Four Great Drakes (342 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.45 on 12 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Zerachi (View user info) at 2007-07-13 16:35:25 EDT
Booming war drums ring out across hills and valleys, muffling the crunching of volcanic ash under thousands of feet. It is the forth day of the largest offensive throughout the entire war, and the men are weary. Only just yesterday they'd destroyed two Great fire drakes, and had paid dearly for it. The third battalion nearly wiped out, second doing scarce better.
The first two drakes had been bad enough: flapping gigantic wings and snatching men from their saddles to devour them mid-air is predictably poor for morale. Few of the men had ever seen such a beast, and half of those believed them to be dragons true. Captain Doraj of B-company thought as much: which was why he led an attack on the second pair himself - believing that as they have no wings, they'll prove vulnerable to his hoplite squadron.
Doraj is wrong, and doesn't have the time to realize it: magical drake-fire burns through his stoneweave overcoat as if it were rice paper, incinerating his body and horse alike. The beast rears back, spewing flames forty meters from its maw - perverse cornucopia of deathly fire. His hoplite squad suffers similar fates, their remains hurled backward - reduced to blackened metal lumps infused with calcified bone fragments.
Lieutenant Akios sees this. Quite unlike Doraj, he is familiar with his drake lore and knows that flightless Great-drakes possess the devil fire: which renders the stoneweave cloth normally worn by all of Fourth battalion worthless.
"Sergeant! I'll need you to take the cavalry and distract this beast, buy me a few moments to lead an attack at its rear: it's the only way we'll kill it without a massacre." shouts Akios to Sergeant Danes.
"You can count on me, sir. CAVALRY! Form up on my tail, evasive charge!" bellows Danes, spurring his horse forward.
The Lieutenant, noticing slack-jawed horror present on so many faces after seeing an elite squadron destroyed so effortlessly; spends a few precious moments to address remnants of B-company.
"Men, hear me! I am taking command of this company, and I tell you now what you already know: We cannot allow the tyranny of draconics to continue! Fight today, till your last breath, last ounce of strength! For the empire, for your families, for your homes and loved ones! The hand favors us this day: Follow me now, to victory! Follow me now, to liberation for all the mortal races!" At the close of his speech, Akios draws his rapier to clatter it against shield, a metallic roar rising above the battlefield as all who hear him follow suite.
Raising his rapier high, the Lieutenant leads the remnants of his company in a charge: fanning out with a meter between each man (standard draconic formation.) The drake, distracted by erratic cavalry swings its head this way and that - trying to follow the movement of all horses at once. Danes proves as good as his word, and time is bought: once the drake spies' hoard of foot soldiers closing, opportunity to spew fire upon them is past, they're much too near.
Battle becomes a blur as many men die - scarce few to the fire, more to terrible maw and talons of the beast. Akios' vision reddens with rage, and screaming a battle cry he scales the drake, reaching its head to slam his sword through its unblinking eye. Draconian scream of pain rips through the air, men dropping swords to cover their ears. With grand thoroughfare, the creature topples. Dull thud and clatter as it smashes to ground atop corpses of men so recently slain: scarce heard after its ear-splitting death knell.
Akios is pulled from the remains, barely clinging to life; yet still clutching his weapon: splattered with ocular fluids though it may be. The battle saints attempt to wake him, failing for many days. The lieutenant is accorded an Iron Hand for slaying such a foe: an honor rarely given to those outside holy order. He sleeps through tormented fever-dreams, moaning disjointed curses about a great dragon lord flying through rivers of blood. He cries out often for his family, yet the surgeons think little of it.
On the seventh day, word came down that four towns and the surrounding farmlands have been razed - no man, woman, nor child escaped. The elderly and infirm, pregnant mothers, swaddling infants - to the last, they were devoured or incinerated. Some bones remain, but blessed few. There is to be nothing to bury nothing to mourn, no closure for the soldiers who have their families torn from them forever. Four great drakes perished, and four townships destroyed. The wise men agree: this is an act of retribution.
On the eighth day, Akios awakes. He needn't be told that his town was leveled. His face already registers anguish, realizing he'll never see his wife nor his two young sons again in this world. He spends the rest of this day in chapel of the hand: at last emerging, his eyes turned to ice - cold and purposeful.
General T`kar granted him captaincy of B company shortly after (with honors). Akios' lips turn slightly upwards - nearly imperceptible as he clutches his Iron Hand, bowing before the men of his command.
"I swear to you, as I have in the Hand's sight: I shall not rest until all draconics lay dead or dying. Their kind will burn in Hell's fire as surely as they have decimated our homes and families. We have destroyed the four great fire drakes, now only their dragon lord remains. When we destroy her, we end the threat of fire-drakes forever more. Lady Inferno must perish." Those men are now his. Not by his words, no - the fervor in his eyes spoke to even the dimmest among them. There is no denying it, course set and on they must go.
Onward to Lady Inferno's lair: onward to victory.
User Reviews
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2008-02-20 11:17:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2007-07-16 07:07:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Please write some more of this story.
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-07-15 22:53:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by URNVUS (user info) at 2007-07-14 17:04:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Solid
Submitted by Director (user info) at 2007-07-13 22:51:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked this.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-07-13 18:25:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2007-07-13 17:44:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
casue everytime I hear your name I think of coffee cakes
thats why im...http://www.ubersite.com/m/110113
Submitted by The_Drake (user info) at 2007-07-13 17:39:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Berg, you're too kind.
(the check is in the mail)
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2007-07-13 17:12:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
5: http://www.ubersite.com/u/The_Drake
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2007-07-13 17:06:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Drake's Devil Dogs?
Love 'em!
This post?
Not so much.
Submitted by DirtyHarry (user info) at 2007-07-13 16:53:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by The_Drake (user info) at 2007-07-13 16:45:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
HEY!
There's only ONE great Drake around here, buddy.