My heart was pounding relentlessly against the inside of my chest. It felt as though my ribs would shatter at any moment, as though I had been struck with a blunt weapon of war designed to shatter bone and kill slowly, and painfully. Far below, an army of thousands kept pace with the effortless speed of even the largest dragon, riding on to defend their families, and their freedom. I gazed around at the small dragon army at my back, searching for any sign of the unmistakable purple and silver mix that lit up Magar's slender, fragile body. It had been several hours since the early morning sun showed itself. I knew we were getting close to the shoreline, and I could only imagine the needless slaughter that was going to take place upon our arrival. I shut my eyes and took in a deep breath of the clean, cool air, knowing that it would soon be filled with smoke, and the screams of men, coupled with the sound of dragons murdering thousands with every majestic pass over head. I found myself shaking somewhat uncontrollably at the thought of having to fight once again, after what had happened in the past. I lightly stroked Doron's muscular back, lined with a hardened layer of scales that would repel most weapons, rendering him second only to a God, seemingly unable to be brought down by any conceivable weapon that any man could hold. For a moment, I had forgotten about the book I had read so many years ago, talking about dragons that would make Doron look like a sparrow being brought to the ground by the same arrows that flew at us in mass, yet here we were. Still together. As one.
"Magar! To the high left!"
I snapped from my trans like state at the sound of Amy's voice, and looked up in the direction she had called out, to see Magar diving down from above. Her body silhouetted against the mostly cloudy, yet still brightly lit sky as she dropped towards us. I squinted as she levelled out just above and beside Doron, with Bailey looking down at me.
"We aren't far! They're just over those crested hills in the distance! We'll be able to get a jump on them if we stay low and attack out from behind the hill!" Bailey shouted.
I was so relieved to see Bailey alive, that I nearly forgot what we were doing in the first place before I registered what she had said.
"How many have come ashore?!" I shouted back.
"Thousands! Their ships are still filing in towards the shore to unload! If we strike now we will catch them off guard! Many of them have not stepped foot on shore yet and remain easy targets on board their ships! We can take out those already on shore, and then allow our army to retreat, then we can take out as many ships as we can while they aren't prepared to fight! it's our best chance!"
I sighed, remembering the last encounter we had with these ships. I held on to some hope that catching them in the middle of their offload would give us an advantage that could grant us victory, though I still held on to some level of doubt. I turned and waved to Amy and Tahli distantly to descend, in order to avoid detection. All at once, we dropped to just above the ground, leaving only enough room for the dragons wings to flap without touching the ground.
"We've got to go ahead of the men! If we can take out some of them, our army will have a better chance! let's go!" I shouted over my shoulder.
I figured that not everyone would hear my voice over the wind, and the vast distance between us, but I also assumed that they would follow me, regardless of whether or not my actions we according to plan.
"Let's do this." I said as I patted Doron on the base of his muscular neck.
He seemed to understand, as he gave several powerful flaps to increase his speed, pulling him out ahead of the somehow silent army below. I looked around to ensure everyone had followed, and thankfully, they all had stayed wing tip to wing tip with one another as the kept pace. As we approached the final crested hill that kept us just barley out of view, my heart nearly stopped. Doron hugged the ground as he gave one final flap, sending him over the hill top, presenting him to the massive army that opposed us. I took a deep breath, held my bow proudly above my head, and shouted at the top of my lungs, until they ran dry of air.
"ATTACK!"