Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm (33 page)

“Already done, my good paladin,” he answered, as they peered out the windows of the cabin to see the deer carcasses gone.

“Damn, quiet elves, but I’m glad at least they’re on our side. Now we need to talk of the dragon-skin armor that the weir garrison is getting today. Do we know what it is configured as?” Toderan asked.

“From what Lloydell told me, they made it like a pullover heavy vest with arm guards. It will weigh between twenty and thirty pounds depending on the size of the soldiers fitting it but is much more flexible than the segmented armor now standard in the legions. It’s made of overlapping scales of that new metal that the dwarves in Ferranor discovered. It is a grayish-silver color, and while almost as strong as steel, it’s very much lighter—but nowhere near as strong as mithril silver. They took the strength of dragon skin and essentially copied it with small scales overlapping and painstakingly woven together with mithril thread and then glued them to bond together. When hit, it spreads the impact out over a large area like dragon skin. When fit over the body, there are two small drawstrings to cinch it tight around the side and hips where the weight is carried. It will be dramatic when the enemy sees this in battle and realizes all too late that it almost carries the strength of black iron. We will have the fittings and classes for it this afternoon. Now we must talk of the new repeating crossbows,” Mkel stated.

“Yes, Captain, there will be several soldiers who will not want to give up their old Alliance long recurve bows,” Toderan answered.

“Well, I would say a couple of primary instructors should be Crystinj and Poteignr, given their performance in the games, as well as Haak with the shots he made in the land dragon competition. I can be the overseer and spot instructor along with Jodem,” Mkel added.

“Sir, you know you should not be instructing; you’re the garrison company commander and Weirleader. The soldiers and sergeants should be doing this,” Toderan replied.

“Senior Weir Sergeant, you know I love to instruct. I’m a soldiers’ officer, and I always will be. Plus, you never know when someone I teach might have to make that one true shot. So how can we relieve ourselves of a missed opportunity like that? I’ll be fine, and Jodem, the true master shooting instructor, will be there,” Mkel countered.

“It’s not your shooting or coaching skills I’m talking about; it’s just that you are a commander, and the hands-on is for others,” Toderan stated.

“I understand, and with this plan I have of bringing in some of the best shooters in the Alliance Army to Draden, maybe I can fulfill your wish,” Mkel shot back with his characteristic smile.

“I like the idea of having a sharpshooter squad, but I don’t really believe that you’ll stop coaching. Just not you,” Toderan said with an expression of intrigue at the idea, along with his half smile.

“I talked to several good shooters at the games. Gemorg and his crew are interested in coming on board with us and liked the idea of a forming a sharpshooter squad. They can perform special overwatch missions and hold certain terrain for the infantry to maneuver. Even apart from the sheer deadly skill they bring to battle, from a military planning perspective, they can match or beat the same number of elves, especially with these more powerful, accurate, and faster repeating crossbows, which can multiply the company’s combat power at the ground level,” Mkel explained.

“We’ll see about those claims; just get them here first, and the truth will show,” Dekeen said, questioning the assertion but at the same time interested. “Well, as much as I have enjoyed your company these last few days, I believe you should be leaving for the weir. I know Gallanth is getting testy, for my wife knows through Silvanth that he senses something, so the faster you get your men ready, the better off we all will be,” the elf finished and got up to open the door. All present got up and walked out into the forest clearing where Gallanth was still lying down; all the other mounts were perched beside him.

They all gave their thanks and good-byes to Dekeen, who sprinted back into the woods. They then mounted up, as Mkel looked around at the forest and the trees. Gallanth rose up on all fours. He liked the woods of Draden Forest, but he did miss his son and Annan and knew it was time for his hunting trip to be over. The venison would be grilled that night, and he looked forward to tasting it with the spices the halflings were famous for. Gallanth allowed the others to get into the air before he started to fast walk to the other side of the clearing and took to the sky, just barely missing the tops of the tall oaks on the edge of the clearing. The brilliant colors of the changing leaves were breathtaking to Mkel as he and Gallanth sailed above them. The rush of cold midmorning air felt good on his face, and he let his magic shield emanate at minimal strength, for with his heating stone giving just enough warmth, he didn’t mind it one bit.

Tbok had been summoned to Aserghul to see Stalenjh. As he circled around the immense black towered castle on his lead blue dragon, Traxsus, he surmised that it must be regarding the Arianan situation. They were getting more resistant to Morgathian influence in their arrogance. He had been planning a trip to the desert kingdom but hadn’t arranged it yet—not during harvest season, for he had a hard enough time enforcing the tithing to the fortresses in his province. The Talon sorcerer, his senior dragon, and death knight had to force all of their chromatic dragons that resided in this region to aid them in the collection. Many times, his army, like everyone else in Morgathia, had to help with the harvest itself. This was a little easier this year since Ashram and Lodar had a nice portion of their army crushed by the Alliance, so he didn’t have to worry about using too many from his own forces to watch their mutual border to his north.

Stalenjh had stated he wanted to talk to him personally; again, he could only surmise why, but it was never good to go to Aserghul alone. He was fortunate that Traxsus consented to transport him without too much of an argument. “Traxsus, Stalenjh hailed us to meet him by the northeast wall of Aserghul!” Tbok yelled to the large blue dragon.

“I know, Sorcerer. Zythor told me as soon as we teleported in. I am not sure why we are not meeting in the fortress, but we will likely know soon,” he answered in his normally arrogant tone, but a little softer, as if to avoid waking a child. This was likely out of fear of angering Tiamat. They circled around and landed in front of Stalenjh and Zythor. Tbok dismounted and walked up to his superior and bowed, as did Traxsus to the Usurper blue dragon.

“Prefect Stalenjh, how may I be of service?” Tbok said as he stood up.

“My master Zythor, I come at your bidding,” Traxsus stated as he bowed his head, his large nose horn slightly glowing.

“Dispense with the niceties, Tbok; we have an important matter to discuss, and we must be quick before the queen mother awakens. The desert mongrel Arianans are getting a bit too bold lately. While they are helping us with the pirating campaign against the Alliance and their allies, they are also attacking their neighbors’ ships, and the Shidanese are getting ready to retaliate. We can’t afford to have them go to war with each other again and distract themselves from our plan. They are also not supplying the proper amount of gemstones as they should either, and this independent action is getting annoying.

“I want to handle this matter with a strong diplomatic arm first, before Tiamat orders a disciplinary strike against them. This is why you are here. I want you to go to their capital city, Naterah, engage with their sultan, Dalmach, and inform him of the importance of remaining our ally and the consequences of angering the empire. His northern city of Hasera has time and time again been raiding both Shidanese ships and even ours. Their emir claims these are mistakes, but this will stop. I sent an emissary directly there a week ago through the drow tunnels in the mountains to give this arrogant insect one last warning. We’ll await his answer, but this is one of your bargaining pieces.

“I want you and Traxsus to leave immediately. I will send a complement of Talestra with you on a wing of Aserghul chromatics to reinforce our message. That dung scarab must know that his obedience is vital to his existence, and his gem flow to the empire is also of great importance to us. The growing number of dragons we have is getting harder to manage, even for the Usurper Five. We can’t afford to start rationing the gems, not now when we are so close to our plans coming to fruition. You cannot fail in this Tbok or else the eastern province might need a new Talon sorcerer and lead dragon,” Stalenjh finished with a smile accented by his thick black-gray mustache. Traxsus let out a low growl, but it was countered by Zythor, which caused the younger blue to back down.

“Yes, Prefect, we will not fail. I wasn’t prepared to leave just quite yet though,” he replied.

“No time like the present, Sorcerer. The Talestra are forming. You are to leave immediately,” he ordered as the ten white, black, green, red, and blue dragons of one of the Aserghul wings assembled behind him. The black, demon-armored death knights started to mount the dragons, two or three per beast.

“Yes, Prefect, we will leave at once. Traxsus?” he called as he bowed to Stalenjh. The blue dragon was also bowing to his Usurper master. And he turned and climbed up the blue dragon, the very simplistic and temporary saddle loosely bound around the dragon’s neck shifted slightly, and he had to fix it, for chromatics were not used to being ridden. Once the Talestra were all mounted, he waved his sorcerer’s staff, its dark crystal glowing with its eerie purplish-black light to signal all to leave. Traxsus jumped into the air with the ten younger dragons right behind him. As they cleared the five-fingered fortress and sailed over the bay, he had Traxsus send the image of the bulbous towers and minarets of Naterah to the trailing dragons, and they were gone.

Several Enlightened senators started to arrive at the docks on Tekend’s private boats coming from all ports on the Alliance coast. He and Terrjok had called this meeting of all the Enlightened-affiliated senators, in a marshaling of the troops as it were. The island just north and off the coast of Ferranor was a private resort that belonged to the Tekend family with a couple of houses that had been sold to other wealthy Enlightened members. Terrjok also had a vacation house there, but many other places as well.

“Ah, I see our illustrious former premier has arrived with his wolf bitch wife,” Terrjok said smarmily to Tekend as he walked over to him on the balcony overlooking the docks of the island from his luxurious mansion.

“Yes, his ambitious wife; while she revolts me, she is a useful tool with her emotional arrogance and lust for power. She is akin to an unbroken mare that needs to have a bit shoved in her mouth, but until she breaks, she will pull our carriage far,” Tekend replied.

“And her blundering husband, the stable boy from the Alliance plains. How did he ever become our premier and remain there for all those years?” Terrjok stated with certain distaste.

“We needed a charismatic vessel to give our movement a boost, and his face, while insipid, achieved that goal. It was just hard to swallow his arrogant stupidity at times, while also covering for his mistakes. The Draco Guards are an astute lot. We must be rid of them when she is elected, maybe as part of our plan to depose her,” Tekend schemed.

“Speaking of our next vessel for manipulation; look who is getting off the boat. Senator Masheam, our bumbling low breed from Ice Bay Province; the epitome of good, self-centered intentions—arrogance, emotional zeal, and a lust for power and change. He is a perfect candidate for the plans we and our allies to the east have soon to unfold. His charisma and youthful charm will be a powerful ally in our manipulation of the Alliance citizenry,” Terrjok spoke openly to his collaborator. “Ah, Premier Bilenton, Lady Hilrodra, please come in. Servants, fetch more of my vintage wine for the lady. An ale for you, sir?” he invited the couple in.

“Why yes, Senator, ale would be fine. I see your hospitality has not degraded with age, as I see our eager and vision-impaired followers have not either,” Bilenton commented as the majority of the Enlightened senators and other distinguished guests began to arrive on Tekend’s ships and started to offload. The family servants, while not slaves, were almost treated as such. They were scrambling to attend the visitors and their escorts. “We must convince them of the importance of maximizing the attendance of the diplomatic envoy to the Shidanese capital. Many will balk at it, but it is important to tie up as many of the Capital Wing dragons as possible, if our friends’ plans are to work. Plus the more of these cowards who attend, the more a group panic will ensue when the attack comes to keep the metallic dragons and their pet riders busy,” Bilenton stated.

“You have a keen mind for scheming, my dear premier. No wonder you held onto the position for all of your terms,” Terrjok complimented him excessively.

“And that is not to be forgotten by anybody,” the former premier stated half-jokingly but with a sinister truth behind his salesman’s smile, for many of his political enemies among the Enlightened and among his own staff disappeared when he was in office and during the time he was the western Talinor provincial governor. However, his power and influence had been waning lately. He was still not to be underestimated though.

Terrjok and Tekend smiled a reply, but both knew that their day would be coming soon. The pudgy senator continued the conversation, “Premier, we think that we should take advantage of that young senator from the Ice Bay Province. He almost has your charisma and is easily manipulated. I think he would make an excellent deputy premier to Hilrodra’s campaign team. He and Bidenj, another easily controlled but still seasoned politician.”

“I think your idea has merit; I will convince my wife to choose them as her running mates. Two simple, but value-added stooges for our cause. Yes, the charismatic dupes, it is a good idea,” Bilenton stated as he took a long draft from his glass. “We will now convince our sheep to fly to Shidan on the very dragons we despise, in order to have them ferry us to their eventual demise or enslavement. How ironic and fitting, isn’t it?” he stated as their guests started to enter the mansion.