"These things sure are brave."
Igni spoke with a soft chuckle as he spread his massive wings wide. His scales shimred with fiery-red light.
Then, he opened his jaws and—
"RRRROOOAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!"
He roared.
The sound rippled through the air. For an instant, the Stonefangs’ trusted beasts shivered, causing the Stonefang warriors sitting on them to lose their balance. Even the very ground seed to tremble.
And before the echo of the roar even faded—
FWWWWOOOOOSHHHH
Fire.
A stream of pure fla burst from Igni’s mouth and swept across the battlefield like a river of molten red. It roared over the vines, seared the air, and painted the cold gray sky in light.
The weather was bitter cold—winter was coming—but Igni’s fla erased the chill in an instant.
Stonefang warriors scread.
"Naak’gul!! Thraas’val!!"
{My eyes!! It burns!}
"Vor’rak!! VOR’RAK!!"
{Fall back!! FALL BACK!!}
"Gah... nok’thal...! Zol—zol’tash!"
{I... no air... I can’t breathe!}
"Zor’veth! Zor’veth dul!?!"
{Too hot! Why hot like this?!}
Their war beasts twisted in panic, their chains snapped, fangs gnashed. So younger beasts with no riders began fleeing, trampling vines and warriors alike before they lost their balance and got trapped in the vines.
The fire didn’t touch them—not directly.
None of the Stonefangs or their beasts were burned, but—
They didn’t have to be.
The heat alone was enough to scorch their skin, crack their lips, and dry their throats. Even their stone-forged weapons began to glow faint red, almost as if they would start lting right away.
"Tharn’gul vak’tar zul vaan!!"
{Chief said just two!!}
One warrior cried, backing away.
"Tharn vak’tar no draak’mor!!"
{He didn’t say the beast was a god!}
"Krath—krath’dul... thraas’gul!!"
{Blade—my blade... it burns!!}
"Vak’tar zol graakh! Zul... zul vekhdaal!!"
{Said we slay it! This... this madness!!}
All at once, the attackers lost their rhythm. The Stonefangs who had bravely surrounded Igni and Lavinia, trying to bring them down, faltered. Their formations fell apart, the beasts that threw them in the air to reach Lavinia began to cower, and the Stonefangs who had tried to attack Igni with spears or throw hooks toward Lavinia paused, trembling.
No one moved forward now.
They didn’t retreat yet—but they were frozen, caught between the god’s fury and their own disbelief.
Even Lavinia, sitting on Igni’s back, was taken aback. She knew the Dragon was strong, heck, she had seen it more than once, but this...
He could fight the entire battle alone if he wanted to...
’A Dragon is a Dragon, huh...’
She muttered, smiling wryly. The picture she had of these beasts constantly coddling and acting cute in front of their father really shattered every ti she saw them act.
"Lavinia."
Soon, Igni’s voice brought Lavinia out of her reverie.
"Don’t stop. It is your ti."
The Dragon spoke and—
"Y-Yes!"
Lavinia nodded and the Seven Circles around her shined brightly. Her spirits cheered for her. Because she was using High Level Spells, they couldn’t help her, but they were definitely a strong motivating factor.
Spears of Ice ford around her, raining down on her enemies, taking them down in an instant.
"Aarghh—Shaar’gul!! Shaar’gul zol’veth!!"
{Aargghh—the Witch! The Witch is attacking!!}
The Stonefangs cried. Igni’s attack gave Lavinia enough ti to prepare the next wave of her spells, and from this mont forth, the control was in her hands.
Her vines started crawling forward, slowly curling around the Stonefangs, pulling them deeper and deeper into the forest.
"Graa’thul!! Veth’mar!! Veth’mar dul!!"
{Aagghh! The Vines! Watch the Vines!!}
Stonefangs started reacting, cutting through the vines with their weapons and freeing themselves and their comrades.
Of course, Lavinia didn’t give them an easy ti. Her flas acted like a whip. Whenever warriors tried to free themselves from the vines, fire burst beneath them, scorching their feet and distracting them.
She raised a hand and the vines moved up, pulling over fifty soldiers to their knees, tangling them so tightly only their faces were visible.
"Vek’draa... shaalk zul vekhdaal!"
{She... pulls them like cattle!}
One breathless warrior scread, desperately moving out of reach.
"Graakh Shaar’gul dul’kaan!!"
{Slay the witch first!}
Another Stonefang hurled an oil flask that exploded midair—flas shot toward Lavinia. The Mage, however, flicked two fingers and a shield of wind deflected the flas, redirecting it onto a group of advance soldiers.
"Aarrggghh!!"
Their screams echoed as fire ignited grass around them.
Draakar, the one who the Stonefang chief chose, charged at Lavinia with twin axes. He violently hacked the vines in front of him, tearing through plants like at.
Lavinia bombarded him with different spells—flas, thunder, rocks, wind blades. Different elents attacked him, slowing him down as the vines he just hacked began curling around him.
"VOR’KUL!! VOR’KUL ZUL ’THAR!!"
{GET THESE THINGS OFF !!}
Draakar shouted, his eyes burning with fury as he once again started cutting the vines, and Lavinia—
She no longer focused on him and began targeting others.
The Stonefangs faltered again.
The group constantly tried to attack Lavinia. Once again, they grabbed chains and wrapped them around axes and hurled them toward her, trying to bring her down, but again, Igni simply moved, making sure none of the attacks hit her.
Lavinia solely focused on attack and capturing her enemies. Her vines tightened even further. More than eighty Stonefangs were already trapped, unable to move at all. The younger beasts had started retreating. The beasts and the Stonefangs that were in a position to attack seed helpless.
Attacking an opponent in the air was proving to be much more difficult. Because of Igni, none of their attacks worked, and they couldn’t stay on the ground without being wary of the vines either.
The only thing the Stonefangs could do was hurl curses at her as they desperately tried to charge forward, only to fail and et the vines.
Lavinia alone was facing more than a hundred Stonefangs and the Velmourn Soldiers who were witnessing this sight from the Wall...
"She’s... she’s handling them alone..."
"No one’s getting through... not one..."
"I-Is that really a Seventh Circle Mage...?"
They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Barely a few minutes had passed since the battle began but the odds were already in their favor. The Stonefangs’ ground army, the one considered to be the strongest, was in complete shambles.
If this continued, they wouldn’t even have to wait for the reinforcents. Lady Lavinia would be able to win this battle for them alone!
And...
They weren’t the only ones who realized it.
"VOR’SKAN DROKH!! ZOL DRAAK AAN SHAAR’GUL!!"
{SKY WARRIORS!! TAKE DOWN THE DRAGON AND THE WITCH!!}
Suddenly, the Chief of the Stonefangs raised his axe and shouted, his voice echoing throughout the battlefield.
"W-What is he saying...?"
One of the Velmourn soldiers questioned with a stutter, turning towards his friend who knew the Stonefang language.
"He wants the Flying Unit to take down Lady Lavinia and the Dragon..."
The friend answered with a solemn look on his face.
"Then what about the raid...?"
The Velmourns could not understand.
The Flying Unit’s goal was simple. While the strong ground army distracted them, they would move to the granary and take Velmourn food.
Every Velmourn knew this was the entire reason these people even attacked. After all, it was the sa every winter. The Stonefangs lived in the mountains in the west, and as winter approached, the mountain food crops they relied on froze up, forcing them to raid other tribes and Velmourns in the mainland for food.
For the Stonefangs, every raid ant gathering food, even if it cost them more lives than their initial expectations. Their situation was simply that desperate.
But then...
Why focus on Lady Lavinia?
"This raid has failed."
Suddenly, Sergeant Leron, who was positioned at the Wall, spoke up. The Velmourn soldiers turned towards him with a frown, and the Sergeant started explaining.
"It doesn’t look like their Flying Unit will be passing ours to reach the granary any ti soon."
He began as he stared at Kael, who was leading their Flying Unit in a formation so tight that not a single enemy was able to go past them despite them being outnumbered.
The soldiers nodded as they turned towards Kael as well. Honestly, it was a sight they would have never been able to forget if they weren’t watching Lady Lavinia. With how he was stopping the enemy so efficiently, Lord Kael was definitely impressive, yes, but his actions were being overshadowed by the Mage.
"Their ground army is a ss. Their Flying Unit isn’t doing a lot either, not to ntion ti is on our side since the reinforcents are on their way.
Even if their Flying Unit sohow breaks through, reaching the granary and coming back from there won’t be easy, not when their ground army is in such a ss, allowing us to move towards the granary and defend it anyti we desire.
Their chief understands that as well. This is why he changed the targets."
The Sergeant theorized.
"Changed targets?"
"Instead of food, he is now targeting Lady Lavinia, or more accurately, Lord Dragon. Lord Dragon’s presence alone ensures that none of the Stonefangs’ attacks in the future succeed. They failed when we only had a fifth of our forces—there was no way they would succeed if we had all our n.
It is not just a current problem; it will be a problem in the future as well.
So...
Their chief decided to remove this problem and get rid of the Dragon and the Dragon Rider."
"But...
Isn’t the real Dragon Rider... him?"
One of the soldiers questioned, pointing at Kael, and the Sergeant just shook his head.
"Well, the enemy does not know that.
Lord Kael has been staying behind the Flying Unit and commanding them, only acting when necessary, so maybe he doesn’t want a lot of attention,
But..."
The Sergeant montarily paused as suddenly, a small smile appeared on his face.
"But that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer."
He spoke, looking at Kael, who had finally moved away from the Flying Unit he was commanding.
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