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Summer, 1331
By morning, the fires of the encampments had died down, casting a crimson hue on the morning sun and creating lighting strokes in the sky of smoke and haze. The victory had been complete: across six encampments spread along a ten-square mile cluster, nearly everything and everyone that once made up the Tassurian Second Army had been obliterated from the earth. An estimated eighteen thousand Other Men burned in the night, the remainder scattering in the countryside.
And the slaughter continued.
The fury of the dragons, once unleashed, would not be easily contained.
For a full week the wyrms ravaged Leicesters, slaughtering any humanoid in the area. Smoke pockmarked the entire region. Both the Coalition Forces and the Imperials were stunned into inaction by this orgy of death: an attempt by the First Army to support the survivors of Botsworth was simply blown off the roads by violent aerial strafing attacks, leaving hundreds of charred bodies. Another attempt by the 1st Corps finally moved up to Cateau, where they were surprised and nearly obliterated by an assault of almost 70 dragons, losing 5,000 troops in thirty minutes; however, the survivors managed to hold their ground and kill one dragon and wound another. With that, the wyrms recovered their casualties and broke off the fight. The dragon national had suffered enough at the hands of the Other Men.
Eventually, perhaps two thousand broken survivors could be found through Gremenal's once proud army. It was as if it had just been erased from the land, as surely as a force of nature, like snows or the Deluge.
And perhaps the fury of the dragons was a force of nature.
***
Five days later, in individuals or small groups, the dragons regrouped on the Firestone.
Some three hundred Great Wyrms gathered, about three-fifths of the number that had assembled and gone to war only two years before. Half of those remaining had been wounded and recovered, though many had lost eyes, limbs and digits. It had been a devastating war for the Children of the Sky. But now at least, they were masters of their own destiny again.
It was time to take assessment, and determine what the new direction would be.
Again the bulk of the Dragon Nation arranged themselves in a large arc around the Firestone, while the Great Dragon Lords - now only Rheiserrst, Teraphstha, Gherlaistts, Ewarerfise, and Safajae- established themselves upon the Firestone. They had learned the cost of not defending their common bonds, and now stood guard upon the stone itself to prevent anything from happening to the Jutrstra again. Behind them stood the World Shaman herself, slowly recovering from her tribulations of the past two years, but now capable again of leadership.
Behind Argvogriyea and the sacred stone were the broken remnants of the Fire-Eaters, now seen as traitors by the rest of the great wyrms. Many of the 29 pro-Tassurian dragons had been rounded up or killed at Botsworth Field, the thirteen prisoners currently at the back of the Jutrstra being shackled with the very crocoite chains that they had earlier used to enslave her and yoke their own people. A few of these individuals stood defiantly, though most stooped and simply tried to shy from the anger of the assembled Dragon Nation.
Mera came up quietly, joining the other wyrms after a short rest where Raphrsah stitched up his wounds from Botsworth Field. He tried to not draw attention to himself, but other dragons noticed anyway. They gave wide deference to him as he headed towards the Firestone, the savior of the Jutrstra.
Mera found Raphrsah, Hearesecha and Falknir off to one side near the foot of the ceremonial rock, and everyone nodded as he joined the group.
Then the bronze dragon noticed what was arranged below the Firestone. All around lay bones: skulls, femurs, ribs, whole skeletons and broken fragments. They were the recovered bodies of dragons that had not been cremated upon death; as a result, their spirits had not been freed to the sky, instead remaining trapped in their bare remains. Other dragons, having found the bones, had brought the poor remains back to the sacred rock. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of bones, the remains of scores of individuals.
Mera looked upon the sight with sadness.
*Oh. So many of our people-*
A voice interrupted him. *We will cremate them after this. They will soon join our ancestors in the sky. They will be at peace.*
Mera looked up to see the Jutrstra, addressing him with a slightly melancholic smile, leaning on her staff.
The bronze dragon quickly bowed. *Yes, my shaman.*
Argvogriyea nodded as she walked by, going to the edge of the Firestone before slamming her staff upon the rock, signaling for the meeting to begin.
*Children of the Sky, I welcome you back to the Firestone. It has been a long, sad journey home, but we have returned.*
The crowd immediately went to attention.
*Our people have suffered greatly in this war. We have all made many mistakes in this conflict, and we have suffered the consequences. I myself am guilty of hubris, of thinking that the Other Men will not be foolish enough to challenge us dragons. They were foolish and they have paid with their lives. They have learned the cost of meddling in the affairs of dragons. But we were also foolish. We meddled in the affairs of men and Other Men. You all did so on my behalf, and it humbles me. But-*
At this she glared at the crowd, who shrunk away before her disapproving gaze. *-But the Children of the Sky cannot be dependent upon one individual. You should not have risked the future of our people. You should have let me be killed. Better death than to have our people held in thrall.*
Dead silence pervaded through the mountain. Mera looked down again at the piles of bones.
The Jutrstra leaned heavily on her staff. *Still I am glad to be alive and to be free, I am just saddened at the cost of it. Let us honor the dead, and fight for the living.*
She turned to Lord Safajae, who bowed before her attention.
*Now there are a few things that need to be addressed. Even at our lowest point, even in our captivity, there were those Krhesmanks, dragon friends who helped us survive. Gremenal, who commanded us with capability and treated us fairly under his command. Michaelis, who made sure that we were provisioned and sheltered as much under his control as possible. Statchmwe, who treated our wounds and helped our recover, and of course Awerlass, who led us, and did everything in his power to help us. They deserved to be spared. What of them?*
*We sent a pair of dragons to search for each of them.* The blue dragon lord replied. *They will present their reports.*
*My shaman. We found Statchmwe and were able to send her back to Tassure.* Dafaefwe, a large brass dragon stated.
*My shaman, Michaelis unfortunately had killed himself when the rebellion started.* Veafasevsm, a brown dragon near the front shook his head. *It appears he took some poison he had on him.*
*The Awerlass?*
*Awerlass was rescued and returned to Akkaido, my shaman.* Safajae replied. *Jangesir is accompanying him until it is clear that he will be safe.*
Argvogriyea turned back to Mera.
*And Gremenal?*
The bronze dragon’s breath took, but he shook his head. *I have failed my shaman. Ehrisof died trying, and I likewise have not been able to take him alive. He went down fighting.*
The golden dragon nodded with a tinge of sadness.
*A shame. Perhaps it was for the best, my son. A glorious death for an Other Man.*
Rheiserrst gestured in a direction behind the Jutrstra.
*What of the criminals?*
*That is not all of them is it?* Argvogriyea stated, turning to Gherlaistts. *Tell me. Where are the remainder?*
The red dragon bowed. *Seven other Fire Eaters had joined their Other Men masters in death and had been left to the carrion birds. The remaining nine traitors have disappeared.*
*That is fine. They are of no threat to us now.*
*What about the rest of these traitors?*
The Jutrstra shot a glare at the bound Fire-Eaters. As one, the imprisoned dragons flinched at her attention.
*They will be enslaved.* The World Shaman finally decreed. *They will serve the Lords. They will be used in any conflict with the feathered ones, and perhaps they can redeem their freedom through defending the Children of the Sky that they had nearly brought to ruin. We shall see.*
Argvogriyea turned back to the great crowd of dragons in front of her.
*Now, there is one final matter.*
She looked back over at the five Dragon Lords beside her, and the quintet of wyrms looked back and solemnly bowed their heads.
*Since the death of Kruash, the Southern Ranges have not had someone to command it.*
The golden dragoness sighed.
*Perhaps we are too arrogant, too conservative, too set in our old ways. We leaned too long on our past glories while the other races adapted to our strengths and targeted our weaknesses.*
She suddenly turned to Mera and to the young dragon’s surprise with a flick of her staff beckoned him to ascend the Firestone.
After a brief pause, the Mera obeyed the summons. Hesitantly, burning with embarrassment, feeling hundreds of eyes staring at his back, the bronze dragon awkwardly scrambled up the large stone with as much deference as he could muster in the situation.
*Perhaps you, Meratezatgh, are the one to lead this change.*
The bronze dragon bowed his head.
*I am not worthy of this great role.*
Argvogriyea smiled. *You will be fine.*
The Jutrstra handed Mera a little ornament: a golden sphere the size of the dragon’s paw carefully wrapped by the tendrils of a willow, decked with Jasper, ormer, and vulture feathers. A symbol of sacred dominance of earth, wind, and water. A symbol of lordship. Mera bowed deeply.
*Arise, Meratezatgh, Lord of the Southern Ranges*
The Jutrstra also brought forth a large wooly rug.
*The skin of a haired elephant from Mercia, Lord of the Southern Ranges, and my personal gift to you. Thank you for saving me. * Argvogriyea gave a lick to Mera’s cheek.
The entire dragon nation stared in shock. Mera blushed.
The young dragon bowed again. *All of my squadron helped in saving you, Hearesecha, Falknir, Raphrsah. They deserve as much credit as me. *
*I understand, and they will be generously rewarded as well.*
She beckoned Hearesecha, Falknir, Raphrsah to come forward as well. Hesitantly, each came forward, and was given a golden ball, wrapped with willow and inlaid with lapis lazuli, held in a fiaghmore pelt. Mera’s companions each bowed to the Jutrstra in turn.
*Thank you, my shaman*
Mera thought he needed to mention his other support. *My shaman-* he quietly added, *-my friends among the humans also helped.*
Argvogriyea’s mood immediately darkened.
*They did, and they have my thanks. But they are also humanoids, and with the Other Men they slaughtered our people. It should be enough for the humans that our people leave this Great War and grant them a chance at victory. You may reward them individually as you see fit, Lord of the Southern Ranges.*
Mera nodded. *I understand, my Shaman.*
The Jutrstra turned her attention to the assembled dragon nation.
*We all have our grievances, and our loyalties, but I call on our peoples to lay aside our links to the bipedals and end our participation in this Great War. Our people are individually strong, but clearly the raging tempest created by the humans and their fight with the Other Men are stronger. Their strength is their numbers and their organization. Any one of our people could take down a dozen of them, but they could come at us like leaves in the fall. Far too much of our own blood has already been shed in this war.*
The golden dragon bowed her head solemnly before her audience.
*Let us leave this realm of Men and Other Men and let them finish their slaughter of each other.*
Muttering reverberated through the dragon nation, but no one publicly disagreed. The truth was that everyone was exhausted from fighting and the loss of so many friends and loved ones. The World Shaman nodded and slammed her staff upon the Dragonstone.
*So it is decided. Then let it be so.*
Mera still felt guilty, and finally forced himself to speak up.
*My shaman, with your permission. I would like to join the human army at Caldern. I could not have rescued you without the help of those human friends of mine. They risked their lives in that effort, and I lost one of them. Many are back on that field again against the Other Men. I would like to at least return that favor.*
The Jutrstra went silent for a minute. The Dragon Nation went silent. The young dragon’s heart jumped. Finally, the World Shaman quietly replied, laden with worry:
*Meratezatgh, you know I can’t spare you, not with our few numbers. Not with how you saved me.*
Mera bowed. *Then I will do as you command, my shaman.*
Argvogriyea shook her head.
* You are a terrible liar. I can see it in your eyes.*
Mera paused. *I cannot abandon my friends, my shaman.* He finally responded.
*I can’t order you to break that, can I?* the Jutrstra eyed Mera with disappointment. *Be frank.*
The young lord bit his upper lip and stared at the ground. *No, my Jutrstra.*
Argvogriyea sighed. *Then go, and may the winds watch over you. Be safe, Mera.*
Mera bowed. *As my shaman wills it.*
Bruce Springsteen - Incident on 57th Street
From
fawnfargu!
Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/48574491/
By morning, the fires of the encampments had died down, casting a crimson hue on the morning sun and creating lighting strokes in the sky of smoke and haze. The victory had been complete: across six encampments spread along a ten-square mile cluster, nearly everything and everyone that once made up the Tassurian Second Army had been obliterated from the earth. An estimated eighteen thousand Other Men burned in the night, the remainder scattering in the countryside.
And the slaughter continued.
The fury of the dragons, once unleashed, would not be easily contained.
For a full week the wyrms ravaged Leicesters, slaughtering any humanoid in the area. Smoke pockmarked the entire region. Both the Coalition Forces and the Imperials were stunned into inaction by this orgy of death: an attempt by the First Army to support the survivors of Botsworth was simply blown off the roads by violent aerial strafing attacks, leaving hundreds of charred bodies. Another attempt by the 1st Corps finally moved up to Cateau, where they were surprised and nearly obliterated by an assault of almost 70 dragons, losing 5,000 troops in thirty minutes; however, the survivors managed to hold their ground and kill one dragon and wound another. With that, the wyrms recovered their casualties and broke off the fight. The dragon national had suffered enough at the hands of the Other Men.
Eventually, perhaps two thousand broken survivors could be found through Gremenal's once proud army. It was as if it had just been erased from the land, as surely as a force of nature, like snows or the Deluge.
And perhaps the fury of the dragons was a force of nature.
***
Five days later, in individuals or small groups, the dragons regrouped on the Firestone.
Some three hundred Great Wyrms gathered, about three-fifths of the number that had assembled and gone to war only two years before. Half of those remaining had been wounded and recovered, though many had lost eyes, limbs and digits. It had been a devastating war for the Children of the Sky. But now at least, they were masters of their own destiny again.
It was time to take assessment, and determine what the new direction would be.
Again the bulk of the Dragon Nation arranged themselves in a large arc around the Firestone, while the Great Dragon Lords - now only Rheiserrst, Teraphstha, Gherlaistts, Ewarerfise, and Safajae- established themselves upon the Firestone. They had learned the cost of not defending their common bonds, and now stood guard upon the stone itself to prevent anything from happening to the Jutrstra again. Behind them stood the World Shaman herself, slowly recovering from her tribulations of the past two years, but now capable again of leadership.
Behind Argvogriyea and the sacred stone were the broken remnants of the Fire-Eaters, now seen as traitors by the rest of the great wyrms. Many of the 29 pro-Tassurian dragons had been rounded up or killed at Botsworth Field, the thirteen prisoners currently at the back of the Jutrstra being shackled with the very crocoite chains that they had earlier used to enslave her and yoke their own people. A few of these individuals stood defiantly, though most stooped and simply tried to shy from the anger of the assembled Dragon Nation.
Mera came up quietly, joining the other wyrms after a short rest where Raphrsah stitched up his wounds from Botsworth Field. He tried to not draw attention to himself, but other dragons noticed anyway. They gave wide deference to him as he headed towards the Firestone, the savior of the Jutrstra.
Mera found Raphrsah, Hearesecha and Falknir off to one side near the foot of the ceremonial rock, and everyone nodded as he joined the group.
Then the bronze dragon noticed what was arranged below the Firestone. All around lay bones: skulls, femurs, ribs, whole skeletons and broken fragments. They were the recovered bodies of dragons that had not been cremated upon death; as a result, their spirits had not been freed to the sky, instead remaining trapped in their bare remains. Other dragons, having found the bones, had brought the poor remains back to the sacred rock. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of bones, the remains of scores of individuals.
Mera looked upon the sight with sadness.
*Oh. So many of our people-*
A voice interrupted him. *We will cremate them after this. They will soon join our ancestors in the sky. They will be at peace.*
Mera looked up to see the Jutrstra, addressing him with a slightly melancholic smile, leaning on her staff.
The bronze dragon quickly bowed. *Yes, my shaman.*
Argvogriyea nodded as she walked by, going to the edge of the Firestone before slamming her staff upon the rock, signaling for the meeting to begin.
*Children of the Sky, I welcome you back to the Firestone. It has been a long, sad journey home, but we have returned.*
The crowd immediately went to attention.
*Our people have suffered greatly in this war. We have all made many mistakes in this conflict, and we have suffered the consequences. I myself am guilty of hubris, of thinking that the Other Men will not be foolish enough to challenge us dragons. They were foolish and they have paid with their lives. They have learned the cost of meddling in the affairs of dragons. But we were also foolish. We meddled in the affairs of men and Other Men. You all did so on my behalf, and it humbles me. But-*
At this she glared at the crowd, who shrunk away before her disapproving gaze. *-But the Children of the Sky cannot be dependent upon one individual. You should not have risked the future of our people. You should have let me be killed. Better death than to have our people held in thrall.*
Dead silence pervaded through the mountain. Mera looked down again at the piles of bones.
The Jutrstra leaned heavily on her staff. *Still I am glad to be alive and to be free, I am just saddened at the cost of it. Let us honor the dead, and fight for the living.*
She turned to Lord Safajae, who bowed before her attention.
*Now there are a few things that need to be addressed. Even at our lowest point, even in our captivity, there were those Krhesmanks, dragon friends who helped us survive. Gremenal, who commanded us with capability and treated us fairly under his command. Michaelis, who made sure that we were provisioned and sheltered as much under his control as possible. Statchmwe, who treated our wounds and helped our recover, and of course Awerlass, who led us, and did everything in his power to help us. They deserved to be spared. What of them?*
*We sent a pair of dragons to search for each of them.* The blue dragon lord replied. *They will present their reports.*
*My shaman. We found Statchmwe and were able to send her back to Tassure.* Dafaefwe, a large brass dragon stated.
*My shaman, Michaelis unfortunately had killed himself when the rebellion started.* Veafasevsm, a brown dragon near the front shook his head. *It appears he took some poison he had on him.*
*The Awerlass?*
*Awerlass was rescued and returned to Akkaido, my shaman.* Safajae replied. *Jangesir is accompanying him until it is clear that he will be safe.*
Argvogriyea turned back to Mera.
*And Gremenal?*
The bronze dragon’s breath took, but he shook his head. *I have failed my shaman. Ehrisof died trying, and I likewise have not been able to take him alive. He went down fighting.*
The golden dragon nodded with a tinge of sadness.
*A shame. Perhaps it was for the best, my son. A glorious death for an Other Man.*
Rheiserrst gestured in a direction behind the Jutrstra.
*What of the criminals?*
*That is not all of them is it?* Argvogriyea stated, turning to Gherlaistts. *Tell me. Where are the remainder?*
The red dragon bowed. *Seven other Fire Eaters had joined their Other Men masters in death and had been left to the carrion birds. The remaining nine traitors have disappeared.*
*That is fine. They are of no threat to us now.*
*What about the rest of these traitors?*
The Jutrstra shot a glare at the bound Fire-Eaters. As one, the imprisoned dragons flinched at her attention.
*They will be enslaved.* The World Shaman finally decreed. *They will serve the Lords. They will be used in any conflict with the feathered ones, and perhaps they can redeem their freedom through defending the Children of the Sky that they had nearly brought to ruin. We shall see.*
Argvogriyea turned back to the great crowd of dragons in front of her.
*Now, there is one final matter.*
She looked back over at the five Dragon Lords beside her, and the quintet of wyrms looked back and solemnly bowed their heads.
*Since the death of Kruash, the Southern Ranges have not had someone to command it.*
The golden dragoness sighed.
*Perhaps we are too arrogant, too conservative, too set in our old ways. We leaned too long on our past glories while the other races adapted to our strengths and targeted our weaknesses.*
She suddenly turned to Mera and to the young dragon’s surprise with a flick of her staff beckoned him to ascend the Firestone.
After a brief pause, the Mera obeyed the summons. Hesitantly, burning with embarrassment, feeling hundreds of eyes staring at his back, the bronze dragon awkwardly scrambled up the large stone with as much deference as he could muster in the situation.
*Perhaps you, Meratezatgh, are the one to lead this change.*
The bronze dragon bowed his head.
*I am not worthy of this great role.*
Argvogriyea smiled. *You will be fine.*
The Jutrstra handed Mera a little ornament: a golden sphere the size of the dragon’s paw carefully wrapped by the tendrils of a willow, decked with Jasper, ormer, and vulture feathers. A symbol of sacred dominance of earth, wind, and water. A symbol of lordship. Mera bowed deeply.
*Arise, Meratezatgh, Lord of the Southern Ranges*
The Jutrstra also brought forth a large wooly rug.
*The skin of a haired elephant from Mercia, Lord of the Southern Ranges, and my personal gift to you. Thank you for saving me. * Argvogriyea gave a lick to Mera’s cheek.
The entire dragon nation stared in shock. Mera blushed.
The young dragon bowed again. *All of my squadron helped in saving you, Hearesecha, Falknir, Raphrsah. They deserve as much credit as me. *
*I understand, and they will be generously rewarded as well.*
She beckoned Hearesecha, Falknir, Raphrsah to come forward as well. Hesitantly, each came forward, and was given a golden ball, wrapped with willow and inlaid with lapis lazuli, held in a fiaghmore pelt. Mera’s companions each bowed to the Jutrstra in turn.
*Thank you, my shaman*
Mera thought he needed to mention his other support. *My shaman-* he quietly added, *-my friends among the humans also helped.*
Argvogriyea’s mood immediately darkened.
*They did, and they have my thanks. But they are also humanoids, and with the Other Men they slaughtered our people. It should be enough for the humans that our people leave this Great War and grant them a chance at victory. You may reward them individually as you see fit, Lord of the Southern Ranges.*
Mera nodded. *I understand, my Shaman.*
The Jutrstra turned her attention to the assembled dragon nation.
*We all have our grievances, and our loyalties, but I call on our peoples to lay aside our links to the bipedals and end our participation in this Great War. Our people are individually strong, but clearly the raging tempest created by the humans and their fight with the Other Men are stronger. Their strength is their numbers and their organization. Any one of our people could take down a dozen of them, but they could come at us like leaves in the fall. Far too much of our own blood has already been shed in this war.*
The golden dragon bowed her head solemnly before her audience.
*Let us leave this realm of Men and Other Men and let them finish their slaughter of each other.*
Muttering reverberated through the dragon nation, but no one publicly disagreed. The truth was that everyone was exhausted from fighting and the loss of so many friends and loved ones. The World Shaman nodded and slammed her staff upon the Dragonstone.
*So it is decided. Then let it be so.*
Mera still felt guilty, and finally forced himself to speak up.
*My shaman, with your permission. I would like to join the human army at Caldern. I could not have rescued you without the help of those human friends of mine. They risked their lives in that effort, and I lost one of them. Many are back on that field again against the Other Men. I would like to at least return that favor.*
The Jutrstra went silent for a minute. The Dragon Nation went silent. The young dragon’s heart jumped. Finally, the World Shaman quietly replied, laden with worry:
*Meratezatgh, you know I can’t spare you, not with our few numbers. Not with how you saved me.*
Mera bowed. *Then I will do as you command, my shaman.*
Argvogriyea shook her head.
* You are a terrible liar. I can see it in your eyes.*
Mera paused. *I cannot abandon my friends, my shaman.* He finally responded.
*I can’t order you to break that, can I?* the Jutrstra eyed Mera with disappointment. *Be frank.*
The young lord bit his upper lip and stared at the ground. *No, my Jutrstra.*
Argvogriyea sighed. *Then go, and may the winds watch over you. Be safe, Mera.*
Mera bowed. *As my shaman wills it.*
Bruce Springsteen - Incident on 57th Street
From
fawnfargu!Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/48574491/
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Western Dragon
Size 1170 x 1280px
File Size 291.6 kB
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