Watching the dark army advance, she became host to a wave of panic. Their plans, though well-drawn, could only take them so far. The chaos of battle was likely to throw wrenches into the best of their strategies. We're going to interrupt their ranks and make it easier for the warriors stationed at the bottleneck to take out the stragglers, she reminded herself, watching the other dragons assemble behind Kaleb. But what if they overwhelm us? They have Torrent on their side. If he has something special up his sleeve, he may be able to fight past us and blow through our defenses. And if Kaleb and I go too far—if we get too separated from the others, we're going to be surrounded on every side with no hope of backup...
It was her father, standing beside one of the archers on the Trade Center walls, who gave the order. His booming voice washed over the waiting combatants as the first wave of hostile warriors drew near. “Prepare for attack!” he shouted, ordering Minx and the dragons forward. Giving the archers a signal with his left hand, he stepped down from the wall and placed one hand on his scabbard. The archers nocked their arrows and took aim.
A dense mob of Wuff looked to make up the majority of the first wave; they came in all shapes and kinds, with striking variations in fur and armament. This snarling army of well-bred warriors, a mass of bristling fur and sharp teeth, began a mad rush toward the Trade Center, blitzing across the field with tremendous speed. A savage cry rose up amongst them and their weapons were trained on none other than Kaleb and his Fae rider.
“Here we go...” muttered the dragon shifter.
That was the last thing Minx heard before the sounds of war completely engulfed her.
Without conscious thought or effort, instinct kicked in and Minx fell into the eerily calm mind space of a seasoned hunter. Her wandering eye was fixed upon the foremost Wuff, a bulky warrior clad in leather armor and wielding a pair of short swords. His feet pounded against the earth as he led the initial charge, and Minx gauged his advance for only a moment before letting her arrow fly.
From high above the heads of the rushing Wuffs, the arrow sailed silently into the breast of the leader, felling him instantly. He staggered, eyes wide, and promptly collapsed—but dreadfully, the mob was unfazed at this loss and trampled over him in their maniac rush.
Within seconds, the mob was upon Kaleb.
The dragon shifter reared up, majestic wings casting long arcs of shadow as they kicked up dusty gales. The rampaging Wuffs braced themselves against the wind, and those who had arrived within striking distance delivered hasty blows. The sound of hardened steel blades meeting Kaleb's ruby red plates was disorienting to hear, and those foolish enough to strike a dragon with simple weapons were stunned to find their strikes lacked effect.
Extending one clawed arm, Kaleb swept through their ranks, knocking aside several warriors and batting them into the air like dolls. His talons ripped through their armor, and even those who were not immediately slain by the strike were so violently jostled that they could scarcely sit upright after landing. Arrows flew up from a handful of Wuff archers; these, where they did connect, met only impenetrable scales, and Minx couldn't help feeling a bit amused as she recalled how ineffectual her own arrows had been against the dragon during their bout. You'll need more than arrows, she thought, remaining low between his wings and loading up her next shot.
Kaleb turned toward the archers, incensed. The great nostrils on the tip of his ruby snout flared, and the air was filled with a sulfurous scent. Hitching forward, he opened his mouth to reveal rows of glistening fangs and unleashed a column of molten flame that struck out against the incoming warriors like a glowing rope. The flame attack consumed everything it touched; it scalded the nearby Wuffs, boiled the air from the lungs of those fortunate enough to avoid the blast, and even seized upon the plains, drawing great sizzling divots in the ground. Cries of pain and fear arose from the warriors; as expected, the survivors scrambled for cover, unable to launch an immediate counterattack.
But the second wave was already upon them, and the third appeared not far behind.
The other dragons had taken flight, and Minx watched as they dove out of the sky into clusters of warriors, batting at Krah and Plurn fighters mixed in with the next waves. Each dragon touched down a fair distance from the last, allowing for maximum disruption of successive mobs, but those that foresaw their attacks, or survived them, kept rushing toward Minx and Kaleb—and toward the Trading Center.
Kaleb's talons caught a Wuff swordsman and his tail crushed a handful of stragglers with all the fury of a rockslide, but reinforcements from the second and third waves had closed the gap and now flooded in with clouds of arrows.
It was all Minx could do to keep her head low and avoid getting pierced. Dozens of arrows cut through the air, some bouncing off of Kaleb's scales, others flying far from their mark and accidentally striking retreating Wuffs. Still other shots threatened to find a home in Minx, and she pressed herself against the dragon's back, waiting for the flow of arrows to subside. When it did, she stood, a fresh shot nocked. She prepared to send another volley forth, and looked about Kaleb's sides for a choice target.
She was unprepared for what she found, however.
Somehow, in the space of a few instants, the scenery had completely
