Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (7 page)

Dekeen stood approximately five feet eight inches tall and weighed one hundred forty-five pounds. He had medium-length dark hair and bronze-silver eyes (rare for an elf), which accented his pointed ears. He has a quiet and pleasant disposition in spite of being a master archer. He utilizes his powerful long composite bow, named Elm, which has a centrally mounted dragonstone located above the hand grip, given to him by Gallanth. This gave the bow great power, enabling it to deliver an energy burst to arrows fired from it when Dekeen desired. Arrows so directed delivered enough damage to fell an ogre with a single shot and could circumvent all but the strongest of magic armor and even magic shields.

The bow was made of elven dark oak, laminated with red dragon bone and sporting the same dragon’s sinew for a string. The most feared power of Elm was that once per day, it could empower a slaying arrow of Dekeen’s choosing. This deadly arrow, upon a successful hit, could automatically kill the intended target, regardless of the creature’s power. While proven on a white and green dragon, it had never been tried on a more powerful blue or red. This also drained the bow’s power for a short period of time, however. Elm could also be fired to counter certain spells in midair as well as create a smaller antimagic shield, capable of taking almost the same damage as Mkel’s or Toderan’s sword. Mkel often witnessed his friend fire ten arrows in extremely rapid succession, stopping an orc charge. Mkel knew Dekeen was almost as accurate as he was with his crossbow, but the magic longbow didn’t have quite the same range, being able to consistently hit stationary targets out to five hundred yards. Mkel, Dekeen, and Jodem often had shooting matches in which they pushed each other to strive for more excellence.

Mkel found it puzzling that Dekeen was carrying his powerful bow rather than slinging it across his body. The elf clan leader also had his short mithril alloy scimitar with him, which he utilized for close-in fighting. He was very fast and deadly with the scimitar, being able to cleave a man or orc with a well-placed blow.

Dekeen’s wife, Beckann, was herself a powerful wizard, almost as advanced as Jodem. The lady elf was five and a half feet tall with shimmering golden hair and deep violet-blue eyes. Her beauty was only matched by Jennar, the elusive nymph who lived in Draden Forest. Together, they oversaw the elf clan in Draden Forest. The clan consisted of approximately three hundred elves, and they could muster a force of one hundred twenty to complement the Weir’s garrison.

Mkel counted on the elven company for the next day’s exercise: three platoons of elven archers and one platoon of infantry armed with the deadly double-headed pole arms and long swords. They worked closely with the Weir in providing both local security and trade as partners for goods and services while receiving defense from the Weir. The elves produced fine products of wood, cloth, metal, and magic work, as well as wine and certain fine foods and elvish medicines.

Eldir, the elven master weaponsmith, worked with Ordin, Jodem, and Gallanth on magic items and weapons made with mithril and Gallanth’s or Silvanth’s dragonstones. Mithril was a very difficult metal to work with and required dwarven strength, elven finesse, Gallanth’s intense heat to make it malleable, and Silvanth’s cold to cool it down and strengthen it. Jodem’s magical abilities made these items among the most powerful known. The weapons they made were given as a reward to those soldiers of the Weir’s garrison and the Draden regiment that distinguished themselves in battle. All of the mithril arrow and bolt tips for Mkel’s and Dekeen’s projectiles were made by them as well.

The elves cared for the giant eagles that inhabited the top of Keystone Weir, and they also trained and bred the griffons used by the rangers. They crafted all the support gear for them as well, including the special saddles and riding equipment. Their forest community was mostly based in the large trees in the middle of the Draden Forest, making it a difficult position to take. It was regularly patrolled by the elven archers and guarded by hidden but strategically placed outposts.

Elves had superior vision, four times more acute than men. They could also see fairly well at night, making it very difficult to surprise an elf, although dwarves could still see better in pitch darkness because of their underground habitat ancestry.

“Are the preparations ready for tomorrow, Senior Sergeant Toderan?” Mkel asked his large friend.

“Of course, Captain,” he replied. Toderan was one of Mkel’s closest comrades and shared second command authority of the Weir with Jodem; he was also second in command of the Weir’s garrison when they did not have an executive officer. He also coordinated on many matters with the Draden regimental senior sergeant or highest ranking noncommissioned soldier, and with Colonel Wierangan. Toderan was a master paladin of great power and skill, being awarded the highest degree of that order.

Toderan’s holy avenger long sword hung from its scabbard on his waist belt. The powerful weapon was forged by the dwarves and elves out of a heavy mithril/steel alloy; it also had one of Gallanth’s dragonstones imbedded in the hilt. The sword could smite evil upon every stroke, dealing enough damage to fell an ogre with a single blow. Once per day, it could muster the power to kill a giant or similar creature. The sword also emanated an anti-black magic shield and could ward off evil spells in a one-hundred-foot radius. Its shield could withstand a great deal of spell damage, at least equal to Mkel’s sword Kershan, and also gave him immunity to death magic.

When Toderan wielded his magic sword in battle, he instilled courage and strength to individuals around him. The sword allowed him to heal people’s wounds; it also enabled him to heal his winged horse. Because of the importance of this meeting, he had left his mithril alloy plate armor in his quarters, but he wore his best uniform. The strong armor he wore was mithril lined, as was his large shield, keeping almost anything from penetrating it. The mithril in the armor also gave him a certain amount of spell resistance.

Toderan’s winged horse was named Alvanch. It was intelligent and could fight independently of Toderan if the need arose, as well as being telepathically linked to the senior paladin. This link was not nearly as strong as the link between a dragonrider and his dragon, though. A strong but graceful winged mount, the off-white Alvanch was extremely fast over short distances and highly maneuverable in aerial combat with incredible evasion ability. Its hide was also very tough. Alvanch’s attacks were also enhanced; its hoof strikes could kill a grummish in a single blow. Its own inherent constitution gave it the ability to take twice the damage a normal heavy warhorse could take. Winged horses were also immune to certain types of spells.

Toderan often hunted with Mkel, using a repeating crossbow given to him by Dekeen. He was Mkel’s confidant on many matters, for the gold dragonrider admired his strength and commonsense wisdom, with a nonyielding determination to fight the good fight. He was a true leader of men. Toderan constantly displayed a cool head, even under the direst of combat situations. His sense of fairness was uncompromising, and he dealt with personnel matters with an even hand. Only Gallanth was closer to Mkel.

Toderan stood tall at six foot three inches and weighed over two hundred thirty pounds. He had a balding head and a well-kept mustache that exuded his forcefulness of leadership. His great physical strength and constitution were equal to that of Ordin. Toderan also served in the Alliance Navy for a short time as a troop transport advisor, bringing his paladin experiences to bear. He has a wife in the support corps company and a young son and daughter.

They all sat at the U shaped table, with Mkel on the left and Colonel Wierangan on the right. Jodem and Toderan sat beside them. Senior Sergeant Pekram, Dekeen, Ordin, Lupek, the Weir cleric Watterseth, and Deless sat in the middle seats, all facing Gallanth’s immense head, which was now resting on the ground. “Sir, are you ready to begin?” Mkel said to Colonel Wierangan, as a courtesy for being the highest-ranking officer at the meeting, even though he was the Weirleader and did not have to answer to him.

“At your and Gallanth’s pleasure, Captain,” Wierangan replied.

“Gentlemen,” Mkel said, drawing his sword as all present raised their dragonstone-empowered weapons, “to the Alliance, Draden Weir, Gallanth, the regiment, honor, and each other.” They all saluted Gallanth, who gave a small nod with his colossal head, and then laid their weapons on the table, pointing toward the center. The dragonstones in their weapons glowed intensely, indicating the incredible collective power of the swords, bows, javelins, hammers, and staff of the Weir’s most powerful members.

This also represented the idea that all Alliance citizens and civilians were granted the right to possess and bear arms and were encouraged to do so. This was the central premise of the Articles of the Alliance, along with personal freedom and freedom of open talk. Misuse of these rights, however, carried a heavy penalty, for freedom without responsibility was a recipe for disaster.

“We will first start with the ranger leader’s briefing and will then discuss the exercise tomorrow, followed by a few Weir matters. Lupek, Deless, at your leisure,” Mkel directed to his ranger companions.

“Yes sir, Gallanth, Colonel Wierangan,” Lupek said, giving the gold dragon, Mkel, and the regimental commander a courtesy acknowledgment. “Deless, if you would,” Lupek added, motioning to his elven comrade. Deless placed his bow in the gap in the U shaped table, and a three-dimensional map projected from the centrally mounted dragonstone appeared, representing the terrain of the area between the Weir and the southern chain of the Gray Mountains.

“We first tracked the orc scouts here at the base of the third mountain, just out of sight of Lucian Forest,” Lupek began. “They were making good time across the plain at dusk when we attacked. We killed six of the riders and their hellhound and dire wolf mounts and let the remaining one escape. We followed him for eighteen days back across the mountains. He made sure not to get anywhere near Lucian Forest, so we know that the elf clan under Haldrin is alive and well and protecting his borders. We crossed the mountains undetected by the rider while still watching out for any other unfriendly eyes.”

Lupek continued, “We finally emerged on the east side of the Gray Mountains and had to track him from the ground so as not to be compromised by them or any other lookouts. Deless used a seeing eyes spell to great effect, enabling us to keep out of sight and still track them. We stopped him just short of the northernmost fire giant kingdom border, when he spotted us. We then killed his mount but managed to keep the orc rider alive long enough to get a little more information out of him. Apparently a large gathering of fire giants is taking place, with a merging of several tribes for some purpose. We scouted a little further and observed a great deal of activity in and around the westernmost fire giant crude mountain castle. We must have counted well over a hundred giants and several thousand orcs, with multiple red and other chromatic dragons. There were also at least three Morgathian death knights and a sorcerer. The orc could not give us any additional information other than that he was to scout the defenses of Keystone and Eladran Weirs and attempt to ascertain our troop strength, our capabilities, and the number and type of dragons that are stationed here,” Lupek concluded.

“Yes! Fire giants on the move,” Ordin interrupted. “I smell the call to battle.” Dwarves have a deep-rooted hatred of evil giants and barely tolerate the good mountain and thunder giants that inhabit the remote areas of the Alliance. This derived from a long-standing conflict between the two groups.

“Over a hundred giants and multiple chromatics,” Wierangan repeated with some concern, but you could see in the intensity of his focused steel blue eyes that surveyed the portrayed terrain that he was already working on course of action for a battle plan.

“At least that many, with likely much more,” Deless added.

“Smells of Morgathian involvement of some sort, with Keystone and Eladran Weirs as their target,”
Gallanth stated. “The giants are a concern, but the presence of red dragons with death knights means a Morgathian directive of some sort to control that amount of power,” he continued. Metallic dragons had a particular disdain for the evil giant races but little respect for them, for they were not nearly a match in battle. Mkel did have a concern about giants, for even the smaller common giants were very physically powerful creatures, as attested to by the injury he received on his right elbow from an ice giant’s axe in a skirmish some years ago.

“Can you sense anything additional, other than what Gallanth feels, Jodem?” Mkel asked.

“No, but I do not like the gathering of that much power that close to our border, and where there is a death knight, there is a Talon sorcerer of some power,” Jodem added.

“We must increase our patrols in that area,” Wierangan said. “Can we tie them in closer with the Lucian elf clan and Eladran Weir’s rangers and centaurs?” he asked Mkel, who nodded a response.

“Yes sir, we will need a couple more seeing crystals, though, for we have three new rangers,” Lupek immediately replied.

“We’ve found several good specimens in the northern mines, which we will bring to Gallanth and Jodem tomorrow,” Ordin chimed in.

“We will see to it, sir, and tie in with your patrols on the northern part of the Gray Mountain pass,” Mkel said to Wierangan. “Lieutenant Lupek will meet with Haldrin next week when his other patrol comes back from the mountains. Gallanth, Jodem, and I will be going to Battle Point the day after next to talk to General Daddonan about his concerns on the frontier, at his request. Until then we will have at least one patrol along our border of the Gray Mountains, as well as the flights of the rangers and the Weir eagles over the pass,” Mkel finished.