Jesse James and the Dragon's Egg

The Battle for the Ice Bridge

The ice bridge.

It was the most direct route to Tip Pierce and probably the least friendly. The bridge itself was a magical and engineering feat. It spanned a five-mile gap over what appeared to be a bottomless chasm. The chasm, an ugly dark gouge in the earth, spread off in both directions as far as the poor light from the torches would allow them to see. Clouds had filled the night sky, and the wind picked up as they approached the bridge.

The Chernye Vlanir were strict in their evacuation of the children. Movement was quick and precise and there was no lagging. The group had just passed through a wooden suspension structure midway of the bridge when the taller of the Chernye, the one who had been riding in the rear of the group, spurred his mount to the front of the line. He pulled up next to Captain Volkodav, and the two exchanged quick words. Both turned back to look at Mattu Khan.

When Jesse looked back, it was not the fierce growling that was coming from deep in Al's throat that chilled the boy's blood. Nor was it the growing plumes of smoke rising from the great stone fortress. No, what chilled him most, what both saddened and terrified the boy, was the growing, writhing, shadowy mass that had appeared at the end of the bridge, that and the unnatural wail that arose from it.

Before Jesse could speak, Volkodav and his men were in motion. The captain barked orders and two massive men, the largest of the men by far, dismounted and ran full sprint back toward the wooden portion of the bridge. They moved with a speed and agility that belied their size, pulling large silver axes from leather sheathes on their backs as they went. They came to a sliding stop at the nearest end of the wooden structure, the place where it was secured to the ice, and went to work. This wooden structure spanned a half mile wide gap in the ice where a great chunk had fallen away. It would not span that gap for much longer. With desperate, mighty blows, the men began hacking away at the bridge's moorings. They cut through guide ropes and suspension lines, some of which were as thick as tree trunks, and splintered the network of supports.

Captain Volkodav spurred the group on to full gallop, fleeing toward the end of the bridge, but it was still a good three miles away. At full gallop, the horse's studded leather shoes ate up the icy road. The two big men were still hacking away at the bridge behind them when, out of the corner of his eye, Jesse and Al spotted them. Three shooting stars. Screaming through the night sky, they were impossibly large and impossibly close, flying just overhead.

"Hold! Hold!" Volkodav was screaming, bringing his own mount to a skidding halt just before the first star impacted the bridge. It hit so hard Jesse could feel it through his horse. The beast reared and snorted, threatening to throw the boy and the dragon to the ground. Black clad hands seized the horse's reins just as the other two vessels impacted the bridge, the impact showering sparks and heat at the riders.

They were giant iron cauldrons, six or seven foot wide urns, full of red hot liquid. With the general viscosity of pudding, the glowing liquid slowly spread out over the ice. Violent jets of steam erupted into the air as the urns began to melt down into the bridge. Huge trebuchet's slowly rolled into view. There were three of them and they were already being reloaded with their deadly ordinance.

Volkodav was barking orders again when the first rain of arrows came down. The children were pulled from their horses and surrounded by four men. Their shields came together, forming an oak and steel umbrella from the hail of death.

The children huddled together under the shields and watched four archers took positions around them. They readied bows and quivers while the remaining four warriors drew swords and sprinted headlong for their fellows at the wooden bridge.

Two archers who had readied their bows first began unleashing their own onslaught against the coming horde. But what Jesse saw saddened him. One arrow at a time? Against what was easily a thousand monsters? What hope did they have? Jesse thought it was a paltry little and pathetic attempt. Then he caught sight of the other two archers.