The Fall of Arnon

Chapter 31

The sound shook the earth to its very core. It was both triumphant and heart-rending in one fell gale. All at once, the clash of the swords was silenced and the men stood still. Every eye turned to the town of Arnon, but no other sound exuded from its stony face. Confusion stirred the armies. An echo of a cry exploded from one corner as an Antinian sword thrust through the heart of an Arnonian, but no other move was made.

It was the unspoken word, spoken only in that deafening roar. No man could advance against another until the truth was known. It was only a few moments, but to some, it felt like a lifetime. But, that it was a lifetime for then, the eyes of these men would not have looked upon their own destruction in all of its fiery fury. Like a shadow from the ashes, it rose from the town of Arnon. Large and menacing it disappeared into the clouds above. Every eye was riveted, every heart beat in frightened anticipation. The rain still poured from above, but not one eye moved from the dark clouds.

Poetry is still recited to this day. songs are still sung in the hauntings of the night. And, in every eye that wonders over that battleground can recall the story of that fateful day.

Dark was the sun,
Cold were the skies
When Arnon of old
Met her demise.

Each eye was fixed
Each soul stood still
When from above
The oath fulfilled.

With scorching heat,
With red-hot wrath,
The fire burned
A searing path.

Swift yet deadly,
it burned the land.
Scales and talons,
Against heart and hand.

A legend reborn,
A story retold,
A dragon unleashed,
A horror to behold.

The Dragon of Arnon
Left none to draw breath
Only one tells the story,
'Tis the story of death.

A pillar of fire streaked from the sky. There was no mercy in its red-hot gleam. The cold rain had been forgotten with the angry heat of the blaze. Shrieks of bitter anguish were drowned out by the thundering bellow of a dragon. It would have been a hard thing to remain in disbelief when the very proof was in the searing heat against your skin, but in each mind, there remained a small shred of doubt.

But, that doubt was consumed as the very thing they feared flew from the clouds into the sky above them. It was too real to disbelieve, but disbelief was all they could feel. Its slimy scales glistened in the light of its own desolating fire. Its eyes burned bright red. Its wings spanned far across the field. Talons of coal black were sharpened to a point by the hundreds of swords it had crushed in its claws.

The two armies suddenly became one in their one simple goal: to live. Every man scattered, their pride and their loyalty flying from their minds. Blasts of fire burned through the grass, leaving nothing but the scorched earth behind. The dragon swooped and landed amid the battlefield. His tail was made of armor armorers could only dream of creating. It swung from one side to the other destroying whatever lay in its way. His talons closed around a horse and its rider and it flew towards the sun. Then, as the land grew small beneath them, the dragon opened its mighty hook, and the two fell to the ground.

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The smoke rushed into Lerendo's lungs. He coughed, kicking his horse through the gaggle of screaming men. Fire rushed down near him causing his horse to jump, but he pushed on. The smell of burning flesh tore through his nostrils. His eyes burned with the sights of men lying limp upon the ground, their bodies blistering from the fire rained down on them from heaven.

He looked up to see the dragon still circling, but the fire he had borne upon the doomed men had now been set toward the tents of the Antinians. And, with one small hope in his heart, Lerendo galloped through the black earth and the bodies, some still squirming in agony.