Everywhere she looked, there were now more Wuffs than bare ground. She and Kaleb were being swarmed from every direction; swordsmen were descending upon the dragon's legs in search of weak spots and archers were loading up fresh waves of arrows. She could hardly see the other dragons in the distance, who were similarly surrounded, and glancing back at the entrance to the Trade Center, she noticed—with horror—that a sizable force had bypassed the two of them and was on its way to breach the gate.
Minx's arms faltered. It didn't matter whether she fired her bow, whether she killed one, or even a dozen of these warriors. For every one she killed, there seemed to be a hundred more waiting in the wings. She felt like a piece of food seized by a colony of ravenous insects; Kaleb's attacks and thrashings could kill them by the score, but eventually, they would be overwhelmed; it was a rule of nature.
She launched a series of arrows, sniping a few Krah whose hammers had been trained on Kaleb's legs, but had to drop to her knees to avoid another flurry of arrows from below. We need backup... we're completely surrounded! We can't fight our way out of this—not just the two of us!
Loading another arrow, Minx studied the mob, looking for a higher value target. She found, instead, warriors the likes of which she'd never seen. There were brutish, ape-like spearmen’s in the lot, as well as serpentine swordsmen and tusked marauders armed with exotic flail weapons. She had been prepared to fight Wuffs, Plurn and Krah—but never before had she glimpsed such odd and terrifying species as these. The enemy's ranks swelled with strange warriors of this very kind; a nightmarish horde of beast-men who screamed and raged in grating tongues.
“Kaleb!” she cried, clinging to him. “We need to fall back. We need to make sure they don't overtake the gate!”
The dragon shifter seemed to agree with this idea, but before he could take a step back, the mob pushed in further, the combined force of countless hands and weapons driving him to the right with a groan. In a white-hot rage, Kaleb turned and launched a fireball into the sea of warriors. Dozens were immolated by the knot of glowing flame, but those on the dragon's other side picked up the slack, hacking at his legs and loosing arrow after arrow.
Very soon, he would be overcome—and Minx along with him.
“W-We've got to pull back!” she cried.
From the crowd there came ropes and chains. These, fired on the ends of arrows or hooks, were fastened around Kaleb's limbs and wings—and the might of many pulled on each length, forcing the dragon lower, till his belly nearly touched the singed ground. It was no small feat to overpower a dragon—and Kaleb thrashed, knocking many of the rope-pullers off their feet. But when they fell, others took their place, and being pulled viciously from every direction, Kaleb was brought very quickly to yield.
Minx tried hacking at the ropes within her reach, slicing at the thick cords with her dagger, but failed to sever them in time. Already, warriors were attempting to climb onto Kaleb, and so she focused instead on dispatching them as quickly as she could. A Krah was thrown from Kaleb's back as Minx blasted him in the abdomen, and a longsword-wielding Wuff was kicked to the ground before he could even find his bearings on the dragon's back.
Her heart stamped against her sternum. Minx looked about the field, hoping for reinforcements.
No one was coming, however.
No one, that is, except for more members of the dark army.
Chapter 23
The only solution available to them was the riskiest one.
Bound by several lengths of rope and chain, Kaleb did the only thing he could think of to free himself. He suddenly returned to his human form, sending the surrounding throngs of warriors to the ground as the ropes went instantly slack. Minx rolled onto the ground behind him and watched as he quickly shrugged off his constraints.
This move had freed Kaleb, but relief was fleeting.
They were now completely surrounded, just the two of them, by countless bloodthirsty warriors.
Kaleb wasted no time, knocking aside several incoming swordsmen with a thrust of his arm while the others within reach struggled to regain their feet. “We'll fall back,” he shouted to Minx, remaining close to her, “if we can fight our way to the gate, that is!”
Desperate to survive, Minx funneled the arrows out of her quiver two at a time and sent them into any waiting body that would have them. She unleashed a flurry against the rushing warriors that sprinted up from Kaleb's blind spots and—when they pressed in too closely for her bow—dispatched them by hand when necessary.
Cries arose to her back as several Wuff swordsmen were knocked to the ground, one after another. Sprinting like a streak of lightning through the mass of warriors headed toward the Trading Center was Mau. The Faelyr snarled and clawed her way past numberless fighters, her fur standing on end as though charged with electricity. There you are! said the Faelyr at meeting Minx's gaze. You two weren't doing a very good job of keeping these goons from the Trading Center, so I thought I'd lend you a hand.
Minx launched a fresh arrow into a rampaging Plurn, grinning. You came at a good time. There are more of them here than we know what to do with. Noting the encroachment of still more warriors, she loaded up another shot and availed herself of the arrows from the quiver of a fallen Wuff, replenishing her own dwindling stock.
Kaleb roared as he batted his way through the mass of dark warriors; his pillar-like arms crunched bone and flesh as he struck at those brave enough to close in on him. Mau clung to him, seizing upon the archers that threatened to strike him from afar—the Faelyr's great speed more than compensated for Kaleb's lack.
Minx
