Adventures of the last Wild Dragon

Chapter 321: Opening moves

Rhyana stood at the top of one of the watchtowers that lined the top of Syans wall, she was not alone in this tower, yet was not with her usual companions.

Besides her stood an assortment of winged beastkin, each of them nervously watching as the massive human army slowly advanced to form a half circle around the eastern side of the city.

It had been only been a single day since the main force had arrived, yet they had only rested for the night before instantly forming up and marching out at sunrise.

As such the soldiers of Syan had responded.

They had allready been on high alert ever since the forward army had arrived, now the defenders of the city lined the tall walls of Syan as they looked down at the lines of humans arrayed before them.

Behind the humans great machines of wood and metal were rolled out from the tree line. These machines of war consisted of trebuchet, ballista and most worrying of all, giant siege towers that matched the height of the city walls.

Rhyana grimaced in frustration when she remembered they all just appearing from thin air with the break of dawn.

Each of the war machines was no normal construction. The trebuchet for example, it towered over the nearby humans, its main beam, whilst made of wood, practically glowed with magical runes. The same for each and every part of the machine, powerful enchantments covered nearly every inch of the constructions.

What these enchantments did, Rhyana did not know. However, she was saddly sure to find out what it was capable of all too soon.

The trebuchet’s and ballistas stopped just past the tree line with a small contingent of powerful guards encircling the machines of war whilst the main army moved onwards as it encircled the city.

The atmosphere atop the wall was heavy, men and women of all shapes and sizes stood facing the approaching army with grim determination in their eyes. Whilst a large number of various beastkin populated this city, a significant percentage of its populace was made up of snow leopardkin.

This surprised Rhyana at first, wondering why they had been here in a temperate climate of all things, yet had learnt that they had been forced to flee their homeland a long time ago.

They had resettled here and founded Syan, now they still resided here after all this time.

The rhythmic thudding of thousands of footsteps coming to a halt broke Rhyana out of her musings. She peaked down to observe the army that had come to a stop around half way into the clearing surrounding the city.

No one had launched an attack as of yet, due to this a long stretch of silence drowned the entire area. Both sides standing off in silent assessment.

Soon however movement caught Rhyana’s attention. 3 figures from the human army began to float up into the air, they wore ornate gleaming armour that reflected the early morning sun.

Yet it was not their appearance that truly caught the eye, no it was the pressure that they emitted. No, not just pressure, but that of a domain that unfurled itself to be visible to all.

Then the threes domains seemed to link together, not quite merging as like what happened with Violet and Luna’s presences. More like the three domains were begrudgingly working together, they butted up against one another, not quite invading their neighbors space, yet also refusing to give any of their own space.

Then Rhyana watched on in growing worry as 3 more domains unfurled themselves from within the army itself. They were spread about, one with the central part and the other two at the two sides of the army that was half encircling the city.

Still the three sovereign that had risen into the air continued to rise higher and higher, till they were level with the top of the wall. Then they rose slightly higher still so as to look down on those soldiers defending the walls.

In response to the actions of the human sovereigns displaying their might, 5 domains from within the city unfurled themselves too.

3 figures rose from the battlements to match the height of the human sovereigns. King Syan at the lead whilst his two top generals flanked him.

The 6 sovereigns stayed airborn for some time, their own domains not quite battling against their opponents, yet still clearly aggressive with the ground that they held.

The king and his soldiers domains staying stuck to the walls and those atop it.

Rhyana basked in the feeling of these domains, she was being covered in an unfamiliar man’s domain. She knew the general overseeing her section of the wall from sight yet had never interacted with the man.

His domain seemed to originate from wind or air related concepts. The air felt both heavy yet infinitely free, fierce winds blew all around them, yet those same winds only gently caressed the friendly soilders within its influence, never harming and only helping those that the sovereign viewed as allies.

Rhyana observed the various different types of domains, from one where flickering flames danced around in the air and across those soilders under its effects harmlessly. To more precisely be cute ones, such as one of the human domains where sound waves became visible in the world.

Then her gaze turned to the domain controlled by the king. His reminded Rhyana of Luna in some ways, it was most definitely related to ice and the cold, yet it also held the impression of rightful authority.

Like the man in the centre of that domain was born to rule and held the absolute right to reign over all within his domain. It was imposing yet also reassuring, at least it was to those that were considered his objects or allies.

Eventually the silent stand off, or float off? Came to an end when the central human sovereign spoke up, his voice not above normal conversational levels in volume, yet able to easily be heard by every single person present.

His tone was carefully neutral, showing the faintest hints of respect whilst never dipping into the realms of showing any form of deference.

"City of Syan. I am General Martin Renolds of the 1st Royal Legion for the Kingdom of Eldor."

He paused then as his gaze swept the walls and those soldiers that defended its battlements before his gaze returned to the king and the other 2 sovereign glaring at him.

"I am here to demand your surrender, in return I will guarantee the safety of its citizens."

A moment of silence passed as his words settled, then the King spoke. His words held an innate power and authority that resonated with the defenders and caused them to straighten their backs.

"I am Mason Syan, King of this City and defender of its people. You are not welcome in our lands, we shall not surrender to you, we shall not bend the knee to invaders."

"Remove your forces from my City or face and appropriate response."

Murmurs rose from both army’s at the two leaders words, but that was quickly silenced when the General spoke once again.

"Then it would seem like our discussions have come to an unfortunate end. I hope you do not come to regret your decisions... king." This time the man’s words held no hint of their former civility, they now dripped with barely constrained contempt.

Then as if to strike home the impact of the generals words a new domain emerged, two new domains in fact. Both originating from the rear of the human army, they both radiated power that matched that of both the King of Syan and the general who had spoken, those who had previously been the two most powerful individuals.

Then with a smirk directed at the paling face of the King and his generals, the human general turned around with a flourish and began to float back down to his forces.

Rhyana heard curses ring out along the wall, everyone above tier 4 able to clearly sense the power of those two new domains. That coupled with the knowlage that the human army held not 6 but 8 sovereigns.

Things had just turned from bad to worse.

The City had already been outnumbered by the kingdom, yet now they understood that not only was that fact true but they also were now outnumbered in tier 5 individuals more than previously believed.

It was a humbling for the defenders of the city, yet those same defenders who’s posture had begun to slump at the emergence of the two new sovereigns. Suddenly stood straight once again when the King’s voice rang out.

"People of Syan! We face great danger this day. Yet we shall not fall! We shall defend our city and push back the invaders! Stand with me and we shall prevail against our foes!"

At their kings words, magically carried across the entire city filled its defenders and residents with an icy purpose and powerful determination. The king as his generals swiftly returned to the walls after his impromptu speech.

Shortly after the king returned to the walls, a horn was blown down below signaling the start of the conflict to come.

Then a series of overload swooshing and twanging sounds rang out. The trebuchets and ballistas from the human army firing their first of undoubtedly many attacks.