud cheer from the troops as spears and swords flung upwards in salute to the famed purple dragon soaring just above them. In front of the mile long line of troops stood over ten thousand savage brutes wielding all sorts of weapons along with their wooden shields. The trumpets sounded and the war began. Both lines progressed forward as Draken landed behind his troops to march with them. "This is it, gentlemen! We cut them down and save our nation! Charge!" Full speed the two armies rushed towards each other, holding out their spears and swords and hoping that someone else's blood will stain its tip. Draken stopped running to look behind him, staring worriedly into his mate, Lunalese's eyes.
Be careful, she called out mentally to him. I almost lost you once, and I'll be damned to lose you again. Draken chuckled amidst the chaos and focused once again to the upcoming fight.
After countless seconds, the two lines converged with a blood curtailing crash. Body after body took the long plunge to the grassy soil and blood splattered across the battlefield with every swipe and jab of the warriors' weapons. Draken craned his neck and roared into the heavens, spreading out his wings to signal his joining into the glorious carnage before him. With a mighty leap, he flew right into the middle of the fight and touched down, swishing his mighty barbed tail and impaling several brutes with its spikes.
"Don't give up!" Draken shouted to his men. "Hold fast, men! We can do this!" He lifted his forearms up and slashed down at two spearmen, slicing both of them in half from their waistline. Two more brutes approached from his hindquarters and managed to stick a spear into his right hind leg. Draken roared in pain and quickly turned to chomp down on the attacker, severing his head from his body; the other ran like a coward only to have his throat slit from another one of Draken's soldiers. The dragon looked down briefly at the wound and clamped down on the spear's handle with his teeth. With a mighty yank, he pulled the tip out and snapped the spear in two with his jaws. He took a glance around the battlefield and cringed when he discovered that most of the bodies were his own soldiers.
"We're losing the position!" an informant cried, parrying a blow from a savage with his saber. Two seconds later, the informant fell to the attacker's blade, crying in pain before closing his eyes and entering the void. Draken's eyes widened as he surveyed his men. They were broken up, separated among the enemy on the field. It would take a mirical to get them back in line. Draken dashed back into the fight, ramming his spiked head into three swordsmen and tossing them into the air like weightless toys. They had no time to scream before their bodies impacted with the dirt to take their breaths away from them.
"Men!" Draken roared. "Back to the city walls! We'll make the final defense there! Move!" The horde of brutes pushed forward as the troops fell back, stabbing wildly at those slacking behind. Draken took to the sky and laid a line of fire to cover those of his men that were still alive. Some of his men, along with many of the brutes fell to the fire and danced through the field aflame before falling to the ground. Draken shook off the attack, knowing that those slower soldiers would have held up the force anyways.
"To the wall!" Draken screamed to the rest of his men. "We have to make the stand!" He doubled back to lay another sprout of fire, dousing most of the line with liquid flame. The screams and cries of the dying sent a shiver up Draken's spine.
It's for the best, he assured himself. This land needs unity, and if they won't coexist with us, then they won't exist at all. He flew full speed towards the city wall that overlooked the new town of Darat, one of the major port cities in all of Camelot. The river was to the left of the wall, providing great cover from an attack on that flank, but the hillsides were on its right, front and hind areas, creating a bowl where the town was in. There was no safe place for Draken's archers or catapults, and he knew it. He touched down next to an officer and growled as he looked at the oncoming savages on the hillside.
"Orders sir?" the
officer asked Draken.
"Get the archers and set them on the
walls," Draken commanded. "Give me two catapults and face one
towards our right and another toward our front quarters. We need not
worry about the left because of the river, but I still want some
troops to stand guard there for the just in case."
"Sir, we only have five hundred total remaining. Is there perhaps a better time to offer surrender?" The brutes converged towards the walls of the city with bloody spears and swords in their calloused war torn hands. Draken looked at the officer and showed his teeth.
"Douse a rock with oil before launching it," Draken ordered. "Launch two right on the hillsides just below these brutes."
"But what if the fires come back to us?"
"These walls are solid stone, friend. If anything, it would provide enough cover for us to figure out another plan. We can't surrender it. Think of the loss of food and goods! This is the trade route for most marketers in our nation!" The officer looked down into the city to see the two catapults sitting idle with their operators standing nervously beside them.
"You heard the dragon!" the officer ordered. "Douse the boulders and launch them."
- - - - - - - -
Bowen looked down at the carnage on the hillside while he rode astride his cousin, Draecion.
"Looks like Draken fell back," he told the dragon.
"Yes, but it also looks like it's a losing battle. Take a glance ahead, brother." Bowen did so and gasped when he saw the entire hillside littered with brute soldiers, all marching towards the town's walls. Draken was seen standing on his hind legs at the main gate in an attempt to look too intimidating to fight.
"I think we need to drop in for a little visit, don't you?"
"Drop in?" Draecion swooped down over the hill and roared with all his might at those below him. He was too young to sustain a flame, but his roar was quite powerful.
"This is where I get off, brother," Bowen said with a smile. "Tell Draken to push his troops forward and drive these brutes back into the woods."
"No you don't!" Draecion snapped. Bowen smiled and grabbed his spear.
"How do you plan on stopping me?" Before Draecion could react, Bowen leapt off of his side and dove towards the ground. It was less than fifteen feet, and, with one quick thrust of his spear, his fall was broken with the body of a fallen brute. Bowen pulled the spear's tip out of the man's torso and pointed it at the direction of the rest of the savages, who were all more than shocked over his sudden apperance. "Who wishes to go first?"
"It can't be!" One brute shouted. "It's Eragon's child! Heaven help us all." The men around him began to shake, barely able to hold their weapons.
"If you disband and serve with us, you may be able to go," Bowen explained diplomatically. "If not, then I will be forced to tear you limb from limb, just like my father to Galbatorix's followers years ago. Do you accept my wager?"
"Nay!" Many shouted. One man stepped out from the brutes and dropped his spear to show his submission.
"Peace, good sir," he said towards Bowen. "I wish for a word, and I call upon my honor as a former military general that no one strikes either of us during our conversation." The men around him bobbed their heads as the former general approached Bowen.
"Why are you doing this?" Bowen asked. "What is it that our king has done to cause such a disruption between us?"
"It is not the king nor the queen, knight," the general spoke formally. "We fight to keep another disaster like Galbatorix from taking the throne. Granted, Sir Murtagh and Madam Nasuada may be doing well in this present time, but what is there to say that things could be any different?"
"So what is it that you propose?"
"We wish for the people to lead ourselves, Bowen. No king, no kingdom, and no knights."
"By the gods, man! Do you mean to tell me that this is a treachery? Are you trying to overthrow their majesties?"
"To save our nation, yes we are. You are either with us, or you must fall like the rest."
"But Murtagh is my uncle, good sir. Surely there is a reason we can abide by."
"We have made our decision, knight." The general turned and picked up his spear. "It is one we are all willing to die for." He gave a cry out to the heavens and the crowd converged on him. Bowen defensively grabbed his own spear and took to his stance, jabbing the tip inside one man and shifting him over to smash him into another one, knocking both down but only killing one. He needed a sword for this many to fight. Still, he blocked each attack with the center area of his spear and came back with a slash from its tip. Finally, one swordsman decided to take a swing, but a quick swipe to his neck caused the blood to flow and the blade to drop. Bowen slid through the grass and grasped the silver blade in his right hand. Before rising to his feet, he thrust upwards, impaling one savage in his stomach before withdrawing and allowing the man to fall. The brutes encircled Bowen, growling menacingly and shouting obscene language as they clanked their spears and swords against their shields in anger.
"Bowen!" The young warrior looked up in time to see Draken and his son Draecion flying in perfect formation above him. Suddenly, a large explosion converged on the warrior and the numerous brutes, encasing them all in fire. Bowen stood still as the screams and roars of those burning consumed him with the flames. He felt the fire splash on his skin, but it didn't even singe his hair.
"The joy of being a dragon's son," he muttered amidst the flames.
The fire died down as quickly as it started up and Bowen was alone again with blood stained on his hands once more.
"Child!" Draken roared as he set down beside him. "What is wrong with your mind, Brother?" Bowen smiled and dropped his bloody spear.
"You needed reinforcements, yes? Well, I'm here." Draken snorted, black smoke lifting from his nostrils and rising up into the sky.
"You are a bloody fool, Bowen!"
"Why is that?"
"You were outnumbered! 200 to 1 are not good odds to stay and fight."
"To me they are." Bowen snickered and shook his head. "I may not have the apperance of a dragon, but I still have the strength of one."
"You are a true stonehead, brother," Draken muttered. "Eventually, all this fighting you do will lead to your downfall, and neither I nor your mother and father approve of it."
"Neither do I!" Draecion touched down beside his father and sneered. "Bowen, you must stop this! Your lust for blood will blind you from the things you hold close to you."
"Like?" Both dragons turned to look at each other.
"Family." Draken looked back to the city walls to see his troops looking on nervously. "Bowen, this has gone too far!"
"It is my duty to protect the kingdom and the king that runs it."
"Yes, but you should not try to kill yourself in doing so. Not everything is won with brawn, my sibling. Try wit and cunning once and again."
"Not really my strength, if you haven't noticed," Bowen replied sarcastically. "Well, the brutes have been pushed back and the city is safe for now. As far as I'm concerned, I've done my job." Draken and Draecion both growled at each other and turned to Bowen.
"Covin'thra is waiting with Thorn in the castle, Bowen. They say they need to speak with you."
"What about?" Draken lowered his head.
"You're far too young to remember, young one. All I can say to you is this: Everything said in the past is becoming true. Go to them, brother and take my son with you. We can hold this line for the time being."
"Okay Draken," Bowen replied. "Send Father my regards."
"I shall when I see him." Draecion crouched to the ground to allow Bowen to climb aboard. "Be careful."
"No guarantees, brother."
PEACE!