A shrill squawkingcame from above. Then a flock of black birds dropped down through the cloudsand began to circle the armored island. The one-eared batalha drew a spyglassfrom his belt. He held it to one uneven eye. The birds did not belong this farnorth.
“Rifles!” theklops shouted.
Severalcommon-class klops rushed into a cluster of leather tents near the shore. Thesoldiers reappeared with wood and steel rifles.
“General Schlaue,what are your orders?” a short, hook-nose klops asked.
“Sound the cannon, raise the alarm,”the one-eared batalha cried, “and load those rifles.”
“You heard the General,” thehook-nosed klops shouted, “load ‘emwith buckshot.”
The small creature unshouldered abow and quiver. He lighted a wrapped arrowhead on a nearby fire, nocked the flaming arrow and pulled back thebowstring. The missile arched into the sky. A moment later, a cannon boomed in reply out over the harbor,sounding the alarm.
General Schlaueran to the shoreline and aimed a pistol intothe flock.
BANG!
The rest of the nearby klops followed his lead. Gunfire echoed off the cliffs. Theshore became hazy with puffs of white smoke. Kinder skog and mammoths alike looked around in fear and confusion.
“Spies! Get as many as you can!” Schlaue ordered.
The klopsdischarged and reloaded their rifles repeatedly. The birds were small and far away. Only a few fellto the rifle fire.
“Blast them with cannons!” Schlaue demanded.
The hook-nosed klopsdrew two black flags from his leather belt and waved them in the air. Shouts traveled across the water from the vessel's crows nests. Hatches in the sides ofthe hulls rose like stiff eyelids. Thenlarge iron barrels emerged through theopenings. The crews moved themselves andtheir loads to one side of the many ships. Their cannons tilted skyward. Gunnerslabored to lift their artillery’s aimhigher. The ships’ weapons began to boom and buck, tilting the vessels furtherto one side. The gunners had loaded the cannonswith nuts, bolts and small bits of jagged scrap metal. Clusters of the shabby blackbirds were ripped from the sky.The air filled with the sweet, acridscent of fire powder. Klops shouted in celebration.
“Keep them firing!” Schlaue ordered.
The hook-nosed klopsstood before the harbor and swirled a singleflag. The cannons continued to boom in loud scattered coughs.
The clouds grewdark. A shrill, thundering shriek echoed across the heavens. Klops and kinder skoghunched low, frantically searching the sky. The boom of the cannon fire halted,but still the squawks of the circling birds carried on.
“Keep firing,”Schlaue demanded, “keep firing!”
A blazing meteorfell out of the clouds and crashed into the bay. An explosion of sea liftedinto the air as high as the tallest mast.
“What was that?” aklops cried.
A massive, gleaming,white form exploded from the sea. It broke through the spine of a ship as ittook flight heavenward. The boat split in two, erupting in flames. Gunpowder ignitedonboard the crippled vessel, and its cannons began to fire off into thesurrounding fleet. The burning and mangled crew shrieked as they leaped intothe icy waters.
“Dragon!” soldierscried, running for cover, “Dragon!”
Schlaue stood hisground and reloaded his pistol. The hook-nosed klops ran past. The generalgrasped the coward by his iron back plate.
“Signal the BattleHune,” General Schlaue growled, his yellow eyes ablaze, “Fire at will.”
“But the cannonsare untested,” the hook-nosed klops protested.
“I said, fire,”Schlaue raged, shoving the small klops back towards the shore.
The serpent was asingle-headed dragon. It spat a torrent of hellfire into a ship’s rigging as ittwisted towards the beach. The general raised his pistol towards the flyinghulk. The dragon seemed to stare Schlaue straight in the eyes.
“Come, lizard,”Schlaue said, under his breath, “Do your worst.”
The dragon’scourse changed, zagging towards the batalha.
“Closer,” thegeneral breathed.
The dragon’s mouthstarted to open. A red-hot glow bloomed within its throat.
“Closer.”
The pistol kickedin Schlaue’s grip. The lead pellets sparked off of the beast’s armored brow.The serpent spiraled off course, swooping low along the shore. It lit severalthatched huts on fire, then banked left and set off back across the sea,torching a second ship.
Schlaue looked tothe walled island. Cannon barrels now peered through hatches in the defenses.The jagged ivory dragon set itself on yet another wooden vessel.
“We’re going tolose the whole fleet!” the hook-nosed klops cried.
“If the Battle Hunecan’t take on a puny dragon, how do we expect it to defeat the Sea Zombie?”Schlaue growled.
Boom!
The walled islandfired. The round came up short.
“The dragon is outof range,” the hook-nosed klops cried.
“They’re findingtheir range,” Schlaue replied.
A second cannon reported.The round hit the ocean far past its mark.
“They missedagain,” the small klops shrieked.
Schlaue saidnothing. The dragon set a fourth ship alight. The vessel’s gunpowder ignited,rupturing the boat’s hull like a burst organ. The serpent moved onto a fifthship.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three of the BattleHune’s cannons barked in succession. Schlaue watched the three smokingprojectiles arch through the sky. The first ball skimmed the dragon’s neck, thesecond clipped its wing, the third punched the steel beast in the side. The dragonshrieked in agony, struggling to stay airborne. The rounds did not penetrateits tough armor.
“We’re doomed!”the hook-nosed klops cried.
The serpent’s wailof pain slowly turned to a shriek of murder. It began to raggedly flap towards theshoreline. The large, walled island seemed to turn almost imperceptibly,following the dragon’s crippled flight.
“They have itsrange,” Schlaue said, grinning.
The dragon startedto spit fire.
Booom!
A single cannonrang out from the island fortress. The smoldering projectile glowed dully as itarced overhead. The dragon’s course was lurching and unpredictable. GeneralSchlaue feared the shot might miss its target. The round struck the beast behindits left shoulder and exploded on impact, black smoke and matter erupting fromthe serpent's ribs. The dragon jerked, belching out a massive ball of fire.More hellfire burst forth through its mouth and nostrils as flames blew backinto its serrated face. It began to flap and flounder, struggling to gain altitude.Black smoke issued from its ruptured guts. The giant let out a deep, gutturalcry, then started to half glide, half spiral towards the frozen earth. Itskimmed
