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"The first 'Dark Age' was an extended period of constant war that lasted well over 160 years. The name first appeared more than a century after the events and was pioneered by the renowned equestrian historian, Evans Brightheart, who suggested the term to distinguish it from the Human Era [First Age], with the even more vague terms such as the Golden Age and The Shattering appearing soon thereafter. The name quickly gained popularity, as opposed to the mundane description of 'Terrible Times' it was known as originally.

The First Dark Age officially started at the signing of the Peace of Sauthol when Anthropes and Therianthropes signed a peace treaty and agreed to ally against the Dark Kingdom that had by then already had a firm hold of the Curndor Mountains and most of what once was the Kentereal Highlands. But although this alliance was on the back foot throughout the Age, the forces of Barathrum was never able to completely scatter their forces. This, despite the relative ease with which General Duas, with some assistance from the great dragon, Gullivarth Nigrum Rex [King Gullivarth the Black], shattered any attempt at resistance and conquered nearly all the old kingdoms in three great pushes. This Alliance only managed to hold its own during the siege of Thendor, and even after killing both Duas and Gullivarth at the battle of Lendor, they only managed to push the armies of darkness back and overthrow the Dark Kingdom when some dragons abdicated to this fragile, yet persistent alliance.

The name 'Age of Legends' is sometimes also used in literature, referring to the exaggerated tales of the battles between entities of good and evil that resemble popular myth more than acceptable historic facts that are the norm with surviving records that deal with the First Age, the Golden Age and the Second Age. Though, of particular importance should be the stories of the so-called “Demons* of Juinkarr" and the saints charged by the gods to defeat them, some of whom were successful while others were not."

Extract from "Peering through the mists of time" by Evans Gladstone, widely respected arch-scholar affiliated with the Great Library of Othlean, Third Age.

[*As a footnote, it should however be noted that the religious views in this article reflect the author's own opinion on the matter and should not be accepted as facts. The existence of creatures termed 'Demons', as well as the pivotal roles they had played during the Dark Ages as well as the first centuries of the Second Age, have been confirmed by several independent and widely accredited sources. It is also very likely that one or more of them were responsible for the complete collapse of civilization that heralded in the much more successful Second Dark Age. However, the argument of religion is beyond the scope of this insert. Therefore, for a more in-depth academic view on religion, I suggest having a look at 'Divines and Profanes: A study of Seleborian Religion throughout the ages' by Samantha Lovestone.]

***

Eloff swore loudly at a lean orc as he decapitated the creature. The lifeless body topped from the ladder and dropped onto the mass of orcs below awaiting their turn to try and scale up against the wall. The lupine brigadier of the Alliance looked up and down the wall at the struggle taking place and swore more generally again. Up here, on the narrow rampart of the wall, there was absolutely no room for any tactical manoeuvring whatsoever. It only boiled down to individual skill and strength in numbers.

For a while now, the Alliance with Red magi stationed at regular intervals in between them, had the advantage of skill while the orcs could only rely on strength in numbers. For the hour or so after the gate had finally closed, the horde had sent in their weaker forces to secure ladders against the great, bronze-covered walls of Juinkarr. It was an arduous and dangerous job, storming the walls over the broken terrain. The magical light beacons set up by the magi just as the battle started had faded to a dull shimmer that barely lit anything other than themselves, with the resulting darkness making this whole process for attacker and defender that much more difficult.

But now, with the ladders more secure, the orcs were pushing up their better-trained warriors again.

"Plug that hole!" Eloff shouted, rushing to where a group of orcs had managed to gain a foothold on the wall. "Push them back over the edge!"

For a while, it seemed as if the fresher orcs were going to be the ones to push the Alliance off the rampart, but then a dark equine wielding a shimmering staff intervened. With pinpoint accuracy, he cast a shockwave of air that sent the orcs flying back over the wall and onto the horde below. With a twirl of his staff, he jabbed the end of it at the top of the ladder, blasting the section of the parapet into oblivion. The clamps that secured the ladder to the wall there with a powerful binding spell, disintegrated along with the stones and the orcs still on the ladder screeched as they fell back down again.

"We... we need to rotate... group two back in!" the Coral Archmagus gasped as he leaned heavily on his staff again, fishing in a pocket for a fresh crystal to replace the one that had been there only moments ago.

"Agreed!" Eloff growled, looking worriedly at the overly tired stallion. He was about to suggest the stallion fall back to be checked out by one of the medics when there was a snap of a ballista and a dragon screamed in agony overhead. Moments later, the large mass of scales fell from the sky, nearly knocking several attackers and defenders off the wall in the process.

The lupine looked up at the inky sky where the mass of dragon wings was barely visible to those on the ground. The dragons were at each other's throats again, but there was little fight in the big, scaly creatures anymore. The Dragonriders and gryphon-knights were pushed beyond their limit by the overwhelming number of enemy dragons, but with the proximity of the Alliance's ballistae, they could not gain full control of the skies.

The stallion turned away to order a nearby magus to call up the second group again and Eloff spared a moment to look back at where Adulsworth was keeping a watchful eye on the fighting. He would love to hear that Cole's division would be sent forward soon, but the lupine suspected that the general wanted to hold that one division back in case the outer wall fell. He knew that is what he would have done, had he been chosen by the Cleromancy.

"Soldier!" Eloff snapped at a soldier who disengaged from the parapet for a quick breather. "Find Commander Rathford and tell him to..."

Brigadier Eloff was interrupted by the far-off whine of a battle horn, and to their relief, the horde started to withdraw again.

Somehow, the wall had survived the night.

***

"Sunrise is a real letdown!" Aurrin grumbled dissatisfied, squinting to the east where the shapes of eight siege towers being reassembled were barely visible in the morning gloom. "It is what, two hours past first light already and still it looks like just pre-dawn!"

"I've heard of the heavy storm clouds of the Dark Age Battles, but I've never quite imagined it to be anything like this!" Adulsworth agreed, staring up a moment at the oppressive, low clouds of the overhead storm. He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes before they resumed their journey along the outer wall. To the east, the sun had risen some time ago, but the clouds blotted out most of the light to leave only a thin slither of true daylight along the rise.

"Save your arrows for when they're closer, you idiot!" a shout from a captain drifted to them from further along the wall where some archer or another was trying to take pot-shots at the orcs busy demolishing the earthworks the Black magi had worked so hard to set up.

"We are set up and ready for the next wave, sir!" Victor Coles announced as he came walking up to them. The last human brigadier sounded tired, but confident and maybe a little eager as well, seeing his division was the only one not to have seen any fighting yet.

"Thank you, Brigadier!" Adulsworth nodded, before turning away to regard the horde in the distance again.

"Any further orders for us, sir?" Brigadier Coles asked.

"For now, just hold your positions!" Adulsworth stated thoughtfully. "Be sure to let them see us at full garrison... and do what you can to make their work as difficult as possible!" The Alliance general indicated with a wave of his hand down to where the orcs were busy clearing the way for the siege towers. "But don't commit to any large actions just yet. I want us to be as ready as possible when they come for us again."

"Any idea when that will be, sir?" Coles dared to ask.

"Not long anymore, I would say. As soon as they need to start working on the last earthworks?" Adulsworth stated, looking back up at the intimidating silhouettes on the rise. "They need a level ground before they can start moving those things!"

"I thought they had twelve of those towers!" Coles commented, also looking up at the structures taking their final shape.

"They had," Eloff stated with a tired sigh as the lupine brigadier joined them. "But they did not construct four of them, instead using the panels to increase the height of the other eight."

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Aurrin asked worriedly.

"My division is being taken care of," Eloff replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'll go grab something to eat and get some rest when the logistics quarters calmed down more."

"I wonder why their catapults have fallen still?" Coles thought aloud as he looked at the still silhouettes.

"Maybe they are out of ammunition?" Eloff hazarded a guess.

"Maybe," Adulsworth agreed half-heartedly. "Or they are saving it to keep the walls occupied when they have to come in to demolish the last line? Either way, they are still fully operational so keep an eye on them... they don't need stones specifically to throw and I think their use will be the first signal that the next action is about to start."

"Should we not launch a sortie to destroy them?" Coles asked suddenly. "Before they become a problem again? We might be able to surprise the horde and catch them off guard."

"I wish we could!" Adulsworth agreed with an annoyed grumble. "But these cliffs are restricting our tactical manoeuvring as much as that of the shadowspawn horde. And we are badly bloodied and tired, so we are not in a position to make a move like that at the moment."

"Yes, sir!" the human brigadier grumbled, but he had to relent to the logic.

"Do you think we will be able to hold the walls once those towers come into play?" Aurrin asked as he also looked at the construction taking place at a surprising speed. "And is that a battering ram they are building as well?"

"I doubt the walls will hold," Adulsworth replied with a sigh, looking up and down the wall again. "Granted, this perimeter is sturdy, but militarily not well-conceived. It is just a long, solid, circular wall with a parapet that runs from cliff to cliff; It has no additional buttresses other than the barbicans around the gate, there are no arrow slots outside the gatehouse, no murder holes, no Machicolations!

"I'm not sure how they had the sense to build three layers of walls," Adulsworth continued, looking back at the next wall, "but again there had been no military planning that had gone into it. The second wall is too low and too close to the outer wall, so it is practically useless. Once the horde clears out this wall, their archers will be able to reach the defenders on the second relatively easy. At least the innermost wall seems to be higher and a little further away, but that was because of the lay of the land and the flow of the river rather than any sound planning. Then there is the issue that the single gates are all in a straight line, so it will be difficult to withdraw our forces from each terrace when a gate fall."

"Then we will just have to make sure they don't catch us by surprise!" Coles commented. "We do have some nice killing fields between the walls, so if we go about it correctly, we can make them pay dearly for each gate."

"Yes," Adulsworth agreed, but he didn't sound convinced. "But the walls are not linked whatsoever. The only way on and off this wall are the barbicans, so our soldiers on the outer wall will be cornered and cut off if the gatehouse ever fell. The two battering rams the horde has may be more dangerous to us than their siege towers!"

"Master Eroul is adamant that the gate will hold," Aurrin commented, though he two sounded worried at the battle to come. "Apparently, they had designed it to draw in the horde there, so it is as strong as they could make it and protected with their best runes."

"It better hold!" Adulsworth growled, turning back to regard the nearly complete siege towers. "Or it is going to be a mad scramble to that last wall. I'd have preferred to keep one fresh division back entirely for when we are pushed back to the keep, but I fear the fighting is going to be even harsher than last night when those things are brought into play!"

"Why not pull back to the innermost wall then?" Eloff asked. "It will be a smaller perimeter to defend and we all agree these walls will not afford us the same tactical retreating as we had with the earthworks last night."

"I understand this wall also indicates where that magic juice of the magi stops flowing from the central Tower," Adulsworth grumbled, "so we cannot reduce the distance we have to defend without giving away an extremely valuable resource to the goblin spellcasters."

"Fucked if we do," Aurrin growled irritably, "Fucked if we don't. Sounds normal enough!"

"What do the casualties look like?" Adulsworth asked his orderly as the young lion arrived, trying not to smirk at the old military axiom.

"Bad sir!" the young lion complained. "We lost near two thousand men dead or missing in last night's attack, including four commanders and Brigadier Steele. A further twenty-four hundred are seriously wounded, but the Green magi assure me that they will be able to get just over half of them in fighting condition again before nightfall."

"How are the Nacre Tower holding up?" Aurrin asked. "They've been seriously busy ever since the fighting started last night."

"A little overwhelmed, but still going strong," the orderly replied, the usual disrespect for anything magical he had always displayed now completely gone.

"Will it be possible to have a squad of them also present on the front lines?" Adulsworth suddenly wondered. "Not to fight of course, but if they can assist the wounded immediately, it should reduce the casualties they have to deal with later on greatly."

"I'll ask the Nacre Archmagus to speak to you about it when I get back to them, sir!" the orderly stated.

"What are we doing with Steele's division?" Eloff suddenly asked. "Who will take his place as brigadier?"

"We are actually disbanding that division to reinforce the other two that had seen action last night!" Aurrin quickly stated, then under his breath, he added, "especially mine!"

The wolf raised a questioning eyebrow at the comment but did not reply to it. Though Steele's had gone through the disastrous rout, it was Aurrin's brigade that suffered the most casualties. With the bloodied Dragonriders barely able to offer any air support, they had come under heavy attack from repeated warg charges. It was not as if their ally dragons hadn't tried to assist, but each time they took to the air, they were challenged by the enemy dragons and had to give their all just to remain in the sky.

Then, there was the constant barrage from the catapults, making life difficult for everyone outside at least the second wall of Juinkarr. At least the last line of earthworks did its job well enough, or there would have been nothing left of the division.

"And the auxiliaries?" Adulsworth quickly asked, getting the topic back on track before it could go off on a tangent too much. "How do they fare?"

"The Amber Tower took a serious beating," the orderly replied crisply, though a bit of worry did creep into his voice. "They lost about thirty of the eighty magi who assisted our soldiers throughout the night. The rest of their advanced force, which was about half their original number, is also out of action. The magi are suffering from some kind of magical burn that is putting them out of commission as effectively as a serious injury, but I am told they should be fit for battle again at nightfall as well. Although, I understand that they will not be as effective as they had been last night without further rest."

"I doubt we will be allowed to wait until nightfall!" Adulsworth growled.

"The Coral Tower is faring much better," the orderly continued briskly, "with only forty of their hundred and fifty mages out of commission. Again, most of them have that same burn issue but will be ready to fight as well at nightfall. However, the unit of Reds who sallied out when Aurrin relieved Steele did not fare very well. Seven of the eleven were killed, including the young council member who lead them."

Adulsworth sighed upset, staring out at the orcs as their demolishers advanced to the third earthwork line.

"And our dragons?" he asked mutedly.

"Badly bloodied as well, but they insist that they are still a secure fighting force!" the orderly commented as if the originally despised unit had been part of the Alliance for years.

"You don't agree?" Adulsworth asked the young lion.

"They lost about ten pairs, which is a quarter of their initial force!" the orderly replied quickly. "But more critically, two of them were officer-pairs, their equivalent of a captain and a brigadier. The rest are being treated by the Greens at the medical tents, and they are adamant that they will be good to go again before noon."

"Good!" Adulsworth nodded. "It is not like I can disband them like Steele's brigade and attach them to the rest of the Alliance's units. Also, I need to speak to the Roccan'hir about what we can do to try and destroy the horde's heavy equipment. As long as they are present, I fear the outer wall will be vulnerable." The general was silent again for a bit as he regarded said horde outside the walls. "Any idea of the casualties we inflicted?"

"Only rough estimates," the orderly replied as expected. "We think the horde is down between nine and twelve thousand troops and twenty-eight dragons."

Adulsworth swore aloud at the upsetting news, acutely aware that the horde's losses amounted to only a tenth of their expected numbers while he was already down a quarter of his strength. Was it such a good idea to sally out as he did? No, he was still confident that it was... else those siege towers would already have been brought into play and he doubted the first two walls alone would have held until the arrival of equines.

"There is still no sign of those 'Zajar hundur' the Roccan'hir had mentioned," the orderly commented, "although, one of the Ivory elders... a certain Cirene think they may be..."

The orderly was interrupted by a distant blare of a trumpet from the western gate.

"What in the dark pit is it now?" Coles grumbled as the shape of the great dragon, who had only sat around on his tower and watched the battle unfold, took off and headed to the western gate. The human completely ignored the growls of disapproval he received as he watched the dragon, he had only heard about fly off.

"I hope it is the Equidae army!" Adulsworth grumbled, wishing he had some feral horses to ride as he watched Gahntuar and his second take to the wing as well and followed the big drake west. "I could really use some good news about now!"

They hurried through the smashed-up ruins of Juinkarr, sighing with relief when they encountered the first units of the Equidae army entering the great central plaza. Though they were clearly tired after a long night march, their movements were still surprisingly crisp and Adulsworth wouldn't be surprised if they could fight on short notice as well. He then noted the shape of Gullivarth walking lazily down the road from the western gate and eagerly hurried over to where the great dragon was undoubtedly talking to the equine general.

"When you said the Alliance was defending Juinkarr, I thought I had heard you wrong!" the equine general stated, blinking in surprise just as Adulsworth rounded the corner, talking softly to the Amber Archmagus in a soft voice what was clearly not meant for the new arrival's ears.

"Not our first choice considering our interactions in the past," Merec grumbled softly from Gullivarth's far side, "but the big guy here wouldn't have it any other way! And he can be incredibly persuasive if he wants to be!"

"General Marengo, I presume?" Adulsworth quickly called out, approaching the group hurriedly and extending his hand in greeting. "You are indeed a sight for sore eyes!"

"General Saintclare," General Marengo returned the greeting, taking the human's hand a little less eagerly than it was offered. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances."

"I fear General Saintclare had to step down," Adulsworth quickly corrected the bright white stallion with a respectful bow of his head. "I am acting general Adulsworth, at your service."

"Oh? Er... A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Marengo replied, taken completely aback by the statement as well as the acting general's actions. "Although, if I may ask: Why the change of leadership now... before all... this..." The stallion emphasized his question, waving his hand about the ruins around him. "Especially considering your High Commissioner had insisted this day would come well over a decade and a half ago."

"I fear news had reached us of a possible shadowfriend influencing our entire High Commend," Adulsworth stated with a worried frown. "News that was too credible to ignore. This set off a series of procedures, which included suspending everyone who had regular, direct contact with the suspected shadowfriend."

"I see," Marengo rumbled thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes at Adulsworth for a moment. "I am sorry to hear that, although it seems that you have done an admirable job here, all things considered. Tell me, how goes the fight? News had reached us that you were already attacked last night, and we marched through the dark as fast as we dared in this broken landscape to get here in time."

"Not as well as I'd have hoped!" Adulsworth stated with a frown as they started down the hill again. "We lost around a quarter of our forces on the field of battle just east of the outer defences, while we think we have only taken a tenth of theirs out of the fight." The horse whistled in shock at the admission. "We have at least managed to hold them out of the outer wall for the time being, but we are expecting a renewal in the fight any moment now. Your arrival is most fortunate for us."

"And what are we facing?" Marengo asked, looking east as if he could see the battle beyond the ruined buildings. "I thought I saw a great horde equipped with siege towers at the top of the hill here, but not enough to know exactly what it is we need to overcome."

"Seventy thousand orc and goblin fighters, with direct support from just under a hundred dragons!" Adulsworth declared, secretly grinning when the equine snorted in shock, stopping in his tracks to stare bewildered at the human. "They also have access to ten catapults, and as you have mentioned eight siege towers and two battering rams."

"The battering rams are a waste of time!" Eroul stated determinedly as the tiger Archmagus arrived as well. After exchanging pleasantries with the equine general he seemed to know, he continued to scoff at the horde's hopes to break the gate down. "The walls and gates are sturdy enough not to be broken down without some serious magical intervention. And even if they have enchanted their rams, I have a squad of Black magi ready to reinforce the runes on the gates whenever needed."

"Tell me, how many did you bring with you?" Adulsworth asked the white stallion again, hoping not to sound too eager.

"We are six divisions here, about eighteen thousand troops in total!" the stallion announced with a proud whinny. "Though it has been a rough climb and we can do with some rest before we face the horde. Tell me, where can we set up?"

"Everything is clear of the traps laid by the demon council when they evacuated the premises, except for Juinkarr Citadel itself!" Gullivarth announced as the stallion raised a questioning eye at the ruined state of the buildings around them. "Archmagus Fidesu has taken most of the functional buildings within the inner wall where his Green magi could set up field hospitals, and I believe General Adulsworth set up the Alliance up between the inner and middle walls."

"Why is the Citadel still not cleared out?" Marengo asked suspiciously, looking up unsurely at the big dragon.

"I… still have need of them!" Gullivarth stated, frowning at some thought he didn't like. "That... that is all I will say about the matter!"

"We'll find a spot for ourselves then," Marengo replied, frowning even more at the suspicious dragon before turning to look at the central plaza they had reached.

"When do you expect your first division will be ready to fight?" Adulsworth asked, hoping the desperation in his voice did not carry over. "I am eager to reinforce the outer wall..."

"You are eager...?" Marengo asked, turning to glare challengingly at the human.

"I am in overall command of the defence of Juinkarr!" Adulsworth stated firmly, folding his arms as he returned the equine's glare.

"Wait," Marengo grumbled, "after all that has happened between the Alliance, the Circle of Five and the Lúgroccae, you expect to just come in here and take over command?"

"This again?" Gullivarth hissed, suddenly equally upset. "General Adulsworth was the only candidate of everyone here with any relevant experience."

"Until now!" Marengo announced, looking up quickly at the imposing dragon before turning back to Adulsworth. "How long have you been a general, or brigadier for that matter? As it stands, I am the most experienced here, having served in this capacity for well over a decade now..."

"The Alliance cannot fight under a banner other than the Flames of the Light!" Adulsworth declared stubbornly. "It is a prime commandment within the Annuals of Light, meant to ensure that we cannot be seen to support one authority over another."

"And why can they use that excuse and not us!" Gahntuar complained upset from the side, before nipping at Merec out of the blue. "Fine, I'll shut up!"

"Nonetheless," General Marengo insisted equally stubbornly, "the Equidae authorities do not share much of the Alliance's convictions and neither I nor any of my men can be seen rallying to your banner or following orders issued by your officers..."

He was suddenly interrupted by Adulsworth's orderly rushing up to them.

"I am sorry to disturb," the young lion announced, huffing for breath a bit, "but the catapults had opened hostilities again!"

"I do not ask you to join the Alliance!" Adulsworth announced, turning back to the general only long enough to be polite, "just to fight with us. The shadow threatens to overwhelm us all, and we need all the help we can get!"

"The Alliance, asking for help?" one of the Equidae brigadiers asked one of his colleagues, whispering under his breath. "Maybe this is truly the end of the Age!"

"So, what do you propose then?" Marengo asked, equally surprised by the statement though he did shoot the guilty officer a reprimanding glare.

"The leaders of the various... units here retain their autonomy!" Adulsworth suggested as he started to turn away from them. "We can negotiate a better arrangement when we have time. As for now, please excuse me! Roccan'hir, are you coming?"

***

As expected, the catapults opening hostilities again was the signal that the horde was preparing to make their final preparations for assaulting the walls. For the next two hours or so, the catapults and orc archers shot at the defenders on the wall, trying to keep their heads down while their demolishers worked in levelling the ground enough again for the siege towers to reach the walls. Of course, the defenders tried to make it as hard for the horde as possible, shooting arrows or throwing down some of the smaller pieces of building rubble gathered from between the ruins. Some of the magi even took pot-shots of spells when an orc or goblin came to within striking distance.

Even the Lúgroccae tried their luck at scattering the orc workers, but thanks to determined defence by the Umbrins, they were unable to achieve anything and had to pull back least they lose more pairs. And so, despite all their effort, the defenders of Juinkarr could only delay the inevitable and an eerie silence befell the battlefield an hour or so before noon as the horde pulled away to a safe distance once more.

"This is it, men!" Brigadier Coles called out to his soldiers as the first of the siege towers shuddered before it started its unstoppable crawl towards the wall. Further down the line, he heard one of his commanders relay the message and even one of the equine commanders echoed the statement. Unwilling to allow the Alliance the glory of standing against the horde on their own, the first brigade of Equidae filed quickly onto the wall, bolstering their numbers significantly and allowing the embattled soldiers of the Light the opportunity to gasp a sigh of relief.

A series of fire-arrows was suddenly shot up into the air, but the towers were still too far off and they fell uselessly into an open section of the field.

"Hold your fire!" Coles snapped angrily, not sure if the projectiles came from his men or the horses next to them. The towers continued their slow crawl unperturbed, and only when they had progressed about ten yards past the newly planted arrows, did he give the order to fire.

A storm of fire arrows filled the sky, dropping expertly in the area where the towers were at. But most of the light projectiles only clanged harmlessly off the tight leather-covered panels. A few did manage to stick, but a light rune lit up momentarily and extinguished the little flames.

"Again!" an equine down the line shouted. "Overwhelm their runes!"

"Again!" Coles repeated and another volley of arrows filled the air, with much the same effect. After the fourth wave of arrows, more runes started to light up as the towers came closer and more arrows remained embedded, but still there seemed to be no progress being made towards destroying any of them.

By some unseen queue, the magi on the walls suddenly joined in with the attack, blasting all kinds of magic at the approaching behemoths. The runes on the towers lit up more rapidly now, so much so that they seemed to be glowing constantly now. Yet even now there was no stopping the things. Some of the magi tried switching elements, including ice and in one case one tried and failed to throw a large chunk of debris at a tower, but the slow march of the towers remained unaffected.

It was then that the Dragonriders attacked. Coles ducked instinctively as the High Commander of their dragon allies himself led the charge, flying low over the wall and heading hard for one of the towers. It was only when the black drake collided with the structure, clinging to it like a parakeet that the human realized that the dragon's rider was, in fact, a wolf.

The son and heir of the High Commander of the Dragonriders clung to the frame of the siege tower as if for life and death, flapping his wings wildly a few times before he kicked off the structure and made a break for it. The tower he had attacked wobbled slightly from the attack, raising a few cheers from the defenders on the wall even as three more dragons dove at the towers to repeat the process on the targeted structure and the two others elsewhere on the line. By the third attack, the orcs had realized what the dragons were up to and they managed to successfully ward off the attack on the siege equipment. However, the three towers that had been attacked repeatedly was visibly struggling and had fallen significantly behind the others.

The horde's counterattack discouraged the Dragonriders only for one pass, however. The next time they came at the towers, they flew in pairs: One laying down cover fire while the other tried to push the tower over again. Then, as the one dragon pushed himself off to make his escape, the momentum became too much, and the tower toppled over. The cheers from the defenders grew even louder, granting them a much-needed boost of morale.

But then, the black drake in the sky who started the attack roared something and the dragons disengaged from the towers, though not before managing to topple the other two they had been shaking about as well. Then, the enemy dragons appeared again. The winged lizards clashed momentarily before their ally dragons turned tail and fled back to Juinkarr, luring several of the enemy close enough to be taken down by the ballistae that lay in waiting for them. Five shadow dragons fell from the sky before the enemy fell back to a safer distance, one crashing to the ground almost on top of another siege tower and blocking its final approach.

The horde's dragons remained in the area, guarding the sky to ensure that the Dragonriders did not try that trick again. Not that it mattered though, as the rest of the towers reached their destination.

"Archers fall back!" Brigadier Coles shouted as the tower closest to him shuddered to a halt right outside the wall. "Pikemen, step forward!"

There was a flurry of highly trained movement as the orders were carried out with experienced and precise movements.

"On guard!" Coles warned as latches keeping the drawbridge at the top of the tower closed were undone.

"Soldiers of the Light, remember your loved ones back in the west!" the captain whose platoon was directly in front of the tower shouted. "We will not budge!"

There was a blinding flash of fire and smoke from well-placed goblin spellcasters as the drawbridge fell open, while other goblins attacked immediately through the blinding screen with Firedarts and Firewhips. Then the heavy infantry of the orcs rushed the dazed defenders through the smoke even before the defenders could recover properly.

"Hold your ground!" Coles shouted, indicating forward with his sword as he started to press forward himself. "Push them back!"

***

She was late, he thought worriedly.

The big dragon had descended from his regular lookout point on the Citadel, finding a remote spot on the second wall nearby the cliff from where he could watch the battle unfold from a different perspective. In the gloom of the storm and against the backdrop of the cliff beyond the river, he was practically invisible to the clashing dragons who fought for control of the skies. He watched helplessly as the second Battlewing rose to assist the first, meeting the Umbrins head-on as they twisted and struck at one another, a deadly grace to their movements he would have been proud of on any other given day.

But now... it hurt.

It hurt so badly to see his charges battle each other, killing each other... for his mistake. The sheer numbers of Umbrins were pushing the Lúgroccae to their limits, but with the assistance of the Reds on the walls, the gryphons at their wingtips, and the Alliance's ballistae, they managed to hold their own... for now at least. It should come to an end later today though, but at what cost?

A daring Umbrin, swooped low over the wall, blasting fire over a wide swathe of Alliance soldiers and opening a serious hole in the defences of Juinkarr. The ageing green drake, who had raised three clutches successfully before this and had another on the way, was a caring mate and doting sire, more devoted to his family than the ideals of demons and saints. Yet, he allowed himself to be persuaded by one of his more outspoken offspring to join the battle in the forest two months ago. Gullivarth gasped in real pain, a muscle in his chest spasming as the green Umbrin took a mortal blow from a ballista, crashing somewhere between the first and second walls to die amidst those who had nothing but hatred for him, taking the promise of two more clutches of beautiful young dragons with him.

"Great Nixoruma, why did it have to come to this?" Gullivarth whined like a lost hatchling, a fresh tear rolling down his snout as the first Lúgroccan pair of the day was also brought down and overwhelmed by the horde. The dragon Theos finally closed his eyes and turned his head away, unable to bear it any longer. "The pain is too great to bear... there has to be another way!"

"There was another way, remember...?" the traitorous thought came to him. For a moment he forced his mind away from the guilt, but then realized it was Nixoruma Herself speaking through his thoughts to him.

"Forgive my pride and arrogance," the dragon Theos begged aloud, clenching the parapet next to him so hard that the section of the structure crumbled between his claws. "The others have already paid too dearly for it. Please, I beg of you, let this pass! Is the loss already suffered not enough?"

"What is happening here has nothing to do with punishment nor repaying a debt! You know this!" his thoughts reprimanded him. "Though this was never the initial intent, you understand what now is, has to be. If our children are ever to survive, they must see this through!"

"Please," Gullivarth begged again, hating the truth of the statement. He knew exactly what was at stake and what they could lose if he did not obey the Goddess this time. "Give me the strength to see this through! I... I fear the situation is overwhelming me!"

"You already have received the strength you just asked for," his thoughts reminded him patiently. "Just use it!"

Gullivarth sighed, daring to look back at the unfolding battle as the two battering rams were also starting to move towards the gate.

"Excuse me, please help!" a young voice called suddenly from below the wall he was sitting on. There was a flap of wings and a young, pale-blue draine leapt up onto the wall next to him. "Have you seen a young... Great Gullivarth's...!"

The draine yelped in shock when she saw him up close properly, backtracking a step or two and nearly falling off the wall again in her shock. She had seen the dragon a little distance away, thinking he was a normal Lumor scout as he was not engaged with the fighting in any way, and in her desperation, she dared to approach him for help. Gullivarth took advantage of the distraction her shock gave him to wipe the tears from his snout with a wingthumb before he turned to her again, the mask of careless joviality he wore around everyone else back in place.

"Ikessa, daughter of Orriel!" Gullivarth announced with a broad smirk. "How nice of you to finally drop by! And yes, my testicles are quite fine, thank you for asking. I would have shown you, had the circumstances been different, but alas we both have more important things to worry about."

"I... I didn't..." Ikessa stuttered, her reply failing as Gullivarth only smirked knowingly at her. She finally settled for, "What are you doing here, my lord? When have you returned?"

"I came to these ruins shortly after you did," he admitted, trailing off thoughtfully for a moment as he turned to look at the desperate fighting. "As for what I'm doing, that is honestly difficult to explain to a mortal. Mostly watching... guarding..." He frowned upset as another Umbrin died, while one of another Lúg who had lost a rider in the forest, risked his life to blast a stream of fire-oil into the opening of a siege tower where the Alliance had been pushed dangerously far.

"Suffice to say," Gullivarth finally admitted with a sigh, not really looking forward to the discussion he had to have with the draine next to him. "I have returned to Selebore for a short while to assist the Lúgroccae in securing their hold on Juinkarr."

"What?" Ikessa gasped with understandable shock. "Why? How can you aid the traitors and deserters?"

"Traitors?" Gullivarth hissed like a disappointed parent. "Is that all they are to you? I am the guardian of all dragons, Umbrin and Lumor!" The great dragon leaned in towards her as he stressed the last part of his statement. "I do not choose sides in this war between ideals!"

"But," Ikessa started to argue, "the Lumors' betrayal of Barathrum lead directly to the fall of the..." She suddenly trailed off, hesitating to call the petty creatures she had served 'Masters' again.

"And yet," Gullivarth continued as if she had not faltered. "There is no dragon alive anymore who had lived at the time, let alone fought at the Cinderskies. How can you call those who weren't even there, traitors?"

"I..." Ikessa started to argue, but she could not immediately think of a proper reply

"And what is more," Gullivarth pressed, not giving her an opening to argue against him. "Have you not also ended up here because you dared to defy the will of the Masters? How does that not make you a traitor as well?"

"I never turned on our brethren, our allies!" Ikessa hissed angrily. "I am not a traitor, nor a... " She clacked her jaws shut with an audible click, turning away with a grumble as Gullivarth only chuckled at her reaction.

"Deserter?" the great dragon completed her sentence for her. "Such an unnecessarily harsh word in my opinion. Granted, all the sentient races agree that loyalty is a great virtue, and they are right! Most of the time. But at what point would you say does loyalty do more harm than good? Should there not be a time when the loyalty to the truth in your heart outweighs the loyalty to your betters?"

"But, the Lumors had undone all of your great work!" Ikessa whined in a small voice. "How can you defend them against us?"

"As I already said," Gullivarth replied with a patient smile, "I am not choosing the Lumors above the Umbrins! Trust me, when I say it will not be important for long. Before a century has passed from now, that distinction will have stopped existing.

"No, my fight is against those who seek to destroy all dragons, be it through physical death or crushing their spirit!" Gullivarth insisted, his smile faded momentarily when he looked back at the battle raging in the distance. "That betrayal of my life's work you spoke of had, in fact, started with me! I had intended to leave the battles of Selebore behind and lead all the dragons who would join me to the forgotten volcanic island chain of Eirethmores, and it was for that, that I was banished by the demon-counsel. The death of General Duas was just a convenient excuse, an attempt to keep the dragons loyal to them!"

He sighed, recalling momentarily the humiliation of that moment. Ikessa frowned up at him, suddenly not sure how she felt about the Theos she had always called upon. She started to turn away from him when she thought better of it.

"Have, have you seen my hatchling?" she finally asked hopefully.

"Seghrien the Younger?" Gullivarth replied, sounding a little distracted and yet, an unmistakable tone of sadness had crept into his voice. He turned to regard her again, his eyes betraying a terrible knowledge he had to carry. "He is hardly a hatchling anymore... but no, I fear I have not."

"Do you know where he is?" Ikessa asked a little unsurely, feeling like he was hiding something important.

"I... know where he should be," Gullivarth admitted, turning his gaze away to stare awkwardly at nothing in particular. "But I do not know where he is at the moment."

"But... aren't you the god of dragons?" Ikessa challenged.

"As I have explained time and again, I am not a god!" Gullivarth growled annoyed, yet still, he did not meet her gaze. "I did not create the dragons. I am only a servant of One, charged to protect the dragons and their closest friends."

"Then why do you not do more of that protecting you speak of!" Ikessa snapped. "Help me find my..."

"You think I am doing nothing?" Gullivarth growled frustratedly. "Long before you were even conceived, I have worked on protecting all dragons... your young one in particular as well. There is much I have done to corner off prey for all dragons in the hidden folds of time, some big things with immediate impact and some small things whose consequences only became apparent much later."

"Like what?" Ikessa growled challengingly.

"Most of the things will not make sense to mortals without the perspective of all the possibilities that could be!" Gullivarth growled deep in his throat, finally turning to glare at her from across his snout. "Like sending a demoralized drake to find solitude in the Thirstlands or giving a young draine a naughty dream her father will never approve of. Turning the eye of those who hunted a lost, scared youngster who had gotten herself in over her head... or binding a desperate, unbreakable vow to that same draine..." Ikessa had been frowning at him as he rambled off a seemingly unimportant list of things he had done for dragons all over, but then gasped shocked as he mentioned that last item. Before she could catch herself, Ikessa touched her chest where the now calmed vow had burned for the last decade.

"Yes, that was me!" Gullivarth rumbled, turning to look at a distant spot on the rise towards the east.

"Do you know how difficult that vow was on me?" Ikessa growled appalled.

"Yes, I am well aware!" Gullivarth replied unapologetically. "I've walked every step of the way with you to help you carry that burden and give you strength when it should have been too much to carry... but know that it protected you and your hatchling more than you could ever know. Had it not been for that vow, you would have been an enthralled puppet of the Masters' long ago, doing their bidding without question. Even going as far as sacrificing your hatchling you now hold so dear to appease their whims and thinking you are doing the greatest thing ever!"

"I..." Ikessa started to say, but suddenly she could not find the words. Was that true?

"Remember, I will never abandon you!" Gullivarth stated firmly again, turning to regard her with a piercing stare. "Nor will I ever push you onto a wind you cannot fly upon without giving you the strength you need to face it! The final choice of what you do is still your own to make but know that even the cruel things I allowed in your life were for a greater purpose in your life. Trust me when I say that I am acting for the good of all dragons."

"But little Seghrien," Ikessa whined, sitting down feeling a little defeated. "I fear for him!"

"I know," Gullivarth whined with her, trying to comfort her with a quick nuzzle. "He is in grave danger and there is a strong possibility that he will not live to see the coming dawn. But he is where I need him to be. As you are on your way to where I need you to be."

"Where you need him?" Ikessa hissed appalled as she pulled away from his caresses. "How can you sacrifice him like that! Like he is a mere puppet, not worth as much as any other dragon!"

"Do you think I'm allowing this to happen willingly?" Gullivarth snapped, suddenly furious. There was a dangerous light in his eyes that had Ikessa scramble back a few feet, but she remained adamant about her hatchling.

"You said yourself that you are the protector of all dragons!" she growled. "Then don't you think you should be protecting for a change? Why don't you intervene in this madness?"

"And how do you suggest I intervene?" Gullivarth growled in reply, snapping his jaws at her furiously. "Whatever suits you personally? I am the Theos of Dragons, not your servant to order about as you see fit!"

Ikessa barked a very unflattering curse at the great drake with a snap of her teeth as she turned away from him. She stalked away, smoke billowing from her nostrils as well and was about to jump into the air when Gullivarth spoke again, halting her for a moment.

"It is impossible for you to know the agony of regret a Theos has to suffer for mistakes he has made!" Gullivarth suddenly said, his voice calm again, yet soft and incredibly sad. He sounded more like a broken drake than the intimidating Theos he was only a moment before. The tone in his voice made Ikessa halt her take-off, even though it sent shivers down her spine.

"Yes, I often did intervene in the affairs of Selebore in ways the Goddess of this realm did not approve!" Gullivarth finally admitted downtrodden. "The conception of Gahntuar, sending your mother to seek out Urguss's territory even though it was so close to Juinkarr so that you could meet Seghrien... most of the time the ill consequences were small and fleeting, but there was one time I... INTERVENED when I had no right to!"

He spat the word out like a disgusting piece of rotten meat as he growled at himself. Ikessa found herself rooted to the spot, waiting with bated breath and half-opened wings to hear what he wanted to say. Yet, even now she did not dare to look around at him.

"When Seghrien, your mate, first encountered Gahntuar, they fought in a terrible life-and-death struggle!" Gullivarth finally uttered the admission that was defeating him so utterly. He gave a heavy sigh as if, even now, it was difficult for him to admit his greatest failure as Theos aloud. "That clash was inevitable, as was the fact that Seghrien would soundly defeat Gahntuar. But according to the Goddess of this realm, what should have happened was Seghrien should have taken pity on Gahntuar and he should have released him. From there, they would have become close friends and eventually, Seghrien would have turned on Quattor and killed him."

At that admission, Ikessa whirled around to stare at Gullivarth in shock, to make sure she had not heard wrong. Her gaze met the great dragon's, and in those eyes, she could see the terrible ache of loss and betrayal he was battling with.

"Yes, Seghrien was the one chosen to kill Quattor!" Gullivarth continued, holding her gaze even though it seemed to cause him to suffer more than he needed to, intent on driving his point home. "But for that to be, Seghrien had to first choose to see Gahntuar as something more than a... Shameblood! In the end, when it seemed that Seghrien would not change his views, I lost my nerve and... and intervened. I guided Gahntuar's claws, helping him to scratch out Seghrien's one eye!"

Ikessa blinked at the dragon Theos with widening eyes, utterly shocked at what she was hearing. She opened her maw to say something but ended up only gaping like a fish out of water for a few awkward seconds.

"You... chose that... that Shameblood over Seghrien?" she finally managed to gasp.

"That was not my intention!" Gullivarth snapped, but then deflated and finally turned his attention away from her. "But yes! I wanted to stop the fight without any death. I had also hoped that the disability would warn Seghrien that he was on the wrong path and make him less desirable to those self-centred demons as a bonus. It was meant to help him to break his loyalty to the demons who had no love for him. Instead, look at where that INTERVENTION had led us!" He spat the phrase out again as if unable to get a disgusting taste from his mouth as he stared blankly out over the battle.

"Instead of breaking free of his enslavement, Seghrien's need for vengeance bound him even tighter to Quattor!" Gullivarth announced as tears started to run freely again. "It killed the little elven princess who was meant to have been the first Dragonrider, it forced an even deeper wedge in between the Umbrins and Lumors, and it led to the deaths of all here who was never meant to die today! All of this is MY FAULT because I thought I was powerful enough to intervene in the affairs of true Gods! If only I was wise enough to have trusted the good I knew to exist in Seghrien just a little more, maybe... maybe..."

Gullivarth broke down completely, crying unashamedly as the weight of the moment he was responsible for became too much for him again. Ikessa sat there, not sure if she should offer him some comfort or berate him for his role in Seghrien's death. At that last thought, she recalled something of her vow and absentmindedly touched her chest with a wingthumb. The action was slight, but it immediately drew the dragon Theos's attention.

"You are probably wondering why your vow is fulfilled if I am to blame for Seghrien being lost today!" Gullivarth managed to say, though his voice did break on mentioning the red drake's name. When Ikessa nodded mutedly, he continued without even looking at her. "An unbreakable vow has to be possible to take effect, and there is no way I could ever curse the day you had hatched from your egg. Even if you were to choose to return to Quattor today, I will still love you. And there is nothing you can do to make me regret that decision of mine to intervene more than the knowledge that I am directly responsible for the loss of Seghrien's soul... knowledge that will haunt me for the rest of eternity!"

"I..." Ikessa started to speak, but once more she did not know what to say. Was there anything more she could do as an act of vengeance for the misery he had caused? On the other wind, would there ever by any comfort the regret of a Theos? "I... I should continue to look for my hatchling..." she finally muttered pathetically, turning around to leap from the wall again.

"Yes," Gullivarth sighed, sounding tired and burdened by the events around him. "I need of you elsewhere at the moment. Time is running out and... I fear for what is to happen tonight!"

There was a twinge of irritation in Ikessa, feeling like she was mere prey being cornered off for a greater need. But after the terrible revelation of Seghrien's fate, she felt little humiliated at daring to demand her way of the Theos, who she could now see was obviously suffering for trying to have his way. Wordlessly, she leapt from the wall, returning to the shadowy ruins and leaving Gullivarth to cry alone.

***

As another heavy projectile fell from the sky in the ally in front of him, Seghrien squeaked in terror before clamping a forepaw around his muzzle to stifle the sound. Instinctively, he pressed himself tightly against the wall. Though the sturdy presence could never compare to the protective aura he felt with his dame, it did seem to give him some sense of safety even if it were only an illusion.

Where was his mother? He had hoped that she would find him again when the fighting had calmed down, but there had been no sign of her. Was she still alive?

The youngster sniffled back terrified tears as he looked about himself at the fighting that had resumed. He needed to get out of here, away from the anger and pain! With a whimper, he pressed forward and away from the outer wall, sticking as close to the ruined walls as he could. But then he was forced to halt as he came to a large street. He stared worriedly at the open space he had to cross as if it was the pit of doom itself, but then one of the fighting dragons above him squawked in mortal pain before he crashed heavily into a ruined building behind the youngster. Seghrien squeaked again in terror and darted quickly across the street, disappearing into the shadows again.

But he had not gone unseen.

Even as the youngster dare to breathe a sigh of relief that he had made it, there was an angry roar above him and one of the armorless dragons landed by the entry into the ally where Seghrien was hiding.

"Gotcha, you shameless Lumor!" the drake snarled, leaping into the ally after him. Seghrien squeaked in terror and barely managed to evade the attack of the enraged drake. As if guided by an unseen claw, Seghrien leapt to one side and blasted a weak glob of fire at the drake's face. The flame attack caught the elder drake by surprise and Seghrien managed to escape into the sky.

Terrified tears were streaming down his snout freely now as two more dragons started to chase after him and in a blind panic, he fled towards the west. There were loud snaps of large, bow-like machines mounted on the second wall behind him and one of his pursuers screamed in pain before plummeting to the ground. The second yelped in fright, breaking off his attack and Seghrien ducked beneath the innermost circular wall just as a long wooden pole flew over his head.

He vaguely heard angry shouts asking where he had gone from the second circular wall as he scrambled into a ruined building, finding the darkest shadow he could and hiding once more. Shivering uncontrollably now, he looked up at the fighting dragons once again, following a green draine in brilliant armour as she turned to retreat from three other dragons who came at her. However, large machines on the wall behind him shot something long and thick up at the dragons and the three angry drakes were forced to fly back from where they came.

Seghrien blinked in surprise as he watched the draine in armour swerve awkwardly as she started to cross the river as if desperate not to fly too far across it. With a brave roar, she joined the fight but the youngster hiding in the shadows ignored her. Instead, he continued to focus on the small cluster of buildings beyond the river, where there didn't seem to be any fighting going on. The only haven in the chaos around him.

And so, swallowing bravely to gather his courage, he started to make his way to safety, hugging the walls tightly and remaining as hidden in the shadows as much as he could.

With his mother lost, it was his only hope.

***

"Hold the line!" Brigadier Coles was screaming as he arrived at the point where the defenders were on the verge of breaking. A damned shadow dragon had come in low, bathing several squadrons of the Alliance in dragon fire before the fucker was taken out by a ballista. Sadly, he was not killed quickly enough as his attack run had created a valuable opening for the horde to push through, securing a large section of wall and trapping several hundred men towards the wrong end of the wall as well.

"Push them back!" Coles instructed his men, shoving a burly orc back a pace or so before killing another with a quick jab of his sword. "Push them back!"

But the orcs could already smell another victory at hand, and they refused to budge. With a loud battle roar, they rallied even more determinedly around a captain who came charging at them, targeting specifically the short, heavy-set human with dark curly hair.

"Hold the line!" Coles repeated, not backing down as the grinning orc captain swung a heavy battle hammer at him. The weapon contacted his shield, causing it to crack on impact and making his arm sting with pins and needles. The orc sneered something unintelligible and raise his hammer for another strike when another great wave of fire exploded behind him. Coles used the opportunity to stab the orc in the neck, kicking the creature off his blade. The soldiers behind him cheered as an allied dragon without a rider hovered over their heads, blasting the top of the tower with a steady stream of burning oil.

Unlike the outside, the inside of the tower was not protected against fire and the blaze spread quickly throughout the structure. The disheartened Alliance soldiers cheered even louder, rallying as they pressed forward, crushing the now trapped orcs into oblivion.

"The equines are sallying out!" someone shouted in surprise.

"What the...?" Coles gasped in surprise, managing to disengage from the panicking orcs long enough to look at where a few soldiers were pointing. And indeed, a fresh squad of Equidae had managed to push the orcs completely back, through the siege tower itself and back down onto the field outside.

Either completely surprised by the sudden reversal of fortunes or taken aback by the audacity of the equines, the orcs did not rally in time before the press of equines pushed outwards from the base of the tower they had captured. They reached an adjacent siege tower in no time at all, capturing the base and cornering the orcs within, while a second section was putting serious pressure on the last tower where a desperate fight for control of it also ensued. One section even started to push further east in the hopes of reaching the catapults.

"Archers!" Coles suddenly called out to his people. "Range 75 yards, thirty degrees to the north! Lose!"

The alliance archers hit a company of orcs just as they started to push forward against the equines who were trying to secure the base of the last tower. But although it did buy the equines some time to react to the new threat, the orcs did not relent, and the two armies clashed. The fighting was fierce and eventually, the overwhelming numbers of orcs pushed the equines back to their tower again.

A second Lúgroccan pair descended on that last tower, blasting the opening at the top with a stream of burning fire-oil before the draine had to evade a mad dive from a desperate enemy dragon to push them away. Still, the tower was set alight and the structure burnt quickly all the way to the bottom as the oil splashed down the interior.

"Fall back!" one of the Equidae captains outside the walls called desperately as his unit, who had foolishly tried to push for the catapults was on the verge of being encircled. By the second tower, the fighting was also turning against the Equidae and eventually they had to withdraw completely least they get trapped themselves. But not before smashing a full oil lantern against the inside of the tower.

"Fall back!"

***

General Marengo whinnied in amusement as large flames appeared within the last tower by the wall as well. The structural integrity of the first tower to be hit successfully by dragon fire failed and the thing collapsed in on itself amidst large flames and bright sparks. A little distance away from the wall, the horde was trying to pull the three fallen towers up again, but it was proving more difficult than expected. They had managed to clear the dead dragon from in front of the last remaining tower but attacking the wall with only one tower would be wasteful, so it held its position for the time being until the other three towers could be erected again. Instead, the horde had fallen back to try and scale the wall with ladders, keeping the troops on the wall busy while one of the battering rams was busy pounding at the gate.

"The battering ram by the gate is showing signs of failing, sir!" an equine orderly announced. "The runes are not as prominent as when the dragons first tried to set it alight, and in spots, their fire has finally started to take hold on the protective casing."

"Couldn't the dragons just spit their oil in beneath the protective shell?" Aurrin complained, earning a silent reprimand from Adulsworth.

"You know the horde is too close for them to land!" the human general replied. "Are your brigade ready to take over from Coles?"

"Yes, sir!" Aurrin announced. "The final preparations to relieve Brigadier Coles is in place."

"See to it then!" Adulsworth dismissed the tiger before turning to the equine orderly himself. "How fares the gate?"

"Still in prime condition!" the young equine announced crisply. "Even the second battering ram will not be enough to break it open."

"I told you the gate will hold!" Eroul grinned, the tiger Archmagus indicating back to the Citadel with a thumb over his shoulder. "The runes are fed constant Mana from the Aetherfontes, unlike those on the battering rams, and it will be weeks before they suffer a Manaburn. Even the big guy had assisted with enchanting those runes."

"We should sally out of the main gate when they try to swap the rams!" Marengo stated firmly. "If we can get close to the other one, we can destroy them both. Maybe go for the last of their towers as well and halt this foolhardiness of theirs."

"NO!" Adulsworth insisted. "We cannot afford to take chances at this moment."

"Why not?" Marengo growled, turning to glare at his human counterpart. "If we can cripple their heavy equipment completely, they will be reduced to ladders again or they have to wait for new siege equipment to be built and brought in. Either way, it will buy us the time for the minotaurs to reach us. With their help, we can push out and clear this plateau of orcs completely!" He looked up at the battling dragons, where fatigue was starting to set in on both sides. "Maybe we can even get some of the loose Lumors to rally to our cause. We could do with more wings in the sky!

"I still won't open the gate for you on such a quick impulse, especially with the horde this close!" Adulsworth insisted, ignoring the glaring stallion. "We will catch them off guard, yes, but if the horde rallies too quickly like they did when your soldiers sallied out through the tower, we risk losing the gatehouse completely!"

"The protective runes on the gates activate as soon as the gate is closed," Marengo scoffed. "Otherwise, the two inner gates would have been worthless!"

"General Adulsworth is right," Archmagus Eroul quickly interjected. "The runes on the gate do activate instantly, but they are single-use. If we undo them, we have to recast the spell entirely from scratch and that does take a while."

"And you know what will happen if the gatehouse is captured!" The human finally turned to glare at the stallion as well. "Not only will we lose all the soldiers on the wall itself, but we will also lose the middle wall in quick succession!"

Marengo huffed annoyed as he turned his attention back to the battle. He was well aware of what the human was speaking of, having complained to his own brigadiers about the setup of the walls before joining the command post up here. It was just, as most equines he had for most of his career been an avid follower of the axion 'the best defence is offence' and being unable to commit to any attacking manoeuvres was grating to his sense of achievement.

"I like your idea," Adulsworth suddenly stated softly when the stallion didn't retaliate again. "Battles are often decided on capturing the initiative with brilliant moves like that, and we should plan a shorty out to strike at especially their catapults when the fighting lulls to nothing. But right now, time is swinging in our favour. Our position is secure enough now that I am confident we can wait them out until reinforcements arrive." The human grinned mischievously when he turned to regard the equine general. "And I don't mind it if the horde keeps themselves busy on a fool's errand!"

The equine whinnied in amusement at that statement, nodding in approval for a moment. But then he frowned again. "Do you really think there will come a time that this will grind to a waiting game?"

"Well, the previous times this defensive location was under siege, it stood for months at a time..." Adulsworth started to say before they all ducked instinctively as one of the Lúgroccae dragons flew low over their heads. He was chased by three Umbrins, but the enemy dragons quickly pulled out of the pursuit before they came into range of the ballistae again. Even though both sides had rotated fresh combatants in, the fighting in the sky had dwindled to a few half-hearted chases. The Umbrins had pulled out mostly, keeping just enough dragons in the vicinity to keep the remaining Lúgroccae off the ladders by the walls.

"The Lúgroccae is doing much better than I had feared, to be honest!" Marengo commented as he watched the dragon wheel about to try and make another attack run on the ladders before he was intercepted by three new Umbrins. "Especially after hearing about their losses last night."

"They are a little inexperienced in larger warfare," Adulsworth admitted thoughtfully as the same Lúg turned tail again to try and lure his pursuers back into range of the ballistae, "but they know their stuff when it comes to pure aerial combat. And they are quick learners!" There was a flap of wings again as Gahntuar came in to land again, having returned from checking up on the brigade that had just returned from fighting. "And they have a sound leadership in place. I can't help but think that they will become an important force on Selebore one day."

"Indeed!" the stallion agreed as the black dragon settled down.

"How goes the battle?" Merec asked from atop Gahntuar's shoulders as he watched the second burning tower collapse as well. "From what I hear, their attack is faltering."

"We won this round soundly!" Adulsworth agreed. "The horde failed to gain any ground at the expense of much of their heavy equipment, and we manage to inflict some serious damage to their forces at minimal loss to our own. Even their dragons barely made a dent while taking serious losses."

"They are still attacking the gate though!" Gahntuar rumbled worriedly, turning to look at the location as if he could see the ram.

"A fool's hope!" Eroul insisted again. "They still think the gate is going to fall any minute now, but that is not the case."

"General Adulsworth and I were discussing rotating in fresh units," Marengo added, "but between ourselves, we don't think they will be fighting for much longer."

"What happens then?" Merec asked curiously, looking surprised at the battling by the gate.

"Depends," Adulsworth shrugged. "Unless they have another way of forcing the gate open or breathing the walls..."

The cluster of leaders was taken by surprise when there was a sudden roar from a dragon close by. It was a long, drawn-out howl that echoed eerily over the battlefield.

"You got to be kidding, right?" Merec gasped in shock as they looked up at the dark reddish-brown Umbrin drake that hovered overhead, having somehow managed to slip through unchallenged by either the Lúgroccae or the Alliance ballistae.

"What is that about?" Adulsworth asked curiously as the drake's call was echoed by a harsher, ugly roar from further out across the battle. The brown drake looked east worriedly as ten Umbrins came flying towards him, headless of Lúgroccae or ballistae in their way. The lone drake repeated his request, a twinge of urgency making his call almost too high pitched.

"It is a call... how can we put it?" Merec tried to explain to the Alliance General as Gahntuar replied with a long deep whoop of his own. "It's a call for a ceasefire and an audience with the leadership..."

The brown drake did not hesitate as soon as he was granted permission to approach, diving desperately for the dubious safety of the central plaza. The squad of Umbrins who came chasing after him roared something ugly after him, desperately trying to reach him before he could land. The Umbrins' leader, a youngster with bluish, iridescent scales pressed on recklessly, seemingly heedless of his surrounding as two of his dragons were brought down by the ballistae and three more intercepted by Amaren's old squad. The deserter managed to land, but the iridescent blue pursued him all the way to the ground, where he and the four remaining with him proceeded to maul the older drake. The deserter managed to stand his ground admirably, holding them at bay long enough for Jerielle and Gharavhan to assist him.

"Sir!" a dull green Umbrin drake shouted at the fanatical blue as Gahntuar also landed, nearly crushing the squad leader in the process. "We cannot lose you as well!"

The iridescent blue drake snapped something very rude at them as he turned and fled. For a moment, Gahntuar thought of chasing after them, but then thought better of it and turned to regard the deserter with a questioning growl.

"You are the Lúg'hir, I presume?" the drake rumbled in draconic, locking his gaze confidently with Gahntuar's. He was an old dragon, the serious scars on his face, his torn ears and chipped horns testifying of many battles fought and won. Yet, despite his age, his eyes still shone brightly with the vigour of life.

"That I am!" Gahntuar replied carefully, quickly introducing Merec and the others around him as the drake glanced longingly after his former allies as they were harassed by the Lúgroccae while they fled. "And who might you be?"

"Sorry for not going through the usual pleasantries," the drake rumbled, returning to look directly at Gahntuar, ignoring the human and equine generals who came rushing up to them as well. "But I think this is not the time for tradition. My name is Harkor."

"Tell me, Harkor," Jerielle rumbled with a barely concealed threat. "What brings you to us in these... circumstances?"

"You have the true Claw-of-the-Master with you, right?" Harkor announced, failing to hide a victorious smile when the Lúgroccae around him blinked in surprise. "I know, I have seen her in your camp during my last flyover..."

"You SAW her?" Gahntuar hissed in shock. He turned to a nearby draine who had lost her rider and growled in common to her, "FIND HER!"

The draine snapped to attention crisply and quickly darted off. Harkor frowned as he watched her scurry off, not having understood the command but realizing that things may not be as he had initially thought they were.

"And why do you ask?" Merec questioned Harkor, bringing the attention of the discussion back to the deserter.

"I have come to join her!" Harkor announced, having recovered quicker from the shock of the human speaking the dragon language than the two generals did.

"You... what?" Jerielle gaped at the drake, not sure if she had heard correctly.

"I have come to join her!" Harkor repeated firmly, turning to the red draine as if in a challenge. "Not only do I have the deepest respect for the True Claw, but I love her with all my being and will follow her wherever she may go. If she can abdicate to your side, then so can I! And I know there are even more of the Umbrins who will gladly follow me if given the opportunity! She has made quite the impression during her time as Claw…"

"How can you be so sure more will be willing to follow you?" Gahntuar rumbled disbelievingly as Merec tried to explain the situation to the two generals and the first of the Archmagi to show up.

"The horde is barely holding together as it is!" Harkor announced with a rude flick of his snout eastward. "Old blood feuds are coming out in the form of basic support being denied between the different orc armies causing them to attack separately. Not to mention the childish behaviour of the Gurroc tribe who is yet to commit anything to the fight! There is very little cohesion between the different tribes, which is why you managed to destroy the four siege towers as easily as you did." Harkor shook his head disappointedly. "As it stands now, it is only fear of the Master's presence that is pushing this assault forward... and he is not impressed with the lack of progress this day!"

"He is here!" Marengo gasped worriedly, looking east in surprise when the statement was translated to him.

"Yes, he is!" Harkor hissed a little contemptuously. "And not just his usual spectre, but he is here in person! His usual manner of operating is not as much of a driving force as it used to be; the disregard the Master has for those under his command is taking its toll!"

"You seem rather informed about the orc horde outside," Gahntuar stated, glancing meaningfully at Adulsworth as he translated the human's question. "How is that?"

"I am the second of the True Claw-of-the-Master," Harkor announced, stunning the group around him. "As such, I am... was appointed the new Claw-of-the-Master when Lady Ikessa decided to disappear."

"YOU... are the current Claw?" Gahntuar repeated, stunned at the revelation.

"Was!" Harkor insisted. "I cannot serve someone like... like..." He waved a dismissive wing east for a moment before he let the statement drop. "How the Claws before me managed to keep sane for longer than a week is beyond me! But Ikessa is the greatest of them all and if she can escape the Masters, others can as well!"

"Ikessa is not here by choice," Audenier stated before he could catch himself.

"She is a prisoner?" Harkor asked surprised, looking around again at where the riderless draine had disappeared off to. "We all thought she abdicated..."

"She did desert the demons like you just now," Gharavhan agreed, glaring at the younger drake, "but she didn't join us. We cannot accept Umbrins joining us with everything still going on."

"I... understand!" Harkor replied carefully, "It actually makes more sense." Then suddenly, he puffed out his chest and locked gazes with Gahntuar once more. When he spoke again, it was with determination as he repeated his intentions. "But I still stand by my earlier words! Even if she is a prisoner, I will follow her!"

Gahntuar blinked in surprise at him, before nodding his head in agreement. "Such loyalty is commendable," he rumbled with genuine admiration. "I wish you had been hatched a Lumor rather than an Umbrin!"

"Who is to take over from you, now that you have abandoned the demons as well?" Farriha suddenly asked.

"We were two dragons who acted as the True Claw's wingmates!" Harkor admitted quickly, though he did consider the olive-green draine carefully for a moment. "She chose Fernel and me shortly after she was appointed as Claw. I was the senior, thus Fernel will be the next Claw after me. He was the blue drake who tried to kill me when I asked to be admitted to land."

Gahntuar growled as he turned to look east.

"Fernel had always been ambitious and I know he had longed to be Claw himself," Harkor continued with a scoff. "But I do not envy him in the least. With the True Claw gone and the Master even more obnoxious than rumours described him to be, the moral between the dragons is barely treetop high! But even so, I fear what he may do. He claims to be a direct descendant of Gullivarth himself and as such, he has an overpowering loyalty to the old Barathrum. He will not abdicate, despite how often he had claimed to admire the True Claw-of-the-Master, and he will not hold back.

Harkor hesitated for a moment as if struggling internally with a great decision he was making. Finally, he cast his worries to the wind as he looked back at where the draine had gone off to find help to search for Ikessa.

"The Umbrin army is on the verge of complete collapse," Harkor finally insisted. "And after Fernel, there is no other dragon with enough authority left to take the place of Claw."

The Lúgroccan council gaped at the deserter for a stunned moment, before turning to wordlessly confer with each other. The message was clear: Should this Fernel die, the Umbrins will break and the skies will be theirs!

To be continued...