rocks, some of the serpents slipping into the water and
splashing back into the air after being swept far
downstream. Finally, some perched on the wave-swept
crests of stone, others crouched on the rocky banks. Their
long necks stretched downward to the water, the great
serpents awaited the further commands of their Golden
General.
“Laurana gave the order. The silver dragons breathed
upon the waters; their maws gaping wide, their lungs
pulsing with the most potent and deadly of a silver
serpent’s horrific attacks: a blast of icy frost that casts its
chilling grip across everything that lies in its path and
magically penetrates the target, sapping every vestige of
heat. It is an attack that will drive life from mortal limbs,
kill fragile leaves even as the force of the blast shatters the
brittle rock into frosty dust. It will turn water, instantly, to
ice.
“Once and then again, each dragon expelled his
powerful breath. The Vingaard River froze solid in its bed.
A belt of ice, extending to the bottom and anchored firmly
in the great rocks of the river bed, dammed the river’s
flow. As the pressure of surging water rose, waves poured
over the top of the frozen barrier and the dragons breathed
again, building the ice dam higher and higher.
“The channel behind this bottleneck was much wider
than the choke-point, and much deeper. The waters of the
Vingaard gathered there, swirling and tossing, surging
over their banks and spreading outward. Although the lake
thus formed expanded steadily, the wall of ice – thickly
built and firmly centered in its frame of granite bedrock –
held back the pressure.
“Below the dam, the mighty Vingaard began to
dwindle to a trickle, seeping between sodden banks. Fifty
miles north of the Narrows, downstream of the dam, the
Army of Solamnia reached Margaard Ford at nightfall, to
find the water still too high to cross safely.
“That night the brass dragons returned with word: the
dragonarmies were on the march. The Red and Blue
Wings had joined forces with the powerful reserve wing,
which must have been marching northward from Sanction
for weeks, concealed by the crest of the Dargaard
Mountains and the clouds beyond.”
Indeed, Excellency, we know from dragonarmy
records that Ariakus had put the formation into action
weeks before – even preceding the defeat at the High
Clerist’s Tower. Although initially the Emperor himself
commanded this formation, by this time in the campaign,
command had been turned over to General Bakaris.
Now the entire force advanced under a swarming
flock of blue and red dragons – the mightiest of evil
dragonkind – bound to destroy the Army of Solamnia. To
the captains of the knights, who received these reports
with their backs to an apparently impassable ford, the
news must have seemed dire, indeed.
Nevertheless, the Golden General met her captains there
and told them they would cross in the morning. We have
no record of their reactions, but surely any misgivings
they held faded away as the river level fell steadily during
the night. By dawn, the ford was a collection of puddles
spotting a smooth, gravelly path. The Army of Solamnia
marched across it in a matter of hours, while copper
dragons kept watch over the advancing wings of the
dragon-armies.
The spying copper dragons dived and circled on the
horizon, evading the blues and reds that frequently soared
out to drive them away. Finally, Bakaris realized that such
futile skirmishes only tired his dragons needlessly. He
decided to conserve their strength and allow his enemies
to maintain their airborne spies in peace.
Bakaris managed to avoid the mistakes of the other
commanders who had thus far faced the Golden General.
He maintained the concentration of his forces during the
advance, refusing to be distracted by anything except his
goal: the Army of Solamnia. He marched with
considerable speed, making record time for even the
normally fast-moving draconian forces. And he wasted no
time deploying for battle when the enemy was at last
located.
His skill, determination and, of course, the size of his
force, made him a very dangerous opponent. He drew
close to Laurana’s army with shocking speed. By dawn,
the morning after the Army of Solamnia had crossed the