Adventures of the last Wild Dragon

Chapter 319: War at the Gates

Olivia stood atop the city walls as she looked out at the cleared land that surrounded the city. The residents of the city of Syan had cleared out all trees and underbrush within a 1 mile radius of the city previously.

This now allowed them to make out the very edges of the advanced forces of the Kingdoms army.

Whilst their current numbers were on the lower side, their strength was not.

Only a single sovereign was within this advanced force, yet he was a powerful defense focused warrior. So whilst he stood no true chance against the several sovereigns of Syan he was powerful enough to stall them long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

That was exactly what had happened.

When the army was first discovered Syan had naturally sent out forces to both harass and potentially wipe out the human army before they could fortify their position.

And whilst some of the ambushes went off well, not all of them did. That allowed the humans to rally their forces and come together on the eastern side of the clearing.

From their their mages and defenders erected powerful wards and fortifications, they likely cost a small fortune to maintain yet for the short duration they had to stand until the main army arrives, it was a price that the kingdom was apparently happy to pay.

The local sovereigns of Syan had naturally taken issue with this.

As such a strike team consisting of 4 of the 5 sovereigns, being personally led by king Syan himself had set out to assult the burdenoning defensive fortifications.

A furious clash had occoured then, with the defensive sovereign of the human army managing to almost single-handedly hold off the attacking sovereigns.

They were forced to call of their attack when the rapidly approaching reinforcements closed in.

That was how the leadership of Syan had found out that a total of 6 sovereigns had been dispatched to lead the human army. A terrifying number, particularly when considering that the 5th soverign of Syan was none other than the recently returned Commander Masin, now General Masin thanks to his advancement.

And they had also learnt of a distressing fact about the composition of the main force. They were estimated to have around 400 Lords, 50 of which were of the elite Dragon Riders, each of whom rode a Lord level dragon mount.

That alone was a terrifying force, so to combine that with the knowlage that their forces outnumbered Syan so drastically was a true blow to the small city states moral.

"Well we have two dragons, I would bet myself and young Rhyana against any number of their brainwashed whelps." Stated Vithrax arrogantly.

He had finally awoken from his slumber some days ago, now fully integrated within Olivia’s soul. Whilst his level was restricted to match Olivia’s own, his shear knowlage and the fact that he was once a Soverign level beast allowed him to punch well above his weight class.

As for Olivia herself, she had managed to reach level 130, finally hitting the peak stage within Tier 4. A similar feat reached by both Susan and Rhyana, marking them as some of the most powerful fighters of the Syan army.

Still Olivia could not help but worry. She habitually glanced down at the enchanted stone marking the location of Violet.

She had watched as it moved more and more erratically as the days passed, indicating that she was getting closer and closer to them. How close exactly was unknown to her as the magical device did not contain such a function.

Still she could feel it, a feeling that she was close.

Olivia didn’t understand that feeling properly, yet all the same she could feel it.

She believed it had to do with her nature speciality, through that and her familiar bond with Vithrax she had greatly improved her affinity with the Wilds.

She could gain some vague impressions from the Forest around her. Through that she, and a few other similarly atttuned individuals had taken note of a strange phenomenon that had occoured almost 2 weeks ago.

It was as if the Forest itself had burst alight with joy. Mana levels within the entire Forest had risen, as if the world itself was celebrating.

Most people simply chalked that strange event up to just another strange thing happening within the Endless Forest. Yet Vithrax had another theory.

He was an ancient dragon, born when dragons were known as the wardens of the Wilds. Very few alive today held such a powerful connection to the wilds as her bonded dragon.

As such he held a... understanding of what the various whims of the Wilds meant.

His interpretation of that event was not that the forest was just being strange, although it definitely was a factor to consider. No, he believed that the Wilds was welcoming someone back into its embrace.

That someone would have to hold an incredible affinity to the Wilds to provoke such a wide spread response.

And it just so happened that they both knew an individual who held such an afinity to the Wilds.

As such it was Vithrax’s, along with Olivia, Susan and Rhyana’s belief that it signaled the return of Violet and Luna to the Endless Forest.

Olivia sighed once again as she returned her focus to her familiar. "I know that, but it is more about the impact seeing a hord of dragons attacking the city with do to the people’s moral. The people here revere dragons, to see the object of their faith attack them whilst they are already outnumbered will be devestating to them."

Vithrax grumbled to himself as he leapt up onto the papapet of the wall besides where Olivia leant. He was currently in his small form to allow him to follow Olivia around more easily. His true size would not fit on the wall, despite its recent reinforcement.

The ancient red dragon snorted once again. "Hmph, if these weaklings are so easily tricked into submission by such tactics then they are not worth our protection."

Olivia stared flatly at her familiar for a prolonged moment, during which he pointedly looked away from her and stared out at the encamped army beyond.

She snorted lightly, knowing that Vithrax did not truly believe his own words and that deep down he truly wanted to help this city against the encroaching army.

Just then two more joined Olivia on the wall. The smaller of them moved besides Vithrax and poked his side with her clawed finger as she spoke. "How is it that you manage to shapeshift to be so small? I can hardly go beyond half my actual size." Grumbled Rhyana, asking a question she had asked a dozen times before.

In response Vithrax first snapped his jaw at Rhyana’s extended finger which she rapidly withdrew, then he snorted and spoke up. "Iv told you, you need to max out your shapeshift skill and then upgrade it. It is a simple thing."

Rhyana just grumbled at that whilst Susan chuckled at her companions petulant expression as she herself walked up to stand besides Olivia.

The two girls had grown quite close during their journey to Syan and their subsequent time within the city. That closeness was a driving force behind Olivia being able to speak to her without fear of tripping over her words and not stuttering.

She would stil get nervous hen talking to strangers, yet she was able to at least hold a conversation without fumbling ever second word.

"How’s it looking?" Susan asked as she lent against the wall as looked out at the distant army.

Olivia let out a sigh as she replied. "Not great. They have spent the past day just adding to their fortifications. Now that the local sovereigns are unwilling to attack their camp they have been able to truly strengthen their foothold." Olivia replied with as neutral a tone as possible, wanting to hide her own nervousness.

"Well we shall just have to hold out within the walls then. The city has the supplies to withstand a prolonged siege. Then with Vithrax and Rhyana, along with the sky clad defenders we shouldn’t have to worry about indiscriminate airial assaults."

The sky clad defenders was a unit of the army consisting of avian beastkin with the ability to fly. They had been delighted when both Rhyana and Vithrax had been sent to work with them when it came to defending the skies.

Just then a noise erupted from the east that instantly captured all of their attention.

Warning bells rang on the watchtowers nearby as guards rushed up onto the walls, everyone present wearing a grimly determined look on their faces as they repaired themselves for whatever the Kingdom may throw at them.

As the 3 girls and Vithrax stared out at the kingdom camp they were soon joined by General Masin who wore a troubled expression on his face.

Seeing that Olivia spoke up nervously. "W-what is happening out there?"

Masin grimaced at that, yet after several seconds he responded, his tone conveying his grim mood. "The kingdoms main army has finally arrived."