The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 105

Fat fluffy flakes of snow frosted the ground and all Henry could think about was how he was going to paint it red. He would avoid the civilian foot soldiers as best as he could and target mainly those on horseback; the ones with authority and power. His brother and parents would take charge of the skies and he would command the land.

It was odd for Henry, having authority over the entire army. After all, his parents would be focused skyward; King Alan would have no time ordering his troops. Fortunately, his friend Miles was at his side, improving his confidence.

As time passed, Henry was having a hard time holding still in his position. The Nieblan command still didn't know Elysia had been rescued. Their army remained in place across the border, waiting for word from their general.

Henry was full of emotions: relief that his sister was safe, grief over Mavis, and rage boiling deep within that was ready to be released upon the enemy. He needed to unleash his emotions, especially his grief, which was threatening to make him crumble. But he remained strong, knowing retribution was near. He wanted to hack away with his sword, he wanted to block out the agony in his heart.

All he was waiting on was for his parents and brother to come diving through on their dragons, hopefully catching Niebla's army off guard. For all they knew they still had hours until word from their commander.

As if sensing his unease, Henry's horse began stomping in its place, anxious to move. Henry turned his head to look at Miles. "Any minute now."

Miles nodded and readied his reins. He gave Henry a knowing look. They were both nervous beyond belief. The last time they had fought together both had nearly died. Their recovery had taken months and Henry still felt an ache in his leg whenever it rained.

Both men knew how painful battle could be. Their last fight was more of a skirmish, not an all out war like this. There would be tens of thousands more enemies to watch out for, everything would happen quickly. They would need to be constantly aware of their surroundings.

Overhead Henry suddenly heard three dragons whoosh by, then felt a gust of wind from behind. His horse, accustomed to such things, barely flinched. The Prince watched as the familiar dragons lit up the air with fire, igniting the army like it was a box of matches.

A brief wave of nausea overcame Henry as he couldn't help but feel remorse for the soldiers on the opposite side. While war made these things necessary, it was still an awful thing to watch, men burning alive and screaming for help. He swallowed down bile and closed his eyes for a moment to reset. After a deep breath, he opened his eyes and immediately felt his years of training kick in. He was shouting out orders as if he had done this a thousand times.

Taking advantage of the chaos on the other side, Henry sent his archers forward. Their commanding officer timed it so their unit fired upon the enemy while Henry's foot soldiers charged ahead, successfully clearing the way for them.

There was a roar as the soldiers drew closer to the enemy until, finally, swords slashed through those who were in the frontlines. Most of them were either already dead from the flames or nursing wounds. They were quickly slain, their bodies trampled over as Henry's men continued pushing through.

He called for a pause and waited for the order to be echoed by the other generals until all of his men came to a standstill. Then the Lyran archers behind sent their arrows flying again to knock out as many men ahead, the arrows slicing through the air with a satisfying hiss.

In an instant, his men were charging ahead once more. His strategy was working well thus far. The men were having no trouble taking out the entire front army in a matter of minutes.

It was all working well until Henry heard the ear-piercing shriek of a dragon, only to realize he didn't recognize the sound. When he looked up, he saw a huge ash-colored dragon heading straight for his father and Luna. Normally Henry wouldn't question his father's abilities, but this other dragon was followed by six more. Niebla's dragons more than doubled that of Lyra's.

He swallowed his fear and forced his gaze back to eye level, taking in the scene around him. With that amount of dragons, Henry knew his men needed to prepare for some fire. He called out to his generals, ordering for defensive formation.

Men employed in the Lyran army were issued custom fitted armor made from fire-proof dragon scales. Lyra's four dragons were constantly shedding and regrowing their scales. Over the years, expert designers were able to make hundreds of suits of armor. While hundreds was not nearly enough to supply their entire army with fire-proof armor, others were given shields instead. Shields were much easier to craft with dragon scales than fitted armor.

Upon Henry's command, men without fire-proof armor--the men who volunteered recently to join the army--fell into tight squares and waited for men who did have fire-proof armor to surround them. Those with dragon-scale shields held them up in their square so that every man was covered from any fire that might rain down from above.

Henry was just in time as two dragons took it upon themselves to send a torrent of fire down on them. While most of his men were uninjured, Henry noticed several dozen Nieblan soldiers were not so lucky. Niebla's own dragons had taken out a significant portion of their own army. The enemy troops were not as fortunate to have armor and shields made from dragon scales. They were helpless against the flames. Henry avoided deep breaths as the smell of burning flesh filled the air around them. 

The fact that Niebla's dragons would release fire close to their own men was horrendous. Henry wondered if any of the enemy foot-soldiers were feeling that betrayal. They had sacrificed their own men at the chance of killing any of Lyra's. 

Without wasting any precious time, Henry shouted out the next orders. While the dragons were flying elsewhere, Lyra's army would continue to take out as many Nieblan soldiers as they could. And every time a dragon began to turn their direction, Henry would once again call out for his men to form their shield walls.

The Prince soon found himself in a steady rhythm. Their hard work and years of training was paying off. It wasn't easy, not with seven dragons constantly flying overhead, but Henry was pleased his men were holding up fairly well. He wasn't losing nearly as many as he should. And while Lyra was outnumbered on land and in the sky, he was confident that Lyra's new allies would prove to be worthy assets in this war.

He could only pray that his parents and brother were able to handle themselves until more help arrived.