Bread and cheese, as well as slices of meat, lay on a plate. Ale from a pitcher filled a mug. He sat up and stretched. “I had the dragon catch soldiers in uniform and drop them at the castle wall.”
“That’d do it,” Ander said, beaming. “When the Earl heard that King Ember’s soldiers were being dumped on his ramparts he didn’t wonder why the dragon did it, he wondered how the dragon had found uniformed soldiers of his enemy so close.”
“I saw messengers on horses leaving the castle. At least nine of them.” Raymer said between mouthfuls.
“Probably more were sent later, all with orders for every troop in the kingdom to make haste to Castle Warrington. I wouldn’t be surprised if so many arrive the battle is called off.” Ander said.
Fleet had been quiet. He said, “You were in the mind of the dragon and told it to carry those men to the castle?”
Raymer nodded, gulping ale.
“When this is over can I discuss this with you? I mean, I want to know it all.” Fleet asked.
Raymer paused. He fixed Fleet with a stern expression and said, “When this is over, you and I will talk all you want at your village. You are as much a part of this as I am.”
The old man, Henry stepped forward.
“You too, Henry! The help you provided was made this thing work. I’ll ask Quint to reward you with land, horses, gold, or whatever you wish,” Raymer said.
“I have asked for nothing,” Henry replied with dignity.
Raymer smiled and said, “Perhaps free ale and food for as long as you live?”
“Perhaps I should have asked for a reward. Free ale, you say? All I can drink?” Henry asked with a chuckle. “That might be a price the Earl regrets.”
Raymer laughed and said, “Well, let’s not be silly. Even the Earl cannot promise you that much ale.”
In the middle of them all laughing, Raymer felt an unfamiliar sensation in his mind. The dragon wanted his attention. “I have to go back.”
The dragon was flying high above the castle. In the distance were men in gold and blue lined up, in columns and in rows. The generals of King Ember had realized what the dragon was doing, even if they didn’t know why. The army was marching on the castle. The battle would soon begin.
Raymer realized that not all the troops had arrived at the rendezvous location at the stone needle, but they couldn’t afford to wait. The only way to still win the battle was to attack before the reinforcements for Castle Warrington arrived.
In his haste, Raymer may have doomed the castle.
The advancing army was still so far away that those in the castle were not aware of the danger. Could he warn them again?
No ideas came this time. King Ember’s army marched behind a rise unseen. Then, as Raymer watched, they poured over the rise out onto the wide plain where the farms filled the valley. They spread out, many men marching side by side while others took up positions in blocks of men a solid ten rows of ten. Each held a massive shield to protect from falling arrows.
The dragon continued flying high overhead, shrieking and drawing attention to itself. The foreign army could now be seen from the castle, and people ran to the ramparts to watch. Officers on the walls shouted orders. Guards appeared with bows and spears. The city gates swung shut. More arrived on the tops of the walls, ready to defend their castle.
Raymer saw no supporting troops, yet. They would arrive too late if the invaders were not slowed. There seemed to be but one thing to do. He said to the dragon, Attack.
The dragon spun and flew at the invading army. The dragon came at the line of soldiers from the side. It made the hollow spitting sound, once, and then again. It spat into the close-packed formations where men were shoulder to shoulder, ten wide and ten deep.
A hundred men in each of those formations broke and ran as one, screaming painfully at the acid burns, and many calling for help for their fallen comrades. Several lay still on the ground. Others broke formation and ran for shelter under trees. Many held a wounded arm cradled in a good one, or limped on a leg with black slime eating holes into it. They cried out in pain as officers shouted orders and more men shouted in fear and watched the sky.
Again. The dragon had reached the end of the advancing line, and it powered up into the air in front of nearly all eyes on the ground. It made a swooping spin, almost as if knowing the serpentine movement would fill those on the ground with even more fear, and then it flew down the front of the line again, high enough so none of the hundreds of arrows reached it, but low enough to set panic into many. It spat again. Then again. And once more.
The dragon reached the end of the line again and flew higher, for the first time hearing cheering from the direction of the castle. It looked to the castle as it turned, and the tops of the walls were filled with waving and shouting people, all encouraging the dragon to attack King Ember’s army again.
Raymer ignored them. From the height the dragon flew, the soldier’s lines were no longer even and straight. The officers were doing their best to reform them, but when the dragon started the third attack nearly every man ran for his life, including the officers. Raymer did not order the attack again, but he directed the dragon to fly low all the way.
From high in the air again Raymer watched the army in retreat and chaos. Still, it wouldn’t take long for the army to reform and attack the castle again. Raymer had the dragon fly in the direction where most of the messengers on horseback had gone.
He found about two hundred soldiers in scarlet and cream uniforms marching full speed to the castle. Beyond another hill, he found several hundred more. Not nearly enough to defend the castle, but he assumed many more were on their way.
The dragon was tired. It was in a strange land and had no safe place to land. No rocky mountains with perches in sight. Dragons on the ground are easy prey if something wants to prey on something as large as a house.
The cliffs, the castle stood upon, were too short for protection. Perhaps he should let the dragon do what was natural. He said, Rest.
The dragon flew directly to the castle, to the tower where it had released the first man. People were gathered there. It flew low, almost low enough to snatch one and Raymer felt a twinge of worry. When the dragon returned, the tower top was free of people. It landed and folded its wings, but kept a wary eye out for human intruders.
Raymer had worn the beast out with all the flying. While dragons do fly, they are not like some birds that remain in the air all day without effort. Dragons fly for a reason. Normally that reason is to hunt.
Today the dragon had flown the distance it takes a man on a fast horse to travel in three days, and then it attacked the castle and King Ember’s army. It deserved the rest. But what if the people in the castle attacked it?
It was a dragon, after all. Raymer listened with the dragon’s ears. Then he asked the dragon to look around. There were people on the ramparts, in the streets, at the windows, and anywhere else that gave them vantage to see the creature.
They were all smiling. The dragon had saved them, even if they didn’t know why. They had watched the dragon attack the king’s army. If not for the dragon many of them would have lost their lives, or the lives of their sons and husbands in the battle. Most would have lost their homes and livelihoods.
When Raymer met with Quint next time, he might suggest the Earl add a dragon to the Fairwoods coat of arms. At the very least Quint should have a parade waiting, and the Dragon Clan would be appreciated and welcomed into Castle Warrington.
The dragon seemed safer perched on the top of the tower than it had even been. Raymer suspected the people of the castle would protect it while it slept. He allowed himself to pull back to the bed at the inn. He said, “The castle is safe. We can go there as soon as I’m up to walking.”