Dragonheart Ch. 03: Prevail

Nervously, the man responded, "Actually ... to be honest, you look like a vision of a dream." Ariana chuckled but she heard her Gold step closer to her and a rumble rose from his chest. She smiled at his protective reaction. The man raised his head to look directly at her. His eyes moved over her body. She stood comfortably and boldly before them. She was fully naked, her long golden hair cascading over her shoulders in front and back, the wind causing it to flutter and flow to expose her body and a piece of golden eggshell she had formed into a medallion and wore around her neck. Hesitantly, he asked, "Are you really the Princess? Is the legend true?"

She had to laugh. What else could she do? She stood before them with dragons. Was the legend true? She turned to face her Gold and her back to the men. She pulled her hair from her back, exposing her entire back but more importantly the birthmark at the base of her neck that she had never seen herself.

All the men turned to her and went to a knee. It turned out these men were descendants of warriors who had escaped the invasion generations ago. Their fathers had instilled in them the legend with stories and commitment to wait for a sign to return to liberate the land when a Princess would again take control. They heard rumors and came. They had been harassing supply wagons, interrupting tax collection, and generally being a nuisance. But their number was too small to have enough effect at liberation.

They talked for hours. Ariana had devised a plan if the men were bold enough to implement it. The men had to recruit enough people to look like a rebellion was imminent to draw out the army. The people would not be required to actually assault the army in combat, just provide the appearance. She stressed, though, that the dragons' participation had to remain confidential. Their effectiveness would be the element of surprise. She mumbled to herself as she turned to leave, "This will honor mother even if it is too late to have saved her."

The man heard what she said and called out to her. "Princess! Your mother is alive! We saw a pronouncement. The King plans to make a spectacle of executing her."

She stopped in her tracks and looked up at her Gold. "Then, we must move quickly." He nodded. He sent the other dragons back to the caves to prepare the others. Ariana returned to the men to finalize the plan.

The ruse worked. She flew on Gold amid the peaks of the mountains along the east side. The dragons were spread out on both sides of the valley. She was too far away to make out more than dots of movement in the valley, but reports were fed to her from different locations around the valley, the benefit of the dragon's eagle-like eyesight. To Ariana, the King's army was like a shadow moving through the valley. It was massive. The King must have decided, as she had hoped, to put the fledgling rebellion down forever in one terrifying show of force. The meager assemblage of the returned fighters and brave souls recruited from among the people were massed in the shadows of the trees bordering the east side of the valley. The river splitting the valley was on the west side. It was hoped, this would box in the army. It was also hoped that the meager size of the people's force would not cause concern about the river presenting itself as a barrier. Why should they think they would need to retreat?

The Gold swooped into a glide that turned them over the valley, careful to stay in position to avoid casting a shadow on the field below. Ariana watched intently from atop her Gold as the army turned to face the east and the paltry people's force noisily pounded old, rusted weapons and shouted with more bravado than they deserved to have. It appeared the generals were about to send the entire force at once, bypassing an exploratory advance to test the forces possibly hidden in the trees. It was then that Ariana gave her signal.

The dragons moved into the designed formation so they would be swooping in with the sun at their backs. Ariana and the Gold were in front with the silvers following directly behind and the grays and browns following. Despite the flight of arrows released by the army's archers, Ariana's intention had always been to minimize the risk to the people who were brave enough to participate in the ruse.

They dove down the middle of the formation, then the Gold banked and redirected his approach to the rear of the army's formation ... where the generals were safely located to direct the movements of their forces. The silvers spread out in a line, their wingtips mere yards apart. The grays and browns followed from further back to attack in separate waves. As the Gold leveled into a glide a dozen feet above the ground, Ariana dropped a net weighted with rocks. It bounced along the ground perfectly. Panic showed in both horses and men as the Gold swooped over the line of generals and leaders, the weighted net pulling anything in its way into a mass. The Gold's massive feet and claws thrust down at the man Ariana identified as the supreme commander.

Intent on her own responsibilities for the initiation of the attack, Ariana contented herself with listening for the sounds of the next wave. The rush of fiery hot air and the screams of both animals and men told her the silvers had begun their attack. With the general in the Gold's grasp, perhaps already dead in massive claws, they turned up into the air. The Gold struggled, beating the air powerfully with its wings as he lifted higher with not only Ariana on its back and the general in his grasp, but the net pulling animals and men behind it. Ariana released the net and the general was dropped to the ground below at the same time. As the Gold rose into the air, Ariana turned to examine the result.

The army was in chaos. The river on one side held them and the browns focused their sweep in front of the line of people. In the middle was a wide stretch of scorched land and bodies left by the silvers. The grays attacked across the valley, knocking down and grasping anything moving. All the dragons reformed on the other end of the field. This time, Ariana led down the middle with the browns on the side of the people again as protection and the silvers following through the massed remains of the army trapped against the river. The army that had seemed so powerful moments before was utterly destroyed in three well-organized and executed attacks. As hoped, at the cost of only a few of the people and those by arrows released at the beginning of the battle.

The King, in a last-ditch effort at survival, retreated his remaining men to the castle under the threat of executing Ariana's mother. The appearance of dragons perched on the towers of the castle and circling overhead, however, left the King with a mere handful of guards as most slinked away. With her mother rescued and the King killed, Ariana ordered the castle destroyed. Men and dragons combined their efforts to tear the stones to the ground for use in rebuilding the villages, bridges, and homes of the people. The treasures collected by the King were distributed among the people to stimulate a resurgence in the crafts and trade with surrounding realms.

Ariana made sure the dragons became a common sight and functional in the lives of the people. Though a small realm themselves, trade with the surrounding realms spread the word about the dragons and their protection of the people. Alliances were soon formed and shared security became more assured than ever.

Ariana remained with the dragons but it was a common occurrence to see not only her with the Golden dragon but other dragons, as well. She never again wore clothes of any kind, her nakedness and life with the dragons a reminder that the Princess and her role would forever be special.

Several years later, Ariana and her Gold landed with a flurry of chaff and dust blown into the air by the powerful wings of the Gold. As Ariana slid off the back of the Gold, the home the people built for her mother flew open, a small girl racing out, giving Ariana the first hug before rushing over to grasp onto the leg and foot of the Gold. Ariana smiled as the girl squealed in delight as the dragon lifted his foot and the girl into the air. Ariana hugged her mother.

"She wishes she had a dragon of her own." her mother chuckled and Ariana nodded.

"Dragons are not owned by people, though. They share the future with the people." Ariana smiled at the massive Gold so gentle with Ariana's little sister. "Of all the people, she must understand and respect the relationship between us." She grasped her mother's hand in hers and squeezed. "After all, her future daughter will become the mother of the next Princess!"

THE END