By the Sword - By Sara Flower Page 0,66

still in their cages, but it was only a matter of moments before they would unleash their demoniac-driven fury on his men. He was more grateful than ever to have the powerfully built giants fighting on his side.

Edandir urged his firedrake down the hill. His mounted swordsmen followed. Once he reached the bottom, he signaled to his archers to be ready. They were standing at the top of the rise now. Their bowstrings were stretched taught, ready to shoot.

The general raised his sword. Thousands of arrows whistled through the air and rained down on Malinor’s knights.

A chorus of snarls and shrieks filled the air as hundreds of them fell. The monsters had been set free. General Edandir charged ahead with his army roaring behind him. His firedrake bounded fearlessly toward the mass of armed men.

Edandir drew his sword as he and his dragon collided into the wall of enemy horsemen. He slew three of them within seconds as his dragon breathed fire on several more. The general sliced and stabbed his way through the thick of the battle as his dragon shot out more streams of fire and lashed with his tail.

The castle still seemed like it was miles away.

Pori and Timlin fought next to him atop their strong war horses. Endil roared his notable battle cry nearby, clubbing down enemy knights with his mallet in one hand and stabbing them with his broad sword in the other.

Flaming balls raced in the air above them. Piercing cries echoed all around them. The archers had been hit. Tanel flashed through Edandir’s mind.

God, protect Your servants as they fight the enemy for You.

A terrifying snarl resounded through the air as a winged, fire-breathing dragon, larger than any animal that Edandir had ever seen, flew over him. It was flying toward the archers.

*****

Tanel was barely able to leap off of his mare in time as an oncoming flaming boulder collided with the animal. He got up and the sickly smell of burning flesh permeated his nostrils.

“No!” he cried.

His noble war horse had been slain, but there was no time to mourn her. Another fireball slammed into the ground near him and split into hundreds of fiery chunks that shot everywhere. Several slammed into his back and legs.

Tanel dropped and rolled, putting out the flames. He dashed away as another rock came screaming for him, ignoring the raw burning sensation all over his back. There were so many and they were coming at them too fast.

The remaining archers scattered. Tanel caught sight of Wenyn. The other archer’s arm had been burned. Wenyn sat on the grass, holding his limb.

Tanel raced over to him. A fireball soared just over their heads. He bent down beside Wenyn and sliced a section from his cape. He wrapped it around Wenyn’s badly burned arm.

“Wenyn, get up. You’ll die here if you don’t keep moving.”

Wenyn faced Tanel and just stared.

“The surgeon will prepare an ointment for you later that will do just the trick. You’ll be fine, but you have to get up now. Your wound will go numb soon.”

“My horse is dead. So many men are dead.”

“I know. We have to keep moving or we will be dead, too. It’s time to get up!”

Wenyn stood.

“Come, let us gather the archers together and finish off those catapult operators once and for all,” said Tanel.

A slight grin spread over Wenyn’s face and he nodded. The shock was wearing off.

The two bowmen made their way past the fallen. They rounded up as many archers as they could. To Tanel’s relief, Atalsa was one of the few that had survived the rain of fire. They managed to gather roughly twenty of them back together.

A piercing screech sliced the air. A giant firedrake was coming toward them. Smoke came from its nostrils. More fire was sure to come.

“I think we have a problem here,” said Atalsa.

Her eyes widened more as the massive animal came closer to them.

“We won’t for long,” said Tanel.

He grabbed an arrow from its quiver.

The small band of archers followed suit and fired their arrows at the flying beast. Several arrowheads went deep into its scaly body. It roared angrily and breathed fire at them.

Everyone hit the ground. The flames had missed them. This time.

They each grabbed another arrow and shot at the dragon until it thundered to the ground.

That still left nine more of Malinor’s beasts.

Tanel cringed as several swordsmen nearby were flung into the air like mice by an extremely large, long-necked monster. It ate their horses whole