Dragonsfall, or: The Dragon, the Witch and the Captain

Chapter IV: The Battle of the City

Malika turned to the General and said, 'Gain access to the City! I and my men will hold him off!' The General ordered his men to begin crossing the causeway, led by the Captain, and to launch all their catapults at the gate towers. Malika turned around and rode to her men, 'Spearmen, ranks! Horsemen, remember the plan!' she commanded. Her spearmen formed again a line across the camp; that is their side of the camp, the General's camp had been all but emptied as they marched to the gate. The Dragon approached faster than either time before, taking now as he did the Ruin he had carved into the forest. Malika's horse-archers split into two columns, riding swiftly towards the Dragon, but he took no heed of them, he concentrated on the spearmen. As he barrelled down upon them, some began to quail, but Malika commanded them to hold their line. When he got near them, she ordered them to break and they parted as water. The Dragon let out a stream of orange flame; some spearmen in the centre were incinerated, but they for the most part were all safe. The blast of fire went past them and hit many tents, exploding and burning anything in its path. The horse-archers wheeled around and began to fire their arrows at the Dragon, but remained far from his tail so he could not crush them. The spearmen fought with him, striking blows at his feet, legs and underbelly. But he too fought them, crushing them underfoot and betwixt his jaws, snapping them in two and blasting them with his flame.

The General and the Captain led the column over the causeway, shielding themselves from the mercenaries' arrows. As they got halfway over, the Mercenary Captain made his fatal mistake: he ordered the gate opened and his horsemen to charge, hoping that he would catch his enemy between his forces and the Dragon. But the General's men were of the King's army and not so easily would they be routed; they withstood the horse charge with their great spears. Many on both sides were cast off the sides of the great causeway, but the horsemen were destroyed. Footmen then took their place and there was a fierce battle on the bridge. The Captain slew many with his spear and helped greatly to win the advance. At last they pushed the mercenaries back into the city. The Captain then came face to face with the Mercenary Captain and bitter was their fight, but the Captain had still not regained his full strength and the Mercenary Captain would have overpowered him but were it not for the General. He came behind the Mercenary Captain and hewed at his legs with his sword; the Captain then swung his spear and slew the Mercenary Captain. The Captain then said that the only way to end the battle would be to confront the Earl and the Witch. The General agreed and fought with the Captain to the steps of the Castle. He then sent members of his personal guard with the Captain into the Castle to get the Earl.

The horse-archers had surrounded the Dragon in an ever moving circle, firing their arrows at him. But they had scarcely any effect other than further enraging him. The spearmen continued to attack him as well, but his hide was thick and they drew only meagre amounts of blood. Malika grew worried, the Dragon was stronger even than she had predicted. When she looked behind her and saw the General's men advancing into the City, she ordered her spearmen retreat to the General's compliment. She sent her horse archers away to the catapults to instruct them, and then to dismount and join her spearmen. Only she and her Royal Guard would stay behind. Her soldiers complied, but the Dragon pursued. 'Run! Run!' said he. 'Ye art as insects! Nay! Even such wouldst be too noble a compliment. Ye art as the berries, loosed from the bush by the wrath of autumn's wind and whose crushing goes unheeded by the travellers. Fie! Ye wert arrogant and stupid to have challenged me, and I wilt reward such foolishness with death!' Malika's heart grew hot with rage at the Dragon's words, but she kept her tongue silent. Her army retreated and, just as she had wanted, drew the Dragon into the camp. He was large and ill suited to move amongst the tents, so he burned whatever was in his way. Malika then loosed her Royal Guard upon him. Their spears and swords were sharper and stronger than the footmen's. They darted on their horses amongst the flaming ruins and struck the Dragon before he could strike back. They aimed near to where the footmen had struck so as to hurt him more. It was successful. The sun had now set and the only light came now from the burning camps; an eerie orange light, colouring everything its hue. The Dragon though, even under the continuous assault of the Royal Guard, pressed on and advanced further. Finally, Malika herself sallied forth; with her great spear she rode swiftly into the fiery camp. She rode close to the Dragon's hulking form and struck his leg. He roared and lashed his tail forward; she effortlessly jumped over it. He then swung it back and she ducked under it. She turned around and rode up out past a tent and went farther away from him. Another member of the Royal Guard shot his bow. The Dragon turned to face his attacker and showed her the side of his face. Malika seized her chance and threw her spear at the Dragon; it pierced his eye. The Dragon reared and let out a thundering roar of pain. He thrashed about, destroying the remains of the camp. Malika ordered that her Royal Guard retreat into the City and dismount; she would come up behind them. In the Dragon's agony, though, his tail sent flying one of the collapsed tents. The pole of it hit Malika's horse and pierced it through the heart. It fell over and Malika had to jump off; she yelled for her Guard to get to the city when some turned to go back for her. She rose and ran to the causeway. When on it, she turned around and drew out her scimitar, which glinted like a flare of fire in the orange glow. A wall of flames that was before her was reflected in her eyes and the gems of her tiara shimmered in its light. Slow, heavy footsteps shook the ground and the Dragon's head and front feet broke through the blazing screen; he growled, low and deep, at the figure before him. A stream of blood ran down from his left eye and sizzled as it was licked by the tongues of fire.

'And who wouldst thee be who wouldst challenge me?' asked he.

'I am Malika, rememberest thee my brother that thou killed?'

'Nay, I have killed many brothers.'

'Mine wast a Prince of Arabia, he came to thee two years past.'

The Dragon thought for a moment; then he smiled cruelly and said, his voice dripping with malice, 'Ah, indeed I remember him now. 'He was a fool! He tried to use cunning to outwit me, but he had scarcely the wit of a dog. I took relish in casting his wretched body from the rocks, much in the same way I wilt savour doing the same to thee from this causeway.'

'Nay! I have come for vengeance for his death, and vengeance I wilt have!'

'I wilt say to thee, Malika, Queen of Naught but Sand, the same that I said to the brother's doomed servants: no man wilt have vengeance against me!'

'I am no man!'

The Dragon roared and lashed out to crush her in his jaws, but she ducked and his bite went wide. She slashed his throat with the scimitar and drew blood. The Dragon roared and thrashed his head about, hoping to crush her, but Malika had already began sprinting across the causeway. The Dragon roared again and gave chase. She was halfway across, but, swift though she was, he was swifter and would have almost caught her were it not for the catapults. Rocks rained down from them at him. Most missed, but some hit; still he pursued his target. That is, until a particularly large stone was hurled at him. It caught him just behind his front right leg and sent the front of him sliding off the causeway. He grappled in vain for some purchase on the white stone, but his bulk and momentum carried him over the edge. With his final cries, the Mighty Dragon fell down the deep gorge. Malika watched as her foe smote the rocky sides of the precipice as he tumbled down and crashed on the bottom; she then made her way into the City. Truth be told, he was not in fact dead, and may have even found his way out of such a difficulty, were in not for the fact that the catapults then fired on the gate towers. They crumbled from their blows and fell down the sheer rock face. The huge white towers plunged down and crushed him where he lay under their weight. For ever after, as none could move the body, did he poison the creek that ran through the gorge; thus ended one of the last Dragons to live on the Earth.

The Captain and the General's men fought their way through the corridors and up the stairs of the castle. The men tarried behind to prevent any further assault so the Captain and only two of them went in the Earl's room. Upon entering, the Witch smote the two men with lightning bolts. The Captain raised his spear, but the Earl came behind him and struck him with his knife, just under his breastplate, in the small of his back. The Captain cried out in agony, but the two others laughed. They were about to finish the Captain when the whole castle shook as the gate towers fell. The Captain took their momentary confusion and regained his spear. He threw it at the Witch and it pierced her chest; she stumbled backwards and fell from the window. The Earl cried after her, but she was gone. The Captain made to rise and fight the Earl, but the Earl merely said, 'I cannot bear to lose her again.' And he threw himself from the window down into the melee below. At the sight of their lord's demise, the mercenaries quickly surrendered or fled. The General ascended the castle stairs and found the Captain and ordered him be taken to the hospital, but the Captain refused. 'Grave are my wounds, General,' he said, 'I thank thee for restoring me to honour. I leave now to join my beloved wife.' And he died.

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Amid the victory of the battle, the sorrow of the loss of the beloved Captain pervaded all celebration. The General, Malika and the Prince Regent were all in his funeral train; they carried his body through the streets and, as before with his victories, the citizens threw flowers before his train and came with silver flags; and they had tears, not of joy but of sorrow.

Malika and her people stayed for two more months ere their return journey to Arabia. The Prince Regent took control of the City, though he offered it to the General who refused, saying that he was a soldier and not a governor. For ever after the country was known as Dragonsfall