glistening in the sunlight, but not melting in the cool spring air, Laurana
and Quallathon settled to earth. The other golds and brass dragons also
dropped, landing on the rocky riverbed. The bronze dragons circled
overhead, watchful for any interference from the dragonarmies.
Again the Golden General turned the breath of her dragons onto the
River Vingaard – but this time in the form of heat. Explosive fireballs
belched forth from the golds; from the brass came blistering waves of
scorching wind. The searing breath weapons swept across the frozen
surface, assailing with arcane heat the same waters that had earlier
suffered the onslaught of cold.
With convulsive force the great sheets of ice cracked and splintered,
shifting and breaking under the rapid change of temperature. Huge
chunks broke free, white mountains tumbled into the surging water. With
a rush, the dam broke away. The waters of the Vingaard thundered forth,
many times more powerful than they had been even at the height of the
spring flood.
*****
The huge, newly-formed lake roared through its new outlet, carrying
massive pieces of ice, like jagged daggers, in the forefront of the
advancing tide. Rocks that had rested in the river bed for a century ripped
free in the space of a minute, rumbling along with the flow like great
engines of war.
Above the water flew the dragons of gold, brass, and bronze. They
soared northward now, racing the torrent – but only barely matching it in
speed. Thus, both the waters and the good dragons reached Margaard
Ford at the same time, little more than two hours after the dam had
collapsed.
Nevertheless, according to Gilthanas, the situation stood at the brink
of disaster. His silvers still wheeled in the sky, forced back from the fight
– and sadly reduced in numbers. He had all but given up hope of victory,
when he saw the glint of sunlight on gilded wings.
Laurana’s mighty gold. dragons bellowed a challenge, echoed by a
hundred throats of gold and brass and bronze. And below the wings of
gleaming metal surged a maelstrom of frothing white, capped by the
icebergs and boulders.
The waters swept through Margaard Ford with all the impact of a
tidal wave, drowning and crushing the enemy troops trapped there. At the
same time, the dragons of Laurana and Gilthanas tore into the blues and
reds. The evil serpents fought desperately, but the vengeful attackers
swiftly slashed the enemy from the skies in the greatest aerial melee of
the war. By my calculations, Excellency, it seems likely that nearly four
hundred dragons fought in the air over Margaard Ford!
It is worth noting, Excellency, that Bakaris himself was taken captive
in this airborne clash. He ended the fight clinging for his life to the mane
of a bronze dragon after his own mount had fallen. It was the famed hill
dwarf Flint Fireforge, together with his squire, who rode the bronze.
This was Fireforge’s last flight on dragonback. He vowed
everafter to keep his boots firmly on the ground.
The waters of the Vingaard slowly settled to their
normal levels. We’ll never know how many bodies they
carried along their route to Kalaman and the sea. The few
surviving troops belonged to the Blue Wing, and they
hastened back to Dargaard Keep, where the Dark Lady
still held her fortress.
The last of the dragonarmies had been driven from the
plains, and Laurana slowed the pace of her march
somewhat, to rest her weary army as it at last approached
long-forsaken Kalaman. That city had endured a bleak
winter of isolation and siege, and so it was only proper
that their liberator and heroine should pass through the
city gates to commence the Festival of Spring Dawning.
That event concludes the tale of the Vingaard
Campaign. I hope Your Grace will forgive the addition of
several of my conclusions that, I feel certain, can be
comfortably established within the boundaries of
objectivity.
It is interesting to note that the Dark Lady, Highlord
Kitiara, was sentenced to death by Lord Ariakus for her
failures in this campaign. When he arrived at Dargaard to
carry out the sentence, however, Kitiara was able to