Roslin

  The first rock fell in the early morning. It had smashed against the barrier, creating a loud crack that could be heard across the city and a small blue ripple in the air. The rock, the size of which was a large barrel, had broken to pieces and rained down harmlessly like water.

  The noise had caused a temporary panic, but it only lasted until the officers had calmed the troops and the remaining citizens had been reassured. Roslin, for her part, was used to the noises of a city under siege and had slept through the first rock and the following rocks that had started to pelt the barrier. Her worry would start if the noise of the rocks breaking didn't come. She had taken night duty as the army set up, giving Cast time to relax as the new rider of the two.

  Roslin was pulled out of her light slumber at a tug through her bond. Silt, as eager for battle as most dragons with fire in their veins, had spotted griffins in the sky far closer than the army that had started to entrench themselves around the city. It was obvious bait, but that didn't mean the dragon didn't want to tug on it.

  At first, Roslin had ignored the tug, letting her bond know her thoughts, but that only lasted a few minutes until a knock sounded on the door to her room in the castle. She grumbled as she lifted her head from the back of the chair she was resting in. She hadn't taken off her armor. That would only be done when she had to wash.

  She inhaled a yawn before voicing a quick “Enter.”

  The governor walked in. The man was dressed in the blue robes most mages in the Arilon nobility wore. She had only met Lord Plark when she had entered the city and half expected him to have left on one of the first wagons. She didn't voice those thoughts; instead, she stood and gave a quick bow that all nobility of the kingdom were entitled to from the military.

  “Ah, sit, Lady Rider, this is a time of war, not civility. Pleasantries can wait.” As he spoke, the governor took a seat of his own at the desk in the middle of the room.

  Roslin nodded, her opinion of the man raising a notch, and retook her seat. “Lord Plark, Rider Cast is on duty at the moment. What need of me do you have?.” It wasn't the most elegant way of asking what he was doing here, but she wasn't the most elegant rider.

  The older man with slightly graying hair snorted before he spoke, “To inform you of the situation. You received orders from the capital, but I prefer my military experts to be informed of the situation, and the situation Arilon as a whole is in has changed.”

  Roslin had been paying attention, mostly, but that brought her full focus onto the man. She wasn't a strategist nor a commander, but she'd seen fights from above and could understand tactics as well as any officer. Her position as a rider demanded it. “Changed how exactly, Lord Plark?”

  He sighed and looked around before pulling a bottle off the desk and filing a cup that was on the table. “I received letters from the capital this morning. We, by that I mean Arilon nobility, suspected that Karvum was recruiting troops and pushing for higher numbers. We were right, but off on the amount. Their normal troop count is about thirty percent higher than expected. The griffins must have been breeding like hens because their count is higher than expected, as well. Scouts on horse and dragon back have gotten us rough numbers of the armies and the ships. Damn, those dwarves, they must have been working since the end of the last war making those ships, the number over a hundred.” He took a long drink of the liquor before continuing, and Rolsin could tell formality had left the man completely. “Five of the eight cities on the border are under siege, all side by side. There's no way the Karvum armies at each can break the wards easily, but it's locked us down and allowed them to lead several smaller groups of Griffins and Ships into Arilon. They've started to destroy trade routes and roads. Without dungeon access, it's going to be painful to the kingdom's economy.”

  Roslin frowned. “We expected the Empire to push hard at the first hint of a chance. We've increased our standing army and rider size to account for most of this. Where's the first through twelfth regiment?”

  “They're marching west from the camps and capital to relieve us, as are the elves, but time isn't on our side. We've spotted more troops approaching from the border and have a rough idea of what Karvum aims to do.” Lord Plark took another sip of the drink, and Roslin felt Silt's attention on the conversation. After a moment, the man continued, “Their aim is to take the border cities in a blitz attack. They've surrounded the biggest cities, preventing easy reinforcements in a quick forced march, probably leaving all of their own border cities lightly defended. With them attacking our roads and the distance our army has to cover compared to their own armies, it'll be a tossup who arrives first.”

  Taking in the information, Roslin put the pieces together on her own. Karvum had seized the system update to finally declare another war. The rush to enwrap and siege all of the border cities was to stop a quick force of combined garrisons from forming an army of their own.

  Once the cities had been circled, they had sent their larger number of flyers and mobile flying artillery to break the roads, slowing Arilons own army in the hopes they could take the cities fast enough. It was smart, and even now, Roslin couldn't think of an easy counter.

  Durlim was the biggest city on the border, but all of the major holdings were well-defended and supplied for sieges such as this. That was the problem, though. The cities were only meant to hold for reinforcements, and even then, the garrisoned troops could only do so much against larger numbers. The cities that had wards in place would take a while to siege out, but with enough troops, Karvum could push the city walls even if it would be a bloody ordeal.

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  If Karvum secured enough cities on the border, it would not only be extremely hard to break the position in a decent time but also give them access to the much less defended heart of Arilon.

  That brought up the one question Roslin needed to consider. What could she do to fix the problem? The answer was nothing. She wasn't high military command nor nobility but a rider. Her orders had been to defend Durlim, and she would do that to the best of her abilities. Roslin was sure if it came down to it and Arilon was put on the back foot, Cassin and a few of the other big hitters of the Kingdom, such as the elven king, would get involved sooner than expected.

  She smiled, imagining the large silver dragon breaking the very ground. A tap on the bond from Silt and an image had her smile turning vicious.

  Until a point like that came to be, she could bleed the Karvum's Griffin Core for as much blood as she could take. It was time to gain a few feathers.

  Silt

  Silt was almost dancing from talon to talon as she waited for Roslin to do the final few checks. It had been too long since she last had griffin blood in her mouth. The siege of Durlim was a chance to capture that taste again.

  The rules her rider had put forth were simple. They were to stay away from the army and close to the shield. Approaching one of the flying boats wasn't to be done either. Partly, Silt could understand the caution. Argoth would be ready to assist if necessary, but it wouldn't be. She had fought in the last war and remembered how skittish the birds were once one or two had plummeted to the ground with a burned wing or broken neck. Griffins, after all, were not like dragons. They were a kind of pack animal and lived in flights. They needed each other, while dragons could stand alone.

  Slit watched her rider make her way out into the courtyard, already prepared for a fight. She was like that, and Silt approved. The crystal mask reflected her scales as she scaled onto Silt's back. No words were exchanged, only emotions and images. Giving a flap of her wings but not attempting to lift, she waited until everyone had gotten the signal to back away. After a minute, they had dispersed to the edge of the yard where the wind wouldn't pelt them with stones, and Roslin gave the signal to lift into the air. Beating her wings, Silt rose.

  It only took the dragon a minute to spot the griffins. They were above the shield and clear of any ballista the city could aim. Counting, she saw they numbered eight strong. Each of their humans had blocks for identification, as did the griffins, probably etched into the harnesses they wore. It was a tactic both sides used, and for good reason. If it was revealed one major player was a dozen levels or a grade higher, they would be targeted in mass by spells and skills.

  Neither Silt nor Roslin paused in mind or body as they claimed, only shifting to reangle. Roslin unclipped herself from Silt, sending a plan of action through their link. Silt growled at her bond, but she had done the same thing before. She just couldn't understand why humans seemed to enjoy jumping from the backs of creatures who had wings when they lacked any. As Roslin stood up and used a spike on Silt's back to keep stable, they closed on the griffins. They had been spotted as soon as they had started to rise, and the griffins had already taken a formation, one the dragon recognized. It would allow a series of continuous diving attacks in pairs as the griffins circled around. For a moment, steam billowed from Silt's nostrils. The formation, while effective on new bonds, was useless against her. Did they not see her size? Her scars? She was no Hemlock, but she had been through more dungeons and battles than days in a year. She felt that outrage grow as they continued that formation, getting ready to dive. She would have to teach them the errors in their thinking.

  Everything started in a flash as the first skill was activated. One of the griffins had green mana drift from its wings and back, and it dived, followed by a second. Silt, at the same time, activated her own boosting skills. Her scales grew hot and glowed with an inner heat. The air around the dragon seemed to boil, and heat waves trailed up into the air. The buffs weren't battle-altering, but they did give the dragon what they wanted. An increase in speed and maneuverability. With control of the heat, it was easy to adjust the temperature around her and create lift from hot air or drops with pockets of cold.

  As the first set of griffins came close, their talons glowing white and wings shimmering a pearlescent, set to meet her with one on each side, the next set started their dive. Silt was ready. She expanded the heat around her with a force of will and sent it forward and up in a wave. An almost invisible strike with only the mana moving as a sign.

  One of the first griffins who had been on Silt's left jerked up as a wave of heat caused a sudden thermal that caught the wings and soared past. The dragon then rotated her body sideways, letting her wings fold back to avoid cuts, and reached for the second griffin, who just realized at the last moment that their partner wasn't with them.

  The scrapping claws and flailing feathers battered at Silt as she plucked the bird half her size out of the sky, her heavier weight making the momentum change minor. She leaned her head down and bit down on one of the wings, ignoring the spell that flashed at her from the human on the back of the griffin. The burn of some kind of acid was minor. Pulling her head back, Silt tore the wing off and dropped the bird, watching it plummet down for only a second before she started to regain height and looked at the next pair that approached from above.

  The same trick wouldn't work twice, but Silt had plenty of others. Opening her maw, she inhaled a deep breath and let loose a torrent of flame that burned so hot it almost appeared white. The griffin's backbeat and swerved to avoid it, but Silt rose through the flames. The heat was an enjoyment to her. It put her on an almost equal height to the griffins that pair like the rest of their kind and used speed to their advantage. Silt missed the first swipe at one as it flashed by ranking claws down her side, cracking some of her scales, and the archer on the griffin's back let loose an arrow that the dragon had to shift her head to avoid. The other griffin and rider were distracted as Roslin raised her free hand, chanted a few words, and sent a ball of flame at the pair, causing them to duck to avoid it. Her bond followed the attack by chanting another set of words, this time sending a whip-like tendral out that curved in the air and followed the griffin, scoring its side multiple times and setting feathers alight. The griffin screeched and wheeled around, flying back towards the army.

  Silt didn't have time to enjoy the smell of roasting griffin. Her attention focused on the new pair coming down and the two birds from the previous attack coming around behind her.

  Letting out a roar of glee and enjoyment, Silt dived into the battle, letting loose another jet of flames as she directed the heat to aid her in gaining height as she prepared to fight with everything she could spare. She wasn't worried about getting hurt. All fights resulted in wounds. She knew she and her bond would drive them off, eight griffins while a challenge wouldn't risk themselves. This was only a skirmish, the first of many.