the Major went on, ‘not dragons, but sand wyverns are close enough, I reckon. Was stationed in Tserol for a time and they would come in from the desert.’
‘How would you do it then?’
Jarrage slapped the crossbow slung over his shoulder. ‘Bloody regiment with these would be a good start, lined up where we are. They punch through armour well enough; reckon they’ll manage dragon scales too, and they’re easier to aim than ballistae. Biggest problem is stopping it flying away, you put a hole in its wing, you ain’t stopping it, and if it can choose when and how it’s going to fight you’re lost.’
Ilumene didn’t bother to ask how one got a hundred crossbowmen out of those tunnels without making a sound, nor point out the bolts wouldn’t go deep enough to do much more than irritate a gigantic, deranged, fire-breathing dragon.
Nice to know someone’s probably going to die before me though. He was well aware that they were all most likely a distraction when it came to the actual killing. They might get a lucky blow in, but it would be someone rather more than human who did the real damage.
No, we’re not just a distraction, Ilumene reminded himself. Styrax is building himself a legend and he needs witnesses. They say he killed a daemon-prince in Thotel and won over the Tachrenn of the Ten Thousand — now he’s going to add a dragon to the tally of his kills.
Even Ilumene had to admit it was an impressive list; killing Lord Isak was nowhere near the greatest feat Styrax had achieved, notable though it was.
Show the priests you can face down and kill a daemon-prince. Show the commoners you’re a dragonslayer. Remind the soldiers like me you cut down Koezh Vukotic, one of the greatest swordsmen in history. If my loyalty were up for grabs I’d be persuaded.
‘Bugger this for a game of soldiers,’ Ilumene announced suddenly. ‘I’m bored now.’
He picked up a broken stone the length of his thumb and threw it with unerring accuracy at the dog. The stone thwacked into its flank, causing the dog to wake and yelp. It looked up and Ilumene waved to attract its attention, swearing at it under his breath. The fighting dog jumped to its feet and began barking as loudly as it could, straining at the chain tethering it to the cliff. The sound echoed around the still valley, strangely loud as it reverberated back off the cliffs.
‘Piss and daemons, Kayel!’ Jarrage exclaimed, hurriedly winding back the mechanism of his crossbow and slotting a bolt into place. He did have a halberd as back-up for the slow-loading crossbow and Ilumene was keen to see how that fared, albeit from a suitable distance.
‘I’ve got a busy afternoon planned,’ Ilumene said with a cruel grin and turned to Aracnan to attract the Demi-God’s attention. His eyes were open and Ilumene saw a moment’s confusion before Aracnan focused on the barking dog and remembered where he was.
‘It is time,’ Aracnan said, and he rose to one knee with a wince.
His right arm was bound to his chest to keep the wound from working further open, but Ilumene knew he was as capable with his left arm. Aracnan drew his black sword and Ilumene saw the Crystal Skull he possessed moulded around the guard — the Skull called Knowledge that Aracnan had taken from the original owner, though he had claimed it had been destroyed. Although any use of magic would cause Aracnan unbelievable pain, the Skull’s power could still augment that of his sword. The blade’s surface was swirling and surging with pinpricks and trails of faint light, like a meteor shower in the sky.
Ilumene reminded himself of the plan, such as it was. Ballistae were hidden inside the two tunnels. Behind one were three Litse white-eyes, the Jesters and a Ruby Tower captain, while Lord Styrax, General Gaur and four more Menin were positioned behind the other.
The dragon would be attracted by the noisy snack, then snagged by the foot-traps that, with luck, would keep it distracted long enough for the ballistae to wound it and keep the beast on the ground. After that Ilumene had stopped listening to the briefing. He was confident Styrax would be the one to kill it; all he had to do was concentrate on staying alive.
On cue a low sound rumbled across the valley like distant thunder. The fighting dog hesitated and stared into the distance, then started to bark a challenge. Ilumene