Chapter 2:

Battle Raids Dracondor

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Melocnr finished the announcement and said, "Sit, all of you, there is something that I need to tell you three before we go any further."

"What is it, father?" Silvera asked him.

"This is not the first time that something like this has happened to us," Melocnr told them looking out of one of the carved openings in the palace frame. The sun was almost completely under the horizon with its rays still reaching out over them. Everything was calm, a peace that would not exist tomorrow. "About three hundred years ago, Worloch was in a similar situation like this. Just as it is turning out now, we were involved. We dragons are not native to this land as you may think, but originated from another island like this one, about seventeen thousand years ago.

"The island was about the same size as Worloch, and like Worloch, was rich in magic. Nevertheless, unlike here, the island only held the dragon race. The terrain was just unsuitable for any other race to live.

"The dragons were divided in to three classes. The first two were the pseudo dragons and then normal dragons. However, there was an elite group of dragons. These dragons were able to control the natural magic that flowed through them.. Now we all know that all dragons have magic, but we also know that most do not have the natural ability to harness it. Over time, they attached our native language to the magic that allows us to control the spells. This allowed spells to be easier to cast because they had something verbal to attach meaning to it. But even then, the spells can backfire, and the outcome for when they did was unpredictable," He told the three dragons as he turned back from the carved window.

Dusk had now passed them and darkness enshrouded the city. The light of the full moon still glowed though and reflected off the gems in the sidewalks. Light from the moon glistened off the ceiling that the four dragons were in as Melocnr shifted his position to make himself more comfortable but directed as Zil'caron, Silvera and Shunaria.

"These dragons quickly rose to power over the rest of the dragons, and many of the other dragons opposed them, and about forty percent of these dragons decided to flee the island. Moreover, head to the nearest island that large enough for them, which was Worloch. Those who fled the island were the lucky ones. For about three months after they left, one of the magic dragons cast a spell beyond its control powerful. The spell ultimately backfired, and in its aftermath destroyed the island. We have no records of anyone surviving this even from the home island.

"Relecar, ruler of Gientr, that was the name Celtrien back then, gave the dragons that came to Worloch about four thousand years ago permission to form the own cities. With this the cities, of Karneth, Dargron, and Garlun rose.

"Everything was smooth until about a couple hundred years ago. The dragons that had come from the island continued to show thanks to Celtrien, as they renamed it, by donating three eggs a year to individuals that they choose to be riders.

"However the new ruler of Celtrien did not like that the dragons weren't under his rule, and tried to force them to join his nation. Much like Menkarane just tried to do this afternoon. He then executed a full-scale assault on all three of our cities at once, destroying all of them.

The surviving dragons then fled to an Island that to this day remains named Selzar, and is located about twenty leagues to the north of the coastline. Should we be defeated, that is where we will go to recover. The dragons then regrouped and my father Xarcon led the dragons in an attack on the land. They were defeated, however, but in the process also killed the ruler.

"It was a successful failure."

"How does that work?" Silvera interrupted.

"It was successful because they killed the emperor. It was a failure because out of the three thousand dragons only about ten remained.

"The blood of a magic dragon still flows through the dragons of today. We do not know who has been gifted with it, but we would be at a great advantage should he figure it out. I don't know how much this helps the situation, but now you know the truth," Melocnr said as he concluded.

"I do not understand at this point how this information will help us in this battle. A lecture in our history is not something that we should have worried about missing now. The only thing that this tells us is where to go if we lose. We have lost at least a quarter of a day's planning for the battle tomorrow. Time that we will not be able to get back and use," Zil'caron replied agitatedly.

"This history, Zil'caron was told to let you know what we are fighting for. It took us nearly two hundred years to get this city back to where it was, and it just now started prospering again to its fullest. That history, is why we fight," Melocnr told him

"That history means absolutely nothing if we lose the city because we spent more talk talking about history than planning the counterassault for their attack. We should be out there attacking the army now, not waiting for them to come to us! You forget that we also fight because this is our city. It's our sworn duty to protect it," Zil'caron countered the anger spilling from his eyes.

"And protect it we shall, but we don't want anyone else running from that army saying we attacked it. People would get the wrong idea."

"They are already against us, and I'm not wasting any more time! Spreading ourselves out won't do a lot of good as their magicians will pick us off like flies, and attacking all at once in a large group wouldn't do much better either," Zil'caron stated. "What we should do is instead, is divide the city up into four squadrons, each squadron lead by one of us. You could take the north side of the city. Silvera spends most of her time in the western part of the city, so she can take the western division. Shunaria would take the east end, and I'll lead the southern," he suggested

"Yes, but who will fight, and who can't fight that is the big question here. Some of the dragons here have injuries that prevent them from fighting, and also we the matter of the eggs, and the hatchlings in the city, they must be evacuated, we can't afford for any of them to be injured or killed." Melocnr said.

"We can take care of that." Silvera informed.

"Are you sure? There are many hatchlings in this city, and even more eggs. Will you be able to handle them all?"

"If we can gain the assistance of some of the other mothers here in the city, it shouldn't be a problem. You know that there is not dragoness here that would leave behind one of their young. The question that I have now though, is where do we take them?" Shunaria asked him.

"Hmm... Take them to the elven city of Scrilon. It is a large city, and was it built with riders in mind. It should be large enough to accommodate for you. Explain the situation to them, and they should welcome you into the city." Melocnr told them. "Zil, call everyone in the city to meet in the main square for a meeting, the humans and all don't have to attend if they don't want, but every dragon needs to be there."

"Yes father," Zil'caron told him. Then Zil'caron reached out with his mind to all of the dragons in the city, and said Attention all dragons, there is going to be a mandatory meeting in the main square in five minutes, this meeting involves everybody's safety, and the plans to defend our city."

Just then, a massive explosion shook the palace. A red orb of energy pierced through the meeting chamber and left an even larger hole on the way out the back wall. "Everyone get out, now! It's not going to hold!" Zil'caron told them and started to fly out of the palace. Three more orbs of energy tore through the palace as he left and turned to see it tumble to the ground with no sign of his father anywhere.

"It's too late to evacuate anyone safely. Everyone has to fight, all of us! Silvera, Shunaria, rally the city and try to keep the morale as high as you can. I'm going to look for him and make sure he's okay. I never saw father get out of the palace."

"Hurry, the fronts will need all the help we can get, they've already killed ten dragons. I could feel their pain inside of me." Silvera said as she flew into battle.'

"Silvera," Zil'caron said with his mind as she started to fly off.

She turned to him and replied, "What?"

"You be careful. I can't afford to lose you," He told her.

"I will, you just worry about getting your father out of that palace, if he's still alive."

"Okay," he said as she flew off.

Zil'caron returned to the remains of the palace, and started lifting the heavy black marble out of the debris pile with his teeth and talons, and hurling them behind him. Piece by piece he threw until he found one of his father's golden wings. He then started digging through the rest of the marble. He used every part of his body to help clear away the rock, revealing his father's body.

After he removed the last slab of thick marble, he saw the true extent of his father's injuries. Melocnr's left wing in pieces, torn completely off the body. The wing muscle was completely gone, and the bone that would normally attach the wing to his body was nothing more than Ivory dust. The fire from the rubble burned in his eyes, looking at what used to be his father reduced to this. It sickened him.

Only a moment later noticed that his father was not breathing, and it did not take him long to find out why. A piece of marble about a talon's length in width was protruding from Melocnr's throat. Zil carefully attempted to remove the marble slab. Blood started pour from the injury so quickly, that some of it started flowing into Zil'caron's mouth as he finally pulled the slab free. Once it was gone, he could see that the piece of rock ad near decapitated his father, and destroyed one of the vital arteries leading up the neck to get blood to the brain. It was instantly apparent that Melocnr was dead, signified by a painful, anguished roar.

Protect the city. That would be his first priority! Nevertheless, I will not let those bastards get away with this. I will kill them! There is no time for me to get my armor, so I will have to fight without it, he thought, his blood starting to boil. He did not care about anything now, nothing except Shunaria, Silvera, and His and Silvera's eggs in the northern most hatchery.

"Zil'caron, we need you! We're being slaughtered up here." The sorcerers are attacking us head-on they killed nearly fifty of us already! Silvera told him.

_ "How the hell did they get in so quick?"_ Zil'caron asked her.

"Well it's easy to get in when you blast a giant hole in the wall," Silvera responded with news he much rather not have heard.

"Then focus attack on the holes, keep as many units out of the city as possible," he told her her side. "They killed Father," he added grimly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the larger buildings getting over run. Seeing the symbols of eggs on it, it was obvious what was happening., "Everyone focus on the hatcheries, we can't lose any more of them. He started to go to the overrun hatchery, but noticed fellow dragon in trouble on the way, getting swarmed himself. He quickly flew over to lend some support.

The instant he landed with a loud roar, opened his maw sending a roaring jet of blue and orange flame at the soldiers. The heat from his fire melted the armor and it began fusing with their skin. That's for my father! Zil'caron thought to himself. Two of the soldiers got through to him, and Zil'caron began swiping at them with his talons. They soon fell as well.

Three new sorcerers had entered the city, these three much more powerful than the others had. They were mages and made quick work of the smaller dragons in the area. They made it to the area where Zil'caron was fighting. Zil'caron by this point had acquired multiple injuries, since he was unable to don his armor.

There were many tears in the membranes of both wings. He also had a long narrow gash that ran down his side. Zil'caron saw the mages coming, and in attempt to catch them off guard, threw a ball of fire at them. To Zil'caron's disbelief, the mage not only stopped it with their magic, but also threw it back t him with such speed that he had no time to react. The massive ball of fire struck Zil'caron on his right side, the same side that possessed the long gash, and ripped off more of his side.

The mages were upon him when Zil'caron called for Silvera "Help me!" He started swiping at them trying to disrupt them long enough to keep them from casting any spells.

"I'm coming, hold on!" She replied.

Silvera and Shunaria were not doing much better. Both of Silvera's wings took several hits from arrow, and made them a bloody mess. Shunaria had a large tear in her right wing, and it difficult for her even to stay in the air. Their group managed to reduce the sorcerer threat a little bit by killing off about fifty of their sorcerers. However, for every soldier killed, another took his place. Silvera knew that Zil'caron was in trouble though because he never asked for help, and she was doing everything she could to get to him, Shunaria right behind her.

She came upon Zil'caron surrounded by three mages, and saw that he was already bleeding badly from his side. She saw one of the mages preparing a dark energy spell to use on Zil'caron, while the other two kept him distracted. "Zil'caron! Behind you!" She told him, but she was not quick enough. As the mage got ready to release the spell, "Liricora" she said in draconic as she released a bolt of high voltage lightening.

"Silvera! You can use magic?" Zil'caron said with amazement.

"Yes, I've been experimenting with it for a while now."

"How much of it are you familiar with?"

"Enough to get us through this battle alive, I can't heal yet thought"

"That will come in time. Go now, others need you." He told her, watching her set off to help the next group that needed it.

***

Qaltric and his men were not fairing much better in this battle. "Captain! Status report!"

"We've taken about half of the city. We have destroyed three of their hatcheries, and killed about two hundred dragons sir."

"What about our men, how are our numbers fairing?"

"Sir, I don't have an exact amount, but I estimate that we've lost about a third of our men, and our sorcerers haven't been heard from for nearly forty-five minutes"

"Damn it! These dragons are taking their toll on us. Hopefully we can force them to retreat soon," Qaltric said as he looked up to see a silver dragon cast a bolt of lightning through the sky hitting his three strongest mages in his army. He quickly ordered, "Have what sorcerers we have left protect the men! These dragons can use magic!"

"Yes sir. Though if dragon magic is anything relative to anything else they do, then I doubt our sorcerers can handle it."

"Well from what I've seen, it's only the one dragon that can use magic, so we either need to take her out, or we need to focus our attacks where ever she's not."

"Yes sir, I understand that, but don't forget that these dragons can fly, and if we change the location of our attack, it is more likely that they would beat us to our attack point sir. I don't see a way that we can win this battle."

"If we do not win this battle, the Menkarane will be lost, because now these dragons will ally with Celtrien and invade our cities."

"I thought you bastards came here for peace!" Qaltric heard from behind him. He turned around to find the same brilliant white dragon that had helped them find the palace in the first place.

"As you can see, the negotiations failed, and swung his sword at her trying to catch one of her talons with the barbed end of his double-edged sword.

"I knew that you were going to cause problems! I could have prevented this!"

"No you couldn't, my men were order to attack anyways if I wouldn't have returned."

The white dragon threw another cone of fire at him and said, "Even so, then we would have had ten less people to kill! I'm just happy I got to kill what few I did while you were on the way out."

Qaltric was able to dodge the cone of fire, but his captain suffered a direct hit, his body falling to the ground in a charred corpse.

"You'll pay for that!" Qaltric said as he attempted a charge on the dragon. She swiped at him with an open claw sending him backward about fifty feet, and tried to land on him, but Qaltric managed to get out from under her.

"Hold still human!"

"Why should I? Do you honestly think I'm just going to let you kill me?"

"Stupid human, you cannot escape me!"

"I outsmarted you didn't I?"

"You will still die this day regardless!" She replied, and slashed him with her tail, breaking Qaltric's left arm on impact. After Qaltric hit the ground, the white dragon lifted off the ground and started to throw the wall of fire that she could summon at will. She just started releasing the fire that would seal Qaltric's doom when a spear coated with black colored magic went completely through the dragon. A loud roar of pain could be heard, but with all the other noise in the city, went unnoticed by the others. The dragon then fell from the sky and landed on top of a building destroying it on impact.

Qaltric walked over to the building where she had fallen, clutching him arm. She was still breathing, and alert, but barely. As she died he scowled, "Well, it looks like you will be the one dying tonight." Then she slipped into the void.

"It looked like you could use a little help there Tric." A battle mage told Qaltric.

Qaltric knew this voice. He turned to look at the sorcerer and said. "Trinal?"

"Took you long enough..." Trinal replied. "That dragon was pretty pissed at you. What the hell did you do to her?"

"Isn't it obvious? We are in a war! She was trying to kill me because I was her enemy!"

"I know that Qaltric, but what I was getting at was she was focusing all of her attack on you alone. There were plenty of other soldiers around for her to kill, and she was focusing on you. Which means you must have really done something to piss her off. Now what was it?"

"I don't have to answer to a subordinate like you!"

"Fine then, next time you need a brother to come flying in out of nowhere and save your life, don't look for me." Trinal countered.

"You know I didn't mean it like that, but as you can see, we don't have time for talk right now!" Qaltric yelled as a silver dragon flew overhead.

"Right I'm sorry, but I need to warn you about that silver dragon. It appears that she can use magic. How much she knows how to control is not known, but the fact that she can use it makes her stronger that the rest here. If she tries to attack you, get out of the way, no solder will be able to take her on without at least five sorcerers guarding them, and even then there is a chance we could fail." Trinal warned.

"I know. I saw her use magic as well. She's already killed your three most powerful mages," Qaltric replied.

"I know. There are only about twenty of us left, these dragons are a lot stronger that we thought they were, but don't worry, we can stay here as long as we need, I've already contacted Zurcon for re-enforcements."

"How long do we have?"

"He's dispatching them from Ulderon, which is about twenty-five miles away. They should be here no later than two days from now."

"Can we make it that long?"

"Do we have a choice?"

"'No, I guess we don't. Hold out as long as you can. If numbers drop below 500 men retreat, but we fight until we can fight no more." Qaltric said as he watched the silver dragon land with a group of dragons fighting the east front.

***

Silvera was flying around Dracondor aiding any group she could, resorting to the language of dragons to use magic whenever she needed to. She landed next to a group of dragons that were taking heavy fire from sorcerers. The solders' swords had a red iridescent glow in them. A soldier easily ripped his sword the metal-like scales of a brown dragon and decapitated the dragon.

"Silvera, these soldiers have magic in their swords, we can't fight them because of that, and they have already killed Tiercron!" Shunaria told her.

"Vicus!" Silvera swore in draconic. "Liricora" she said causing a bolt of lightning to fire from her maw, striking everything metal in a ten-foot radius. "Let's move! There are others who need our help."

The group split up, and moved to various battles in the city. Silvera and Shunaria remained together, and started looking for places in the battle where the city was suffering. Unfortunately, most of the city had all ready fallen under the control of Qaltric and his men. Although the dragons were pushing them back, some as the soldiers tired. However, as they dragons tired, they lost even more ground.