Book 3: Chapter 47: Battle For Free Hive (1)
As Laird climbed into the air, he opened his mouth and roared.
Arthur half expected a whirlwind of candle-top flames to come out and wreak destruction.
But this wasn't a spell. It was a command.
Three dozen dragons all scattered around the top of the mesa suddenly came out of camouflage. There had been zero indication there had been there at all.
Arthur had been proud of his stealth skills, but those paled when magic spells were involved.
With roars of their own, the dragons took to the air and headed straight upward toward the portal.
"Who are they?" Arthur asked.
Laird glanced over his shoulder at him. Though dragons didn't exactly smile like human beings did, there was no doubt: the dragon was grinning like a fool. "They are the ones I collected the combat cards for, of course. These are my dragons. My retinue." He looked up at the portal which had been torn open to a wide rip in the sky.
Enemy dragons poured out. Laird roared, louder, "It is good to fight scourgelings again, as real dragons ought!"
His other dragons roared out their agreement. They passed Laird and Arthur on their way to the portal -- some already had spells clutched in their claws. Each and every one looked eager.
Though they had left their home hives and kingdoms, it appeared not all of them were happy to be only crafters.
Laird didn't head for the portal. Instead, he folded his wings and dropped down the other side of the vertical wall toward the hive's mesa entrance.
Falling with his stomach in his throat, Arthur still didn't focus on the ground. He trusted Laird not to bash him into the hard-packed soil below. Instead, he craned his head upward to watch the first of Laird's dragons reach the portal.
The initial momentum went to the defenders. They had fury, speed, and righteousness on their side, and they met the emerging dragons with a flurry of spells, skills, and charms. The magic was so thick in the air that from a distance, it looked like a flurry of colored sparks.
The barely heard notes from the Mind Singer's dragons faltered, then turned sour and discordant as the dragons and riders were knocked aside. Some fell from the air, others were briefly stymied by spells or by force, regrouped, and came back for an attack.
And more and more dragons poured out of the portal.
Shortly, the initial shock had passed. The Mind Singer's dragons had a distinctive advantage, and it was plain to Arthur as to the reason why:
The attacking dragons had riders on their backs, and Laird's dragons were unpartnered.
That meant the defenders were fighting a double-card deck as well as the linked card that the rider and dragon shared.
Not to mention that a seasoned dragon and rider pair knew each other's powers and trusted one another. They fought more effectively as a unit.
Arthur watched one of Laird's blue dragons spit mist at a silver and its rider. A bubble of mana immediately encased the silver. It was more than a shield, however, as the mist turned back on the blue to cover it. The blue let out a shriek that was cut off as its wings seemed to freeze in place: Frozen or paralyzed.
It started to fall, but the silver rider held out her hand and yelled something... and the frozen blue simply splintered into thousands of bloodless bits, which rained down to earth. The cards which had been in its cores fluttered down after.
Other fights were happening all around the portal as more and more of the Mind Singer's dragons poured in. Meanwhile, only a few more Mesa Free Hive dragons had joined after the initial rush.
Laird spread his wings to land, and Arthur tore his gaze away to focus on the wide hive entrance. A small crowd had gathered there, attracted by the sounds of battle. Most, upon seeing the battle above, backed up in fear and confusion. A few dragons flew up to join and defend. Some of the humans ran out to send long-rage spells or attacks up into the air.
It wasn't enough. They needed so much more.
They needed combat cards.
Laird landed right in front of the entrance. As he did, a flat serpentine shape separated itself from his shadow and slithered into the air. Finding Arthur, it rose with a cobra hood extended. Then it spoke in Cressida's voice.
"Joy and I are hearing loud explosions out there. Brixaby is still asleep. Please tell us what's going on. Do you need help?"
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Remembering the terms of the card, Arthur mentally reached for his Mana Vault card and aimed a trickle of mana at the shadow serpent. To his surprise, the mana connected quite easily.
"We're under attack by the Mind Singer's forces. Try to wake Brix, but if he can't get up, stay with him and protect him at all costs." He cut off the mana after the last word, and the snake immediately turned and dove back into Laird's shadow, returning to Cressida.
Meanwhile, Laird had been trying -- and failing -- to field questions thrown at him from the crowd gathered at the entrance. Most looked from him to the portal in the sky with wide eyes but did nothing to help.
Arthur took a deep breath. He didn't feel ready for this, but it was his burden to bear. "Let me talk to them."
Laird stood up tall, extended his red wings to their full length, and roared.
The crowd fell briefly silent. Arthur felt the gazes of the Common, Uncommon, and a sprinkling of Rares staring at him -- likely hoping he'd find a way to save them.
But he couldn't. He could only give them the tools to save themselves.
No doubt a seasoned leader would have pretty words. Arthur only had blunt ones.
"We're under attack from a hive led by a scourgeling who has mind powers--" A brief uproar had him pause. Swallowing, Arthur continued, leaning on his Leadership skills to project his voice louder. "You must either defend yourself or flee."
Another uproar, humans and dragons yelling, "I can't fight!" and "There's nowhere to go!"
"Then you must fight!" Laird snapped at the last of them.
Arthur agreed. He reached into his Personal Space and drew out a stack of thirty cards and held them up.
It was only a portion of what he had stored, but the hush that fell over the group was more effective than Laird's roar. Arthur held unimaginable wealth in his hands.
"These are combat cards. We don't have time to be picky. So, if you're willing to fight-- it's first come, first serve."
Then he threw that wealth out into the wind.
Some held back either out of shock or fear. But many more rushed forward. The dragons and people who already had a speed-type card were the first to reach the pile.
Being magic cards, they didn't flutter very far before landing on the ground. Laird was smart enough to jump into the sky before the first people reached the cards. He flapped low, closer to the entrance. Arthur took out a second stack of ten cards and cast the cards to the wind.
Then again, and again.
Choosing a card was traditionally done with deliberation and care. Combat cards in the wrong hands could be equally as dangerous to use to the wielder as to the opponent.
But they didn't have time.
The dragons, especially, only glanced at the card long enough to make sure it was their rank or lower, before shoving it into one of their cores. Arthur saw some hasty swapping between different dragons.
The important thing was, after the cards were added to a heart deck or core, that person was ready to fight.
Some flat-out fled without taking a card. Dragons and humans, running or flying out into the bleak, sun-bleached desert. Or skulking back into the walls of the hive as if that could protect them.
Those were relatively few in number. Most were more than willing to defend their home.
Several of the dragons immediately flew upward to help Laird's defenders. But their backs were bare of riders.
"Partner up!" Arthur called, after tossing out another small stack of five to let flutter to the ground. "Dragons and humans. You're stronger together than apart."
One of the dragons roared in protest. "We're not a Kingdom Hive!"
"But you are a hive," Arthur countered, "And you're going up against scourge--"
"Down!" Laird roared.
Arthur activated his Phase In, Phase Out just as Laird shifted under him. The dragon was fast enough to save himself, but a spear the width of Arthur's arm and as long as a tree flashed through his incorporeal body. It struck the dirt with a thump and burst into splinters that made people cry out.
Canceling his Phase In, Phase Out, Arthur looked up. The aerial fight had been pushed downwards by more dragons exiting the portal. The fresh fighters going to join them would help, but the Free Hive wasn't highly populated. They could easily get overwhelmed.
"We need to close that portal."
He wished Brixaby was here, but though he kept casting glances toward the entrance, there was no sign of him, Cressida, or Joy. It was left to Arthur and Laird to do the job.
"Agreed," the dragon growled. "Cast out the rest of the cards." He turned to yell at the ones still below. "Fighters, and those with cards that can affect a large area -- follow me! We must close that portal! I'll punch a hole through!"
With strong beats of his wings, Laird flew upward.
Arthur held on tight with one hand, the other throwing out the rest of the cards. His Personal Space felt empty without all that magical weight.
That meant he had room to put more stuff in.
"Laird!" He pounded on the dragon's neck to get his attention. When the dragon cast him an annoyed glance, Arthur pointed. "Him! I need that chain mail."
An enemy orange flew close by, trying to harass a blue that was spitting water bullets at him. However, the bullets curved midair. Instead of landing true, they hit the long tail-to-neck chainmail suit the orange wore. It didn't look enchanted -- likely, it was an effect of the orange's core card. He was also one of the few fighters without a rider.
"But don't kill--" Arthur started.
The rest of his words were swallowed by the wind as Laird rushed forward in a burst that had to have been card-powered.
He didn't activate his disintegrating candle-top flames as Arthur feared. Instead, he came in from the orange's blind spot and bowled into him from above, claws out.
Though Laird aimed for the neck, those claws were drawn, magically, to the chainmail collar instead.
That was fine because it was the chainmail that Arthur really wanted.
Laird didn't have a saddle or straps to hang onto.
Holding his breath, Arthur let himself slip off Laird's neck and tumble onto the enemy orange's back.
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