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The river that led through the Empire was like a serpent. It was never a straight patch of water instead it twisted and turned through a lazy country side. The rolling verdant green hills rose and fell by the wayside as the first few miles from the sea shore changed into a distant world. This wasn't a world of harsh ice and mountains, nor of the rocky fields and tough flowering plants. It was a paradise for those that never knew such a thing could exist. Yet it wasn't a natural one. Each inch of land was carefully constructed and constrained by those that owned it. The fields even in their growth, the flowers carefully planted to be pleasing to the eye rather than brilliant rushes of color that dotted the landscape never mind human wishes. Even the forests were trimmed back and seemed contained and mild by comparison.

Baen watched it all warily from the bow of the long boat that had pulled into the channel. It was light and small enough to travel easily along the passage, but large enough to carry both warriors, weapons and some small supplies. The larger ships would have been trapped in the turning river. The hubris of this land that they didn't have a major fortification guarding the entrance of the river amazed him. Did they assume that smaller vessels couldn't carry an army? Did they only fear attacks from over land? He had claimed one other river and allowed one of the younger men to lead. They were far enough apart that it would strain resources to fight off both small armies as they made their way forward. Perhaps they would target Flint as the easier to overcome.

Why wouldn't they believe that? He would be without Baen's guidance and perhaps be a weaker commander. He allowed himself a small tight smile as he mulled over the commanders that would make that mistake. They wouldn't count on the dragon to fly back and forth. It wasn't simply because the young buck had the desire to lead that he had been chosen. He could almost understand Sithen when the creature tried to make himself known. He could at least understand enough to be told to stop or hold back or ambush or even meeting places. Flint himself had expressed fearful excitement over being given command. Excitement to prove himself and fear over the thoughts of the dragon washing over his. Not even Baen felt the beast's touch without paying a price.

It was as if something greater and larger then himself would roll through his mind. It engulfed him and plucked him from his body with distaste and grudging respect. The thoughts and memories were so foreign he could barely make out what the dragon wished or was saying. He stood in the flow of a river of memories and emotions that made him feel a fleeting thing. This dragon had been hatched before the Empire had even been a gleam in someone's eye. He had been born when there were no Kings, only clan leaders and the heads of cities. Memories for him were history for the rebel leader and it made him thirst after all his people had been lost. How many books had been burned and story tellers silenced when they had overcome his people? He could almost remember a time when he had sat at the feet of men who knew their past and could recite it in verse and stories.

Only once had he dared ask the beast to remember for him. He had wanted and thirsted after the memories that would answer who his people were and who had started their line. The tidal wave had nearly made him lose his senses. It was not like a man remembered. Baen could recall events from his past, but further and they lost their intensity unless emotions were attached. Even those emotions were washed out by the ruthless passage of time. Not so with the beast, his memories were bright as if they had first occurred. A seemingly endless march of them had rolled through the human's body until he had screamed for it to stop. His mind could not hold the emotions that were attached to him, nor the details that they evoked. The dragon was not human, he had never been human, his mind had revealed that the moment he opened his thoughts to the rebel.

For him, the day he had arrived in the mountains was etched so firmly in his mind that Baen could recall even the tinges of brown grass that had formed in the fields as the snow melted. He could recall each current of air and the way the sun had cast shadows. He knew his emotions just as fiercely then as he did now, they had never changed. They would never change. For the great beast, he realized, he would get no peace from the healing presence of time. It had left him shaken and more firmly rooted his belief this creature had been sent by his gods. The great creatures that had created his people had hammered the hatred for the Empire into the dragon and called him to Baen so that they could unite against them. Why else would a creature so perfectly suited to this come when he was most needed?

Baen lifted his head and instinctively found the dot of the soaring dragon above them. He would often fall back or go ahead. Although Sithen never made mention of anything besides his fury that the pitiful human's were slowing his pace, he had the sense the drake was watching for ambush or those that dared to follow. There was a rough affection in him that was somewhat akin to the affection of any dangerous animal. True he would fight beside them today, he would be their warrior and avatar to their gods, but if they faltered would he not turn on them? Would any of his affection stop him from destroying a people who failed to live up to what he desired? Yes, he truly was a creature of the gods. He tested them and hounded them, he was not sent by the soft gods of the farmers, but from the hammer and forge of the Braan's rulers.

= = = Within the Empire= = =

Hylar felt like he was playing a game of cat and mouse with his Council. They had limited power, but age old wisdom still held that they should be heeded rather then run over rough shod. Today he yearned for a time he had a small enough kingdom that his words were absolute. That was the price of what he had gained, that he must listen to the petty squabbles and bickering of a council of representatives. And oh how they squabbled! Like hens they clucked and dithered about trying to find an answer to the problems that faced them all. Each one had his own vested interests in what should happen and what would happen. At the moment Carsus held the floor with his impassioned tongue speaking of the coastal holdings.

"If we but cut our losses and let them see to themselves, will they not rise up in force? True we could waste our armies, but they have not the knowledge of the coast as those there. I say we either cut them off entirely or conscript the towns for men to join in the army." The young man leaned forward and eyed the council meaningfully.

"Yes, and what of them? Rob them of their sons and husbands until only the women are left? They'll rise up as well before they let that happen." Micah angrily sliced his hand through the air as he stood up. "I know them, they'll fight every step of the way. You'll find emptied towns as they hide their menfolk!"

"Then abandon them! We have untouched coastal towns we can fortify with our armies and leave them to fight it out for themselves. They know their own terrain and lands better than we do! They'll fight that much harder with their own lands at stake and it will be easy to move in and subdue them after the fray." Carsus slapped the flat of his hand down against the table while Hylar attempted to hide a slight cold smile of amusement.

The table erupted in denials and approvals of the idea until many had leapt up their feet at the announcement until the roar of the council filled his ears. Carsus never wanted to risk himself, his wealth or his position and always chose the most practical solution from his stand point. In some cases his solutions worked and were invaluable, in others they came out appearing as cold and calculating as any man could think of. Micah had started to yell until his face showed a flush of red around his cheeks and his hair came look from it's braid to frame his face. The impassioned flow of words erupted from his lips and threatened to overrun even those that supported the other council member. By sheer volume the man was able to force the others to silence while the Emperor turned his impassive face to the tirade.

"How dare you suggest we tuck tail and run! Do you truly believe that they will fight them off for us? How much more likely is it that they'll remember a time when they were a kingdom of their own and join forces?" Micah lifted his lip a little in a baring of teeth. "If they get a firm hold on any of our cities, especially ones with ports they can escape from we are doomed. Craig Island is a dead and forbidding place that deterred many of the people that might have joined them. If they were offered a hospitable land then it would be to the detriment of all our Empire! Abandon those towns to themselves? As well put your sword to our Emperor's throat, traitor!"

"Traitor?!" Carsus' eyes bulged as he moved a hand to his belt. Tempers were heating up too fast, and although some portion of him would have been amused to see Carsus whipped into shape by the more experienced Micah now was not the time.

"Silence! We shall neither abandon them, nor shall we throw our soldiers at them to be wasted." Hylar slowly stood up and became painfully aware of a shooting pain along his lower left back. He didn't show that it pained him, he was careful to never reveal the infirmities of his growing age to anyone. It would be like offering himself up to the slaughter. "We shall take volunteers with offers of future employment for their children or a large bonus to lead guerilla attacks against the advancing army. We will position a captain at the head of each command, but make sure it is someone originally local or at least from within a few cities of that group. Allow them the chance to wage war as they see fit, while we must up troops from the plains and conscript twenty men from each village."

"B-but, Sire-" Carsus faltered as his own lands were named to bring up conscriptions, "The harvest is nearly due, I simply cannot provide the men needed-"

"As I recall you were bragging not two months ago about the way your holdings work. Every man, woman and child does a portion so no part feels the strain." Hylar lifted a brow, "A harvest where those left must toil that much harder will do them no harm. You will see my secretary about the conscriptions and the amount of volunteers I want to see joining our ranks. I'm sure you'll personally oversee if there are any oversights."

A pause lingered over those gathered as Carsus opened his mouth before sealing it again. He mulled through his Emperor's words and came to what was hidden beneath with a visible swallow. If there was one thing the young man strove to avoid it was the possibility of being trapped in the army himself. His father had even tried to get him to make a name for himself there, but he had instead chosen to see to more domestic affairs. That fault had nearly lost him his title before the old man had died, but he had somehow retained it since. A few of his supporters shifted away from him to avoid the taint of his shame. Were they remembering that he had no experience on the battle front? Or simply that he wasn't in the Emperor's favor.

"My lord, I must broach the subject of their beast." He turned his eyes towards Mage Urso, a small grey man that looked every second of his many years. "Shall I bring up those from our own ranks better suited to..ah..dealing with it?" The inoffensive man used his words carefully, even the watery grey of his eyes didn't hint at the disdain he held for Timat.

"Mage Timat was the one at fault, he and General Janus will be the ones to see to it. I have already dispatched messengers to that effect." He kept his voice bland, hiding his own disgust at their failure at capturing Baen. "But, I will need your Mages to deal with the dragon we have caught here."

"Ah yes, the beast that was yowling earlier?" Urso tilted his head to one side as his eyes seemed to lose focus. "What would you want done with it?"

"Tame it, test it, take what knowledge you can from it. I want to know how it works and what it can do. We all know legends have been ripe with stories of dragons that were killed for the magic in their hide, teeth, bones and every place else. Find out if this beast is from those legends and how to tame it. If it cannot be tamed. Well... We shall use it to dishearten those that are opposing us..." He let his voice trail off and looked out towards his window that silent night air. The beast could prove useful yet. Either by giving them the magic to destroy the rebels or by dying and it's hide used to prove the beast Sithen was purely an animal.

++++

Dragons. Dragons haunted Timat's every dream and even waking moments. They swirled through his mind with angry whirling eyes and bared teeth. Their talons latched themselves into his consciousness and promised him a slow and painful death. They taunted him with bugling roars and the sound of wings snapping open over the sky. He couldn't sleep without them sending him into sweat soaked dreams of terror and despair. After nearly a week he had started to feel himself losing a grasp on time and what it meant. He knew that they were packing up the army and getting ready to move, but as he walked through the soldiers shoving their gear away and preparing for the march he felt as if he were a ghost. They didn't look up at him and he didn't acknowledge them. Sometimes he wondered if he were already dead, but if he were dead why was General Janus so damnably loud.

"Mage!! Damn you!" The rough growls made him squeeze his eyes harder to try and block out the annoyance.

:You could give in...: The insidious voice whispered through his mind making him shudder. It was a voice he'd heard far too often. :It's so easy to die. So very easy to just give in...:

"Shut up! I won't! Who are you?!" He pitched on the bed and scrabbled his hands against the covers trying to get a grip on it.

:You. I'm you.: It laughed and beneath it he could almost sense a seething pit of rage. Something that was dark and boundless that would swallow the whole world in its anger if it could only be released.

"Damn you, dog, it's Janus. Get your lazy drunken ass out of bed." The General's growl spilled out in a dangerous rage.

:Don't. Stay here. He's already thinking of killing you. He thinks you've gone mad: The voice trumpeted laughter before hissing out an even worse phrase. :He might be right you know...:

"M'up. M'up." Timat groaned and forced himself out of the bed only to feel the ground beneath him pitch so that he lurched backwards onto the mattress.

"Get yer stuff stowed, we're moving out now. If you don't have it stowed in the next mark I'm going to come back here and personally burn this room around you." The General wrinkled his nose in disgust. "And bathe for the gods' sake. You reek like a whore after a profitable night."

Timat watched blearily as the General stormed out of the room and took a cautious sniff. He could taste the mixture of odors in a pungent roll. His stomach turned in disgust. This wasn't like him. This wasn't like him at all. He got his legs and wobbled over towards his chest to pull out a pot of thick soft soap and tucked it into the midst of clean clothes. He'd shove the rest into his trunk when he had actually had a bath to wake him up. He stumbled past the bottles that he had left strewn about the room as the product of the last week. He'd spent every night trying to drink himself into a stupor with the single minded pursuit of making himself forget and to try and block out the voice that rang in his mind. It had started only a few days after he had seen the dragon, and now he couldn't block it out.

He entered the bathing rooms and managed to shower himself and even shave so that his face was once more smooth. The sight of the grey water and suds that came off his body made another roll of revulsion hit him. He had never been this way. Why was he worrying so much? He had imagined the beast had more intelligence then it really had. He knew when he had captured the smaller one that they were just animals. Yet something kept gnawing at the back of his mind demanding he realize that the beast was fully cognizant of what he had done and intended revenge. That was when he started to hear voices. Well, a voice. It had whispered in his mind and cast doubts, it threw itself against the bars and imprisonment of his mental walls screaming for release that never came. When it wasn't raging, it was whispering to him trying to make him kill himself or kill others.

So he drank. He drank himself into a stupor every night to forget the voice and the feeling of dread that the beast would erupt from the sky any day to snatch him up to his punishment. He had enough nightmares to imagine what the talons would feel like as they tore through his flesh, what the teeth would do when they scraped muscle and flesh away from the bone. His hands shook as he closed his trunk and blinked his eyes up to stare at the grimy window. He needed to stop this, it was foolishness. He was the Emperor's representative. He had to carry himself as such! He opened the door and yelled for someone to grab his chest before sauntering down the steps and brought his tattered personality around himself like armor. It was foolishness to act on childish fears. As well he should hide from a monster in his closet!

"Good, at least you don't smell like last month's meat." The general grunted from outside the inn door. His back was framed by the soot licked buildings of the town and the splash of new wood as the people rebuilt.

"I was understandably traumatized by the inability of your soldiers to prevent the capture of the rebel leader, as well as slay that animal. The Emperor will undoubtedly see to your punishments." He affected a lofty tone as if it meant nothing to him, but it was only cast out as a shadow of what he had been.

"We've already heard from the Capitol. We're to hunt the beast down. We're packing up and breaking off into two groups to head up river and catch the beast. It has to stay with those damned barbarians and so it has to land and probably sleeps. Two groups will have better chance of finding out where and how. We'll catch it, kill it, and regain our honor." Janus moved from the door as Timat went to follow, but his foot almost missed a step.

"Catch it? Kill it? Well certainly! That's just the thing! Just the thing!" Timat let himself smile a little crookedly. "I'll be heading straight back to the capitol with an escort then and I'll inform His Majesty of your willingness to see the right thing done."

"You will, will ya?" The general barked out a hoarse laugh. "Don't trouble yourself in getting set. You're leading the other men. Strict orders, we're to bring back the dragon or our war-pay is removed."

"Well that's hardly my business! I don't know anything about-" Timat started to bluster while Janus watched him with narrowed eyes and bared large darkened teeth.

"Dragons? You're the expert. You told everyone in every city here how you captured the last one. Now it's time to ply your trade with another goal in mind. Bring down the beast." A harsh laugh rolled from the man's chest in amusement before he turned and started away to the men.

:Oh dear. Now what will you do, O Great Mage?: The voice slid through his mind, that brush of madness made him shiver in the heat of the sun. :I know! Since you were so distressed by your state, perhaps you should rub sweet herbs on yourself. The beast will appreciate your effort when he cuts into your skin.:

Timat swallowed and tried to block out that insidious voice entirely while he watched the troops gather. They were forming two different squads and he noticed that some of the older ones were moving opposite of the general. Before he would have been annoyed and vocal in his insistence he could take charge of any men to hunt what he needed. Yet now he felt only fawningly grateful to see the battle scarred men he would lead. The voice was wrong, it was wrong! He would triumph again. He would cut that animal from the skies and present its heart to the Emperor! It was no large thing to kill any creature as long as you had the cunning and power to do it. He would see it dead and his nightmares would fade away like the dreams they were.

:Your dreams see more then you ever could, human: the voice whispered out like a distant dream as he strode to the men waiting for him. It was just his imagination. It was just his mind being overworked by this horrid heat. That was all. It couldn't be anything else.

++++

Lashane had stood silent watch over the cooling corpse while the bitter cold of the enclosure made her drowsy. The first hint of her sleepiness had made her shake herself back and forth before she started to walk the perimeters of the place. She couldn't sleep! She remembered her life as a human and if she fell asleep like this she would likely never wake up again. So she had walked around the edge and counted her steps. It was surprisingly vast for an animal's enclosure, but the magic wall above kept her from doing more than getting a few wing beats into the air before being forced back to the ground. There were no real air currents here that would lift her into a glide or allow her to level her flight so it was useless. The place was uniform in appearance in unnatural ways. She could see rock formations repeated over and over again as if someone had copied them.

She realized that the Mage's likely had. Why else would the same savage jagged rock jut out of the ground in at least six different places? The longer she paced and looked, the more she saw the repeating pattern that they had used while she kept herself warm. She instinctively avoided the place the Wyvern lay slumped in a frozen pool of his blood. The mixed feelings she had didn't communicate well to the human portion of her mind. The human part raged that she had been used and abused by the beast, the dragoness tempered that with sorrow that the beast had turned into an animal in truth. Her mind gave her little peace as she tried to vainly force herself into feeling outrage and satisfaction at the Ice Wyvern's death, but she felt herself caged by the knowledge that it had likely been the last of its kind. Alone and imprisoned wouldn't she go mad as well?

She felt as if she were going insane. Some part of her felt trapped by draconic feelings and thoughts until they leaked through to what she thought of as human. She wanted to fly out of here and never return, she wanted to stay and know what it was like to have a bed again. She wanted to snap a frail human's spine for the audacity of what was done to her, she wanted to make them understand she wasn't an animal. The thoughts chased each other in circles until the sun sank down casting a strange bluish darkness in the frosty enclosure and she was forced to stop her pacing. The moment she stopped weariness flooded her and her stomach snarled in protest for not having enough to eat. She wanted food! She finally clambered and climbed her way up to the ledge that she had been pushed to and snuffed around seeking where they would have fed the drake.

She found her answer and the reason she hadn't smelled it frozen solid to the ice laden cliff face. The bloody smear of a goat's corpse was sprawled out where it had been tossed who knew how long ago. She wrinkled her nose at the acrid scent and both she and the dragoness agreed that it was unappetizing in the extreme. It was cold, hard and it looked as if it had been slaughtered a day or two ago. She turned her head away from it before curling herself up on the ledge and sighed. Perhaps she should just sleep here and wait for fresh to be tossed in. She could sleep here at least. It was marginally warmer this close to the magically sealed gate and although still frigid, it at least didn't make her feel as if her blood was freezing in her brains.

"...tomorrow....can't believe she killed....worth..." The words trailed over her ears as she completely stilled. They sounded muffled and far off in the distance, but they were words. They were talking about her!

The dragoness curled her tail tighter against herself before edging closer to the sealed barrier and could see shadows glimmering on the other side of it. They were indistinct and wavered as if she was looking through restless water, but that's where the voice was coming from. She hissed softly and tilted her head so that she could catch more of the sentences flickering through the wall. She had to strain and almost push right up against it before the murmur of voices stopped being muffled and she could pick out what was said. Two of the rough voices obviously belonged to the guards, but the third was eerily familiar. It was soft with an upper class edge to the accents, but lacked the control it had once had. Urso had aged in the past few years. She almost felt sorrow at finding her Master had succumbed to times endless march, but the context of the speech jostled her out of it.

"We need that corpse and perhaps hers too if she's injured. The Emperor will be very displeased if she's dead, but it's not without gain." The words were cold rather than the warmth she knew the man capable of.

"She's alive, saw her pacin' the edge of the fence 'bout an hour or two ago." One of the guards responded.

"Good. It's better she's alive. We're going to find out what she's capable of so I want you to starve her tomorrow and the next day. Make sure she's hungry when we come to fetch her. The cold will takes its toll as well to make her tractable." That cold voice sent a shudder down her spine. Where was her Master that delighted in her knowledge? Where was the man who had all but purred in satisfaction as she and Timat practiced spells to perfection?

"Already dropped feed in tonight..." The other guard answered and there was an edge of nervousness to him. A sigh answered him.

"I'll hope she's more like a lizard or snake then and the cold will turn her torpid. If she isn't tractable we shall find other ways to move her." The Mage paused slightly, "Look, there..." The shapes moved and she fought the urge to shrink back. They had already seen her. "Cunning animal, it's almost as if she's listening to us. Or thinking of eating us..."

With those thoughtful words she watched one shape detach from the other pair and start to fade away as Urso walked from the enclosure. She moved away from the wall herself and turned back to look at the frozen goat cast to one side. Two days without food and hunger was already gnawing at her stomach. Did she dare wait until it looked appetizing and would perhaps be too hard or spoiled? Or herself too weak to eat? It might give her energy when she needed it, but she might not have the energy to spare to eat it. A repulsive thought slid through her mind, the Ice Wyvern's body was here. It was meat. The human in her balked at such a thought, the dragoness was ever practical in his life continuing her own. It would be a fitting tribute rather than to have his body dissected by the Mages. She swallowed her nausea before lowering her head to the goat's corpse. It was the lesser of two evils..for now.

++++

Sithen gloried in the heat and warmth of the sky around him. It was clear and bright as any day he could wish to set his wings to. He let himself lid his eyes and soak in the heat of the sun even as he rose above the few wisps of clouds that marred the cerulean sky and the air turned colder. It was a day that he had known in the far off past when fall was closing around the earth and the trees were starting to fade into shades of orange and red. Once, such a day would be ripe with young dragons squalling for food and play fighting. He had watched several of his own clutches lurching out of their lairs to start to beat their wings in the air to strengthen them. Even alone he could not push away the sense of contentment at being high above the earth. A contentment that was soon shattered by the blast of a hunting horn beneath him.

He lowered his head with a mental curse for the humans that blew the horn. It was supposed to summon him to take a message to the other pack, but he rarely deigned to answer it. He was not their dog. The army moved at a crawl that frustrated him as the distance he could have covered on the wing would have easily brought him to the largest city within a hand span of days. He had been ready to sink one of the boats to teach them to move faster when Baen had intervened and conveyed to him that they must tread cautiously as cities would start to become apparent. As much as the drake hated it, he couldn't travel alone into more populated areas. That sort of hubris was what had killed so many of his kind when humans had started to breed like mice across the face of the world.

Only once had Flint dared suggest he ride the dragon to scout the country side. The untrained thoughts of the human hadn't just conveyed a need to see what was there, but a tumble of emotions not the least of which was the desire to be a 'dragon-rider'. Only the fact the human had been safe on a ship had kept Sithen from tearing him apart for even suggesting it, as it was he got the brunt of his anger mentally. He had found the longer the people saw him about, the more they lost their fear of him. Even the hatchlings had started to laugh and point and shout at the sight of him. It was appalling and humiliating. He had started to take longer absences from all of them as a result. It was easy to fly ahead to a point he knew that they would find suitable for camp and curl up to sleep the day away. Or to fly back and simply catch up later.

He didn't want to admit it, yet it was just a fact that their thoughts had started to leech their way into his own. They closer he remained to them, the more their muzzy feelings trickled over to him until he unwillingly started to know names, faces and emotions. He had realized it the first day when he had been flying and felt a stab of raw panic from a young mind and dove down from the clouds with his fangs and claws bared. In the evening a large mountain cat had struck up on a party of foraging adolescents that had been sent to find what food they could. One of them had climbed a tree to escape only to find the beast climbing after. Only a trumpeting blast from the storm dragon had sent the creature running before he back winged to a landing. Then he realized what he had done, he had answered the creature's distress as if it had been his own hatchling calling out in danger. Or any hatchling of his kind.

Those who had heard of what he'd done fawned upon him. They had clucked and chattered like a flock of birds trying to surround him and even touch him. It was too much to bear and he had leapt skyward to escape it. From that day on he had started to remain apart from them and away from where their minds could leak over his and lap against his thoughts. They were not his people, nor his kind. He had no reason to protect them further then in making sure they fought their war so he could rescue his daughter. Instead he found himself often regarding them with a sort of affection as they ploughed ahead and fought in small skirmishes. He told himself it was the admiration he would feel for ants if he ever watched them trying to build a nest. They were no more than that to him. Strange bugs that he found useful. At least that was what he told himself.

Even as his own thoughts had been changed he knew that Baen and a handful of others had started to sharpen with their thoughts. That was fitting and right. He knew what and who he was and they should emulate him wherever they could. Draconic influence could at least give them an impression of being intelligent and above the petty worries the others had. It trained them to serve him and his needs. They were the ones that felt the ache he awoke with each day and frantic sense that he needed to hurry. He needed to find her. Perhaps those special few could be trained afterwards as servants. He had learned of servants watching them and he entertained the idea of having them in leisurely times to groom him and guard his lair when he left it against other humans. Perhaps he'd steal them away into the mountains for such a purpose.

The horn blasted again, this time louder than all the rest and he shook himself from his thoughts with a snarling rumble of annoyance. So they wanted to see him did they? He folded his wings straight to his sides before dropping down from the sky. He made no effort to slow his descent, only guide it with his tail as he spotted the blue of the twisting river beneath him and the dots of the boats floating over it. He narrowed his eyes until he could focus on the lead boat just ahead of him when he noticed that something had gone wrong. The lead boat was smoking more than a controlled cooking fire, it was alight along the edges and a sudden eruption of darts flying through the air came from the bushes. They were firing flaming arrows at the boats. The frustrations he had felt at being summoned found a target and he opened a wing briefly to shallow his glide.

Sithen saw the movement in the trees, in the bushes, like insects they infested the forest with their bodies while they shot hails of arrows towards the ships. He rolled his tongue up along the roof of his mouth and stroked it until he could feel the crackle and electricity forming along his teeth. Too late they looked up to see him dropping from the sky and dared to send up a wave of arrows at him. The small man killing weapons grazed against his stomach to bounce from his armor harmlessly while two sank into the softer flesh of his wing. The prickle of pain only enraged him further as he snapped his wings open wide and dropped his head down low. Lightning spilled from his jaws in a glorious blue crackle to strike along the trees and screams erupted beneath his body. Let the humans fawn upon him now. Let them think him tame.

++++

General Janus hunkered down with his men so deep under cover that the sun barely penetrated them. They didn't worry about being seen from ground view, they were hiding from what was above them. The sound of battle and the rank scent of burning tar and wood, with darker things came to him as the rest of the troop attacked the boat from hiding. The arrows had been ignited with a slow burning gel that was nearly impossible to extinguish without a concentrated effort. He had little hope they'd do more than stall the barbarians, but they would be forced to summon the creature. Let Timat whimper and slink along hoping to find the dragon sleeping, the general had other desires in his life. He would not be known as the man that killed a sleeping beast, he would be known as a dragon slayer!

It was only moments into the attack when the horns started to blast and he broke cover enough to watch the skies. At first he could only see the deep blue of a fall day and birds that arrowed back and forth on their migration routes. Soon, though, one of the birds started to grow larger and he realized the speck wasn't a bird at all. Instead the dragon was stooping like a falcon towards the battle and he bared his teeth in satisfaction at the sight. Like a well trained hound it wouldn't leave it's masters to die and burn beneath him. He hissed a warning to the men who moved in closer to the rigged spear gun that looked almost like a massive cross bow. It was normally designed for siege when they needed to launch lines over a wall, but it could serve another purpose.

The dragon dropped faster than the soldier expected until there was an audible snap and something erupted from his mouth. Screams and shrieks rang in his ears as the woods started to smoke under the lightning that came from the animals mouth. He twisted to the side and came around again to attack a second time while the army on the water cheered their champion on. Janus never missed a beat. No plan ever went according to plan and the lives lost would be acceptable losses when measured with what was gained. He pushed one of his men out of the way and started to carefully swivel the bow on its base to follow the movements. The beast was large enough that even in the air he wasn't as fast as a bird, there was too much bulk to move around to allow him that luxury.

The moment he saw the flash of grey and then white as the dragon banked he hissed out the command the wedge that was used to hold tension on the line was pulled back. The spear whistled out fast and true towards the air bound beast and slammed against the shoulder with a thud even they could hear. A sudden shriek broke through the air as the left wing crumpled and the beast twisted to one side as it went down. A roar of triumph broke from his throat counter acting the sounds coming from the boats. He could almost feel the tremor rocking through the ground as the beast hit the earth and disappeared from sight. He'd scored a hit, if the creature just stayed on the ground he'd be theirs.

"Get the others! Keep firing those damn arrows while we go finish the job!" He barked out the order as he pushed his way out of the bushes and pulled out the heavy sword from its sheath. Maybe he'd simply kill Timat and claim the dragon had done it. Or that he'd killed himself. With his ranting it would be plausible and then he could rise up to claim a reward that was so richly deserved.

++++

Sithen felt the impact before the pain. The thud hit high up against his shoulder before he felt the pain of the razor sharp edges tearing through his muscle and scraping against the bone. It was high up enough he felt it snap a tendon from his wing as he shrieked out and it crumpled to one side of him limp. He had just enough speed and air space to twist his body towards the river as he went into a plummet towards the hard earth. The dark thick drops of blood splattered against his side and down his arm before he hit the shore of the river and formed a furrow through the muck and mud mingled thickly with his own blood. The stones scraped against his hide as he sucked in a breath and then another. He didn't try to get up, he needed to know how badly he was hurt.

Those thoughts were driven from him as he heard the humans on the shore scream in triumph and their sounds growing closer. The hell if he would be here waiting for them like carrion! He heaved himself onto three legs and stared out at the river. With a snarl he twisted his head and tried to yank the spear out only to crush it between his teeth right above the wound. At least it wouldn't catch on anything, healing and removing it would have to wait. The boats would be just past the edge of the bend, up ahead should be clear, behind was fighting. He slid into the water as sinuous as a snake while he considered his options. He dove below the surface while dark ruby red blood turned smoky in the water and rushed back towards the boats. His eyes swirled a deep bloody crimson with pain and anger as he slid along the river bottom towards the sounds of fighting. He would earn his pint of blood back for this injury!

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